Tran—X

At seven o’clock in the morning, a white car sped along the Third Ring Road in Hanchu City.

It was summer, and though it was still early, the air already carried a restless heat. Jiang Ling switched on the car’s air conditioning and answered the phone that had been ringing nonstop since a moment ago.

With the speakerphone on, the voice from the other end immediately came through.

“Xiao Ling, have you already left? Why so early? Last night, I specifically asked Aunt Chen to make you some porridge, but why did you eat so little? Work is tiring, so you must eat more. How about buying something to fill your stomach when you get to the office? It is your first day at work today, so make sure to get along with your colleagues, okay?”

Compared to the endless chatter on the other end of the phone, driven by excessive worry, Jiang Ling simply gave a calm “hm,” glanced at the directional sign, and gently turned the steering wheel into the right-hand lane.

“How about treating your colleagues to lunch at noon? Mom will help you arrange it. Let us go to that hotel near your office; the food there is pretty good—”

Jiang Ling frowned as he glanced out the car window. The time was still early, yet the normally smooth-flowing Third Ring Road was somewhat congested. The cars ahead had all slowed down—looks like there had been an accident.

Jiang Ling drove the car slowly forward, only realizing when he reached the front that there had been an accident. A black sedan had completely flipped over, with debris scattered all over the ground. Several traffic police officers stood nearby, directing passing vehicles to avoid the accident site in an orderly manner.

“Mom, something came up here; I have to hang up now.”

Jiang Ling parked the car to the side. He got out and walked over to a traffic officer.

“What happened? Do you need any help?”

The traffic officer, looking completely overwhelmed, replied irritably, “Go away—do not get near the accident scene.”

Jiang Ling took out his police badge. The traffic officer took a look and, after double-checking, finally relaxed his guard and soon began explaining the situation to him.

“A rollover accident—one dead, one injured. The victims have been taken away by the ambulance. Hey, which department are you from?”

Jiang Ling said, “The Major Crimes Unit.”

“Oh, so you are from the Major Crimes Unit,” the traffic officer said, glancing at him in surprise. Jiang Ling was tall and lean, with fair skin, giving off an immediately likable impression. “But this seems to be just a regular traffic accident—not something that would fall under your jurisdiction.”

Jiang Ling stood in silence for a moment, staring at the black car that was still overturned before him.

On a bright, sunny day, with the sunlight shining warmly, a woman in red sat curled up in pain in the back seat of the overturned black car, clutching her head.

The violent impact had severely deformed the car, compressing the interior into an extremely tight space. The woman in red was wedged inside in a grotesquely twisted position, yet she seemed completely oblivious, remaining there in a dazed, unresponsive state.

This was a position no human could assume—unless she was not human.

“Was the one who died a woman?” Jiang Ling asked abruptly.

The traffic officer paused for a moment. “Ah, yes, it was a woman—how did you know? But you did not see it; the scene was just too horrific—”

After the officer finished lamenting the severity of the scene, Jiang Ling said, “Call it in. This case goes to the Major Crimes Unit—this is not a simple traffic accident.”

“Ha?” The traffic officer froze. “What are you saying? How do you know it is not just a traffic accident?”

The officer kept asking questions, but Jiang Ling did not answer. He stood in place, his gaze shifting back to the female ghost inside the car.

The spirit, visible only to him, was the soul of a deceased person—whom he always saw whenever an injustice had occurred.

…

8:00 A.M.

A police car pulled up by the side of the road, and several people got out. The young man leading them stood tall—around 1.90 meters—and even from a distance, he exuded an unmistakable sense of authority.

His skin was somewhat dark, but it could not hide his natural handsomeness. The slightly rough texture of his skin only added a rugged, resolute charm.

“Lu Hui, Unit One of the Major Crimes Division.”

The man, accompanied by the two people who had gotten out of the car with him, approached the traffic officer. He briefly introduced himself and quickly got to the point: “You reported that this accident is not simple? What exactly happened?”

“Oh, it’s like this. The accident happened here a little after six this morning. We received the report and arrived at the scene quickly.”

The traffic officer described the situation, then pointed to Jiang Ling. “By the way, it was your colleague here who tipped me off that this accident was not so simple. We checked the dashcam of the car that was following at the time of the crash and saw that the female victim remained completely rigid in her seat the whole time—no reaction at all. So we quickly reported it to your unit.”

Lu Hui followed the direction he was pointing and frowned slightly. “Who?”

The man walking behind him asked, “What colleague? Where did this colleague come from?”

“He said he is also from the Major Crimes Unit. Do you not recognize him?” the traffic officer said.

“From the Major Crimes Unit? Is there anyone in the entire unit that even I, Chen Zifeng, do not know?” The man tilted his head toward his companion. “Mo Yuzi, have you ever seen him?”

The man called Mo Yuzi shook his head.

“Captain Lu, I will go take a look.”

Lu Hui nodded and then continued to gather information from the traffic officer about the scene.

Chen Zifeng looked up at the person not far away, who was staring down at something, and strode over, patting him on the shoulder. “I heard you are also from the Major Crimes Unit? From Hanchu City’s Major Crimes Unit?”

Jiang Ling turned his head and saw a young man scrutinizing him intently.

Jiang Ling: “Yes. Is there a problem?”

The other man immediately perked up. “Hey, I have seen plenty of people impersonating law enforcement to scam others, but I did not expect one to target our Major Crimes Unit. Speak up, little liar—how does someone who looks so clean-cut have such nerve?”

Jiang Ling immediately understood the other man’s identity and realized it was a misunderstanding.

“I am from the Major Crimes Unit, Team One. Today’s my first day reporting in. I just happened to come across this incident on the way and have not made it to the office yet.” Jiang Ling took out his police badge and handed it to the man.

Chen Zifeng took the badge, half in doubt, and froze after just a glance.

“Jiang Ling—” he murmured, his voice low. “Oh, so you are that young master.”

Before Jiang Ling could react, he immediately turned to the people behind him and shouted, “Captain Lu, this is the new Young Master Jiang!”

Not far away, Lu Hui did not even lift an eyelid. Chen Zifeng clicked his tongue and turned back to look at Jiang Ling. “Alright then. We thought you weren’t coming today.”

Chen Zifeng looked at him with a strange expression, and his tone was unusually blunt.

Jiang Ling didn’t think much of it. He followed him over to the group of three, greeted them, and quickly learned their identities.

Among the three, the one leading them was his future team leader, Lu Hui. The one who had just spoken to him was Chen Zifeng, and the remaining person was Mo Yu.

Mo Yu did not seem very talkative, remaining silent the entire time, and Lu Hui only gave him a cold glance. Jiang Ling keenly sensed that these few were not particularly welcoming of his arrival, so he tactfully stepped aside.

Lu Hui surveyed the scene, his brows tightly furrowed. From what he could see, this was as ordinary a traffic accident as any—but if it were not for the suspicious detail captured by the dashcam of the following car, no one would have any reason to think otherwise.

“Captain Lu, I just watched the video. There is definitely something suspicious—the female victim did not move at all the entire time. That is not how a normal person would react,” Chen Zifeng said from the side. “But how did that guy know in advance? Could it really be like what the higher-ups said—that he predicted it with some kind of supernatural ability?”

Even Chen Zifeng could not help letting out a small laugh at his words. Lu Hui gave him a cold glare, and Chen Zifeng immediately fell silent.

Lu Hui had not said a word to Jiang Ling the entire time they surveyed the scene. On the way back, as soon as Lu Hui sat down, Chen Zifeng leaned over from the back seat. “Captain Lu, should we bring the young master along?”

Chen Zifeng had not finished speaking when he saw Jiang Ling outside and immediately went silent. “With that big Benz, of course he is not going to be impressed with our car. Let us just leave.”

Lu Hui glanced out the window and, clearly impatient, pressed down on the accelerator.

After exiting the Third Ring Road, they soon arrived at Hanchu City’s Major Crimes Unit. Jiang Ling followed the three of them to the office.

Since returning, Lu Hui had disappeared entirely. Aside from the three people Jiang Ling had already met, there were three more members in Team One of the Major Crimes Unit. Just like the cold reception Jiang Ling had received earlier, the other three showed no intention of speaking to him at all.

Jiang Ling found an empty seat and quietly waited through the entire morning. It was not until nearly noon that Lu Hui finally returned.

As soon as he returned, he called a meeting with everyone, and Jiang Ling joined them at the table.

“The traffic department has already sent over the report on this morning’s accident. One dead, one injured—the injured party is the driver, Zhao Qin, and the woman in the back who died is his wife, Li Ai. You have probably seen the video: Li Ai, sitting in the back, did not move at all during the crash, which completely defies logic. The forensic team also provided a report, confirming that Li Ai had an excessive amount of drugs in her system—enough to impair her mental state.”

Lu Hui briefly summarized the situation and wrote all the collected information on the blackboard.

“So the reason Li Ai did not react during the accident was because of the drugs?” The speaker was the only female in the team, named Jiang Yan. She had a doll-like face and looked quite cute.

“According to the forensic report, that should be the case,” Lu Hui said.

“That still does not prove anything. Did the files not say Li Ai had a history of depression? And these drugs were exactly what she needed to take long-term. Suppose she accidentally took too much before setting off and became mentally impaired, and then an accident happened on the road—it is only natural that she would not react in the back seat. No matter how you look at it, this seems like just a simple traffic accident,” Jiang Yan said seriously, tilting her head.

Chen Zifeng leaned over as well. “Yan Yan, you are right. I also do not see anything unusual.”

“This case was forwarded by the traffic department. Whatever the situation, we still need to give them a conclusion,” Lu Hui said.

“Why would the traffic department just pass us a case like this?” The man in the corner frowned. “Are they deliberately trying to give us trouble?”

Lu Hui remained silent, but Chen Zifeng could not help glancing at Jiang Ling. “Do not say that, Lao Zhang. This was brought to us by our new colleague—it has nothing to do with the traffic officer.”

For a moment, all eyes turned to Jiang Ling. The man called Lao Zhang chuckled softly, his expression unusually strange.

“No matter what, first check on this couple. If there is nothing unusual, we will just write a report to the traffic department and close the case,” Lu Hui decided firmly. “Chen Zifeng, you and Mo Yuzi check their financial situation. Jiang Yan, look into their daily relationship. Lao Zhang, follow up with the forensic team and the traffic department. Let us start with that.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Jiang Ling looked around, stood up, and asked, “Team Leader Lu, what should I do?”

Lu Hui set the marker he was holding on the table and gave him a brief, indifferent glance.

“You?” He glanced at his watch. “It is almost noon. Go grab some lunch in the cafeteria.”