Chapter 1 Lin Xian? Where Are You Going?

Chu Shanhe was surprised to see Lin Xian stand up and leave.

At such a crucial moment…

What was Lin Xian going to do?

A few days prior, Lin Xian had specifically asked him to secretly gather national forces from outside the East Sea, the farther away the better, to cooperate with a planned ambush.

The main reason was that Lin Xian didn’t trust the East Sea police.

At first, Chu Shanhe didn’t understand Lin Xian’s intention… but later, Lin Xian told him that the prime suspects were Ji Lin and Ji Xinshui, and he immediately understood why Lin Xian wanted to do this.

Let's not even talk about Ji Xinshui's high position, reputation, and status, both domestically and internationally; even Ji Lin had been treated as a guest of honor for assisting the East Sea City police in solving many difficult and complicated cases.

It was easy to imagine that if the East Sea police cooperated with the ambush, Ji Lin would definitely have a way to see through Lin Xian's plan.

Therefore, the arrest operation 10 hours ago, in the early hours of the morning, was very successful.

He used his personal connections to find a big figure in the capital, who also attached great importance to the series of murders targeting scientists and was very angry, so he sent his own subordinates to cooperate fully with the operation.

Everything went smoothly.

It was just a pity… that in the end, there were still problems in grasping the other party's motives and evidence for the murders.

Because of Ji Lin's temporary withdrawal and the avoidance brake marks left by the taxi driver, the final result of this arrest became confusing.

Chu Shanhe wasn't worried about losing face or anything like that.

He also hated the murderers who killed Professor Xu Yun to the bone and couldn't wait to kill them immediately.

If he just watched them run away like this… he himself would feel that he had failed Xu Yun and those great scientists who died along with him!

"Don't worry, Mr. Chu, I'll be right back."

Lin Xian stopped at the door and looked back at Chu Shanhe:

"I've thought of a way to make them talk. Please continue to monitor Ji Lin and Ji Xinshui… don't let them meet. We'll take action after I get back."

…

After leaving the East Sea City Public Security Bureau, Lin Xian took a taxi directly to MX Company.

He inquired at the company's front desk.

Good.

Zhao Yingjun was out attending a meeting, and there was no one in the office, saving a lot of trouble.

He got into the elevator and pressed the 22nd floor.

Ding——

After the elevator opened, he arrived at the password door of Zhao Yingjun's office, entered the password, and successfully entered this office where only the two of them knew the password.

"Hoo…"

Lin Xian breathed a sigh of relief after closing the password door.

Zhao Yingjun's office was still the same as always, with no changes at all.

Because he hadn't been there for a long time to clean and tidy it for her, the sofa and coffee table were once again covered with a thin layer of dust.

But there was nothing he could do about it.

Zhao Yingjun didn't trust anyone else, including the cleaners, and didn't allow them to enter her office without permission.

So, he could only clean this huge office himself when he had time.

As for that oriole…

You treat this place like an ATM every day, coming and going as you please, helping yourself to things, can't you clean up a bit while you're at it? Really.

Lin Xian went to the file cabinet in the corner.

Zhao Yingjun was a very bad person at organizing files. If Lin Xian didn't help her organize them, she would stack almost all the files on the table like a pyramid. Only when there was no more room to put them down would she consider changing places…

That's why.

Before going to the East Sea Public Security Bureau to live with Ji Lin, Lin Xian hid the fake Genius Club invitation card here.

Facts proved that he was right about Zhao Yingjun.

He was also

extremely grateful that after hesitating several times, he ultimately didn't throw away or destroy the fake invitation card, but kept it.

Squeak…

He pulled open the file cabinet, took out the file box from the bottom layer, and opened it.

A dark red cardstock lay quietly inside, everything as it was.

Lin Xian turned over the folded invitation card, and on the back were five gold-stamped characters: Genius Club.

And in the corner of the file box, there was also a fire lacquer seal, which also had the Genius Club logo imprinted on it—

A right hand with its index finger extended, pointing straight to the sky.

This invitation card was forged by the oriole, it was fake, and even ridiculously fake.

The QR code inside the invitation card was actually a network live broadcast of an Apple product launch.

But.

The logo on the fire lacquer seal was real.

This caused this invitation card to be able to pass off as genuine as long as the contents inside were not opened and read.

In addition.

Under the current situation…

Lin Xian smiled slightly, took out a lighter, and softened the wax mud on the back of the fire lacquer seal a bit, making it viscous.

Then, he pressed it tightly on the fold of the invitation card, resealing the invitation card that had already been opened.

"Very good."

Lin Xian looked at the "used, but as good as new" invitation card with satisfaction:

"The movie *Project Gutenberg* had a line… sometimes fake things are more useful than real ones."

"What's more, since no one has ever seen a real version of this invitation card, then the fake one is the real one."

…

Lin Xian put the invitation card in a file bag, took a taxi to the East Sea City Public Security Bureau, and came to the interrogation monitoring room with Chu Shanhe and the others.

In the monitoring room, they could see the situation in each interrogation room.

Ji Lin and Ji Xinshui were being held in two separate interrogation rooms.

Both of them were sitting on iron chairs.

Their hands and feet were shackled to the edges of the chairs to prevent them from acting rashly.

"Are they still not saying anything?"

Lin Xian asked.

Chu Shanhe shook his head:

"Not only are they not saying anything, but they're also very arrogant."

He pointed to Ji Xinshui's surveillance video on the monitor screen:

"The old man isn't worried about the current situation at all. He's even smiling and saying that he'll be out soon. He's very confident."

"What about Ji Lin?"

"It's the same." Chu Shanhe said:

"We can communicate with Ji Lin, but he denies all the facts of the crime we've provided. He's so smart that he knows we can only detain them for 24 hours at most."

"So… if we can't find any more evidence that they're related to the murder case or find a way to make them admit their crimes… I'm afraid they'll really get their wish and walk out of here proudly."

"No, I have a way."

Lin Xian shook his head and looked at Chu Shanhe and Officer Liu in the monitoring room:

"It's just… I need everyone to cooperate with me."

"No problem."

Officer Liu answered first:

"Lin Xian, after the previous incidents, everyone in our police station fully trusts you. As long as it doesn't violate principles and regulations, we can do as you say. And within my authority… even slightly violating the regulations is negotiable."

"I've also communicated with Shanhe. If they are the murderers who killed Xu Yun and Tang Xin… then no matter what the cost, we must arrest them and bring them to justice!"

"The net of justice is wide, and no one can escape its meshes. I don't care what the people of East Sea City will think of our police's reversal of words. What we have to do, what we must do, is to find out the real murderer! Lin Xian, tell us what you're thinking. I'll take all the responsibility!"

…

Lin Xian nodded and explained to everyone.

He didn't tell them about the Genius Club, nor did he tell them any details of his plan. He just told them:

"When I go in to talk to them later, please turn off all the video, audio, and monitoring equipment."

"Simple interrogation is no longer yielding any clues. I must find a way to gain their trust. They are both smart people. Let's not play tricks and be sure to turn off all the monitoring devices."

"For the rest… please just trust me. I won't let you down."

After instructing everyone.

Lin Xian looked at the surveillance videos of Ji Lin and Ji Xinshui…

Which of these two should he target?

After thinking it over.

Lin Xian decided to focus on the old man he wasn't familiar with—

Ji Xinshui.

Lin Xian believed that he didn't understand Ji Xinshui, and Ji Xinshui didn't understand him enough. This sense of unfamiliarity made it easier to deceive the other party.

In contrast.

He and Ji Lin had lived together for so long, and both sides were too familiar with each other.

This familiarity was not only a cognitive familiarity, but also a familiarity with the other party's way of thinking, speech habits, and speaking and acting style.

Just like it's difficult for friends to lie to each other… Lin Xian knew what Gao Yang was going to do even from a slight movement, and even a look from one another could convey 10kB of information. Under such mutual understanding, it was indeed difficult to deceive the other party.

At least…

Lin Xian didn't have the confidence to deceive Ji Lin.

Although he was unwilling to admit it, the other party's IQ was indeed very high.

At the same time, there was another reason for choosing Ji Xinshui.

As the saying goes.

To catch bandits, first catch the leader.

Ji Xinshui was most likely the Boss or a key figure in their gang. He definitely knew the most information and intelligence.

As long as he could trick Ji Xinshui…

That would be equivalent to directly destroying their entire gang from the root, and truly capturing them all in one fell swoop!

"I'll go see Ji Xinshui first. Watch my gesture in a moment, and turn off all the monitors."

After explaining to Officer Liu and the staff, Lin Xian took the file bag and walked towards the interrogation room where Ji Xinshui was.

Ji Xinshui had been here since he was arrested last night.

Perhaps…

This was his only chance.

Creak.

Lin Xian pushed open the heavy door of the interrogation room and walked in, looking directly at the old man sitting across the table on the iron chair.

This was… the first time he had seen Ji Xinshui in reality.

The encounter of fate, he didn't expect it to be in this kind of place.

The Ji Xinshui in front of him was much older than Lin Xian had imagined…

In this light, the photos in the news before were probably not taken two years ago, but even earlier.

The old man had only a few sparse white hairs on his head, almost all of which had fallen out, and his scalp had no luster, like a wrinkled rag.

He was really too old.

Calculating from his age, he was at least 80 years old, but judging from his physique and skin condition, he was even older than his actual age.

But his mental state was indeed very good.

Even shackled to the chair, his expression was still so confident,

so disdainful,

so relaxed,

so… arrogant.

It was as if it was Lin Xian who was shackled, not him.

“… What a rare guest.”

Seeing that the person who came to the interrogation room was Lin Xian, Ji Xinshui's face wrinkled up, and he laughed coldly:

"Truly a boy who is hard to kill."

Bang.

Lin Xian didn't speak, and his expression didn't change at all. He gently closed the door of the interrogation room and sat down silently opposite Ji Xinshui.

Ji Xinshui straightened his back, leaned back, and looked down at Lin Xian with a very contemptuous gaze:

"Give up, I won't say anything. It's useless for anyone to come."

Snap.

Lin Xian snapped his fingers out of thin air.

Thump, a muffled sound.

The one-way glass of the interrogation room darkened and turned into a black screen; the power indicator lights of the surveillance cameras in the four corners went out and retracted; at the same time, the indicator lights of the recording system on the table and walls also went out synchronously, representing the end of the monitoring and recording.

Ji Xinshui looked around, frowned, and was very surprised.

He didn't understand what was going on.

The Lin Xian in front of him was just an ordinary office worker. He couldn't possibly have the authority to have the police turn off these monitoring devices.

What's more, he wasn't a policeman, so he didn't have the right to interrogate.

"What exactly do you want?"

Ji Xinshui looked at Lin Xian warily.

The East Sea police shouldn't be so bold, right? To get tough in this room where everything is turned off? To use violence against him?

"You don't need to be nervous."

Lin Xian finally spoke.

He unwound the sealing cotton thread on the file bag, and said:

"All the monitoring devices have been turned off. Now only the two of us know what's being said here."

"So what?" Ji Xinshui snorted coldly:

"What exactly do you want?"

"I'm here to deliver something to you."

Lin Xian unwound all the sealing cotton threads.

Then…

In Ji Xinshui's shocked gaze, he pulled out the dark red invitation card from the file bag!

The fire lacquer seal faced up, and the English words *geniusClub* reflected a strange and arrogant light under the incandescent light!

Lin Xian held the invitation card with two fingers of his right hand, and slowly pushed it in front of Ji Xinshui:

"Congratulations, Ji Xinshui."

Lin Xian looked up, smiling as he looked at the other party's violently shaking pupils:

"This is your… invitation card!"