"This shouldn't be. There's no reason why he could have escaped... "
Han Fei, biting down on a cigarette, already had his brows furrowed into knots.
For half the night, the officers had been searching this whole area without rest.
They had turned the place over again and again, but somehow hadn't even caught a glimpse of Xu Mo's shadow.
Other than Han Fei, the remaining three members of the pursuit team also had their brows tightly knitted, all of them pondering over where this Xu Mo had run off to and where he could possibly run off to.
After putting out his cigarette, Han Fei looked to Shen Manni, who was similarly frowning beside him: "From a criminal psychology perspective, where do you think this Xu Mo would be?"
Shen Manni first slowly shook her head, then looked back to Han Fei.
"If he was an average criminal, he would definitely choose to flee now, and get as far away as possible. But Xu Mo won't do that. He's not like other 'fugitives' - this man is very clever. He knows the most dangerous places are actually the safest..."
She paused for a moment. Han Fei and Shen Manni exchanged a look.
In unison, they said: "Hiding in plain sight!"
"Xu Mo must still be hiding nearby. Everyone, keep searching! Anywhere around here cannot be overlooked! Search slowly and carefully!" Han Fei said, looking towards the officers.
And so, the officers once again scrupulously searched every inch of the surrounding area - this time, even the roadside trash cans weren't spared.
One could say that anywhere a person could hide, they searched.
But even so, they were still unable to find Xu Mo.
After searching it all again and still coming up empty-handed, the officers returned looking discouraged.
"Still nothing found?" Han Fei asked, although he already knew the answer.
"No, we've searched everywhere. No sign of Xu Mo."
"We didn't find him. Anywhere a person could hide, we already looked."
"It's like this guy just vanished into thin air."
...
With a 'snap', Han Fei lit up another cigarette.
"No, there must be some place we've missed... Xu Mo must still be hiding nearby. He definitely didn't leave."
After a brief pondering, Han Fei's sharp eyes swept over every officer present.
"Are you sure you've searched every conceivable hiding spot?"
"We're sure. Searched everything, really no one there."
"If Xu Mo was really hiding around here, he would've been found long ago."
"Misjudged? Not hiding in plain sight?", Han Fei muttered to himself, "Can't be... We got here first, Xu Mo didn't even have a chance to escape."
Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he thought of something.
Before this, he was certain that Xu Mo definitely did not leave this area.
Moreover, this wasn't only his opinion - even Shen Manni, well-versed in criminal psychology, thought the same.
If it had only been his own deduction, then there might still be room for error. But with Shen Manni also sensing that Xu Mo should be nearby, there was absolutely no mistake!
The unanimous intuition of two veterans - how could that be wrong?
Obviously it couldn't.
Just now, he thought of the most likely overlooked spot.
An extremely conspicuous place that the officers would definitely not have searched!
After figuring it out, Han Fei smiled.
"I've got it. I know where this Xu Mo is hiding. Hiding in plain sight... Not bad, kid. You really strung us along."
"Where is he hiding?", Shen Manni immediately asked.
"Our previous thinking wasn't wrong, we just searched in the wrong direction. He wouldn't hide in trash cans or snake into deserted alleyways because those places aren't conspicuous enough. They don't truly count as 'hiding in plain sight'. Only the most dangerous, most noticeable places are the truly safest places."
"The more noticeable it is, the safer it is to hide right under our noses - that's true hiding in plain sight."
"If I'm not guessing wrong, Xu Mo's actual hiding spot is over there." Han Fei pointed towards a rather conspicuous building not far away.
Li Chen knitted his brows as he followed the direction Han Fei was pointing. "A public restroom?"
"To be precise, the female restroom. All the officers participating in the search this time are male. Even if we searched the restrooms, there would still be oversights."
At this, the officers all nodded. They really didn't dare search the female restroom.
Seeing this, Shen Manni, the only female amongst them, volunteered:
"I'll go take a look."
After saying so, she headed towards the nearby restroom.
But soon, she came back out, shaking her head at Han Fei and the others.
"Not inside."
"Not inside?"
The trail went cold again.
This time, even seasoned veteran Han Fei couldn't think of anywhere left that could hide a person.
They had turned this place upside down yet still failed to find Xu Mo.
Could it be that this guy didn't hide here but ran away instead?
Han Fei felt strongly that he was overlooking something - the intuition of an experienced detective.
But even if you asked him outright, he wouldn't be able to give a sensible explanation.
He looked all around and finally fixed his gaze upon the roadside hotel...
...
In the presidential suite:
"Pass or play? If not I'm leaving!"
Xu Mo had won yet another round.
A game like Landlord was far too simple for someone of Xu Mo's intelligence.
From start till now, he hadn't lost a single round!
Xu Mo raised an eyebrow.
"No fun just playing for nothing. How about we raise the stakes, play some games - what do you think?"
Hearing this, air stewardess Wan Hanyu suddenly grew excited, a blush rising to her cheeks.
Finally... it begins?
I knew a rich guy wouldn't be so bored!
A man and two women booking a room - how could nothing happen inside?
How could things not develop?
Just now when they were playing Landlord she nearly spiraled into depression.
Holding two kings but not getting them out.
She even started doubting her own appeal for a moment.
Looks like she was worrying over nothing!
Head lowered, Wan Hanyu shyly said, "A-Anything's... fine."
Yang Jingxuan also narrowed her eyes at Xu Mo.
Oh Xu Mo, you scoundrel!
Seeing how absorbed Xu Mo was in Landlord just now, she thought he was only joking earlier about asking them to hook up.
Who knew he'd bare his fangs this quickly?
Talking about playing some games?
Hmph!
He's just lusting after this air stewardess's body, how base!
Men really... tsk.
They're only obedient when hanging on the wall!
In a flash, Yang Jingxuan felt somewhat indignant.
In temperament, looks, figure - what was she lacking compared to this air stewardess?
Xu Mo would rather lust after the air stewardess's body than hers?
No, unacceptable.
She had to think of something to also make Xu Mo lust after her.
It'd be too embarrassing if word got out otherwise!