Chapter 39: Searching Souls for Clues

When Xu Ximing heard the revelations, he was stunned. His ears buzzed, blocking out all other sounds, and he had no recollection of how he got home.

A few days later, he received an envelope filled with photos.

Every photo showed his sister in intimate positions with various men.

He couldn't imagine how other brothers would react to seeing their sister defiled in such a way. All he knew was that at that moment, he felt a strong urge to kill.

To kill these beasts, to kill the one who pushed her into the abyss, and to kill... himself.

Despite his mind being filled with rage and hatred, one thought took root in his mind like a towering tree.

—His sister did all this for him, to support his education, to give him a good future.

He was the real culprit.

If it weren't for him, his sister wouldn't have endured the first incident, wouldn't have resigned herself to her fate, and wouldn't have given up resisting.

"So you never planned to escape." Zhao Jiong understood why Xu Ximing was so calm. Xu Ximing scoffed, his tone filled with disdain, "Where could I escape to? The law is especially harsh on ordinary people like us."

Those with power and influence could use money to escape punishment, find someone to take the blame, or flee abroad. At the very least, they could hire a lawyer to reduce their sentence. In today's highly surveilled society, ordinary people without power or influence could only admit guilt; even if they tried to escape, they wouldn't get far.

Instead of being caught in a humiliating manner and receiving a harsher punishment, it was better to accept it calmly from the start.

Besides, he had no right to escape.

"Wrong, the law is fair to everyone." Zhao Jiong wanted to say more, but seeing the disdain and contempt on Xu Ximing's face, he held back. Xu Ximing wasn't receptive to good advice now, so it was pointless to say more. Instead, he changed the subject, "You haven't told us who that waiter was, who sent you those photos, and who helped you destroy the surveillance footage?"

Xu Ximing's eyes flickered with panic, his hands clenched into fists. "I don't know." Realizing this wasn't convincing, he added, "I didn't recognize the waiter and never saw him again. The person who sent the photos didn't leave any contact information; the delivery was left downstairs. As for the damaged surveillance... I have no idea."

Xu Ximing let out a bitter laugh, uncertain if it was directed at himself or the police. "Honestly, I thought you'd find me by the next day." He hadn't planned on hiding.

"Ah." Zhao Jiong scratched his chin, his gaze drifting.

If the surveillance hadn't been damaged and the weapon hadn't been hidden, they would indeed have found him by the next day.

"You're protecting those people." Ling Ji, who had been quietly listening to the door, cut to the chase. "Why?"

Those people knew Xu Xinuan's secret, had photos of her with various men, and were clearly not clean. Ling Ji didn't believe the intelligent young man before her hadn't figured it out.

"Is it because they helped you find Mo Baobao?" Jin Hong, with her keen intuition, spoke up, confused. "Even if those people didn't kill your sister, they're using you to murder and take the blame. Why protect them?"

"Do you think that's fair to your dead sister?"

"Are you being blackmailed?" Zhao Jiong followed up, then dismissed the idea. If Xu Ximing wasn't afraid of dying, why would he fear blackmail? His gaze landed on the photo frame on the coffee table, and an idea struck him. "Are they threatening you with your sister's reputation?"

Xu Ximing's face turned pale, his lips pressed into a tight line.

Seeing his reaction, Zhao Jiong knew he was right.

"Didn't his sister die?" Jin Hong asked Xing Miao, "How can the dead threaten the living?"

Xing Miao shook her head. Though she had spent more time among humans than the others, her knowledge was limited compared to those born and raised in the mortal world.

Ling Ji, fresh out of confinement, was even less knowledgeable.

So they all turned to Zhao Jiong.

"It's those compromising photos." Zhao Jiong, having worked in the major crimes unit, quickly connected the dots. "There might even be videos."

If they could send photos, they likely had videos too, the kind that thrives on adult websites.

Once uploaded, such content would be watched, purchased, saved, shared, and commented on by countless people.

Xu Ximing didn't want his sister to face such mental violations and public scrutiny even after death.

"Those people are truly vile!" Jin Hong, furious, pouted, her eyes burning with anger. "I curse them to have constant bad luck and choke on water!"

"Poof!" In a dimly lit room, a man uploading videos spat out water, coughing violently.

"Lao Huang, how can you choke on water at your age?" A bald man sitting beside him turned away in disgust.

"Ugh ugh ugh." The coughing continued, but the man's hands didn't stop, dragging a video file into the upload queue.

"Sizzle." Neither noticed the small sparks from the water that splashed onto the power strip.

"Click." The computer screen went black.

"What the hell?" The bald man jumped up, seeing the black screen. "Why did the power go out? I have so many unsaved videos!"

These men, involved in illegal video uploads, had no idea their bad luck was just beginning.

Although the videos of Xu Xinuan had already been sold, they were still the original source. Jin Hong's curse wouldn't spare them, especially as they continued uploading compromising videos of other women.

"Don't worry, we'll help you find and remove those videos, ensuring they don't go online." Still angry, Jin Hong promised Xu Ximing. "So tell us about the people behind this, so we can bring the real culprits to justice."

Jin Hong, though new to society, wasn't naive.

Combining Zhao Jiong's earlier statements with Xu Ximing's situation, she quickly grasped the bigger picture.

—Xu Ximing had been used by the mastermind.

They poisoned Mo Baobao, then, to cover their tracks, found Xu Ximing, whose hatred for Mo Baobao had been reignited by his sister's death, making him the tool for murder.

To hinder the police, they destroyed surveillance footage and hid the weapon.

Afraid he might reveal them, they blackmailed Xu Ximing with his sister's videos, forcing him to take all the blame.

In this case, the unluckiest one was Hu Li, who got unwittingly entangled.

First provoked, then her small punishment spell was exploited by Xu Ximing to kill Mo Baobao.

What terrible luck.

Xu Ximing, looking at the resolute Jin Hong, felt a mix of amusement and despair, his expression a blend of a smile and a grimace. "You promise? How can you guarantee that? On what basis?"

"The source material is with them. You don't even know who they are, so how will you catch them?"

Did they think he wanted to let those accomplices go, letting his sister's videos fall into malicious hands? If he could find them, he'd have done something by now.

"I don't even know if that waiter was really from the Dark Night Bar." Xu Ximing ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "I joined the bar to get close to Mo Baobao and couldn't find any trace of that man."

So he was likely impersonated, just to lure him in.

Despite knowing it was a trap, Xu Ximing still took the bait to avenge his sister.

"The mastermind is formidable, leaving no trace. How will you investigate?" Xu Ximing, though resigned, still hoped to expose the hidden hands using him.

"There is a trace left." Xing Miao said calmly, "You saw the waiter, didn't you? You must remember his appearance."

Knowing what he looked like made finding him easier.

"..." Xu Ximing was silent for a moment, then deflated. "I can't remember."

He had tried to recreate the man's likeness, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall his features, as if something blocked his memory.

Everyone: "..."

"That's easy." Ling Ji, seeing their hesitation, seemed unfazed. "Check his memories."

Everyone leaves an imprint in their minds of people and things they've encountered. Even if he thinks he doesn't remember, his brain does. It's just locked away.

But just because he can't unlock it doesn't mean others can't.

How about some soul-searching?

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