Good and Evil Chapter 105: Returning to the Scene, the Strange Ning Yanran

The crime scene was located near Caihua Road in the Eastern District, an area densely packed with factories, including the one that had shuttered two years prior.

Xu Lang and his team drove to the site, which had already been cordoned off by the police. In truth, even without the police tape, few people ever ventured here; it was remote, and there was simply nothing to see.

Ning Yanran parked the car in front of the factory entrance, and they both stepped out. Xu Lang stood before the gate, surveying the entrance and its surroundings. He found nothing suspicious, a result he had anticipated. He knew that if there had been any significant clues, Ning Yanran and her team would have discovered them long ago. As detectives from the S City Public Security Bureau, they were certainly not lacking in competence.

After finding nothing else of note, the two entered the factory under Ning Yanran’s lead and arrived at the storeroom where the crime had occurred.

Even before reaching the specific room, Xu Lang had immediately identified it. For one, the yellow police tape was strung across its entrance; for another, it was the only storeroom that appeared relatively new and clean.

Xu Lang stood before the door for a moment, not rushing to enter. He scrutinized the exterior and then walked a full circle around the building. His inspection confirmed what Ning Yanran had said: there was only one entrance. Aside from that door, there were no other doors or windows. If someone were inside and the door was locked from the outside, it became a one-way sealed chamber. Unless someone from the outside opened it, those inside had no way of escaping. This confirmed that Zhu Hongfang and Yang Xuewen had not lied.

After circling the building, Xu Lang returned to the door, took a pair of gloves and shoe covers from Ning Yanran, and they stepped inside one after the other.

Before crossing the threshold, Xu Lang paused to examine the door. Ning Yanran understood he was inspecting the locking mechanism. It was an old-fashioned bolt-latch. Once closed, the only way to prevent entry from the outside was to slide the bolt from within. Unless the person inside retracted it, no one could enter. Of course, one could also force the door open, but there were no signs of such violence on the door itself. The only evidence of tampering was at the latch; it hadn't been secured with a padlock, but rather fixed in place with wire. As long as no one used pliers to cut it, the people inside were trapped. The wire had been severed cleanly, indicating the use of a tool like wire cutters, which aligned with Ning Yanran’s report.

Xu Lang stepped into the room. It was small, barely over ten square meters, and largely empty save for a large raised brick-and-wood platform. The dust on the platform had been disturbed, not by a deliberate cleaning, but by incidental contact. There were patches of dried, blackened blood on the platform, and the concrete floor was covered in a chaotic mess of footprints, suggesting many people had entered the scene.

Xu Lang walked around the room, focusing on the platform and the floor. Based on the distribution of blood, he deduced the victim’s position: lying with his head toward the door and his feet toward the wall. This struck Xu Lang as highly unusual.

Under normal circumstances, one might sleep in any orientation at home, but this was a strange, unfamiliar environment—and one where the door was locked from the outside. Logically, anyone in such a situation would sleep with their feet toward the door and their head toward the wall. This provided a sense of security; if someone entered, the person on the platform would have at least a split second to react. Sleeping with one's head toward the door left one completely vulnerable to a surprise attack.

"Did you ask Zhu Hongfang and Yang Xuewen which way they were sleeping before they fell unconscious the second time?" Xu Lang asked, turning to Ning Yanran.

Ning Yanran blinked, looking at him blankly, unable to process the question for a moment. After a while, she frowned. "I think it was just the same as how they usually sleep? I’m not sure, I didn't ask specifically."

Xu Lang subconsciously rubbed his chin, pondering. "If you were locked in a sealed environment like this, how would you sleep?"

It was a casual question, but Ning Yanran’s rosy complexion instantly turned deathly pale. She seemed to have recalled something unsettling. When she didn't answer, Xu Lang turned to her, concerned. "Are you alright? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine!" Ning Yanran snapped, her color returning as she glared at him. She opened her mouth to retort, then stopped, her face flushing a deep, embarrassed red. Xu Lang couldn't help but think to himself, *Women are truly natural-born actors.*

"Xu Lang, why are you asking these things? Do you have some ulterior motive?" she demanded, her voice sharp with agitation.

Xu Lang rubbed his nose awkwardly. "I didn't ask about your personal affairs; you brought it up yourself."

Ning Yanran’s face darkened further, looking like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "What did you say?" she hissed.

Xu Lang cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject. "Forget it. I’m asking, if you were in their situation, how would you sleep? Head to the door or head to the wall?"

The sudden shift back to the case left Ning Yanran frustrated, but she took a deep breath to compose herself. "Obviously, head to the wall and feet to the door. Why? Did you find something?"

She stopped abruptly because she noticed Xu Lang’s gaze. He was staring at her chest—she had been breathing heavily from her irritation, and her movements were quite noticeable. Xu Lang quickly averted his eyes, assuming the expression of a proper gentleman.

"And why would you sleep that way?" he asked, looking at the blood-stained platform.

"For safety, of course," she replied without hesitation.

Having received his answer, Xu Lang didn't pursue it further. He paced the room, finding nothing new. This was expected; the second investigation team had already combed the area.

However, when he reached the wall to the right of the door, he noticed a few fresh nail holes in the plaster. They were very new. He looked at the floor but found no nails.

"What are you looking for?" Ning Yanran asked, watching him crouch down.

"When you searched the scene, besides the body and the bricks, did you find anything else?"

"Besides the body and the bloody brick? We found a wooden stick and a few cigarette butts. That’s it."

"No nails?" Xu Lang asked.

"Nails? What nails?"

Xu Lang touched the fresh holes in the wall. If they hadn't found any nails, where had they gone? What were they used for? Did these holes and the missing nails have any connection to the murder of Shen Jun?

He had found three points of interest: the wire outside the door, the victim’s sleeping orientation, and the mysterious nail holes. Though they didn't immediately solve the case, they were anomalies. He decided it was time to go to the Public Security Bureau to review the statements and meet the suspects.

As he turned to leave, he realized he hadn't checked the inside of the door. He reached out and pulled the door shut.

"Ah! Xu Lang, what are you doing?!"

As the door clicked shut, the room plunged into near-total darkness. Ning Yanran let out a shrill scream and lunged at Xu Lang, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and nearly knocking him over.

Xu Lang was stunned. He knew she was a detective, but she seemed terrified of the dark—a fact that had become painfully clear. He felt the tremor in her body as she clung to him.

"Captain Ning, could you please let go? You're going to break my waist," he said, though he didn't move away. She only gripped him tighter.

Giving up, he turned his attention to the door. The inside was identical to the outside, save for the bolt and its socket. He slid the bolt back and forth; it moved smoothly, perfectly aligned. He checked the socket, but found nothing out of the ordinary. He repeated the motion several times, but everything seemed perfectly normal, leaving him more puzzled than before.