Chapter 300 - 170: The Important Clue of Associative Thinking! ’Catch!

"And the personal needs fulfilled by the killer will manifest on their body as corresponding injuries."

"For the killer, these corresponding injuries would directly impact their ability to function in society."

Xu Huo explained slowly.

It was a chain reaction.

Whatever the mastermind did to the killer, it certainly wasn’t something as simple as a slap on the wrist.

Their body would inevitably show signs of injury, like a limp, or they might even be missing an arm or a leg.

Could someone live a normal life in that condition?

No. And that’s what’s meant by ’one’s environment affecting the individual’.

If the culprit was missing the lower half of their body, for example, the police could use that information to narrow down their search to places where such a person could live.

You could say all the clues were right there on the killer, but Wang Chao missed them.

If they could solve this puzzle, they could pursue two lines of inquiry simultaneously: investigate the source on one hand, and the killer on the other.

After Xu Huo finished speaking, Li Jianye froze. He was finally beginning to understand why this line of inquiry was so important.

’Just a physical injury...’

’...could determine the entire direction of the case!’

"Let’s go check the scene."

After a while, with no new leads, Xu Huo stood up, took a deep breath, and headed for the door.

Li Jianye nodded.

’It was already late, but if they hurried...’

’...they could still make it to the crime scene for a look.’

Acting on the decision, they got in the car and drove straight to their destination.

Fortunately, the hospital Wang Chao had chosen was close to the crime scene, as he’d wanted to get there quickly. They arrived in no time.

The crime scene was on Qianjin Road.

By now, the five bodies were long gone, having been processed and removed by the police. A few police cars remained parked nearby, cordoning off the area with black-and-yellow tape.

The police had also erected a tent, from which a single, harsh lamp was suspended.

Unfortunately, while the light was harsh, it didn’t illuminate any useful clues. There were only a few drops of blood on the ground, and nothing else.

Footprints?

There were some, but very few.

"How’s the search of the scene coming along?"

Li Jianye took the cigarette from his lips and asked the officer standing before him.

The officer, who had been dozing off, jolted awake at the sound of his voice and quickly stood to attention.

"No new clues."

"It’s just as Mr. Wang said. The culprit was here for such a short time that they couldn’t have left anything useful behind."

’Still no new leads...’

Li Jianye froze, his gaze falling on the asphalt road. He sighed.

’Expecting them to find clues here is asking too much. A place like this, combined with the actions Wang Chao described... it’s impossible for any useful traces to have been left behind...’

’Even if there had been, they would have been washed away by the rain.’

’It was only a light rain that night, but even its power shouldn’t be underestimated!’

Xu Huo crouched down, searching the area.

After a moment, he looked up, toward the end of the road.

"Did you check the end of the road, where the killer disappeared?"

"Nothing. There are no cameras over there, and no eyewitnesses. The police have no idea where he went."

The Police Chief in charge of the scene responded.

Xu Huo mulled it over for a moment before turning his gaze in the other direction.

The opposite direction—the way the culprit came, leading their victims.

"And where they came from?"

"That’s even harder to trace. The police dogs were useless, there are no cameras, and almost no witnesses. We can’t determine their point of origin."

The Police Chief sighed again. They couldn’t investigate the destination or the origin...

’It’s not a huge problem, though.’

THUD!

Xu Huo plopped himself into the car.

"Where are you going?"

Li Jianye’s brows furrowed.

"Going to try my luck. I’m going to find out where they came from,"

Xu Huo said.

"It’s getting late, almost eleven. We can’t jeopardize tomorrow’s search..."

Li Jianye glanced at his watch, just as he was about to say something more.

But in the next moment, Xu Huo spoke.

"Captain Li, have you noticed something?"

’Noticed something?’

"What?" Li Jianye froze, a look of confusion on his face.

"What about the victims’ families?"

Xu Huo said suddenly.

’Zhao Shan was the school principal, but he rarely showed his face. When he disappeared for an extended period, Sun Yuhui couldn’t be bothered to care; after all, she wasn’t the one paying his salary.’

’Su Shan was a volunteer teacher...’

’The local villagers were already suspicious of her; it wouldn’t be surprising if they set off firecrackers to celebrate her disappearance.’

’It was common for volunteer teachers in her position to simply vanish.’

’Either the teacher couldn’t take it anymore and simply left, or some of the malicious locals—the kind that desolate places often produce—did something...’

’Then there were Sima Kong and Chen Jin. It was normal for those around them not to report it to the police when they disappeared.’

’But their families would have definitely reported them missing!’

’That’s why, from the very beginning, Xu Huo suspected their families had also been taken by the killer.’

’Later findings confirmed this; the family members were completely unreachable, simply gone.’

’So there was a ninety-five percent chance they had been taken by the killer!’

’Right. From the start of his reasoning up to this point, everything made sense. But the problem was...’

"Where are the families?"

Xu Huo asked suddenly.

"Weren’t the families with the killer—"

Li Jianye started to answer instinctively, but his voice trailed off as he suddenly froze, his eyes widening in shock.

"The families aren’t with the killer now!"

’The families were gone...’

’Or more accurately, they weren’t with the killer at that moment!’

’How did they know?’

’Wang Chao!’

’He had clearly seen the crime scene. And while his account was vague, his firm insistence that there were "no children" was telling. It proved that the killer didn’t have the families with them at the time of the murders.’

’They were probably left behind in the "lair".’

’Yes, that was perfectly logical.’

’The problem was...’