Chapter 26 You Sensitively Detect That It Seems the Killer Is Disguising, You…

Chapter 26 You keenly sense the killer might be disguising themselves. You…

He's missing? Everyone's slightly relaxed expressions immediately turned grave again.

Jiang Yingyao’s expression visibly grew anxious.

Xu Nian's expression also darkened. Without speaking, he picked up the shortlisted personnel detail sheets again and quickly flipped through them. After a moment, he pulled out one and said, "This person, Luo Shun, male, 45 years old, from Pingshun Village. Not only does he have a fixed stall in the market near Shuimu Spring City where Liang Xinhua lived, but he also sets up temporary stalls selling vegetables near several residential areas. The killer is almost certainly this guy."

As soon as Xu Nian finished speaking, Jiang Yingyao almost barked, "What are you all standing around for? Let's move! Destination: Pingshun Village. Target suspect: Luo Shun. Everyone, hurry up!"

The group, who had been quietly watching Xu Nian, was jolted by this and scrambled out in a hurried panic.

Xu Nian called out to Jiang Yingyao, who was about to run off, "Wait a moment, Brother Jiang. I figure we should send someone to Shuimu Spring City."

Jiang Yingyao responded with a shout, "Qi Bai, you—" Before he could finish the last word, Wang Yu, who had just run a few steps, immediately stopped and said loudly, "Captain Xu, Brother Jiang, I'll go. I'm the only female field agent in our squad. Since Liang Xinhua is missing, only his wife and daughter, Ye Lan and Liang Panpan, are left at Shuimu Spring City. I'm the most suitable."

Xu Nian waved in agreement. Qi Bai, who was at the front, kept running and shouted, "Watch yourself, Xiao Wang!"

Wang Yu responded loudly, "Copy that!"

Everyone quickly went downstairs, assembled, and got into the cars. Qi Bai turned on the police lights and drove swiftly. While driving, he glanced at Xu Nian in the rearview mirror and couldn't help but ask, "Captain Xu, Liang Xinhua went out fishing at 6 a.m. and has been missing for seven hours now. Do you think he's still alive?"

Xu Nian, who had been resting his eyes, opened them, thought for a moment, and said, "Based on the autopsy results of the first four victims, he’s probably still alive, but we can't rule out the possibility that the killer suddenly changed his mind."

Qi Bai also remembered and said, "The body parts of the previous four victims were discovered at least two days after they went missing, and they died within 24 hours of discovery. From other marks on the body parts, they were all tortured before death. So, since Liang Xinhua has only been missing for seven hours, there's a good chance he's still alive."

After reasoning this out, Qi Bai felt slightly relieved but still drove like a bat out of hell.

Xu Nian continued to rest his eyes. Just two minutes later, his phone rang.

He answered, and Jiang Yingyao's voice came through, "Captain Xu, I had someone pull Luo Shun's file. Luo Shun did indeed suffer domestic abuse for over ten years as a child, which only ended in 1991 when his father, Luo Zhengyang, was killed by his wife, Hao Lili."

Jiang Yingyao paused and continued, "After Luo Zhengyang's death and Hao Lili's imprisonment, Luo Shun left school at 16 and worked in several cities like Lian City, Tadong City, and Linshan City. He didn't return to Yongquan City until April 2009 to work in vegetable greenhouses with others from his village."

"It seems Luo Shun hasn’t only killed these four people," Xu Nian said firmly. "Besides the unrecovered body parts of these four victims, there must be at least a fifth body in Luo Shun's home."

Jiang Yingyao also remembered the DNA from a fifth bloodstain found in the trunk of the silver-gray car, which didn't match any body or database record.

Jiang Yingyao thought for a moment and asked, "Should we send out inquiries to the cities where he worked before? He covered his tracks so well with these four killings. Who knows how many people he killed before to become this methodical and careful?"

"Send them," Xu Nian said, unable to resist rubbing his temples. "Have the desk crew at the station send them now."

"Alright," Jiang Yingyao agreed and hung up.

Qi Bai was astonished. "That Luo Shun really doesn’t seem like it—he’s a cold-blooded killer. The fact that we managed to track him down so smoothly and catch him before he kills another victim is largely thanks to the clues Guan Xia provided. Once this case is closed, I’ll treat her to a nice dinner this weekend."

"Weekend?" Xu Nian laughed. "Don’t even think about the weekend. After this case, there’s another headache of a case waiting for us."

Qi Bai was incredulous. "I haven’t heard about any major cases in our district. The 3rd Squad just finished a case and are on standby. Even if there is a case, it shouldn’t fall to us, right?"

Xu Nian said, "Remember the last known whereabouts of Pang Zhiye and Pang Wenze before they went missing?"

Qi Bai realized something and said in surprise, "No way? After it rained half the night, we still found some damning clue?"

Xu Nian snorted. "Suspect A from the 217 massacre case—big enough for you?"

Qi Bai’s eyes widened. "Wasn’t that a case in Danlin City? How did the suspect end up in our Yongquan City? That’s across a province."

Xu Nian also found it a real headache. "The cigarette butt was found wedged in a crevice between rocks by the river, inside an empty plastic bottle. It’s unclear where he tossed it from, and it got stuck there. We’re not even sure if he’s still in Yongquan City. The Cuiping range is long, spanning three provinces and several cities. But since the cigarette butt showed up here, we have to turn the entire city upside down to find him. Our 2nd Squad is busy with this urgent case and doesn’t need to get involved for now, but once the case is over…"

Xu Nian didn’t finish, but Qi Bai understood: it means overtime.

The thought of the possibly endless days on end ahead made Qi Bai’s slightly lifted mood sink again.

The drive was smooth, taking less than half an hour to reach the destination. By the time Xu Nian got out of the car, Jiang Yingyao had already roughly assigned roles to those present.

Xu Nian listened and found no issues, so he supplemented the assignments for those who arrived later based on the initial plan.

The courtyard was not far from the village but separated by a few hundred meters. Following the road ahead led to the vegetable greenhouses, while behind it was a wasteland. Beyond the wasteland was an unnamed hill. The mountain wasn’t high but covered a large area with thick trees, making it seem like a great spot to dump bodies.

Standing behind Xu Nian, Qi Bai followed his gaze and immediately understood something, frowning. "No way? Did Luo Shun bury the remaining body parts in that wild mountain? That’s going to be a nightmare to search."

Xu Nian didn’t speak, just watched as everyone scattered. Once all personnel were in position according to the deployment, he waved his hand and led the charge into the courtyard.

The gate was closed, but an agile officer climbed over and easily opened it from inside.

As soon as they rushed into the yard, without Xu Nian saying a word, everyone charged in sync into every visible room.

Soon, reports came in rapid succession.

"Captain Xu, nothing in the living room."

"Kitchen’s clear."

"Left bedroom empty."

"Captain Xu, found something in the storage room." Xu Nian immediately ran over with his team.

Upon entering, they first saw blood all over the floor. Liang Xinhua, who had been missing for less than eight hours, was lying in a pool of blood. An officer carefully checked his carotid artery and then shook his head at Xu Nian.

This was completely unexpected. Everyone, including Xu Nian, went white with rage.

"Get Forensics He here," Xu Nian said, glancing at Qi Bai.

Qi Bai hurried out to call for help. As soon as he left the storage room, someone else shouted, "Captain Xu, found something in the bedroom on the right side of the living room—Luo Shun’s daughter, Luo Xiaoyun."

Everyone rushed to the bedroom on the right side of the living room. An officer was carrying Luo Xiaoyun out of the wardrobe.

The officer said, "She’s breathing, no external injuries, but unconscious. Probably drugged."

Before Xu Nian could speak, Jiang Yingyao rushed in. "Captain Xu, we’ve searched everywhere. No sign of Luo Shun, and his wife, Jiang Chuntao, is also missing."

…

After reading all morning, Guan Xia had been very diligent and serious, but the overly specialized knowledge not only made her dizzy but also left her unable to recall a single word upon reflection.

Frustrated, she lay on the table for a while before slowly making herself lunch. Originally planning to take a nap, she tossed and turned in bed unable to sleep, feeling like her morning efforts had yielded no results.

Guan Xia reflected on whether she had been too ambitious. After some thought, she decided to go back to watching dramas.

Even though crime dramas are just TV shows, the professional knowledge in them is dense and very reliable.

Happy with this decision, Guan Xia figured since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she might as well go back to the study and, feeling liberated, return the book she had read over a dozen pages to the shelf.

After thinking for a moment, she rearranged the books on the shelf.

She placed the professional books at the very bottom and put novels, crime investigation records, and other easily understandable books within easy reach. Looking at the pile of novels whose titles alone seemed manageable, Guan Xia finally felt at ease.

Picking up the phone from the desk, Guan Xia was about to move to the living room to binge-watch a series when she happened to glance out the window and spotted a familiar figure heading toward Building 7.

A wide hat, a black windbreaker jacket, carrying a fishing rod and a red bucket—wasn’t this the man known as Lao Liang, the wife-beater she had seen yesterday evening?

Going out fishing early in the morning and already back at this hour? It seemed he hadn’t caught much; otherwise, he would have been flaunting his catch like yesterday evening.

Guan Xia glanced casually a couple of times before losing interest and turning away, but as she walked back to the living room, she couldn’t shake a gut feeling that something wasn’t right.

It was a weird gut feeling. Rationally, everything seemed normal, yet she felt an inexplicable sense of panic.

Guan Xia wondered if it had something to do with the system.

The thought of the system instantly cooled her rising anxiety like a bucket of cold water, but a chilling sensation began to creep up instead.

She sat up straight instinctively and began carefully recalling the figure she had just seen—the wide fisherman’s hat, the black windbreaker jacket. It was indeed the same outfit the man called Lao Liang had been wearing yesterday evening. But today, the clothes didn’t seem to fit as tightly.

Lao Liang wasn’t particularly fat, but he had a large beer belly that made the baggy windbreaker bulge at the abdominal area. The figure she had just seen…

It suddenly clicked for Guan Xia what felt wrong, and she bolted upright in shock.

Although the figure was dressed exactly like Lao Liang from last night, it wasn’t him. The real Lao Liang had gone out fishing this morning. If it wasn’t him returning, then who was it?

Involuntarily, Guan Xia thought of the figure she had seen during her camping trip and began merging it with the one she had just observed.

She was hit by a wave of terror, nearly making her scream. It was the killer—the serial killer. Why was he disguised as Lao Liang? Why was he heading to Building 7? Lao Liang had gone out fishing—what was he planning to do in Building 7? Was his target the abused woman? Or the little girl, only seven or eight years old?

Guan Xia froze in horror, her mind racing. It took her a few seconds to snap out of it and remember to call the police.

She practically lunged for the coffee table to grab her phone, her hands trembling as she found Xu Nian’s number and dialed.

He picked up after the first ring. Xu Nian’s voice came through, “Guan Xia? What have you found?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the system screen popped up.

You are being questioned by the police. You suddenly remember: at 14:04 on May 10th, while organizing the bookshelf in your study, you saw a suspicious angler through the window. His attire matched that of the angler you saw yesterday evening, but his build was different. You suspected that it might be the killer in disguise, and you decide to inform the police.

The system’s appearance confirmed Guan Xia’s suspicions. She spoke rapidly, “The killer—the one I saw while camping—is at Building 7 in the Shuimu Spring City residential area.”

Xu Nian’s voice showed no surprise. He simply said, “Deadbolt your door, don’t go outside. We’ll be there right away.”

Guan Xia hung up and immediately rushed back to the study, but the figure was no longer in sight. She knew he had already gone inside.