175: reasoning

Xu Lang's narration ended, leaving only his heavy, ragged breathing in the room and the faint, blurry bustle of the city night outside the window—a noise that felt entirely out of place with the heavy atmosphere within.

Shen Mingyuan fell silent.

He didn't offer an immediate evaluation, nor did he show shock, condemnation, or sympathy.

He just sat there, body leaning forward slightly, fingertips pressed together over his knees. His gaze fell on Xu Lang, yet it seemed to pierce through him, scrutinizing the bloody warehouse, the iron pipe, and the figure that had gone from arrogant to motionless, all constructed by words.

The soft light in the study seemed exceptionally cold at this moment, illuminating every line of fear on Xu Lang's face and reflecting the deep-sea silence and complexity in Shen Mingyuan's eyes.

This silence lasted for nearly a minute, but to Xu Lang, it felt like a century.

Just as he was about to be crushed by this silent pressure, Shen Mingyuan spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but every word carried weight:

"Xu Lang," he asked, "have you considered turning yourself in?"

This question was like an icicle, unexpectedly piercing the brief buffer zone Xu Lang had built through his breakdown and confession.

"Turn myself in?!" Xu Lang snapped his head up, the exhaustion on his face replaced by a near-ghastly agitation. His voice suddenly spiked, sharp and trembling. "No! I can't! I... I won't go to prison!

All these years... I've worked so hard... I can't go in! Shen Mingyuan!"

He stared intently at Shen Mingyuan, his eyes filled with the shock and anger of betrayal and an even deeper fear. "We were classmates! For so many years... are you... are you trying to force me? Are you going to report me?! I told you everything because I trust you! Don't you..."

"I don't know."

Shen Mingyuan interrupted his agitated questioning. His voice remained steady, but his brow furrowed slightly, revealing the waves surging beneath. He looked away toward the deep night outside the window, as if addressing the Void Realm.

"My reason,"

he said slowly, each word like a carefully weighed counterweight.

"The law I've studied for years, the logic I believe in—they all tell me: Xu Lang, you did this, there were consequences, and you should face them, accepting the scrutiny and judgment of the law. This is order, it is... reason."

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

"But my feelings..."

He turned back, his gaze falling once more on his terrified old classmate. There was a rare quality in that look, one that belonged to "Shen Mingyuan" the person. "My feelings tell me that I cannot... and should not just push you out like this.

You are Xu Lang, my classmate. You came to me because you were at a dead end, and because... perhaps there's still a bit of trust left."

He shook his head gently, the conflict in his eyes clearly visible. "I am also very conflicted right now."

This honest confession didn't immediately calm Xu Lang's agitation, but it at least caused that sharp hostility and fear to temporarily freeze.

Xu Lang opened his mouth as if to say something but choked up, only wrapping his arms tighter around himself like a withered blade of grass shivering in the cold wind.

Shen Mingyuan didn't wait for a response. Instead, he changed the subject, asking a question that seemed tangential but was actually crucial:

"However, Xu Lang," his gaze sharpened, refocusing, "are you sure—is he really dead?"

"Huh?" Xu Lang was stunned by the sudden question, and the color drained even further from his face. "Dead... he's dead, right? I... I hit him so many times with the iron pipe... his head... there was so much blood... he stopped moving... there wasn't a sound... logically... he should... be dead, right?"

His tone shifted rapidly from initial certainty to uncertainty, finally trailing off into a dazed mumble.

Shen Mingyuan caught the wavering in his tone and the guilt behind that "logically."

He didn't continue to pressure him on the question of whether the man was dead. Instead, following this line of thought, he asked more specific questions:

"When you left, did you check his breathing or pulse? Did you call an ambulance, or... try to confirm his vital signs in any way?"

Xu Lang shook his head violently, his movements stiff with fear. "No! How could I dare touch him? I... I was terrified. Seeing him motionless and all that blood, the only thought in my head was 'run'... I can't even remember how I closed the warehouse door. I just got in the car and drove like crazy, all the way here... You know, the city where I used to work is hundreds of kilometers away from here..."

Shen Mingyuan nodded slightly. "I know." He naturally remembered the city where Xu Lang practiced; it wasn't this city. He immediately followed up with one of the most critical questions: "How long has it been from the time you left the warehouse until now? Be precise."

Xu Lang calculated with a vacant look, his voice dry. "Counting that night I spent in the car... from the incident until now, it should... already be over twenty-four hours. More than a day."

"More than a day," Shen Mingyuan repeated. His tone was level, but it made the weight of the statement suddenly increase. He leaned back into his chair.

"Common sense dictates that for a violent homicide occurring in the city outskirts involving a potential figure from the criminal underworld—no matter how remote the scene—more than a day is enough time for many things to develop."

As he spoke, he reached out and picked up his phone from the coffee table, his fingers sliding quickly and silently across the screen.

"The victim's social circle would notice he's missing. Especially someone like Sun Qian; his associates or rivals might be alerted even sooner than the police.

In the area where the warehouse is located, perhaps a homeless person or a night-shift worker from a nearby factory passed by or even heard something.

At the very least, the smell and abnormality of the body itself would eventually be discovered."

Shen Mingyuan's gaze didn't leave the phone screen, but his words dissected the expected progression of the timeline with surgical precision. "Once reported, a case is opened, and a preliminary scene investigation is conducted... Given the nature of the cases Sun Qian might be involved in and his special status, the police would certainly give it high priority. Then, next..."

"Xu Lang," his voice was steady but carried a heart-stopping calmness, "you are his direct legal adversary and his most clear-cut recent conflict.

If something happens to him and the police investigate his social connections, you would be among the first suspects. You should be aware of this."

Xu Lang's face grew even paler, and he nodded mutely.

"More importantly," Shen Mingyuan continued his analysis. "He asked to meet you, and you agreed.

From the moment you received his call to when you drove to that suburban warehouse—given your state of mind then, I'm afraid you couldn't have even thought of, let alone succeeded in, completely avoiding the 'eyes' of modern society.

Call records, city roads, surveillance or traffic cameras on the routes leading to the warehouse, even location data inadvertently left by your phone... have you handled any of these?"

Xu Lang was stunned by the questions. His eyes showed a dazed and belated terror. He opened his mouth but ultimately only shook his head dejectedly and very slightly.

"It seems you haven't." Shen Mingyuan got the expected answer and took a slight breath.

"Then, theoretically, once Sun Qian's body is found, or he is reported missing and the information that you were the last contact is obtained, it would be effortless for the police to find you by following these technical traces.

Summons, questioning, and even further measures would follow in quick succession.

It's unlikely you could even be here now, relatively 'securely' crossing half the province to appear at my doorstep.

With modern forensic technology and the density of the Skynet System, the traces left by someone fleeing in a panic and in such a state of mental disarray are as clear as footprints in the snow."

As he spoke, he had already reached out for his phone on the coffee table, his fingers moving quickly and silently across the screen, performing a verification.

"However," Shen Mingyuan changed his tone, turning the phone screen toward Xu Lang.

On it were news and police information platform pages from this city and surrounding major cities. The search keywords included various combinations like "Sun Qian," "warehouse homicide," "Nandu City suburban murder," and "lawyer missing."

The screen was exceptionally clean. Aside from old news, there were no new case reports or requests for assistance.

"It's been over a day, and all is calm. There's no word of an investigation against you, no matching missing person or body discovery announcements, not even a vague report of a violent incident. This silence is abnormal, Xu Lang."

Xu Lang stared blankly at the empty news page, then looked up at Shen Mingyuan. The fear on his face was gradually replaced by a dazed confusion. "You... you mean... he's not dead? Or... the police haven't found out yet?"

"There are several possibilities."

Shen Mingyuan put down the phone and looked back at Xu Lang with a sharp gaze. "First, Sun Qian isn't dead. He's seriously injured but conscious or in a coma, and for some reason didn't call the police, handling the injuries himself.

But this doesn't explain why there's no movement from his associates or rivals, unless he's been completely abandoned by everyone and was extremely lucky to be treated in isolation."

"Second, he's dead, but the body was quickly disposed of. The ones who did it could be his enemies, competitors, or... his associates who acted quickly after hearing the news to destroy evidence or avoid bringing trouble upon themselves.

This kind of disposal would be very thorough, creating the illusion that he 'disappeared' rather than was 'murdered.' This would explain why there's no crime scene report."

He paused, his gaze deepening slightly:

"Third, and the most unusual but one that must be considered—something happened at the scene that our current information cannot explain.

For example, a third party intervened after you left, taking away the body or the seriously injured Sun Qian, and they have the ability to completely suppress the spread of this matter through conventional channels.

This possibility is the smallest, but given the special nature of Sun Qian's identity... it cannot be entirely ruled out."