Chapter 12: Establishment of the Project Team

Jiang Hai City suburb, hillside villa.

This is Li Zhenhu's private kingdom.

Music blares, pool splashes, scantily clad men and women hold champagne, reveling under dazzling lights.

The air is saturated with a decadent scent of alcohol, hormones and money fermenting together.

Xiao Zhang watches this glittering scene, and the once‑warm grilled sausage in his mouth instantly loses its flavor.

"Police! We're from the City Criminal Investigation Brigade!" Coming to his senses, Xiao Zhang flashes his credentials to the bodyguards.

After multiple reports, he finally reaches the villa's Second Floor terrace and sees the target—Li Zhenhu.

Li Zhenhu, dressed in a silk nightgown, cradles people on both sides, holding a glass of fine liquor, looking down at him with unabashed contempt.

"Police?" Li Zhenhu shakes his drink, sneers, "What do you want? Come to my house for a DUI investigation?"

Xiao Zhang, suppressing his anger, outlines the case briefly and says gravely, "Mr. Li, we have reason to believe you are the next target of a serial killer. We recommend 24‑hour close protection for you."

As soon as he says that, the surrounding clamor quiets considerably.

Li Zhenhu hears it, freezes for a moment, then erupts into an exaggerated laugh.

"Hahaha! A joke! The biggest joke!"

He stands, walks to the edge of the terrace, spreads his arms, and points at his heavily guarded manor villa.

"Protect me? Look at my bodyguards, all elite hires from the best security firms! And look at the villa's surveillance—if a single fly entered, I'd know!"

He steps close to Xiao Zhang, pokes his chest with a finger, his face full of arrogance and mockery.

"Tell me, how does the murderer kill me? Float in? Or with a glance?"

"You cops can't catch anyone, so you come here to wait for a rabbit? What uselessness!"

Li Zhenhu drains the red wine in his glass in one gulp, venting his displeasure.

"Get out! All of you, get out!"

In the end, Xiao Zhang can only leave his phone number.

"Captain Qin, this bastard is literally inhuman!"

In the car, Xiao Zhang punches the steering wheel, his face flushing with anger.

He reports the whole situation to Qin Zhixia verbatim, then can't help but complain, "Those two died so mysteriously, Li Zhenhu is the next! He's asking for death himself; why should we stick our faces to protect such scum?"

"I checked; this guy's family history is filthy, the organ‑trade stuff is probably true!"

On the other end, Qin Zhixia's voice remains as calm as ever.

"Xiao Zhang, once you put on the uniform, our duty is not to judge hearts but to maintain order."

"No matter who Li Zhenhu is, before a court convicts him, he is a citizen under our protection. We cannot let any form of private justice override the law."

"If we decide a person's life or death based on personal likes, how are we any different from the hidden killer?"

Every word from Qin Zhixia strikes Xiao Zhang's heart clearly.

The evil fire in his chest slowly extinguishes.

"Huh... I understand, Captain Qin."

"Alright. Since he won't cooperate, set up secret surveillance around the villa, keep a 24‑hour watch on me. Record all personnel and vehicles entering or leaving."

"Yes!"

Though they have a plan,

both know it all too well.

Inside Li Zhenhu's manor will become a huge surveillance blind spot.

The next day, City Bureau.

Teams from other cities and even other autonomous regions arrive one after another; the atmosphere in the Jiang Hai City Criminal Investigation Brigade is unprecedentedly heavy.

The "Seeing Evil" Project Team is officially established.

In the Detachment Chief's office, Zhou Weiguo hands an appointment document to Qin Zhixia.

"Zhixia, the higher‑ups have decided that you will serve as the Project Team leader."

Qin Zhixia takes the document, looks at the red header and her name, pauses, then looks up and asks, "... Is this the bureau's intention?"

Zhou Weiguo doesn't answer directly, just pats her shoulder; his eyes are full of affirmation and expectation.

"You've been on this case from start to finish; no one knows it better than you. Your ability is recognized throughout the bureau; you are truly worthy of this team leader role."

"If we crack this case, it will be a brilliant addition to your résumé. No pressure, go for it!"

Qin Zhixia already has an answer in mind, sighs softly, then straightens her posture, performs a standard salute.

"Yes! I guarantee the mission!"

Walking out of the office, she takes a deep breath; her gaze is now replaced by absolute resolve.

In the conference room.

All elite members of the Project Team have arrived.

Professor Chen, white‑haired, wearing reading glasses, hailed as the nation's living dictionary of criminal psychology.

Wearing a plaid shirt, a messy chicken‑coop haircut, the unkempt but reputedly Pentagon‑hacking tech guru "Ban Shou".

Also a pipe‑smoking, weather‑worn senior forensic doctor from the provincial bureau, Wu Gong.

This lineup is truly luxurious.

Qin Zhixia steps onto the podium, opens the projection, and displays the cases of Liu Guodong and Zhao Wei to everyone without reservation.

From the victims' bizarre deaths to the weirdness of finding no trace at the scene.

And finally, the "ghost‑seeing" testimony from Zhao Wei's wife and daughter, which seems absurdly implausible.

"... According to the eyewitnesses, namely Zhao Wei's wife and five‑year‑old daughter, they saw a male ghost with a hole in its chest appear at home and attack them."

Qin Zhixia's words finish.

The entire conference room fell into a deathly silence.

Those present were all top experts in the domestic criminal investigation field; the strange and baffling cases they had handled were countless.

But this case before them completely overturned the materialist worldview they had immersed themselves in for decades.

Scared to death?

Seeing ghosts out of nowhere?

This isn't a criminal investigation report; it's a horror novel!

The tech geek 'Wrench' adjusted his glasses and muttered, 'I've checked all the building's surveillance—no signal interference, no projection equipment. Unless the killer is a quantum ghost, it's impossible to make three people experience the same hallucination without leaving any electronic trace.'

Senior forensic examiner Wu Gong exhaled a smoke ring, his brows knotted: 'I've re-examined both bodies; aside from cardiac arrest, I found no other cause of death. In forensic medicine, this is a dead knot.'

Everyone's gaze finally converged on Professor Chen.

This authority, who had spent a lifetime studying the human mind, now stared fixedly at the 'seeing ghosts' testimony on the projection; in his cloudy eyes, confusion and shock appeared for the first time.

He remained silent for a long time, then slowly took off his reading glasses and, in a voice almost like a dream, broke the conference room's tranquility.

"If this testimony is true......"

"Then what we're facing is no longer any crime in the traditional sense."