The Maybach's body was as black as night, and Shen Zhengning's vision went black.

The front passenger door popped open. Zhuang Mingqi leaned slightly over the steering wheel, looking at him with a playful, mysterious smile. That flawless face, though only visible for a dozen or so seconds, was more than enough. A chorus of "wow"s immediately erupted in front of the hotel: "Wow, a Samoyed!" "Wow, a handsome guy!" "Wow, a Maybach GLS 600!" "Wow, the dog's fur is floating around like it's snowing!"

Shen Zhengning: "..."

Those few short steps nearly cost him a lifetime of shame. Shen Zhengning pinched the Samoyed's muzzle, stuffed it back into the rear seat, and got into the car, closing the door in one fluid motion. "Young Master, what kind of act are you putting on now?"

"Aren't there people in your company who think they can do whatever they want, scurrying around like rats in a sewer, trying to find out who you're meeting with?" Zhuang Mingqi said, turning the steering wheel and letting out a sinister, cold laugh. "This time, let's give them an earful. Let's see if he still dares to brazenly bully you at work."

"I thought this kind of face-slapping plot only happened in TV dramas," Shen Zhengning couldn't tell if his headache was from the alcohol or from him. "Where on earth did you learn all this?"

Zhuang Mingqi answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world: "From TV dramas."

"..."

Shen Zhengning was speechless for a moment, then finally laughed in exasperation. He leaned back relaxedly in the spacious seat and reached out to pet Silver, who was peeking over the top of the armrest box. "So you've been mulling this over for the past few days and specially chose today to pick up the car?"

Zhuang Mingqi stared straight ahead, saying sternly, "Wrong guess. I rented it. It has to be returned tomorrow."

Shen Zhengning said "Oh" with understanding. "Case closed. You've been watching The Prince Who Turns into a Frog."

Zhuang Mingqi: "...How on earth could you tell!"

"You mean the car?" Shen Zhengning propped his head on his hand and chuckled. "It's obvious. The car body, tires, and license plate are all brand new. Especially the tires, there are no signs of wear, and there's still a bit of uncleaned ribbon stuck to them. Also, that bear Silver is chewing on is a gift for picking up a new car, isn't it?"

He looked at Zhuang Mingqi's elegant side profile and changed the subject. "But I didn't expect you to go this far. To be honest, it was completely unexpected... Thank you."

Shen Zhengning was very skilled at getting even for others, but having someone back him up was a novel experience for him.

He had grown accustomed to relying on himself too early in life, growing up under the impetus of "becoming someone others could rely on." It could be said he basically had no concept of "running to his parents when bullied." His confidence stemmed from making full use of his own talents. In pursuit of the truth, he would activate all of his antennae and didn't mind enduring hardships when necessary—after all, as long as the result was right, a little suffering along the way could be grudgingly considered seasoning.

Precisely because he had no expectations, he hadn't anticipated that Zhuang Mingqi would join his chess game. Although it was hard to say what effect it would have, he couldn't help but be moved by the thoughtfulness.

Zhuang Mingqi gave him a poised and reserved glance, hooking his lips into a silent smile, which counted as an acceptance of his thanks. Shen Zhengning was worried that this encouragement would make him try something even more cringey next time, so he quickly changed the subject: "By the way, is it okay for me to sit in the passenger seat? Don't you feel uncomfortable?"

"Don't worry, we won't touch." Zhuang Mingqi pouted. "This gap in the middle is big enough to build a courtyard house."

Shen Zhengning said suspiciously, "...Why do you sound so disappointed?"

The air in the car fell dead silent in an instant. It was unclear which of Young Master Zhuang's sore spots that sentence had poked. Zhuang Mingqi turned his head away and said resentfully, "The alcohol is affecting your brain's function. Your judgment must have been impaired."

Shen Zhengning: ?

'This guy isn't even pretending anymore. Is he just going to spread rumors right to my face?'

Although Shen Zhengning remained skeptical of Zhuang Mingqi's idol drama tactics, in hindsight, they actually had some effect. At least when he ran into Gao Qihui again, the other party no longer feigned selective blindness and instead started glaring at him fiercely.

Zhuang Mingqi deliberately made a high-profile appearance in front of the hotel in a luxury car. To put it bluntly, it was a face-slap using money. Gao Qihui had made things difficult for Shen Zhengning, tripped him up, and snatched his promotion opportunities, thinking this would force him to quit and leave. But Zhuang Mingqi was determined to prove that he could leave unscathed whenever he wanted. It was equivalent to shining a spotlight into the sewer: it wasn't about winning, but about fighting for pride—it was done specifically to disgust you.

"I installed a small plug-in that can continuously monitor the system's access logs," Shen Zhengning said while walking and holding his phone. "Yes, strictly speaking, the means aren't exactly proper, which is why I'm reporting it to the police proactively, isn't it?"

Yuan Hang said, "Currently, there's no concrete evidence proving Gao Qihui's involvement in criminal activities. The measures we can take are very limited. I'll do my best to get some support. Actually, we previously investigated Gao Qihui's movements on that day, and the witness testimonies basically matched his own account, which means his suspicion level is very low."

"He might not have needed to do it himself. Pressure is also an invisible sword," Shen Zhengning asked calmly. "If Ye Tongsheng was driven to suicide by despair because of him, would that make him not a murderer?"

Yuan Hang sighed on the other end and asked helplessly, "I'd like to ask, why are you so invested in this case? Weren't you not that familiar with Ye Tongsheng?"

In an instant, many reasons scrambled to the forefront of his mind, such as a feverish curiosity, the sunk costs he had invested, and an inability to stand by while vultures fed on carrion, thus drawing his sword to help... But in the end, Shen Zhengning paused for two seconds and answered softly, "Because for a certain person, the truth might be the antidote."

—I want to try and break that curse.

The autumn in Sheng'an City was clear and dry, but that person's eyes were still filled with the rain and fog of London. He said, "I will be sad," but his gaze pierced through the latitude and longitude of fate, sorrowfully watching a certain ending that was bound to come.

"Huh? Who?" Yuan Hang's loud voice pierced through the receiver. "If they're sick, why not go to the hospital?"

Shen Zhengning: "...Thank you for your suggestion. Don't suggest it again next time. Goodbye."

"Woof! Woof!"

Shen Zhengning was walking home along the path when an extremely piercing bark came from deep within the community garden. Up ahead, three to five uncles and aunties were gathered, discussing animatedly: "Whose Samoyed is this that got out?" "Let's take a picture and ask in the homeowners' group chat." "Why does it keep barking? Is it hurt?"

For some reason, Shen Zhengning felt a strange stir in his heart. His feet, which had been pointing straight ahead, changed direction, and he walked towards the crowd.

He was a little taller than the others, and from two steps away, he saw a large, snow-white dog surrounded by people, anxiously spinning in circles and barking nonstop.

"Silver?"

The uncles and aunties all turned in unison to look at Shen Zhengning, who had spoken out in surprise, and automatically cleared a path. Silver's ears perked up, and it immediately dashed towards him, barking like a string of firecrackers. Shen Zhengning quickly squatted down to catch it: "Silver! Okay, okay, stop barking... Come back! No more running!"

"Young man, is this your dog?"

"It belongs to a friend. I often walk the dog with him, so it knows me." Shen Zhengning quickly thanked them. "Thank you all for your help. I'll take it back now."

"It's nothing, it's nothing. Your dog is so full of spirit. You'll have to watch it carefully in the future. It'd be hard to find if it ran away and got lost."

But in reality, Silver had a gentle and affectionate, if occasionally timid, personality. It rarely ran out of sight the moment it was let loose. It would even take the initiative to turn around and look for Zhuang Mingqi if no one followed after it ran a few steps. Logically, it shouldn't have been able to "jailbreak" from the house so easily. Could it be that Zhuang Mingqi had forgotten to lock the door?

Shen Zhengning found Zhuang Mingqi's number and was about to dial when Silver suddenly grabbed the corner of his coat and yanked hard, nearly making him fall face-first. "What's wrong?"

He was forced to take two steps forward by Silver's pull. After letting go, Silver ran a few steps towards the villa, then turned back and barked at him twice, as if telling him to stop dawdling and hurry up.

The busy tone kept ringing in the receiver, but the other side wasn't picking up. Shen Zhengning's heart skipped a beat. Now he finally understood what Silver meant: "Did something happen?"

Two minutes later, Shen Zhengning arrived at Zhuang Mingqi's front door. The wrought iron gate to the yard was swaying half-open, but the front door and windows were tightly shut. Shen Zhengning knocked hard on the door several times. When there was no answer, he immediately turned to the electronic lock and, just to try his luck, entered the old password.

A blue light flashed, and with a "beep—", the lock automatically sprang open.

Shen Zhengning, who had gambled correctly but couldn't feel happy about it at all: "..."

'Where's your sense of caution?!'