Qi Min had been missing for three weeks?
Qin Guan stared at the disheveled, red-eyed Li Yang and the stern-faced police officers around him. His mind, which had just begun to untangle the details during the journey, instantly spiraled back into chaos.
"For three weeks, we've had no news of her. You were the last person to see her. Do you have any information to provide us?" Old He's tone, though phrased as a question, held no trace of courtesy as he fixed Qin Guan with a piercing gaze.
Qin Guan finally understood: they were still investigating the "missing persons case" from three weeks ago—the disappearance of Qi Min after their business trip.
The case hadn't been closed.
Qin Guan nearly laughed aloud.
He had killed Qi Min just this morning, yet these fools were still stubbornly chasing leads from three weeks ago! Still fixated on that "disappearance"! It was a cosmic joke!
Wait. Disappearance.
A chill shot through Qin Guan's heart. No—this wasn't right.
Something was wrong.
They weren't clowns. They were deadly serious.
Li Yang, eyes bulging and teeth clenched as if ready to tear Qin Guan apart, radiated genuine fury. His hatred couldn't be faked. He truly hadn't found Qi Min for three weeks—meaning, during her recent days in the city, staying at Xinhe Hotel, Qi Min had left no trace for Li Yang to follow.
Qin Guan recalled Old He's words that night when they'd stormed his home: the police had dialed the number Qin Guan provided, but the person who answered claimed not to be Qi Min.
He'd assumed they would keep investigating. After all, how could a living person hide in a city crawling with cameras?
Yet she had hidden.
Even the message Qin Guan had sent Li Yang that morning, posing as Qi Min, had failed—Li Yang had handed it directly to the police.
The two travel bags were likely now evidence at the station, courtesy of Qin Guan himself.
But that wasn't the worst of it. From a lawyer's perspective, Qin Guan coldly assessed the situation: if neither Li Yang nor the police had found Qi Min alive in recent days, then aside from himself, Xu Ruyi, and Zeng Demei, no one knew Qi Min had returned.
This was disastrous.
As a seasoned criminal defense lawyer, Qin Guan knew the stakes. If the original disappearance case remained unresolved, and no one could prove Qi Min had returned alive, the evidence chain still pointed squarely at him.
He'd traveled with Qi Min. She'd booked the lakeside villa. He'd publicly admitted—to Li Yang and the police—to having an affair with her and strangling her.
Every shred of evidence implicated him.
And then there was the damned stocking, the one that had vanished from his car…
Qin Guan had no time to untangle this mess. Instinct and experience told him something had gone terribly wrong.
Three weeks ago, Qi Min had faked her death during their business trip, scheming to extort three million from him. To pull it off, she'd cut her hair, hitchhiked back to the city, and holed up in a dingy hotel.
He knew this—but Li Yang and the police didn't. To them, Qi Min had vanished after the trip, making Qin Guan the prime suspect.
The alleged affair only deepened his culpability.
Now, Li Yang, restrained by officers but still snarling like a rabid dog, jabbed a finger at Qin Guan. "I knew it was him from day one! He admitted it himself!"
"That bastard slept with my wife and killed her! My wife—my perfect wife! That wolf in sheep's clothing! That scum! Why are you being polite? He deserves a bullet!"
Qin Guan ignored the ranting fool but couldn't ignore the police.
"Qi Min's been missing for three weeks. You were the last to see her," Old He pressed, stepping closer. "Explain your words at the supermarket that day. What exactly was your relationship with Qi Min?"
Qin Guan wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. Stay calm. Don't slip.
As a defense lawyer, he'd often dissected evidence chains for loopholes. Now, he had to defend himself—and realized how hard it was to think clearly under fire.
"Those words were spoken in anger," he began carefully. "It's true Qi Min disappeared after our trip, but she returned to the city recently."
He needed to prove she'd been alive—to dismantle the "confession." Xu Ruyi could corroborate this, but mentioning her was too risky.
He recalled his earlier lies. "As I told the officers, my car broke down that day. I took a taxi and ran into Qi Min near the park. We spoke briefly, and she gave me a number."
"There were witnesses."
He paused, feigning hesitation. The worst outcome would be admitting the affair and the extortion plot. But he had no choice—Zeng Demei would have to be thrown under the bus.