Xu Sichen’s heart skipped a few beats. While her mind wandered uncontrollably, Yang Bo pulled the car up to the International Hotel.
"Not getting out? What are you thinking about?" Lu Linjiang turned back to call her after stepping out of the car.
Xu Sichen stuffed her phone into her trouser pocket, hopped out, and followed him.
The hotel had reported the incident immediately, and reporters were already catching wind of it. Lu Linjiang led his team directly up the freight elevator. The International Hotel had twenty-six floors in total; Tao Minxing was staying on the twentieth floor in a standard room.
The entire twentieth floor had been cordoned off. Lu Linjiang glanced at the directional signs and headed straight for Room 2025, the scene of the incident. Colleagues from the forensics department were already busy inside. Lu Linjiang waved a hand behind him, sending Tang Hua and Yang Bo to gather information, while he entered the room directly.
The bathroom was immediately to the left upon entry. Lu Linjiang met the forensics team just as Tao Minxing’s body was being wheeled out.
Lu Linjiang signaled for them to stop and very carefully lifted a corner of the white sheet. Tao Minxing, wearing rimless glasses, lay there with a pained expression, looking far from peaceful.
"What’s the situation?"
Guo Junyi, who was taking notes, walked over. "When the assistant opened the door and came in, he found the bathroom door closed. The man was sitting on the toilet, already dead. I’ve checked; there are no external injuries. However, there are needle marks on his arm—some are old. We’ll have to check later if he was self-injecting for some kind of treatment."
"Time of death?"
"Preliminary estimate is sometime after eleven last night." Guo Junyi pointed next door. "The assistant said he left the professor’s room after eleven."
Lu Linjiang listened while peering into the bathroom. Following hotel tradition, even a four-star standard room wasn't particularly spacious. Both the ceiling and the floor were soaking wet, as if they had been doused with water. There were numerous footprints on the floor, likely from moving the body out.
"What happened? Did the sprinkler system go off? It’s as wet as the Water Curtain Cave in here."
"The hot water was left running. The hotel staff only turned it off after they entered."
"The hot water was running?" Lu Linjiang looked at the bathtub full of water. "The man sat on the toilet waiting for the tub to fill..."
He rubbed his chin as he looked at Guo Junyi. Guo Junyi shrugged, giving him a 'how should I know' look. Lu Linjiang tested the floor with his foot. "Can I go in?"
"Go ahead, the scene investigation is finished."
Lu Linjiang finally stepped inside. Standing at one hundred and ninety centimeters, his large frame nearly blocked the entire space. The bathroom layout was standard: a sink, a mirror, a toilet, a bathtub, an exhaust fan, and a towel rack—nothing more.
He pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket, put them on, scanned the room, and turned on the faucet at the sink. He held his index finger under the stream; before he could even count to three, the water was warm. By the count of five, it was hot enough that he had to pull his hand back.
Lu Linjiang turned off the faucet, wiped his hand on his clothes, and pinched his earlobe until it no longer felt scalded.
Just as he was about to leave, he looked up at the ventilation duct in the corner and paused. "Guo Junyi!"
Guo Junyi poked his head in the doorway. "What is it?"
"The ventilation wasn't on?" Lu Linjiang pointed to the corner.
Guo Junyi glanced at it. "Nope. If it were on, would the place be this damp?"
Lu Linjiang nodded in understanding, and Guo Junyi’s head immediately retracted. Lu Linjiang scanned the room again, his eyes falling on the neatly folded towels on the rack. Suddenly, something felt off. He leaned in for a closer look and touched them, confirming they were not the towels provided by the hotel. Lu Linjiang stared at the towels for a moment, then, as if realizing something, turned to search the area. Among the items on the sink, he indeed found a small white bottle.
He unscrewed the cap and wafted the air toward his nose. Unsurprisingly, he smelled disinfectant. A thoughtful Lu Linjiang was about to put the bottle back when Yang Bo knocked on the door with his notebook.
"What have you got?"
"The assistant’s name is Luo Jia. I asked about Professor Tao’s itinerary. He came here specifically to give reports at the conference—one on the opening day and one for the closing, which is today. Luo Jia came to call the professor around seven this morning but found the door wouldn't open. Sensing something was wrong, he asked a staff member to help open it."
"Professor Tao was usually in good health, though he had diabetes. He was very careful about his diet and took insulin. He might have struggled to adjust to Jinghai; he’d been dealing with a bit of a cold the last two days."
Lu Linjiang frowned as he listened. "Who was the last person to have contact with him?"
"Luo Jia said he left a little after eleven last night. No one should have had contact with the professor after that. Normally, the professor kept a regular schedule, but he hadn't quite adjusted to the time difference since arriving. Since he only planned to stay for a few days, he didn't try too hard to fix it."
After finishing his report, Yang Bo summarized, "It sounds like there isn't much of a problem."
Lu Linjiang gave a noncommittal nod and returned the items on the sink to their original positions. "Have you checked the surveillance?"
"Xu Sichen went to check. She should be back soon."
As soon as he spoke, Xu Sichen appeared behind Yang Bo. Lu Linjiang signaled for Yang Bo to move aside. "What’s the word?"
The expression on Xu Sichen’s face was somewhat unnatural. Her eyes darted around, refusing to meet Lu Linjiang’s gaze. She took a deep breath and said, "Um, the surveillance shows that after Professor Tao’s assistant left the room at 11:32 PM, someone else visited."
"Who?"
"The person is in Room 2019."
Lu Linjiang glanced at Xu Sichen. She ignored the questioning look in his eyes, turned around, and walked straight out. Lu Linjiang had no choice but to follow. Before leaving, he saw Guo Junyi packing his things and instructed, "Get that autopsy report to me as soon as possible!"
Guo Junyi didn't even look up, simply giving him an 'OK' gesture in the air.
Xu Sichen stood lingering by the door. Once she saw Lu Linjiang emerge from the room, she immediately turned to lead the way. Xu Sichen had worked under Lu Linjiang for several years, and this was the first time he had seen her act like this. He couldn't help but frown. With people moving in and out all around them, Lu Linjiang decided to wait until later to ask her what was going on.
Xu Sichen stopped at the door of 2019. Lu Linjiang gave her a look and stepped inside first. The layout of 2019 was a mirror image of Tao Minxing’s 2025. A man was sitting in an armchair by the window; hearing the noise, he looked up at Lu Linjiang.
Lu Linjiang immediately understood the reason for Xu Sichen’s earlier abnormality. He glanced back at her expressionlessly before taking a step forward. "Long time no see."
Jiang Cheng was wearing a royal blue sweater and stood up in the sunlight. As the light spilled over him, he appeared even paler than the wall behind him for a moment. He showed no surprise at Lu Linjiang’s arrival, merely pushing up his glasses. "Mm."
The other man was perfectly composed, looking at Lu Linjiang as if he were a stranger they both happened to know. The heart that had been suspended in Lu Linjiang’s chest since he saw Jiang Cheng finally settled. "I assume you know about Professor Tao’s passing?" Seeing Jiang Cheng nod, he continued, "Just routine procedure: why did you go to Professor Tao’s room in the middle of the night?"
Jiang Cheng took a shallow breath. "During dinner, the professor asked me to come by at exactly midnight."
"For what purpose?"
"Some data from the research institute."
Lu Linjiang looked at him, clearly unsatisfied with the answer. But Jiang Cheng acted as if he didn't notice Lu Linjiang’s intent. "The matters discussed are confidential to the institute. I cannot disclose more."
Lu Linjiang knit his brows slightly. Though unhappy with the response, he still asked, "Fine. Is there a third party who can verify this?"
Jiang Cheng shook his head. "The matter was quite serious; the professor specifically avoided others." He stopped suddenly. "What do you mean? What exactly was the professor’s cause of death?"
Although Lu Linjiang had only been separated from Jiang Cheng for three years, the truth was he hadn't properly looked at the man in five. In his memory, this person had always been very considerate—so considerate it had made Lu Linjiang keep his distance—but he couldn't recall a time, even with others, when Jiang Cheng’s expression had been this sharp.
Yet here the man stood before him, his face deathly pale and nearly devoid of expression, his unusually dark eyes looking over like an unsheathed sword. Lu Linjiang subconsciously rubbed his nose with a bent index finger. "The specific cause of death awaits the autopsy report. This is just a routine inquiry."
Jiang Cheng’s eyes flickered toward his index finger. "Yesterday, we ate at the buffet on the fifth floor. While the professor was getting food, he told me to remember to find him at midnight and not to tell anyone else. We talked for about ten minutes, all regarding matters within the institute."
Since the case hadn't been classified yet and he was facing Jiang Cheng, Lu Linjiang instinctively didn't want to make things too complicated. He simply nodded. "When are you leaving?"
"I will not leave the country until the results are out."
Such a cooperative subject was as good as it got. Lu Linjiang had said what needed to be said. Just as he was hesitating over whether to offer some polite small talk, Jiang Cheng continued, "Is there anything else?"
The phrase "How have you been lately?" got stuck in Lu Linjiang’s throat. Jiang Cheng had already adopted a posture of silent dismissal. Lu Linjiang could only shake his head and turn to walk out.
Jiang Cheng watched his back disappear as the door closed before sitting back down on the sofa. To think he would reunite with the person he thought he’d never see again under these circumstances. Upon meeting again, there wasn't even a ripple in his heart; the joys and sorrows that once revolved around that man every minute had all been reclaimed. But the emotions invested over those years would, after all, leave some indelible marks—Lu Linjiang had merely rubbed his nose, and Jiang Cheng instinctively knew that Lu Linjiang had doubts regarding Professor Tao’s death.
***
