Ji Xuehui pulled out the dead person’s file for Xu Ying to see: "The deceased was twenty-eight years old, named Lin Qing, and worked as a researcher at the West Mountain Pharmaceutical Research Company. She was responsible for the West Mountain Snow Lotus medicinal project."

At the mention of Snow Lotus research, Xu Ying couldn’t help but think of Professor Ye, who was studying the inhibition of tumor cell metastasis by Snow Lotus.

The last time she was at West Mountain, Xu Ying helped Professor Ye capture thieves who were illegally harvesting West Mountain Snow Lotus, and his lab rewarded her with a payment of 150,000.

Xu Ying couldn’t resist asking, "What’s the relationship between this pharmaceutical research company and Professor Ye’s medical lab?"

"They are collaborators because West Mountain Snow Lotus is a medicinal plant unique to Dragon Country. The research conducted by both parties is of a confidential nature."

Ji Xuehui explained.

"According to the company, Lin Qing hasn’t shown up for work in twenty days. Twenty-one days ago, she sent a resignation email to human resources and has been silent ever since."

Xu Ying frowned, "That’s too sudden. Is it possible someone else sent that resignation email?"

"We traced the email address; it was sent from the laptop Lin Qing regularly used."

Ji Xuehui shrugged, "Because she was involved in a project of commercial secrecy, the company suspects Lin Qing stole business secrets and fled. They were even prepared to report her to the police and sue her as a corporate spy, but unexpectedly, Lin Qing was already dead."

Xu Ying pondered. "Did the key and pendant found by the otter and the Zheluo fish help the police with the case?"

"We currently don’t have any leads on the key found by the otter. We extracted two different fingerprints from it; one belongs to Lin Qing, and the other hasn’t matched anyone in the database yet."

Ji Xuehui rubbed her brow, "We’ve compared it with Lin Qing’s colleagues and friends, but none matched. And the key is a common small key that fits laboratories, warehouses, and lockable cabinets, many people carry them."

"We can’t even rule out that it might have been dropped by a visitor or a delivery personnel at the company; finding out who lost this key and what it’s used for is like finding a needle in a haystack."

Xu Ying felt that the case had become suddenly more complicated. "And the pendant, any leads on that?"

"The pendant brought by the Zheluo fish, we showed it to Lin Qing’s colleagues, and someone said it was given by Lin Qing’s boyfriend."

The Dragon Country’s official reports indicate that the proportion of murder cases committed by acquaintances reaches 50%-60%.

Xu Ying furrowed her brow, "Where is Lin Qing’s boyfriend?"

"That’s exactly the problem." Ji Xuehui looked troubled.

"Nobody knows who Lin Qing’s boyfriend is because Lin Qing had a cold personality and was a research fanatic who focused solely on experiments. In the lab, she always worked alone and was not very sociable."

Ji Xuehui spoke helplessly, "And we investigated the pendant’s design, which is from Long Dafu’s new brand, but the one Lin Qing had was a counterfeit."

"Tracing the purchase channel for a counterfeit is difficult, any small individual seller could easily sell it by adding them on WeChat."

Ji Xuehui glanced at the vast Ice Lake, "Our police believe the key is to identify who Lin Qing’s boyfriend really is."

Xu Ying followed her gaze toward the lake, "When I left the Ice Lake last time, I asked the small animals to check amongst themselves if any of their companions had witnessed the scene of the incident."

"Now I’ll call them out to see if any animals have found new leads."

Xu Ying said, tossing a handful of the fish food she used to feed the Zheluo fish into the lake. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Previously, whenever she threw fish food, it wouldn’t be long before the fish surfaced to snatch it, as food was scarce during winter.

But now, nearly ten minutes passed, and there was still no movement.

"Eh, how can this be?"

Xu Ying moved to another spot and threw another handful of fish food into the lake.

Still no response.

Until she had thrown all the fish food she brought into the lake.

There was still no movement.

Xu Ying scratched her head in confusion, "Where did the Zheluo fish school go? Didn’t they surface quickly before?"

"Or are they asleep now?"

Xu Ying was just about to turn and leave, "Forget it, let me ask the otter then."

Ji Xuehui glanced at the lake surface and quickly grabbed Xu Ying, "Hey, bubbles are rising; they’re here!"

Xu Ying turned back and saw the scene of the "fish heads crowding."

Xu Ying squatted down by the lake with doubt, "What were you all up to just now? Were you having a gathering?"

A smaller Zheluo fish said, [No, Little Xu Station Chief’s fish food smells so good, we’ve been staying underwater, waiting for the fish food to sink.]

[Great-grandmother said, get all the fish food from Little Xu Station Chief first, then we’ll come up.]

"Splash——"

The small Zheluo fish had just finished speaking when a large Zheluo fish smacked it aside with its tail.

It was the ancestral figure of the Zheluo fish clan, Grandma Zheluo fish.

[Little Xu Station Chief, don’t listen to what that little guy said, kids say the darndest things.]

"Alright, no need to explain, I understand." Xu Ying clapped the fish food crumbs from her hands, Grandma Zheluo fish was indeed cunning.

"Now that I’ve offered all the fish food, you should tell me if you’ve found any clues~"

[We do, we do.] Grandma Zheluo fish bubbled, [Quick, bring the eyewitness fish up!]

Soon, several large Zheluo fish drove a group of small fish over.

The scene was akin to escorting prisoners.

The small fish that were driven over were a group of naked-lip white fish, known locally as High Mountain White Stripes Fish or Stone Flower Fish, which have very tasty meat and are rich in fat... Xu Ying’s thoughts began to wander, and she quickly stopped herself, as the small fish already looked pitiful enough.

[Honorable Station Chief, it’s like this.]

The High Mountain White Stripes Fish shivered, surrounded by the Zheluo fish, [Quite a while ago, back when the Ice Lake was frozen with only some holes in the ice, our family was diving in the lake when we suddenly heard a thud, and something long and heavy fell into the lake through a hole.]

[It turned out to be the body of a biped!]

[We were terrified and scattered; I panicked and swam to the edge of the ice hole.]

[There I saw a man with glasses crouching by the hole, panting.]

Xu Ying spoke with excitement, "So a man with glasses dropped the body into the Ice Lake?"

[It must have been him!]

The High Mountain White Stripes Fish flicked their tail, [Aren’t fish normally afraid of humans? But this biped was so startled when I suddenly surfaced that he fell back onto the ground.]

"He’s afraid of you? To have such a big reaction to just a fish, he must have a guilty conscience."

Xu Ying felt she was close to finding the killer. "Little fish, can you describe more clearly what he looked like and what color clothes he was wearing?"