Zou Chengwei did not attempt to chit-chat further. He glanced at the time and said, "Give Fan Yansong a call and ask him to come back using whatever excuse you can think of."

Since Fan Yansong was confirmed as a suspect, Zou Chengwei needed to bring him in for further questioning.

​​

Cui Xiuya figured that her guesswork was on the right path, but the police officers were sworn to keep the cases' confidentiality. Thus, there was no way on Earth that Zou Chengwei would tell her the truth even though her assumption was correct.

Fortunately, Cui Xiuya had remarkable mental toughness. She was able to conceal her feelings when making a phone call to Fan Yansong using the excuse that a customer, who was introduced by his friend to deal with Fan Yansong directly, was interested in purchasing a pre-owned house.

Fan Yansong seemed to be exhilarated on the other end of the phone.

Cui Xiuya hung up the phone call and told Zou Chengwei, "He was bringing a client for site viewing just now and is on his way back here now. He should be arriving real soon."

Fifteen minutes later, a gentle voice emerged behind Zou Chengwei. "Hello, are you the one looking for me? My name is Fan Yansong."

Zou Chengwei stood up immediately and grabbed Fan Yansong's wrist before showing his identification card. "Police. I need you to come with me to the police station for further questioning on a case."

Fan Yansong was stunned and in shock briefly before nodding his head. "Alright, may I ask what the case is?"

Zou Chengwei glanced at Cui Xiuya momentarily before answering, "The murder case in Mountain View Community."

Fan Yansong nodded in response. "Even though I've no idea why I'm related, I'm more than willing to help."

After observing Fan Yansong for a few moments, Zou Chengwei grabbed his wrist for precaution and spoke to Cui Xiuya. "Miss Cui, please come with me to the station for further questioning too."

Cui Xiuya nodded and took her bag.

There was not the slightest guilt in Cui Xiuya's mind since she did not commit any crime at all.

After that, the trio exited the office together. When Cui Xiuya was attempting to lock the door, Fan Yansong shoved Zou Chengwei's hand aside and slipped his arm around Cui Xiuya's throat before dragging her back. 

Cui Xiuya was caught off guard and staggered. If it was not for the fact that Fan Yansong was clutching her neck, she would definitely stumble onto the ground. However, the force of gravity compelled her to slump downward like she was hung off the ground which compressed her airway, causing difficulty in breathing and extreme discomfort in her.

Cui Xiuya's tongue slipped out of her opened mouth as she tried desperately to break free of Fan Yansong's grasp, but failed when energy was drained from her body due to the lack of breath.

"Fan Yansong, let her go!" yelled Zou Chengwei while aiming at Fan Yansong with his pistol.

A switchblade appeared in Fan Yansong's hand out of nowhere with the sharp tip of the blade touching Cui Xiuya's neck.

"Let me go and I'll let her go! You can open fire but even if you shoot me directly in the heart, I believe I can cut her artery at the same time too."

"Fan Yansong, you're just a suspect and nothing will happen to you if you just follow me back to the station for further questioning, but you've basically confessed to your crime when you pulled this move. You're wanted for murder and hostage-taking. You can't run away," said Zou Chengwei coldly.

Cui Xiuya dared not to speak when the cold steel was pressed against her flesh. She just stood there, shuddering and trembling uncontrollably as tears started rolling down her cheeks in terror. 

"I want you to let me go now! Throw the gun away if you don't want her to become a corpse," The agitated Fan Yansong applied some pressure to the blade and pierced through Cui Xiuya's flesh slightly, causing crimson fluids to slide down her neck like a lazy river. 

Cui Xiuya wailed after feeling the warm fluid trickling down her skin.

"Fan Yansong, please let me go. I beg you, let me go! We're friends and colleagues. I've never done anything to hurt you. You…"

"Never done anything to hurt me? You helped this police officer and lied to me, and you said that you've never done anything to hurt me?" Fan Yansong sounded like a maniac.

Cui Xiuya failed to muster a reply and continued to shed tears.

Zou Chengwei replied calmly, "She didn't know about my true identity. I came here as a client and lied to her that a friend introduced me to you. That was the reason why she called you to come back. She didn't lie to you."

However, Fan Yansong no longer cared about the truth and yelled, "I don't care if you're telling me the truth. I came back because of her! Put the gun down!"

Zou Chengwei narrowed his eyes and heard Fan Yansong's agitated words. "Put it down now! Don't even think about messing around with me! Otherwise, I'll stab her right now! Can you allow an innocent hostage to die because of you?"

"Alright, I'll put the gun down. Don't act recklessly." Zou Chengwei fixed his gaze on Fan Yansong while bending down slowly to put his pistol onto the ground.

"Kick your gun to me!" instructed Fan Yansong.

Zou Chengwei glanced at Fan Yansong before kicking his pistol to Cui Xiuya's foot.

Fan Yansong's elbow was struck hard from behind just when he was about to move, causing his entire arm to go numb. He tried desperately to grasp his switchblade firmly but failed in the end.

Fan Yansong's first reaction was to turn around and identify the assailant, but the assailant kicked his arm again with a stronger force, which almost broke Fan Yansong's arm. Thus, he had no choice but to release his grip on Cui Xiuya.

The wailing and howling Cui Xiuya seized this opportunity and ran toward Zou Chengwei, who asked Cui Xiuya to hide in the corridor first while he walked forward to assist the suspect's arrest.

The assailant who struck Fan Yansong was actually Zhang Shanfei, who was quick in his investigation since the community he was in charge of had fewer shopfronts. He also failed to locate any potential suspects in his community and thus, had decided to come over and lend Zou Chengwei a helping hand.

Zou Chengwei gave Zhang Shanfei a phone call before he entered Home Love Property Agency Company, so Zhang Shanfei knew where to find him upon arrival at this community. However, he did not expect to find Zou Chengwei confronting a young man who had taken a young lady as a hostage.

Zou Chengwei noticed Zhang Shanfei creeping toward Fan Yansong and made eye contact with him tacitly. Fan Yansong failed to realize the imminent danger that was lurking behind him and thus, was taken down fairly easily under the duo's cooperative efforts.

Zou Chengwei picked up his pistol to prevent any possible accident while Zhang Shanfei proceeded to handcuff Fan Yansong. After making sure that Fan Yansong could no longer attempt his escape, Zou Chengwei went to check on Cui Xiuya's condition.

Fortunately, Cui Xiuya merely suffered from a simple flesh wound even though blood was oozing out of her split skin.

Zhang Shanfei took Fan Yansong back to the police station for interrogation while Zou Chengwei brought Cui Xiuya to the community clinic for wound disinfection and bandaging before returning to the police station. 

"Fan Yansong entered the interrogation room not long ago but refused to say anything. Sergeant Yang and Shanfei are questioning him right now," said Fang Zhitong after noticing Zou Chengwei's return with Cui Xiuya.

"This case must be his doing based on his reaction. He can't run away from this," complained the annoyed Zou Chengwei.

"Don't worry, Mr. Qi is here to get everything he wants to know from him," Fang Zhitong smiled before bringing Cui Xiuya for a statement recording with Zou Chengwei.

Instead of watching Fan Yansong's interrogation scene in the observation room with Qi Youxuan, Jiang Yuecheng followed Zou Chengwei and Fang Zhitong for Cui Xiuya's statement recording.

After Zou Chengwei and Fang Zhitong were done with their questions, Jiang Yuecheng asked, "Normally when Fan Yansong brings clients out for site viewing, does he possess the key to the owner's house if the owner is absent?"

Cui Xiuya nodded and answered, "He definitely has the keys if the house is empty, but the owner usually won't pass the keys to us if the house is occupied. Who'll pass the keys to outsiders when there are valuables in the house?"

"How about rented houses? The keys are with the landlords, but some landlords will still pass the keys to you even though there are tenants in the house, yes?" asked Jiang Yuecheng.

Cui Xiuya nodded her head in embarrassment. "That normally happens when the tenancy agreement is expiring soon and the tenants don't wish for contract continuation. The landlords will urge the tenants to pack up completely in advance and move out of the house on the day of lease expiration. Before that, the landlords will usually engage us to rent out their properties. Since the houses are for rental purposes, some landlords don't care about the tenants' losses and will pass us the keys in advance so that we can bring clients for site viewing. Even so, we'll contact the tenants and make appointments beforehand. We can't afford to bear the responsibility if the tenants really suffer losses."

Zou Chengwei understood immediately and said, "The house in Mountain View Community that the victim, Liu Peipei rented belonged to Yue Yifan whose husband, Yu Chaosheng had an affair with."

"Yu Chaosheng asked Liu Peipei to rent the house owned by his wife in Mountain View Community initially, and he would help Liu Peipei pay for the rental fees. I suppose he was reluctant to let other landlords earn his money. That way, he wouldn't earn money or suffer any loss, which was basically a win-win situation," continued Fang Zhitong.

"I'll contact Yue Yifan immediately," replied Zou Chengwei.

Yue Yifan was a tall, big-boned, and muscular woman who looked like an athlete. She was even a head taller than Yu Chaosheng. According to the investigative data, Yue Yifan used to be a volleyball player in the national team, but she was merely a substitute without any fame or reputation and was retired from the team after her marriage.

"Do you know about the relationship between Yu Chaosheng and Liu Peipei previously?" asked Zou Chengwei.