Chapter Four: Black Hole

The two of them walked unhurriedly to the entrance of the photo studio. The deceased’s friend said something to her, and the deceased stopped by a trash bin, took the items from several small shopping bags she’d been carrying, stuffed them into her own purse, crumpled the empty bags into a ball, and tossed them into the bin. Only then did she grip her phone and, together with her friend, enter the private cinema.

Her friend had a small crossbody bag that looked as if it could hold only a phone and some keys, and she was hugging a bucket of popcorn in her arms. It was obvious that this popcorn wasn’t bought at the cinema, but rather prepared in advance and carried all the way there.

Ning Shuyi frowned. While reviewing the surveillance footage from the screening room, she had noticed that after entering, the deceased’s friend immediately handed the popcorn bucket to the deceased once they were seated. Throughout the film, until the friend hurriedly left midway, she never touched it again—the deceased alone had been eating from it.

A young woman in her twenties, who appeared perfectly normal before the movie, showing no signs of discomfort or illness; in fact, from the surveillance footage inside and outside the cinema, the deceased seemed more than well—she was in high spirits, animated to the point of excitement, gesturing lively as she spoke with her friend.

A horror film, a friend who left in a hurry midway, a bucket of popcorn only the deceased ate, and a sudden cardiac arrest that occurred not long after the friend’s departure…

Piecing together these fragments, Ning Shuyi couldn’t shake off a sense of foreboding.

The rest of the mall’s surveillance system was beyond the authority of the private cinema. Ning Shuyi copied the footage she needed, informed Zhao Dabao—who had stayed behind to handle other matters—and set off to find the mall’s security office, all the while trying again to contact the deceased’s family or friends.

This time, Huo Yan followed Ning Shuyi of his own accord, without needing anyone to prompt him.

On the way to the security office, Ning Shuyi finally reached the “Aunt” listed in the contact list. She had expected a relative, but the voice on the other end was that of a young woman. Startled to receive a call from the police, the woman hurriedly explained that she was merely a close online friend of the deceased. As the deceased was preparing for her graduate exams, she often called her friend “Guo’er” as a joke, and the deceased had saved her number as “Aunt.”

Ning Shuyi found herself both amused and helpless at the deceased’s playful sense of humor.

Fortunately, among the other numbers, one did belong to an actual relative, and Ning Shuyi was able to obtain the deceased’s father’s contact information. At last, she was able to reach the deceased’s father.

Busy making calls as she walked, still somewhat dazed by the “Aunt” situation, Ning Shuyi focused solely on contacting the family and paid little attention to anything else. She merely sensed, in passing, that Huo Yan seemed to step away for a moment, but he would silently direct her which way to go at every turn.

By the time she finally finished speaking with the deceased’s father and hung up, she found they had arrived at the security office.

“When did you get directions?” Ning Shuyi asked in surprise. Although she had been absorbed in her phone calls, she vaguely recalled they’d taken twists and turns—moving from Building A to Building B, then up the elevator. The security office was hardly easy to find.

“We passed a service desk and someone there told me,” Huo Yan replied.

Ning Shuyi gave him a thumbs up. Huo Yan showed no reaction, but she was used to it by now.

When she had once asked the renowned sharpshooter to help her improve her physical fitness, she’d already realized that, contrary to his reputation, he wasn’t difficult to get along with—but he certainly wasn’t easy either.

He was nothing like Ji Yuan, another detective in their unit known for his overwhelming presence and aloofness. Ji Yuan was cold, radiating an unmistakable “Keep away, stranger” aura that made people want to keep their distance and avoid any awkward encounters.

Huo Yan was different.

He was like a black hole—any emotion directed at him was simply swallowed, yielding no response. He himself remained perpetually detached, as tranquil and motionless as a still pond. He would converse with others, but these interactions never bred familiarity. In short, he was profoundly self-contained, shrouded in a mist that left him unreadable.

None of this bothered Ning Shuyi. Everyone is free to live as they choose; as long as one doesn’t harm others or violate the law or morals, it’s nobody else’s business.

At the security office, she presented her credentials and explained her purpose. The guard on duty was straightforward, promptly pulling up the relevant footage from the mall’s entrances for them to review.

There had already been quite a crowd in the elevator lobby footage—chaotic and busy. At the main entrance, it was even more so, with a ceaseless flow of people crossing paths, forcing them to focus intently on spotting their target.

Entrance One yielded nothing, nor did Entrance Two, but at Entrance Three—clearly the mall’s main access point, judging by the crowd—Ning Shuyi noticed something. Huo Yan signaled to the guard to pause the footage, pointing to the exact moment the deceased appeared, having just entered from outside. He had identified her the very instant she appeared onscreen.

The guard, surprised, glanced at him and praised, “You’ve got sharp eyes!”

Of course he did; as a former top sniper, keen eyesight was perhaps the most basic skill in Huo Yan’s repertoire.

Ning Shuyi kept her thoughts to herself and continued watching the deceased in the footage.

The video resumed, showing the deceased carrying nothing but her purse, while her companion already held the popcorn bucket. They entered the mall nearly an hour before the movie was scheduled to start. The deceased, just as in the cinema’s surveillance footage, appeared exuberant, even a bit excitable.

Switching through various camera angles, their route through the mall became clear. The deceased was in high spirits, meandering from shop to shop, buying odds and ends along the way, in no rush to reach the cinema. Her friend, on the other hand, kept checking the time and occasionally urged her along.