Chapter Sixty: It Turns Out to Be Her?!

Wan Yongkun, who was responsible for surveilling Xiaoli, had provided no feedback. Meanwhile, Kuang Suo, assigned to monitor Hu Wenyi, brought forth a clue that only deepened everyone's confusion: after Hu Wenyi entered the Emperor Dynasty Film Company on that day, he never came out again. In the following days, there was no sign of him entering or leaving; Kuang Suo even thought the man must have been so busy he was practically living at the company.

Of course, Kuang Suo could not openly walk into the company or confront Hu Wenyi directly. The eleven-story building of Emperor Dynasty Film stood isolated, surrounded by empty spaces without any tall structures nearby. Surveillance from the perimeter was clearly sufficient.

Shortly after, Li Yiting sent a message: according to Yiruo, several girls had entered Hu Wenyi’s office that day, though she did not know them personally. They were among those shortlisted from the same batch of open auditions. They entered the office around the morning, each staying less than five minutes before leaving. Afterwards, she did not pay much attention and did not receive an interview notification herself.

Chen Tianyu had yet to respond when Li Yiting messaged again: “I’ve already asked Qian Ya to check the list since Yiruo can’t manage it herself.”

This was an unspoken understanding. Chen Tianyu exhaled slightly.

He trusted these people unconditionally—brothers who had stood shoulder to shoulder through life and death situations over the years. They were far more capable than most police officers; ordinary cases could never escape their eagle eyes.

In other words, Hu Wenyi had truly vanished like smoke right under Beiting’s watchful gaze!

Yet, Chen Tianyu was not a man given to superstition.

Ghost stories? Beiting was not easily fooled.

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Chen Tianyu first posted Yiruo Jecker’s photo in the group chat and reminded Kuang Suo, “This is our friend. Remember her features first.”

According to Yiruo, sixteen girls had made it through the auditions that day. These girls were not necessarily all rookies, but being new, they generally followed the rules. The company’s interview process was fairly formal, adopting semi-military management. The sixteen were led by Xiaoli’s female assistant and moved almost as a group whether entering or leaving the company, dining, or waiting for interviews.

This was good news, because Yiruo was one of the sixteen. If Kuang Suo could recall Yiruo’s presence, he might also remember the others in the group and reconstruct the scene.

Kuang Suo had arrived late and did not know Yiruo or Qian Ya. Li Yiting was on an undercover mission and chose not to share unnecessary information in the group to avoid complications.

In other words, Kuang Suo first had to identify the unfamiliar Yiruo from memory, then use her to pinpoint the other fifteen women who appeared as a group.

For most people, this would be an impossible task—but Kuang Suo was no ordinary man.

To ease Kuang Suo’s workload, Chen Tianyu only asked him to report on the sixteen’s departure from the company, checking for any abnormalities: whether the number was consistent, if anyone behaved strangely, or if anyone carried suspicious items.

Even so, it would take Kuang Suo considerable time before he could provide solid details.

He might have asked Yunji for information, but knowing Yunji well, unless Yunji approached him voluntarily, extracting clues was unlikely. Cooperation was more about intelligence exchange, and Chen Tianyu currently had nothing to trade.

Such uncertain inquiries were not something Chen Tianyu would pursue without urgency.

Taking advantage of this lull, Chen Tianyu’s mind raced: he needed to thoroughly piece everything together.

First, the death of Xiao Su and Hu Wenyi’s mysterious disappearance seemed unrelated, yet Hu Wenyi was a crucial link to uncovering the truth. His vanishing cut off all leads, naturally arousing suspicion—especially since Xiaoli had intervened at a critical moment.

Second, if Hu Wenyi was directly connected to Xiao Su’s death, he might have taken protective measures, orchestrating a disappearance to avoid investigation. Given Hu Wenyi’s intelligence and capability, this was plausible.

Third, how could a living man vanish inside an office? Such things were heard only in escape-room games on TV, where camera tricks create illusions. Reality wasn’t a filmed show.

Fourth, could Hu Wenyi still be hiding somewhere within the building? After working there for years, he knew it intimately. Concealing himself from others was not impossible but would be illogical and foolish.

Fifth, could he have disguised himself and slipped out unnoticed, fooling even the company’s management? This was possible but flawed. Hu Wenyi was a well-known figure in the company, constantly observed and surrounded by acquaintances—unless he had somehow changed his face entirely.

Sixth, if others ignored Hu Wenyi, Xiaoli certainly did not. How then did he evade the watchful eyes of his lover?

Seventh, perhaps Hu Wenyi hid during the day and slipped out late at night when no one was watching, muddying the timeline of his disappearance. This was also possible.

Finally, and most likely, Hu Wenyi had an accomplice helping him execute this elaborate vanishing act.

Chen Tianyu approached the case holistically. Considering the broad scope and the shadows of a vast criminal syndicate, it was unlikely that one or two individuals could orchestrate such a meticulous scheme, let alone toy with the police.

Imagine: a strange death and a living man disappearing into thin air—if the culprit worked alone, Chen Tianyu thought he must be mad.

Unfortunately, the criminal network in Chen Tianyu’s mind was shapeless—only a suffocating sense of pressure without a single thread to follow. This lingering haze weighed heavily on him, fueling his frustration.

When enemies hide within layers of fog, when the opponent is but air or shadow, anyone would feel powerless.

Did Qian Ya still conceal something from him? The thought suddenly surfaced in Chen Tianyu’s mind.

And that mysterious eagle, Yunji—like Qian Ya, he had mentioned Xiao Su’s group casually. Who exactly were these people? Neither had told the whole truth.

Was this toxic PUA group not only preying on naive young girls but also involved in murder and robbery? Besides Xiao Su, who else belonged to this organization? Too many riddles demanded unraveling.

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Qian Ya’s skills were no joke. Not only did she obtain the list of sixteen girls, but she also secured detailed files on each, stunning everyone.

Yet she refused to reveal how or where she got this information. Even the Beiting team was baffled by this “professional assassin.”

When Li Yiting scanned and uploaded the voluminous data, the ID photos caught Kuang Suo’s eye like a beacon in darkness, instantly lighting up his mental pathways.

The images from the day Hu Wenyi disappeared played out in Kuang Suo’s mind, fast-forwarding to the moment at 10:12 a.m. when Yiruo and the other beauties entered the Emperor Dynasty Film building. He examined each girl’s face—the contours, features, ears, eyes, nose, microexpressions, muscle movements, hairstyles—like a supercomputer processing data at lightning speed.

ID photos were almost flat, hiding many details—only one ear was visible, and poses could distort facial shape. Yet real people were three-dimensional, with subtle complexities. To be thorough, Kuang Suo spent extra time scrutinizing and recalling their gait and what they carried.

About thirty minutes later, the footage fast-forwarded to the girls’ exit times. The clock read 12:48 p.m. Kuang Suo’s headache deepened. Although the sixteen entered together, they left in three batches: nine at 12:48, three at 12:55, and four at 1:22 p.m. Yiruo was in the last group.

At least the total was still sixteen, confirming his memory was intact.

Excluding Yiruo, fifteen remained for verification. Kuang Suo carefully printed and enlarged their ID photos for precise facial detail examination, spending over an hour on this meticulous work.

He planned to compare:

1. Whether the fifteen matched their photos one-to-one;

2. If those who entered and exited were the same, allowing for the unlikely possibility that other female employees mingled with them;

3. Whether the belongings they carried changed.

The results came quickly. After double- and triple-checking, Kuang Suo sent his final report to the Beiting detective group.

In two brief lines: one person’s appearance partially mismatched her photo. Registered as Mi Fu, she carried a black-and-white shoulder bag before entering; upon leaving, the bag appeared heavier, visibly bulging with additional contents.

Attached were her ID photo and a hand-drawn facial reconstruction by Kuang Suo. Over the years, he had studied police facial reconstruction techniques to complement his photographic memory—now finally put to use.

Chen Tianyu received the report immediately. When he saw the reconstruction, his pupils contracted sharply.

Ah, how could it be her?

What was she doing here? A tremor ran through Chen Tianyu’s heart.