Chapter 1
Mobei Old City, since ancient times, has been organized with five households as one neighborhood, and five neighborhoods as one district. Ever since the arrival of the Five Fortune Babies-representing the ocean, forest, flame, earth, and sky-Mobei City was transformed overnight into a modern metropolis. As the urban population continued to grow, more and more reinforced concrete buildings brought prosperity and hope to this city, while also giving birth to the hidden stories beneath its glamorous surface.
Horseshoe Alley was built during the previous dynasty and, after a century of change, stubbornly retained its original appearance among the many high-rises. Yet, at the end of this quaint, ancient street, stands the highest institution of learning in Mobei City: Mobei University of Political Science and Law.
Inside the campus, in the office of the Graduate School of Criminal Investigation.
Murong Shui jolted awake from her sleep, looked around, and drifted in thought for a while before remembering that she had fallen asleep at her desk again last night. She wiped her mouth, only to find that the drool had dried and left a mark on her chin. Muttering under her breath, she said, “Xu Tiannan, you rascal, you don’t even check your own students’ theses and insist on making me, your assistant, do it for you… Might as well just hand your salary over to me!”
Her daydreaming was interrupted by a brief knock at the door, likely a student coming by. Murong Shui got up, stepped over the scattered snack wrappers on the floor, opened the door, and put on her professional smile: “Hello, student, what can I… uh?”
Murong Shui shook her head, trying to clear her mind, and sized up the visitor. She realized that the person was not a student from her department, but rather a woman in her thirties, her eyes red and streaked with tears-clearly she had just been crying. Murong Shui asked in confusion, “Who are you looking for?”
The woman outside the door asked cautiously, “Excuse me, are you… crime experts?”
Murong Shui nearly choked, explaining with a mix of amusement and exasperation, “Sister, don’t get it wrong! This is the Graduate School of Criminal Investigation at the University of Political Science and Law. You can call us ‘Criminology Experts,’ but definitely not ‘crime experts.’ It’s just one word different, but the work is completely different!”
Realizing her mistake, the woman quickly apologized. Murong Shui didn’t mind and asked, “Are you a student’s parent?”
The woman shook her head, “I’m not a parent. I saw a news report about you in the newspaper, so I came here… hoping you could help me.”
“Help? You saw us in the newspaper?” Murong Shui, with her straightforward personality, didn’t ask much more. She simply gestured for the woman to come into the office. But the room was a mess, littered with last night’s trash and scraps, with barely a palm-sized spot to stand. She tiptoed and kicked aside some wrappers to clear a space, then magically produced a folding stool and placed it in front of the woman, asking, “Go ahead, what’s the matter?”
The woman sat down, her face weary and full of suppressed worries, and asked, “Sorry, miss, I misspoke earlier. But since you’re ‘Criminology Experts,’ are you really that skilled?”
This indirect compliment hit Murong Shui right in her “can’t-stop-showing-off” heart. She forgot to ask the woman’s real purpose and replied proudly, “Oh, sister, you’re absolutely right! Criminal Investigation Science is a very rigorous discipline. Simply put, it’s about comprehensive analysis and research on criminals, exploring their motives and patterns by examining all traces left at the crime scene, so as to identify suspects, solve cases, and prevent crime. This field isn’t just skilled-it’s incredibly skilled! Let me ask you, do you know about the 4·15 Serial Theft Case from three months ago? It was in the papers-we helped the police crack it.”
The woman shook her head.
Murong Shui continued, “Then do you know last year’s sensational ‘Chat Room Murder Case’? The killer targeted victims in online chat rooms, and we caught him by uncovering hidden patterns among the victims.”
The woman shook her head again.
“Well…” Murong Shui thought for a moment, “Then you must know Sherlock Holmes, right? The genius detective who uses the ‘Deductive Method’ to analyze criminal behavior. The principle is similar to our current methods-by analyzing the suspect’s actions and deducing the case’s development based on their psychological, physiological, and physical traits.”
The woman grew more confused the more she listened, and Murong Shui felt a deep sense of defeat. Determined to show off her skills, she said, “Sister, let’s do this: don’t say a word, and I’ll deduce the reason you came here today.”
After speaking, Murong Shui carefully observed the woman. She saw that the woman was holding a transparent document bag containing a pawnshop receipt, a call record, and a photo envelope. She also noticed the woman’s plain clothes, faded from many washes, and the only piece of jewelry was a gold ring on her right middle finger. Her hair carried a strong smell of cheap second-hand smoke.
After a moment’s thought, Murong Shui analyzed, “Sister, does your boyfriend have a mistress?”
The woman looked at Murong Shui in disbelief. She was just about to say something when Murong Shui explained, “Stop! There’s no need to be surprised by my deduction. This is the basic power of observation that any expert in Criminal Investigation Science should possess. I noticed you’ve just been crying, and from the ring on the middle finger of your right hand, I deduced that you have a boyfriend. The transparent folder you’re carrying contains a pawn ticket from a pawnshop, which suggests you’re in financial difficulty and your boyfriend is unwilling to spend money on you. But besides the pawn ticket, there’s also a call log and a photo envelope in your folder, which means you’ve already obtained evidence of your boyfriend’s infidelity.”
After finishing, Murong Shui looked at the woman with pride, feeling greatly satisfied with her seemingly flawless deduction. She continued, “Now, here’s the question: since you have a boyfriend who doesn’t love you, won’t spend money on you, and has already cheated, why are you still wearing the ring? The only reasonable explanation-and the real reason you came to see me today-is that you don’t want to break up with your boyfriend. You want us to help you get rid of the other woman through legal means. Am I right? Unfortunately, for matters like this, you’d be better off consulting a lawyer or going straight to court. After all, this kind of case is too trivial for us… Hey, hey, hey? Where are you going, miss?”
Faced with Murong Shui’s elaborate deduction, the woman’s expression grew darker and darker. She stood up abruptly and walked out of the office, muttering to herself in frustration, “Forget it, I’d better go.”
“Hey, hey, hey! Why are you leaving?”
Murong Shui, who hadn’t sensed any praise from the woman, felt deflated. She hurried to block the woman’s way and said, “Miss, there’s no need to feel embarrassed in front of me. After all, I’m the assistant to the graduate advisor in this field… If you need, I can give you some psychological counseling? Honestly, a cheating boyfriend isn’t the end of the world. Three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged men are everywhere!”
At Murong Shui’s words, the woman’s emotions collapsed. She squatted down and burst into tears. By now, it was time for class, and many students and teachers passing by in the hallway were watching the scene, making Murong Shui extremely embarrassed. She scratched her head, not knowing what she’d said wrong.
“Murong Shuigen! What nonsense are you up to now!”
The voice came before the person. The real owner of the office, the true graduate advisor in Criminal Investigation Science, Xu Tiannan, walked over from the crowd.
Xu Tiannan had just arrived at the office building. Hearing the commotion, he immediately sensed trouble. He knew all too well that his assistant had long surpassed the limits of carbon-based lifeforms when it came to causing trouble, bragging, and making a mess of things. So, this morning’s incident was, without a doubt, related to her.
Sure enough, when Xu Tiannan saw the woman squatting on the ground and crying, he immediately realized Murong Shui was the culprit. Seeing her trying to hide, he strode over, grabbed her ear, and scolded, “Murong Shuigen, what nonsense are you up to now!”
More than twenty years ago, Mobei City was still a rural area. One day, under a clear sky, a baby’s cry rang out in the village as a chubby, fair-skinned baby girl was born.
This baby girl had a beautiful compound surname, “Murong.” According to local custom, both parents should name the child together. When the mother saw her lovely daughter, she immediately chose the name “Shui.” Normally, with the surname Murong and the character Shui in the middle, it would be a stunning and melodious name. However, her farmer father wanted his daughter never to forget her roots, so he gave her the final character “Gen,” meaning “root,” so that wherever she went in the future, she would always remember her origins. Thus, this adorable girl was named Murong Shuigen.
At this moment, Murong Shui, whose ear was being twisted, cried out in a distorted voice, “Ahhh… Boss, I was wrong, ow… let go!”
Xu Tiannan waved his hand, signaling the onlookers to disperse. He then walked over to the woman, squatted down, and apologized, “I’m sorry, my assistant is a bit unreliable. Sorry for making a scene.”
The woman ignored Xu Tiannan, simply wiped her tears and tried to leave, muttering, “I was foolish to expect you could help me…”
Just as the woman was about to leave, Xu Tiannan suddenly said, “Are you here to ask us to help you find someone?”
The woman, still downcast, stopped in her tracks. For the first time, there was a glimmer of emotion in her eyes. “You… how did you know?”
Xu Tiannan smiled and replied, “Not only do I know you want us to help you find someone, but I also know you work two jobs, one as an internet café attendant and the other as a teppanyaki restaurant staff. And just before you came here, you pawned the necklace from your neck at a pawnshop. As for why you chose to pawn your necklace instead of the gold ring on your hand, it’s because the ring wasn’t given to you by your boyfriend, but by someone very important to you. Am I right?”
Hearing this, the woman froze and asked, “You… how do you know so much about me? Do you know me?”
Xu Tiannan smiled and shook his head. “Of course I don’t know you. Everything I just said was what you told me yourself.”
The woman asked in confusion, “I told you?”
Xu Tiannan nodded. “You didn’t tell me directly with words, because words can lie. But the items you carry, your expressions, body language, and habits don’t lie. These things have their own language. Once you learn to read it, you can grasp your personal information, and through that, understand what kind of person you are. This is the most direct way for me to get to know you.”
Seeing the woman in front of him staring in shock, Murong Shui seized the chance to step forward, pointing at Xu Tiannan and explaining, “This is my Boss, Xu Tiannan, an expert in Criminal Investigation Science. I’m Murong Shui, his assistant-uh, senior assistant! Now you finally understand what I do, right?”
“Shut up!” Xu Tiannan gestured for Murong Shui to be quiet, then continued to explain, “The moment I first saw you, I noticed a thick, dark callus under your right palm. In medicine, this is a typical sign of ‘mouse hand,’ which means your work involves computers. At the same time, you have a strong tobacco smell on you, but I noticed there are no tobacco stains on your teeth or the first knuckle of your index fingers, which smokers usually have. So you don’t smoke. I deduced that your work environment involves frequent mouse use and long-term exposure to secondhand smoke-most likely an internet café. As for your other job, I saw many oil stains and burn marks on the inside of your forearm, but none on your wrist bones or fingertips. This means your work requires you to operate above boiling hot oil while wearing gloves. The job that fits this description is a teppanyaki kitchen. Now, someone working two jobs back-to-back with no time to rest-how could she possibly have time for a boyfriend?”
Xu Tiannan paused, then pointed to a fine, dark mark on the woman’s neck. “You used to wear a gold-plated necklace for a long time, but now that necklace has become a pawn ticket, hasn’t it?”
“How… how do you know that?” The woman suddenly felt she had no privacy in front of him, her hands unconsciously clutching her chest in a nervous reflex.
Xu Tiannan said, “Gold-plated necklaces have low gold content, so the material rubs off and reacts with sweat on your skin, leaving a ring of oxidized black marks on your neck. The mark is very clear, which means you only recently took the necklace off. If you suddenly removed your necklace and there’s a pawn ticket in your file folder, where do you think that necklace is now?”
“Aha! So that’s it!”
Murong Shui, who had been listening intently, jumped up excitedly and interrupted, “Boss! I get it! A gold-plated necklace can’t fetch a good price at the pawn shop, so even if she pawns her last piece of jewelry, she keeps the ring. No wonder you think that ring was left by someone important to her, right?”
Xu Tiannan tapped Murong Shui on the head and patiently explained again, “You need to stop making subjective guesses. Try to consider things from actual behavior and appearance. Now, look at the ring in her hand.”
Murong Shui carefully examined the ring in the woman’s hand and found a barely noticeable yellow thread wrapped around the gold ring. She suddenly understood, “The ring… doesn’t fit!”
“Exactly.” Xu Tiannan nodded. “Whether you buy it yourself or get it from a boyfriend, no one chooses a ring that doesn’t fit. So the only possibility is that this ring was left by another important person. Because the size is a bit too big, she wrapped a few loops of thread around it and wore it on her thickest finger-the middle finger.”
After all the analysis, Xu Tiannan finally said to the woman, “You’re working back-to-back shifts and struggling financially. You’d rather pawn your valuable jewelry to come to us, which means there are only two reasons. One: your request is illegal, and you don’t dare go to the Police Station to file a case, for example, owing gambling debts from underground gambling. Two: your request is legal, but the Police Station didn’t file a case for you. Combined with the call record and photos in your folder, you’re most likely looking for someone. Either way, I know you’re desperate, or you wouldn’t have come to us.”
The woman now completely believed the people before her. She took a photo envelope from her folder, pulled out a picture of a young girl, and said, “My name is Li Xianglan. Three days ago, my younger sister went missing. That day was her birthday… but the Police Station didn’t file a case. I… I don’t know who else to turn to. Please, help me!”
Missing persons cases are always a big deal, sometimes escalating from public security cases to criminal cases. Usually, if someone is missing for more than 24 hours, the police will file a case. But what Li Xianglan said next made this case even more baffling.