Chapter 106 Chapter 106 I have been trying to learn about the necessity of killing people...

After finding a shady spot near the parking lot and putting Yan Ran down, Ji An squatted down skillfully and gently pressed the sprained area. After a moment, he said, "It's not a broken bone, just a twisted tendon. Just rest for two days and be careful, and you'll be fine."

Yan Ran thanked him quietly, and Guan Xia breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on a rock very casually.

After running and climbing all the way, Guan Xia was almost suffering from heatstroke. He fanned himself in vain with his hands and looked into the distance at the situation on the top of the mountain. However, it was too far away, and even if he squinted his eyes, he could only see a few small dots that looked like human figures. They were running around and he had no idea what they were doing.

"It doesn't look like they've caught anyone," Pang Le, a skilled and courageous man, climbed up a nearby tree and shouted, as if afraid they couldn't hear him. "He's walking around like he's looking for something. I guess the suspect must have gotten away."

Guan Xia recalled the scene at that time. Although Xiao Cuifeng was right behind the unfinished villa area, it was still some distance away from the actual place where the mountain was going up. The figure of the suspected criminal suspect began to flee the moment he saw them running.

Even though Zhong Xiaoyu had excellent physical strength and was very fast, the figure was halfway up the mountain. Even if he tried his best, it was unlikely that he could capture it directly.

What's more, the suspect is obviously very familiar with the nearby terrain. As long as he reaches the top of the mountain first, he can disappear from everyone's sight in just a few minutes by relying on his familiarity with the terrain. I just hope that this pursuit will not be in vain, and at least we can find some clues.

With such sincere expectations, Guan Xia and the other three waited somewhat bored. At first, Pang Le was bored and could chat with everyone, but as time passed, the bottle of water he brought when he got off the bus was already drunk up. In his dry mouth, Pang Le, the most talkative one, had to keep quiet.

It was not until dusk, when the beautiful sunset dyed half the sky red, that the others came down the mountain one after another to meet up with Guan Xia and the others.

Zhong Xiaoyu was the first to come down. Although she wasn't the first to start, her excellent physical fitness still allowed her to leave the others behind. The moment she appeared in the parking lot, Guan Xia jumped up from the stone and asked impatiently, "How is it? Did you catch up with the person?"

Zhong Xiaoyu shook her head in exasperation. "That man was old, but he ran pretty fast. He looked close, but I don't know how he got down the mountain. He disappeared in the blink of an eye. I looked around, and from the traces I found, it seems he took advantage of the gentle slope and rolled down. He's really reckless."

Because of Pang Le's words just now, Guan Xia was mentally prepared, so she was not disappointed. She just asked again, "We saw you wandering around the top of the mountain earlier, as if you were looking for something. Is it a clue? Did you find it?"

Xu Nian, the second person to come down the mountain, came over and overheard this question. He raised his voice a little and answered, "We found it. The suspect must have escaped in such a hurry that he left a cigarette butt at the scene. Wang Yu found it and has put it in an evidence bag. Captain Yang also called his colleagues and they have sent someone to retrieve some of the entrance and exit surveillance footage from Xiao Cuifeng. We hope to find something."

Guan Xia was a little surprised. "Isn't Xiao Cuifeng a wild mountain? It's not a tourist attraction. Why are there surveillance cameras?"

Yan Ran explained, "Ever since this murder, the task force's experts suspected the killer would likely return to the scene, so they've installed surveillance cameras at the entrances and exits of the unfinished villa complex and Xiao Cuifeng. They even sent people to stake out the area a couple of days ago, but nothing came of it, so they withdrew the security detail. Unexpectedly, they'd just returned today. It seems the killer is not only familiar with the terrain, but is also very likely familiar with the police's investigation process."

Guan Xia subconsciously thought of what Yan Ran had said before. The murderer had become much more cautious, and her expression was a little strange. It seemed that although the murderer had not come out to kill people for five years, he was really not idle at all. He had been trying hard to absorb some knowledge that he must know about killing.

Shaking off the chaotic thoughts that had suddenly popped up in his mind, Guan Xia hesitantly asked, "Since the murderer might be familiar with the police investigation process, is it possible that in order to avoid surveillance cameras, he took some lesser-known trails, or simply climbed to other peaks to escape?"

Yan Ran thought for a moment and said, "It's possible, but the Dadong Mountain range is really long and narrow. Even if we suspect the suspect is fleeing in the mountains, it would be difficult to send a large number of people to search the mountain in an emergency. By the time we organize the personnel, the suspect will have already fled, so searching the mountain is meaningless. What's more, we can't confirm that it is the suspect yet. Everything will have to wait until the test results of the cigarette butt come out."

Although Yan Ran seems introverted, once the topic involves professional fields, he becomes calm and organized.

Guan Xia nodded as she listened.

Another ten minutes passed before everyone else finally arrived. Captain Yang was the last one. After talking on his phone for a few minutes, he beckoned everyone to get in the car, "Let's go back to the bureau."

Guan Xia was still in the same car with Pang Le, Ji Anzhong, and Xiao Yu. As soon as the four of them got in, Pang Le couldn't wait to start digging into his bag. He pulled out several bags of snacks like dried tofu and ham sausage, and while sharing them among them, he said, "I'm starving. Luckily, I had the foresight to bring some food."

Guan Xia had been busy from morning till evening and was already starving, so that's why she admired Zhong Xiaoyu so much when they went climbing. They all had breakfast at the same time, but Zhong Xiaoyu seemed to have endless energy and was full of energy even now.

Guan Xia took the dried tofu, tore open the package and ate it without raising her head. She filled her stomach a little and then began to rummage through the bag.

At first, Pang Le thought she was also looking for snacks and looked at her expectantly, until she found a sketchbook. Then he said in surprise, "Good boy, it turns out you not only saw a figure, but also saw the criminal suspect's facial features."

Guan Xia responded casually, turned to a blank page, and began to draw seriously.

Zhong Xiaoyu was about to start the car, but stopped when he saw this. He twisted his body and almost lay on the back of the seat, looking at Guan Xiahua curiously.

There is a video clip with the system paused. Guan Xia painted without thinking at all. He wrote decisively and quickly. It took only seven or eight minutes to complete the painting.

Looking at the simple sketch on the white paper that was very similar to himself, Guan Xia breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that the more he drew, the faster he would draw.

The other three people also stared at the sketch. Zhong Xiaoyu asked curiously, "Is this the figure we saw on the hillside?"

Guan Xia said: "Yes, it's him."

Zhong Xiaoyu poked her head out and looked at Guan Xia curiously for a few times before saying, "No wonder Sister Ji said you were a treasure. You really are a treasure. We're both human, but what's wrong with your head? Why is it so different? Let me touch it."

Zhong Xiaoyu looked at Guan Xia's expression and stretched out her hand tentatively. Seeing that Guan Xia seemed helpless but had no intention of resisting, she gently touched her.

Pang Le conveniently pulled out his phone, took a picture of the sketch, and posted it to the group chat. He then sighed, "Guan Xia, be honest. Did you secretly replace your eyes without telling me? I used to think your memory was incredible, but how come your eyes are starting to become ridiculous too? It's fine if you can see a figure from such a distance, just like Zhong Xiaoyu, but how can you see and remember the suspect's face in such a short time? Even detective dramas wouldn't dare to film it like that."

Guan Xia just smiled and didn't say anything. She didn't change her eyes, but who asked the system to upgrade her? Even she had been thinking it was outrageous in her heart before.

There was traffic jam all the way back to Tong'an Branch from the suburbs of Jianyang City. By the time I got off the bus, it was completely dark.

Captain Yang got out of the car and started to greet everyone. "Is everyone starving? Come with me to the cafeteria. Our Director Tian specially paid for a few more dishes for everyone. Thank you for coming all the way from Yongquan City to help us investigate the case. Let me tell you, don't underestimate the cafeteria, our chef is a very skilled cook. He retired and couldn't stay idle at home, so he returned to our branch in disguise. He is also a veteran criminal police officer with excellent cooking skills and rich experience in solving cases."

Captain Yang is a really enthusiastic person, and he tends to be a bit talkative. While leading everyone towards the cafeteria, he kept introducing the master chef who is now a chef but has worked as a criminal policeman all his life.

The Tong'an Branch is worthy of being a public security branch in a provincial capital city. It has a larger area and more people. Although it is already past mealtime, there are still many people sitting in groups of three or four in the cafeteria, eating and chatting about cases.

Noticing a stranger coming in, all the policemen who were eating slowed down their pace and looked over with a slightly scrutinizing look, until they saw Captain Yang accompanying them, then they withdrew their gaze and continued to eat and chat as if no one was around.

"Hurry up and sit down." Captain Yang skillfully joined the two tables together and called out to the kitchen, "Brother Liu, the guests are here. The food can be served."

Guan Xia didn't see anyone, but she heard a reply as loud as a bell, "Got it."

Captain Yang sat down next to Yan Ran. Quickly grabbing the kettle before Xu Nian and Jiang Yingyao, he poured water into disposable cups for everyone, saying, "You guys sit down. You're guests. How can we let guests do things ourselves? Let's make a deal. This time in Jianyang City, apart from investigating the case, you can't rush to work with us on other things."

Guan Xia was a little flattered and uncomfortable at first, but after hearing the last sentence she understood that this was a way of using human relationships and worldly wisdom to make them spontaneously go all out to solve the case.

After figuring this out, Guan Xia sat down steadily. When she took the cup of water that Captain Yang pushed over to her, she said thank you naturally.

After a few more casual greetings, the chef Brother Liu that Captain Yang had mentioned finally served the dishes. It was not known whether they were delicious or not, but at least they were beautiful and fragrant. Guan Xia was already hungry, and now he felt even hungrier after seeing the dishes.

Everyone was very quick and decisive when it came to eating. As soon as the dishes were served, Captain Yang asked everyone to briefly clink glasses, and then everyone started eating quickly.

Perhaps because the food tasted better when she rushed to eat it, Guan Xia unknowingly ate 1.5 times the amount she usually ate. As soon as she finished eating, Captain Yang took them to the office on the second floor with a clear intention.

When they arrived, several people were in a meeting in the office. When they saw Captain Yang come in, they all stood up and greeted him, "Captain Yang."

Captain Yang just nodded, but before he could say anything, Guan Xia saw a middle-aged policewoman with a high ponytail, who was half a head taller than Ji An. She frowned at Yan Ran and said, "Xiao Yan? What's wrong with your face and arms? They were fine when you left this morning. How come you're injured when you came back this evening? Did you run into the suspect?"

Captain Yang had been keeping a serious face, but when asked by the middle-aged policewoman, he immediately said with a guilty conscience, "It was an accident. It was an accident. We did encounter a middle-aged man with suspicious behavior, a suspected criminal suspect. During the pursuit, Xiao Yan accidentally fell. Fortunately, the injury was not serious. He just twisted his muscles and had some scrapes."

The middle-aged policewoman didn't say anything else, but her brows furrowed even more tightly.

The other two people who were sitting also stood up, some moved stools, some rummaged through cabinets, until they helped Yan Ran sit on the stool and applied some medicated oil to her before stopping.

After taking care of Yan Ran, the middle-aged policewoman looked at Guan Xia and the others and extended her hand. "Are you our colleagues from Yongquan City who came to support us? Welcome."

After shaking hands with Xu Nian and the others, the middle-aged policewoman paused when she saw Pang Le and Zhong Xiaoyu, then smiled and said, "Welcome to you too."

Guan Xia immediately understood what they meant. They realized that they were not police officers. As for why they did not show any strange expression on Guan Xia's face, Guan Xia guessed that it was because Director Ren had specifically mentioned her when communicating with the Tong'an Branch.

After another round of greetings, everyone finally sat down around the conference table. The middle-aged female police officer stood at the front of the table and began to introduce the case in detail through a dozen photos posted on the whiteboard and various clues listed.

The middle-aged female police officer said, "Because we have new colleagues here to support us, I will first briefly introduce the situation before the case. From September 13, 2009 to July 12, 24, the day before yesterday, we found a total of eight bodies with a very high degree of similarity in death. There is one special situation I want to explain. Although there are eight bodies, the forensic doctor's judgment on the wounds on the bodies after the autopsy showed that the eight bodies actually belonged to two murderers. The first murderer had an obvious motive for killing, while the second murderer was copying the crime. Although the method of killing was highly similar to the first murderer, he was obviously very amateur. The wounds on the four victims he killed were crude, even showing signs of repeated cutting. However, given the quick, decisive cuts he made when slitting the victims' throats, we have strong reason to suspect the second killer had the skills to practice slitting throats, but not disembowelment. We suspect the killer lives in a densely populated, complex urban village or some older residential complex. Furthermore, the second killer is likely a sociopath. Having been in hiding for five years, his state is extremely radical, and there's a high probability he'll strike again soon.

Guan Xia listened very carefully, but at the same time she was a little confused. She didn't understand how the middle-aged female police officer inferred the possible residence of the second murderer through the forensic judgment.

She wanted to ask, but the current occasion was obviously inappropriate, so she could only silently note it in her mind and planned to ask Ji An or Xu Nian privately after the meeting.