Gong Lao sank deeply into the soft sofa. He hadn’t taken off his shoes, and the dirty soles casually trampled on the carpet.
If it were before, Gong Lao would never dare to be so presumptuous; his 150-pound wife at ho would remove his legs. But now, it no longer matters.
His wife hasn’t been ho these days. He sent her out of Zone 9, to a place where no one could find her.
Beside the shoes, cigarette butts were scattered everywhere. So of them were already extinguished, while others were still emitting faint smoke. The air was filled with the unique sll of tobacco.
Gong Lao’s fingers lightly tapped the armrest of the sofa. Accompanied by the flickering of cigarette sparks, the carpet was burned with blackened holes.
No one knew how much ti had passed. When Gong Lao could no longer shake out a cigarette from the box, his whole figure seed shrouded in smoke, blurring his face.
Buzz buzz buzz——
Amidst the smoke ca the vague sound of a connection. The voice from the other end couldn’t be heard, only Gong Lao’s hoarse voice in response:
"The debt I owed you is cleared now, ha——, it’s ti to go. I see them waving at ."
The falling cigarette butt landed on the carpet. This ti, it didn’t burn a hole but ignited a dangerous fla, which quickly spread to the cigarette butts on the ground, the trouser legs, and the sofa.
Gong Lao seed unaware. He chanically deleted the contacts from his phone, threw it on the tea table, and then opened the old wallet. His gaze fell on a yellowed photo in the compartnt.
The young man in the photo had a silly smile, and the woman beside him was slim and beautiful.
A repressed scream sounded from Gong Lao’s throat. The photo in his hand turned to black ash under the flas, and his clothes were subsequently consud by the fire.
Gong Lao, engulfed in flas, howled and stumbled around the house. Finally, he shattered the window and, with a thud, fell headfirst from the seventh floor.
When Feng Mu and the others arrived, they were greeted by a charred corpse on the ground.
A crowd gathered downstairs, pointing and discussing the shattered window above. Soone also dialed the Patrol Office, but the line was continuously busy, with no answer.
Feng Mu and his companions hurried upstairs to find the door open and a burly figure busy inside.
He was waving a water-soaked blanket with great force. Each swing was accompanied by a heavy sound, and in no ti, the fire in the living room was extinguished.
In this era of thriving Martial Arts, the threat of fires has significantly diminished because many have the ability to serve as "human fire extinguishers."
Feng Mu frowned slightly, his gaze lingering briefly on the man.
Liu Yi and the others, looking serious, swiftly surrounded him.
After so questioning, they learned that this firefighter was nad Zhao Yongwei, 33 years old, the neighbor next door. After hearing the window break and the fire alarm, he imdiately broke in and enthusiastically extinguished the flas.
"Damn, of all the ways to commit suicide, you chose arson. Serves you right. The hallway walls are all blackened..."
The firefighter wiped the sweat off his forehead, cursing rudely.
Feng Mu’s pupils contracted slightly, and he asked, "How did you know it was suicide?"
"Wasn’t it suicide?" The man noticed the unfriendly glances from everyone, paled a bit, and nervously explained, "Look, didn’t he leave a suicide note on his computer?"
On the dining table beside the living room, a laptop lay quietly, its screen blackened by smoke. Liu Yi quickly stepped forward and carefully wiped the screen clean with a tissue.
The screen lit up, displaying a white paper with black text in the docunt interface.
Liu Yi glanced at the content of the docunt and imdiately felt faint, quickly bringing the laptop to Feng Mu.
Feng Mu glanced at the suicide note’s contents calmly. Despite the sowhat chaotic text, the core idea could be summarized into two points.
First, Gong Lao couldn’t live on and wanted to die himself;
Second, Gong Lao fiercely criticized the corrupt state of the Second Prison, especially the "last place elimination system" implented by the prison warden Qian Huan. He believed this system forced prison guards to view inmates as livestock waiting to be slaughtered.
Gong Lao felt that the Second Prison had beco a slaughterhouse, and the prison guards had turned into ruthless executioners.
Tortured by his conscience, he decided to help the prisoners escape. Unexpectedly, the prisoners caused a riot and took the guards hostage.
Even more shocking, the warden Qian Huan coldly ordered the prisoners and guards to be killed.
Gong Lao realized he had made an irreparable mistake and chose to end his life in fear and remorse.
Feng Mu, having read through it, said with a half-smile, "Heh, it’s written quite convincingly."
Liu Yi wasn’t sure if Feng Mu was being sarcastic and didn’t dare to respond. Feng Mu cast a sideways glance at the helpful neighbor, who was quickly escorted off the scene.
After the neighbor left, Gong Qi said eerily, "Junior brother, there’s sothing off about that guy."
Feng Mu humd, "I know."
Seeing Feng Mu was aware, Gong Qi said no more, glancing at the computer and asking:
"This guy took all the bla on himself. Now that he’s dead, junior brother, doesn’t that make it an open-and-shut case for you?"
Feng Mu didn’t answer Gong Qi but instead asked, "Was the suicide note sent out?"
Liu Yi operated the computer a bit, then replied, "It was sent via email, probably sent right before death. The email was sent to... this email address seems familiar."
He made a slightly surprised "Hmm" sound, continuing, "It appears to have been sent to a senior figure in the prison system, though I’m not sure exactly who."
Seeing Feng Mu’s inquiring glance, Liu Yi organized his words and explained:
"In our prison system, the email suffixes are uniform, and the numbers before the email have a specific pattern. Generally speaking, the smaller the number, the higher the position in the prison system. Our prison warden’s number is jqjy17, and this email’s number is jqjy03, so..."
Feng Mu pondered for two seconds, feeling that the case was becoming more complex, involving increasingly significant individuals.
Fortunately, he wasn’t using conventional detective thods but the Detective’s thod of ingenuity. He only needed to craft an intriguing story, for which he could add or subtract so facts as needed.
Feng Mu said calmly, "Delete the email."
Liu Yi hesitated montarily, quickly explaining anxiously, "The email’s already been sent; deleting it now won’t cover it up."
Feng Mu smiled faintly, a deep light flashing in his eyes, "I know, but go ahead and delete it for now."
Liu Yi hesitated but, seeing Feng Mu’s determined yet gentle smile, took a deep breath, resolved, and deleted the email from the computer.
.....
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