Lin Xian’s thumb lingered on the phone screen.

*The person who killed me is Ji Xinshui!*

Staring at this message that Zhou Duanyun sent to his mother at the end of 2021, Lin Xian was stunned.

He had imagined countless relationships between Zhou Duanyun and Ji Xinshui.

Logically…

Shouldn’t the two be collaborators, accomplices, or even a boss and his underling?

How did it now seem like they were enemies?

Lin Xian continued reading.

Perhaps because it was sent in the afternoon, Zhou Duanyun's mother didn't reply to the message immediately.

It wasn't until two hours later.

Zhou Duanyun replied with another message:

*Mom, I was playing truth or dare with my friends, don't take it seriously, haha.*

After that, they resumed their nightly goodnight greetings, without any abnormalities.

Lin Xian swiped up and down a few times, but couldn't find any other useful information.

He first exited the chat page, and then handed the phone back to Zhou Duanyun's mother without any visible reaction.

Zhou Duanyun’s mother was happily chatting with Zhou Le.

Lin Xian paced around the room, pondering the two sentences he had accidentally seen:

"Mom, I can't escape… Quickly call the police and ask them to protect you! The person who killed me is Ji Xinshui!"

"Mom, I was playing truth or dare with my friends, don't take it seriously, haha."

No matter how he looked at it.

This was definitely not truth or dare.

From all aspects, it was clear that Zhou Duanyun, as his mother said, was a very filial and caring son. He would never joke with his mother like that.

Not to mention Zhou Duanyun… Generally, any child with a conscience wouldn't tell such a lie.

Wouldn't that just worry their mother for no reason?

What mother wouldn't be scared half to death seeing such a message?

Moreover…

To take a step back.

Even if Zhou Duanyun was being mischievous and playing such a terrible joke on his mother, he would never have waited two hours to send an explanation.

Normally, he would have debunked it in ten or twenty minutes.

Therefore.

Considering everything, Lin Xian deduced—

Zhou Duanyun lied!

But this time, the lie was probably passive.

He was indeed in a life-threatening situation at the time. Either he had offended Ji Xinshui, or he had done something bad and been caught by Ji Xinshui.

In short, around four o'clock in the afternoon when the first message was sent, Zhou Duanyun really thought he was going to be killed by Ji Xinshui.

So he quickly informed his mother, explained who the murderer was, and also asked his mother to call the police for protection.

This behavior was more in line with Zhou Duanyun's character.

He loved his mother very much. The first thing he did after becoming successful was to improve his mother's life. It was only reasonable that he would be concerned about his mother's safety when something happened to him.

But the situation took a turn.

Something must have happened during those two hours. Zhou Duanyun escaped danger and fled from Ji Xinshui.

No.

Lin Xian frowned.

He definitely didn't just escape!

If he really just escaped, he could escape for a while, but not forever. What's more, if he could escape, could his mother escape?

If Zhou Duanyun had really escaped, wouldn't him being arrogant and overbearing in Donghai City now be considered provoking Ji Xinshui right under his nose?

This was obviously illogical.

Therefore, it was not difficult to deduce that Zhou Duanyun did not escape from Ji Xinshui; instead, it was very likely that the two had reached some kind of cooperative relationship, became accomplices, or had been forgiven and recruited by Ji Xinshui, becoming his lackey.

"That makes sense," Lin Xian murmured to himself.

It was like searching high and low only to find it when you least expect it…

Today, these two chat records he happened to see on Zhou Duanyun's mother's phone directly connected all the clues, forming a complete logical network.

Thinking back to the night when he, Zhou Duanyun, Tang Xin, and Gao Yang had dinner together, and the conversation between Zhou Duanyun and Tang Xin:

"What is Tang Xin doing now?"

"I work at the Donghai Rehabilitation Drug Research Institute."

"Oh, I know your boss!"

"Really! He's a big shot… He was even Professor Xu Yun's tutor! You actually know him! Are you close?"

"So-so. I've done business with him a few times, but I don't like him as a person. He's too self-righteous."

This clue matched up as well!

The boss of the research institute and Xu Yun's tutor were the same person, Ji Xinshui.

It was he who invited Tang Xin to work in Donghai, and it was also he who wanted to kill Zhou Duanyun in the first place.

And Zhou Duanyun was perhaps somewhat unconvinced, so while admitting to knowing Ji Xinshui, he also said that this old guy was self-righteous.

The relationship between the two was somewhat subtle, which also fit with his previous reasoning.

His thoughts.

Became clear in an instant.

Lin Xian turned his head and looked again at the fake Hunan University admission notice framed in the glass…

Zhou Duanyun's life after the college entrance examination could be described as countless lies.

But the truth was often hidden beneath these falsehoods, with countless connections.

Based on the existing clues, Lin Xian began to summarize the results of his reasoning:

1. As he had guessed before, Zhou Duanyun and Ji Xinshui had an unclear relationship. In the murder of Tang Xin, the two must be accomplices.

2. Ji Lin has such a clever mind and high IQ crime-solving skills, but he has never suspected Zhou Duanyun and Ji Xinshui, who are such obvious suspects. In addition, his close relationship with Ji Xinshui suggests that he is likely to be in the same group as Zhou Duanyun and Ji Xinshui, conspiring to Tang Xin's death.

3. The murderer who killed Tang Xin and the murderer who killed Xu Yun are undoubtedly the same group of people, then it goes without saying that the person who killed Xu Yun was Ji Xinshui, whom he regarded as a son, and Ji Lin, who admired him as a child.

……

Thinking of this result, Lin Xian couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.

He once believed that everyone should have humanity, and at least the worst bottom line was not to harm their relatives.

But obviously, both Ji Xinshui and Ji Lin could only be described as beasts.

Lin Xian believed that Zhou Duanyun would attack Tang Xin, or would attack him one day, but he would never attack his mother.

And Ji Lin and Ji Xinshui…

What kind of reasons, what kind of necessity, what kind of benefit… could they have to kill Xu Yun, who was like a relative?

"Killing Xu Yun, such a big sacrifice, what good would it do them?"

Lin Xian couldn't figure it out.

But the reason was not that important in the face of the absolute result.

He now truly understood what Huang Que said:

"You don't provoke trouble, but trouble will come to you. Maybe you haven't realized it yet… but your cat and mouse game has already begun."

Wasn't that so.

Now it was not just as simple as trouble coming to his door.

Zhou Duanyun, this classmate on the surface, was almost stuck to his side;

Ji Lin, this high-IQ genius who cried thief, had infiltrated the Donghai Public Security Bureau and gained the trust of the police;

Ji Xinshui had tremendous power and was a world-class tycoon. His influence in the country was also very strong, and he was an enemy that he could not face in any way at the moment.

These were just the three "murderers" he had discovered. Who knew how many undetected "murderers" were lurking around him.

This cat and mouse game…

Was really too difficult.

The strength of the enemy and us was seriously unbalanced. He was just a small hamster walking on thin ice, and all around him in the darkness were cats with lurking yellow pupils. As soon as a flaw appeared and he showed his true colors… they would immediately pounce on him and tear him to pieces!

His situation was very unfavorable.

But fortunately, he had finally figured out exactly who the murderers were, so he wouldn't fall into their trap, which could be considered as having a certain amount of initiative.

The next step.

Was to consider.

How to turn the tables, how to bring these murderous demons to justice, and how to avenge Professor Xu Yun and Tang Xin!

Soon, Zhou Duanyun's mother and Zhou Le were almost done chatting. Zhou Le got up to leave with Lin Xian.

Zhou Duanyun's mother enthusiastically took out a large bag of peanuts from the inner room, insisting that Lin Xian take them home and try them.

Lin Xian waved his hand and refused:

"Auntie, we young people don't cook, so if we take them, they'll just go bad. You should keep them for yourself."

Zhou Duanyun's mother insisted on chasing him to the courtyard, stuffing the handles of the large plastic bag into Lin Xian's palm:

"The peanuts that Auntie grows are delicious. Take them back for your family to try!"

Then, she pointed to the huge earthen courtyard, all planted with peanut seedlings:

"Don't look at how many peanuts I grow, it's just to find something to do when I'm idle. To be honest, how much can I really eat… I haven't eaten a peanut in a long, long time."

Gazing at the peanut seedlings in the courtyard, the old mother sighed and shook her head with a smile:

"Life used to be hard. We used to eat the peanuts that we couldn't sell and were about to go bad, just the two of us, mother and son."

"In those years, we really ate all the peanuts we would eat in our entire lives. Even if I don't eat them for the rest of my life, I won't miss them…"

In the end, he couldn't refuse her kindness.

Lin Xian had no choice but to accept Zhou Duanyun's mother's peanuts.

Then he went to Zhou Le's house and sat for a while, chatted for a while, and then Lin Xian took a taxi back to the high-speed rail station, and then took this large bag of peanuts on the high-speed train back to Donghai.

When he walked out of the high-speed rail station, the sky was already dark, and it was drizzling.

Lin Xian stood in the rain, looking at the brightly lit, colorful Donghai in the distance…

It seemed.

This hide-and-seek battle.

Was really about to begin!