The Last Mr. Dongguo

Several police cars were speeding back to the Criminal Investigation Division. Inside the car, Dongfang Lin gave Bai Xin a brief report. Bai Xin listened attentively without saying or doing much. After Dongfang Lin finished her report, Bai Xin sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Are you alright?"

"It's alright, things are just getting more complicated. Have Fei Li and Captain Cheng gotten any leads?"

"Not yet, but I've mobilized all my resources, all of them top-notch. In addition, Mengying and I have a unique signaling system. As long as Mengying can manage to send a signal, I can make a judgment immediately."

"They've made their move. The scene is exactly the same as it was ten years ago, so it's almost certainly them. You need to be careful too!" Bai Xin looked at Dongfang Lin, who gave him a knowing look.

"Don't worry, I'll let you know immediately if anything happens."

Bai Xin exchanged glances with Dongfang Lin. After a brief exchange, Dongfang Lin turned the computer screen towards Bai Xin. They had basically confirmed the suspect's movements, but his identity was still under further investigation. The other party was also a master; he had concealed himself very well.

Bai Xin examined the computer carefully before handing it back to Dongfang Lin. He rubbed his temples and tossed her a single sentence: "Keep a close eye on the suspect's movements and report any developments immediately!"

"clear!"

"Tick-tock, tick-tock."

It was the sound of dripping water, the damp, cold air slowly seeping into them. Fei Li struggled to control her emotions, maintaining a clear mind, ready to respond to any unexpected events. Li Mengying wrapped herself tightly in her clothes, huddled in a corner of the secret room, her eyes fixed on the Roman numerals on the wall, afraid that the numbers would change in the blink of an eye.

"Feili, isn't it about time?" Li Mengying was trembling all over and could barely speak.

"Mengying, hang in there." Fei Li hugged Li Mengying tightly. "Don't worry, I'm here."

"Fei Li, this time it's estimated... it's estimated that he'll freeze to death."

Fei Li kept rubbing Li Mengying's hands together, breathing warm air on them.

"Think of happy things," Fei Li looked up, the once damp wall now covered with a thin layer of ice. "Mengying, do you still remember Xiao Fei?"

"Of course, it was the Golden Retriever I gave you. Back then... back then you had just arrived abroad and were still feeling down. I felt guilty and wanted to... wanted to do something for you to help you get out of your slump as soon as possible. I was always chattering away in front of you. Haha, back then... back then you even thought I was annoying. So I gave you a Golden Retriever and named it Xiaofei."

"I know, I know everything. I was very grateful to Teacher Bai for taking me in. I also know your good intentions. At the time, I was wondering how to give a dog the same name as me. Later I realized that you wanted me to be like Xiao Fei, with a smile on my face every day and happy every day." Fei Li recalled the beautiful scene, a happy smile on her face.

"Do you remember the songs I used to sing to you?" Li Mengying's trembling body was beyond her control. She tried her best to control herself, but the biting cold had almost exhausted her strength to speak.

"Yes, you like to sing and you also like to revise songs. When you come across a good melody, you write your own lyrics."

I want to hear about freedom.

"From a young age, I envied birds' wings, always able to soar freely in the vast sky; as I grew up, I told myself that dreams are my wings of freedom, and with dreams in my heart, everywhere is a paradise of freedom..."

"Mengying, Mengying..."

The warm air and familiar voices made Li Mengying feel so comfortable. She greedily inhaled the warm air, and at that moment she realized that happiness was so simple.

"Mengying, Mengying..."

The familiar voice came again, and Li Mengying slowly opened her eyes.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

What appeared before Li Mengying was not a secret room or an ice cellar, but a cozy little house and her mother bustling about nearby.

"You silly child, were you dreaming again? I told you not to stay up late last night, but you still went to bed so late. As a psychology student, don't you know that staying up late affects the brain's rest? At best, you'll have nightmares; at worst, you'll feel mentally confused. It's bad for your health. Get up, Mom made you breakfast."

Looking at her familiar mother, and then looking around at her surroundings again, she realized this was her home from twenty years ago.

"Mom, where's Fei Li?"

"Fei Li? Who's Fei Li? Are you still not awake? Get up quickly, brush your teeth and wash your face. We're going to find your Uncle Bai in a bit. Have you forgotten today's lesson?"

"Class? What's going on? The locked room? Fei Li? How did I end up in my own house?"

Li Mengying recalled events from twenty years ago. Twenty years ago, she respected Bai Sen as her godfather and followed him to study psychology. It was because of this that she fell in love with psychology and eventually became a psychology expert.

"Class? What's class today?"

Li Mengying woke up with curiosity, ate breakfast, and set off for Bai Sen's house. Relying on her memory, she quickly found the place, but when she pushed open the door of Bai Sen's house, she saw Fei Li already waiting there.

"Fei Li, what are you doing here?"

"We have entered a fantasy within a fantasy, a fantasy that exists in your memory, or rather, in your dream."

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Inception." Fei Li used a very easy-to-understand term. "From what we can see now, the locked room at the scene should be a huge magnetic field, which interferes with our normal thinking. It has successfully guided our thoughts in the direction it wants to develop. Only by calming our minds and quietly falling asleep can we reach the place we want to go, and only there can we get the answer to the code."

"So the answer to the password you mentioned is here?" Li Mengying couldn't believe it. This was her godfather Bai Sen's home, the starting point of her beautiful memories. Could she really find the answer here? A big question mark appeared in Li Mengying's mind.

"Has Teacher Bai ever told you about any codes before, or taught you how to decipher any types of codes?"

"Yes, we do have that, but it's a game we play in our spare time. You've played it too; to put it simply, it's about giving each other riddles and then guessing them."

"It's not that simple. Think again. Does Teacher Bai have any special codebook or similar personal items, such as a diary or notebook?"

"Yes, he has a habit of keeping a diary. Is that related to the password?"

"Where is the diary?"

"It's in his desk drawer, and it's usually locked so no one can see it."

Fei Li strode to the desk, and sure enough, as Li Mengying had said, a vintage-style drawer appeared before her. It wasn't locked, though. Fei Li carefully opened the drawer, and a beautifully designed diary came into view.