Although the context around Gao Yize's case was now sorted out, the special task force once again found themselves facing a dead end. It was simply because they had too few clues, a complete lack of evidence, coupled with little information about how these four people were interlinked, and no knowledge at all of what the motive for killing them was or even who could be suspected.

Gao Yize and Wang Wei were alumni of the same school but, aside from playing basketball together, they had had no other interaction, and nor did they have any common ground outside of the school. One of them was a top-ranking student from a rich family, the other was a poor student with a complicated family background. After graduating from high school, they had gone their separate ways. The disparities between their background, upbringing and social status were so great that naturally, after graduating, they had nothing more to do with each other. After Gao Yize became famous, Wang Wei would often brush the other's Weibo, but that was all he would do, nothing more.

And Zhao Kai and Mao Xiaoming were even less likely to be associated with Gao Yize. After finishing junior high school, they had directly entered society. They had borrowed money from loan sharks, had become pimps and had also ended up spending time in juvenile prisons. The two of them had been living at the bottom rungs of the society for a long time. There was almost no overlap between their social circles and that of Gao Yize's, and needless to say, this was also the same with regards to their interpersonal relationships.

The task force believed that if the four people had ever met in the past, it must have been during their school days, and at that time, something unexpected must have happened, an event that brought them together, which led to this spate of serial murders several years later. But what could have happened? In the end, who was the killer?

In order to find the answer to these questions, the investigation team was dispatched to conduct numerous visits and surveys. The members of the team interviewed the people associated with these four victims-their teachers, classmates, friends and whichever relatives they could contact, but still failed to unearth any useful clues.

The answers they received from these interviews were all the same- Gao Yize and Wang Wei were just 'nodding friends', who sometimes played basketball together. Gao Yize, Zhao Kai and Mao Xiaoming simply didn't know each other at all and had never met each other in public. It could be seen that Gao Yize was the kind of person who was very clever and sensible, he had been this way since his days as a student. He performed well in his studies, was clearly a gifted student, had a very harmonious relationship with his classmates, never quarreled with anyone, and nor did he participate in any immoral actions such as bullying or other such atrocities.

Although Wang Wei had a poor academic performance, he was a cheerful and lively student, who was popular with his peers and had no history of having done any bad deeds. At that time, Zhao Kai and Mao Xiaoming had already stopped attending school. Although they were often seen near the premises of the Affiliated High School, no one could recall whether or not they had appeared together with Gao Yize and Wang Wei.

During the time Gao Yize was enrolled in that school, there had been no students who had suddenly dropped out of the school, and neither were there any documented accidents that had taken place there. The entire student batch of that year had graduated safely before going on to walk on different paths.

There was absolutely no common ground connecting these four people, and the events and circumstances surrounding those years had become an unsolvable mystery.

"Now, Fan Jialuo is the only one who will be able to help us find the murderer. Even if he didn't have a hand in the murder itself, he clearly knows the inside story!" Zhuang Zhen stated with great certainty.

That very same day, in the afternoon, Zhuang Zhen went in person to visit Fan Jialuo in his apartment.

"Officer Zhuang, we meet again." Fan Jialuo had only just roused from his slumber, and was simply wearing a white bathrobe, his hair still dripping water. A stream of cold air gushed out from his half-closed front door, making the task force members shiver.

Zhuang Zhen didn't bother with a greeting, and directly said,"Mr.Fan, please com with us. Our investigation into Gao Yize's case requires your cooperation."

"Allright, just a moment, please." Fan Jialuo nodded politely, before going back inside to change into a black shirt and trousers. The thick black fabric wrapped snugly around his slender body, greatly contrasting with his now delict and pale skin. As Fan Jialuo was about to head back to the front door, he stopped for a moment, chuckled to himself before shaking his head."I almost forgot to take the gift with me."

Fan Jialuo returned to his bedroom to retrieve a paper box, and then unhurriedly followed the police team to board their car.

Meanwhile, at the police bureau, Liao Fang was chatting with several of her colleagues. "Summer is almost here, I want to buy an umbrella, but I can't find the design that I'm looking for."

"I've heard of two shops which are known for their especially beautiful umbrellas. I'll send you the links."

"Oh, I've already looked at the umbrellas from these two stores. They are quite beautiful, but they don't have the type of umbrella I'm thinking of."

"Aren't their umbrellas already beautiful enough? What specific style are you looking for?"

"I want to buy an umbrella with a starry sky pattern, the best would be if the pattern depicts Leo, my constellation. It would be a black sky with silver stars, shining a little and sparkling a little under the sun." Liao Fang's eyes were full of yearning.

"Let me help you search. Sunproof umbrella, starry pattern, Leo." Another police woman took out her mobile phone and typed these keywords into the search bar.

"It useless. I've tried searching for it several times using many such variations but still haven't found anything." Liao Fang waved her hand regretfully in response. As soon as her voice fell, she saw the Leader walk into the office from outside, accompanied by Fan Jialuo, who was following behind him. Today, the man was wearing a set of black clothes, consisting of a shirt and trousers. The combination made his skin look whiter than snow, and his lips were a vibrant red, as if they had been smeared with vermilion. From the moment he walked inside, he seemed to emit a shimmering light, it looked as if he had absorbed sunlight itself.

Liao Fang and the several policewomen could only gape at him speechlessly with their mouths open in astonishment. Despite knowing that this man was a suspected accomplice in a serial murder case, they were still unable to associate cruelty, mercilessness, bloodiness or any other negative traits with him.

Zhuang Zhen took Fan Jialuo directly to the interrogation room and appointed Luo Hong to take notes for the recording. One by one, the policewomen felt their emotions stir, it seemed that Fan Jialuo's face had become even more lethal than it was half a month ago. If Zhuang Zhen hadn't sent someone to monitor his activities 24/7, he might have suspected that Fan Jialuo had gotten cosmetic surgery.

Fan Jialuo's eyes were lowered slightly, his lips were gently hooked, and his entire demeanour was relaxed.

Zhuang Zhen moved the lamp light such that it shone solely on him. Even after being placed under such a strong light suddenly, Fan Jialuo didn't flinch or even blink his eyes, and instead gave a short laugh. His clear laughter echoed throughout the narrow interrogation room, and Luo Hong couldn't help but quiver. This man's laughter is like that of a devil!

Zhuang Zhen didn't pay any attention to Fan Jialuo, simply choosing to slowly straighten out the sleeves that had been rolled up to his elbow and then buttoning their cuffs tidily at his wrist. In this way, no one noticed the layer of goosebumps that had already started to break out along his arms.

Liu Tao and two other members of the investigation team were in the monitoring room next door and observed Fan Jialuo's actions through the one-way mirror. This man had such great composure that they were completely unable to predict his next action, or even the words that would leave his mouth.

One shouldn't assume that these police officers did not have the foundation to oversee this trial. Even Zhuang Zhen, who had a lot of experience in interrogating and had excellent abilities, couldn't guarantee that he would be able to break through Fan Jialuo's psychological defense lines. To this end, he had even made multiple preparations for this round of interrogation beforehand.

The chair in the interrogation room was especially created keeping the suspect in mind. Except the back and surface of the chair, which were covered with a thin layer of leather, the remaining parts were formed from steel bars, which completely violated the principle of ergonomic product design, and made the user only feel the slightest modicum of comfort when sitting up at attention; it was cold and hard, and would pressure a phrenic response from the person seated in it. There was no doubt that such a sensation would increase the psychological burden on the suspect, which would become very beneficial for the interrogation.

However, Zhuang Zhen felt that such a chair would still be a little too comfortable for Fan Jialuo, so he had it replaced with a steel chair that had no leather coverings at all. The interior of the interrogation room was narrow, it was stuffy, and its temperature was naturally much lower than that outside the room. As soon as someone walked in, they would feel discomfited with the cold room. Then, after sitting in the cold metal chair, their discomfort would be instantly magnified.

The incandescent lamp on the table was also more powerful than the standard incandescent lamp they normally used. Its pale light condensed into a single column, which when directly shined on the face, would stab at the suspect's eyes, causing them to squint. At the same time, it would make them feel that they were unable to hide anything. In fact, feeling such a way was also not untrue. Under the bright light, all of the suspect's minute facial expressions would be captured and scrutinised by the police behind the one-way mirror. Even if the suspects didn't utter a single word, the twitching of their lips, the dilation of their pupils, the focus of their gaze, and even the frequency of their breathing could provide many clues for the police.

However, in front of Fan Jialuo, all these arrangements were tantamount to naught. He sat upright on the cold and hard steel chair, with his long legs crossed to form a very beautiful arc, a pair of white hands overlapping on top of his knee, reflecting the light of the incandescent lamp, and firmly attracting the attention of others.

He sat in the interrogation room under the identity of a suspect, but he appeared elegant, noble and peaceful, as if he had been invited to a gathering between friends.

In the space of one minute, Luo Hong had secretly glanced at Fan Jialuo more than ten times. He was very impressed by this man's remarkably high psychological quality.

Zhuang Zhen's black double-edged brows twisted tightly, forming a severe gully at the center. He had a premonition that this interrogation would be very difficult. Even if the first two items he had prepared did not work on Fan Jialuo, he would conduct the interrogation at his own pace. Zhuang Zhen stared at Fan Jialuo silently and did not speak, while Luo Hong kept looking at the documents in front of him, as if he was the owner of a lot of evidence.

Silence was also a kind of pressure. What people feared most was not the onslaught of terrible things, but the wait before it arrived. In this blank moment, some suspects would end up thinking about many things. The more they thought about it, the more uncertain they would become about the kind of clues the police had already discovered, about whether there was exact evidence or not, or how they should explain themselves, and if they recognized the piece of evidence or not...

Such wild thoughts would form a torrent that would attack the suspect's psychological defense line first, hence making the next steps in the interrogation much smoother.

Zhuang Zhen was very good at grasping the psychology of criminal suspects, but he was once again frustrated to find that Fan Jialuo was not afraid of the silence or the wait. His patience was even better than Zhuang Zhen's. Even if he sat in a stressful interrogation room all day, it was nothing to him. Facing the dazzling white light, Fan Jialuo turned those extremely bright eyes, which surprisingly were still unfathomably dark despite fully absorbing the dense rays of the incandescent lamp, to look back at Zhuang Zhen silently. They were direct and calm, without a tremor or hint of avoidance, or joy or sorrow.

Zhuang Zhen could see nothing in his face except for his dazzling beauty and its gentle indifference. Fan Jialuo even hooked his crimson lips in an upwards arc, to indicate an 'I'm glad to accept all the arrangements you've made for me' through his appearance, thereby bringing Zhuang Zhen's searching gaze to a complete halt.

Zhuang Zhen drew his eyes away from the other's smile. Ripples appeared in his originally tranquil heart. He was extremely upset to find that Fan Jialuo had already won the upper hand even before the interrogation began, and moreover, it was his first, and perhaps only, time encountering such a difficult opponent.

Zhuang Zhen and Luo Hong faced him with prudence and were constantly alert, treating the other person as a great opponent. This was in sharp contrast to the leisurely Fan Jialuo who simply sat there as if the clouds were pale and a light breeze was blowing. Liu Tao and the others, who were standing in front of the one-way mirror to observe Fan Jialuo, were somewhat discouraged.

"I don't think the outcome of this interrogation will be good!"

"How is his psychological quality so good?"

"Leader must have plans for him. Even Taiban, the great drug lord in Southeast Asia, broke down when being interrogated by Leader, and Fan Jialuo could never be more cunning than Taiban."

"I think his mind is more stable than Taiban's. After entering the interrogation room, he's been sitting quietly like a corpse for more than ten minutes, yet the curve of his mouth hasn't changed. Taiban didn't have this kind of strength."

"Vice Captain, Dr. Song is here!" A police officer knocked on the door of the monitoring room and brought in a man who had a graceful and gentle demeanor.

Liu Tao was overjoyed and hurriedly ushered the man into the room, while giving a brief account of the situation. The man didn't look surprised when he heard that Fan Jialuo's mind was very stable. He just connected to the bluetooth headset and said to Zhuang Zhen, who was on the other end, "Lao Zhuang, you can start your questioning, I will help you check."

This man was Song Rui, a world-renowned psychologist and a consultant of Criminal Psychology for the Ministry of Public Security. From all the interrogations he had ever participated in, there had never been a single suspect who had been unwilling to confess everything in front of him yet.

...