It took almost twenty minutes to watch the entire surveillance video from several camera angles combined.
Yuan Lihuan felt more and more that something was wrong as he watched.
Or rather, it was too normal.
The surveillance broke down shortly after the Hanzi (Man) entered, and the footage didn't capture him making a move. It was as if someone had deliberately done this, deleting that part of the surveillance recording.
It was as if... it was as if something was being hidden.
"Are there any traces of the surveillance footage being deleted?"
Yuan Lihuan looked at the shop owner beside him.
"This... I don't really understand. Usually, it's that kid An Chen who helps me with it. He's the one you took in for questioning. He's very smart, he knows everything."
"An Chen."
Yuan Lihuan chewed on the name, then glanced at the group of people behind him.
"Get a technician over here!"
The Public Security Bureau chief understood, gave the order, and the owner was sent away.
Soon after, a technician rushed over.
After a quick check, the technician gave his conclusion.
"Someone deleted segments of the surveillance video. I'm certain, the traces of deletion are very difficult to hide."
"Can it be recovered?"
Yuan Lihuan showed an expression that said, "Just as I thought."
"I'll try, it will take some time."
"Mhm."
Yuan Lihuan nodded, then looked at the chief again.
"Do you have the full combat video? I want to see it."
"Yes!"
The chief was waiting for Yuan Lihuan to ask. He immediately took a tablet from a subordinate nearby and handed it to Yuan Lihuan.
Yuan Lihuan clicked on the video, and while the technician was attempting to recover the deleted surveillance video segments, he carefully watched the combat video.
There wasn't much to see in the video, and the combat had no dramatic twists. It lasted only a few short minutes, with most of the time wasted on the Hanzi (Man) using a Vajra Talisman for self-preservation, and the bullets being unable to immediately break through the barrier formed by the Vajra Talisman.
At least, that's what the chief thought.
Having been a police officer his whole life, although he had never encountered such a criminal with almost superhuman abilities, this criminal was definitely one of the most brainless ones.
The entire combat was unremarkable, and there was nothing worth watching.
He just didn't know if this leader sent by his superiors had any specialized knowledge they could apply.
He turned his gaze to Yuan Lihuan's face, only to find the latter expressionless.
Before the video finished playing, he hit the pause button and threw the tablet back.
"Is this An Chen a student from around here?"
"He should be... right?"
The chief wasn't sure about this point, as it was impossible for him to know such a minor detail, so he could only call the owner over to ask again.
"Yes, this child lives nearby, in that apartment complex over there. He should be in his third year at the Second Advanced High School now. His parents are divorced, his mother left with someone, and his father disappeared. He has no one to rely on, so I took pity on him and let him work in my shop, as a night manager. I certainly didn't shortchange his wages..."
Yuan Lihuan listened for half of it, ignoring the latter half of the owner's words. He bent down and picked up a charred piece of iron from the ground, with wires still visible protruding from one side.
This was a surveillance camera, or to be precise, a burnt-out surveillance camera. Both its internal components and external structure emitted a burnt smell.
Yuan Lihuan merely glanced at it before throwing the charred surveillance camera back onto the ground.
"I need An Chen's information, in detail."
"Did you find something?"
Yuan Lihuan nodded, but said nothing.
...
"That Hanzi (Man) didn't use an elemental Cultivation Technique; he never displayed any fire control ability. Yet, the surveillance camera was burnt..."
Standing alone in the slowly closing elevator, An Chen murmured to himself.
He had exposed a flaw.
He should have thought of this, but he acted too hastily and didn't consider it.
This was one of the two very important things he thought of on his way home.
The other thing was that Su Xiaojiu didn't have a key, so if she had closed the door when she left, she wouldn't be able to get back in now.
However, based on An Chen's understanding of Su Xiaojiu over the past half-day, Su Xiaojiu definitely wouldn't be foolish enough to squat at the door waiting for An Chen to come back and open it for her.
The elevator door opened again, and An Chen stepped out to look at his front door.
Sure enough.
There was no pitifully squatting Young Miss at the door, only a pitifully unhinged door.
Hmm, it looked like it had been taken off.
"You're back?"
Hearing the movement in the entryway, Su Xiaojiu bounced out from the inner room.
An Chen said nothing, only looked back at the door that had been unhinged and placed in the stairwell. He hadn't said a word, yet it felt as if he had said a lot.
"This... this was an accident. Your door seemed to be broken. No matter how I turned the handle like you did, I couldn't get in, so I could only take the door off."
Su Xiaojiu stuck out her tongue, embarrassed.
"You're a Cultivator, you have spiritual power, couldn't you just put the door back?"
"I just thought the door was broken, and I was afraid you wouldn't be able to get in..."
"Haven't you heard of something called a lock? Without a lock, of course you can't get in..."
"But from the inside out, you clearly don't need to unlock it..."
"It's one-way..."
An Chen was speechless and didn't want to explain anything for a moment. He just pointed at the main door in the stairwell and said:
"Can you help me put it back? You wouldn't want your own home to be completely exposed to others, would you?"
"Alright, alright!"
Su Xiaojiu pouted and ran to the door, picked up the large door with a "heave-ho," and after some effort, reinstalled it into the door frame.
This scene made An Chen's eyelids twitch.
This security door had been used for over ten or twenty years; it was made of metal and weighed at least tens of kilograms. Yet, Su Xiaojiu picked it up effortlessly.
If an outsider saw this, their eyes would probably pop out.
It seems that Cultivation greatly enhances strength.
Su Xiaojiu bounced back, smiling.
"How about it, impressive, right?"
Su Xiaojiu proudly puffed out her chest, though there wasn't much to see even when she did.
"..."
An Chen said nothing, just silently walked to the shoe cabinet next to the door, took out a spare set of keys from the bottom corner of the shoe cabinet, and silently handed them to Su Xiaojiu.
"These are the door keys. Next time, please don't unhinge the door..."
Then, he added:
"You know how to use keys, right?"
"You're treating me like an idiot! There are indeed many things in your world that I'm seeing for the first time, but we also have locks on the Nine Provinces Continent. Mortals still use them a lot!"
Su Xiaojiu looked indignant.
"But we Cultivator usually set up Restrictions and Formations, so we don't need these things!"
"Now you do, Cultivator Young Miss."