"Location: Jianghu City Inner Ring, near Huankeyuan Road. Accepting all paid part-time jobs.
I am proficient in Japanese and can provide accurate translations for various Japanese movies, TV dramas, anime, literature, and manga. Particularly skilled at all types of Cavalry and Infantry✦ translator's noteCavalry and Infantry films (骑兵、步兵片): Chinese internet slang for adult videos (JAV). "Cavalry" (riding a horse) refers to censored/mosaic videos (because the Japanese word for mosaic sounds like "horse"), while "Infantry" (on foot/no horse) refers to uncensored videos. films.
Phone number: 157XXXXXXX9, Penguin Chat [QQ]✦ translator's notePenguin Chat [QQ] (鹅号): QQ is a popular Chinese messaging app, and its mascot is a penguin.: 34xxxxx..."

Chen Cong looked down at the part-time job ad Pan Xiaozhu had found based on Wang Jianan's confession.
This forum, called "Se Se Entertainment," was a treasure trove of illicit resources. Under the various threads sharing adult films, explicit image sets, and erotic novels, the replies were almost uniformly in formation: "Thank you OP for sharing, may good people be blessed with peace their whole lives!"✦ translator's noteMay good people be blessed with peace their whole lives (好人一生平安): Originally a famous song title, it became a standard, polite phrase used by netizens on forums to thank uploaders who share pirated content, adult videos, or "resources" for free.
Chen Cong finally understood the origin of Wang Jianan's earlier phrase.

Wen Di stepped out of the interrogation room a step behind him. Seeing that he was already reading the file, he asked, "Captain Chen, what do you think?"
The interrogation was over. Wang Jianan was waiting outside accompanied by other colleagues from the detachment. In a little while, he would go with the police to point out the exact location where he first picked up the backpack in the early hours of the morning.

Chen Cong threw the question back: "What do you think?"
Thinking back to the end of the interrogation, when Wang Jianan asked, "Excuse me, will the forum get harmonized because of what I revealed?", Wen Di couldn't help but roll his Nth dramatic eye of the day: "Risking being identified as a murderer just to hide his 'criminal facts' of watching and translating porn, and while his own suspicion hasn't even been cleared, he still has the free time to worry about the safety of a porn forum, terrified it'll get wiped out because of his confession!
"I think this kid is either a Best Actor holding an Oscar for how realistic he's acting, or he's just purely lacking in the brain department.
"Captain Chen, you don't know this, but when Jiang Zhi and I went to arrest him, he opened the door for us himself. Without even figuring out who we were through the security door, the idiot just unlocked it for us." Wen Di crossed his arms over his chest to form an 'X': "Personally, I think the second possibility is much higher.
"Of course, we didn't let our guard down. When we brought him in, we specially left a colleague behind to search his place. However, aside from confiscating some illicit movie DVDs and two blow-up dolls suspected of being smuggled into the country, we found zero evidence related to the case. Sigh, it's so touching. To think there are still young people collecting DVDs in this day and age.
"It's not that I'm insulting him! But with this bro's IQ and psychological fortitude, he really doesn't seem capable of murdering and dismembering someone..."

Wen Di was right. Upon seeing Wang Jianan for the first time, Chen Cong also felt he likely wasn't the killer.

He had carefully studied the forensic autopsy report. The cuts on the dismembered body parts were incredibly clean. To cleanly chop through the bones of an adult male requires skilled knife work and significant arm strength—something an ordinary person couldn't achieve.

Just looking at Wang Jianan's arms, which looked as pale and weak as boiled chicken, Chen Cong knew that the probability of him independently dismembering a body with those scrawny limbs was basically zero.

But in a major case like this, where the killer chose such an extremely brutal method to dispose of the body, they couldn't entirely rule out the possibility that the suspect possessed immense psychological fortitude and was a master of disguise, or that it was a syndicate crime.
With this in mind, Chen Cong turned his head: "Pan Xiaozhu!"

"Here!" As one of the few women in the office, Pan Xiaozhu was always full of passion for her work. Hearing the Vice Captain call her name, she immediately stepped up to report: "We've already combed through the areas near the pedestrian street where other body parts could possibly be hidden, but we haven't found anything yet."

Chen Cong nodded: "Based on Wang Jianan's statement, go check his call records from last night immediately to see if such a call really exists. If it does, thoroughly investigate the information of the phone's owner."
Pan Xiaozhu crisply replied, "Yes, sir," and jogged off.

Chen Cong turned back to Wen Di: "In a bit, take Wang Jianan to the spot where he and the online friend agreed to leave the backpack. We might find some new clues. Also, we need to check the surrounding surveillance cameras. We don't have many leads to chase right now, so we have to follow this line regarding the person who commissioned the body dump."
"Got it."
Wen Di stretched his arms, unable to resist cursing the deranged true culprit in his head using the most vulgar language possible.

He casually pulled up a chair, rested his chin on the backrest, and sat backward facing Jiang Zhi: "Interrogated him for ages, and the dumbass we caught is highly likely just a scapegoat. This killer who deserves a thousand cuts is so fucking meticulous. Playing Russian nesting dolls with us, layer after layer! First a delivery rider, now an errand boy. Looks like we'll all be living at the detachment until this case is cracked."

In their experience, with a case of this level of brutality, it was exceedingly rare to catch the true culprit overnight.

Jiang Zhi picked up his heavily brewed black tea, looking as composed as an old monk: "I prepared myself for that ages ago. Anyway, for miserable single dogs like us, whether we sleep at home or at the detachment, it's all the same..."

"You can fucking call yourself that! Don't drag me down with you! Ugly guys like you are called single dogs; I am a noble bachelor!" Wen Di was tall and strongly built. Although he had a darker complexion, his eyes were large, and he sported thick bangs that covered his eyebrows.
He always felt very good about himself and often claimed the self-appointed title of "Detachment Heartthrob."

Jiang Zhi shot him a look of absolute disdain: "Get lost! Shameless! Shoo, shoo, don't pollute my eyes by standing in front of me!"

Chen Cong waved a hand at the two who somehow still had the energy to bicker: "Stop talking nonsense and get moving!" With that, he turned and entered the Captain's office.

Wen Di stood up from his chair, snatched Jiang Zhi's tea before he could drink it, gulped down two large mouthfuls, wiped his mouth, and shoved the cup back into Jiang Zhi's hand: "Comrade Single Dog Jiang Zhi, I have to take Wang Jianan to the location where he picked up the goods for the suspect last night. I'll need you to come with me."
"..."
"The call records and surveillance footage haven't been pulled yet, so we can't completely rule out this bro's suspicion as the killer. I'll be responsible for keeping an eye on him, and you go to the residential community's property management to copy the surveillance footage from last night."

Seeing Jiang Zhi nod, Wen Di added: "Once we get the footage, I'll do the rough screening. You're detail-oriented, so I'll leave the fine-tooth combing to you."

When it came to reviewing surveillance footage, Jiang Zhi was the capable one who did the most work. In the detachment, if he claimed to be second-best at analyzing footage, no one dared claim to be first.

Having stared at a computer screen all day, Jiang Zhi took off the glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, wiped them clean with a tissue, rubbed his eyes vigorously, and put them back on.
As he put on his down jacket, he thought bitterly: By the time this case is over, my prescription is probably going to increase quite a bit! This son of a bitch killer!

However, the subsequent direction of the investigation defied everyone's expectations once again.

Jiang Zhi's "eagle-eyed" surveillance analysis skills had absolutely no place to be used.

"Are you sure it was here?"
Jiang Zhi asked, holding an investigation flashlight and sweeping the beam around the area. In the darkening twilight, the intense light from the flashlight looked like a cold-gleaming sword piercing the night.

Scratching his head, Wang Jianan thought carefully: "It was around here. Last night, the backpack was covered by a piece of tarp, placed... um..." He looked around, suddenly his eyes lit up, and he pointed at a corner of a building that was impossible to notice without looking closely: "There! The backpack was covered by a tarp right there! And the errand fee he gave me was placed on top of the bag." He recalled with certainty: "This corner is way too inconspicuous. He had to explain it to me over the phone for ages before I found it! I'm absolutely sure this is where I picked up the bag!"

Instantly, Wen Di and Jiang Zhi understood why the killer had Wang Jianan run the errand here.

The killer was someone with incredibly strong counter-reconnaissance skills.
Lane 99 on Zhongxin Road, where he asked Wang Jianan to pick up the backpack, was an extremely dilapidated shantytown. The backpack containing the dismembered body parts was placed in a blind corner that absolutely no one would normally pay attention to. Furthermore, the straight-line distance from here to Huanke New Village, the residential complex where Wang Jianan rented, was less than three hundred meters; it only took a total of four or five minutes to walk there.

Directing him to the backpack over the phone from afar?

Wen Di and Jiang Zhi even suspected that during the entire process of Wang Jianan picking up the bag, the killer was highly likely hiding in some corner watching him.

The residents of this shantytown were mostly migrant workers who came to Jianghu City to make a living. The old houses in this prime location had almost all been converted into subdivided group rentals. A thirty or forty-square-meter room could house over a dozen people. It could safely be said to be one of the most chaotic, mixed-bag locations in all of Jianghu City.

Jiang Zhi checked the surveillance deployment.
In a highly economically developed city like Jianghu, where surveillance cameras were everywhere, finding a residential area like this with countless blind spots was truly not an easy task.

But the killer had managed it.
In this old residential area, aside from a camera at the entrance—which was highly likely not even high-definition—everywhere else was a blind spot.

But right now, they had no mood to praise the killer for being bold and meticulous.

After investigating all day, the entire trail of clues following the express delivery line had completely snapped.

...

Jiang Zhi and Wen Di had chased a phantom.
When they returned to the detachment, both of them were thoroughly deflated.
Seeing their faces looking as miserable as if they had just lost their parents✦ translator's noteAs if they had just lost their parents (如丧考妣): A Chinese idiom used to describe someone looking extremely sorrowful or dejected., and after listening to their report of returning empty-handed, Chen Cong's heart also grew heavy.

Wang Jianan's call records had been pulled, perfectly matching his statement, but yielding no new developments.
The killer had used the victim Chen Feng's phone.

And that string of numbers that had long since become unreachable—Chen Cong had arranged for technicians to track its location the moment the case broke.
That SIM card, which also belonged to the victim, had highly likely already been destroyed by the killer, thus vanishing into thin air without ever emitting another signal.

Chen Cong finished reading the materials regarding "Operation Peach Wood" that Sun Ruohai had given him earlier that day. He found that the documents only vaguely introduced the purpose of the operation, stating it was to track down a new synthetic drug called "Zombie." But as for how to investigate, and who to investigate with, Chen Cong was still completely in the dark.
The documents repeatedly emphasized the secrecy and importance of the mission, but didn't even specify who exactly "Peach Wood" was.

Frustrated, Chen Cong turned back to studying the details of the murder and dismemberment case, inadvertently staying up the entire night.

He was already quite a heavy smoker, and whenever something weighed on his mind, he smoked even more fiercely.

At a little before 8:00 AM, just as he was sitting in his office with a cigarette dangling from his lips, sorting through the case details and racking his brain for a breakthrough, an encrypted video conference call came through on the police internal secure line.
The initiator was Sun Ruohai.

Chen Cong took a look and saw that the encryption level for this video conference within the police system was actually marked at the highest level.

With his cigarette still in his mouth, he drew the blinds and locked his office door before finally accepting the video call.

On the other end of the video, Sun Ruohai informed him that the list of special operations squad members he had submitted yesterday had passed the organization's review. He ordered him to immediately compile the existing case materials, take his police badge, find an excuse to go out on field duty, and go report to the Captain alone first.

On Chen Cong's end, the cigarette smoke he had produced was so thick it hung in the office like a bleak fog.
He had stayed up all night for the case, not even returning home.
At a time like this, when the entire elite detachment was working overtime to study the case... they actually wanted him to go out on "field duty" and waste precious investigation time? Did this Captain not have legs of his own?

Chen Cong's temper always flared faster than his brain could process.
"Why the hell should I go report to him? Can this massive police station not accommodate this grand bodhisattva✦ translator's noteGrand bodhisattva (这尊菩萨): In this context, calling someone a "bodhisattva" (or a Buddha) is sarcastic, implying they act like an overly important, untouchable VIP who requires others to constantly cater to them.? I'm so busy I've got blisters on my mouth! And you want me to go cater to him? He can go fuck himself! You think being a Captain makes you special?!"

He fiercely crushed the cigarette, which had burned down to the butt, into the ashtray on his desk. He thought bitterly: Paratroopers✦ translator's noteParatrooper (空降): Slang for someone who is suddenly appointed to a high-level position from outside the organization or department, often without having worked their way up locally. always come with so much unnecessary bullshit.

A hardworking double update! ~Waving hello, we'll continue at midnight tomorrow.
Thank you to everyone reading the story—sending my love to the cuties in the comments section.

Cavalry and Infantry films (骑兵、步兵片): Chinese internet slang for adult videos (JAV). "Cavalry" (riding a horse) refers to censored/mosaic videos (because the Japanese word for mosaic sounds like "horse"), while "Infantry" (on foot/no horse) refers to uncensored videos.

Penguin Chat [QQ] (鹅号): QQ is a popular Chinese messaging app, and its mascot is a penguin.

May good people be blessed with peace their whole lives (好人一生平安): Originally a famous song title, it became a standard, polite phrase used by netizens on forums to thank uploaders who share pirated content, adult videos, or "resources" for free.

As if they had just lost their parents (如丧考妣): A Chinese idiom used to describe someone looking extremely sorrowful or dejected.

Grand bodhisattva (这尊菩萨): In this context, calling someone a "bodhisattva" (or a Buddha) is sarcastic, implying they act like an overly important, untouchable VIP who requires others to constantly cater to them.

Paratrooper (空降): Slang for someone who is suddenly appointed to a high-level position from outside the organization or department, often without having worked their way up locally.