Alex used his Cave-Seeing Eye to extinguish the four incense sticks.
Then he walked to the door and pushed it open.
Sunlight poured in, slowly driving back the darkness.
He went to Lane first, pulling a small candy tin from his pocket. Inside were three small black pills flecked with faint green—distinctive and strange.
He swallowed one himself, then offered one to Lane—who was still dazed from the strange emotional fog.
"Thanks, but I don't eat candy," Lane said, waving it off.
Alex explained quickly: "This isn't candy. It's Clarity Pill—ground from over a dozen calming, mind-clearing herbs. Dissolve it under your tongue—it'll snap you out of the incense haze."
Lane took it skeptically, placed it under his tongue—and his face instantly changed.
"Whoa—this is stronger than wasabi. I feel like my head's wide open…"
Alex gave a small smile and turned to Luo Weiwei.
He knelt beside her, gently removed the mask.
Her beautiful face was streaked with tears and snot.
Even unconscious, terror was written across her features.
"She sacrificed so much," Lane said softly, eyes full of sympathy.
Alex felt a new respect for her. She had truly changed.
But there were still theories to confirm.
He slipped a Clarity Pill into her mouth, pressed firmly on her philtrum (the groove under the nose), and roused her quickly.
"Help! Help!"
Luo Weiwei woke screaming—then saw Alex and Lane and burst into tears, relief and trauma mixing together.
"What did you see?" Alex asked directly.
"Two people. One in white clothes, one in black. The black one was the white one's subordinate. The black one beat me, tortured me… while the white one watched, laughing, giving orders…"
Just as Alex had sensed—there were at least two perpetrators.
The one in black was the hunting dog.
The one in white was the hunter.
Lane surged forward, gripping Luo Weiwei's arm. "Did you see their faces? Can you draw them?"
Luo Weiwei flinched at his intensity.
Alex gently pulled Lane back. "The Reenactment Art is only a simulation. She embodied the victim's pain and emotions—she wasn't there. She can't know what the killer looked like."
Luo Weiwei nodded shakily. "Right… their faces were hidden behind something strange. I couldn't see them. I only felt Chen Ting's despair."
"Detective Song—did I fail? I passed out before the critical part. Should we… do it again?"
Luo Weiwei felt guilty, eager to try the Reenactment once more for more clues.
Alex refused. "You were incredibly brave. I never expected the Reenactment to directly reveal the killer's face."
"Then what…?"
Lane and Luo Weiwei exchanged confused looks.
Alex explained: "I only needed you to feel the victim's final emotions—so I could confirm the dynamic behind these disappearances."
"And now I'm certain."
During the reenactment, Luo Weiwei—fully immersed as Chen Ting—had revealed two crucial facts:
First: there were definitely two killers, with starkly different personalities—one calm and sinister, one brutal and deranged—matching Alex's profile.
Second: Chen Ting really had been stalked. It wasn't hallucination or paranoia.
"But what's their motive?" Alex frowned, lost in thought.
Luo Weiwei wiped her face. "With psychos like that? It's just pleasure from hurting people, isn't it?"
Alex shook his head. "No. If it were only for their own enjoyment, they wouldn't bother hiding the wounds so carefully. The more marks, the more excitement they'd get. Going to such lengths to preserve perfect skin means someone else demanded it."
"You mean… there's a third party behind the hunter and the dog?" Lane caught the implication.
Alex nodded. "I suspect the real clients—the ones who hired the hunter and dog—are someone else entirely. And why did they only leave one body? Why send a note to the family? They're not afraid of exposure?"
Lane answered carefully: "The note was cut from plain A4 paper—no fingerprints. Handwriting analysis turned up nothing."
"Not afraid of exposure—but willing to take the risk. Is this a taunt to the police?"
"Or maybe… the body was abandoned against orders. The hunter didn't know, but later punished the dog severely for it."
Alex pondered aloud as he walked toward the exit, then paused.
"Luo Weiwei—go change out of that dress."
She had almost forgotten she was still wearing it. She hurried to the back to change.
Alex and Lane stepped outside first.
Standing at the shelter entrance, Alex surprised Lane by pulling a cigarette from his pocket and offering him one—then lighting his own.
Lane stared. "Song—er, citizen—I thought you didn't smoke."