The Last Mr. Dongguo

Located in the heart of Wenyang, Dongfang Lin's years of work had honed her exceptional memory. She had already thoroughly investigated all the public telephones in the vicinity, their locations appearing in her mind like code. Seeing a bench in the distance, Dongfang Lin adjusted her backpack strap and walked towards it.

The computer booted up, and the code began to run. Based on the situation at the scene, it was determined that no matter which direction the person who reported the incident entered the area from, as long as the likely route was identified, finding them was only a matter of time. Dongfang Lin expanded the search area to its maximum, calculated a time period based on the time difference, and retrieved surveillance footage from all intersections, searching for any suspicious suspects.

"Hello! Is this 110? I need to report a crime..."

The recording of the emergency call kept looping in Dongfang Lin's mind, and she kept confirming every detail.

"The caller is a male, aged 40 to 50, with a round face, thin build, broad brows, a slightly prominent nose, prominent cheekbones, and a receding chin. He is highly educated, meticulous, calm, and rigorous in his work. He is wearing a dark long-sleeved jacket without a hood, but is carrying a regular baseball cap. He behaves cautiously and has a clear target..."

While silently reciting the suspect's characteristics, Dongfang Lin used facial recognition to search for people whose features matched. Her slender fingers tapped on the keyboard, and soon 587 people were included in her investigation scope. Dongfang Lin took out her phone and dialed Bai Xin's number.

"Captain White, how's it going on your end?"

"They're back. The scene was horrific. It's no coincidence that Cheng and Fei Li went missing and then committed another crime."

"You mean, their target is Fei Li?"

"It's still uncertain, but hopefully this is the best-case scenario."

Dongfang Lin understood Bai Xin's meaning; this was an outcome no one wanted to see. A brief silence fell between them.

"Team Leader Bai, based on the alarm recordings and behavioral screening, I've basically located the caller's whereabouts, but further confirmation is needed. It's still like finding a needle in a haystack; I need some comparative data," Dongfang Lin changed the subject, "How's Zou Wen? Can you determine the time of death?"

"The time of death was probably between 1 and 2 a.m. last night."

"Okay, I understand. I'll contact you again after I'm sure."

Dongfang Lin hung up the phone and retrieved all the surveillance footage from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. within a one-kilometer radius of the Huguang residential area. After comparing and filtering the two locations, Dongfang Lin finally identified a suspicious pedestrian in front of the convenience store.

The suspicious person appeared within the area designated by Dongfang Lin during the time the emergency call was made and before the incident last night. Dongfang Lin quickly followed the person's trail and located the newsstand where the call was made.

"Hello! I'd like a copy of today's evening paper." Dongfang Lin handed over the money, and after the shopkeeper took the money, he lifted the thin sheet covering the newspaper, pulled out a newspaper, and handed it to Dongfang Lin.

Dongfang Lin said thank you, her eyes glancing at the landline phone next to her.

"Is this phone still working?"

"Of course it works, but nowadays everyone uses cell phones, and very few people use landlines anymore. Even if your cell phone is out of battery and you want to make a call, you probably won't remember the other person's number." The shop owner shook his head as he spoke, looking helpless. "Business is getting harder and harder these days."

Dongfang Lin ignored her boss's complaints, put on gloves, gently picked up the phone receiver, and looked at it from the right angle. A fairly clear fingerprint appeared before her eyes. Dongfang Lin then put the receiver down and scrolled through the pages to find the number she had dialed.

The boss looked at Dongfang Lin with suspicion, wondering what this young woman in front of him was up to.

"Do you recall that at 8:12 this morning, a discreetly dressed man made a call to the police from your location?"

"I don't know if it was an emergency call, but someone did make the call. Who are you?" the boss asked.

Dongfang Lin showed her ID, and after the shopkeeper looked at it, he continued, "Around 8 a.m., someone did come here to make a phone call, but I was buying steamed buns at the breakfast stall across the street at the time and didn't pay attention to him. When I came back, the person had already left and left five yuan."

Seeing that Dongfang Lin was still holding the receiver without answering, the boss continued, "That fingerprint is mine. He was wearing gloves at the time, and I saw it. I just thought it was strange. Although we also run a business using telephones, since mobile phones became popular, no one has been interested in this phone. So I picked up the receiver without thinking." The boss looked apologetic.

Dongfang Lin pulled up a screenshot from the video, turned one side of the screen towards her boss, and asked, "Do you remember which one was the person who made the call?"

The shop owner looked closely at the two photos, thought for a long time, shrugged, shook his head, and said, "I only saw his back, and I didn't pay much attention to his appearance. I just noticed he was wearing a hat. I'm really, really sorry..."

Dongfang Lin said thank you, took out a pen and wrote her phone number on the newspaper. "If you think of anything, just call this number. It will help us no matter what it is." Dongfang Lin thanked her again and rushed to the crime scene with the equipment.

After an unknown amount of time, Fei Li slowly opened his eyes, as if nothing had happened. Suddenly, he felt his hand was empty; Li Mengying, whom he had been holding, was gone. He was startled and quickly got up, looking around.

After a moment of tension, Fei Li breathed a sigh of relief. Li Mengying was lying on the ground not far from her, breathing steadily, and was fine.

Looking at her haggard face, Fei Li couldn't help but feel pity. She should have been living a carefree life, but instead, she was willing to atone for her father's sins because of a conspiracy.

Fei Li staggered towards Li Mengying, gently shaking her and calling her name. Li Mengying's body stirred slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Are we dead?

Li Mengying's eyes were glazed over. She gently shook her head, rubbed her eyes, and looked around.

"Where is this?"

"We are not dead, we are still in the secret chamber, but you could say we have died once."

"Died once? What do you mean?" Li Mengying couldn't understand what Fei Li was saying. She struggled to stand up, hoping to see her surroundings more clearly.

The floor and walls were wet, as if they had been washed by a flood. But their clothes were dry, which puzzled Li Mengying.

"How could this be? Where is the water?" Li Mengying looked up. The only outlet was still above her head, but the water pipes next to it were nowhere to be seen.

"Mengying, look at those Roman numerals."

Li Mengying followed Fei Li's finger and gasped. The Roman numeral VIII had become VII.

"VIII? VII? The numbers are decreasing, does that mean it's a countdown?"

"It's a countdown to death."

Li Mengying then realized that they were trapped in an endless loop, and if they couldn't get out before the number became 1, the real end would be waiting for them.