TFS Chapter 36

The two traveled under the stars and moon to Fenglin Township, Qingshan Town, a region under the jurisdiction of Shengshi City. The car shuttled through the night, with rolling mountains and sparse lights outside the window. Chen Can drove attentively, while Shen Qing gripped her phone tightly, browsing information about the intangible cultural heritage inheritor.

Shen Qing flipped through Lu Feng’s photos and introduction. After about two hours of driving, the car arrived at Fenglin Township. At night, the township was ancient, simple, and quiet. Ancient buildings and traditional shops lined both sides of the street. According to the address, the two found the ancestral home of Lu Feng, the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage boxing.

“Officers, you’ve worked hard, coming so late.” Lu Feng had been waiting in front of his ancestral home after receiving the call. He greeted them enthusiastically upon seeing them.

“Master Lu, we’re sorry to bother you. We’d like to know some things about when you were filming ancient costume dramas at Huasheng Film and Television Base,” Chen Can said directly.

“Huasheng Film and Television Base?” The man in front of them, wearing a spacious robe and black cloth shoes, pondered and asked.

“Yes, to be precise, on June 18th and 19th. According to the records, you were playing an assassin in the Shengshi City Huasheng Film and Television Base crew. Besides you, there were some other martial arts instructors at the time. We confirmed with the costume and props staff that a large action scene was filmed,” Chen Can continued, helping him recall.

“I have some impression. Yes, it was an ancient costume drama. A total of two slow-motion action scenes were filmed. One on the 17th and one on the 18th. Two days in total,” Lu Feng recalled the filming details at the time.

“Do you remember if there was a man wearing a veiled hat that day, who was also originally one of the assassins in your group?”

“I’m sorry, you’re being too detailed. It’s been so long, I really can’t remember,” Lu Feng said with some regret, looking at Chen Can and Shen Qing.

“It’s okay, I can recall it again. I don’t usually take on roles outside of very few crews. Was there anything unusual that caught my attention?” Shen Qing changed her questioning method.

Lu Feng pondered, “Our circle is originally not big, most people know each other. But there were indeed a few new faces that day. I can’t remember if they were wearing veiled hats, this kind of thing is usually arranged by the director.”

“Were these new faces all local Shengshi City people? Did they have any special facial features, or accents?” Shen Qing associated.

Lu Feng hesitated a little, racking his brains, “It’s really hard to say, you know, people in our line basically all look the same. If you want to talk about anything unusual… That day’s scene was in the evening, I didn’t look carefully, I was just thinking about the movements and the position of the camera. Those leading actors are different from us, we can do NG takes, they are very important…”

Seeing this, the two felt that they probably wouldn’t be able to get any useful information, and prepared to get up to say goodbye.

Just then, Lu Feng suddenly patted his thigh, “I seem to have a little impression. Someone borrowed a lighter from me that day, I don’t have his contact information, he looked like a new face. When he returned the lighter to me, his hands were very slender, without a single callus. You know, doing what we do, we hold knives, guns, sticks all the time, I’ve really never seen such delicate skin.”

Shen Qing immediately asked, “What did he look like? Any obvious characteristics?”

“I didn’t notice that. The scene being filmed was also in the government office at night, the lights weren’t very bright. But when he spoke to me at the time, his accent sounded a little stuttering and awkward, it didn’t seem like a local Shengshi City accent. More like… a Southerner?” Lu Feng said hesitantly.

Shen Qing didn’t want to give up any clues, “Would it be convenient for you to come to the city tomorrow morning to do a facial profile?”

Lu Feng waved his hand, “I can’t remember what he looks like at all.”

“Then how about I give you ten different lip shapes, and you can selectively identify them. Perhaps we can piece together the face in your memory,” Chen Can added.

Seeing the two being so persistent, Lu Feng was also a sensible person, “Okay, then I’ll go with you once it’s light tomorrow. If I can help you, it can be considered a contribution to society.”

“Then we’ll trouble Master Lu,” Shen Qing said, overjoyed, thanking him repeatedly.

*

The next morning, Shen Qing and Chen Can brought Lu Feng back to the Shengshi City Public Security Bureau.

Inside the forensic science department, the profiler drew a facial sketch according to Lu Feng’s vague memories, but no matter how it was modified, Lu Feng shook his head, “Maybe I didn’t express myself accurately, or maybe I didn’t see clearly, it’s still not very similar.”

Chen Can frowned upon hearing this, scratching his head, and nudged Shen Qing, signaling how to solve it.

Shen Qing thought for a moment, “How about this, we’ll break it down part by part. It doesn’t matter, sometimes there are memory deviations in confessions, this is normal. Look at this lip shape, is it his lip shape? He spoke with a southern accent, borrowed a lighter from you, and probably had yellowing or calluses on his hands from smoking for a long time.”

Her description was very graphic, Lu Feng quickly closed his eyes, recalling the man’s lip shape, then suddenly opened his eyes, “I know, the lip shape is right, the nose and eyes are wrong. His eyes are deeper, the tip of his nose is narrower, but not a big nose, just the tip is narrow, the whole nose is still very tall and straight.”

Shen Qing said softly to the profiler, “Sorry for the trouble, this person is very important.”

“It’s okay, I’ll change it again,” the profiler said, modifying the portrait again, but as the number of modifications decreased, Lu Feng gradually felt that the image in his mind became increasingly blurred.

Zhang Shun came out of the office and saw several people gathered here. He was being called to the director’s office to report, and asked, “What are you all doing here?”

“Boss,” the people said in unison, making way. Zhang Shun then saw the profiler making a portrait.

“Then you continue to be busy, I’ll go out for a while,” Zhang Shun said, nodding. Unexpectedly, Lu Feng suddenly shouted at this time, “The eyes, are quite like him!” Following the direction he pointed, it was precisely Zhang Shun, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade.

Zhang Shun was also stunned upon hearing this, “Who do my eyes look like?”

“That martial arts actor I don’t know!” Lu Feng explained.

Shen Qing quickly took a few steps forward and asked, “Only the eyes look alike? Is there anything else that looks alike?”

“I really can’t remember anything else, officer,” Lu Feng sighed again.

Shen Qing then looked at Zhang Shun and explained, “This is Lu Feng. His confession mentioned that stranger, who may be the man who wore the veiled hat. It was said that his accent sounded like a Southerner, and we are in the process of working on the profile.”

Zhang Shun looked at the portrait, his eyes showing a hint of solemnity. He felt a kind of inexplicable feeling, Zhang Yu. Since twenty years ago, when he personally saw Zhang Yu steal other people’s work to obtain his current social status, he tried his best to persuade Zhang Yu to confess, but Zhang Yu refused to admit it and deleted the evidence. In the end, his father defended him, saying that he was willing to believe Zhang Yu, and even if Zhang Yu had used other’s work, Zhang Yu was still his younger brother, and Zhang Shun couldn’t ruin Zhang Yu’s future because of this. Because of this, Zhang Shun gradually drifted away from his father, because he was a policeman, and only stood on the side of justice. This caused Zhang Shun to associate Zhang Yu with many criminal cases he handled, probably feeling that all criminal suspects were the same kind of person as Zhang Yu. But this time, Zhang Shun didn’t dare to think too much about Zhang Yu, after all, theft was still minor compared to this major criminal case. Zhang Yu… shouldn’t be.

“You continue, the director called me,” Zhang Shun didn’t want to think too much about this.

“Boss, I still have something to report to you later. About the Film Academy,” Shen Qing said with some worry. She knew very well that homicide cases in the police station had to be solved within a time limit, and so much time had passed. In addition to discovering a bunch of clues, they had neither identified a target suspect, nor had they figured out the criminal motive and the commonality of the deceased. The leaders above would inevitably blame them, and the first to bear the blame would be Zhang Shun. Although Zhang Shun’s family background was extraordinary, this case was different. In the end, he was still a soldier under someone else’s command.

Zhang Shun gave a clear look, his mind quickly thinking about the murderer who resembled his eyes. Of course, his appearance was not particularly special, it was just that this woman named Lu Feng saw his eyes at a glance, which still made him a little apprehensive.

In the director’s office, Zhang Shun deliberately tidied up his clothes, a hint of hesitation on his face, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

Usually, he was very confident. As an advanced talent in the bureau, he had not only won medals for himself and the team, but the director had also hinted at his career, and he was expected to take another step forward.

However, since the outbreak of the major 619 extermination case, he was like a drowning person sunk into the deep sea. Each dive made him feel suffocated, just like facing a case with broken clues. The bad nature of the case itself, coupled with the media hype, made the pressure of public opinion like a heavy stone pressing on his chest. He was still vaguely worried about the screenwriter who had not yet revealed his true identity. Perhaps before he had found out who this person was, he would enter the missing persons list. All this made him almost breathless.

Yuan Guobin’s steady voice came from inside the door, “Come in.”

Zhang Shun walked into the door, “Director Yuan.”

Yuan Guobin’s expression was as usual, “Sit down, what’s the progress of the case now? Are there any identified suspects?”

The two questions hit the core of the matter.

Zhang Shun pursed his lips slightly. Seeing this expression, Yuan Guobin’s heart sank even further. Although he had long expected to encounter opponents this time, he did not want to lose a capable general, especially the son of Provincial Party Secretary Zhang Shirong. No matter from which level, to him, the 619 case was like a thorn stuck in his throat, pressing on his heart.

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