Chapter 11: Don’t Leave, Okay?

Editor: Min Zu
Gu Yifeng lowered his head and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Beep—beep—
A piercing ringtone shattered the tranquility.
Gu Yifeng glanced at the caller ID: [Encrypted Line]
“Speak.”
“Boss, I just successfully hacked into Guo Qingyu’s app and found something!”
“I know.”
Gu Yifeng hung up the phone with a frown. The car fell silent again, leaving only the sound of rain.
The distance between them was so close they could feel each other’s breathing. She felt his fingers brush across her cheek—slightly cool, yet it made her heart race.
“Wen Yi, give me a chance to protect you.”
She gazed into his eyes, where intense emotions were swirling.
“I don’t care how dangerous your ability is,” his voice was firm. “As long as you’re by my side, I won’t let you come to any harm.”
Wen Yi’s eyes stung, and she couldn’t speak. She had wanted to face everything alone, but it turned out—besides her family—there was someone else willing to protect her.
Gu Yifeng held her hand, a gentle smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. “Don’t leave, okay?”
Her throat felt choked up, unable to form words.
Finally, she nodded. “Okay.”
At that moment, even the rain sounded gentle.
Gu Yifeng lowered his head and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you.”
He then started the engine. “Let’s go see what Little Gao discovered.”
—
National Security Bureau Yunhu Office
Gao Yiyuan pulled up the backend core code of the Yi Qi app. “Look at this ‘Emotional Matching Algorithm’ module—it’s not analyzing user preferences at all—”
His fingers flew across the keyboard as data streams scrolled rapidly on the screen.
“It’s actually a detector meant to…” Gao Yiyuan turned to explain, then suddenly paused.
Gu Yifeng picked up the half-cooled coffee by Wen Yi’s side and asked, “Meant to what?”
There was still a lipstick mark on the rim. Gu Yifeng took a sip from the exact spot she had drunk from. “Too sweet.”
Gao Yiyuan’s pen clattered onto the desk.
Realizing it belatedly, Wen Yi exclaimed, “Gu—hey, that—that was mine.”
“Hmm.” Gu Yifeng put down the cup without changing his expression. “Should I make you another one?”
Wen Yi’s cheeks flushed slightly. “No need.”
Gao Yiyuan silently turned his face toward the screen. “I didn’t see anything…” He quietly poked Ye Min beside him.
Ye Min’s gaze shifted from the screen to them, her eyes flickering briefly before she quickly looked away.
Gu Yifeng stared at the screen. “The abnormal α brainwave frequencies collected by the earphones, iris scans from the selfie camera, abnormal capacitance fluctuations during fingerprint recognition—his purpose is clear. He’s screening for Ability Users.”
Wen Yi’s hands involuntarily clenched.
Ye Min held her tablet, her face slightly pale but her voice steady. “Instructor Gu, I’ve studied his government collaboration projects—they’re problematic too!”
Gu Yifeng set down his coffee cup. “Go on.”
“This ‘Smart City’ project.” She pulled up a confidential government document. “The ‘Citizen Behavior Prediction System’ proposed by Guo Qingyu appears to optimize municipal services on the surface…”
Wen Yi leaned closer to look at her tablet. The project details page actually stated: Using 5G base stations equipped with quantum scanning modules to monitor abnormal physiological data of the entire city’s population in real-time.
“He’s using government projects as cover!” Ye Min paused. “The entire city’s population would be under his strict surveillance network!”
Gu Yifeng’s gaze turned completely cold. He was about to speak when a piercing electronic static abruptly erupted.
The data on the computer screen vanished like a receding tide—Guo Qingyu had once again erased all information.
Wen Yi stood up and said, “Someone told me his ability is to devour and rewrite all electronic devices he comes into contact with. Data can be consumed, but corpses cannot. Evidence can be tampered with, but death never lies. I’ve retraced his criminal history—now it’s time for the bodies to identify the killer.”

—
The next morning, Wen Yi returned to the office early and joined the investigation team’s search operation.
Photos flipped rapidly across the screen like a revolving lantern. Wen Yi had already spent hours at the computer reviewing hundreds of missing men’s photos, their features blurring into indistinct afterimages in her vision.
“Stop… stop for a moment,” Wen Yi murmured, feeling a throbbing at her temples and strain in her eyes.
Gao Yiyuan immediately paused his typing. “Need a break?” He handed her a bottle of water. “These are the last batch of missing persons photos from the past six months. Still no match for the victim you saw?”
Wen Yi shook her head. She was certain none of the faces aligned with the one she remembered from her vision.
What if the data in the missing persons database had also been tampered with?
Behind them, Ni Qianfan stepped past with a coffee and approached a gray-templed elderly gentleman. “Professor Li, you’re keeping insects during your business trip?”
Li Zhengyang didn’t look up from his work. ‘Don’t touch that! This is crucial evidence!”
“The higher-ups are taking this explosion case very seriously—they even invited Professor Li to assist us!”
Gao Yiyuan looked puzzled. “But Professor Li is a botanist and entomologist. We’re dealing with an explosion case…”
Ye Min shook her head. “Professor Li is a forensic ecological evidence specialist—a walking encyclopedia. His students work in various fields. Having him here is like having half an academy of sciences experts supporting us.”
Ni Qianfan added, “Professor Li once solved a cross-province serial murder case just from a single pollen grain and insect eggs found on a victim’s shoe sole. No clue escapes his notice!”
Wen Yi, who had been numbly watching the screen, suddenly brightened.
Plants, insects, murder cases.
She had been approaching this wrong! The clues she currently possessed might not identify the victim, but they could potentially locate the burial site.
The vision of the killer burying the body flashed through her mind again.
The leaves falling on the corpse, with their distinctive serrated edges and lightning-bolt-like vein patterns;
The dark red spider that suddenly emerged from the dried leaves and broken branches.
And the tall trees in the distance.
“Professor Li!” Wen Yi strode over to Li Zhengyang, her eyes shining. “I’d like to ask—is it possible to pinpoint a crime scene through vegetation and insects?”
“Theoretically, yes,” Li Zhengyang said, removing his reading glasses. “But for precise localization, we’d need particularly distinctive vegetation combinations.”
The professor carefully examined the leaf Wen Yi had hand-drawn. “If your drawing is accurate, I believe this could be from a Castanopsis fissa.”
I’m certain the drawing is correct. Having dug pits all night in her dream, Wen Yi remembered every detail of the scene vividly.
Li Zhengyang returned the drawing and pulled up a map of Yunhu City on his computer. “This tree species only grows in the northern forest area of Yunhu City.” He pointed at the screen. “Specifically in this region.”
Although the scope had narrowed, this forest area remained too vast for locating the burial site.
“Professor Li—”Wen Yi handed him another diagram, “What if we add this?”
The drawing depicted a dark red spider with meticulously rendered details.
Professor Li examined it for a moment, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “This… doesn’t appear to be a local species.”
“But I have a theory. Wait a moment.” He took the drawing and began consulting reference materials.
“Come see if this matches the spider in your drawing?” Li Zhengyang beckoned Wen Yi over.
“Exactly!” Wen Yi nodded at the computer screen, which displayed a spider with a dark red body and golden rings at the tips of its legs. “This is the type of spider I saw!”
“I told you this species isn’t native.” Li Zhengyang leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as he informed them, “This spider is an invasive species called the Crimson Fire Spider.”
“They’re extremely rare in Yunhu City and throughout the entire southeastern region, having arrived alongside specific plants.”
“They dislike the local soil and can only be found in areas with artificially cultivated plants.”
“So you’re saying these Crimson Fire Spiders shouldn’t appear in the northern forest area?”
“Correct, unless someone is cultivating significant quantities of the plants these spiders prefer, such as in botanical gardens or nurseries.”
Just as Professor Li finished speaking, Gao Yiyuan seemed to recall something and whispered to Wen Yi, “I remember now—there are indeed several nurseries in the northern suburbs.”
“I’ve studied Guo Qingyu’s materials thoroughly. There’s a relocation site in the northern part of the city designated for a government-supported AI ecological park project, and it contains nurseries.”
“Look, right here!” Gao Yiyuan pointed at the map on the screen. “Records show funding hasn’t been secured yet, the project hasn’t launched, and the area remains undeveloped.”
Could that be where she had seen the burial site?
Just as Wen Yi was about to send an update message to Gu Yifeng, an anonymous text flashed on her phone:
When fireworks bloom brilliantly, none inquire whose hands provided the spark.
Before Wen Yi could decipher the message’s meaning, it rapidly vanished from her screen.
Guo Qingyu again.
Fireworks blooming? Was this about the serial explosion case Gu Yifeng was investigating?
What was he hinting at—that the case’s truth held deeper complexities?
Wen Yi set down her phone without changing expression. The situation was far more complicated than she had imagined. Who could she truly trust?
She put on her hat and sunglasses. “I’m going to check it out first!” Clutching the nursery address, she turned toward the door.
“No! Don’t go alone!” Gao Yiyuan reached out. “The Boss specifically said we must wait until he returns from his meeting…”
Ye Min and Ni Qianfan exchanged glances and moved to block Wen Yi’s path.
“Don’t follow me.” She pulled open the door without looking back. “Trust me, you won’t be able to stop me.”
Li Zhengyang’s magnifying glass remained frozen mid-air. With rare curiosity, he asked, “Who is that young woman? What’s her relationship with Gu Yifeng?”
“Them…” Gao Yiyuan smiled meaningfully.
Setting down his magnifying glass with sudden understanding, Li Zhengyang declared, “I see! A quantum entanglement relationship!”
—
By the time Wen Yi reached the northern suburbs, dusk was approaching. The slanting sunlight cast elongated shadows from the iron fence of the abandoned nursery.
The rusted chain lock had been cut at some unknown time, allowing anyone easy access to the premises.
Wen Yi pushed open the heavy iron gate and carefully surveyed the nursery. Her shoes crushed the dried leaves of iron-scale oak underfoot, producing faint crackling sounds.
Facing this seemingly endless nursery, Wen Yi narrowed her eyes slightly.
She had been careless—assuming the area would be manageable, never expecting the nursery to be this vast.
Fortunately, she wasn’t entirely unprepared.
A harsh crowing suddenly pierced the air. Wen Yi looked up to find dozens of Corpse Crown Ravens gathered on a nearby iron-scale oak tree, their jet-black bodies shimmering with iridescent hues under the sunlight.
After their initial cries, the ravens fell into an unnatural silence, their crimson eyes fixed uniformly on Wen Yi.
The lead Corpse Crown Raven suddenly took flight, circling once in the sky before diving straight toward Wen Yi—

Author’s Note:
———————-
If you must ask, it’s quantum entanglement.
Gu Yifeng: Director, why was my kissing scene cut? Can we reshoot it?
Director: It’ll be arranged, it’ll be arranged! We’ll schedule it when the collection count rises!
Seeking collections, encouragement, and love from dear readers! [Sparkling eyes][Sparkling eyes][Sparkling eyes][Sparkling eyes]

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