Night Talk Group

At the end of the cold-toned corridor, the acrylic doorplate of the Night Whisper Group gleamed icily under the fluorescent lights, a thin layer of dust clinging to the edges of its frosted lettering. Next door, the peeling red paint of the “Second Criminal Investigation Team” wooden plaque made for a strange contrast—like a clutch of fledgling birds thrust into a raptor’s nest.

The comparison was apt. The Night Whisper Group’s average age was no more than twenty-seven: a handful of greenhorns, fresh from school, yet handpicked by the Chief to form an independent unit reporting directly to him. It was a decision that strained belief.

Their oldest and most experienced member was the team leader, Xiao Qiu, responsible for trace evidence analysis—and he’d only been at Provincial Headquarters for a year and a half. Forensic pathologist Ye Xuan had barely been there a year and had yet to complete a solo autopsy. Sketch artist Mo Yu had been transferred from the Wutan City Police Department; nine months out of university, she’d only drawn suspects in a handful of theft cases. Wan Yi, the newly recruited criminal profiler, had been on the job for just five months, shadowing a senior profiler without handling a single case alone. Rong Qin had come from the provincial SWAT team, drafted in six months ago at the Chief’s request. The group’s IT support, Qi Tian, was their only unofficial member—he’d been caught hacking the provincial system half a year back and, to avoid detention, had joined the group at the Chief’s invitation.

A flock of rookies, yet favored by