Chapter 1

The cross-river bridge was congested again. As the main traffic artery of Yan Yun, traffic jams were a daily occurrence, but the traffic stagnation stretching for several kilometers on the bridge was truly exaggerated.

Many of the trapped office workers were gritting their teeth in frustration.

Li Changhe, riding an old bicycle, frowned at the traffic ahead. After a moment of deep thought, he said, "Yuan Fang, what do you think?"

Beside him, a serene and beautiful girl in a luxury car glanced at him and said, "I think our class's perfect attendance will lose two points today."

"Hmph!" Li Changhe smiled proudly, "I have a plan to ensure perfect attendance!"

"Then, Dog Egg, what's the cost... of your plan?" the girl asked with a light laugh.

"Would you rather be stuck in traffic in a luxury car and be late, or ride on the back of my bicycle and get to school on time for perfect attendance?" Li Changhe continued to smile proudly, patting the old bicycle that was older than he was.

The girl leaned on the car window, her chin resting on her white, tender arm, and said with a light laugh, "I'd rather cry in a luxury car than laugh on a bicycle."

"Never thought you'd be that kind of person, Class President!" Li Changhe raised an eyebrow.

"Moreover, based on my years of experience with your tricks, once I get out of the car, you'll ride away, and I'll chase you to school! You'll even claim it's for exercise," the girl huffed.

"Ha! You've figured me out, huh? The little girl who used to chase after me has grown smarter..." Li Changhe sighed, his face showing a hint of loneliness as he tilted his head at a forty-five-degree angle.

"Then, I'll take my leave." Li Changhe glanced at the driver beside the girl.

His old bicycle suddenly sped up, leaving a fleeting figure on the congested road, a speed unimaginable for a bicycle.

The luxury car's driver sucked in a breath.

The girl shook her head and laughed, "He's always like that, don't mind him."

The driver asked, "I thought... a guy like him wouldn't have anything to do with a girl like you."

"Captain, what do you think of him?" Xiao Nan smiled, though it was unclear why she called her driver "Captain."

The driver recalled Li Changhe's appearance and shook his head, "He looks quite delicate, but his conditions aren't great. His clothes are cheap market stall items, and his bicycle is older than he is."

"More or less, that's right," Xiao Nan said, looking at the traffic jam ahead. "I've known him for a long time. He's a very peculiar person, with few friends. Besides his orphanage mates and me, he's helped me many times."

"I thought he was just trying to chat you up. Captain, I was even considering whether to give you some advice," the driver laughed.

"No need for advice. I... he's worried, or perhaps cautious," Xiao Nan said.

"Cautious about what?" The driver was puzzled, then realized, "Cautious... about me?"

Xiao Nan nodded, "He doesn't say nice things, but he takes good care of his friends. With recent events in Yan Yun, he's probably a bit worried. Seeing my driver change, he must have come to investigate. If I had shown any signs of being held hostage, he might have smashed the car to save me."

The driver's face changed, "No wonder this kid kept looking at me. Asking you to get out and walk with him was probably a test too. Such meticulous thinking, is he really only eighteen? Is he also a 'player'?"

"Probably not..."

...

On the other side, Li Changhe rode his bicycle through the crowded bridge, finally understanding the cause of the traffic jam.

It wasn't a car accident. Someone had jumped... from the bridge?

Even though the body had been taken away, the large pool of blood on the ground clearly indicated a high-altitude fall.

But... Li Changhe looked up, only to see the bridge's cable towers. The nearest bridge support was fifty meters away. How did the person jump from the bridge? Or how did they get there?

There were also some feathers on the ground, stuck to the road. The police officers collecting evidence didn't miss a thing, carefully placing each feather into evidence bags.

Was the victim accompanied by a pet when they jumped? Otherwise, where did all the feathers come from?

The police officers were too thorough. Li Changhe was puzzled; some feathers even had bird droppings on them. What clues could they find?

"Strange things happen every year, but this year is particularly strange," he muttered.

Yan Yun had been very unstable recently.

First, there was the disappearance of a female college student in a rental house, then the murder of a psychologist, and finally, a deserted factory in the suburbs suddenly turned into a bizarre pit.

Each time, the police and a group of black-clad personnel investigated the scene, but no results were given. The most they did was advise citizens to stay indoors.

It was said that a deranged killer had come to Yan Yun.

This was why Li Changhe had approached Xiao Nan; the driver was unfamiliar. Better to be cautious. His suspicious nature, cultivated in the orphanage, made him follow the luxury car and spout nonsense.

Seeing the police almost finish clearing the scene and traffic gradually resuming, Li Changhe sent a voice message to Xiao Nan: "The road to the imperial city is open. Meet at the Forbidden City's peak today, or never!"

To remind her that the road ahead was clear.

Suddenly, a chill descended. Li Changhe shivered and instinctively looked up, seeing a black figure dart across the towering bridge support.

"Was... was that an illusion?" Li Changhe squinted, but saw nothing unusual. He rubbed his eyes and continued riding.

He thought it was just a regular accident and didn't give it much thought.

Until... after school.

"Dog Egg, be careful on your way back tonight! The killer has struck again, right near the bridge," someone frowned and said, "Why don't you stay at my place tonight? You won't have to cross the bridge."

This was one of his few friends, He Feng. Both had come from the same orphanage... orphans.

After leaving the orphanage, they supported each other and struggled together.

They finally entered the same college and successfully advanced to high school.

He Feng was straightforward and well-liked, especially among girls. Among boys, except for those who envied him, he got along well with everyone.

Li Changhe, on the other hand, was a different story. He often threw out jokes that left people in a bind. Even teachers sometimes found him exasperating.

Asked a question about Tang Dynasty history, he could talk about how Li Er (Emperor Taizong) stole his wife through the Xuanwu Gate incident, and how his son Li Zhi (Emperor Gaozong) stole his wife, in vivid detail. The male students drooled, while the history teacher wished to split his head open to see if there was a second Li Er inside.

Asked a question about direct and alternating current, he could talk about the love-hate relationship between Edison and Tesla for thirty minutes, concluding with a bizarre theory of their mutual destruction. The physics teacher wished to electrocute him!

...

He knew a little about everything and could talk about anything, a very smart but hard-to-adapt person. This was the teachers' general opinion of Li Changhe.

When they learned that Li Changhe had been humbled by Xiao Nan and given the nickname "Dog Egg," the teachers almost cried with joy.

Getting back to the present.

He Feng frowned, "Do you know about the incident at the bridge today?"

"Saw it, someone couldn't take it anymore," Li Changhe replied.

"No... it was murder! Where do you jump from on a bridge? Not by climbing the support, right?" He Feng grinned, "I live near the police station, and a friend told me. The victim was not only killed but also mutilated, eyes gouged out, and organs removed. The method was extremely brutal! According to my friend, the area from the bridge to the suburbs is the killer's activity range. Be careful. If someone follows you, run immediately and call the police when you're safe. Or stay at my place tonight? You won't have to cross the bridge."

"Hmph, can he even see my taillight?" Li Changhe knew He Feng wasn't joking and said seriously, "I'm a sports scholarship student. Give me a bicycle, and I can outmaneuver him until he's dizzy! Just be careful yourself."

This wasn't a lie. Li Changhe's grades were decent, but not enough to enter the college, so he took the sports scholarship route. He was very athletic and had won many medals for the school.

He was nicknamed "Dog Egg" and "Rider A."

If the killer targeted Li Changhe, he probably wouldn't even see his taillight. Not that his old bike had a taillight.

"Besides, I have no money and no power. Why would he kill me?" Li Changhe smiled, "If he's after my looks, I have nothing to say. Beauty is a sin! If being handsome is a crime, I'm guilty of a heinous crime."

He Feng frowned for a moment, thinking the killer probably wouldn't target this oddball. He waved and said, "Just get ready and go home early."

"Relax!" Li Changhe responded nonchalantly.

But he would regret it in the next few hours.

Nighttime in Yan Yun was quite beautiful, like a girl who usually doesn't dress up finally putting on a stunning outfit, the bright lights evoking endless imagination.

Li Changhe, however, had no time to appreciate the night. His feet never stopped, and his bicycle sped across the bridge. Cold sweat gradually seeped through his clothes. He had been riding for half an hour on the bridge.

At his maximum speed of 60 km/h, which he could maintain for twenty minutes thanks to his athletic build, the six-kilometer-long bridge should have been a breeze.

At first, he didn't mind, but as the traffic around him thinned and eventually disappeared, he realized something was wrong.

The cross-river bridge was a major traffic artery, with at least tens of thousands of citizens passing through daily. Even at midnight, it shouldn't be this empty.

Realizing something was amiss, Li Changhe pushed himself to sprint, but the scenery remained unchanged. The bright streetlights stretched like a heavenly road, and he was the only one on it.

Looking back, the tall bridge supports still stood not far away, their lights glaring like giants.

He remembered accelerating after passing the supports. After more than twenty minutes, he should have been far away. Had the supports grown legs?

Looking around, he realized this was the source of the morning traffic jam, the scene where the jumper was found.

Recalling the cold feeling from the morning and the fleeting, eerie black shadow, Li Changhe's face darkened. He took a bottle of mineral water from his backpack and threw it over the bridge.

A few seconds later.

"Bang!" The water bottle, thrown from the bridge, exploded nearby.

Right where the victim had fallen in the morning!

"Of course, I was wondering how someone could fall to their death on the bridge. If I had tried to jump to escape, I would have turned into a pancake," Li Changhe muttered.

Looking at the shattered water bottle, he knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would be lying there tomorrow.

"The Class President will be stuck in traffic again. Too bad, no one will ask her if she wants a ride tomorrow." Li Changhe's heart sank.