You went on a blind date and presented an A-level wanted criminal as a meeting gift?

The night was deep, and dark clouds obscured the moonlight.

In the southern suburbs of Beijing, a deserted, abandoned brick kiln stands silently in the darkness. Overgrown with weeds, the night wind howls through it, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

More than a dozen black police armored vehicles were parked silently outside the brick kiln.

Li Mingyu gave a hand gesture, and more than 20 fully armed special police officers immediately dispersed and, under the cover of night, surrounded the largest main brick kiln.

Lin Chen and Su Qingge stood on the outer perimeter. Lin Chen had his hands in his trench coat pockets, his gaze calmly fixed on the dark entrance of the cave dwelling.

[Ding! Crime radar is detecting...]

The system notification sounded in Lin Chen's mind.

In Lin Chen's vision, a dark red light flickered deep within the brick kiln. This was the symbol representing extremely heinous criminals. However, this red light was visibly dimming, and after only a few seconds, it was completely extinguished.

Lin Chen frowned slightly; his vital signs had disappeared.

"Action!" Li Mingyu issued the order over the communication channel.

boom!

The special police used a battering ram to smash open the rotten wooden door on the outside of the brick kiln, and beams of several powerful flashlights instantly pierced the darkness inside the kiln.

The special police officers took turns providing cover and quickly stormed in.

"Safety!"

"Left side is safe!"

"Captain, target spotted!"

Li Mingyu rushed in immediately, followed closely by Lin Chen and Su Qingge.

But he is now a corpse.

The man lay in a pool of blood, his eyes wide open and bloodshot. A deep gash ran down his throat, from which blood slowly seeped. His right hand gripped a bloodstained dagger tightly, while his left hand clutched a tattered piece of paper that hadn't been completely burned.

Seeing this, Li Mingyu slapped his thigh in frustration and cursed.

"Damn it! They've silenced us! Those bastards moved too fast, the trail has gone cold again!"

Su Qingge was also filled with resentment. She had finally followed Lin Chen's clues to find this place, only to find a corpse.

"I wasn't silenced."

Lin Chen's calm voice echoed in the empty cave.

He put on white gloves, strode over to the body, and squatted down.

[Ding! God-level Forensic Mastery and God-level Insight have been unlocked!]

Lin Chen ignored the scrap of paper and instead grabbed the deceased's chin, carefully examining his facial muscles and pupils.

"Judging from the direction of the cut, it went from left to right, deeper at the front and shallower at the back, which matches his right-handed strength habits," Lin Chen pointed to the wound on the deceased's neck. "But the most crucial thing is not the knife wound."

Lin Chen pried open the deceased's lips, shone a flashlight on his gums, and then picked up the deceased's left hand to examine his cyanotic fingernails.

"Extreme facial muscle spasms and contortions, dark purple gums, and black lines at the base of the nails. These are signs of poisoning, and it's highly toxic."

Lin Chen stood up and looked around: "He was poisoned with the same 'Tethering Mechanism' poison as the bronze beast head. When this poison takes effect, it causes excruciating pain throughout the body, as if the muscles are being torn apart, making one wish for death. Unable to bear the pain, he cut his own throat with a dagger to escape the suffering."

Li Mingyu was stunned: "Slit your own throat? Then what's with this piece of paper?"

Li Mingyu carefully used tweezers to remove the piece of paper from the deceased's left hand. The edges of the paper showed signs of burning, and two printed words could be vaguely seen on it—"Heavenly Music".

"Tianlai? What does that mean? Is it a place name or an organization name?" Su Qingge leaned over to take a look.

"This is a trap," Lin Chen sneered.

He activated his god-level micro-expression analysis, putting himself in the state of the deceased before death, and his brain rapidly simulated the struggle trajectory of the deceased at the moment of falling.

"Even in the midst of extreme pain from the poisoning, he forced himself to burn a piece of paper and deliberately left behind a fragment containing crucial information, clutching it in his hand. This does not align with the human instinct for survival under extreme pain."

Lin Chen looked in the direction the deceased had fallen. "This piece of paper was a misleading clue he deliberately left for us, trying to divert the police's attention elsewhere. But his subconscious actions caused by the excruciating pain before his death betrayed what he truly wanted to hide."

Lin Chen walked to a dilapidated tin stove in the corner of the brick kiln. There was still a pile of ashes in the stove that had not been completely extinguished.

Without hesitation, he reached his hand into the scalding ashes and felt around.

A few seconds later, Lin Chen withdrew his hand.

He was holding a half-melted metal object between his two fingers.

Li Mingyu quickly shone a flashlight over there.

It was a metal badge. Although the edges had been melted and deformed by the high temperature, the main pattern of the badge was still clearly visible: a delicate violin. A number was also faintly engraved on the back.

"What is this?" Li Mingyu asked, his face full of confusion.

Lin Chen tossed the badge into the evidence bag, his eyes cold.

"This is what he really wanted to burn. Qingge, immediately investigate the origin of this violin badge. The number on the back is custom-made; it should be easy to trace its owner."