The Old Road (Twenty-Four)

"I'm heading back. Get some rest."

After stirring Lei's heart with a single sentence, Fu Qian left in the most aggravating way possible, without even looking back.

In the room, Lei's face was already twisted with unconcealed murderous intent as he stared at Fu Qian casually closing the door.

Fu Qian wasn't questioned by any officers when he left the hotel.

Clearly, the surveillance personnel hadn't found anything particularly strange in the conversation between the two of them. At most, it had seemed a little melodramatic.

Of course, the people involved wouldn't see it that way.

The fire had been lit, and its direction made clear. Let's see whether Lei, a veteran of a second trip through this ordeal, could surprise me!

Fu Qian didn't wander around. He headed straight back to where he was staying that night.

His final words had been meant to provoke Lei.

Or, more precisely, to provoke the Lasik inside him.

Their exchange of probes had ended in what was practically a complete victory for Fu Qian.

Taken together, Lei's questions had a simple purpose. First, he wanted to confirm whether Mrs. Harold's body had been found. Second, under Fu Qian's prompting, his instincts had driven him to eliminate the unknown.

In response to those two concerns, Fu Qian had told him, on the one hand, that nothing had come to light yet, so there was no real need to run.

On the other hand, Fu Qian had clearly known a great deal but hadn't told the police. This ambiguous stance had undoubtedly steered Lei's thoughts.

Mysterious actions, an unknown purpose, seemingly guiding events from the shadows while watching coldly from the sidelines.

All of it seemed to suggest that a vast conspiracy shrouded this little town, and that Fu Qian was the mastermind—or