Chapter 127 - 115: The Appalling Identity of the Murderer

What is the main difference between an ordinary person and a select, exceptional few?

The acquisition of knowledge and the application of ability!

The former is the absolute priority. Take an ordinary person, for instance. Even if they possess outstanding talent, being from a normal family means there’s little they can do. Their talent will simply be buried.

Only a special environment capable of nurturing that talent can allow someone to transcend the ordinary!

In other words, the second murderer must exist in a highly specialized environment. It is that very environment that forged the abilities they possess!

"First, the victim."

Qian Hua first organized his thoughts, then his voice crackled through the walkie-talkie.

"The private school. Our investigation shows that four months ago, there was a missing person case."

"The person was a cleaner at the school, not very old, around eighteen. Her appearance wasn’t remarkable, and she came from a poor family."

"She also worked part-time as a server in the school cafeteria."

"But four months ago, she disappeared. After a few days with no contact, the cafeteria manager fired her and hired someone new."

Slightly larger schools do employ cleaners, and they are generally older.

They are pretty much the only non-academic staff within the school.

They don’t have personnel files. If management is lax, they might not even sign an employment contract. A verbal agreement and clocking in for shifts is considered being hired.

By the same token, if they mess up and get fired, there’s not much they can do about it.

"An eighteen-year-old cleaner? Not a student or staff member?"

Li Jianye paused, the corner of his eye twitching.

"Not part of the school’s student body or faculty. That means the police’s previous interviews and investigations of the students and teachers were completely useless!"

Qian Hua replied in a low voice.

"She couldn’t be contacted and vanished without a trace. It didn’t become a big deal, so no one gave it much thought. That’s why she never came up during the police interviews."

"It wasn’t until the police focused their investigation on this angle, gathering the personnel files of everyone involved, that she suddenly appeared on our radar."

Li Jianye spoke again, his voice grave. "What I mean is, she’s eighteen... why wasn’t she a student? Did she fail her exams?"

"For family reasons."

Qian Hua explained. ’These days, a student who doesn’t want to study probably wouldn’t come to work at a school of all places.’

’After all, the pay isn’t great, and they’d have to face their own insecurities around people their age.’

This was why the cafeteria staff was mostly made up of older men and women or students on work-study programs. Young outsiders were rare.

"Before her death, she lived with her father, mother, and an elderly relative."

"Her mother fell ill due to her job, which caused the girl to drop out of junior high to take care of her at the hospital."

"About eight months ago—a little less than a year—she came to work at the school for unknown reasons."

"During that time, her Grandpa was working a side job when he was caught in malfunctioning machinery. More than half of his body was pulled in, and he was killed."

"Then, a few months ago, her mother’s condition worsened to a critical point because they couldn’t afford better treatment. Resuscitation efforts failed, and she died."

"Six days after her mother’s death, the girl disappeared."

"The police traced her movements within the area and eventually linked her to a traffic incident at an intersection!"

Qian Hua explained the full sequence of events, laying out all the information on the girl.

Being a cleaner could be quite lucrative. If you weren’t too proud to collect the plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, and so on at a private school, you could definitely make a good bit of money each month.

Plus, the job offered flexible hours, which she needed to take care of her family.

"She was crossing the intersection and saw a truck run a red light, but she didn’t try to run. She just stood there staring at it and was ultimately run over and killed."

On the surface, it looked like a helpless case of a family being torn apart by tragedy.

A car crash, a death from illness, an accident—three calamities converging on one family. It was one disaster piled on top of another.

But...

One person was still missing.

"What about the father?"

"Who is the father?"

Xu Huo snatched the walkie-talkie back and asked in a low, serious tone.

"The father is a..."

Qian Hua paused, then bit out two words:

"A criminal."

’A criminal!?’

Li Jianye’s face was a mask of astonishment.

"A criminal? What kind of criminal!? Explain!"

"The victim’s name is Liu Wen. Her father is Liu Bo, forty-one years old. He had a wedding ceremony in the countryside at eighteen and had his daughter at twenty-two."

"He couldn’t find a good job, but he was physically superior to others and had sharp senses, so someone persuaded him to join the army. He enlisted that same year, at twenty-two, and was discharged at thirty-six because his wife fell ill."

"After his discharge, he took on odd jobs but still couldn’t cover the hospital bills. He resorted to fraud, forging hospital payment slips and other documents, swindling a total of 350,000 yuan. He was convicted and sent to prison."

’Enlisted...’

Xu Huo’s mind instantly seized on that word.

"What branch of the military!?"

he demanded in a low voice.

’That way of thinking, those movements...’

’He’s no ordinary person!’

Unexpectedly, Qian Hua was silent for a long time before he said:

"We couldn’t find anything."

’Couldn’t... find anything!’

As those four words landed, everyone’s heart sank.

Was this good news or bad news?

Bad news.

The worst possible news.

It wasn’t scary if you found out someone was from some elite unit, no matter how incredible. What was truly terrifying was not being able to find anything at all...

Why?

His file was classified!

There weren’t many military branches that classified their files at this level...

"Currently, this is all we can pull up with police-level clearance... Based on the case, he was most likely a reconnaissance soldier."

"Anything more specific will require a request up the chain of command."

Qian Hua’s heavy voice echoed in their ears.

His specific unit designation, company, and area of operation—all of that was classified information, impossible to access on short notice!

But even the information that had been released was enough to leave everyone speechless.

"A reconnaissance soldier..."

Li Jianye’s mouth went dry.

"A special forces reconnaissance soldier, at that..."

"Fourteen years of service..."