Chapter 10 Clues

Dusk was setting in.

Lin Xiaowei finished her day's work and returned home.

Although the Lin Family was not considered a major clan in Tian Nan province, thanks to the daring and perseverance of Elder Lin in his youth, they had accumulated a fortune of billions.

Thus, even though she worked only in Yunmeng City, Lin Xiaowei still owned an apartment of more than eighty square meters.

She was originally in charge of major and important cases at the Security Bureau, and her days were relatively free of burden.

But in the past one or two years, such cases had noticeably increased.

Especially those involving disappearances, which happened by the thousands each month.

Though the majority could be found and returned, the average number of disappearances still exceeded five hundred per month.

Although this was not her responsibility, it greatly distracted the manpower of the Security Bureau, indirectly affecting their work progress.

Just as Lin Xiaowei was lying on the sofa, planning to rest for a while, her phone rang inappropriately.

She glanced at the number displayed on the screen.

"Zhang Qing? What's the matter?"

She asked.

From the phone, Zhang Qing's words were also extremely brief: "The killer has appeared again! This time, it's not in Yunmeng! It's in our neighboring Shanlong City! Zhao Police Commissioner has ordered us to coordinate with the Shanlong Security Bureau to facilitate action by Consultant Xia."

The previously lounging Lin Xiaowei suddenly sat upright: "I'll be right there!"

"I knew you'd step in, the car is already nearly at your building."

...

Five minutes later.

Lin Xiaowei boarded a police command vehicle.

Several people were already in the car.

Zhang Qing, Xia Wuyuan, Ye Yuhe, were all among them.

Plus, there were a few elites from the Yunmeng Security Bureau who had been seconded to assist Xia Wuyuan in the case.

At this moment, everyone was busy discussing and working on something.

Upon Lin Xiaowei's arrival, Xia Wuyuan merely nodded his head and continued diving into his work.

"The same person?"

Lin Xiaowei asked.

"Yes."

Zhang Qing nodded, "After killing Lei Ao, based on information provided by passersby, he also said 'Shanlong's number one is not that great.' From this, we can infer that this is not a usual revenge killing, but a life-and-death struggle among martial artists, which matches our speculation about the killer's motive."

"Are there witnesses?"

Lin Xiaowei's eyes lit up.

"Too far to see the killer's identity clearly, but the conversation was overheard."

Zhang Qing said with a frown, "The killer acts with extreme cruelty, almost never leaving survivors. Like the last time with Fang Qing, although she didn't die, the severe head injury made her mentally deranged. According to the diagnosis, it will be difficult for her to recover. I even suspect..."

The seasoned officer paused, "He always deliberately leaves behind various means of information for us."

"You mean..."

Lin Xiaowei glanced at Xia Wuyuan and lowered her voice, "He's not killing these notable martial masters just to be known as Tian Nan's number one?"

"I do not believe that anyone would do such a deranged thing for the so-called 'number one in Tian Nan' title."

Zhang Qing shook his head.

Even for the title of "Number one in Tian Nan," this behavior was no different from a madman's.

"If it's not for that reason, why is he senselessly killing? The victims have no connection to each other, their only commonality is that they are all notable martial masters."

Lin Xiaowei inquired.

Zhang Qing could not give a clear explanation.

The vehicle sped on.

An hour later, they arrived at the crime scene.

By now, this place had already been cordoned off by the people from the Security Bureau of Shanlong City.

A group of people entered.

At this moment, a bulky man dressed in a suit and leather shoes was sternly reprimanding a middle-aged man with the rank of Chief Inspector.

Xia Wuyuan's gaze immediately landed on him.

Almost at the same time his gaze settled on the suited man, the man also seemed to sense something and swept his gaze over.

The instant their eyes met, Xia Wuyuan felt a wave of goosebumps all over his body.

It was as if...

He had been targeted by some terrifying monster.

However, after the man saw the badge hanging from Xia Wuyuan's chest, he quickly averted his gaze, exchanged a few more words with the middle-aged man, and then turned to leave amidst a crowd of people, heading towards a luxury car parked not too far away.

"Wait a moment..."

Xia Wuyuan took a step forward without delay.

But of the several people flanking him, two directly blocked him: "Sir, please don't get too close to our boss to avoid any misunderstandings."

"I need him to answer a few questions for me,"

Xia Wuyuan said.

At this time, the previously scolded middle-aged man hurried forward, "Consultant Xia, President You certainly has nothing to do with this matter. He is a major shareholder of Yulong International, and President Lei also had shares in Yulong International. That's why he came to inquire in person after hearing about President Lei's demise..."

A major shareholder of Yulong International?

Lin Xiaowei, who held a position in Yunmeng City, was familiar with influential people in the surrounding area.

This President You Long was somewhat low-key in Shanlong City, reportedly because his main industries were in Feiyu Country, so he spent little time in Shanlong City.

But himself...

Was definitely one of the most formidable deep-water predators of Shanlong City.

Just the fact that Yulong International contributed twenty percent of the city's tax revenue each year showed how immense his influence was in Shanlong City.

"Such a figure indeed has no motive to kill, and it's unlikely he'd have enough time to become the 'Shadow Demon' and travel around Tian Nan to commit murders,"

Lin Xiaowei muttered.

The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly.

Hearing this, Xia Wuyuan watched You Long leave under the escort of bodyguards and assistants, and ultimately did not insist further, turning his attention instead to Lei Ao's corpse.

Ye Yuhe, seeing Lei Ao first stabbed through the heart, shredding it, then impaled through the head by another sword, couldn't help but exclaim sharply.

"This is too audacious."

"We have already made the comparison,"

At this time, Zhang Qing and a local police chief of Shanlong City finished their handover and approached, "According to the wounds on the victim, the murder weapon is the same as the one that killed Xia Li. It is evident that the killer is the same person."

"Senior Brother, your conjecture was correct,"

Ye Yuhe immediately said, "Out of the Tian Nan Ten Tigers, four have already fallen at his hand. His next target is very likely to be someone from the Ten Tigers. By defeating them, he intends to prove his strength. And based on the prominence of his chosen targets, his next victim will either be Tyrannosaurus King Lie or Iron Fist Chan Zhen. We can certainly arrange for people to be stationed around them, or even have them cooperate with us and 'lie in wait for the hare!'"

"Lying in wait for the hare is a passive approach, but... in the absence of a more efficient method, we can only do so for now,"

They discussed among themselves, continuing to survey the scene.

After a few more hours of busyness, having recorded most of the necessary information, they prepared to return.

On the way back to rest, Lin Xiaowei flipped through the recorded information.

As she browsed, a newly created data document appeared in her view.

This area, under the financial support of Lei Ao, had recently established a "Bright Light" system that collected data on all individuals who passed through the area before and after the crime occurred over a certain period.

The data contained thousands of entries.

What really caught her attention, however, was one of the names.

Su Alkaid.

"That Su Alkaid? He's come to Shanlong?"