After a long silence, Qiu Yuelin said somewhat unwillingly, "Then our clues have gone cold again?"
Lin Xiao's expression was also grim: "It seems that the connection with Zhu Jianyi has been severed."
Lu Ning said, "The cultist from Paradise just now said that her mission was complete before she became ill. It's possible that they were originally in one of the rooms next door, and they eavesdropped on our conversation through their awakened abilities or some kind of Horcrux."
Lin Xiao sighed: "It's very likely. Then that cultist was responsible for interfering with us through the disease, and also notified other cultists so that they could take advantage of the time difference and go directly to No. 12 Nanning Road."
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yuelin seemed to realize something and looked at Jeff sitting in the back seat with a suspicious expression: "You're not also from Happy Paradise, are you? Are you here to eavesdrop on us?!"
Jeff's face turned pale, and he shook his head repeatedly, saying in a tearful voice, "My lord, please see the truth! I'm truly an innocent bystander! I had no idea I'd been hypnotized by Zhu Jianyi!"
Jeff's eyes were red, and he almost shed tears, which made Qiu Yuelin feel a little guilty.
Lin Xiao calmly said, "Whether you are innocent or not, we will investigate and find out. Now you need to come back to the station with us."
Jeff nodded with a long face: "Yes, Captain Lin."
Lu Ning asked, "Captain, are we still going to No. 12 Nanning Road?"
"Let's go take a look."
"good."
…………
The middle section of Nanning Road was blocked off by the sheriff, and the fire in the shops had been extinguished by firefighters.
There were some ordinary people around who were peering out from outside the cordon, curious about what was happening inside.
Lin Xiao parked his SUV on the side of the road, and the group got out and walked towards the cordon.
When the sheriff outside the cordon saw Lin Xiao and his group approaching, he quickly stepped forward to stop them.
"You can't go in here!"
Lin Xiao took out his identification and handed it over: "We are from the Mist Bureau."
The officers were taken aback, and one of them quickly took the identification and looked at it.
After confirming Lin Xiao's identity, they saluted Lin Xiao and his companions.
"Greetings, sir!"
Lin Xiao nodded, took back his ID, and asked, "Is Liu Qiang here?"
"Commander Liu is inside. You can go in and find him."
"good."
Several sheriffs gave them permission to cross the cordon and enter the restricted area.
Lu Ning looked around at the interior environment.
The shops along one side of the street were in ruins, with one of the worst-hit areas almost completely destroyed, leaving charred marks on the walls and signs of burning.
Several sheriffs and members of the Fog Bureau's action team, dressed in trench coats, were going in and out of several shops.
One of the tall, thin middle-aged men saw Lin Xiao and his group, his eyes lit up, and he walked up to them.
"Old Lin, you've arrived?"
Lin Xiao nodded: "Hmm, how is it?"
Liu Qiang frowned and said, "There are traces of a battle on the wall of number 12. It was done by the Awakened, but they were very careful and didn't leave any clues—or the clues may have been destroyed by the explosion."
Lin Xiao's expression was not good. He asked, "Who originally owned this restaurant at number 12? Have you checked?"
"We investigated and found that the restaurant was opened by a man named Zhu Yunxiao. It has been open for more than five years. According to our investigation, the restaurant has always been operating normally, with no problems with expenses, taxes, etc. As for the owner, he was originally just an ordinary restaurant owner."
Lin Xiao and Lu Ning exchanged glances: "Surname Zhu?"
"What? Is there a problem with this surname?" Liu Qiang asked, puzzled.
“We’ve run out of leads we’re investigating, and the witness to that lead is also surnamed Zhu,” Lin Xiao said.
Liu Qiang frowned immediately, realizing what was going on: "So those people from Happy Paradise are planning to destroy the clues?"
"Very likely." Lin Xiao nodded, then asked, "Has Zhu Yunxiao's body been found?"
Liu Qiang shook his head: "Nothing was found. Normally, the power of a gas explosion is not enough to leave no body fragments behind. We didn't find any body fragments of Zhu Yunxiao, so he shouldn't have died here. There are two possibilities: one is that he escaped, and the other is that he was captured by the Happy Paradise people."
Lin Xiao frowned and thought for a moment, then sighed and said, "I hope it's the first one. Could you guys help me investigate the area and see if there are any signs that Zhu Yunxiao has left?"
"OK!"
After exchanging words for a while, Lu Ning and the others followed them into the scene to take a look.
The restaurant's tables and chairs were almost all broken, and there were some marks on the walls that looked like claw marks, not from an explosion.
This is also why Liu Qiang believes that awakened individuals participated in the battle.
Apart from that, there were indeed no other clues.
After a careful inspection, they found nothing and had no choice but to leave.
Back in the SUV, Lin Xiao headed towards the Mist Bureau branch of their Seventh District.
After getting out of the car, Jeff hunched over like a quail, looking around fearfully.
Lin Xiao glanced at him and said to Qiu Yuelin and Lu Ning, "I'll take him for questioning. You two go upstairs first."
Lu Ning glanced at Jeff and nodded: "Mm."
Lu Ning and Qiu Yuelin returned to the third floor.
Colin, Wang Qiwen, and Wei Xuan were playing games in the activity room when they saw Lu Ning and Qiu Yuelin enter and turned to look at them.
Colin adjusted his glasses and asked, "How's it going? Any progress?"
Qiu Yuelin plopped down on the sofa, angrily saying, "Don't even mention it! We found Zhu Jianyi's residence, but he's already been murdered. It was done by the people from Happy Paradise!"
Upon hearing Qiu Yuelin's words, the three of them immediately stopped playing the game and came over.
"What's going on?" Colin asked with a serious expression.
Qiu Yuelin recounted everything that had happened, and the expressions of Colin and the other two changed continuously.
After a moment of silence, Colin said, "It seems that Happy Paradise probably has quite a few people in our base city."
Wang Qiwen frowned deeply and slammed his hand on the coffee table: "What exactly are they trying to do!?"
Wei Xuan looked somewhat worried and said, "When cultists gather and hold activities, it's usually not a good thing for the base city."
Colin sighed and said, "Yes, there are quite a few base cities in history that have suffered huge losses due to cult activities, and some have even been destroyed because of it."
The air in the activity room suddenly became quiet.
The increasingly frequent activities of the members of Happy Paradise within the base city have caused concern among everyone.
“Zhu Yunxiao should know some clues that Zhu Jianyi might have, but I don’t know what his current situation is. I’m afraid we can’t count on this lead for the time being.” Colin shook his head.
Lu Ning asked, "Did you have any other news at the station today? What's the situation with Li Yang and that Samantha? And are there any leads on Gao Tianlin's side?"
Upon hearing this, Colin and the other two immediately became serious.
Colin said with a somber expression, "Li Yang is dead."
"What? He's dead too?!" Qiu Yuelin's expression changed drastically, her eyes widening.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
