I don't have ulterior motives

He opened Huang Xiaotian's message again.Qiu Zhuo's case must not have been done by this person, but the police could still find him by following the clues of the first case. Moreover, since the person behind him can come up with unwarranted monitoring, it's hard to say what they have behind him.

What if the police find Huang Xiaotian?One possibility is that Huang Xiaotian didn't know about it at all and refused to admit it, which could explain why the other party didn't show Huang Xiaotian's face in the surveillance.Another possibility is that the other party has already controlled Huang Xiaotian, and after the police find him, they will get the accusation against Shu Pingyuan from him.

If the police can't find it...then things are at an impasse for now.The opponent will definitely continue to act.

On balance, the best choice is to let Huang Xiaotian disappear, forcing them to take more actions as soon as possible.The more actions, the more loopholes and clues.

If it was Shu Pingyuan, he would definitely choose to do so without hesitation.Shu Lin'an started to have a headache.According to the information given by that person, Huang Xiaotian had an alibi on the night of Qiu Zhuo's death. Even if Huang Xiaotian was arrested by the police, the police would have no choice but to produce his alibi.But this is more risky. If he doesn't cooperate, he will have no choice but to jump into the fire pit by himself.

If it was Shu Pingyuan, he would still sneer at his untimely hesitation.

Untimely hesitation...

The glowing light on the phone screen went out, and Shu Linan leaned his head against the wall, looking at the closed door, feeling an inexplicable chill in his body.

The dark room, the closed door, the woman's distant cry...all these flashed in his mind again, like broken fragments of lightning, occasionally illuminated for a part, revealing a hideous color.

Shu Linan stood up abruptly.He shook his head, reminding himself where he lived now.He can't dirty his room.What should Huang Xiaotian do?Letting him disappear is the easiest option.Make him disappear...?

Shu Linan's fingertips were on the screen, and he leaned against the wall, holding the phone for a long time.

Make him disappear...?With those hallucinations?

I don't know how long it took, the phone fell on the floor, or rather it was dropped on the floor.Shu Lin'an opened the door and went out as if fleeing.The hall outside is even darker, but there is a small night light next to the bathroom door opposite, probably to prevent the road from being unclear at night.

The desk lamp behind him and the night light in front of him calmed Shu Lin'an's heart a little.Jin Bei slept next to him, and the door was slightly closed.Shu Linan looked sideways for a while, then moved a few steps to the side, and walked to the door.

He really wanted to reach out and knock on the door, but felt that the other party was sleeping and didn't want to disturb him.He put his fingers on the door, stood in front of the door for a while, and then simply sat down beside the door.

That's all it takes.Shu Lin'an lowered his head and thought, knowing that he was there, knowing that he could knock on his door when he couldn't bear it any longer, thinking like this, it seemed that he could bear it.

Remember to go back in the morning... he thought half-consciously.

Jin Bei rarely wakes up at night, but in his sleep he vaguely heard something falling to the ground, as well as other rustling noises.He turned over and was half awake, his mind wandering in a daze.Could it be that the three-year-old fell out of bed?Jin Bei raised the corners of his mouth, squinted his eyes, and decided to pour a glass of water, while turning off the desk lamp while the child was fast asleep.

He lazily opened the door, took a step, and almost tripped over the long legs lying on the ground.

Shu Lin'an looked up in shock, and the two looked at each other face to face, speechless for a while.Shu Linan lowered his head, touched his nose, and was about to stand up when he was pulled up.

"It's so cold, why are you sitting here!" Jin Bei grabbed Shu Lin'an's elbow with one hand, wrapped his waist around his waist with the other, pulled him up, and dusted behind him twice in one go.

"..." Did he really think he was three years old?

"Well, I couldn't sleep, so I came out for a walk..." Shu Linan said guiltily.

"And just sit here?"

"..."

"What about sleepwalking?"

"..."

Shu Lin'an lowered his head, the skin from the tip of his nose, chin to his neck was very white, like a rabbit with drooping ears, Jin Bei thought he had said something about the other party, and felt aggrieved.But in fact, Shu Linan was bowing his head and thinking seriously, sleepwalking?It's a good idea.Next time, maybe I can sneak into his room under the name of sleepwalking...

Just as Jin Bei wanted to comfort him, he heard the person in front of him suddenly think of something, and said, "Well, I seem to... have a history of sleepwalking."

... To be honest, I'm still teasing him.

Shu Lin'an continued: "It happened when I was a child..."

Before he finished making up, Jin Bei grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room: "Okay, come back to sleep with me."

Shu Linan was taken aback.

"Sleepwalking, right? I'm afraid you'll hurt yourself, can I tie you to the bed?"

"..."

"Maybe, it's not very comfortable." Shu Linan hesitated for a moment, then smiled, "But if you don't need a rope, for example, if you come by yourself—"

Jin Bei turned his head and stared at him.

"...It's still possible."

Shu Lin'an felt the hand on his forearm clenched suddenly.Jin Bei passed by the desk lamp at his feet, bent down and turned it off.

The sudden darkness made Shu Linan take two steps forward: "Don't—"

"Ok?"

Jin Bei looked at him, with the only light in the darkness shining in his eyes.Shu Linan looked into those eyes, and swallowed the word turn off the light.

Jin Bei clasped his waist, exerted strength with his hands, and brought him down on the bed.

"Okay. No rope."

Jin Bei's breath brushed against his neck, and the corner of his jaw pressed against his throat.

After adapting to the darkness, the ceiling gradually appeared, and the simple dome lights fell into view in vain.He felt a tidal wave of shudders, and the sound of empty conch shells brushed against his ears.

"Sleepwalking kid, go to sleep." Jin Bei whispered in his ear.Then rolled over and lay down next to him.

His back was almost touching the opponent, and he could feel the heartbeat of the opponent, like a series of galloping hooves.

"Okay." Shu Lin'an said.

Later, he fell into a deep sleep and suddenly felt that he was in the grassland.

Huang Xiaotian died.

When the police arrived at his rental house, they saw such a scene.The rental house is located in an urban village on the edge of the city center. There are not many people during the day, but it is very chaotic at night.It has been more than ten hours since Huang Xiaotian died in the early morning.He was leaning on the sofa in the living room, with a needle dropped by his feet.

The death scene was cordoned off, and the police were taking pictures around the house to collect evidence.Liao Fangyuan stood in front of the window distractedly and lit a cigarette.

A hand came through the air and snatched the cigarette from his hand.

"Be careful of destroying the scene." Ye Xian said flatly.

"I stand eight hundred miles away from the scene, how can I destroy the scene!"

"You are standing next door to the scene. And whether it is the composition of the smoke or the smell, it will affect me, making it impossible for me to investigate the scene properly, so it can be regarded as sabotaging evidence collection."

"...Can't you say that you don't want me to smoke because you are worried about my body?" Liao Fangyuan lowered his head and stroked his forehead.

"This is also a very important reason." Ye Xian nodded and admitted.

"..." Liao Fangyuan decided to leave the topic, "How is the investigation going?" He looked at the bag in Ye Xian's hand, which contained translucent pieces like rock sugar.

"40 grams of drugs were found in the house. Wrapped in toilet paper in the bedroom. Judging from the scene, the cause of death is likely to be a drug overdose."

"There are no other injuries on the corpse... There is no trace of coercion. Could it be that he had a good time by himself?" Liao Fangyuan frowned.

"There were no other people's fingerprints or footprints at the scene. Huang Xiaotian has always been a drug addict. This injection does not look like he was being coerced. From the perspective of the needle hole, he completed the injection himself." Ye Xian looked at Liao Fangyuan, pitch black His eyes are like deep pools, "But the injections are not necessarily prepared by him."

"There may be someone who gave him an overdose, watched Huang Xiaotian inject himself, and then left. This person must be very familiar with Huang Xiaotian, and he is someone he trusts."

"Correct."

Liao Fangyuan stared at the bag in his hand: "Is there any chance of finding out from the drug trafficking line?"

Ye Xian smiled slightly: "Isn't that why you asked me to come here?"

"Recently...have they made any moves?"

"Ke Tanmeng's people have been monitoring, and they are quite honest. But according to reliable news, a batch of drugs has recently flowed into G City, and it seems that Ke Tanmeng has not passed through the hands of Ke Tanmeng."

"Don't go through him?" Liao Fangyuan raised his eyebrows. Ke Tanmeng has monopolized the drug trade in City G for many years, but now it seems that someone wants to make a move.

"I'm wondering if Qiu Zhuo's case is also related to this batch of drugs. Didn't his company have a drug deal with Ke Tanmeng in private?"

"Well... They did have a lot of contacts in the past few years. You mean, this batch of unknown drugs is related to Qiu Zhuo?"

"It's possible." Ye Xian looked out the window, "First, an out-of-town drug distributor died in a hotel, and then the suspect who killed him died in a rental house due to a drug overdose. What is the connection between them..."

"According to the current evidence, Huang Xiaotian is the murderer of the two corpse dismemberment cases, and he is also Shu Pingyuan's subordinate. Therefore, if the whole incident is related to the drug trade, Shu Pingyuan, as a drug distributor, instigated Huang Xiaotian to kill a distributor in another city. And Huang Xiaotian died of a drug overdose, the possibility of being killed by others cannot be ruled out."

Ye Xian frowned: "The case of Zheng Cheng, apart from the fact that Huang Xiaotian is the murderer, has nothing to do with the latter one, does it?"

"Ah."

"Zheng Cheng's death doesn't seem to have anything to do with the drug trade. What I want to know is what role did Ke Tanmeng play in the whole thing. Including his dismissal this time, is Huang Xiaotian's death related to him, or— —”

Ye Xian was interrupted by the ringtone of Liao Fangyuan's cell phone before he finished speaking.Liao Fangyuan answered the call, it was from the Municipal Bureau. Liao Fangyuan's expression gradually became serious when he listened to the other person's words. After a while, he hung up the phone and turned around: "Okay, I understand."

"What's wrong?" Ye Xian asked.

"There is a case at Fengjiang. The deceased was a girl from Chongling High School. She was also mutilated, and there was a mark of a snake ring on her lower abdomen." Liao Fangyuan took a deep look at him, "The one on Qiu Zhuo's body Tattoos are not accidental."

The author has something to say:

Shu Lin'an: Maybe, not very comfortable.But if not—

Jin Bei: (finds out the rope)

Shu Lin'an: Don't... I, I, I, I will go to sleep!