Chapter 140 Destiny: I Destroyed Him Completely
The sudden attack in the southern part of the city made the investigators, who were originally proceeding in the planned direction, even busier.
Lei Xiao led his team to the scene immediately and made follow-up arrangements, while the others who remained in the detachment continued to stay at their posts, monitoring the safety of the three key protected individuals and processing a massive amount of investigation information.
Reports, phone calls, and instructions were all mixed together, and the entire criminal investigation team was shrouded in a busy and oppressive atmosphere, with everyone's nerves on edge.
On the other side, the data center.
Compared to the anxiety and oppression at the Criminal Investigation Division, there is a different kind of highly focused tranquility here.
Jiang Ling sat in front of her seat, lost in thought.
The fourth murder in Yan City has significantly increased the pressure on the data center.
The list of ID numbers ending in 079 that the Criminal Investigation Division requested was not used.
Something must have been missed.
Jiang Ling frowned slightly, a sense of unease lingering in her heart.
Lei Xiao's psychological profile, created using the three-pronged investigative method, identified the suspect as young, inexperienced, psychologically vulnerable, emotionally unstable, and obsessed with foreign crime dramas. However, after searching video stores throughout the city for an extended period, no suspect matching the profile and possessing the opportunity to commit the crime was found.
Based on information provided by the data center, three potential victims were identified. To protect them, the Criminal Investigation Division mobilized a large number of police officers and staked out the area for four days. However, what awaited them was yet another murder case.
The new case in Chengnan confirmed that the killer was tall, drunk, and strong, and used sharp scissors to stab someone in the abdomen, imitating Jack the Ripper's modus operandi. Fortunately, the girl had practiced Taekwondo; otherwise, another bloody incident would have occurred under the watchful eyes of the police and the entire Criminal Investigation Division, even with them on high alert!
This is a complete slap in the face!
It's also a provocation against the police!
Noticing Jiang Ling's unease, Li Zhenliang, who was sitting next to her, said, "Director Jiang, do you think... we might have gone astray in our investigation? Perhaps those numbers were just randomly written by the murderer? Did the deduction based on the last few digits of the ID card actually mislead Captain Lei and his team?"
Liu Haoran pondered while looking at the map of Yan City on the wall: "There is one thing, the speculation about the crime scene is accurate. The murderer drew a big cross on our Yan City map from west to east and from north to south."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Wei immediately made a cross on the ground.
Li Zhenliang stood in front of the map, tilting his head to look at it for a long time: "If you turn it diagonally, it's a big X."
Liu Haoran immediately pulled up the images of the third case on his computer, pointing to the unprocessed photo of the blood-stained symbols and saying, "Look, after killing someone, the murderer dipped his finger in the victim's blood and wrote the numbers 0, 7, and 9 on the ground, then drew several crosses over them. I originally thought it was out of revenge, but now it seems... could it be related to the location of the crime?"
Because the data center primarily focuses on technical support, Jiang Ling didn't get deeply involved in these cases. But today, seeing the photos Liu Haoran pulled up, Jiang Ling's eyes suddenly sharpened.
The pattern gave her a strange sense of familiarity.
Did you see it in a past life? Has a dormant memory of a past life's criminal record been awakened?
Those three numbers, "0, 7, 9," which haunt everyone like a curse, carry a strange and unsettling sense of familiarity, as if we've seen similar arrangements or expressions somewhere before. It's like looking at something through frosted glass—blurry, yet you can still feel its outline.
However, this feeling of familiarity was fleeting, and whenever she tried to explore it further, her thoughts would sink into a quagmire, unable to grasp any clues at all.
Jiang Ling sighed inwardly, suppressing the strange feeling in her heart for the time being, and refocused her attention on the other physical evidence photos.
Suddenly, a short, sharp system notification broke the silence of the data center, sounding particularly jarring in this environment dominated by low-frequency noise.
The sound came from a specific module of the early warning platform that Jiang Ling was in charge of—the Community Correction and Key Personnel Dynamic Monitoring Unit. A red, flashing alarm window then popped up on the screen.
[Alert: Warning Regarding Missing Persons]
Name: Qian Darong
ID Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
[Reason for warning: Released prisoners failed to report to the designated community this month as required]
[Release Agency: Yancheng City Ninth Prison]
Release time: 9:00 AM on May 20th
[Current Status: Failed to report within the time limit, triggering a Level 3 warning]
[Recommended course of action: Immediately contact the relevant community to verify the situation and initiate a personnel tracing procedure.]
Jiang Ling's gaze instantly froze on that name—Qian Darong.
Her heart felt as if it had been clenched tightly by an icy hand, then suddenly released, causing a violent throbbing. Blood seemed to rush to her head at that moment, making her ears ring, then quickly flowed back, bringing a slight dizziness and a chill.
Community corrections and dynamic monitoring of key personnel—this early warning rule was something she insisted on adding to the community corrections personnel management system after her rebirth, relying on her memories of her past life and her profound understanding of future crime trends, despite opposition and a great deal of effort.
Jiang Ling knew that the dangerous trajectory of many repeat offenders often began with initial management oversights and loss of control. For juvenile delinquents released from prison or juvenile detention centers, they were placed on an initial priority monitoring list according to management requirements. They were required to report to the community at a specified time to report their recent activities. The system automatically tracked their reporting; if they failed to report on time, an alarm would be immediately triggered, alerting the police to intervene and investigate. The aim was to detect any signs of trouble as early as possible to prevent them from falling back into crime or causing even more serious consequences.
This is also an important part of her practice of the "crime prevention" concept.
Now, the alarm is sounding.
The object of his affections was Qian Darong.
The violent teenager who was sent to a juvenile detention center six years ago because of her intervention. He was released from the juvenile detention center in 1995, but due to his parents' divorce, his father's imprisonment, and his mother's remarriage and lack of discipline, he was sent to the Ninth Prison in less than a year for fighting and injuring someone.
Qian Darong's release date was May 20th of this year. According to regulations, he must report to the community every month for the first year after his release. Today is September 21st, and it seems... he didn't report yesterday.
A strong sense of unease welled up in Jiang Ling's heart. She picked up the phone and quickly contacted the Jinwu Road Police Station: "Old Wei, Qian Darong, a released prisoner, did not report to the community as required yesterday. Please follow up and let me know immediately if you find out his whereabouts."
Upon hearing the name Qian Darong, Wei Changfeng, who was on the other end of the phone, couldn't help but complain: "Sigh! This Qian Darong is such a headache. He got out of prison this May, rented a house with the resettlement allowance from the government, and then started smoking and drinking every day, hanging out with those thugs. He doesn't take the jobs I introduce to him seriously. I've practically watched this guy grow up. He fought with Liang Jiushan before, and then tried to rape Liang Qiqiao. He was sent to a juvenile detention center for two years, and I thought that would teach him a lesson, but he only got worse! He's back in prison less than a year after he got out."
Even over the phone, Jiang Ling could feel the resentment of Wei Changfeng, the new director of Jinwu Road Police Station: "Sigh! He finally finished his labor reform this year, and he's in his twenties now. Logically, he should be more sensible, right? But... he's getting worse and worse. Just last month, Xiao Wang from the community told me that Qian Darong wasn't working properly and got fired again. They were at their wits' end. You're saying he didn't report on time? Okay, okay, I'll investigate right away."
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Ling seemed to have thought of something, and closed her eyes to ponder.
It was at this time that Zheng Yu entered the data center.
He looked exhausted and defeated.
She had just finished arranging the follow-up work of appeasing Miao Wei and reinforcing the control measures, and she felt a lot of pent-up anger and wanted to come to the data center to get some fresh air.
Zheng Yu rubbed her throbbing temples, her voice hoarse and tinged with weariness: "Jiang Ling, have you made any new discoveries?"
Before Jiang Ling could answer, she couldn't help but continue complaining. She had been busy for the past few days, staying up several nights in a row, but not only had she gained nothing, but the direction of the investigation might even be wrong, which made her feel very frustrated.
"This is unbelievable! 0, 7, 9! These three stupid numbers have completely fooled our team! How much manpower and resources have we invested? Situational surveillance, investigation, analysis, deduction, meeting after meeting, and what's the result? The murderer didn't even touch the three girls we were protecting, and instead went to the south of the city to find another target! Luckily, one of the girls is a martial arts expert, otherwise she would have been harmed. Tell me, what kind of nonsense is this? Did we completely go astray in our investigation?"
Zheng Yu walked to Jiang Ling's side and continued to complain: "Team Leader Lei and the others are still scouting people in the south of the city. That area is huge! Tall, drunk, carrying scissors, imitating Jack the Ripper... These characteristics are vague in some ways and specific in others, but there must be at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, men in Yancheng who fit the description of being tall and drunk. How are we supposed to find them? If the investigation is going in the wrong direction, all our efforts will be in vain! Those three damn numbers, 0, 7, and 9, have really kept us running around in circles!"
Zheng Yu's complaints rang in her ears, but the chaotic thoughts in Jiang Ling's mind suddenly seemed to have a direction and instantly came together.
0, 7, 9
Qian Darong
Released from prison, failed to report for duty
Hatred
distortion
imitate
...
Jiang Ling recalled the eyes of Qian Darong, filled with resentment and unwillingness, when he was taken away six years ago.
A clear and unsettling association suddenly popped into my mind!
Jiang Ling suddenly stood up from her chair, her face drained of color, but her eyes were sharp as she stared intently at Zheng Yu: "What did you just say? Say it again! Emphasize those three numbers!"
Zheng Yu was startled by her violent reaction. Looking at Jiang Ling's slightly pale face, she subconsciously repeated, "I said... those three stupid numbers, 0, 7, 9, have fooled us..."
"Yes! It's 0, 7, and 9!"
Jiang Ling interrupted Zheng Yu urgently, grabbing her arm: "Qian Darong! The system just issued a level three alert. Qian Darong has been released from the Ninth Prison and hasn't reported to the community this month."
"Qian Darong?" Zheng Yu paused, feeling the name sounded familiar, but she didn't quite recognize it at first. "Which Qian Darong? When was he released?"
"That's Qian Darong, the one who initiated the juvenile court six years ago. He bullied Liang Jiushan at school for a long time, almost raped Liang Qiqiao, and I sent him to the juvenile detention center!"
Zheng Yu's eyes widened suddenly. Although she hadn't directly handled the case from six years ago, she had heard about it: "But... what does that have to do with 0, 7, and 9?"
Zheng Yu's heart began to pound. She felt as if she had touched upon some clues, but she was still one step away from seeing the whole picture.
Jiang Ling suddenly turned to Li Zhenliang, who had been startled, and said quickly, "Liangzi, quick! Immediately! Right now! Get all of Qian Darong's files, especially the evidence photos in the November 1993 case file, and find the photo of the tin pencil case he used at school."
At this moment, Li Zhenliang also thought of something. He exchanged a glance with Jiang Ling, and without the slightest hesitation, his hands immediately began to fly across the keyboard to log into the internal file management system.
"Qian Darong... Qian Darong..." he muttered to himself as he quickly entered the name and ID number for a precise search.
The commotion drew the attention of the other colleagues in the data center, who stopped their work and cast curious and inquisitive glances. The tranquility was shattered, replaced by a palpable tension.
Zheng Yu's heart pounded like a drum. She stood tightly beside Jiang Ling, her eyes fixed on Li Zhenliang's screen, feeling her breath tinged with anxiety. She had a vague feeling that Jiang Ling had grasped a crucial clue that everyone had overlooked, a clue powerful enough to overturn all previous conclusions. And this clue was hidden in an old file from six years ago!
"Found it! Qian Darong's file!" Li Zhenliang shouted, and Qian Darong's basic information interface appeared on the screen, "File number SY730..."
"Go straight to the evidence photos! Focus on the pencil case!" Jiang Ling leaned over, her eyes fixed on the constantly scrolling list of scanned documents.
Li Zhenliang clicked the mouse rapidly, flipping through the electronic files one page at a time. Arrest records, interrogation transcripts, medical examination reports, judgments, educational reform comments… page after page recorded the boy's less-than-honorable past.
Finally, the scroll bar brought up the list of physical evidence and the accompanying photos.
In that case, Qian Darong's direct murder weapon was naturally the key piece of evidence, and it was photographed and archived. But there was another seemingly insignificant thing that profoundly reflected his long-term psychological state and paranoid tendencies—the tin pencil box he hid in his drawer.
Li Zhenliang remembered that when he and Jiang Ling went to school together, they found it in Qian Darong's drawer and took pictures for their records.
The image loading progress bar moved slowly, each second feeling like a tug at one's nerves.
Jiang Ling almost held her breath, her heart pounding painfully as if trying to break free from the confines of her chest. A strong sense of destiny overwhelmed her like icy seawater.
Six years ago, relying on her resurrected foresight, she personally sent Qian Darong, who was beginning to show signs of evil, to a juvenile detention center, believing it was a way to correct mistakes and prevent greater tragedies. She even established this early warning system in the hope of detecting and intervening earlier.
Six years later, after his release from prison, a series of brutal murders broke out in the city.
If it really is him… what does that mean? Does it mean that her intervention not only failed to stop him, but may have actually exacerbated his situation? Making his mind even more twisted and filled with hatred? And those blood-red numbers…
The image has finally finished loading and is now clear!
It was an old, slightly chipped and deformed tin pencil box with a dull blue background. It was printed with cartoon robot designs that were popular at the time and now seem a bit childish, but they were worn and blurred.
What truly catches the eye are two crooked numbers engraved on the edge of the pencil case: a "7" and a "9," as if carved with a compass, with traces of blue ink still visible in the marks. The "7" is circled, and a large "X" is drawn over the "9."
The arrangement of the numbers, the characteristics of the strokes, and the pattern of the huge "X" covering them all bear a chilling resemblance to the blood-covered, previously illegible symbol at the scene of the body dumped in the park.
That wasn't a date, address, or last four digits of an ID number; it was a mark of hatred! A list of enemies to be punished! A curse etched into the bones!
“It’s this…it’s this! It’s this pattern!” Jiang Ling’s voice trembled uncontrollably as she pointed at the crystal-clear photograph of the evidence on the screen and turned sharply to Zheng Yu. “Zheng Yu, look! 7 and 9! The two numbers Qian Zairong engraved on the pencil case, and that big X, don’t they look just like the symbol covered in blood at the scene?”
Zheng Yu leaned close to the screen, almost pressing her face against it. The moment she saw the deep and distorted engravings on the tin pencil box, she gasped sharply: "It...really...like it!" Thinking of the meaning behind the numbers, the hairs on Zheng Yu's body stood on end, and a chill ran down her spine to the top of her head.
Li Zhenliang hurriedly asked, "Isn't there an extra 0 on the scene...?" As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a chill run down his spine and stared blankly at Jiang Ling.
The character "凌" in Jiang Ling's name is a homophone for "0".
Why was the murderer so fixated on these three numbers?
Why does his imitation seem clumsy yet simultaneously exude a chilling, heartfelt hatred?
That was not just a poor imitation of virtual film and television dramas; it was a retaliatory act driven by deep-seated resentment and hatred accumulated over six years!
What he's imitating might not be the TV series at all; he's using what he considers "more powerful" and "more terrifying" methods to recreate and complete the "punishment" he couldn't achieve back then! He might even deliberately mix in some crime methods he heard about in prison or fragmented film and television elements he came across to confuse the public and satisfy his twisted desire to show off!
His goal was extremely clear from the very beginning! It was the person represented by those three numbers!
"What...what is 0?" Zheng Yu suddenly grabbed Jiang Ling's arm, her fingers turning slightly white from the force, and asked urgently. An even more terrifying conjecture plunged her into an ice cave, and her voice changed tone, "7 and 9 are Liang Qiqiao and Liang Jiushan, siblings! Right? Then what about 0? Who does 0 represent?!"
Jiang Ling's face was deathly pale. She slowly turned her head to look at Zheng Yu, her eyes dark and filled with complex emotions.
Her lips trembled slightly, and her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.
"Back then... I was the first to discover and stop him. I called the police and I caught him. I also testified in juvenile court. Perhaps, in his completely distorted logic, it was me who ruined his game of disciplining disobedient classmates, it was me who sent him to the juvenile detention center, and it was me who sent his father to prison and caused his family to fall apart."
“In his eyes, I completely ruined him, I was the starting point of all the mistakes, and I was more hateful than Liang Qiqiao and Liang Jiushan, so…”
At this point, Jiang Ling paused for a moment and closed her eyes. She was very reluctant to face all of this, but all the evidence pointed to this: "0 most likely represents me, Jiang Ling."
A brief, deathly silence enveloped every corner of the data center.
However, this silence lasted only a very short moment.
Jiang Ling quickly snapped out of her shock and heavy thoughts. Now was not the time to wallow in shock and self-blame. Danger was approaching—it could be the Liang siblings, it could be herself, or even her family!
The perpetrator has already killed three people. He is imitating the psychopathic killers in different crime dramas. The violent and bloodthirsty demon in his personality has been awakened and will become more and more bloodthirsty, cruel, and calm in his twisted actions.
Jiang Ling took a deep breath, picked up the phone, and directly connected with Lei Xiao, who was busy at the scene in the south of the city.
Lei Xiao saw that it was a call from the data center and quickly answered it. He had just said "Hello?" when Jiang Ling interrupted him.
“Team Leader Lei, this is Jiang Ling! Listen to me, it’s an emergency. The murderer is very likely Qian Darong, the one who was sent to a juvenile detention center six years ago for attempted rape and then sent to the Ninth Prison again in 1996 for assault in a fight! He was released on May 20th of this year and is supposed to report to the community on the 20th of every month, but he didn’t do so yesterday. The warning system is on a level three alert today.”
"It was this warning that led me to discover new clues. In the case of the murderer in the abandoned park in the north of the city, the three numbers left at the scene—0, 7, and 9—were his marks of hatred, originating from the engravings on his pencil case from years ago. 0 could be me, and 7 and 9 could be Liang Qiqiao and Liang Jiushan, the siblings. His targets were very likely the three of us. The first three victims were probably just practice targets he randomly chose after failing to find his real targets, and today's attack in the south of the city might have been an accidental attempt by him when he lost control of his emotions while drunk. His real targets have never changed! To reiterate, his real targets are me, Liang Qiqiao, and Liang Jiushan!"
On the other end of the communicator, Lei Xiao was clearly stunned by the sudden and information-rich report. There was a very brief silence on the channel, with only a faint static noise audible. But just a second later, his resolute and unquestionable voice came back, carrying an unprecedented solemnity.
"Received! Information confirmed, deploy immediately. Jiang Ling, be careful. I'll notify them immediately to strengthen security at the data center! Also, I'll send someone to contact Liang Qiqiao right away and have the local police station send someone to protect her. As for Liang Jiushan..."
Jiang Ling continued, "He's in Kyoto. I'll inform him."
All the fog seemed to be blown away by a gust of wind at this moment, revealing a more ferocious, closer, and more dangerous truth!
A revenge plot, six years in the making and sparked by her, has finally begun in the bloodiest way. And this time, the boy from before has clearly become even more dangerous and more insane.
Behind the chaos and tense arrangements, Jiang Ling's heart sank heavily as images of three innocent women dying tragically flashed through her mind.
They might not have died...
In his previous life, Qian Darong was well protected by his parents. After graduating from high school, he was sent abroad to study. Later, he returned to Yancheng and was killed by Liang Jiushan, who was determined to avenge his sister.
But now, Qian Darong's family is completely broken - his father, Qian Jianshe, was imprisoned for embezzlement and bribery, and his mother, Zhao Yanhong, remarried and moved far away. After being released from the juvenile detention center, Qian Darong lacked supervision and drifted aimlessly all day. Less than a year later, he was imprisoned again.
If it weren't for Jiang Ling's intervention, perhaps Qian Darong wouldn't have become so extreme, and those three girls wouldn't have been harmed.
This thought gnawed at Jiang Ling's heart like a venomous snake.
Her long-held beliefs in "crime prevention" and "early intervention" seem so pale and powerless at this moment.
Was it because of her early intervention that Qian Darong was pushed into the deepest abyss of evil?
A profound sense of powerlessness and a wavering of self-belief, like a cold tide, quietly washed over Jiang Ling's heart.
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