Bounty for Solving the Case

Many things happened overnight.

Over in Kun City, Tian Xingjian got up early and drove to his younger brother Tian Mingjian's home.

He urged him on.

"Get up already. Look at the state of you, lazing around all day doing nothing. You were a university professor once, a senior intellectual, for heaven's sake."

The sloppy man lying on the sofa and refusing to get up was Tian Mingjian. He muttered groggily, "You think I want this? The school's gone, my wife and son ran off, and now even my daughter's siding with outsiders."

He raised his phone and pulled up the photo of the candlelit dinner his daughter had sent him last night. "Look at this. Dani's been fooled so badly by that little bastard she can't even find her way home."

Tian Xingjian laughed. "A grown daughter can't be kept at home. Grumble a bit if you want, but if those two really end up together, won't you still have to go along with Dani and discuss the wedding with the in-laws? What I've got now is more important. Listen carefully."

Tian Xingjian's expression turned serious. "A friend of mine told me something last night. A group of people is expected to come in from overseas. They're all here to investigate that drowning case from four years ago. The higher-ups said that as long as they don't break the law, we don't need to interfere, but we can make contact with them privately."

Tian Mingjian, who had still been half-asleep a moment ago, shot upright, his eyes wide. "What's going on? Is there finally a lead in that case?"

"According to my friend, on a Theory Forum on the foreign Dark Web, someone posted a reward of one hundred thousand US dollars. No one knows exactly who it was."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go meet them right now."

"What's the rush? Go wash your face, brush your teeth, shave your beard, and then come with me to meet someone."

Tian Mingjian obediently did as his elder brother said, tidied himself up, and the two of them went out.

They went to the train station, where they met a bespectacled middle-aged man on the platform.

Tian Xingjian introduced his younger brother and the bespectacled middle-aged man to each other.

"This is my younger brother. He's also connected to the case from four years ago."

"This is Mr. Liu, a criminal investigation expert. He used to be very well-known in the domestic forensic field, then later went into business and opened a surgical equipment company."

After the introductions, the three got into the car and continued talking in the relatively quiet and private interior.

Mr. Liu said, "None of us know each other's identities, and we don't know how many people have come, but one thing is certain. Gray Hand, the host from the organizer's side, said registration closed at nine this morning. If we go to the airport now, we might get lucky."

"Gray Hand?" Tian Xingjian frowned. The name was very familiar to him. In the fraud case, the hacker who had provided the fraudster's real address had also been called Gray Hand.

Now was not the time to speculate about the connection between the two. He drove toward the international airport.

By Erhai Lake, music sounded from the laptop.

The continuous sound woke Lin Qiye. He quickly got up and opened the computer.

This was the message alert he had arranged with Intelligent AI. Something must have happened.

He opened the computer, and a row of subtitles appeared.

[Over in the U.S. stock market, near the end of trading, Shield Pharmaceutical suddenly dropped. The closing price was 36.52.]

[It is very likely that news of the clinical trial leaked, causing some well-informed funds to exit.]

[The short options are still 0.05 US dollars.]

[Developments will continue to be tracked.]

[Regarding the reward, six participants have been confirmed.]

[All six left mobile contact numbers. Should communication be initiated, and tracking programs implanted in their phones?]

At that moment, Lin Qiye realized he was about to play the role of a mysterious mastermind behind the scenes.

And the people he was about to face were sharp-minded masters of deduction.

He had to keep it as brief as possible and avoid letting the other side pick up any clues from his words.

After thinking for a moment, he ordered Intelligent AI to call the six participants' numbers at the same time.

At the international airport, five foreign travelers traveling alone sat in different corners.

Almost simultaneously, their phones rang.

After they answered, they all heard a strange electronically altered voice.

"A text message has been sent. Log in to the website in the message. There will be a detailed introduction to the case inside. Contestants must report their situation on that website once a day to ensure they are still participating in the competition."

In the airport waiting area, several foreigners checked their text messages at almost the same time, then logged into the website one after another to view it.

Three of them got up, picked up their luggage, and blended into the crowd leaving the terminal.

Outside the international airport, in a white sedan, Tian Xingjian was studying the crowd coming out of the airport.

His gaze was mainly fixed on the foreigners, but he had no way of determining who the participants were.

In the back seat, Mr. Liu put down his phone and said, "Gray Hand contacted me. He gave me a website and said the case introduction is inside. He also requires us to report our situation on that website once a day."

"What's the website?" Tian Xingjian quickly opened his phone's browser.

But after he entered the URL, it showed access denied.

Mr. Liu dragged the text message downward and said in surprise, "The message notes: this website has actually locked onto the phones. Only the phones of us six participants can access it. I've never heard of this kind of technology."

Tian Xingjian took the phone and looked over the website. The case information on it was detailed, but after so many years, a lot of it could be found online.

The most important thing now was to find some of the five participants, and hope they could get more information about the case from their perspectives.

But with so many foreign tourists, who the hell knew which ones they were?

Just as his head was starting to ache, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure.

It was the old bureau chief. The retired old bureau chief came out of the airport, chatting very happily with a white-haired foreigner.

Mr. Liu also looked over and said in surprise, "That's Professor Proud, an authority in the forensic field. Why is he here?"

Tian Xingjian asked, "You mean that white-haired foreigner?"

"Yeah. When I studied abroad, I even made a point of attending his specialized lectures."

Tian Xingjian was tempted. He told the two in the car to wait, then got out and walked over.

"Old Bureau Chief, it's me, Little Tian. Are you here to pick up a friend?"

"Yes. This is Professor Proud, a very famous international forensic expert. He and I are old friends. This time, Professor Proud said he wanted to come over for a trip, so I volunteered to be his guide."

Tian Xingjian sized up the white-haired old man and asked in English, "May I ask if you're here to take part in the bounty game?"

The old man showed no expression. Instead, he studied Tian Xingjian and asked in return, "Taisui Mountain?"

Taisui Mountain was Mr. Liu's name on the Dark Web. The organizers clearly had never leaked who the participants were, yet this old man had guessed it.

Tian Xingjian could not help marveling at how sharp these people's brains were. He turned and waved for the people in the car to come out.

Mr. Liu and Tian Mingjian then walked over, and Tian Xingjian said:

"This is Taisui Mountain. My name is Tian Xingjian. My younger brother Tian Mingjian was one of the people involved in the drowning case four years ago. As his relative and friend, I want to take part in your investigation."

Professor Proud was a little surprised, but he was also interested. Clearly, having someone directly involved take part would be of great help to the case from four years ago.

He talked with Mr. Liu for a while, and in the end, they reached an agreement.

"All right. The two of us have formed a league. Now, Mr. Tian Mingjian, please tell us what happened back then. Please do not hide anything from us."

Tian Mingjian was immediately overjoyed. "This isn't a convenient place. Let's go to my home. I still have a lot of things there I can show you, all materials I've collected over the years."