Chapter 043 Cult Simulator
Lin Muching turned off the engine at the roadside and looked at the two houses in front of him. The iron gate where the crime had occurred was half-open, revealing a narrow gap that only cats and dogs could pass through. Traces of passers-by's footsteps were mostly concentrated on the roadside. The only two footprints, one deep and one shallow, by the iron gate were also covered with a thin layer of dust. It was obvious that people nearby were afraid of death and were unwilling to get close to it even if they were curious. Only Nie Zhuang himself and his unknown black-haired young man companion who were reported a few days ago had been here once.
After observing the situation as usual, Lin Muqing withdrew his gaze and walked straight to another house where the lights could not be blocked by curtains.
Yu Xi didn't have many relatives or friends, and he lived alone after renting a house. He was depressed but had no place to vent, so he locked himself in his house and refused to see outsiders. Lin Muqing knocked for a long time, about five or six minutes, before he heard a hoarse and slow reply from inside: "Who is it?"
"It's me." Lin Muqing raised his voice apologetically.
Soon after, footsteps hurriedly came from the door, and the sound of a curtain being opened suddenly rang out. Yu Xi opened the door in a wrinkled shirt, revealing a face full of red bloodshot and dark circles under his eyes. "Director? Why are you here?"
Lin Muqing withdrew his gaze from the messy room and said straight to the point, "I'm sorry to disturb your rest. I want to know all the information about the day Nie Zhuang appeared." He emphasized, "All of it, even if it doesn't seem suspicious to you, as well as the strange companion mentioned once in the report."
Yu Xi stepped aside to let the director in. He spoke while Lin Muqing was changing his shoes. Yu Xi heard his own voice and responded very calmly: "I met them for less than five minutes. I have written down all the things that are worth paying attention to. But the stranger next to Nie Zhuang, I handed him a bottle of mineral water and saw that he was wearing gloves on both hands."
Lin Muqing, who thought it was just an ordinary clue, paused, put on slippers and slowly stood up. The young man lying on the sofa with a novel covering his face, whom he had accidentally seen a long time ago, flashed through his mind. That scene bothered him.
Lin Muqing inexplicably recalled the conversation at that time.
He asked where Baidao was. It couldn't be a videotape or an agent, Baidao himself had to be present.
Wang Gu told him: "The leader is here, he has always been here."
This conversation seemed meaningful when recalled now. Lin Muqing had no time to regret not opening the book at that time, so he could only ask: "Does he have scars on his hands? I have seen Bai Zhao's hands, and I didn't see any scars when he scanned his palm lines. An ordinary person must have a reason to wear gloves anytime and anywhere."
Yu Xi: "I didn't ask. But his name is Ji Xu. I met him once in a restaurant before. He didn't wear any badge or other church identification on both occasions. Maybe he has little to do with Bai Prayer."
Lin Muqing said the name, "Ji Xu, what do you think of him?"
Yu Xi had not anticipated this question. He was careful with his words because if he took too long, Director Lin would notice. He hesitated for no more than half a second and blurted out what he wanted to say: "It was a bit unexpected. The conversation between Nie Zhuang and I was almost dominated by him. I could see that he was used to controlling the discourse, but he actually..."
Lin Muqing continued: "He always answers questions and speaks directly. Even if he resists replying, he will tell you directly that he doesn't want to talk, right?"
Yu Xi paused: "...Yes."
Director Lin seems to know Ji Xu very well. Doesn't he try to hide his personality?
Soon there was no need to be curious about this question, because Lin Mucheng immediately issued several instructions through his mobile phone, and the prepared management bureau immediately called up the records. In the video, a young man with thin-framed glasses was sitting at the table, lowering his head to write down his name. When he leaned forward slightly to ask about the Church of Hundred Prayers, the police officer wearing the recorder happened to turn around and question the owner, and only recorded Ji Xu's blurry silhouette. The management bureau immediately sighed, and someone contacted the restaurant owner to ask for the surveillance footage, and found that Ji Xu almost never appeared in the camera, with only a low-key and blurry shadow.
Apparently there are too many coincidences, and an average person shouldn't have to develop the ability to hide from cameras.
Only outlaws care about this.
Seeing their distressed and regretful expressions, the shop owner thought for a while and then offered, "I remember this customer. When the store was about to close that night, he came back and told me that he had left his phone in the store. I searched for a long time before I found it in the space between the dining table and the wall. I was deeply impressed."
Lin Muqing: "How could his phone be left in the store?"
Yu Xi: "What time did he turn back?"
Lin Muqing looked at Yu Xi in surprise. He realized that Yu Xi actually cared more about the doubts after the case was closed than Ji Xu. His originally depressed mood was swept away. He leaned his shoulders forward and unconsciously revealed his anxiety. He was fidgeting. Thinking of the blow that Nie Zhuang's imprisonment had brought to Xi, Lin Muqing understood.
The management arrived late, holding the mouse and confirmed: "It was 9:27, the boss was cleaning, and the restaurant closed not long after Ji Xu left."
So it turns out that murders and revenge cases have nothing to do with the season sequence.
Ji Xu knew approximately what time the restaurant closed. After he profiled the murderer at the scene, he might have further doubts about the time of the crime. No matter what inference Ji Xu told Nie Zhuang, Ji Xu, who seldom went out, must have confirmed his suspicions through this incident, which is why he exposed the identity of the real murderer before the Administration.
The shadow hovering in his heart finally withdrew, and Yu Xi realized with shame that he was relieved. He actually felt a strange sense of relief, as if he could finally follow someone without distraction. Three days ago, Yu Xi would never have thought that he could sink into such a depraved state, but after experiencing some kind of strange attraction firsthand, Yu Xi knew that what he did came from the heart, and Ji Xu had the charm that made people bow down and follow him.
Lin Muqing pondered and said, "If Ji Xu is the person I think he is, he wouldn't be so forgetful. Maybe he didn't bring a recorder and used his phone to save time. It's useless to talk about it now. Can anyone give me a photo of him? I have to know what he looks like."
“…”
No one answered. Ji Xu was very good at avoiding cameras. None of the seven or eight management bureau members present at the time realized that he was evading. He seemed to have an outrageous intuition and could always avoid surveillance at the right time. Only a little bit of his back was revealed in the corner, with a smile on the corner of his lips and silver temples vaguely visible at the edge of the video, but he was slow to make any progress.
Just before Yu Xidian was about to tell Director Lin the clue, the Administration discovered from the surveillance cameras along the street that at a certain moment Ji Xu stopped and stood in front of the glass exhibition wall.
The young man wearing a mask seemed to be talking to someone. Lin Muching stared at his left hand which was holding the phone. There weren't so many people in the world who were used to using their left hand. Some guesses became clearer.
In front of Ji Xu was a clothing store that had long been closed. The shelves were empty and the lights were off. The large glass windows reflected the brightly lit shops and a vague dark shadow like a natural mirror. On the cool night as spring turned to summer, behind him were some believers wearing red moon hats and walking hurriedly.
Lin Muqing thought again.
If his guess was correct, it would mean that the believers who were helped had missed the leader of their faith countless times.
Ji Xu doesn't care who knows him, and even Bai Dao's continuous kicking behavior becomes easy to understand. Compared with being admired, Ji Xu hopes to see ordinary people return to society, but humans cannot escape Maslow's five levels of needs. This only shows that he has other hobbies to enrich his spirit, perhaps gardening and grassing. In short, Ji Xu is not short of love, and he has enough tenacity to weigh and decisively give up the love pursued by others - many people in high positions cannot do the latter, and the inferior nature of human beings is destined to make them unable to help chasing the admiration of others.
Lin Muqing didn't know how Ji Xu developed such alternative values. He should be thankful that Ji Xu grew up in a modern society. If it were in the old days when the rule of law was not perfect, perhaps even Ji Xu's commendable way of dealing with people would not have existed. That would be terrifying.
He hung up the call, leaving the noisy discussion of the Administration on the other end. Lin Muqing said to Yu Xi, who knew a lot in the room, "The next thing to do is to find evidence."
Yu Xiqing couldn't help but ask: "What?"
Lin Muqing: "Finding Ji Xu is the evidence of Baizhuo. I need Ji Xu's fingerprint. If we can use his fingerprint to open the door of the office on the top floor of Baizhuo Church, it means the verification is correct."
Yu Xi decisively dragged in an acquaintance who was both a former and current colleague: "But Wang Gu can also open it."
"Let's put it another way. Ji Xu is a high-ranking member of the Baijiao Church. His presence near Niezhuang is very suspicious." Lin Muqing had already determined the identity of Baijiao Ji Xu. When he put his phone down, he touched the cigarette case in his pocket and rubbed the rough edges with his fingertips to calm himself down. "No matter what, Ji Xu has to come to the Administration for interrogation and temporary detention. Preventing the next revenge case is more important than convicting him. We can take our time in finding evidence."
But even without the push of the wind, the seabed that has been suppressed for too long will eventually roll up huge waves and hit the shore.
Yu Xi said, "I will cooperate, but Ji Xu must wear gloves when he goes out."
"Then find a way to make him take it off. He was the only one who went out with Nie Zhuang after he disappeared. Ask him to come and make a supplementary statement. His signature and fingerprints will be required for confirmation." Lin Muching remembered it again. He remembered Bai Dao's impressive handwriting. If he saw it again, he would be able to recognize it.
"Okay." Yu Xi said, "I'll pack myself up tomorrow morning before going out. I have his contact information."
Ji Xu certainly didn't give Yu Xi his personal number. This was given to him by Bai Dao, who was across from the mailbox a few minutes ago. Ji Xu and Bai Dao, although the two identities belong to the same person, have different meanings. When Lin Muqing parked the car, Yu Xi was still listening to the leader's orders on the floor next door. Seeing the familiar car model stalled on the side of the road, he climbed over the wall with a dusty face, changed his dirty clothes, put on the shirt and slippers that were wrinkled by the sofa, and used the curtains and footsteps to cover up his haste. Fortunately, he arrived in time.
If he delays for ten minutes, it can be said that he is in a bad mood, but if he delays for half an hour and only turns on the light but not the door, it can only mean that he has something to hide.
Yu Xi didn't understand why Ji Xu handed over his handle to him, but he was willing to trust him. The feeling of following someone was very wonderful. When one step was taken, the next ninety-nine steps were completed in just a few seconds. What he had to do was to hand over his thinking to another person to make the decision. That person understood his principles and knew his pain, and would solemnly tell Yu Xi: "Please leave it to me. There is one thing that the church can never tolerate, that is, the criminal who destroyed our lives is still alive in this world."
So he also said this to Lin Muqing, with an apology that only he knew, "Director, I can't accept someone losing everything in front of me."
Nie Zhuang's experience taught him that when a person's spirit is dead, the body will not live long either, so he has to find a way to keep the victim's spirit alive, even if the price is freedom.
Lin Muqing didn't understand his hidden words. He was relieved that Yu Xi could cheer up and said goodbye. Yu Xi watched him walk away and picked up the phone on the table, "The director is gone."
"I see."
The screen lights up, revealing the display interface that has been communicating.
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