The old man truly loves cars. He subconsciously scrutinizes them whenever he sees one, even if he's confused at the time. He remembers all those drawings. He's a ghost, after all, and his memory is excellent.

The old man described five suspicious cars to Tao Rui, from their color to their appearance, the drivers and the layout inside, and even partial license plates of three of the cars.

Although this investigation is still difficult, it is much better than having no clues at all.

Since Captain Zhang was working overtime, Tao Rui immediately sent the information to Captain Zhang so that he could speed up the investigation.

Captain Zhang immediately made arrangements after receiving the information. He also sat in the office to retrieve relevant information and speculate on the relevant vehicle models, etc.

Two minutes later, he suddenly remembered: Tao Rui caught a ghost on the road, and now he knows the clue, doesn't it mean... the clue was provided by the ghost?

Just then, his phone received a WeChat message, and a notification sound rang out, which scared him. He then sat up straight, coughed twice, looked around, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that no one was paying attention.

He suddenly had a premonition that his serious and silent image would be ruined. He had indeed dug a hole for himself by recruiting Tao Rui into the team. But fortunately, digging a hole was worth it, as long as it could solve the case.

Captain Zhang continued to research the case, gradually becoming absorbed in it and forgetting his fear. However, after Tao Rui settled the elderly couple, he stayed awake. Instead, he drove the headless ghost to one of the serial arson scenes.

He also remembered a poor ghost there, who had witnessed the murder and was a powerful "witness ghost." The headless ghost had been worried about the poor ghost and urged Tao Rui to go there quickly, as it seemed the ghost was in a bad condition.

Captain Zhang couldn't get involved in this clue, so Tao Rui simply didn't tell him. He wouldn't be able to see anything anyway, which would only increase his fear.

At about five in the morning, Tao Rui arrived at the crime scene. The arson here occurred a month ago. What was burned down was a bungalow on the outskirts of the city. The house at the scene was still a charred ruin.

As soon as Tao Rui arrived nearby, he heard a burst of crying.

The system immediately scanned the surroundings, then said dejectedly: "Brother Rui, I can't detect any ghosts, nor can I hear any ghost sounds. I can't help you in this regard."

Tao Rui was a little surprised and quickly comforted him, "How much have you helped me? No matter who you are, there are always things you can't do. It's normal. I can handle these things myself, don't worry."

[System: But this is a huge flaw. What if you lose your memory? Wouldn't we be doomed if we were transported to a world of ghosts? I don't want anything to happen to you. A world where you can't choose how to travel is too passive.]

Tao Rui actually sensed the system's anxiety. In reality, the system had already helped him a lot, the most important of which was companionship. No matter where he went, it was always by his side, knowing all of his past and who was the real him.

This means a lot to him.

Why is the system so anxious?

Tao Rui stopped and thought carefully, and soon understood.

Because the longer he lived, the more skills he mastered and the more cheat codes he purchased. As he used his skills or cheat codes to live, the system naturally felt that they were becoming less useful. This was an instinctive reaction. There was a difference between having just one cheat code and having many.

Tao Rui knew that the meaning of companions was the most important. If one of the companions became dispensable, it would be too hurtful and would not be a good thing.

So he stopped trying to comfort the system and instead offered a serious suggestion: [The people developing the system at the Space-Time Bureau certainly can't do everything. How about this, we figure out how to upgrade and improve it ourselves?]

[System: We... can still upgrade ourselves?]

Tao Rui: Definitely.

Tao Rui: It's not just about scanning non-human, non-physical entities, it can also be anything else. If you want it, we'll find a way. We have a lot of time, and there's nothing we can't do.

[System: Okay, then we’ll figure it out ourselves!]

Tao Rui felt a little relieved when he heard the system regain its vitality. After ten worlds together, he had come to regard the system as a companion. Of course, he hoped that the system could find the meaning of continuing to travel through time and space. Upgrading was imperative.

Although it is difficult, they will definitely find a way.

The headless ghost saw Tao Rui suddenly stop, thinking something was wrong, and asked carefully: "Brother Rui, what's wrong?"

"Huh? It's okay." Tao Rui waved his hand. "The ghost you mentioned, is he the neighbor next door? How did he happen to witness the crime scene?"

"He's not. He came to play at a classmate's house and happened to pass by on his way home in the evening. Brother Rui, I'll bring him over."

"Go ahead."

The headless ghost quickly floated into the charred ruins and pulled out a ghost from the corner. When it came to Tao Rui, the ghost kept hiding behind the headless ghost, looking very scared.

The headless ghost soothed him, "Don't be afraid. This is Brother Rui, a very powerful master. He saved all of us. He's also from the police special operations team, responsible for investigating your case. He's also just opened the Wish Haunted House Detective Agency. If you have any wishes, you can tell Brother Rui, and he will help you fulfill them. All you have to do is provide clues in exchange."

The poor ghost was encouraged and walked out carefully, looked at Tao Rui and said, "Hello. My name is Xiaozhi. I, I saw the criminal's face."

Tao Rui nodded and said, "You happened to be passing by, saw the fire, ran over, and witnessed the arsonist, right?"

“Yes, yes!”

"Did you call for help? Did you yell 'fire'?"

"I, I shouted, but my voice was relatively quiet. I didn't even know there was a prisoner at first." Perhaps Tao Rui's voice had a soothing effect, Xiao Zhi's speech gradually became fluent. "I just shouted twice when someone covered my mouth. I was so scared that I somehow elbowed the prisoner in the lower body. He let me go in pain, and I ran quickly, but tripped over a rock. I rolled and crawled, and when I looked back, the firelight illuminated his face clearly. He rushed towards me fiercely, he..."

"He used tape to seal my mouth, my hands and my feet, and then... then he threw me into the fire. The fire was so big, it was everywhere, my whole body was in pain, I wanted to scream, but my mouth was sealed. I wanted to run, but it hurt too much, my eyes were burned, I couldn't see, I finally stood up, but fell down again, I didn't know anything, I just felt so much pain, it really hurt so much..."

The poor ghost started crying again. The headless ghost sighed and said to Tao Rui, "Brother Rui, don't blame him for being timid. He said he has been timid since he was a child. He was killed so cruelly that day and he was scared to death."

"I don't blame him. No one says everyone has to be brave." Tao Rui walked up to Xiao Zhi, leaned in slightly and asked him, "Do you want to come with us? You help me make a puzzle of the prisoner's appearance, and I'll help you fulfill your wish, eliminate your obsession, and send you to reincarnation, okay?"

The poor ghost looked up at him blankly, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Really?"

"Really." Tao Rui nodded and answered him with certainty. This promise was resounding.

The poor ghost looked at the headless ghost, then at Tao Rui, and nodded heavily, "I'll go with you. I'll tell you everything I know. I only ask you to let me see my brother again."

"Okay." Tao Rui held up the black umbrella and took the poor ghost away from this place.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Captain Zhang had just finished breakfast with his colleagues when he suddenly received a picture sent by Tao Rui.

The WeChat message read: Suspect in serial arson case, please investigate.

Does Tao Rui ever need a break? He found clues to two unsolved cases in one night!

Are all these practitioners so awesome?

Tao Rui really didn't need to rest. He had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Going without sleep for a few days and nights was like working two hours for others, and he wouldn't feel tired. So when it was time to go to work, he showed up at the police station on time.

Tao Rui walked straight to Captain Zhang's office, knocked on the open door, and asked, "Captain Zhang, have you made any progress on that portrait?"

"Got it. I found a person who is 80% similar to the portrait you gave. The key is that all the features are exactly the same. Come and take a look." Captain Zhang immediately retrieved the information from the computer and asked Tao Rui to come over to take a look.

As Tao Rui read the message, he asked in confusion, "How can this be a painting? Who painted it? Where did you get it?"

Tao Rui casually replied, "I drew it. I have a source of information, but the other party can't testify publicly, so I can only investigate from other sources."

Captain Zhang had already guessed that the person who gave the clue was a ghost, but what he didn't expect was that the portrait was actually painted by Tao Rui.

"You drew this yourself?"

"Yeah." Tao Rui turned to look at Captain Zhang and said with a smile, "You heard me when we were investigating the case at the Ye family last time. I have a side job, drawing talismans for temples on the outskirts of the city. I have to learn to draw well before I can draw talismans. It's useless to just draw randomly."

...I believed your lies!

However, Tao Rui's advantage in the game will only be greater if he has one more skill, and the most important thing is that the suspect has been identified.

Captain Zhang and his colleagues from other departments gathered, and he also invited colleagues from the Forensic and Medical Departments to hold a meeting. At the meeting, he designated Tao Rui to speak about the two cases.

Tao Rui was new here, and everyone here had more experience than him, so they should have known more about the situation. But no one here disagreed. Everyone thought Tao Rui was amazing, having found clues to two cold cases right from the start. Of course, when such a great expert talks about cases, one has to listen carefully!

Tao Rui had become the person who knew the case best, and the ghosts still followed him around, adding to his explanations whenever they occurred to them. So during the meeting, Tao Rui brought up some clues that even Captain Zhang hadn't heard of.

For example, when Tao Rui mentioned that the girl who ran at night was most likely unconscious in the car, the old lady added: "Master Tao, I remember now. The girl had a plastic bag hanging from her head. She was leaning in the car. I hadn't thought of it before. There was also a red mark on her neck, as if it was strangled!"

Tao Rui paused and added, "Based on the on-scene analysis, the girl was likely strangled by a plastic bag placed over her head, causing her to suffocate and go into shock."

"Oh! By the way, Master Tao, the girl's nail polish is white, but there are a few streaks of red on it, as if it were blood." The old lady remembered again. She loved beauty even though she was old, and she had noticed a lot of things unconsciously.

Tao Rui paused on the stage and continued, "Of course the girl would fight back fiercely when she was suddenly treated like this. At that moment, a person's explosive power is very strong, so the prisoner must have been injured and scratched by the girl."

He pointed to the girl's photo on the projector. It was a selfie she had posted on WeChat Moments before her night run. "As you can see, she had grown her nails that night, and they're quite sharp, so it's easy to scratch someone. The most likely places are her hands and face. Everyone should keep this in mind when investigating. Three years ago, did anyone see any of the suspects injured?"

"Master Tao!" The old man called Tao Rui urgently and walked onto the stage in a hurry.

Tao Rui subconsciously stopped. The old man grabbed his hand and said, "Master Tao! I thought of it. As soon as you said the prisoner might be injured, I thought of it. I remember a driver had several bloody wounds on his hands, one of which was even broken. I was curious and a little worried at the time. What happened to this driver? Can he still drive properly with his hands like this?"

Tao Rui's gaze moved upwards towards him. So, just tell me who it is. Your colleagues are still waiting!

The headless ghost was indeed the one who looked most like a small supervisor. He immediately stepped forward to guide him, "Uncle, do you remember which car that driver was driving?"

"I remember, I remember!" The old man nodded. "It's the black, slightly dirty car I mentioned before. I don't know how long it has been since it was washed. The interior is also quite old. The edges of the back seat cushions are torn. They don't take care of the car at all..."

Tao Rui clicked on the computer, turned to look at the similar models of several suspicious vehicles appearing on the projection, and said, "Sorry, I just thought of something and immersed myself in the simulation. Of these cars, the black one is the most suspicious. Please focus on checking the relevant information of this one."

From a criminal's perspective, this car is unremarkable, likely dirty and worn. If you can find traffic footage, please keep an eye out for it."

A forensic colleague raised his hand and asked in confusion, "Can you tell me how these inferences were made?"

Tao Rui smiled and said, "Criminal profiling is a comprehensive discipline that includes psychology, criminal investigation, speculative analysis, logic, role-playing, empathy, and so on. Of course, it also requires a bit of imagination."

The idea of ​​a profiler is so enigmatic that it's almost bewildering. But it's also true: if everything hinges on evidence, then forensic evidence is enough. What's the point of a profiler? While there's no official position of profiler in China, it exists abroad. Whether Tao Rui's profile speculation is trustworthy will only be determined after this case is completed.

Captain Zhang believed it anyway; he had seen Tao Rui do it himself. While the profile wasn't that amazing, the metaphysics was certainly there.

So Captain Zhang stood up to support Tao Rui and said, "We can't reveal the sources of some of the clues, but they're 90% reliable. If a case is left unsolved for too long, it's inevitable that you'll end up doing a lot of useless work and looking in the wrong direction. Now that Tao Rui has narrowed down the scope, you might as well follow his lead. This will make things easier."

Everyone nodded. When Tao Rui solved the case at the Ye family, many of them were at the scene and they all understood Tao Rui's "supernatural power", which could only be understood but not explained in words.

Tao Rui then went on to describe the circumstances of the arson case. While the old man and old woman ghosts were giving additional reminders, the poor ghost had been standing next to the headless ghost, lowering his head and thinking very carefully, trying to recall any details he had missed from the day of the crime.

So when Tao Rui was about to talk about this case, he ran to Tao Rui in advance and told him everything he had thought of.

He had already explained it in great detail when he was at Tao Rui's house. Tao Rui felt that most of the details he added this time were useless, but he had a hunch that one of them would be of great use.

He told everyone, "I received a tip-off that the arsonist had cigarette burns on his arms. Not just one or two, but five or eight when he rolled up his sleeves."

"Are there any witnesses?" a policeman asked anxiously.

We have the portrait and the cigarette butt scars, but he is not an eyewitness?

Tao Rui didn't say yes or no, only replied, "This is all we have available right now. Everyone can use this to try to find the criminal's motive for arson. He's the only suspect in this case. Please focus on the investigation from all angles. All three of his arsons were committed this year, so we're sure to find clues."

"Okay, brothers, let's get to work." Captain Zhang stood up and walked to the stage, dividing the group into two teams at the same time, each responsible for the two cases.

These clues were already much richer than before. If they still couldn't find the answer, there was no point in trying. The colleagues were instantly filled with energy!