Chapter 301 - 170: An Important Clue for Associative Thinking! ’Catch!

"The murders took place in the early hours. After setting up the crime scene,"

"they came from the west and headed east, without turning back."

Xu Huo said slowly.

"Are they planning to circle back?"

"Judging by the established facts, that’s not an option."

’Why?’

’The timing!’

Around four or five in the morning, the breakfast stalls along the main roads start opening for business.

The killer finished at the scene around one or two in the morning.

One of them has a limp. If they were to circle all the way back, they would definitely be noticed by people on the street!

Apes and monkeys are common over in the Lizard and Monkey countries.

But they’re not a common sight in the cities of the Eastern Country!

An appearance like that would cause a huge stir in no time.

The police would have heard about it, but they haven’t received any such reports.

’Based on this, I can deduce they didn’t take the long way back!’

’If they didn’t circle back...’

’Then where are the families?’

’They didn’t take the victims’ families when they left, and they didn’t circle back. That can only mean...’

"They’re still in the hideout!?"

A look of astonishment crossed Li Jianye’s face.

The next second, he forgot all about resting.

He jumped straight into the driver’s seat, flipped on the high beams, and grabbed his walkie-talkie.

"Zhao Shui, get a squad together. Start at the crime scene and search west, trace the killer’s path back to where they came from!"

A moment later, a voice crackled through the walkie-talkie.

"Copy that, copy that."

Hearing the confirmation, Li Jianye immediately put the car in gear and drove west from the scene.

’If the family wasn’t taken, there are only two possibilities.’

’One, they’re alive, left behind in the hideout to die.’

’Two...’

’They’re already dead.’

’Right now, the second possibility is there, but it’s not very likely. After all, they kept the five victims alive until just now before killing them.’

’But unlikely doesn’t mean impossible!’

’If what the masterminds did to the killer is truly what Xu Huo suspects...’

’Then their hatred is more than enough to make them wipe out an entire family!’

’Yes, it would be normal for them to drag innocents into it.’

Of course, the victims’ families might not be so innocent. Living off the money from human trafficking, enjoying a comfortable life built on bone and blood... they’re like vampires. Not innocent at all.

And it’s precisely because they’re not innocent...

...that the killers...

...won’t have any hesitation!

’Eastern Country People believe in "cutting the weeds and pulling up the roots." If the killers aren’t torturing them... they’re probably just killing them outright.’

’But even if they are still alive...’

’...they’re likely suffering horribly.’

"Look for any abandoned places nearby, somewhere suitable for several people to live,"

Xu Huo said from inside the speeding car, his eyes scanning the world outside the window.

It was already the dead of night.

The road was shrouded in darkness. These days, the streetlights on the more remote roads were set to turn off on a timer at night.

The entire world seemed suppressed by the darkness. The residents were asleep, and no lights shone from the houses, aside from the occasional glow from a hotel entrance.

"This isn’t going to be easy..."

"To the west is the foot of a mountain. It was zoned for development and is currently still an active construction site."

"There are a lot of unfinished buildings there, they look just like abandoned, half-built projects."

Li Jianye said, recalling the city plans for Jiangsan City.

"With the New Year approaching, a lot of the construction sites are already planning to shut down for the holidays."

"Most of the workers have already started heading home, leaving only a skeleton crew to handle the most basic work."

"The sites are understaffed. If a few people were to slip in... it would be very difficult to notice."

At these words, Xu Huo’s heart sank.

’This information came too late.’

Only an hour or two had passed since they’d confirmed the victims’ identities, learned the families were missing, and had Sima Kong confirm their earlier theory.

’If we had been a bit faster...’

’We could have come to this conclusion sooner. We would have had more time to search for them.’

SCREECH!

The piercing sound of brakes shattered the night, and the car lurched to a stop.

The two of them unbuckled their seatbelts and walked straight onto the construction site.

Security at the site was a joke at night.

Basically, anyone could sneak in, so it wasn’t unheard of for petty thieves to steal materials to sell.

Of course, developers these days usually have some ties to the criminal underworld. It wouldn’t take long for them to make any thief "spit back out whatever they ate."

So, thieves didn’t come around much. Even if they wanted to, their own bosses would rein them in.

"Are we going to search this floor by floor?"

Li Jianye was at a loss. He clicked his tongue, a troubled look on his face. This was going to be tough.

Xu Huo sniffed the air.

’Love Nose!’

In an instant, countless scents flooded into his lungs. He began to parse the smells...

A moment later, Xu Huo froze.

A familiar scent caught his attention. It was...

’The one I smelled at the crime scene!’

’They’re really here!?’

Xu Huo’s pupils constricted. In the next instant, he pinpointed the direction and led Li Jianye toward one of the buildings.

"They’re in there?" Li Jianye stopped, his hand drifting toward the gun at his waist.

"Probably..."

Xu Huo stepped onto the staircase, about to say more, but...

The scent suddenly vanished.

He froze, his brow furrowing in confusion.

’The scent is gone?’

Xu Huo tried going back down the stairs. Once he was off them, the scent returned. But it wasn’t on the upper floor.

’This is... the ground floor. A quick scan of the ground floor shows no one at all!’

’Is there a basement?’

Xu Huo searched all around but didn’t see any entrance to a basement.

’Then where are they!?’

Frowning, Xu Huo walked out of the building and stood on the unfinished road outside. His eyes scanned everywhere in front of him, until...

SNIFF!

He took a sudden, sharp sniff.

The next second, he froze completely.

It was... an overwhelmingly strong scent!

"What is it!?"

Seeing Xu Huo’s reaction, Li Jianye was instantly on high alert.

But before he could ask, he seemed to spot something himself. He paused, a look of suspicion on his face.

"What is that!?"

Xu Huo followed his gaze.

Li Jianye was looking toward the site’s mess hall.

There were swill barrels outside it. In the darkness, the barrels were just indistinct, motionless black shapes.

But now...

In the dim light, one of the shapes seemed to shimmer, to blur for an instant.

’Over there...’

’There’s something there!’

The two men froze, then began to move toward it stealthily.

The indistinct black shape grew larger as they approached.

It was something knee-high. It had knocked over a swill barrel, and the foul liquid was now spreading across the ground, mixing with the dirt and sand.

And right now...

...it had its rear in the air, its head down, lapping at the swill on the ground.

Was that...

"A dog?"

Li Jianye looked at its furred body, paused for a second, and then the corner of his eye twitched.

"Where did a dog come from?"

"There wasn’t one at the gate. Why would there be a dog deep inside the construction site?"

Construction sites sometimes had guard dogs, but he’d never heard of one having a stray just roaming around inside.

And this one...

It was definitely a dog.

Except...

CRUNCH.

Lost in thought, Li Jianye inadvertently stepped on a piece of loose gravel.

He was about to wave his hand to shoo the dog away.

But in the next second...

...its ears twitched, and then...

...the dog turned its head to look at them.

The beam of Li Jianye’s flashlight landed right on its face.

In that instant, the atmosphere froze solid.

Li Jianye stood rooted to the spot, his mind a complete blank.

There...

...illuminated by the flashlight, was a human face.

A human face, its features forcibly pulled into a grin with nails. It was looking at Li Jianye, wearing a bizarre smile.

This was... a dog with a human face!

WHOOSH!

The creature immediately bolted, its speed surprisingly fast.

Li Jianye was still frozen in shock, but a hand slapped his shoulder.

"Get it!"

"Son of a bitch..."

Xu Huo’s face was grim as he took off in pursuit.

’A thought had just formed in his mind.’

’Something that represented the absolute nadir of human depravity...’

’And if Sima Kong really does have connections abroad...’

’Now, he was beginning to understand just what the killer had been subjected to!’

’A dog with a human face...’

’If that’s the case...’

’Then the victims’ deaths were, without a doubt, not the least bit unjust!’

Li Jianye snapped back to his senses. The next second, he took a deep breath and bolted after it.

"Get it!"