The fatty was led outside the building and into the flower beds.
Li Chonglou first went to the community's security room.
He hadn't expected that the first thing he'd do after returning to the fold would be to investigate a murder case. But this was crucial for him to obtain his new identity and establish himself in Shangjing. He couldn't afford to worry about anything else.
The woman called Sister Feng seemed to hold a significant position within the Green Gang. If he could establish a connection with her, progress would be much faster.
Most importantly, the power of the Heavenly Dao no longer affected him. As long as Li Chonglou was careful enough, the chances were quite high.
No one was looking after the fatty anymore. Two burly men in green robes silently followed behind Li Chonglou.
While they appeared to be bodyguards, Li Chonglou understood that they were merely following monitoring orders. He would need to find another way to get them to help him.
However, Li Chonglou wasn't in a hurry. He first took a long walk around the entire complex.
It was an old residential complex with a certain age to it. The residents, while not poor, were not exceptionally wealthy either. Moreover, the flow of people was complicated.
Even if a stranger entered, the security guard at the entrance, whose teeth were nearly all gone, wouldn't pay any attention, his gaze fixed on his phone screen.
As Li Chonglou passed by, he could hear the sound of young women from inside.
"Truly vigorous in old age," he muttered, "It's a pity their strength isn't put to proper use."
By the time he stopped a hundred meters away from the complex's main entrance, an hour had already passed.
Despite it being noon, the weather in Shangjing was inherently cold, and the wind that blew still stung the skin.
In contrast, the attire of the two burly men appeared particularly conspicuous.
"Will Sister Feng send official personnel?"
Li Chonglou turned back and asked, but neither of them replied. It seemed Li Chonglou wasn't deemed worthy of their response.
Li Chonglou pondered for a moment, then said, "It won't be difficult to find the killer within a week, but you'll need to cooperate with me. Otherwise, if you want me to contact Sister Feng now, just say I can't do it."
This statement effectively shifted the blame onto them. One of the burly men, named Ah Dong, sneered, "Are you trying to threaten us into helping you with this?"
His words were filled with disdain.
Li Chonglou shook his head and said, "I'm not asking you to do anything for me. I just want you to change your clothes first. Otherwise, anyone who sees your getup will immediately know you're from the Green Gang. How am I supposed to investigate then?"
The expressions of the two men immediately froze. They hadn't expected Li Chonglou to be talking about this.
Ah Dong, who had spoken, thought Li Chonglou was trying to leverage Sister Feng's name to command them as his thugs. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
Li Chonglou continued, "I'll call the authorities now. I'll give you half an hour to change your clothes, or else help me contact Sister Feng."
Although it wasn't an excessive request, the two men still felt that Li Chonglou was using Sister Feng's name to order them around, and a strong sense of displeasure welled up within them.
However, they had no reason to refuse.
"Hmph."
In the end, they could only express their dissatisfaction before turning and leaving.
Li Chonglou remained where he was, then pulled out his newly borrowed phone and dialed the official number.
An hour later, just as the two men returned, the official personnel also arrived.
Initially, there was only one police car, but ten minutes later, three official vehicles drove in, and the entire building was sealed off.
It was clear that the authorities recognized the severity of the situation.
While the other residents of the complex were discussing the matter noisily, Li Chonglou quietly made his way outside the security room.
"Uncle, what happened inside?"
Li Chonglou skillfully offered a cigarette, and the eyes of the old man, wrinkled all over, immediately became amiable. He sighed, "I heard a young girl was wronged, and died a terrible death. I don't know which damned soul came here to do such a thing."
As the old man spoke, there was a hint of gossip in his tone, as if he wasn't taking it too seriously, but rather treating it as news.
Li Chonglou couldn't help but remind him, "This won't affect you, will it, Uncle? It seems you're the only security booth in this complex."
After speaking, Li Chonglou added with a playful tone, "Don't let them see your slacking on the surveillance."
The old man's hand, which was lighting the cigarette, paused abruptly, and his expression changed.
At his age, what was the point of truly staying awake all night? Didn't he just sleep soundly every night? Moreover, the complex's property management had originally arranged for two people to be on duty in shifts. The old man took on the responsibility alone because he wanted to earn more.
He couldn't possibly not sleep!
The old man instantly realized the gravity of the situation and hurriedly turned to check the surveillance. He was so anxious that he didn't even care about Li Chonglou, a stranger, anymore, and directly started reviewing the security footage from yesterday to today.
There were several visible areas, but only the surveillance directed at the security booth was blank. It seemed the old man had anticipated similar situations and prepared in advance.
The reason he was still looking was primarily to see if he had been captured by other surveillance cameras when he went to relieve himself.
He had a habit of wearing his pajamas, which he had owned for decades, when he slept at night. If he were captured in them, it would be difficult to explain!
Meanwhile, Li Chonglou narrowed his eyes, intently watching all the footage.
However, the old man clearly knew approximately what time he got out of bed, so he directly adjusted the time to that point. Consequently, Li Chonglou couldn't see much.
About ten minutes later, the old man let out a deep sigh of relief. He turned to thank the young man who had reminded him, only to find that the person had disappeared at some unknown time.
"I'll treat him to another cigarette next time I see him," the old man muttered.
He shook his head and didn't dwell on it, while also beginning to ponder how to respond to the official inquiry.
At this moment, Li Chonglou had already arrived downstairs in the complex.
Although a cordon had been set up at the entrance of the entire building, preventing entry, there were quite a few onlookers gathered outside. Li Chonglou easily blended in with them.
As soon as he arrived, he saw several medical personnel, under the direction of a team leader, carrying out a stretcher. It was wrapped so tightly that only the vague shape of a person could be discerned.
Li Chonglou suddenly turned and asked in a low voice, "Is that one of our people?"
By this time, the two burly men had changed into casual attire. People from the Green Gang possessed a certain skill in disguise, and at that moment, they looked no different from ordinary passersby.
However, regarding Li Chonglou's question, the two men deliberately remained silent, due to the previous incident.
It was as if they hadn't heard him.
Li Chonglou's brow immediately furrowed.
He knew what they were thinking and understood that, generally, the best course of action would be to first establish a good rapport with them. However, time did not allow him to waste too much on them. Moreover, people from the Green Gang naturally held a psychological sense of superiority over ordinary people.
Even if he spent time on them, it might not yield any results!