Shen Hao hadn’t expected to pass the police investigation so easily. This made him quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

As for what came next—how the police would track leads and search for the killer—that no longer had anything to do with him. There was only so much he could do. In the days ahead, all he could do was be more careful and avoid the possibility that the killer might make a comeback and seek revenge on him.

For this reason, he even deliberately changed his appearance a little. He trimmed his gradually grown, finger-length hair into a close buzz cut. He also swapped his gold-rimmed glasses for a pair of black-framed ones he used to wear—the prescription was the same; he’d just felt that black frames were too old-fashioned before, which was why he’d switched to gold-rimmed glasses.

Besides that, when going out, he wouldn’t wear glasses inside the residential compound. He would only put them on after leaving the compound.

The short-sleeved shirt and shorts he’d worn that day were washed and put away as well. They would only see the light of day again when the killer was caught.

He concealed as many identifying details about himself as possible. When facing an unusual murderer, no amount of caution was excessive.

In the following days, police officers went door to door throughout the residential buildings for interviews. Soon, sketches of the killer were posted around the neighborhood. Compared to his beginner-level sketch, these portraits were clearly refined by experts. Though they were drawings, they looked as realistic as photographs.

After being copied, they were posted throughout nearby residential areas, mobilizing the general public to help search for the killer.

This approach seemed quite effective. Even if they couldn’t catch the killer right away, at least it would force the killer to avoid this area, which in turn increased his own safety to some extent.

This greatly boosted his sense of security. At the same time, he felt an urgent need to improve his own strength. Aside from internal power, which accumulated over time and couldn’t be rapidly increased, a martial art suitable for combat was the best option.

Fortunately, the Sunflower True Scripture came with an additional martial technique—the Eight Yin Fan. As a palm technique, its power was quite formidable. However, he had only been practicing it for a short time, and his proficiency was clearly insufficient, requiring more intensive training.

This meant he couldn’t stay cooped up at home forever. After all, no matter how large the living room was, it wasn’t suitable for practicing palm techniques.

With his personal details altered and wanted posters of the killer plastered everywhere outside, he felt relatively safe. After hiding at home for only two days, he finally changed into light clothing and running shoes one morning, jogged out of the residential compound, and headed toward the forest park.

Just after he left the compound, however, he failed to notice that on the opposite side of the main gate, behind a tree, a person stepped out from concealment. Watching his gradually receding figure, the person broke into a run and followed him.

The familiar gate. The familiar mountain path. The familiar woods.

Upon reaching the clearing in the forest, he made a routine circuit and found no new traces. He hadn’t expected anything in the first place, so he wasn’t disappointed. He stood at the center of the clearing, closed his eyes, formed his hands into palms, and drew them back to either side of his waist. After taking two deep breaths, he slowly raised his internal power, feeling the inner energy flow out from his dantian like a small snake, circulating through his meridians.

Then he began to perform the Eight Yin Fan.

Judging from the name alone, it was hard to associate this martial art with a palm technique—it sounded more like a fan technique. Yet it truly was a palm art, and a very yin and gentle one at that.

There was no sound of wind, no whistling. The movements were soft and pliant, appearing almost powerless.

As the palm technique reached its peak, his figure retreated again and again, both hands moving like fans, constantly crossing and fanning outward. Only then did the true power of the technique reveal itself. In an instant, a fierce gale rose out of nowhere within the forest, causing trees to sway violently. The dry leaves that had just fallen to the ground were all swept up into the air.

Amid the flurry of leaves, his ears suddenly twitched. He heard an unexpected sound, and his heart jolted. He sharply turned his head and shouted, “Who’s there?!”

As soon as the words fell, he saw a figure standing behind a tree trunk not far away.

Although Shen Hao wasn’t particularly worried about being discovered by the killer, his nerves were still taut. Upon seeing a figure—before he could even make out who it was—he pushed off the ground, lunged forward, his palms flipping as he struck out with a single palm.

“Hey, hey, hey! It’s me, it’s me!”

The voice sounded vaguely familiar. Shen Hao’s heart stirred as he seemed to realize who it was. He twisted his wrist and redirected the strike toward a nearby large tree, releasing the condensed palm force. With just a light touch, as if merely brushing the trunk, the spot he struck suddenly caved in under the pressure from above. Wood chips and fragments fell as a tree about as thick as a bowl slowly toppled over.

With a cracking sound, the tree leaned against another tree’s branches instead of falling completely to the ground.

Shen Hao withdrew his palm, assumed a defensive stance, and stood still. After seeing the person clearly, he frowned slightly and said, “You?” Then he asked, “What are you doing here?”

His thoughts raced as he considered how he should explain what had just happened to this police officer named Bai Qi.

He hadn’t expected to run into a situation similar to Bai Mudan’s. Clearly, he hadn’t made much noise—so how did this guy suddenly appear in the forest? Could it be… he’d been following him?

The thought made his frown deepen.

At that moment, he even regretted stopping just because the voice sounded familiar. He should have struck right away—not to kill, but to knock the person down and leave immediately.

Just like how Bai Mudan had treated him back then. Once gone, even if questioned later, he could simply deny everything.

Bai Qi didn’t answer Shen Hao’s question. Instead, he circled the fallen tree, clicking his tongue in amazement as if observing something novel.

Just as Shen Hao was wondering whether this guy was about to ask him to take him as a disciple, Bai Qi suddenly threw a punch. Using the back of his fist, he struck the trunk, producing a sharp crack as it snapped in two.

“Relax, I’m the same kind as you,” Bai Qi said, glancing at Shen Hao.

Hearing this, Shen Hao was surprised, but also quietly relieved. If the other party had really wanted to apprentice under him, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed. And if the guy refused to give up, he wouldn’t have had many options.

Now it was fine. Since the other party was also a martial artist, there was no need to worry about that.

“You followed me?” Shen Hao voiced his suspicion.

“You could say that,” Bai Qi replied. “I mainly stumbled upon a martial artist and got curious, so I wanted to take a look… But your vigilance is way too low. I followed you for so long, all the way here, before you noticed me. If it were someone else, they’d have discovered me halfway.”

As he spoke, he walked back and forth in front of Shen Hao, circling him halfway while examining him. Then he suddenly asked, “Do you know Lou Wai Lou?”

“Lou Wai Lou?” Shen Hao was momentarily stunned, then said, “What is that? Some kind of organization?”

“Haha, figures. You must have only started practicing martial arts recently, right? Who’s your master? Which sect?” Bai Qi’s string of questions made Shen Hao realize that he’d inadvertently revealed that he was a newbie.

“Are you doing a household registration check?” Shen Hao said. Though he was a novice, he wasn’t foolish enough to spill everything just because someone asked.

“Not really… It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to say… Forget it. This isn’t actually my job anyway. I came to find you to clarify the details of the murder scene back then,” Bai Qi said.

“Didn’t I already explain that?” Shen Hao replied.

“You mean that sketch?” Bai Qi said. “Do you really think police investigations are that simple—just take a sketch and leave without asking anything? Your actions that night, and how you saw the killer—there are many suspicious points. Also, we found two stainless steel bars broken on the balcony security grille; it looked like they were snapped by fists. On the stainless steel awning of the floor below, there were marks of something heavy smashing down. Based on the shape analysis, it looked like someone fell onto it…”

“…Not only that, many residents also heard faint noises on their balconies that night, like something darting across the stainless steel awnings. Even regular police officers suspected that a thief might have climbed up the security grilles to steal things…”

“…If I hadn’t helped suppress these findings, you’d probably have been taken in long ago and invited back to the station for tea.”

Listening to this, Shen Hao was rendered speechless. He had thought he hadn’t left many clues behind, but now it seemed he had underestimated the police.

Of course, if there hadn’t been someone like Bai Qi among them, he believed the police would never have listed him as a suspect. Even if he’d been invited in for questioning, he would have been released before long due to lack of evidence.

He was confident in this because he hadn’t done anything wrong. With a clear conscience, he naturally wasn’t afraid of interrogation.

“The reason I followed you was because I suspected you weren’t ordinary—that you were one of my kind. Now it seems my suspicion was correct,” Bai Qi said. “Since that’s the case, let’s speak openly. For you, this isn’t a bad thing either, right? You saw the killer’s face, and the killer probably saw you too. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have hidden at home for two days before going out today.”

Many of Bai Qi’s deductions were spot-on, making Shen Hao realize that continuing to play dumb was pointless.

Moreover, as Bai Qi said, assisting the police in catching the killer was beneficial to him. There was no reason for him to help the killer hide anything. He’d only concealed the truth back then because the circumstances under which he discovered the crime scene were hard to explain.

Now that Bai Qi was “one of the same kind,” there was nothing left to hide.

Shen Hao glanced at Bai Qi but said nothing, turning and walking straight out of the forest.

Bai Qi wasn’t in a hurry, casually strolling along behind him.

Before long, the two exited the woods and sat down one after the other on a long stone bench beside the mountain path.

“I not only saw the killer, I also saw the crime scene,” Shen Hao said after sitting down. He chose his words carefully, then began describing in detail what he had seen that night.

As for why he’d gone to cling to the balcony security grille late at night, he didn’t mention it. He simply started from the moment he discovered the scene.