Too Coincidental

Following the eighth-floor corridor from beginning to end, and then from end to beginning, Lu Zheng's footsteps never paused.

Then he went up to the twelfth floor and circled around his room.

The next steps were simple.

To make the act convincing, Lu Zheng first went home, grabbed a few changes of clothes, his phone charger, and personal toiletries, then returned to Qingyu Hotel.

After putting his things away, he saw that it was already past five in the afternoon, so he sat on the sofa in the hotel lobby and started playing on his phone.

Meanwhile, the folded Qi Seeking Talisman quietly rested in his palm, emitting a faint sense of guidance.

Before the person he was waiting for arrived, a phone call interrupted Lu Zheng's game.

"Lin Wan?"

Sure enough… without finding the murderer, he was still a suspect, and the police would call at any time.

"Hello, Lu Zheng, are you home? I wanted to talk to you."

"No, I'm at a hotel."

"Hotel?"

"Yeah," Lu Zheng explained, "The thought of a murderer being able to enter my home silently makes me nervous. What if they come back to kill me and silence me? So, to be safe, I decided to stay in a hotel for a few days."

Lin Wan couldn't help but laugh on the other end of the phone, "Are you serious? The murderer broke into your house to frame you and divert the police's attention."

Lu Zheng remained unmoved, "But the only evidence points to me. What if he stages a suicide out of guilt?"

Lin Wan paused, wanting to say that Lu Zheng was being overly worried, but upon closer thought, it made some sense.

"Which hotel? I'll come find you!"

"Qingyu Hotel."

Half an hour later, Lin Wan arrived.

It was already after work hours, so Lin Wan wasn't wearing her police uniform. A fitted short-sleeved shirt and capri pants, paired with high-soled sneakers, accentuated her long, straight legs.

"What's up?"

"Can't I look for you if there's nothing wrong?"

Lu Zheng was taken aback. Lin Wan paused slightly, then immediately joked, "You're a martial arts expert, how can you be afraid of the other party and hide in a hotel?"

Lu Zheng said helplessly, "Martial arts experts face enemies head-on, but if someone sneaks up silently in the middle of the night, even the best martial arts skills are useless. Do you think how Zhang Fei died?"

Lin Wan sat down next to Lu Zheng, "I came to ask you again, after the conflict with Li Yanjie last weekend, and when you went out the day before yesterday, did you see the same person?"

Lu Zheng really thought about it carefully, but ultimately shook his head, "No."

"What, can't you find the murderer with today's technology?"

"Technology isn't omnipotent," Lin Wan said helplessly. "The other party is an expert, avoiding all the cameras at the scene and leaving no traces."

"So the only evidence is that fruit knife?" Lu Zheng said speechlessly, "Isn't that obviously framing me?"

"But it's still a clue," Lin Wan explained. "Doing nothing is better than doing something wrong. Since the other party involved you, they will naturally leave clues around you."

"Have you found any?"

"Uh… at least we found traces," Lin Wan thought, disguising as a deliveryman could be considered leaving traces, right?

"Then you guys are pretty amazing!" Lu Zheng couldn't help but praise.

"Hehe." Lin Wan gave a perfunctory smile, then casually asked, "Speaking of which, you didn't notice your fruit knife was missing for a few days?"

"I've only used that fruit knife twice to peel apples since I bought it," Lu Zheng shook his head. "I regret eating apples now. If I hadn't used it at all, he would have stolen it for nothing!"

Lin Wan chuckled upon hearing this, "You're really unlucky. You showed off a little, and the murderer targeted you."

Lu Zheng sighed, "Tell me about it, it's not like before. Now, as long as someone lies on the ground, the expert has to kneel down and beg them."

Lin Wan couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle, then her eyes shifted, "Indeed, but you're really good at hiding it. You didn't show off at all in college? You could have attracted female classmates."

"Uh, never thought about it."

"Didn't think you were such an honest kid."

"That doesn't sound like a compliment."

"Have you eaten?"

"No, not hungry."

"After something like this, it's understandable that you're not hungry, but you still need to eat. Let's go, let's find a place to grab a bite."

Lu Zheng blinked, just about to make an excuse to refuse, when the elevator doors on the other side of the lobby opened, and a middle-aged man with unremarkable features walked out.

The Qi Seeking Talisman in his palm gently vibrated, pointing directly at this person.

The man's eyes swept over Lu Zheng and Lin Wan, without any reaction, and then he strolled towards the lobby entrance.

"What's wrong?" Lin Wan saw Lu Zheng suddenly staring straight at the man, and couldn't help but follow his gaze.

"That man's eyes..."

Lu Zheng muttered to himself, "I have a bit of an impression, and... it seems... could it be?"

Lu Zheng abruptly stood up and walked towards the man.

Lin Wan frowned and got up to follow.

"Lu Zheng?"

However, Lu Zheng had already walked behind the man, and without saying hello, he silently launched a bow step punch, aiming for the back of the man's head.

The wind howled, and the force of the punch was intimidating.

"Lu Zheng!"

However, the next moment, Lin Wan didn't see the scene of the man's head being blown apart by Lu Zheng's punch.

She saw the man tilt his head, instantly dodging Lu Zheng's punch, and then darting away, rushing towards the hotel door at top speed.

"It's you!"

Lu Zheng shouted, stomping his foot, his speed even faster than the other man's.

The man suddenly turned his head, and then swung his hand back, a flash of light shining in his hand.

"Lu Zheng, be careful!" Lin Wan exclaimed, her face paling, because that flash of light was a sharp blade, now only thirty centimeters away from Lu Zheng's neck.

Although still an unremarkable face, the man's eyes were full of murderous intent.

Twisting his body, he punched again.

"Bang!"

Lu Zheng's fist made intimate contact with the man's temple.

Then the man fell over.

Only then did the people in the hotel lobby exclaim, half of them crowding forward to watch, and half of them starting to call the police.

"Police!"

Lin Wan shouted, finally reaching Lu Zheng's side.

She looked at the middle-aged man lying on the ground, his eyes rolling back, seemingly unconscious.

"He is..."

"Wouldn't you know it!" Lu Zheng's tone was full of shock, "You asked me to recall the people I met those two days, and I remembered that when I went home that night, I happened to run into a delivery guy.

He was in the same elevator as me. I went to the seventeenth floor, and he directly pressed the top floor. I even made eye contact with him at the time."

Lin Wan was shocked, "He was wearing a mask, but you remembered the features around his eyes and eyebrows?"

Lu Zheng pointed to the middle-aged man on the ground, "Didn't he just let me see it again, which is equivalent to strengthening my memory?"

Lin Wan was speechless, "But that's too coincidental, isn't it?"

Lu Zheng smiled without showing his teeth, "Can't help it, it's just that coincidental."