{{The Great Heist of Jin City Premier Day}}

June 19, 2021, Saturday

As a southern coastal city with a tumultuous history, Jin City held a special place in China.

It was once "leased" by European colonizers

for over a hundred years, existing as a concession, and finally returned to the embrace of the motherland in the 1990s.

Jin City was located south of the Tropic of Cancer, where summer arrived particularly early. By late June, it was already so hot that it felt impossible to live without airconditioning.

At 1:30 in the afternoon, Ye Huairui step out of the subway station and was immediately hit by a wave of scorching heat.

This time of day was the hottest, and walking under the blazing sun was nothing short of torture.

Forensic Pathologist Ye had considered driving himself, but recently the Shuizen area was undergoing road resurfacing, making traffic quite unpredictable. He really didn't want to gamble on the chance of getting stuck in traffic.

Yes, Ye Huairui was a forensic pathologist.

Ye Huairui's father was a wealthy businessman in Jin City, and his mother was the eldest daughter of a scholarly family from Zhijang.

However, his parents divorced when he was in elementary school. Since then, he had lived and studied with his mother in the mainland and only returned to Jin City after graduation due to work.

He originally studied clinical medicine, but during his postgraduate years, he chose the rather niche field of forensic science. Later, upon his mentor's recommendations, he went to the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a Ph.D. After graduation, he returned to China and took a position at the Jin City Judicial Police Bureau's Forensic Laboratory.

Today, Ye Huairui was going to watch a movie.

The Great Heist of it Jin City had its midnight premier today, and by midday, numerous reviews already surface online.

Earlier, Ye Huairui browsed through some of them on the subway, and the online buzz was rapidly escalating, which only heightened his anticipation.

However, being a mature and composed adult, he refrained from spoiling the movie by looking up any spoilers in advance.

But in fact, spoilers weren't really necessary.

After all, when it came to The Great Heist of Jin, not only was it well-known among the locals of Jin City, but it was also a highly renowned case in the history of crime across Asia and even the world.

The case gained such fame not only because of its complexity, the enormous amount of money involved, and the high number of casualties, but also because it remained an unsolved "cold case" to this day.

This time, a well-known local director, Zhao Cuihua, brought the case to the big screen.

According to Director Zhao, the film would interpret the case from a completely new perspective.

Ye Huairui had been interested in this old case for a long time. Due to his profession, he had accessed some internal documents and developed his own thoughts on the case.

Normally not very interested in movies, Forensic Pathologist Ye made it a point to watch this film on its premier day because he was very curious about how Director Zhao would uniquely and freshly interpret this old case.

When Ye Huairui arrived at the cinema, there were still twenty-five minutes before the movie started.

He decided to buy a scoop of ice cream and sat in the lounge area, eating and waiting.

At the table next to Ye Huairui, two young women who looked like university students were also there to watch The Great Heist of Jin City and had already started chatting.

The two women's voices weren't particularly loud, but the lounge area's booth design was so compact that their conversation was still clearly audible to Forensic Pathologist Ye.

"oh, look, there's a huge debate online."

"Yeah, I heard Director Zhao exonerated Yin Jiaming, saying he was framed."

"Well no wonder there's such a heated argument."

"But Tang Tang is so handsome. He doesn't look like a murderer at all! Hahaha!"

"Exactly, how could such a handsome guy be a murderer!"

In just a few sentences, the two young women had already given away the core spoilers of the movie.

Ye Huairui listened helplessly, silently facepalming. He scooped up a spoonful of ice cream, gave a wry smile, and put it in his mouth.

Meanwhile, the women's conversation continued.

"Speaking of which, I've seen a photo of Yin Jiaming. He was quite handsome too!"

"Really? What does he look like?" The other woman asked.

So, her friend opened a webpage and found a picture.

"Wow! He really is handsome!"

"Right, right? I told you! Back then, there was no photo editing or plastic surgery, He really looked like that!"

"Hehe. Why do I think he's even nore handsome than Tangtang?"

"No way, you're too much! You're switching allegiance over a black-and-white photo?"

The two young women giggled and bantered for a bit more before their conversation shifted to discussing which current young male celebrity has the best looks.

Ye Huairui couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile.

He had of course, already seen the black-and-white photo of Yin Jiaming from the wanted poster circulating online.

Not just that one; while reviewing the case files from back then, he had seen other photos of Yin Jiaming as well.

Ye Huairui admitted that, even from the discerning perspective of a gay man with high aesthetic standards, Yin Jiaming was indeed an impeccable handsome man.

If one were to judge solely by his looks and physique, no one would believe that such a strikingly handsome young man, comparable to top celebrities, could be a ruthless robber and murderer responsible for at least nine deaths.

Thirty-nine years ago, in the early hours of July 21, 1982, a shocking case occurred in Jin City.

At that time, Jin City was about to host a jewelry exhibition, featuring an extremely rare teardrop-shaped blue diamond valued at approximately four million dollars, named Tear of the Arctic Ocean.

Before being transported to the exhibition hall, this batch of jewelry was secretly stored in the vault of the Fushou brand of Daxin Bank.

Unexpectedly, somehow the information was leaked, and three masked, armed robbers broke into the home of the branch manager. After killing his wife and two sons, they took the manager hostage and infiltrated the Fushou Bay. Branch of Daxin Bank through the sewer system.

The robbers forced the branch manager to open the vault door and then forcibly opened the safe containing a large amount of jewelry. They took jewelry and gold bars worth a total of approximately 4.5 million US dollars, including the famous Tear of the Arctic Ocean.

After the successful robbery, the robbers killed the branch manager, left the way they came, were picked up by a black sedan, heading straight to a private dock.

Subsequent analysis by the Jin City police suggested that the robbers intended to smuggle themselves out of the country from the dock, aiming to escape to a Southern Asian country.

Unfortunately, the robbers seemed to have run out of luck.

The driver who was supposed to take them to the dock was deeply addicted to gambling and owed a significant amount of money to a certain gang. Coincidentally, one of the 'patrolmen' at the dock was the driver's creditor.

Seeing the debtor trying to flee, the creditor naturally refused to let him go, leading to a scuffle between the two parties.

In a moment of desperation, the driver revealed Yin Jiaming's identify.

Whether to silence him or to escape quickly, the robbers opened fire.

The gunshots alerted two nearby patrol officers.

They arrived at the scene immediately but were unfortunately caught in the crossfire and both were killed.

By the time the main police force arrived, they found five bodies strewn about and one critically injured person with a gunshot wound to the shoulder. The four perpetrators had already fled and were nowhere to be found.

In total, nine people died in the robbery, including two police officers and two minor's, and the stolen property amounted to a staggering 4.5 million US dollars.

Such a shocking case naturally prompted the Jin City authorities to launch an all-out manhunt.

The sole survivor of the dock shooting told the police everything he knew and identified the driver and Yin Jiaming.

The police issued a city-wide bounty and manhunt, setting up an inescapable net to prevent the robbers from leaving the Jin City.

Unfortunately, both the driver and Yin Jiaming seemed to have vanished into thin air. Despite the police's exhaustive efforts, they remained elusive.

Unable to capture the driver and Yin Jiaming and failing to identify the other two perpetrators, the hung over the heads if Jin City's residents, causing widespread panic and rampant rumors.

It wasn't until two months after the robbery that the police received a tip from an informant, locating Yin Jiaming in a seaside villa area.

Faced with the police's encirclement, Yin Jiaming adamantly denied being the perpetrator and attempted to flee

In a moment of urgency, the Jin City police opened fire.

Yin Jiaming was shot and despite his injuries, escaped into a villa and then jumped into the sea from a window. He disappeared without a trace and was never seen again.

In the final case files the Ye Huairui reviewed, the Jin City police concluded that Yin Jiaming was indeed one of a perpetrators and was likely the mastermind.

The Police shot Yin Jiaming in the left abdome—given the medical standards at the time, combined with the gunshots wound and falling into the sea, there was a 99% chance he wouldn't have survived.

Since the mastermind presumed dead, the case was considered closed.

Unfortunately, despite the police thoroughly searching all of Yin Jiaming's properties afterward, they couldn't find any of the stolen goods.

The millions of dollar's worth of jewelry and gold bars, especially the world-renowned rare blue diamond Tear of the Arctic Ocean, vanished without a trace and never reappeared in the public eye.

Now, thirty-nine years later, Director Zhao Cuihua revisited the old case, making a movie to "exonerate" a criminal who had been dead for nearly forty years. This was indeed quite intriguing...

Thinking of this, Ye Huairui smiled, scraped the last bit of ice cream from the bottom of the cup with his spoon, ate it in one bite, threw the cup into the nearby trash can, and then got up to head to the screening room.

He was curious to see how Director Zhao would tell the story of this well-known old case.

              &&& &&& &&&

The screening room darkened, and the movie officially began.

As a well-known local director in Jin City, Zhao Cuihua was renowned for his consistent quality. His works were either critically acclaimed or box office hits, making him quite a draw for audiences.

The first-day attendance rate for the The Great Heist of Jin City was impressive, with the large screening room almost completely filled.

Ye Huairui's seat was a bit too close to the front, requiring him to slightly tilt his head to watch the screen.

The movie followed Director Zhao's usual style: a tight plot, smooth visuals, thrilling scenes, and a strong sense of cinematography, capturing the essence of Jin City's crime thrillers.

However, this time, the film, which appeared to be very "traditional" crime thriller, was not just a simple story of good triumphing over evil.

The movie unfolded two parallel lines.

The male lead, played by the popular young actor Tang Tang, was one of the  robbers, while the second male lead was a police captain responsible for investigating the case back then.

The plot began with the robbers planning the heist, then finding accomplices, and finally selecting the right moment to commit the crime.

The robbers and their accomplices then failed to escape due to the unexpected incident at the dock. After killing nine people, they fled hastily and disappeared into the crowd.

From this point, the narrative focus shifted to the police captain.

The police meticulously investigated all the witnesses and evidence left behind by the robbers, not overlooking any clues. They delved deep deep into the robber's social circles and networks, trying unearth these ruthless criminals.

After a difficult investigation, they finally located Yin Jiaming, played by Tang Tang, in the seaside villa area.

Then, just as it happened in real history, a thrilling chase ensued, culminating in the police opening fire, and the criminal being shot and falling into the sea.

At this point, Ye Huairui though that if it were just this, The Great Heist of Jin City would merely be a well-balanced, competent crime thriller.

However, this was not the true ending.

On the screen, the police captain was overlooking the turbulent sea, his expression grave and contemplative.

A police officer ran up to him, informing him that they bad bot found Yin Jiaming, who had fallen in to the sea.

Upon hearing this, tha captain's expression grew even darker, showing no signs of excitement or joy ober the case being solved or the criminal being brought to justice.

The officer, observing the captain's demeanor, cautiously asked if there was a problem.

The captain turned to his subordinate and said, word by word, "Do you think this Yin Jiaming is the real culprit?"

Amid the officer's surprised expression, the camera quickly zoomed out, spanning across most of Jin City, and moved to hover over a chaotic and old residential area.

In the cramped tenement buildings, there was an inconspicuous window, with with curtains tightly drawn even in broad daylight.

A man stood in front of a black-and-white television, watching the news.

On the screen, a spokesperson for the Jin City police was surrounded by a dozen microphones.

He confidently assured that Yin Jiaming had been shot dead by the police, his body had fallen into the sea, the main perpetrator of the heist was dead, and the case was essentially solved, so the public could rest easy.

The camera then shifted, revealing the man's face to the audience—it was Tang Tang playing Yin Jiaming!

However, Ye Huairui quickly noticed that whether it was due to the makeup artist's deliberate changes or subtle differences in hairstyle, the "Yin Jiaming" standing in front of the television and the "Yi Jiaming" who fell into the sea, although sharing the same face, had distinctly different auras.

Tang Tang was clearly portraying two different characters.

Sure enough, the man gazed at the screen and suddenly curled his lips into a smile, a smile as cold as ice, exuding a chilling cruelty and ferocity.

He then sat down at the table, rolled up his left sleeve, and began to wife a tatt6on his left arm with a cloth.

Yin Jiaming had a tattoo of Guanyin holding a lotus on his left arm—this was one of the 'evidences' revorded in the files.

However, in this moment, the handsome yet sinester man in the close-up shot was slowly wiping away the Guanyin holding a lotus tattoo drom his arm.

This scene, juxtaposed with the background audio of the police declaring Yin Jiaming dead in the case solved, was so ironic, as if mocking everyone both inside and outside the film.

The screen darkened.

As the end credits began to roll, a black-and-white ID photo appeared.

It was the real "Yin Jiaming", identical to the headshot printed on the wanted poster from back then.

The young man in the photo had a handsome face and sharp eyes, appearing younger and more spirited than his portrayal in the film. He exuded a unique, carefree charm of that era, so free-spirited and dashing.

Even though the main film had ended, hardly any audience members in the screening room got up to leave.

Almost everyone continued to stare at the screen.

The photos began to change.

One after another, all of them were of the real Yin Jiaming from thirty-nine years ago.

Some were solo shots, while others were group photos. Most were in black-and-white but there were even a couple in color.

These photos were incredibly comprehensive, including many he hadn't even seen in the police archives.

In an era when cameras were rare and valuable, it was already remarkable for someone to have so many photos taken.

Moreover, nearly forty years later, Director Zhao was still able to obtain these old photos —Ye Huairui believed the only possibility was that someone in the film crew had direct contact with Yin Jiaming's relatives or acquaintances from back then.

By this time, the end credits song was nearing it's conclusion.

The last photo faded away, and the screen went completely dark.

Just when the audience thought the movie had ended, a line of text appeared on the screen—

"The truth will not be altered, only buried."

                        &&& &&& &&&

The author has something to say:

Starting a new project! (^o^)/

The setting of Jin City is partially inspired by Macau, but for the sake of the plot, it is a fictional city.

This story is purely fictional and should not be associated with any real organization or individual. Love you all! \=3\=

{{The Possiblity of the a 'Scapegoat'}}

As he walked out of the cinema, Ye Huairui couldn't help but mull over the plot of the movie he had just seen.

The ending of the movie was intriguing, so much so that it seemed like it could only have been conceived by someone with insider knowledge of the case.

It proposed a new possibility for the unsolved case: that the suspect back then was not actually Yin Jiaming, but someone else who had stolen his identity to pin the robbery and murder on him.

Of course, from the perspective of the average viewers l, The Great Heist of Jin City was entertaining, but it seemed more like the screenwriter concocted a seemingly plausible yet sensational original plot, using it as a vehicle to retroactively exonerate the criminal from thirty-nine years ago.

But as a forensic pathologist who carefully studied the case files of that year, Ye Huairui couldn't help but insert the actual case into the movie's  plot and ponder its plausibility after watching the film.

With no rush to vet home, Ye Huairui decided to stop by at a Cha chaan teng. He ordered a pork chop and egg rice with a cold Yuanyang tea planning to settle his dinner there.

While waiting for his meal, he began to contemplate the possiblity of 'scapegoat' scenario.

As a top student who received full scholarships throughout university, Ye Huairui was not only extremely intelligent but also had an excellent memory. Although he didn't have a photographic memory he could recall over ninety percent of the details from documents he had carefully reviewed.

He tore a page from his small notebook, took out a pen, and began to recall and outline the case details on the paper.

Jin City's entertainment industry was booming with casinos everywhere.

Yin Jiaming was one of the many illegitimate children of the casino owner, He Weitang.

His mother, surnamed Yin was once a bar singer, beautiful and well-known as a social butterfly.

After meeting Mr. He, she became his mistress and bore him an extremely handsome son.

Unfortunately, beauty was often accompanied by a short life, Yin's mother passed away due to illness when her son was thirteen, leaving the underage Yin Jiaming no choice but to seek refuge with his father.

Fortunately, although Mr. He was a womanizer and often indifferent to his lovers, he was relatively decent to this illegitimate son.

He raised his son outside, never letting him lack for anything. When Yin Jiaming grew up, he made him yhe manager of one of his hotels.

Thinking of this, Ye Huairui wrote the word 'Motive' on the paper and marked it with a question mark.

From the perspective of 'why' regarding the great heist of that year, even the Jin City police admitted that Yin Jiaming seemed to lack a clear motive.

Before the incident, as an illegitimate child, Yin Jiaming's standard of living in financial situation were quite good, apart from not being officially recognized by his father. He had never been in a situation where he needed to flee with a large sum of money, so there seemed to be no necessity for him to rob a bank vault.

However, judging a person's motive for commiting a crime solely based on financial gain was indeed too simplisti.

After all, human greed was endless.

4.5million US dollars was a substantial amount at the time, far more than what Yin Jiaming could earn from managing his father's hotel.

If Yin Jiaming couldn't resist the tempation of money, or even harbored thoughts of establishing his own empire, then despite not lacking money, he indeed might have been motivated to act.

Moreover, there were many motives for crime beyond greed, such as revenge, jealousy, pride, and more.

Some people were even driven purely by the thrill and curiosity, taking risks to flaunt their 'talents'.

Since Yi Jiaming never truly fell into the hands of the law, the Jin City police could only speculate about his possible motives after the fact.

At this moment, the Cha chaan teng's waiter brought Ye Huairui his dinner.

Looking down, Ye Huairui saw a large porcelain plate on the tray, with a bowl of rice inverted on it accompanied by two pieces of green vegetables on it. On top of rice was a golden, fluffy scrambled eggs, and an obviously doubled portion of char siu.

Ye Huairui raised an eyebrow and looked up at The waitress was a young a young girl, and when she met Ye Huairui's gaze, her face involuntary turned red.

The reason was simple: Ye Huairui's appearance was exceptionally deceptive.

His features were handsome, with delicate facial structures, and his skin was exceptionally fair due to years of indoor work. Coupled with the elegant demeanor of a cultured individual, even just sitting in a Cha chaan teng, he looked more like a billionaire nobleman than most of the idol drama heartthrobs.

With such attributes, if it were anyone else, they would be likely have had a beautiful and intelligent campus queen as a girlfriend during their university days.

Unfortunately, Ye Huairui was a gay man who wasn't interested in the opposite sex. He was also aloof and not fond of socializing. Moreover, being a forensic pathologist profession notoriously known as 'destined to have a solitary life', made finding a partner extremely difficult. Thus, despite being a handsome and well-educated returnee from a prestigious university, he remained a confirmed bachelor.

However this didn't prevent Ye Huairui from easily attracting the attention of the younger opposite sex--like now, for instance, getting an extra portion of char siu just for ordering a pork chop and egg rice.

Ye Huairui smiled and politely thanked the waitress. Then, holding a spoon in his left hand, he scooped up a mouthful of rice and put it into his mouth, his thoughts returning to the case of The Great Heist of Jin City.

Setting aside the motive for the crime, the main reason the Jin City police considered Yin Jiaming the mastermind was that, aside from the driver, he was the only one among the four robbers whose identity could be confirmed.

At the time, the driver encountered his creditor at the dock and was stopped by the creditor and his henchmen. In desperation, he revealed Yin Jiaming's identity, which led the robbers to open fire in an attempt to silence them.

And they were very successful.

Unfortunately, the situation was too chaotic at the time, and the criminals were too eager to flee the scene, so they did not confirm whether everyone was indeed dead.

One of the creditor's henchman was only shot in the shoulder, although severely injured, and survived after being sent to the hospital. He told the police what happened at the dock that night, and also revealed the names of the driver and Yin Jiaming.

Ye Huairui didn't think the henchman had any reason to lie.

The Jin City police at the time likely thought the same way.

However, according to the henchman's testimony, the robbers were wearing masks, so he didn't actually see their faces. He could only identify Yin Jiaming based on the driver's shout, the culprit's height and build, and the Guanyin holding a lotus tattoo on his arm.

Additionally, aside from the henchman's testimony, the Jin City police also discovered that the robbers dug a tunnel leading to the sewer system beneath an empty storefront, which was actually a property owned by Yin Jiaming himself.

To the public accustomed to modern high-tech investigative methods, it might seem somewhat hasty for the Jin City police to have identified Yin Jiaming as the main suspect based solely on these two pieces of evidence.

However, in that era, when forensic technology was relatively undeveloped and solving cases relied heavily on police legwork, witness statements, testimonies, and some indirect physical evidence often were the key to cracking cases.

With all the crucial testimonies and indirect evidence pointing towads Yin Jiaming, it was only natural for the Jin City police to list him as the prime suspect.

Yr Huairui swallowed a mouthful of his meal and wrote six characters on the paper.

[Masked]

[Name]

[Tattoo]

These three words were key to the surviving creditor's henchman's identification of Yin Jiaming's identity back then.

For the small-time thugs in the underworld, the name "Yin Jiaming" carried a certain level of notoriety.

After all, Yin Jiaming was the illegitimate son of Mr. He, managing a sizeable hotel within his father's sphere of influence. Additionally, his tall and handsome appearance made him the type to attract attention whenever he went.

Even if they hadn't met him in person, the small-time thugs weren't unfamiliar with the name.

Ye Huairui didn't think there was a possibility that the creditor's henchman got the name wrong.

Moreover, the fact that the person had a Guanyin holding a lotus tattoo on his left arm further proved that the henchman didn't 'mishear'.

So, could it be that the driver deliberately mislead the creditor by naming Yin Jiaming, using his name to bolster their own credibility?

Ye Huairui tapped his pen on the paper and then wrote down the words 'silence witnesses'.

Indeed, this also seemed unlikely.

If the person was not Yin Jiaming, then there would be no need for the robbers to try to kill all the witnesses at the scene.

Furthermore, from the perspective of Ye Huairui's professional expertise, the location of the creditor's henchman's gunshot wound was extremely dangerous, potentially fatal if not handled properly, and did not appear to be a 'staged injury'.

This also meant that the possiblity of the creditor's henchman being an accomplice to the robbers, with them covering for each other, was very low...

...

Ye Huairui was so engrossed in his thoughts that he eben stopped eating.

Just then, his phone, which was placed beside his plate, suddenly rang.

Ye Huairui picked up the phone and frowned when he saw the caller's name.

The call was from a real estate agent.

Ye Huairui's father was a wealthy businessman in Jin City, very rich, and always wanted to make amends to his son, from whom he had been separated for nearly twenty years.

When he found out that Ye Huairui was still living in a rental room of just over ten square meters, he had been persistently trying to give him a new apartment.

Ye Huairui was already twenty-nine years old, well past the age of dwelling on why his parents divorced. He harbored no resentment towards his father, who had been absent during his adolescence, but he simply did not want to accept such an overly generous gift.

However, Ye Huairui's father was very insistent on giving him a house, andbthe real estate agent he contacted was the persistent type. With no way out, Ye Huairui could only agree to 'take a look' and 'make a decision when something suitable comes up'.

"Hello"

Ye Huairui answered the phone "What's up?"

"Mr. Ye!"

The real estate manager on the other end didn't bother with small talk and started pitching properties in a heavily accented Mandarin, "I've found a few more apartments for you, with good layouts and locations. When do you have time to come and take a look?"

"Let's talk about it later, I'm a bit busy right now."

Ye Huairui resisted the urge to hang up, "Send the property information to my email, and I'll see if there's anything suitable."

The real estate agent manager on the other end, sensing an opportunity, became even more enthusiastic:

"Alright, alright. I'll send it to you right away. You must take a look!"

Half a minute later, Ye Huairui indeed received an email from the real estate agent.

The phone call had completely interrupted Ye Huairui's train of thought regarding the case, and he no longer felt like continuing. He put away his paper and pen, and while eating, he began to browse through the email from the real estate agent.

Since Ye Huairui hadn't specified any particular requirements, the agent cast a wide net, sending him thirty property listings in one go, ranging from high-rise apartments in bustling areas to hillside villas.

Of course, even the cheapest of these properties started at a sky-high price of thirty million.

Ye Huairui had no intention of accepting such an expensive gift, so he merely skimmed through the property listings.

Until the last one.

The most prominent part of the listing featured a seaside villa.

The villa was evidently old Even with the beautification and retouching of Photoshop, the walls stile bore the marks of weathering and erosion.

Ye Huairui recognized this villa.

It was the very one he had seen in the police archives, the one Yin Jiaming had fled into after being shot.

—This is too much of a coincidence!

Ye Huairui couldn't help but laugh out loud.

—It seems I really have a connection with this case.

{{The Mechanism in the Antique Cabinet}}

Julay 18, Sunday.

Today was Ye Huairui's moving day to his new home. In the end, he bought "that" seaside villa.

The Jin City police's operation to capture Yin Jiaming was relatively secretive at the time, and the villa area where they found him was sparsely populated, so there were no witnesses. The police announcement only mentioned that Yin Jiaming was shot and fell into the sea, so the public had no way of knowing the exact location.

Even in The Great Heist of Jin City, regarding the scene where Yin Jiaming was shot, Director Zhao Cuihua, who seemed to have a deep understanding of the case, only made vague references and did not film at the actual location.

Reading the case files didn't give him such a strong impression, but when Ye Huairui came to see the house in person, he realized just how remote it was.

Even in Jin City, where land was scarce and expensive, this semi-mountainous area was so isolated that not even public buses could reach it. Without a private car, it was nearly impossible to get up or down.

The developer of the time positioned this villa area as a high-end residential zone for the wealthy, built on a cliff with a Portuguese-style European design that balanced aesthetics and privacy. One side faced the sea, while the other side had a private garden, with at least fifty meters between each building.

During the time of the great heist, the villa area has just been completed, and several villas hadn't even finished basic renovations. Naturally, they hadn't been officially put on the market yet. At night, only the night watchmen of the construction team were present, making it an ideal hiding place.

Subsequent police investigations revealed that the developer of this villa area had business dealings with Yin Jiaming's father, Mr. He, but this couldn't be used as evidence that they were accomplices of Yi Jiaming.

After searching the villa, the police also didn't find the missing jewels or any trace of the other three accomplices.

Thirty-nine years passed after that.

Whether by coincidence or fate, most of the properties in this villa area were sold, except for this particular house, which remained vacant for nearly forty years without any owner—until Mr. Ye bought it and gave it to his son.

As the saying goes, "A house uninhabited is prone to decay"

Even though it was considered a top-tier luxury home back then, after being vacant for so many years, both its exterior and interior became quite old.

However, the house was still in relatively good condition. With some electrical and plumbing upgrades, a fresh coat of paint on the walls, and a polish for the floor, it would be ready for occupancy.

Although Mr. Ye didn't know that this house was somewhat of a "haunted house" in a certain sense, he was quite surprised when he heard that hi son had chosen a villa that was three or four decades old. He repeatedly asked his son if he was sure he didn't want to consider the house.

Ye Huairui, of course, wasn't considering any other options.

If it weren't for the fact that this house was the last place where Yin Jiaming had been seen, he wouldn't have wanted to buy a house at all.

Since his son liked it, Mr. Ye naturally had no objections.

With the real estate agent's full efforts, all the transfer procedures were completely within half a month.

Mr. Ye then hired a renovation company to refurbish the house and purchased matching furniture. Within a month, the villa was perfectly arranged, just waiting for the new owner to move in.

So, on this day, Ye Huairui drove himself, bringing two suitcases of belongings and seven or eight boxes of books, and moved into the seaside villa located in the semi-mountainous area.

                          &&& &&& &&&

"Yes, everything is fine here. No problem at all."

Ye Huairui said to his father on the other end of the phone, "You don't need to come over. I've already unpacked everything."

After hanging up his father's call, Ye Huairui went to yhe bathroom on the second floor to enjoy a nice bath, changed into clean pajamas, and then went back to the first floor to the kitchen to make himself a bowl of noodles.

By this time, it was already eleven o'clock at night.

Ye Huairui came out with the bowl of noodles and sat at the dining table to eat.

Next to the dining table was an arched window facing the seaside cliff. According to yhe police files left by the Jin City police, when Yin Jiaming was shot and fled into the villa, he broke through this window's glass and fell into the sea below the cliff.

At this moment, thirty-nine years later Ye Huairui sat in front of the same window, observing the intricate European-style carvi8on the window frame under the light of the wall lamp, and couldn't help but imagine the scene Yin Jiaming saw in his final moments...

"Sigh!"

Ye Huairui let a low sigh and murmured to himself:

"If only I could see it with my own eyes..."

Of course, Ye Huairui was just speaking hypothetically.

This isn't a science fiction novel; there's no time travel.

Even if there were, his interest in the case was merely curiosity, not an obsession that would drive him to travel back thirty-nine years to experience it firsthand.

Moreover, Ye Huairui admitted that even he, in an era lacking modern tools, and where even DNA testing took two years, wouldn't have done better than the Jin City police at yhat time.

"...It looks like it's going to rain."

Ye Huairui felt the oppressive pressure outside the window and picked up a mouthful of noodles.

In the height of summer, Jin City almost always had thunderstorms.

Today had been usually hot and stuffy, and Ye Huairui had been worried about a sudden downpour while moving. It had held off until now, but it finally seemed like it was going to rain.

"Boom"

A deep rumble of thunder echoed in the distance.

At the same time Ye Huairui suddenly heard a loud "bang."

Starled, he dropped his chopsticks and jumped to his feet.

The sound was very clear to Ye Huairui, it came from the direction of the wall facing the window.

He looked in that direction and saw an antique cabinet.

Ye Huairui frowned.

This cabinet was an old piece that came with the villa, with the wood embedded into the wall.

The renovation team had previously thought the cabinet was quite old and its style rather outdated, not really fitting a young person's taste, so they asked Ye Huairui if he wanted it removed.

Ye Huairui thought that the cabinet was an antique and didn't want to bother with the hassle, so he had the renovation team leave it at it was.

In fact, it wasn't just this cabinet. Ye Huairui hadn't allowed the renovation team to alter any of the villa's other furnishings unless they were already decayed.

Ye Huairui didn't have much luggage and hadn't had time to buy new things, so naturally, he didn't have any decorations to fill the antique cabinet.

But how could an empty cabinet make the sound of a heavy object falling?

Cautiously, Ye Huairui walked up to the cabinet and knocked on it's wall.

"Knock knock knock."

The cabinet's sound was deep, indicating that the wood was of good quality.

"... Could it be thermal expansion and contraction? "

Ye Huairui wondered suspiciously.

Then, in the next second, an even louder "bang" shattered his hypothesis.

This time, Ye Huairui heard it clearly. The sound indeed came from deep within the cabinet—or more precisely, from the wall behind the cabinet.

Ye Huairui's scalp tingled.

He had seen the floor plan of this house and had been in and out of the villa countless times during the purchase, renovation, and moving process, but he never remembered there being any space behind that wall!

Even though Ye Huairui was a young man standing at 1.82 meter tall, he felt a bit scared at this moment.

He hesitated for thirty seconds over whether to call the police because of two unexplained loud noises, but ultimately decided to investigate on his own first.

So, Ye Huairui took a deep breath and began to feel around the antique cabinet.

The cabinet was deep but had no drawers or doors. Apart from the shelves, it only had intricately designed walls and an empty bottom panel.

"Knock, knock knock."

Ye Huairui lightly tapped different spots in the bottom panel, hearing solid, dull echoes similar to tapping on the forehead.

It wasn't until he tapped the lower left corner that he heard two distinctly different, crisp echoes, like tapping in a belly.

Ye Huairui: "..."

—No way!?

At this moment, Ye Huairui's mind was filled with nothing but 'shock'.

He began to carefully explore the area with the unusual sound, meticulously feeling around the contours of the of the antique cabinet, not missing a single nook or cranny.

After two minutes of fiddling, he finally found something unusual on the inside of two "V"-shaped shelves.

Ye Huairui turned on his phone's flashlight, crouched down, and closely examined the object he had discovered.

It seemed to be a protruding wooden strip, about one centimeter in length, width, and height, a small, square piece that was conspicuously wedged in the center of the "V." It couldn't be pressed or pulled out.

For some reason, the word 'mechanism' immediately popped into Ye Huairui's mind.

He tried moving the small block in various directions.

At first, it seemed to be firmly embedded in the cabinet's design, not budging at all.

It wasn't until Ye Huairui turned it to the right that he suddenly heard a "click," and the entire small cube slid down along the edge of the "V" decoration, fitting perfectly into a similarly sized groove at the edge.

—it really is a mechanism!?

Ye Huairui was so shocked that he didn't know how to react.

At this moment, the thunder outside grew closer, and raindrops began to fall, pattering against the window glass and drifting into the living room through the open window.

But Ye Huairui couldn't care less about that now.

His entire focus was on the mechanismof the cabinet.

Ye Huairui crouched down to carefully observe the structure of the mechanism and suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

The small cube had been positioned at the very top of the "V," like a pin or a bolt in a door lock.

And now that it had slid open, could it mean that...

Whith this thought, Ye Huairui placed his hands on either side of the "V"-shaped shelf and tried turning it to the right.

Although it felt heavy, it actually moved.

Ye Huairui:"!"

He felt like a player on the verge of completing an escape room game, feeling nervous, anxious, and excited as he continued to manipulate the mechanism.

When he had turned the "V" exactly ninety degrees to the right, transforming it into a "<" shape, he finally heard a series of dull, dry sounds of metal and wood scraping against each other.

Then, a section of the lower left corner of the cabinet slid to the left, revealing a hidden door in the wall behind it, just large enough for a person to crawl through.