The Vanishing Lover

It was a bright, sunny day.

Blue sky, white clouds, the brilliant sun draped a gossamer veil of gold over the emerald bamboo groves and scattered countless silver flakes across the lake surface. The shimmering water danced, and the cool breeze was pleasant.

But Qin Guan couldn't feel a shred of comfort.

His gaze was locked onto the group of people in the water—could they find that suitcase?

"We've got something!"

Suddenly, someone in the lake waved towards the shore and shouted.

Old He was the most impatient. He spun around like an arrow and charged downstairs.

Qin Guan was also pushed along by officers, moving quickly too. But the speed was fundamentally different—theirs was eager excitement, Qin Guan's was frantic haste.

The handcuffs on his wrists suddenly felt unbearably heavy. So did his legs—heavy, weak, dragging down his body, nearly causing him to stumble on the stairs.

He was hurriedly dragged to the lakeside.

Quite a few onlookers were already gathered by the shore, mostly hotel employees and guests, all craning their necks, waiting for the secret at the lake bottom to be revealed under the sun.

There was indeed a discovery—the divers in the lake had reached the outermost point of this U-shaped inlet.

Qin Guan remembered this area. That day, he had pushed the heavy suitcase filled with scrap books and dumped it near the mouth of the inlet.

Qin Guan had calculated that spot.

When discarding the suitcase, Qin Guan had carefully observed the wind direction and the water currents—the lake flow from upstream would eventually carry the suitcase away.

Calculating from that day, over a month had passed. Logically, the current should have swept the suitcase away long ago.

But it hadn't.

"There's a case down here!" a diver shouted from below.

They really found it.

Qin Guan felt as if his heart was tied to the root of his tongue, constricting so tightly he could barely breathe—he shouldn't need to be nervous, he knew better than anyone what that case contained.

That the case was still there wasn't impossible.

It might have been too heavy for the current to move.

That was the best and safest explanation—but for some reason, this explanation felt like a thin shard of ice floating on the turbulent lake of Qin Guan's heart, seeming ready to shatter at any moment.

Splash.

After considerable effort from the divers below, Qin Guan finally saw the long-lost suitcase again.

Yes, it was the suitcase etched in his memory. The moment its top broke the surface, he recognized it instantly.

The HANKE suitcase the two young men had kicked in, the one filled with scrap books.

The suitcase was heavy. It took considerable effort for the officers to finally drag it ashore.

The case was surprisingly durable. After soaking in the water for so long, it hadn't fallen apart, though it was completely covered in mud and tangled with aquatic weeds.

The officers climbed ashore and used water to roughly clean the mud and weeds from the suitcase's exterior.

"Alright, Qin Guan, I'm telling you, it's too late for anything you say now!" Old He stared coldly at the case as he delivered this line.

Qin Guan knew exactly what he meant.

He believed Qi Min's body was inside.

Qin Guan didn't respond. He was beyond responding. His eyes were glued to the case—

The case was locked. A combination lock. He had locked it that day, of course. But that day, he had locked the case containing Qi Min, which was later swapped out by "Zeng Demei."

This was the identical case "Zeng Demei" had swapped in.

It was filled with scrap books. Books absorb water, making it incredibly heavy.

Qin Guan silently told himself, reassured himself, calmed himself—Don't be afraid. It's okay. Stay calm. There are just scrap books inside. Don't panic before anything happens. This is the critical moment. You must, must stay steady.

But the heart hidden within his chest refused to obey.

It seemed to have received some ominous signal in advance, thumping wildly, uncontrollably.

"Shall we open it, Captain He?" The officers were eager.

"Everyone, step back!" Old He ordered the onlookers to retreat, instructed the officers to secure the perimeter with tape, and laid out a protective sheet on the grass.

They were fully prepared to receive their target.

No one spoke. The air suddenly fell silent. Only the silver light on the lake continued its cheerful dance.

"Open it!"

At Old He's low command, the heart tied to Qin Guan's tongue root crawled uncontrollably outwards. It crawled over Qin Guan's stiff tongue, forced its way past his slack jaw, and witnessed the suitcase being popped open with a snap.

Everything happened almost simultaneously.

The terrified shrieks erupting from the crowd.

The overwhelming, putrid stench that assaulted the nose.

And beneath the familiar-colored spaghetti-strap dress—the swollen, distorted body that absolutely should not have been there.

Qi Min.

Qin Guan didn't need to bend down, didn't need to squint or study it closely. He knew. It had to be Qi Min.

His premonition had been right.

That foreboding, that had surged like a dark tide within him, had been right.

Qin Guan tilted his head back. The movement was slow, very slow, because he realized the sun overhead had suddenly changed. It looked like a spread-out egg, the yolk and white separated—perhaps overcooked or mishandled.

The light before him gently dissolved into a vast expanse of white. The white grew larger, brighter, more blinding.

This color also possessed an intangible power to block, physically separating all sound from Qin Guan's ears.

"Qin Guan! We are now formally arresting you for the murder of Qi Min!" Old He's voice sounded unreal, as if coming from another dimension. "Take him back to the station! Where's the coroner? Call the coroner immediately! Secure the scene now..."

Qin Guan couldn't hear anymore.

He collapsed to the ground with a thud.