Chapter 41: Mysterious and Confusing

Night fell gradually.

Li Jing and Dai Hong did not discover more details in the house of the seafood restaurant couple, and there was also nothing to harvest from the rest of the neighbors’ houses, except the deceased residents’ bodies.

And during their search, the reinforcements Chen Yuran had called began to arrive.

Leaving the scene to the support team for a thorough investigation, the three gathered on the coastline.

The sea breeze blew on his face, and Dai Hong’s mind was heavy.

The case of the Evil Cultivators was still unclear.

The victims had risen from fourteen to over forty people.

Most of the victims in the seafood market were without families.

But the people in this small residential area on the coast all had family members who needed to be contacted and informed.

Communicating with the victims’ families was not easy.

The first was to console them.

The second was that the incident would inevitably spread after communicating with the victims’ families, and a stir in the media and internet was foreseeable.

In ordinary murder cases, they could somehow keep things under control.

But when it involves Evil Cultivators, they simply could not suppress it.

Dai Hong himself didn’t have to face these issues.

After all, he was in charge of investigating the case and didn’t need to show up in public.

However, under various factors, his pressure was absolutely not small.

Heaving a sigh, Dai Hong turned his gaze away from the vast sea.

"Regarding the situation in this residential area, what’s your opinion, Yuran?"

"The fact that the offending Evil Cultivators massively bred white rats to provoke their demonization is the only clue we have at the moment," replied Chen Yuran, slowly recounting.

"Tracing back from this clue, we could probably find something. In this information age, as long as there’s a trace left, it will never be perfectly concealed. However, I estimate the things found based on this clue regarding the white rats won’t be of much use."

"The criminal meticulously planned to breed a large number of white rats. Most factors that would directly impact or even expose him have probably been dealt with. Besides, it’s more like the criminal deliberately let us discover this clue related to the white rats."

"The illusion can only temporarily cover up his crimes, and the criminal must realize this. However, he still chose to hide the bodies here and even left a large number of white rats that could serve as clues. He’s provoking the Patrol Branch, making us play safe and refrain from taking rash actions."

After listening to Chen Yuran’s analysis, Dai Hong nodded in agreement and looked at Li Jing.

"Li Jing, do you have a different opinion?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jing was taken aback, not expecting Dai Hong to ask for his opinion.

He was merely a temporary "guest" member of the Major Crimes Unit and had no experience in handling cases.

Compared to him, Dai Hong and Chen Yuran were the professionals.

But since Dai Hong had asked, Li Jing felt obliged to say something.

No matter if he got it wrong, at least he couldn’t let others think he was just a freeloader.

Quickly reviewing the situation he currently knew about in his head and then integrating it with the plotlines of various high IQ crime dramas he had watched before he transmigrated, Li Jing began to speak.

"Yuran’s theory makes sense. The clue about the white rats could very well be a trap set by the criminal, making us hesitate. Now, if you want a different opinion, I do have one. I don’t have much experience handling cases, so don’t laugh at me if I’m wrong."

Having said so, he prepared himself and started talking.

"The fact that I killed a Rat Demon this evening was a coincidence, but it also clearly illustrates something — the culprit is watching the actions of the Patrol Branch. It’s unusual that the culprit, after committing such a massive crime with more than forty victims, instead of fleeing, he is observing the Patrol Branch’s response. If the culprit wants to simply provoke the Patrol Branch, he could have left some things in the seafood market and there would be no need to give us a ’surprise’ after we found this residence."

Dai Hong and Chen Yuran listened to Li Jing’s account and both appeared to be deep in thought.

Seeing that the two appeared to be agreeing with his words, Li Jing continued.

"I think the criminal might have other motives and deliberately tossed a lead after the incident to buy time. If he really wanted to escape, he had plenty of time to leave Jianghai after the crime."

"And then?" Dai Hong looked up.

"Keep going, don’t stop." Chen Yuran leaned on her hands.

"..."

Li Jing.

He wanted to keep going, but the problem was that he had run out of ideas!

His speculations were purely based on crime dramas he had watched, but could a script match reality?

Moreover, this was a homicide committed by an Evil Cultivator, not an ordinary murder.

Involved in a situation where an Evil Cultivator deliberately provoked the Patrol Branch to buy time for his plans, how could he guess what the guy intended?

After thinking for a while, Li Jing braced himself and began to speak.

"From the beginning, this case might be a method created by the criminal to divert the Patrol Branch’s attention."

As soon as he finished speaking, a sparkle flashed in Dai Hong’s eyes.

"I knew I wasn’t wrong about you, you hit the nail on the head!"

???

Li Jing was bewildered.

He just put forward a hypothesis according to what he had just said, how did he hit the nail on the head?

Before he could figure out what was going on, Chen Yuran on the side speculated.

"If it’s really like what you said, then this round we’ve been played by the criminal."

Saying this, she quickly analyzed.

"The criminal using the seafood corroded by the Demon Miasma to cultivate monsters is an established fact. This is his confidence in committing the crime, but we may have been misled by this detail. The criminal was a step ahead of the Patrol Branch in knowing about the existence of the Demon Miasma and then the subsequent cultivation of monsters."

"Since he knew about the existence of the Demon Miasma, he certainly anticipated that the North City Patrol Branch would deploy many staff to deal with the Demon Miasma, causing manpower resources to be strained."

"He caused a major case at a critical time. The department would have to take it seriously and inevitably command people to investigate. The introduction of the white rats in this residential area as bait makes the situation even more severe, and can easily make the department busy dealing with it."

After delivering these lines of analysis, Chen Yuran narrowed her eyes.

"Assuming this hypothesis, what the criminal is plotting is most likely directly related to the North City Patrol Branch."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing blinked, considering the possibility.

Chen Yuran’s analysis made sense.

But for an Evil Cultivator to plot something related to the North City Patrol Branch was too bold.

Could the criminal really be that "brave"?

And what could make an Evil Cultivator risk his life to this extent?

While pondering, Chen Yuran turned to Dai Hong.

"The criminal is very cunning, intertwining every step, and the specific details of the case need further investigation. But if Li Jing’s conjecture is correct, the fact that the case happened tonight might be problematic. We might need to investigate the person who called the police in the evening. He may have a connection with the criminal. Additionally, what the criminal is plotting is likely to happen in the next few days."

"Well, I’ll go back to the station and arrange for someone to investigate the person who called the police this evening, and check if there’s something in the department that might attract the criminal’s attention," Dai Hong nodded and said.

"You two stay here. Now there are people from other departments helping to inspect the scene, and our Major Crimes Unit cannot be left alone. I will inform you as soon as there is news. You two have worked hard tonight."