Years later, Zhen Zhen and Qiu Feng reunite, both overcome with emotion. It has been nine years since they last saw each other, and both have changed significantly. After being rescued, Qiu Feng worked abroad in Thailand, met a Chinese immigrant, got married, and had two children. Hearing about the capture of the criminals, Qiu Feng decided to return as a witness and to see Zhen Zhen, despite their prior agreement never to meet again. This time, fear no longer gripped her. Zhen Zhen shares that she became a police officer because of what happened back then. If not for that incident, she might never have chosen this path or personally apprehended the culprits.
At the trial, Qiu Feng testifies about the nightmare of her kidnapping, while Zhen Zhen appears much calmer as a witness. However, Song Hongyu vehemently denies killing Huang Ying. Tearfully, she claims she was coerced into luring the women and had no role in their deaths. Deng Ligang and Shi Bi back up her story, saying she was forced to participate.
After the trial, Zhen Zhen escorts Qiu Feng out of Xuecheng. Though the verdict has yet to be announced, Zhen Zhen assures Qiu Feng that Song Hongyu will receive the punishment she deserves. When the verdict is finally released, Deng Ligang and Shi Bi are sentenced to death, while Song Hongyu, lacking evidence for intentional murder, receives life imprisonment. Zhen Zhen is furious—Huang Ying’s death is left unavenged. Peng Zhaolin reminds her that as police officers, they need evidence to uphold justice.
Zhen Zhen locks herself in her room, overwhelmed with frustration, leaving her mother deeply worried. After an entire day of isolation, Zhen Zhen encounters Peng Zhaolin during her morning run. Peng advises her to accept that the law requires evidence, but Zhen Zhen senses he’s urging her to use her time off to investigate further. Determined, she sets off alone, using Huang Ying’s distinctive ethnic bracelet as a lead.
Meanwhile, a TV station attempts to interview Shi Bi, but he refuses. Finally, Shi Bi reveals the reason he killed his wife. After their marriage, she mocked him for being unambitious, prompting him to obtain a driver’s license and take up delivery work. One night, after receiving a call from the hospital about his mother’s death, Shi Bi returned home carrying her photo, only to catch his wife with another man. When she asked for a divorce, Shi Bi killed her in a fit of rage and used her phone to mislead her family into believing she had moved south for business. After all these years, Shi Bi can finally confess the truth to her family.
Huang Laoqi visits Deng Ligang, who continues to protest his innocence, though his death sentence review has been finalized and is set for execution the following day. Huang promises to help care for his family and asks if there’s anything else Deng wants to say. Elsewhere, Zhen Zhen and her colleagues uncover a critical clue. They locate Huang Ying’s twin sister, who owns an identical bracelet. Upon hearing about her sister after a decade of silence, she hopes for good news but is devastated to learn the truth.
The night before the execution, Shi Bi trembles with fear and cannot sleep, while Deng Ligang sits silently, expressionless. By morning, Deng is too weak to walk and must be wheeled to the execution site. Peng Zhaolin visits one last time before they part ways forever.
After returning to Xuecheng, Zhen Zhen and Qiao Han visit Peng Zhaolin at home. Huang Ying’s sister might be the key to proving Song Hongyu’s guilt. Song, meanwhile, focuses on her rehabilitation, hoping her life sentence might be reduced so she can reunite with her son. When Zhen Zhen brings Huang Ying’s sister to see Song, Song immediately recognizes the resemblance and is struck with disbelief. In a moment of panic, she confesses: she killed Huang Ying.
With Song’s confession, the case is reopened, and she is sentenced to death. Everyone involved faces the consequences of their actions, and this nearly decade-long case comes to a conclusive end. For the first time in years, Peng Zhaolin can sleep peacefully.
After the celebratory gathering, Zhen Zhen takes a walk by the river. There, she returns Peng Zhaolin’s third-class merit medal, acknowledging that he kept his promise and that the medal belongs to him. Zhen Zhen reflects on all she has learned from him and resolves her inner conflicts, steadily growing into an outstanding police officer.
