Su Xiaonuan returned to the Zaoyang branch, made herself a cup of tea, and buried herself in reviewing the relevant case materials.

The files for each case have been retrieved.

After reading it, she marked the location of the deceased on a small blackboard and repeatedly drew lines connecting them, trying to find some suspicious points.

The lines were erased and redrawn, drawn and erased again.

"Comrade Su, take a break!" An officer refilled her tea. "You've been looking at documents for hours."

After saying that, the officer turned on the room lights.

A flash of inspiration struck Xiao Nuan. She realized that a kerosene lamp would be lit next to each of the deceased. She took a piece of chalk and drew a lamp for each of the seven locations. She stared at the numbers on the blackboard for a long time.

None of the leaders dared to disturb her contemplation when they came in.

Suddenly, she took a piece of chalk and drew a box around each number icon, stared at it in deep thought for a long time, and then drew nine more boxes next to them, filling in the corresponding numbers according to the locations of the murders.

Instantly, a nine-square grid appeared on Xiaomo's whiteboard.

Su Xiaonuan felt a special affinity for this nine-square grid; in her previous life, this nine-square grid was popular for posting updates on social media.

The difference is that she filled all the squares with numbers.

The numbers to fill in the top three squares are 4, 9, and 2.

The three middle squares should be filled with the numbers 3, 5, and 7.

The numbers to fill in the three squares below are 8, 1, and 6.

After finishing the numbers, she threw down the chalk, clapped her hands, and finally let out a big sigh of relief.

"Comrade Su, have you made another new discovery?" several people asked at the same time.

“Look at this diagram!” Su Xiaonuan pointed to the route map on the left. “Based on the location of each victim, we got a nine-square grid like this on the right. Now, numbers 1 to 7 have been filled in. Numbers 8 and 9 are the locations where the killer will commit the next murder. If I’m not mistaken, the killer will soon carry out the next murder plan.”

"Why?" the branch bureau chiefs asked in unison.

“This is the legendary Nine Stars Destiny Lamp,” Su Xiaonuan said. “The murderer lit a kerosene lamp next to each victim. When all nine lamps were lit, it symbolized a reversal of fate.”

"The Nine Stars Illuminating Fate Lamp?" The group had never heard of it before.

"It seems the murderer wanted to change his own fate, or the fate of those around him, through this method. Judging from the fact that he suddenly moved up the time of the crime, I can conclude that he wanted to change the fate of those around him," Su Xiaonuan said. "This person must be well-versed in feng shui and divination, which narrows down our investigation scope."

“According to you, the murderer’s next crime scene will be location number 8, which should be on Binjiang Road. Location number 9 should be on Huaishan Road. However, both of these places are located in busy areas, which is different from the previous crime scenes.” Lu Kuan pointed to the nine-square grid on the blackboard and analyzed.

“The murderer wouldn’t kill someone in a busy area,” Su Xiaonuan said confidently. “Pay attention to the auspicious spots on these two roads. The murderer believes in this; he won’t act randomly. The place he chooses to strike must meet his requirements. There are still two lights left unlit. Hurry up and find the auspicious spot on Binjiang Road to stop him from killing again.”

“Okay, I’ll send someone to invite the best feng shui master.”

"It's best not to hire a local feng shui master, but to request reinforcements from other provinces to avoid alerting the enemy!"

“No need to go to another province. I have a distant relative who happens to be an expert in this. I’ll drive over and pick him up right now,” Yu Yang said. “The old man has been living in seclusion in the mountains for many years, so he’s absolutely safe.”

"Okay, Director Yu, it would be best if you went out in plainclothes with the old man to check out the terrain. You are in the open, and the murderer is in the dark. Don't let the murderer get alert. Send out more plainclothes police officers and pay attention to protecting the young women wearing black, white and gray clothes. The murderer chooses people randomly."

"We must take precautions to prevent the murderer from killing an eighth person. Also, intensify the investigation; the murderer is definitely a local and very familiar with the area. Act quickly and prevent another bloodshed," Su Xiaonuan ordered. "We must find the suspect as soon as possible, even if it means working through the night. Narrowing down the search area is urgent."

"Comrade Su, this is the list of suspects we've investigated over the past few years." A police officer handed her the case file.

“Okay, let me take a look first.” Su Xiaonuan took it, flipped through a few pages, and handed it back to the other person. “You can then filter through these people, remove those who are uneducated, as well as the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, and compile a list of locals around thirty years old before giving it to me.”

Under Su Xiaonuan's instructions, all groups immediately took action.

As per Su Xiaonuan's request, the list of suspects was narrowed down from several hundred to about a hundred. She then investigated each of these hundred-plus people one by one, and finally only thirty-two people became her suspects. She circled the names of these thirty-two people.

Using the process of elimination, she narrowed down the hundreds of suspects over the years to a few dozen, and decided to secretly investigate these suspects again the next day.

...

Back at the hotel, they discovered that Xiao Moran had an injury on his forehead and new wounds on his face.

Xiao Nuan added scratch marks below the five-finger mark she left on his face.

She assumed Xiao Moran had been injured by some woman, stared at him for a while, and chuckled twice. "What kind of woman did you mess with? Your nails are so sharp, they even scratched your face until it bled."

Xiao Moran's lips twitched. "Not a woman? It was some androgynous guy, but he got beaten up and ended up in the hospital, so I didn't lose."

"Neither male nor female?" Su Xiaonuan was startled. He had previously said he would deal with Jiang Yi, and he had always called Jiang Yi a pretty boy, saying he looked like a woman and didn't look like a man at all. So, she asked, "You mean Jiang Yi?"

"Yes, it's him," Xiao Moran said bitterly. "If it weren't for Mom and Dad trying to break up the fight, I would have beaten him even worse. Knowing you're a married woman, he still dared to come to the store and openly declare war. He's asking for it!"

"I'm not in the shop all day, and you're already causing trouble for me." Xiao Nuan glared at him. "Why don't you go to work? What are you doing here in my shop all day? Xiao Moran, listen to me, don't cause me any trouble."

"He's already bullying me, how can I be expected to cause trouble?"

“Xiao Moran, Jiang Yi is my customer. It’s normal for him to come to the restaurant for a meal. Why are you being so jealous?” Su Xiaonuan pointed at him. “He paid for a week’s worth of meals. I don’t believe you. Have you been coming to the restaurant to watch over things this whole week?”

"So what if I order meals for a week?" He pulled a wad of cash from his pocket and slapped it on the counter. "Then I'll cover the meals. You calculate how much I'll earn each day, and that's how much I'll pay you every day from now on."

"Xiao Moran, can you afford it?" Su Xiaonuan glanced at his money and scoffed. "With your little bit of money, you can only afford to cover a few days' worth of meals at most. Hmph, you're trying to put on a show even though you're broke."

“I’m serious, not just putting on a show. I want you to close this shop and come home to cook for me, for the rest of your life,” Xiao Moran said domineeringly, pulling her along. “I’m the owner of Warmth brand mattresses.”