Chapter 56: Sorting Through the Case

The ambiguous mood lingered in the room for a long while.

At this moment, Chen Yu was so full of regret, he could practically feel his guts turning green with remorse. He stared blankly at the ceiling, the images from just now echoing endlessly in his mind—Li Qing’s flushed, embarrassed face, her trembling voice…

Did I just turn down the woman I’ve pined for all these years?

Chen Yu smacked himself on the head.

I swear, I could throttle myself right now! What was I trying to prove, acting all high and mighty?

Ah, I’ve discovered something: when a man truly falls for a woman, he’ll always put on airs in front of her, trying to seem above it all. Turns out I’m no exception.

Sigh… just another ordinary fool…

He snuck a glance at Li Qing beside him. She lay with her back to him, her shoulders trembling faintly—was she angry, or…?

If I make a move now… will she beat me to death?

Chen Yu swallowed nervously, his fingers twitching involuntarily.

Forget it, I already rejected her once—if I go over now, I’d just be slapping my own face.

After much effort to steady his emotions, he finally chose a comfortable position, leaning against the side of the bed.

The room was silent, save for the drone of the air conditioner. Hearing the even rhythm of his white moonlight’s breath, it seemed she had fallen asleep.

Chen Yu slowly took out his phone, ready to record today’s harvest.

April 3rd, clear weather!

My third day in Jiangcheng!

Today I did something I’ll regret for the rest of my life.

Didn’t—sleep—with—my—white—moonlight!

At this moment, I am consumed by remorse, accompanied by the hoarse protests of my lower half.

I hereby make a solemn vow!

Never again will I act like I’m above it all in front of my white moonlight!

If—just if—she gives me another chance!

I swear I’ll make her so sweet she won’t get out of bed for three days and nights!

Gentle brother by day, busy daddy by night!

Hey, it even rhymes!

If I break this oath… may I shrink by three centimeters!

Ah… that feels better!

Alright, let’s get to the case!

Chen Yu reined in his playful thoughts and began to seriously analyze what he’d learned today.

Today brought a lot of information; I need to sort it out carefully.

First, the Luo Xiangdong case. With the current clues, the trail is basically cold.

I have to admit, this case is intriguing!

I haven’t found the “Wind” I was searching for.

As for the mysterious figure—though everyone suspects he’s the real culprit—this bastard is slippery as an eel!

He spent all his time complimenting my skills but never once admitted responsibility for the case.

Isn’t he wicked?

As for Fat Cat’s case, that was basically the system taking pity on me, seeing that I still hadn’t earned any points and tossing me a bone—taught me some woman-charming skills.

Grateful heart, thank you fate…

Damn, almost broke into song without realizing.

Chen Yu laughed at himself.

The mysterious figure does give me a strong sense of danger.

But he’s mistaken—whether the people on that ranking list live or die is none of my business.

Still, if he keeps going like this, old man Yan’s going to be run ragged, and then he’ll come to bother me.

Sigh, for the sake of peace and quiet, and to earn some points, I guess I’ll help out, however reluctantly!

Based on current clues, here’s what I know about the mysterious figure:

First, this person loves high-IQ crimes. He also possesses extraordinary skills with high-tech—few could hack into the entire Jiangcheng network like he did today. It was like he was putting on a talent show.

But still, a tough nut to crack!

Chen Yu shuddered at the memory of the AI face-swap livestream.

Second, this mysterious figure is twisted, obsessed with death games.

If the doubts Bubble Girl uncovered are real, then back in the day, Luo Xiangdong also loved games, even treating his life’s research as a game.

If those bones in the secret room hadn’t already been identified by experts, I’d seriously suspect the mysterious figure was Luo Xiangdong himself!

The two are remarkably alike!

The more Chen Yu thought about it, the more plausible the theory seemed.

Speaking of which, Bubble Girl herself is odd.

When I met her today, the distance she kept was absolutely genuine, not an act—she really sees me as a fair competitor, like on a reality show.

Why? Is she mad that I brought my white moonlight along?

Also, Bubble Girl is a hacker.

Could she have the skills to breach Jiangcheng’s network and orchestrate the mysterious figure’s livestream?

If the mysterious figure has a partner, her suspicion grows.

My suspicion isn’t baseless.

Today she called me over to investigate someone named Li Feng, even suspected Li Feng of being an agent from Sakura Country, and successfully fooled me!

She’s such a top hacker—how could she not know Li Feng has been dead for years?

There are only two possibilities:

First, she knew all along and deliberately withheld it, sending me on a wild goose chase to distract me.

Second, she genuinely didn’t know Li Feng was dead.

For the latter to hold, it would mean that old fox Yan Zheng hid the Li Feng case.

Thinking back, it does seem possible. When I asked Su Qingzhu for Li Feng’s file, the two of them shared a meaningful glance.

But this isn’t a hard problem!

Now, with my system’s “Eye of Insight,” I’ll get a good read on them when the chance comes.

Sigh, I wish I could go find Bubble Girl and test her right now…

Still got plenty of ammo left unused today…

Except, I don’t even know which room Bubble Girl’s staying in!

Sigh… what a tragedy!

Now, about the Ripper case…

I haven’t actually gotten involved yet, but I can tell the risks are enormous—even someone like Lei is scared to death.

Who is this Zhang Fu, really?

As for the known Ripper victims:

Liu Gang’s wife—excluding his sister Liu Hong’s attempted case—should be the first killed.

Then it was one of Lei’s girls.

Next, Li Feng.

And just yesterday, Zhang Luoluo.

At this point, I must curse again—damn that old fox Yan Zheng!

Chen Yu hammered his screen as though trying to crack open Yan Zheng’s skull.

How many more victims are there in this case? I have no way of estimating.

This makes the case much harder.

I must find an opportunity to use the Eye of Insight on him and force him to come clean!

But, looking at the Ripper cases so far, I have a bold idea.

There are two particularly unusual cases—Liu Hong’s attempted assault, and Li Feng.

They’re different from the others.

I boldly speculate: could this series of Ripper killings be the work of more than one person?

There might be an element of copycat crimes!

Of course, the details can only be confirmed after further investigation tomorrow.

At this point, Chen Yu paused, his fingers hovering over the screen as his expression grew complicated. He fell silent for a long while, then glanced at the green chat bubble on his phone.

There was only one contact—Liu Hong.

Yet her profile picture showed no sign of activity.

Chen Yu let out a bitter laugh, guilt welling up inside him.

He continued typing:

Sigh, Liu Hong… she must be so disappointed in me.

Not only did I fail to find Luo Xiangdong’s true killer, I also revealed his questionable sexuality in front of millions of netizens.

The memory of Liu Hong’s stunned face pricked at Chen Yu like needles.

She must have known all this after marrying Luo Xiangdong, right?

All those years, she never breathed a word to anyone, always playing the loving wife.

Even after Luo Xiangdong disappeared, she remained loyal.

Yet, after knowing me for just a few days, I took her first time…

Ahem… that sounds a bit self-indulgent.

What I mean is, the secret she’d kept hidden for years—just like that, I exposed it for all to see.

She… probably won’t speak to me again.

Chen Yu stared at the phone screen, a storm of emotions swirling in his heart.

Sigh…

He had nothing more to say. The end.