Replacing the Evil Way

Chapter 47: Can’t

After visiting the stores outside the high-speed railway station square, they finally found Zhao Shen’s trail in a Shaanxi noodle shop on the food street. The police showed the owner Zhao Shen’s photo, and the owner immediately remembered a customer who had come a few days ago with an accent from another region. He had rented a shared power bank using a QR code in the shop, but when he finished eating, the power bank malfunctioned during the return process. The deposit wasn’t returned successfully, leaving a strong impression on the owner.

“That day, we spent quite a while troubleshooting. He was in a hurry to leave, saying he had urgent matters and couldn’t delay. I had no choice but to lend him the deposit first. We didn’t even calculate the money for the noodles. On top of that, I even gave him a few tens of yuan. The vendor for the power banks still hasn’t sorted out the issue. This transaction has been quite troublesome,” the shop owner complained.

Wen Huaibei asked, “Did he mention anything about the urgent matter or where he was headed?”

The owner shook his head, saying, “Not really, but he seemed to have plans with someone. He answered a call and said he would be there soon after finishing his meal.”

“Which way did he go?”

The owner pointed in a direction, toward the exit of the food street. The food street was a tunnel-like structure, fully enclosed on both sides, with surveillance cameras at both ends. Regardless of which exit he took, he should have been captured on camera. Strangely though, there was no sign of Zhao Shen.

Wen Huaibei asked nearby shopkeepers about Zhao Shen using his photo, but their responses were all variations of “don’t remember, no impression,” including the small shops around the food street. They all claimed to have never seen this person.

With the lead interrupting, Wen Huaibei had no choice but to report the situation truthfully to Captain Lin and leave it for him to investigate.

As He Wei and Lin Heyu were about to set off to find Zhao Yang, they received a call from Wen Huaibei. They changed directions and headed to the high-speed railway station. Upon arriving at the food street, they found Wen Huaibei sitting by the entrance of a 24-hour self-service bank, looking dejected. When he saw He Wei and Lin Heyu, his eyes displayed a mixture of unease and tension.

“Why the gloomy expression?”

Upon hearing He Wei’s question, Wen Huaibei cautiously glanced at Lin Heyu and said, “I… I really can’t find him. I have no idea how he disappeared.”

The two new team members who had come along with Lin Heyu were relatively inexperienced in the criminal investigation unit. The directive from higher-ups was for Lin Heyu to take them out to gain some experience. As for how long it would take to solve the case, there was no need to worry much—after all, Lin Heyu was a capable person, and in addition, there was He Wei at the Sengzhuo City Bureau. With these two working together, they would surely crack the case in no time.

Thus, when they couldn’t find the suspect’s trace, Lin Heyu didn’t show any sign of blame. Everything has a process, especially criminal investigation work. While theoretical knowledge is rich, it can’t match the accumulation of practical experience. This was the epitome of “practice makes perfect.” Lin Heyu had transitioned from a fresh graduate to his current age, and he was naturally not very talkative. He usually refrained from criticizing newcomers to avoid undermining their confidence. So why were the newcomers so afraid of him?

Wen Huaibei was genuinely fearful. Captain Lin had always been serious and taciturn, and when he was silent, nobody knew what he was thinking. It was mostly because of his stern appearance. If it were Captain He with his fair and gentle face, Wen Huaibei’s courage would have been at least half as large as it was now.

He Wei noticed this and reassured, “Don’t be disheartened. Losing track of the suspect isn’t the main issue. What matters is figuring out how to find him again.”

Although Lin Heyu hadn’t spoken, he reached out and patted Wen Huaibei’s shoulder, indicating his stance. Touched by this gesture, Wen Huaibei led them to check the surveillance footage together: “I’ve watched the footage from the exits for the whole day. I even looked at the entrance footage, but there’s still no trace of him.”

Sitting together, Lin Heyu and He Wei stared at the surveillance footage, and after a few minutes, they had an answer.

“So crude!” the two of them exclaimed simultaneously, both sounding disgusted.

“Did he think that changing clothes would make him unrecognizable? And he didn’t even take off the watch on his wrist,” He Wei criticized.

“Yeah, he didn’t even change his shoes. His disguise doesn’t even meet the passing grade,” Lin Heyu commented.

“He thought wearing a hat would do the trick, but you can tell it’s him just from his back.”

“His gait is a bit duck-footed, very recognizable.”

Wen Huaibei filtered their remarks through his mind and exclaimed, “He changed his clothes?!”

“Yeah, he was wearing a blue shirt and white pants before, but now he’s in black clothes and jeans. The bag in his hand…” He Wei looked for a couple of seconds and drew a conclusion, “He turned the lining inside out to use it; you can see the loose threads.”

“…,” Wen Huaibei covered his face, feeling like he must be blind.

“After his disguise, he blended in with the crowd of backpackers, making it hard to spot him. Next time you’re looking for someone, don’t just focus on their face and clothes. Pay attention to their walking posture and habits. These things are developed over a long time and are easy to reveal,” He Wei laughed and teased, along with Lin Heyu. The younger team member was quite endearing.

Zhao Shen thought his disguise was a success. After leaving the food street, he bought a charger and then took the subway. He switched from Line 3 to the S line and got off at Puyu Road, turning into Dangshui Village.

This journey took at least an hour. Dangshui Village was a combination of urban and rural areas in Shengzhuo City. On one side were newly erected high-rise public housing buildings, while on the other side, reeds swayed in the wind. It was completely different from the usual scenery. Due to the government’s development of public housing, the original villagers had long moved away. The houses were in various states of disrepair, with only the Xinglin Garden public housing complex still inhabited.

However, whether Zhao Shen went inside or not, no one knew. After all, the facilities here were not fully completed yet. Along the street, let alone surveillance cameras, there were hardly any streetlights.

The sky had turned dark, and a Jeep was parked by the side of the road. He Wei looked up at the over thirty-story public housing building. Only a few scattered lights indicated that some people had moved in. He asked, “What do you think is the likelihood of him being here?”

Lin Heyu shook his head. “Not very high. There are only a few households living here, so the chances of being discovered during an investigation are too high. It’s better for him to hide in the city where there’s a higher population density and more people moving around, making it less likely for him to be found.”

He Wei looked around at the desolation. Behind the reed marsh was a lake. Going out along the small path on the right led to another village, while heading up to the south would take them to Longwang Mountain. Zhao Shen had quite a variety of routes to choose from.

The day had been spent in constant motion, but there was still no specific news about Zhao Shen. When they returned, Lin Heyu was in a bad mood, his brows furrowed, and his face as dark as Yama, the King of Hell. He Wei playfully kicked his leg with the tip of his foot. “Hey, control that expression of yours. We have a young lady on our team, and you’re scaring her half to tears.”

The only “young lady” in the team lifted her head, looking bewildered. What did she get scared by? She had been watching the news the whole time and hadn’t paid any attention to Captain Lin’s expression!

Lin Heyu stood up, not saying anything more. Tomorrow, he would go to the neighboring village first. If they couldn’t find anything there, he would head up the mountain. He refused to believe that Zhao Shen could be hiding underground.

—— 

Cheng Zesheng arrived home earlier that day, with He Wei returning a step later. This time, he purposefully didn’t speak first. What if He Wei had brought his friend along again? That would be quite awkward.

He Wei also noticed that, although the lights in the house were on, there was no sound whatsoever. Normally, Cheng Zesheng would make some noise at home, giving He Wei a sense of where he was in the apartment. However, today was eerily quiet, as if the house was completely empty.

“Cheng Zesheng?”

There was no response from inside the house. He Wei wasn’t sure if the internet connection was down or if Cheng Zesheng was genuinely not home.

As Cheng Zesheng watched the door close, he stood in the living room, feeling extremely conflicted. He really wanted to ask He Wei if he was alone or if his friend had come along. Would a small note suddenly appear on the table and scare him?

Clearly, he had forgotten that the spicy chicken feet that appeared out of nowhere last night had already succeeded in scaring him. 

The door to the upstairs room opened and closed, and after a while, the bathroom door opened, the light came on, and the sound of water from the showerhead started.

He Wei had gone to take a shower.

Cheng Zesheng couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed his friend hadn’t come after all. Otherwise, how could he be so carefree about taking a shower?

However, as soon as he heard the sound of water from the bathroom, Cheng Zesheng remembered the “Tianluo Snail Bathing” images he had seen before. His heartbeat couldn’t help but speed up. He took a deep breath, took out the dumbbells from behind the couch, and began exercising his body, closing his eyes to clear his mind and focus on counting.

But even after counting to 50, his mind still couldn’t settle. Cheng Zesheng put down the dumbbells, supported himself with his hands on the floor, and assumed the standard push-up position.

It still didn’t seem to be effective. This was Cheng Zesheng’s impression after doing 20 push-ups. He hugged his head with both hands and started doing frog jumps.

After completing this set of exercises, he was covered in sweat. The sound of water from the bathroom finally stopped. Cheng Zesheng sighed in relief, suddenly wondering why he had put himself through all this.

He Wei blow-dried his hair until it was half dry, and when he came out, there still wasn’t any sound in the house. He felt puzzled. Was Cheng Zesheng working overtime tonight?

If he wasn’t home, that was one thing, but He Wei had wanted to vent about the suspect’s boring change of clothes during his escape.

He Wei sat on the sofa, reading a book, while Cheng Zesheng sat on the floor, calming his breathing. Time passed by, and suddenly, a phone ringtone broke the silence.

Both Cheng Zesheng and He Wei looked up simultaneously. Cheng Zesheng slowly crawled out from behind the sofa, peeking around to see a dark head.

Completely unaware that Cheng Zesheng was behind him, He Wei reached for his phone on the sofa and answered, “Hello?”

“Why did you contact me? Are you back from your business trip?” He Wei’s tone instantly softened, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“I’m at home, just took a shower. Are you coming over?”

“If it’s convenient, I’m the only one at home. If you come, you can stay overnight.”

“…,” Cheng Zesheng felt annoyed. Who was he talking to with such a cheerful tone?

The call seemed to be going fine, and then suddenly an arm snaked around from behind the sofa and picked up He Wei’s phone. He Wei turned around, and Cheng Zesheng glanced at the screen. Oh, it was He Lu. He handed the phone back to He Wei, gesturing for him to continue the call.

“Brother, what’s your exact address? I’ll use navigation to get a ride.”

“…,” He Wei glanced at the arm resting on his shoulder and told He Lu, “You don’t have to come. I have a friend over.”

He Lu found it strange. “That shouldn’t be an issue. He can sleep in another room, and I can share a bed with you.”

Cheng Zesheng overheard, and his expression turned surprised. He instinctively grabbed He Wei’s shoulder, leaned in close, and whispered in his ear:

No—can’t.

“…,” He Wei also didn’t understand why it couldn’t be. He and He Lu had grown up together, even sharing a bed when they came back home from college. Why couldn’t they share a bed now?

“Don’t come tonight; I’ll invite you over to be a guest next time.”

Cheng Zesheng looked at He Wei’s profile. From this angle, he could clearly see that He Wei’s eyelashes were long, thick, and naturally curled. His earlobe wasn’t large, but it was round and full and a lovely shade of pink.

Cheng Zesheng discreetly reached out and gently pinched it. It was like he had triggered some kind of peculiar switch. He Wei’s entire ear immediately flushed red, with a patch of red spreading down his cheeks, making the fair skin even rosier.

So good-looking.