The suspicious van had lingered for an unusually long time near Gaoyang Village on the Hengding Line.
There was a gap of several kilometers between two traffic cameras, but the van had taken forty whole minutes to cover it—definitely suspicious.
When Han Bin and the other two retraced the route, they passed between the same two cameras in just six minutes.
To the east of the road were farmlands; to the west, a wooded area.
Han Bin reasoned: If someone wanted to bury a body, they'd most likely do it in the woods—it's less likely to be discovered.
So the three drove back along the road slowly, emergency lights flashing, carefully scanning the woods to the west.
Recalling the van's original stopping point, Han Bin reminded the others, "Keep an eye on the roadside. Look for any fresh tire marks."
He slowed the car to allow for better observation.
As they reached the area between the two cameras, they spotted a set of angled tire tracks.
The three quickly got out to examine them.
"These look like normal tire marks. Could they be from the van?" Li Hui muttered, rubbing his chin.
Han Bin studied them. "Judging by the angle, the vehicle parked against traffic, just like the abandoned van."
Zhao Ming pointed toward the woods. "Why don't we check in there?"
"Forty minutes is just enough time to kill someone and bury the body—but it'd be rushed. They might've left clues at the burial site," Han Bin said.
Li Hui pulled shoe covers from his pocket. "Alright then—let's get to it."
Han Bin looked around first—there were no obvious footprints, so they began searching outward from the tire marks in three directions.
Han Bin was meticulous, scanning for even the smallest detail.
After a while, he hadn't found anything—but then Li Hui called out from a distance, "Binzi, I've got something over here!"
Han Bin hurried over. It was a patch of soft, open soil. Beside Li Hui, there was a clear drag mark in the dirt.
"You think Sun Qifeng was killed and dragged here by his accomplice?" Li Hui guessed.
Han Bin nodded. "That's one possibility. If the body was dragged feet-first, the killer's own footprints might've been erased."
The two of them followed the drag marks for about a dozen meters—until they suddenly stopped.
But in the surrounding area, scattered footprints appeared.
The footprints weren't in a straight line—they looked messy, chaotic.
Han Bin identified two clear ones and inspected them. He smiled: "These match the tread pattern from Sun Qifeng's partner."
"Hey, check out this patch," Li Hui pointed. "The soil here looks fresh."
The patch of disturbed ground was about 60–70 cm wide and over a meter long.
Han Bin called out: "Zhao Ming!"
"What did you guys find?" Zhao Ming answered.
"Grab the shovels from the car."
"On it." Zhao Ming ran to the car and came back with two shovels.
Li Hui reached for one, intending to dig, but Han Bin stopped him.
"You've been trekking all day—rest a bit. I'll dig."
Li Hui didn't argue. After hiking around the mountain all morning, he was exhausted.
The soil was soft, and digging wasn't too difficult.
After digging about 20 cm down, Han Bin's shovel hit something—it wasn't as hard as stone but wouldn't budge.
He cleared away some dirt—a human hand appeared.
Li Hui stepped back. "It's a body…"
Han Bin continued to clear around the head. A pale, lifeless face emerged—it was a man's, and frankly, looked terrifying.
Zhao Ming crouched down and scraped off more dirt with a stick. "It's Sun Qifeng!"
"Matches his photo exactly," Han Bin said, dropping the shovel and brushing off his hands.
"Binzi, you'd better report this to Captain Zeng," Li Hui said.
Han Bin nodded and called Zeng Ping.
Sun Qifeng was dead. That meant the trail had gone cold. Searching the mountain was no longer useful.
Twenty minutes later…
Zheng Kaixuan, Zeng Ping, and several others arrived at the scene in a police car.
When they saw the body, their expressions darkened.
Previously, all clues pointed to Sun Qifeng—only by finding him alive could the case be fully understood. But now that he was dead, the case had hit a wall.
"Binzi, good job," Zheng Kaixuan said, patting Han Bin on the shoulder.
Finding the body quickly had saved the team huge amounts of manpower and time.
Forensics and the technical team arrived shortly after. The body was carefully exhumed.
Medical examiner Wu Xia examined it. "Estimated time of death: between midnight and 3 a.m. last night."
"What's the cause of death?"
Wu Xia pointed to the victim's neck. "Strangulation—same as with the victim Xing Jianbin."
"Any other findings?"
"There's skin debris under the victim's fingernails—probably from struggling."
"So, it could belong to the killer?" Zheng Kaixuan asked.
"You'll have to investigate that yourselves," Wu Xia replied.
"Can you extract DNA from it?" Zeng Ping asked.
"I'll try," Wu Xia said, standing up.
Back at the precinct, it was past 5 p.m.
Inside the second investigation unit's office, everyone gathered around the table. From Captain Zheng Kaixuan to the junior members, they all looked exhausted—like pandas with dark circles under their eyes.
No one had slept since the case started.
Zheng Kaixuan looked around the room. "You all know the situation—Sun Qifeng is dead. We need a new direction for the investigation."
"If Wu Xia can extract the killer's DNA from under the nails, the case will be much easier," Tian Li said.
"Don't rely solely on the DNA," Zheng Kaixuan cautioned. "If the killer has no prior criminal record, the database won't help us."
"Zheng's right," Zeng Ping added. "We need to re-investigate the people close to Sun Qifeng."
"Zhao Ming, check with the telecom company—see who he called or texted most before his death," Zheng Kaixuan instructed.
"Tian Li, look into the pyramid scheme members. Who was closest to him recently and might be a suspect?"
"Li Hui, check his relatives and close friends."
"Han Bin, his parents are coming to identify the body. You handle that."
"Yes, sir," they all replied.
After delegating, Zheng Kaixuan yawned. "Any other leads to add?"
"I have an estimate on the suspect," Han Bin said. "Male, around 180 cm tall, about 35 years old, and physically strong."
Zheng Kaixuan raised an eyebrow. "That's pretty specific. How do you know?"
"I mentioned it before—Han Bin's an expert in footprint analysis," Zeng Ping explained.
Zheng Kaixuan nodded but still seemed skeptical. "Alright. Use it as a reference when filtering suspects."
Zhao Ming yawned and glanced at his watch. "Captain Zheng, the telecom company's probably closed by now."
Zheng Kaixuan smiled. "Okay then. Everyone from the second team is officially off-duty. Go home and get some real sleep."
"Yes, sir!" the team cheered.
They'd been working non-stop for over 30 hours. Even machines would've broken down.
(End of Chapter)