By Hangzhou’s Xixi Wetlands, a murder takes place in Yunqi Jiuli, an ultra-luxury mansion: Luo Jizhou, a rising internet tycoon, dies under mysterious circumstances in his smart home. There are no signs of a break-in, every smart device has had its records tampered with, and the time of death is a mystery. The police initially suspect suicide, but in his final moments, Luo Jizhou’s AI assistant, Lingxi, sends an encrypted distress signal to one person. The recipient is none other than his “good-for-nothing” cousin, Gu Yibai, the most down-and-out private detective in Hangzhou.
Gu Yibai was once a prodigy at the police academy, but a serious blunder three years ago got him kicked out. Now he scrapes by taking jobs catching cheating spouses and finding lost pets, earning a reputation as “Xihu District’s Number One Good-for-Nothing Detective.” His catchphrase: “This case... is going to cost extra.” His signature habit is spinning a pen while he talks, and spinning it faster when he’s nervous. His endearing contrast: he looks sloppy and washed-up, but has a photographic memory and can reconstruct the blind spots in any surveillance footage in three minutes.
Forced into this deadly game among the elite, he discovers that his cousin left behind more than a corpse: there’s also an unreleased AI project called “Heaven’s Eye,” worth tens of billions, and a string of encrypted numerical clues pointing to Hangzhou’s most exclusive circles. Every suspect is one of the city’s most polished and powerful people.
