Chapter 133 133 It is very likely that there will be some subsequent actions...

When Guan Xia and Pang Le rushed to the old place, Ji An and Zhong Xiaoyu had already arrived.

One of them was sitting on a chair, looking at his phone with a frown on his face, while the other was walking around the small room as if he was looking at something strange.

Zhong Xiaoyu was the first to turn around when she heard the door open. She said with some curiosity, "This setup really looks like work. It's more professional than the other gathering places I've been to before."

"Have you had lunch?" Pang Le asked, casually placing the snacks and milk tea he brought on the conference table.

Zhong Xiaoyu leaned over to take a look without hesitation and replied, "I did eat there, but we were in a hurry, so we just found a random place. The food was edible, but it wasn't very good. Not as good as the healthy hot pot we had last night."

Hearing Zhong Xiaoyu say this, Ji An finally reacted. He glanced at Zhong Xiaoyu helplessly and said, "I heard you. When I'm done with this, I'll take you to try some local specialties. I won't let you down."

Zhong Xiaoyu randomly picked up a cup of milk tea, put a straw in it, and said confidently, "Life is all about eating and drinking. We work hard enough on a daily basis, so of course we have to reward ourselves from time to time. Pang Le, don't you think so?"

Pang Le, as if he had found a kindred spirit, said with great understanding, "That's right. Life is meant to be enjoyed. We must not waste this precious time."

So in the following time, the two had an in-depth discussion on how to better enjoy life. Guan Xia and Ji An were too lazy to participate and sat down next to each other.

Ji An continued to study the message on his phone. Guan Xia took out her sketchbook again, recalled the system video she had watched last night, and then drew the young woman as vividly as possible based on the high-definition headshot.

Seeing Guan Xia doing serious work, the two people who were chatting non-stop finally stopped and surrounded Guan Xia, drinking milk tea and watching attentively.

After more than ten minutes, Guan Xia put down her pen, but did not speak. Instead, she pondered over the newly drawn sketch. She looked at the young woman's ordinary facial features and felt a strong sense of incongruity.

Pang Le and Zhong Xiaoyu were a little confused and looked at each other in bewilderment. Pang Le asked softly, "What are you thinking about? Is there something wrong with the painting? Or is there something wrong with this person?"

Guan Xia came to her senses, handed the sketch to the two of them, and said doubtfully, "My intuition tells me that this person seems familiar, but I've thought about it for a long time and still can't figure out where I've seen her. And... I don't know if it's my imagination, but I always feel that her facial features are strange, giving me an inexplicable sense of disharmony."

Guan Xia pondered for a moment, hoping to come up with a more accurate description, and then added, "That feeling of dissonance... how should I put it? It's a bit like the feeling I had when I ran into that serial killer disguised as a maintenance worker in the hallway before I moved."

Pang Le was stunned when he heard this. "Are you suspecting that this young woman has had plastic surgery, or that she has disguised her appearance?"

Guan Xia nodded, "I tend to suspect this, but after looking around, I haven't found any flaws yet."

Zhong Xiaoyu frowned as she listened, her eyes practically glued to the sketch. She couldn't help but ask, "What kind of criminal organization are you investigating? Their members are so cautious, even using disguises when going out on missions? How large a scale must this be? If it's a disguise, then judging by her natural skills, this young woman must be at least a senior member."

"Outbound mission?" Guan Xia keenly grasped the key point in Zhong Xiaoyu's words and asked, "How did you figure that out?"

Zhong Xiaoyu sipped her milk tea and said casually, "If I wasn't on a mission, there would be no need to pretend."

Guan Xia laughed foolishly at the stupid question she asked, but then she became confused. She could understand the appearance of the middle-aged woman, perhaps for observation, but why did this young woman appear? According to Zhong Xiaoyu, it was for a mission. Combined with her own intuition, Guan Xia quickly came up with an answer: she came to kill people.

But soon, a few puzzled questions popped up in Guan Xia's mind. According to her understanding of the organization, every murder was done in the dead of night. Why was this woman so special that she appeared in broad daylight?

Also, the few times we know about it were all solo actions, so why is this time so special? Are there two people acting together? Or maybe it's not necessarily murder, but it could be a reconnaissance before the murder?

The more Guan Xia thought about it, the more lost in thought she became. Her eyes unconsciously stared at the sketch very close to her, analyzing it. After staring at the eyes in the sketch for a long time, her expression suddenly froze. Then she thought of something and stood up excitedly.

The three of them noticed Guan Xia's actions. Ji An quickly asked subconsciously, "What did you find?"

Guan Xia didn't say anything, but stared at the sketch for a few seconds. Then she suddenly reached out and covered most of the face in the sketch with her palm, leaving only her forehead and eyes exposed. She said, "Appearance can be disguised, and the shape of the eyes can be changed, but the look in the eyes cannot be disguised. When I look at her whole face, I feel very uncomfortable, but when I look at just her eyes, they feel very familiar. I can now be sure that I must have seen her before."

Guan Xia looked at those eyes seriously, and at the same time tried hard to rack his brain to recall. At first, nothing happened, but after more than ten seconds, the system interface suddenly popped up.

You were questioned by the police, and you suddenly remembered that at 10:19 am on June 18, when you and your friend finished investigating a case and returned to Yongquan City, you met a young woman with a vigilant look and suspicious behavior on the way out of the airport. Although her facial features were very different from the person in the sketch, her eyes were very similar. You keenly realized that it was not a coincidence, so you decided to tell the police.

After the handwriting disappeared, a video also appeared. The video was very short, only a few seconds, and it was the whole process from the moment Guan Xia noticed her at Pang Le's reminder to the moment he passed by her.

When Guan Xia saw that bright face, although she was a little surprised, she was not nervous. She just breathed a sigh of relief. The heart that had been hanging in the air finally settled down.

Without bothering to share her new discovery with Pang Le and the others, Guan Xia quickly turned to a new page in her sketchbook and quickly drew another sketch based on the headshot with a red frame on the system video.

This time, before Guan Xia finished painting, she heard Pang Le exclaim, "It's her, it's actually this person. I should have thought of it earlier. Since it is related to that organization and we have met before, who else could it be besides this woman?"

Ji An also said: "I really didn't expect that this woman, so young, is actually a senior member of that organization."

Zhong Xiaoyu's curious voice rang out the next second, "Who is this? Tell me quickly, where have you seen her? Also, what information do you know about that organization now?"

Ji An and Pang Le discussed briefly for a few more sentences, and then briefly told Zhong Xiaoyu what they knew and could say.

Guan Xia had also finished her sketch. After putting down her pen, she tore off the new portrait neatly, turned back to the previous one, and put it next to it for comparison.

Pang Le also tacitly covered the lower halves of the two portraits with his hands, revealing only the eyes. Even Zhong Xiaoyu remarked, "Just looking at the eyes, it's most likely the same person. Guan Xia's sketches perfectly capture the spirit of the person being drawn. Even an outsider like me can see the similarity between the two pairs of eyes. And this woman's eyes are so distinctive. This cold, slightly contemptuous look completely distinguishes her from an ordinary person."

Pang Le also recalled and said: "No wonder Guan Xia felt that it was very inconsistent. This kind of look on her disguised face is fine if you don't pay attention to it, but if you look closely, it will easily make people feel a little strange. But when put on her natural face, it is much more harmonious."

Guan Xia listened to the discussion between the two and couldn't help but think of a question. She had seen this young woman before. If she remembered correctly, she didn't have any intuitive reminder when she saw this woman until Ji An asked and triggered the system interface.

At first, she subconsciously thought that the system had not been upgraded yet, but then she realized that something was wrong. Before she came back, she investigated a case and discovered that something was wrong with a suspect based on her intuition.

Guan Xia recalled carefully, and after a moment he remembered that there was a difference between the two intuitions. The previous time the system prompted that the suspect had obvious and substantial flaws, while the later time in Daqu County was a real intuitive reminder.

After figuring this out, Guan Xia finally stopped worrying about it and confirmed that the system had not been upgraded at this time.

Putting the chaotic thoughts in his head behind him, Guan Xia said, "Now it seems that the whole thing has been connected. But there is one thing that makes me a little confused. What is so special about Meng Lan that would cause these two women to appear near her home at the same time? If they were just observing, there wouldn't be a need for so many people. I am more inclined to believe that they are preparing for murder."

Pang Le then said, "I have some ideas as well. I just recalled the case we investigated earlier about Zhang Weiyan, who was involved in this criminal organization. I remember the suspect we found was named Lu Manqing. Although he also used a certain disguise when committing the crime, his methods were obviously much lower-level than this young woman. Also, in the case of Zhang Weiyan, it was Zhang Weiyan himself who scouted the area and provided assistance, while it was this middle-aged woman who communicated with Meng Lan before she committed suicide and asked her if she wanted revenge who personally scouted the area. Why is there such a big difference between the two cases?"

Zhong Xiaoyu thought for a moment and then asked tentatively, "Is there a possibility that in the case you investigated earlier, Zhang Weiyan himself had a very strong desire for revenge, while Meng Lan clearly did not. Judging from her account last night, she was obviously avoiding this middle-aged woman, but the middle-aged woman had her eyes on Meng Lan, so she had no choice but to take action herself, hoping to drag her into the water."

Ji An, who had been pondering for a long time, spoke after Zhong Xiaoyu finished speaking. "I tend to agree with Zhong Xiaoyu's speculation. One point that can be used as a supporting evidence is that after the natural gas leak that killed Meng Lan's parents and brother, the middle-aged man named Luo Deye was forced to stop harassing Meng Lan. This was clearly the work of this criminal organization. And from Meng Lan's account, we can infer that although the criminal organization has not continued to contact Meng Lan, it has obviously not given up. It is very likely that they will take further action in the future."

Guan Xia was horrified by what she heard, and her mind was spinning rapidly, wondering what was so special about Meng Lan that made this criminal organization continue to pay attention to her.

The small room fell silent for a moment, with only the slight sound of Zhong Xiaoyu taking a sip of milk tea from time to time.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhong Xiaoyu rested her chin on her hand and said hesitantly, "Is it possible that they cast a wide net at first, but after tracking and observing Meng Lan for a while, they discovered her potential, so they persisted."

The three of them came back to their senses from their contemplation. Pang Le turned around and asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhong Xiaoyu said, "Although Meng Lan and I are not familiar with each other yet, and you told me a lot about her, based on your description, Meng Lan is actually a somewhat paranoid person with a very strong will. Suppose, I say suppose, that the natural gas incident that happened last year was really her taking advantage of the situation and risking her life, then from this incident, what qualities did she show? From what I can think of, she is very talented in acting, and then she is decisive. To be honest, her decisiveness is really something that many people can hardly achieve. Thinking about it from her perspective, if I knew in advance that my parents and brother were plotting against me, I would either make a big fuss before the incident and leave to live my own life, or I would work hard to collect evidence and find a way to protect myself while bringing them down. But look at what Meng Lan did."

Zhong Xiaoyu pushed the cup away and spread her hands. "She chose to play along. As you can guess from the clues, she gave her parents a chance to choose, gambling their lives on the way to mutual destruction. Who would do that? I guess the criminal organization might have taken a fancy to her for this. The reason they didn't contact her again later is that Meng Lan showed too much resistance, so they turned to secret observation. This also explains why they helped Meng Lan once later. The criminal organization wanted to use this as a bargaining chip to win their favor if there was a chance later. What do you think?"

Pang Le suddenly thought of something, his eyes lit up and he said, "So, the woman who looked very similar to Guan Xia that we met in the mountains a few days ago, and the murderer of the 0217 family murder case, could it be the work of that criminal organization?"

If Pang Le hadn't mentioned it, Guan Xia would have almost forgotten her biological sister who had the same father and mother as her.

After thinking for a while, Guan Xia said, "Based on this analysis, it is indeed possible. However, if that is the case, the power of this criminal organization is too great. I remember Xu Nian said before that the murderer of the 0217 family massacre was constantly moving around the Cuiping Mountains. They were able to contact him and even get him to do things for them. Or, is the murderer of the 0217 family massacre also a member of that organization?"

Pang Le was stunned for a moment, then sighed, "I used to think that criminal organization was far away from us, but in just a month or two, I feel like we're almost surrounded by it. They're truly omnipresent. Maybe there are people around us who haven't been discovered yet but are suspected of being connected to it."

Zhong Xiaoyu rubbed her fingers together and couldn't help but say, "Because of what you said, I want to contact my comrades. Their omnipresence has made me afraid of insufficient firepower."