10: Your heartbeat betrays you.

The hostage is not on the second floor.

The operating room is underground.

Chen Mo's voice was not loud, yet it detonated like a heavy bomb upon everyone's frayed nerves.

"What did you say?!"

Li Hu was the first to roar, his eyes bloodshot, like an enraged bull.

"The person is right in front of us! Are you blind, damn it!"

"Chen Mo! Now is not the time for your deduction games! That's a human life up there!"

His roar was filled with fear of the unknown and anger toward Chen Mo.

A man who could predict bombs was now saying something even more outrageous.

This had exceeded the limits of his comprehension, causing him to instinctively choose resistance and aggression.

"Chen Mo, what is your basis?"

Su Qingxue's gun remained steadily pointed at the factory building, but her voice carried a hint of urgency.

She was willing to trust Chen Mo, but this conclusion was too counter-intuitive.

Zhao Dahai did not speak.

He just stared intently at Chen Mo, the veins throbbing on his forehead, as if suppressing a volcano about to erupt.

"It's still the heartbeat."

Chen Mo met everyone's gaze, his face still pale, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

"From the moment he started talking to us until he pushed the hostage to the window, his heart rate barely changed."

"That is a kind of... calm, like a stage director watching an actor make an entrance."

"To him, that girl is not a hostage, nor is she his masterpiece; she is merely a prop, a spotlight meant to draw all our attention."

Chen Mo's words sent a chill rising from everyone's feet.

"But how do you know he is underground?" Su Qingxue pressed.

"Because his heartbeat sounds muffled."

Chen Mo offered a reason that was incomprehensible to everyone present.

"It's like... it's being transmitted through thick cement and earth."

"Enough!"

Li Hu finally reached his limit.

"Heartbeat? It's the heartbeat again! Who the hell are you? Are you a superhuman listener?!"

"Captain Zhao! We can't listen to his nonsense anymore! The bomb squad won't arrive for another ten minutes! We're running out of time!"

"If we hesitate any longer, the hostage upstairs will surely die!"

Zhao Dahai's chest rose and fell rapidly.

He looked at the desperately struggling figure in the second-floor window, then turned back to look at Chen Mo, whose eyes were so clear they held no impurities.

Logic and procedure told him to immediately organize a rescue, targeting the second floor.

But intuition.

The beast-like intuition honed by an old detective who had dealt with countless criminals for over twenty years was screaming desperately at him.

Trust him!

Trust this seemingly frail "Coward" who could always reveal the truth with a single sentence!

"He's right."

Zhao Dahai spoke slowly, his voice hoarse like rusted metal scraping.

Everyone was stunned.

"Captain Zhao?!" Li Hu couldn't believe his ears.

Zhao Dahai ignored him, looked at Chen Mo instead, and asked, "Are you sure?"

"I am sure."

Chen Mo nodded.

"He is a specimen maker, a self-proclaimed artist. His proudest work would never be placed on a second floor with open windows, visible to us at any time."

"He needs an absolutely quiet, absolutely private, undisturbed 'sanctuary.'"

"Just like the killer in the campus female corpse case, they all need a lair where they can repeatedly savor their crimes."

"Only the basement fits all his psychological needs."

Zhao Dahai slowly closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, all hesitation and anxiety in his eyes had solidified into iron-like resolve.

He had made a decision that could potentially ruin his entire career.

"Everyone, listen to my command!"

His voice was not loud, yet it was filled with unquestionable authority.

"Su Qingxue!"

"Here!"

"You take Team One and immediately start a feint attack on the second-floor window!"

"Use the loudspeaker and spotlights to create the illusion that we are launching a full assault! Draw all that bastard's attention up to the second floor!"

Su Qingxue was momentarily stunned, then immediately understood Zhao Dahai's intention.

"Yes, sir!"

"Li Hu!"

"...Here," Li Hu's voice was filled with reluctance and humiliation.

"You take Team Two and follow me!"

Zhao Dahai suddenly waved his hand, pointing toward the side of the factory building.

"We are going to find that damned underground entrance!"

"Captain Zhao! Please reconsider!" Li Hu made one last struggle.

"Execute the order!" Zhao Dahai's eyes were cold as ice.

Li Hu trembled all over, finally gritting his teeth and lowering his head.

"Yes, sir!"

The operation began immediately.

Su Qingxue, along with several officers, quickly moved to the front of the factory, setting up the loudspeaker and spotlights.

"Listen up inside! We are Jiangcheng Police! Your plot has been exposed!"

"Release the hostage immediately! Otherwise, we will launch an assault!"

Blinding spotlights and immense noise instantly enveloped the second floor of the factory.

"Well done."

In the shadow of the factory.

Zhao Dahai watched the scene and nodded.

He turned his head and looked at Chen Mo beside him.

The pressure was now back on the young man.

"Alright, Chen Mo."

"Now, it's your turn to tell me."

"Where is the entrance that leads to hell?"

The gaze of Li Hu and the others also fell uniformly upon Chen Mo.

Their eyes were full of scrutiny and doubt.

You think you're so capable?

Let's see how you conjure up this basement!

Chen Mo did not speak.

He closed his eyes again.

On the radar map in his mind, the red dot representing the killer indeed became agitated due to the frontal feint.

The heart rate fluctuated rapidly within a small range.

[Emotional Analysis: Confusion, annoyance, disturbed satisfaction.]

The fish has taken the bait.

Chen Mo blocked out all external interference.

His consciousness was completely immersed in locating the red dot.

He slowly raised his hand, moving it past the weeds and past the abandoned oil drums.

Finally, he pointed toward the side of the factory building, at an inconspicuous cement wall completely covered by dense creeping vines.

"It's there."

His voice was as light as a breeze.

"What is that?" Li Hu frowned, looking closely. "That's just a wall!"

"No," Chen Mo shook his head.

"That spot used to be a large ventilation duct, which was later sealed with cement."

"But he reopened it from the inside."

"These vines on the outside are his best camouflage."

"Bullshit! How do you know that?" Li Hu blurted out.

"Because..."

Chen Mo opened his eyes and looked at the dense patch of green.

"I can smell it."

"Smell it?"

"Yes, a very faint but familiar smell is drifting out from the gaps in those vines."

Chen Mo's voice carried an ethereal quality, like a sleepwalker's murmur.

"Formalin, mixed with... the smell of fresh blood."

Zhao Dahai's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpricks.

Without a word, he drew his sidearm and was the first to crouch down and rush over.

Although Li Hu and the others were full of doubt, they could only grit their teeth and follow.

Zhao Dahai reached the wall, not rashly touching the vines.

He bent down and brought his nose close to the gap at the base of the wall.

He took a sharp inhale.

The next second, his face turned as pale as Chen Mo's.

A nauseatingly sweet odor, mixing chemicals and blood, drilled into his nasal cavity.

No mistake!

This was the smell!

He stood up abruptly and looked back at the slender figure still standing in the distance.

In his eyes, there was no longer a trace of doubt.

Only endless... shock remained!

This kid... what kind of monster is he?!

"Move!"

Zhao Dahai lowered his voice and gave the command.

Li Hu no longer hesitated, drew his military dagger, and cautiously pushed aside the thick layer of vines.

Behind the vines, the cement wall was indeed revealed.

But in the center of the wall...

A section about one square meter in size was distinctly different from the surrounding area in color and texture.

It was a piece of cement board, sealed up later and used for camouflage!

Li Hu tapped it lightly with the hilt of his dagger.

Dong dong... It was hollow inside!

They found it!

They really found it!

Li Hu's hand was shaking.

He turned his head and shot a ghost-seeing look at Chen Mo in the distance.

Then, he and another officer worked together to silently pull the cement board outward.

A pitch-black hole, just wide enough for one person to pass through, appeared before them.

A thick, almost tangible smell of blood and chemical solution surged out from the opening.

At the end of the opening was a rusty iron ladder leading underground.

"Put on your respirators! Prepare to breach!"

Zhao Dahai made a gesture.

He turned back and took one last look at Chen Mo.

He mouthed two words silently.

"Wait for me."

Then, without the slightest hesitation.

He was the first to slip through the entrance that led to hell.