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墨書 Inktalez
Old Shao stood at the edge of the platform, letting the autumn breeze flutter his clothing. Yuan Jun felt a twinge of worry; if Old Shao took just one step forward, he could fall like Luben, crashing down from the building and turning into a puddle of flesh, his bones shattered beyond recognition.
But Old Shao did not jump. He simply took a step back and said to the crowd, "Let's head down."
As Yuan Jun pulled Old Shao away from the edge, Jiang He addressed him as he descended. "We didn't find any communication devices on Luben's body. The only thing we found in his wallet was his ID and a photo of a girl."
With that, Jiang He pulled out the photo from his pocket. It turned out that when he had placed the wallet back into the corpse's pocket, he had taken out this photo separately.
Old Shao took the photo and asked Jiang He, "Was there anything else in Luben's wallet besides this photo and his ID?"
Jiang He nodded.
Old Shao examined the photo closely. "Then this girl must be someone very important to Luben. Perhaps finding her is the key to understanding what happened."
Yuan Jun leaned in to look at the photo. The girl appeared gentle and beautiful, smiling sweetly at the camera behind a steaming cup of coffee.
"This photo was likely taken by Luben," Old Shao said as he tucked it into his pocket. He turned to Guan Deng, who was standing nearby. "Guan Deng, we have Luben's ID number now. Please check the deceased's information and notify their family. Also, we need to track down this girl as soon as possible."
Guan Deng had remnants of something on his lips, a reminder of how he had recently vomited after seeing Luben's body. He nodded in response. Old Shao pulled out a pack of tissues from his pocket and handed one to Guan Deng, wiping away the stains from his mouth without waiting for him to take it.
This gesture left Guan Deng feeling flattered; ever since joining the task force, he had felt invisible. He knew he suffered from severe Social Anxiety Disorder, making it difficult for him to speak even with those closest to him, let alone strangers. He had always viewed Old Shao as someone high above him and never imagined that he would be treated with such kindness.
Lost in thought, Guan Deng realized Old Shao had already walked away. As he continued on, Old Shao conversed with Jiang He and Yuan Jun beside him. "What do you think is the ultimate goal of the Criminal Consultant?"
"To kill or drive someone to suicide," Yuan Jun replied while scratching his head.
Old Shao shook his head. "No, that's just their most superficial goal. What they truly want lies hidden within each case they handle. I can sense that he is not like Wei Demian. In that case at the crematorium, what would Wei Demian have done?"
Jiang He paused for a moment before answering thoughtfully, "If it were Wei Demian, he would probably help Zhang Haitao dispose of the body. After all, in Wei Demian's eyes, no one deserves to die; those who survive are often ruthless individuals."
Old Shao nodded in agreement. "That's the difference between two generations of Criminal Consultants."
Yuan Jun thought for a moment, then opened the panel of the stage and said to Shao the Elder, "It seems that this Criminal Consultant is much better than Wei Demian; at least he isn't as crazy as Wei Demian, who believes humanity must suffer great disasters to evolve."
Yuan Jun helped Old Shao down the elevator, following closely behind. As they descended, he continued, "Typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides—any of these can bring immense disaster. Wei Demian thinks that disasters and suffering can lead to evolution; perhaps he has never seen the ruins after an earthquake, the corpses scattered everywhere, the cries of the elderly and children, and the numbness and confusion of men and women."
A few others followed them down the elevator. Yuan Jun sighed and said, "But thankfully, Wei Demian is already dead; his apprentice isn't as insane."
"No," Old Shao replied cautiously, shaking his head. "The terrifying thing about Wei Demian was that you clearly knew what horrific things he wanted to do. If you knew his intentions, you could stop him. But with this Criminal Consultant, the frightening part is that you don't know what he intends to do. The unknown is what truly terrifies people."
Jiang He nodded in agreement; he had experienced firsthand how unpredictable the Criminal Consultant was. No matter what he planned to do, they had to capture him quickly.
As they exited the mall, Old Shao briefly spoke with the security captain, informing him that the police would be coming to retrieve surveillance footage and other evidence.
When they stepped outside, Yuan Jun saw that the car he had driven was being towed away. Looking at the nearly totaled vehicle, he remarked, "It'll probably take at least six months to fix this car..."
Shao the Elder replied, "That's not a concern; we can just take a taxi back."
The car was finally towed away, leaving a rectangular parking space that was clean except for the congealed blood around it that had yet to be cleared.
"New Year's Day is coming up soon, right?" Old Shao suddenly asked.
Jiang He nodded. "In half a month, it'll be a new year."
"New Year," Old Shao said with his hands behind his back. "Another new year."
When they returned to the City Bureau, Xu Yiman's Autopsy Report had come out. The report indicated that Luben had died from a high fall; the injuries on his body could easily be explained by a single act of violence. No drugs that could cause unconsciousness or anesthesia were found in Luben's blood or stomach.
This meant that at the time of the incident, Luben had been alone on stage.
"Luben committed suicide," Old Shao stated firmly.
"Then it seems this Criminal Consultant really did encourage someone to commit suicide," Yuan Jun placed the Autopsy Report on the table and said. "We followed Li Erdan's lead here; wasn't Li Erdan also persuaded by the Criminal Consultant to commit suicide?"
"Experiment." Old Shao suddenly spoke up. "The Criminal Consultant is trying to hypnotize these people. Everyone has had a moment when they thought it would be better to just die. The Criminal Consultant is guiding their emotions and ultimately destroying them."
"Actually, they wanted to die in the first place," Jiang He said. "It's just that during the process of dying, the Criminal Consultant took advantage of them."
"What for?" Old Shao looked into Jiang He's eyes.
"I don't know," Jiang He replied honestly.
"Come take a look at this," Xu Yiman said as she pushed open the office door and called out to the others.
In the center of the hall, there was a large television screen, and at that moment, it was broadcasting the Midnight News.
"According to our reporter, at 10:17 PM tonight, a man fell from the top of Wutong Road and landed on a car, dying instantly with blood splattered everywhere. Our reporter has learned that at least a hundred people witnessed this moment. The identity of the man and the cause of death are currently under investigation, and we will continue to report on this matter. Here is footage taken by an onlooker with a mobile phone..."
Then everyone saw on the television screen the image of a body lying on the car. To avoid showing too much blood, the television station had blurred out the body, but through the blur, one could still make out the vague outline of the corpse and the blood flowing around it, along with deafening screams and car alarms in the background.
Old Shao turned to Captain Liu, who had rushed over upon hearing the news. "The Autopsy Report is out. I’m sure reporters will come to the police station asking for details."
"What’s going on?" Captain Liu picked up an Autopsy Report from beside him.
"Suicide," Shao the Elder replied.
Captain Liu nodded. "We should issue a statement. Right now, photos of the body are spreading like wildfire online, and some people have even posted videos."
Xu Yiman sighed. "It’s true; good news doesn’t leave home while bad news travels far and wide. By tomorrow, this incident will likely spread throughout the area, and those reporters will probably want to make it into a big story."
As they spoke, Guan Deng tugged at Jiang He's shoulder. Jiang He looked down at Guan Deng's laptop and realized that Guan Deng had already found Luben's parents through the household registration website. Luben's father was named Lu Wei, and his mother was Zhao Xiu. Both were villagers from Dragon City’s Shizhao Village, about three hours' drive from Dragon City—not too far away.
"Get in touch with them," Jiang He said to Captain Liu.
Captain Liu nodded in agreement.
Old Shao took out the photo of the girl again and said to Guan Deng, "Since we have found Luben's parents, let's look for this girl next. Given her age, she should be about the same as Luben; she must be his girlfriend."
Xu Yiman looked at the photo and remarked, "Such a beautiful girl, and she's wearing all designer clothes. Would she really be interested in someone like Luben? His clothes are all from street vendors; it seems like they are not even in the same league."
"Love knows no class," Yuan Jun interjected.
Xu Yiman sighed and replied, "That's true; there are indeed many who would do anything for love. But in real life, how many miracles like that actually happen?"
Just then, a police officer walked into the conference room with a girl in tow.
As he opened the door, he said to the group, "A girl just came to the police station. She is related to the recent suicide case."
The group looked up at the officer, but their gazes quickly shifted to the girl standing beside him.
She was wearing jeans, a trench coat, and had a scarf wrapped around her neck.
And this girl was none other than the one in Luben's wallet photo.
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