Chapter 042 Cult Simulator

The moment he confirmed his guess, Yu Xi was calmer than he thought. His brain was buzzing, but he felt that it was true. He didn't have time to savor this complex feeling of loss. He seized this brief opportunity to ask questions one after another:

"Why did you start a church?"

"Is the murderer really the chef? Was his choice of Nie Zhuang a coincidence or was it premeditated? Tell me, at least let me know that you have nothing to do with the murder of the entire family. The victim's suffering came from an accident, not a trap you had planned for a long time." If the first part was still a machine gun-like questioning, the latter part unconsciously turned into a plea.

Yu Xi knew that his thoughts were sliding towards the edge of danger.

He hoped that everything Ji Xu did was out of the original intention of helping others. It seemed that only in this way could Yu Xi let go of some of his burdens and ignore the alarm bells ringing in his precarious rationality.

If he agrees with the barbaric and primitive doctrine of life for life, then the tower of rules built up over decades will be destroyed in his heart and can never be rebuilt.

"You have too many questions. I need answers for them one by one." Ji Xu said methodically, "Let me start with the first one. I think everyone has seen it. After all, you study me every day, guess my thoughts, profile my past, and discuss whether I spent my childhood in hatred."

"Now I know that you are not. A person who is blinded by hatred will not feel that he has done anything wrong, because hatred is all he has."

When Yu Xi continued to speak, he was thinking about the crime scene in the daytime. He exploded in collapse, angry and blaming Bai Dao for his calmness. As a result, the man suddenly looked at him, revealing subtle emotions in astonishment, as if Yu Xi was a rough jade to be polished, but he only discovered it today, so Ji Xu would rather anger Director Lin and answer Yu Xi's questions and leave his contact information.

Yu Xi didn't want to ponder Ji Xu's thoughts, so he reminded him not to ignore another question: "Why did the two cases you appeared in overlap?"

"I understand your suspicion." Ji Xu's answer was still in his own style, making the questioner ignore the fact that Ji Xu was a dangerous person and couldn't help but indulge in his unexpected tolerance. "But this is indeed a coincidence. I wanted to use this scene to remind Director Lin not to have unnecessary expectations of me. I didn't expect to see your transformation."

Then, this tolerance revealed his strong side between the lines, and Ji Xu said bluntly: "The only thing I did on purpose was to hide my phone and attract reporters, so as to hint that you would contact me. Officer Yu, you have to understand that I am surprised for you."

Yu Xi was stunned by Ji Xu's frankness. Not everyone can analyze the inner thoughts of their enemy. This made him retreat with a trembling feeling and feel genuine joy. His phone became hot to the touch. But when he calmed down and recalled, he found that Ji Xu had always been like this. Even through a voice changer or the Internet, he could still feel his straightforwardness when talking to Ji Xu.

"One last question. Those believers..." Yu Xi's throat was dry as he typed this sentence, and he spoke incoherently, "Are they willing to... follow you?"

Ji Xu suddenly fell into a long silence.

On the other end of the network, Ji Xu calmly assessed Yu Xi's mental state. After an unknown amount of time, he slowly said, "Don't ask me. Don't you already have the answer in your heart?"

…

In the office of the Baizhao Church, Ji Xu closed his email, closed his eyes, and leaned back in his chair. He was not wearing a mask because Lin Muqing was not there. The considerate director finally realized that one cannot guard against thieves all the time. Surveillance was useless to Ji Xu. He had countless ways to get rid of his spies. He could use code words even if there was no tree hole, and he could make gestures even if there was no code word. It was a fantasy to think of monitoring the leader in Baizhao's territory.

When Lin Muching abandoned his indulgence and warmth, it wasn't just the second-hand smoke, his subsequent actions also became cold and cruel.

The tree hole glanced at the task list and it showed that it was completed when Ji Xu answered Yu Xi's confusion about following. It didn't understand why its employer didn't leave and stayed to compete with Director Lin: "What will Lin Muqing do?"

"Find out my true identity." Ji Xu didn't open his eyes. He took out his phone and typed in his bank card number. "Yu Xi subconsciously excused me, thinking that knowing Ji Xu was like praying a hundred times would be useless. But Lin Muqing wouldn't do that. Once he finds out who I am, he will immediately understand that I slipped out during the surveillance period. This gives him a reason to take me away for investigation."

"Just an investigation?" Shudong said with a little regret, "I thought it was more serious."

"It's not easy to convict of incitement. Director Lin is a good man in the standard sense. He may be angry, but he would rather stop me from preaching everywhere than to sentence me." Ji Xu added thoughtfully, "Thinking about it this way, those believers who were arrested at the beginning were not wronged. The church's behavior of recruiting people to spread the word is clearly consistent."

“…”

Otherwise, employer, you should be more tactful when speaking and not get yourself into trouble.

Just when Ji Xu was enjoying his rare leisure time, Lin Muqing became busy instead. After breaking the false window paper of mutual respect, the director acted decisively and drove to Yu Xi's house with a clear goal.

The news of Nie Zhuang's appearance was notified to the bureau by Yu Xi. Afterwards, some people in the management bureau proposed to review the scene, while others believed that it was normal for Nie Zhuang to return home and the scene had been unsealed long ago, and that they should not use this as an excuse to put pressure on the victim who had been missing for many days. Yu Xi firmly stood on the side of the latter and clearly asked the bureau to focus on the murderer instead of worrying about what the victim had hidden.

Lin Muqing wanted to know what happened on the first day Nie Zhuang appeared, and Bai Dao's sudden attention to Xi also made him nervous. No matter which of the two factors accounted for a higher proportion, he needed to meet Yu Xi.

Wang Gu suddenly appeared from behind the door. Since Director Lin came, he even went upstairs less often. It was always embarrassing to see his former boss in the office of his current boss. This time he came to explain only one thing. Wang Gu put down the documents and breathed a sigh of relief: "Director Lin is gone."

"I know." Ji Xu had a headache looking at the extra documents on the desk. He pushed his thin-framed glasses. He felt a little unfamiliar with the decorations he hadn't worn for many days. Ji Xu rubbed his temples and said, "You don't have to come tomorrow. I have prepared a new place for you to live. I have multiplied your salary and deposited it into your card. Remember to pay attention to the text messages about property changes. If no one contacts you, you don't have to come to church anymore."

“…”

Facing Wang Gu's panicked eyes, Ji Xu sighed slowly, "I thought you should have expected it from the first day I cleaned up the people. The believers and you all need a normal life. The reason why my church was founded is to help the victims, not to drag the victims into a self-enclosed little world."

"...So among the seventeen people who stayed, Ye Cheng and I are not included." Wang Gu said calmly, but the color slowly faded from his face.

"They are all people who have served too long sentences." Ji Xu confirmed his hesitation, staring at his subordinate's slightly pale face, and paused imperceptibly, his voice as calm as always, "They obeyed my orders and surrendered to the Administration. I have to make sure they can survive when they are out of touch with society after they are released from prison - the church provides a subsidy every month."

Wang Gu smiled bitterly and pointed out: "You changed it to salary."

"Almost the same, the format is the same." Ji Xu didn't care. Recalling the fact that he was notified that the cultists were in police station right after entering the simulator, he was not surprised. He even had time to joke with himself and comfort his frustrated subordinates. "The church hasn't been disbanded yet. If you want, you can even keep the title of leader for me. I don't mind adding the phrase 'cult leader' when introducing myself to others in the future."

"..." Wang Gu still didn't speak. A slightly depressing atmosphere lingered between the two of them. He was absent-mindedly sorting the documents, putting the signed ones at the other end, and almost snatched the book that Ji Xu was flipping through.

Ji Xu silently covered it with the white paper.

Wang Gu took the paper away in a daze and continued to put other documents underneath. His movements seemed normal, but in fact his soul had been away for a while. While Ji Xu was signing, he had to be careful that the documents in his hand would suddenly disappear. He swallowed his anger and had to poke the tree hole on his own initiative.

"Come and take a look, this is your major."

The tree hole ran back at lightning speed to browse the player's log, and was almost choked by the overflowing emotions of humans. It carefully concluded: "Employer, I am good at chatting and listening to people, but I am not responsible for healing heartaches. What is the difference between what you did and letting a die-hard fan watch his idol jump off a building with his own eyes?"

Ji Xu hesitated: "Can I survive if I jump off the building?"

Don't rush to expel yourself from the ranks of ordinary people at this time! The tree hole missed the sulfuric acid sea. Why didn't anyone soak it to death this time? It changed its example in a gentle voice: "Dead idols can at least stop the thoughts. Your behavior is like sharpening the claws of a pet and then releasing it. Do you remember that sentence? 'Your sect believes in Baizhu, and you are their walking god on earth.'"

Ji Xu thought to himself, you are the pet, what's the use of you?

Of course he knew Wang Gu, Ye Cheng, and Yu Xi. They were no different from Nie Zhuang and the others in prison. They were all trapped animals in Ji Xu's cage. A new life could not attract them. However, Ji Xu calmly handed the blank papers to the distracted Wang Gu one by one, and told Shu Dong: "You are wrong about one thing. They are trapped animals, not pets. Sooner or later, they will get used to abandoning their beliefs and surviving alone. Sometimes principles always take precedence over personal feelings."

After saying that, Ji Xu rolled up the paper tube and slapped Wang Gu to wake him up. With the background sound of the tree hole muttering "Ms. Ye Cheng said it the wrong way," he said to Wang Gu, who was startled and awkwardly picked out the white paper, "Do you remember that customer service platform?"

After getting a positive answer, Ji Xu continued, "You will judge the application form. Ye Cheng will be responsible for contacting the victim. She is very contagious and can make the victim let down their guard." Wang Gu listened and unconsciously became serious. He subconsciously thought about the review method. Ji Xu said to Shudong in his heart, "Look," and continued, "Don't worry about making a mistake. It's okay if the victim is afraid and runs away after revenge. Yu Xi will help you clean up at the Administration."

Wang Gu, who didn't know that Yu Xi had also joined the sect, opened his mouth wide: "...Him?"

"Your new colleague." Ji Xu carefully avoided the fact that they were all kicked out. It was not that he had to let Wang Gu and others leave, but some steps had to be taken again. Who knows if one day they would suddenly feel that a plain and simple life is the real thing, and rest would help them to sort out their ideals in life and also make it easier to move the church into the dark.

Shudong muttered, "Yes, Director Lin will definitely keep a close watch on you after you left. Nothing can make people feel more at ease than seeing a cult whose deputy has given up and resigned, and whose followers have all been put in jail."

Ji Xu skillfully pretended not to hear.