Qin Xiao's words, like a feather carrying an electric current, lightly brushed across Shen Xingling's lips, but detonated a violent tsunami within her.
“Partner.”
He spoke the last four words in a voice almost like a lover's whisper, his warm breath mixed with a faint smell of tobacco brushing against her cheek.
Shen Xingling's brain completely stopped functioning.
She felt all the blood rush to her face in that instant, then recede completely the next second, leaving only a cold, stiff feeling. She wanted to back away, but her legs felt like lead. She wanted to argue, but it felt like an invisible hand was gripping her throat tightly.
She could even clearly feel her heart pounding wildly against her chest, beat by beat, beat by beat, in the deathly silence of the unfinished building.
This is no longer just flirting.
This is the verdict.
The verdict stated that from the moment she stood in front of Qin Xiao, she completely lost control over her own life.
"you……"
She finally managed to squeeze out a single word through gritted teeth, her voice dry and hoarse, like sandpaper being rubbed together.
Just then, an untimely voice broke the eerie tension between the two.
"Ahem! Shen Xingling, now that the special task force has taken over, you should be reporting the situation to me, not arguing with a... suspect here!"
Li Wei walked over with a livid face, trying to regain some of his pitiful authority. He simply couldn't stand seeing his subordinate so close to a man of unknown origin in front of everyone.
Qin Xiao didn't even turn around to look at him, but instead observed with great interest the wonderful expressions on Shen Xingling's face.
He reached out, as if to help her straighten her disheveled collar.
Shen Xingling instinctively shrank back, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her eyes full of wariness and resistance.
“See, it’s a conditioned reflex.” Qin Xiao withdrew his hand, the corner of his mouth curving into a deeper smile. “Captain Li, she can’t answer your question. Because now, she doesn’t have the final say.”
"What the hell did you say?!" Li Wei's anger was reignited.
"I said, you should shut up."
A steady and powerful voice came from the entrance.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged man in a trench coat, with a resolute face and sharp, piercing eyes, walking in quickly with two assistants whose demeanors were completely different. The work badge hanging on his chest clearly read "Zhou Zhengguo, Head of the Municipal Public Security Bureau Special Task Force".
When Li Wei saw the person who had arrived, the anger on his face instantly froze, replaced by a hint of flattery and nervousness.
"Director Zhou... Director Zhou! Why did you come in person?"
Zhou Zhengguo didn't even glance at him, walking straight past him. His gaze swept quickly around the scene like a searchlight, finally settling steadily on Qin Xiao.
"You're the 'specially appointed consultant' Shen Xingling mentioned on the phone?" Zhou Zhengguo's tone was unreadable, but his stance clearly indicated his attitude. He didn't immediately go to investigate the scene; instead, he came to find Qin Xiao first.
Qin Xiao stubbed out his cigarette and shrugged noncommittally. "You can interpret it that way."
Zhou Zhengguo nodded, his gaze shifting to the corpse with its throat slit and the travel bag on the ground.
"I heard Shen Xingling's briefing on the way here. She said that you were the first to determine that there was a fourth party involved at the scene, and you pointed out the hidden handgun and the crucial bloodstains on the travel bag?"
"It was nothing," Qin Xiao replied casually.
The surrounding police officers, including Li Wei, were all dumbfounded.
What's going on? The head of the city bureau's special task force came down to handle the case personally, and he's being so polite to a young man of unknown origin? He's even using a tone of "asking for advice"?
Li Wei felt a burning pain in his face, more humiliating than being slapped ten times in public.
Shen Xingling's feelings were extremely complicated. She had originally thought that her claim of hiring a "consultant" was just a lie that would be exposed quickly, but she never expected that this lie would be tacitly accepted by a higher-level leader!
Was Qin Xiao's judgment too accurate, forcing Zhou Zhengguo to take it seriously? Or... did this man have a background that even Zhou Zhengguo had to be wary of?
“Mr. Consultant,” Zhou Zhengguo spoke again, his form of address changed, “what are your thoughts on that woman who escaped?”
“She runs very fast, has extremely strong counter-surveillance capabilities, and is ruthless.” Qin Xiao turned to the dark ventilation duct opening. “The fact that she escaped from here shows that she knows the underground pipe network in this area like the back of her hand. This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a planned escape route.”
He paused, then added, "Investigating her identity, starting with top female assassins on the black market or corporate spies, will be much faster than investigating an ordinary criminal. Also, although she appears unaffected by the gunshot wound to her leg, she will definitely seek out unofficial medical channels to treat her wound within 24 hours. This is another direction for your investigation."
Zhou Zhengguo nodded repeatedly, and his gaze toward Qin Xiao now held a hint of genuine admiration.
"Professional. Mr. Qin, your observation skills are sharper than many of our veteran criminal investigators."
Just then, Qin Xiao's phone suddenly rang.
The ringtone was an extremely flamboyant saxophone tune, completely out of place with the serious and tense atmosphere of the scene.
Qin Xiao glanced at the caller ID, a hint of helplessness on his face, and casually pressed the answer button, turning on speakerphone.
"Hey, my little Xiaoxiao, are you done with your work yet? We, Zhixue, and our poor Qingrong are all eagerly waiting to see your 'divine hands'!"
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