Mastering the Sword Manual, sweeping across the globe

The person in the water hesitated for a few seconds, then turned and swam back.

I swam much slower than before, and my paddling motions became much more chaotic.

With great difficulty, the man finally swam slowly to the water's edge. Several people reached out at the same time, and the man also tried to grab the rocks on the shore, climbed up, and lay on the bank panting heavily. He was soaked, his hair was sticking to his face, and water was running down his trouser legs.

Just then.

A figure emerged from the water, dripping wet, and walked towards the shore.

The camera zoomed in, revealing a woman with long hair plastered to her face, wearing a dark-colored dress, and water dripping down her trousers.

She walked steadily and slowly, and after reaching the shore, she stopped and looked back at the river.

The camera panned slightly, revealing several shirtless men on the shore tying their jackets, long-sleeved shirts, T-shirts, and pants into ropes.

Someone was shouting something nearby, but I couldn't hear clearly.

Then, the woman bent down, picked up a pair of shoes from a clean rock nearby, put them on calmly, picked up her bag from the ground, and left.

The camera followed her for a few seconds.

She walked with a relaxed posture, even strides, and a straight back, as if she had just come from the supermarket, carrying groceries home to cook.

The video ends.

"See that? You all saw it!" The man in the gray polo shirt put his phone away, his fingers still trembling. "That bitch! She's just playing with people! She's fucking messing around!"

"Your buddy... just let it go like that?" someone asked.

"How could that be! Of course we reported it to the authorities!" The man in the polo shirt raised his voice again, as if he had finally waited for this question. "We reported it that very night!"

"and then?"

"And then?" The man in the gray polo shirt sneered, gesturing with his chin towards the official epaulets. "The officers know best."

Beside him, the officer with official epaulets squatted down next to the police car, put his hand on Xiao Hu's shoulder (who had squatted down halfway through listening to the report), patted him twice, and then stood up.

His movements were slow, as if his legs had gone numb from squatting for too long, or as if he simply didn't want to continue the conversation.

But all eyes were on him.

He sighed, his voice hoarse, carrying the exhaustion of not having slept all night.

“I didn’t receive the call at the time, but I know a bit about the matter. After the report was filed, a case was opened and an investigation was conducted… All the procedures were followed, including taking statements, conducting interviews, and reviewing surveillance footage. Everything that was supposed to be done was done.”

"And what was the result?" someone pressed.

He glanced at the man, then looked down at his own shoes, which were covered in mud.

"The result was that the person involved insisted that they simply couldn't understand it at the time."

"But she can swim!" someone exclaimed anxiously.

The man in the gray polo shirt sneered.

The man with the official epaulettes raised his eyelids and glanced at the two of them, his voice flat: "There is no law that says people who can swim are not allowed to go into the river. Can't understand it?"

The crowd fell silent for a second.

"Then why did she deliberately swim towards the middle of the river?" someone else asked, their voice a little lower than before.

"There is no law that says a swimmer can't swim into the middle of a river when they can't figure something out." The official epaulettes' voice was even lower, as if they were reciting an answer that even they themselves were not satisfied with.

"What if she swims back?" someone shouted.

The official epaulettes remained silent for a few seconds.

He raised his head, glanced at the still churning yellow water on the river, and then lowered his head again.

“She suddenly had a change of heart,” he said.

115 flashed by

(This is a recent storyline and not based on a single case.)

"And then what?" The onlookers listened, both incredulous and horrified.

“...criticism and education.” Clearly, the official epaulettes made it quite clear what everyone was concerned about.

"That's it? Not even detention?"

"..." Zhengzheng sighed deeply. This topic simply couldn't be continued: "The government originally wanted to apply for a commendation for bravery for that hero... the one who went into the water to save people, and the higher-ups were quite supportive... However, since there was no actual contact... we can only think of other ways..."

As he spoke, the official epaulettes looked at the gray polo shirt and asked, "Your friend, did he later get a job at a bank? The pay was pretty good, right?"

"A temporary security guard..." The man in the gray polo shirt pursed his lips but didn't say anything more.

The others didn't receive the same treatment and weren't so easily appeased.

"And what about this time?" "This time it won't just be a reprimand, right?" "A life for a life, it's only right!"...

Amidst the rising anger, the official shoulder insignia quickly reassured the crowd: "...Absolutely not, absolutely not. The officials of the fast patrol office and the provincial judicial commissioner are taking this incident very seriously and are holding an emergency meeting. They will definitely give an explanation to the fallen colleagues and the people of the prefecture and county."

"Explain your ass!" Two meters away, a young man, unafraid of trouble, retorted, "So what if you took that bitch to the hospital for some consolation? What good is it? She's laughing her head off!"

As he spoke, the young man took out his phone:

In the first photo, several medical staff shook their heads regretfully. An elderly woman and a young woman with a slightly protruding belly sat side by side on a bench, their eyes vacant, and their breathing was barely visible.

The second photo, taken at the same hospital, shows a woman chatting and laughing with several of her family and friends.

"You beast!" "Fuck your mother!" "Is he even human?"...

boom!

Suddenly, a loud bang came from beside them, and the group turned their heads at the same time, all of them shocked.

The young man holding a vase to his chest was surrounded by railings that were reduced to dust.

"Ming-ge!" "High-speed rail hero!" "Ming-ge, you have to stand up for everyone!"...

"Where is the fast-track yamen?" Zhang Qiliang's gaze fell on the face with the formal shoulder insignia.

Why would you need a uniform to answer?

"That way!" "Go south..." "It's just ahead, cross the bridge, go straight to the second intersection!"...

"What about the Provincial Surveillance Commission?" Zhang Qiliang asked again.

"Over there!" "Over there!" "Over there!"...

"Okay." Zhang Qiliang put down the vase.

The next moment, a bolt of lightning flashed across the bridge.

Everyone craned their necks, followed him around in a big circle, then turned back. The man in the gray polo shirt looked expectantly at the official epaulets again: "This time he's definitely going to be sentenced, right? Maybe the death penalty?"

The scoundrel was standing right there, why didn't you ask?!

The official shoulder insignia was filled with exasperation: Of course, I wish I could shoot that bitch seven times in the back and send her to suicide!

Putting everything else aside, if the company loses one person, my workload will increase by at least a third!

--------

Conference room on the sixth floor of the Qingping County Expressway Headquarters.

The long table was filled with people on both sides.

The head of the table was the chief constable of Qingping County, surnamed Chen, in his early fifties, with graying temples, and the ashtray in front of him was piled high with cigarette butts.

To his left was the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, and to his right was the Director of the Technical Department. Further to both sides were the heads of the Trace Evidence Division, the Forensic Medicine Division, the Physical Evidence Division, the Image Investigation Division, the Cyber ​​Investigation Division, and the district police stations.

The projection screen was lit up, displaying a timeline chart that marked key milestones in the "August 23 Lingnan Bridge Rescue Sacrifice Case".

"...That's the basic situation." The head of the Criminal Investigation Department stood in front of the screen, holding a laser pointer, the red dot slowly moving across the chart. "At approximately 4:30 AM on August 23, a woman fell into the water at Lingnan Bridge in Lingnan Town. Our on-duty auxiliary officers Ren Yingxiong and Hu Zhiqiang, along with the lead officer Zhou Zhengguo, responded to the call. As you all know, Comrade Ren Yingxiong became exhausted during the rescue and fell into the river, tragically losing his life."

The screen turned a page, and a photo of a woman appeared on the screen—early thirties, short hair, and an ordinary face.

"The woman involved, Liang Yan, is 33 years old and from Lingnan Town, Qingping County. She has no fixed occupation. This is the third police report related to her 'jumping into the river'."

The meeting room was quiet for a moment.

Mr. Chen flicked his cigarette ash and remained silent.

The head of the Criminal Investigation Department continued:

"The first incident occurred on February 17th of this year, around 12:40 AM, at the riverbank about 300 meters downstream from Lingnan Bridge. Liang Yan walked into the water, which was waist-deep. There were thirteen witnesses at the scene, one of whom went into the water to try to rescue her, but Liang Yan continued to move towards the center of the river, and the person who went into the water could not reach her. About fifteen minutes later, Liang Yan went ashore on her own and left the scene. Afterwards, the police station dispatched officers, and in the interrogation record, Liang Yan said that she was 'in a bad mood and wanted to calm down.' Because there was no substantial damage, no case was filed."

Turn the page.

"The second time was on December 1st last year, also in the downstream section of the Lingnan Bridge, late at night. Liang Yan went into the water again, this time the water was up to her chest. There were two witnesses at the scene, one of whom tried to rescue her with a bamboo pole, but Liang Yan did not take it and continued to walk into deeper water. About twenty minutes later, she returned to the shore on her own. The police report afterward showed that Liang Yan claimed that she had been drinking and was emotionally out of control. Since there were no injuries, the case was closed after she was given a reprimand."

"The third time... is this time."

After the head of the Criminal Investigation Department finished speaking, the conference room was quiet for a moment.

Chief Constable Chen turned his gaze to the Director of the Technology Department.

The director of the technology department cleared his throat, stood up, walked to the screen, and pulled up a new set of images—high-definition close-ups of the railing, with fine friction marks and some faint patterns on the surface.

"The preliminary report from the trace evidence department is out. There are two key points."

He pointed to the first picture: "This is the railing of Lingnan Bridge, where Liang Yan was gripping it with both hands. We extracted fingerprints and palm prints from that area at the scene, and found a total of seven complete fingerprints and more than ten incomplete fingerprints. After comparison, they highly matched Liang Yan's fingerprint samples. The key is not the fingerprints themselves—but the depth and direction of the grip marks."

When the image is enlarged, there are obvious dents and scratches on the paint layer of the guardrail.

"Colleagues from the Trace Evidence Department conducted a quantitative analysis using 3D scanning. The average depth of these grip marks reached 1.7 millimeters, with the deepest exceeding 2 millimeters. These are not marks left by holding on or leaning on something—it requires a very strong grip, at least a continuous and forceful grip, accompanied by body swaying or falling. In other words, her hands were firmly gripping the railing at the time, not in the state of someone contemplating suicide."

Mr. Chen flicked his cigarette ash: "Anything else?"

The technology director turned the page and switched to another set of pictures.

"Secondly, shoe prints. We extracted Liang Yan's shoe prints from the bridge surface below the guardrail and on the steps outside the guardrail. She was wearing a pair of dark-colored sneakers at the time, and we have confirmed the brand and model. The sole pattern of these shoes is a typical outdoor trail running shoe design, with a very high anti-slip coefficient, which can still maintain good grip on the wet bridge surface."

He pulled up a comparison image: on the left was a photo of Liang Yan's shoe sole, and on the right was a screenshot of the product parameters of a certain outdoor shoe.

"The soles of these shoes use a special rubber compound and deep groove design, specifically for slippery surfaces. Moreover, we noticed that the other clothes Liang Yan wore that day—a jacket and pants—were all ordinary everyday clothes, but these shoes were clearly chosen specifically to maintain stability in slippery conditions."

The head of the Criminal Investigation Department interjected: "In other words, she chose a pair of shoes that were most suitable for standing firmly on the railing."

“That’s one way to understand it,” the Director of Technology nodded. “If someone is truly emotionally out of control and commits suicide on a whim, they are unlikely to care about what shoes they wear. But the choice of these shoes at least indicates that she anticipated that she might need to maintain her balance in a slippery environment. This is inconsistent with the behavior pattern of impulsive actions.”

Chief Constable Chen didn't say anything, but simply lit another cigarette.

The Director of the Technology Department stepped aside, and the head of the Image Investigation Division stood up.

He pulled up a map, which was covered with red dots and routes.

"The video surveillance team retrieved all available surveillance footage from Lingnan Bridge and its surrounding area in the early morning of August 23. This included security cameras, traffic checkpoints, and social surveillance cameras from shops along the street, totaling 8 locations. We tracked Liang Yan's movements from that night until the time of the incident."

He zoomed in on the map, and a red path started from Liang Yan's residence, passed through several streets and alleys, and finally stopped at Lingnan Bridge.

"Liang Yan left her residence at 3:47 a.m. From then until the incident at 4:30 a.m., she wandered alone on the streets of Lingnan Town for nearly 40 minutes. During this time, she crossed the Lingnan Bridge several times, lingering at the bridgehead, middle section, and end of the bridge. Surveillance footage shows that she stopped on the bridge at least four times, holding onto the railing and looking down, but each time she did not stay for long before continuing to walk."

“At 4:23 a.m., about seven minutes before the police were received, Liang Yan came to the middle section of the bridge for the third time. This time her behavior was obviously different—she stopped lingering and went straight to the spot she had scouted before, grabbed the railing with both hands, leaned forward, and made a gesture as if she was about to climb over. But please note her head movements—the surveillance footage shows that she turned her head to look towards the bridgehead multiple times while in this position.”

He slowed down the video, and in the picture, Liang Yan's head was slightly turned, and her gaze was directed at the bridgehead—the only way for the police vehicles to arrive.

“At 4:28, the police car appeared at the bridgehead. The surveillance footage clearly shows that Liang Yan waited after seeing the police car lights—only then did she actually climb over the fence and enter a state of being suspended in the air. Furthermore, Liang Yan did not begin her exaggerated performance of struggling movements until the police car came to a complete stop and the officers got out of the car.”

A low hum filled the conference room.

Chief Constable Chen stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, his voice hoarse: "Any more?"

The head of the local police station stood up and opened a transcript.

“We conducted a preliminary investigation into Liang Yan’s social relationships. Her ex-husband, parents, and neighbors all reported that she was ‘strong-willed,’ ‘prone to getting stuck on things,’ and ‘not the kind of person who would do something drastic.’ Her ex-husband mentioned in his statement that when they divorced, Liang Yan said things like, ‘I’m going to make you regret this for the rest of your lives.’ Although these statements don’t prove anything directly, they at least show that she had the motive to influence others through extreme behavior.”

Chief Constable Chen nodded, his gaze sweeping across both sides of the long table.

"Continue to gather evidence until it's impeccable. Trace evidence examination, image analysis, interviews—every step must be a closed loop…that's one aspect…"

"The previous two cases also need to be reviewed again, and evidence needs to be collected again according to the standards for criminal cases. We need to find each eyewitness again, ask them again, and take statements again. We need to retrieve all the video footage we can find and send it to the provincial department for technical analysis. We need to retrieve all the police dispatch records, interrogation records, and case closure reports and review them again..."

"The testimony must be detailed. The location where the person went into the water, the conditions in the water, the movement trajectory, why the brave man abandoned the rescue—every detail must be clarified and supported by evidence... The original files of the videos taken by the public at the time must be obtained, and technical analysis must be conducted to confirm that they have not been edited or tampered with... In addition..."

boom……

Suddenly, a loud bang rang in my ears.

The students in the fast-paced class turned their heads, and by the window, a figure that had been suspended in mid-air appeared and flashed past like a bolt of lightning.

--------

Meeting room of the Qingping County Provincial Surveillance Office.

The long table was half the size of the one in the yamen, but it was quite popular with people.