“It seems clear that the criminals gave out different tasks when dealing with different groups of participants. Once their will to live is exhausted, they’ll be given the final task – suicide,” a middle-aged man opined.

“Mm, it integrates well with Xu Lan’s view. If this is a purposeful murder, then the little black house could be comprehended as the tunnel of a mine, but what does the hanging say?” Xiao Feng asked as he twirled his pen.

His subordinates all fell silent. Hanging oneself? What does ‘hanging oneself’ signify? Well, death of course, nothing else!

“There’s something else. The tasks that were given to the both of them were different. Other than the hanging, there’s another connection. Both of them nailed themselves beforehand. Their children came to their rescue but they were basically dead by then.”

The middle-aged man presented the close-up magnification of the deceased’s leg on the computer screen. Nails were embedded in the soles of both the deceased’s feet and one of them even made the news because of that.

Nails? Real estate dealers?

Xu Lan mouthed those two elements repeatedly and his brain immediately sprang to action. Real estate agents and nail houses ¹ – could these two elements be looked at as a whole?

“Officer Xiao!” Xu Lan exclaimed as he slapped the table top.

“Hm?” The seated individuals were given a fright and they all frowned at him.

“Is there any information on the partnership of both these real estate dealers? Both the developers worked together, but the householders were a setback during land acquisition. In the end, the developers resorted to using unconventional methods to reach a compromise with those nail houses. Would that be a possibility?” Xu Lan asked excitedly.

“Damn! I told you Xiao Xu’s good! See? I was right, wasn’t I?” Wang Biao remarked enthusiastically as he clapped his hands until Xiao Feng’s stare made him lower his voice and sit back down quietly.

“Mm, that’s possible. Lan Er, go look into this. I’ll send over the information when the time comes.” Brimming with admiration, Xiao Feng looked at Xu Lan and wondered why such an able person found himself in such a muddy predicament.

“Alright.”

“Brother Feng, I think Xiao Xu’s quite impressive. Didn’t you say we lack manpower? Why not let him join us?” Wang Biao cautiously made the suggestion to Xiao Feng. The rest of them in the meeting room raised their eyebrows, looked at one another, then looked back down immediately.

At that moment, Xu Lan was quite imperceptive. While the others already had their heads down, Xu Lan’s was still up. In the end, he sheepishly lifted his head, unsure where to place his gaze.

Xiao Feng looked askance at Wang Biao and cleared his throat. “Ahem, we’ll talk about it later tonight.”

“Why wait for tonight?” With eyes wide open, the confounded Wang Biao jumped from his seat and asked.

The rest of the people there – all of which had their heads lowered – unconsciously let out muffled laughter. Even though Xu Lan had no idea why they were laughing, he simply followed the crowd.

“What are you guys laughing at, huh? I didn’t say anything funny at all yet you make it seem like I farted!” Wang Biao raged.

Later that night, Xu Lan and Wang Biao sat together by a roadside barbecue stand where they went on drunken rants together. It was a time where they spewed everything on their minds and wept bitter tears. Xu Lan finally understood Wang Biao’s behavior earlier that day, and why he so vehemently dreaded any mention of ‘tonight’.

Not long later, Bai Wu and Xiao Feng silently appeared at the stand. They carried Xu Lan and Wang Biao respectively and brought the two men home like they were large packages. It was only the beginning of a long night.