By the time they returned to the Special Investigation Bureau Headquarters, daylight had fully broken.
Everyone who had stayed up all night looked tired. The corridor smelled of disinfectant and coffee, hastily relocated evidence boxes lined the wall, and team members moved back and forth with lowered voices. Xu Zhihan had just entered when Song Zhixia came out from the Medical Room with a fresh examination report in her hand.
"So you two still remembered to come back?"
Xu Zhihan did not stop. "Where's Zhao Huaide?"
Song Zhixia slapped the report against Lu Wenchuan's chest.
"One of you has a split hand, and the other is suffering backlash. You're getting your injuries treated first."
Lu Wenchuan caught the report and glanced at it. "Ten minutes."
Song Zhixia sneered. "What is it with you people and ten minutes lately?"
Xu Zhihan had already reached the entrance to the Detention Area. He looked back at her.
"If the Anchor-Breaking Array has affected Zhao Huaide, even ten minutes is too long."
Song Zhixia's expression changed.
She stopped trying to block them and followed them instead.
Zhao Huaide was being held in the third room of the underground Detention Area.
He had lost a lot of weight recently. His hair was disheveled, his eyes sunken. He had been in the Special Investigation Bureau's custody ever since the Photo Studio case. He had provided plenty of leads on the Old Gods Society's peripheral operations, but there was still much he had not fully revealed.
When the door opened, Zhao Huaide was sitting on the edge of the bed, gripping his knees with both hands and muttering something.
Lu Wenchuan walked in.
"Zhao Huaide."
Zhao Huaide jerked his head up. When he saw Xu Zhihan, his whole body shuddered.
"I didn't do it. I didn't do