[Cloud City · Starry Night Detective Agency]
Xie Qingyan opened the folder that Lin Zhiyuan's people had delivered.
Inside were three things: a list of customers who stored bottles at Loss Bar—about sixty-odd names, each with a phone number; a collection of screenshots compiled from surveillance footage showing "high-frequency individuals"—blurry images of over a dozen faces that appeared repeatedly; and supplementary witness statements from the staff, recording their impressions of the regulars.
Yin Wuwang sat on the couch, frowning at the stack of papers. "This is everything?"
"Customers who store bottles leave their information. Everyone else pays cash—the bar doesn't keep special records." Xie Qingyan's tone was flat. "If we want to know who the regulars are, we can only rely on surveillance and the employees' memories."
"That guy with the fake smile had quite the business going." Yin Wuwang thought of every photo of Chen Wan he'd seen at the bar. The man smiled warmly and kindly, but his eyes were hollow as a dried-up well. It reminded him of those puppets in the demon realm who wore human-skin masks—faces exquisitely crafted, but inside, nothing but gears and parts.
"Sometimes a fake smile works better than a genuine one." Xie Qingyan turned a page, his fingers sliding lightly along the edge of the paper. "At least the customers feel taken care of."
Yin Wuwang leaned back against the couch, staring at the ceiling in a daze.
If this were the cultivation world, something like this wouldn't require so much effort.
Sixty people's information? I'd only need to release my divine sense—one breath, and I could sweep through the entire bar. Everyone's memories, emotions, secrets would unfold before me like open scrolls. Who lied, who harbored ill intentions, who had contact with whom—nothing could escape a Demon Sovereign's divine sense.
But now he could only watch Xie Qingyan flip through the pages one by one, using mortal methods to search for clues among scattered data. This kind of efficiency would be a joke in the cultivation world. But looking at it another way, precisely because there were no shortcuts, Fuguang's abilities were even more impressive.
"So we need to find leads from these people?" Yin Wuwang asked.
"No." Xie Qingyan pulled out several sheets, his movements clean and efficient. "What we're looking for is who appeared with abnormal frequency, and who might have known about the affair between Su Xiaoqing and Chen Wan."
He began sorting the data with different colored pens. Back at Cangqiong Peak, he'd processed sect intelligence the same way—organizing scattered information, cross-referencing, identifying anomalies. The only difference was that back then he used jade slips; now he used paper. Back then he tracked demonic cultivator movements; now he tracked mortal secrets. Different medium, same method.
This world without spiritual energy isn't entirely boring, Xie Qingyan thought. At least this kind of pure mental deduction has its own unique appeal.
Yin Wuwang watched his movements, and suddenly felt his heartbeat quicken. When Fuguang analyzed intelligence, his brow furrowed slightly, his gaze focused, his lips pressed into a thin line. His entire being radiated a sharp, concentrated aura that made it impossible to look away.
Little Deer Assistant 9527's voice echoed in Yin Wuwang's mind: "This seems to be called... data analysis? It's organizing lots of information into useful insights. Uh, I don't really understand the specifics, but Xie Qingyan looks very impressive doing it."
Yin Wuwang ignored it. What Fuguang was doing didn't need the Little Deer Assistant's explanation.
"What does frequency mean?" he asked, leaning closer until his shoulder nearly touched Xie Qingyan's arm.
Xie Qingyan didn't pull away. He only tilted his head slightly, his gaze never leaving the documents in his hands. "How many times someone appears. The surveillance shows some people come once a month, others come multiple times a week. The higher the frequency, the more opportunities for contact with Chen Wan, and the greater the possibility of knowing secrets within the bar."
Yin Wuwang nodded thoughtfully. This analytical method was somewhat similar to investigating cases in the cultivation world—only there they used divine sense and divination; here they used pen, paper, and brains. Different paths leading to the same destination. The underlying principle was the same.
Xie Qingyan sorted through the data with focused intensity, his movements swift, his eyes barely leaving the numbers and names. Occasionally he would pause to draw a circle beside a name, or underline a number, then continue flipping through.
Yin Wuwang watched his profile as he worked, thinking this scene was indescribably beautiful. The tea on the coffee table had long gone cold, but Xie Qingyan hadn't spared it a single glance, all his attention absorbed in those documents.
"Found it." Xie Qingyan suddenly spoke, interrupting Yin Wuwang's reverie.
Yin Wuwang sat up straight and leaned over to look. His movement was somewhat rushed—his shoulder collided directly with Xie Qingyan's arm, but he didn't pull back. Instead, he took the opportunity to move even closer.
"Su Xiaoqing." Xie Qingyan pointed to a line on the bottle storage list, seemingly unaware of the distance between them. "She's confirmed as a regular. She has bottle storage records, averaging two to three visits per week."
"What about her spending?"
"Not high." Xie Qingyan pulled out the employee statements. "Tina said she often sits alone in a corner drinking, leaves when she's done, rarely talks to anyone."
Yin Wuwang recalled Su Xiaoqing's testimony from yesterday's interrogation. She'd admitted to a one-time affair with Chen Wan—something that happened on a night when she was in a terrible mood, after she'd gotten drunk. Afterward, she'd given Chen Wan two thousand dollars in hush money. Chen Wan took it and promised not to tell anyone.
Two thousand dollars.
That number made Yin Wuwang think of what Xie Qingyan had said after the interrogation: "Chen Wan needed money. A bar manager—why would he need money badly enough to accept hush money?"
"Chen Wan accepted hush money." Yin Wuwang spoke up. "That means he was desperate for cash."
[End of V2_Chapter 16]
Next: Chen Wan's secret—and a disturbing pattern in Zhang Yunxiang's visits...