Chapter 25: Locking in the Identity of the Killer

 Chapter 25: Locking in the Identity of the Killer

"I saw the face of the killer!" Zhang Yuanqing's dazed eyes regained their liveliness, and he immediately turned his head to look at his two colleagues beside him.

As he spoke, he felt a strong sense of fear, with the shadow of death lingering in his heart, unable to dissipate for a long time. The feeling of devouring the spirit was both satisfying and uncomfortable.

Li Dongze and Guan Ya felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief. Li Dongze hurriedly asked, "What does he look like? Any obvious features?"

Zhang Yuanqing recalled and said, "Male, aged 30 to 35, medium build, burly, with a half-inch scar on the left cheek, sparse eyebrows, and a fierce look in his eyes..."

Li Dongze patiently listened and mentally outlined the rough profile of the killer. The killer's facial features were very distinct, making him easily identifiable.

After Zhang Yuanqing finished speaking, Guan Ya asked, "Did he violate the female victim?"

Zhang Yuanqing recollected the last scenes of the memories and replied, "It seems like he did..."

Guan Ya confirmed a certain suspicion in her mind and immediately looked at Li Dongze, frowning, "Captain, I suspect the killer has mental issues."

Zhang Yuanqing didn't quite understand, thinking to himself that anyone capable of such cruelty must have some mental issues.

Li Dongze nodded with indignation, saying, "That bastard deserves to go to hell."

Seeing Zhang Yuanqing's confused expression, Li Dongze touched his beard with two fingers and explained, "Do you still remember the punishment mechanism of moral values?"

Zhang Yuanqing nodded.

"When the killer killed Zhao Yingjun's mistress to silence her, it could be considered a normal act. But violating the female victim before killing her will result in a deduction of additional moral values," Li Dongze believed that someone as smart as this Songhai University student would easily understand the meaning.

Uh, it's possible that he has mental issues... Zhang Yuanqing finally understood.

Criminal acts committed by Lingjing Walkers would lead to deductions in their moral values. Therefore, anyone with a normal mind would try their best not to trigger the punishment mechanism. Killing to silence was an act of desperation, but violating the victim before killing, which incurred an additional deduction of moral values...

The only people capable of such acts were either those with an abundance of moral values, fearlessly doing whatever they wanted, or those with mental issues, unable to restrain their inner beastly instincts.

Comparatively, the second possibility is more likely.

At this moment, the veteran Lingjing Walker, Guan Ya, looked very serious, one hand supporting her chest and the other under her chin, saying, "Lingjing Walkers with unstable mental states, regardless of whether they belong to lawful or evil professions, must be eliminated. These individuals lurking in the metropolis are like time bombs."

Even if their moral values are below 60, and their location is announced by the Lingjing Realm, attracting the hunting of other Lingjing Walkers in the same city, during this gap, a powerful individual with superpowers could easily kill from one end of the street to the other.

Looking at the only newcomer present, Guan Ya cautioned, "The Lingjing Realm is full of dangers, especially the solo missions, where the death rate is extremely high. Many Lingjing Walkers, even if they successfully complete the task, may still be left with indelible psychological trauma. In the long run, mental problems become inevitable."

"Especially for you Night Walkers. If you ever feel that something is wrong with your mental state, make sure to inform us, and the organization will provide you with psychological counseling."

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but recall everything he experienced in the Mountain God Temple, nodding with lingering fear, "I understand..."

"Oh, by the way, did they find the killer's DNA at the crime scene?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

Guan Ya shook her head.

"The killer didn't leave behind any DNA traces?" Zhang Yuanqing felt somewhat disappointed. If they had the killer's DNA, Red Dancing Shoes could help find him using her abilities.

At this moment, Li Dongze finished thinking and asked, "In Zhao Yingjun's memories, did you see anything else?"

"Yes," Zhang Yuanqing replied, anticipating this question, "The killer was interrogating Zhao Yingjun about the whereabouts of the 'Holy Grail' and the 'Roster'."

"Holy Grail and Roster..." Guan Ya and Li Dongze exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

Li Dongze asked, "What do the Holy Grail and the Roster represent?"

Zhang Yuanqing shook his head, "There was no relevant information about them in the memories."

Li Dongze furrowed his brow after pondering for a moment, "This case is more complicated than we imagined. Zhao Yingjun was keeping quite a lot of things from us."

He patted Zhang Yuanqing's shoulder and praised him, "You did a good job in the memories."

"You did a great job. You've found an important lead for us. Once we arrest or eliminate the killer, I'll recommend you for commendation. Now, follow Guan Ya to create a facial composite and piece together the killer's appearance."

"Sure, Captain."

Zhang Yuanqing immediately followed the tall and elegant Guan Ya outside.

"Oh, one more thing," Li Dongze stopped Guan Ya and said, "Get him a tailored formal suit. He should wear it at the office from now on."

Zhang Yuanqing was about to say that he doesn't come to the office often, but he heard Guan Ya beside him respond, "Sure."

Leaving the morgue, Guan Ya chuckled, "From now on, you must wear formal suits at the office."

Zhang Yuanqing nodded slightly, "I know. Big companies have strict clothing requirements."

Guan Ya giggled, "No, this has nothing to do with the organization. It's the Captain's request. He thinks casual wear isn't elegant enough."

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but inwardly complain about what elegance had to do with it. However, as his gaze swept over Guan Ya's long, slender legs in black stockings, her short skirt emphasizing her rounded hips, and her white shirt accentuating her slim waist, he suddenly felt that the Captain was right. In life, one should indeed strive for elegance.

As he walked, Zhang Yuanqing checked his attribute panel:

Name: Yuan Shi Tianzun

Race: Human

Profession: Night Walker

Level: 1

Skills: Night Walk, Devour Spirit, Spirit of Taiyin

Experience: 44%

Morality Value: 60 (Initial value)

His experience had increased from 42% to 44% after devouring the spirit. He felt a warm flow in his body, and his overall well-being improved. It seemed that his power of Taiyin had also grown stronger.

"Big sister Guan Ya, I gained two points of experience!" Zhang Yuanqing said excitedly. Experience represented strength, and among Night Walkers of the same level, a 1% difference in experience could lead to a huge gap in power.

Guan Ya paused for a moment and replied, "Oh, yes, that's right. Night Walkers like you can increase experience by absorbing spirits. However, it seems that the Night Walkers from the Taiyi Sect don't like to do that. Whenever they help to question spirits, they always have a sour face and a bad attitude."

"Why is that?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

The charming woman rolled her eyes playfully, "How would I know? I'm just a scout with no combat abilities."

Nonsense, even if scouts are not good at combat, with the base attributes of a level 2 profession, they could easily crush me. Moreover, after advancing to level 4, scouts have formidable individual combat capabilities, and their physical abilities must be quite strong in the Extraordinary Stage.

Zhang Yuanqing didn't believe it, "Really have no combat abilities?"

Guan Ya looked at her new colleague, her gaze lowered, and she smiled mischievously, "How about you let sister have a go?"

Zhang Yuanqing firmly refused, "Don't do that, I'm still a kid."

He then took out his phone and said, "Are you free tonight? I'll book a hotel online right now. If you don't mind, you can join me for some squats."

"Hahaha, you're really funny," Guan Ya laughed, her charming appearance quivering with joy. "Yuanshi, you should come to the office more often. With you around, my sister won't feel bored anymore."

The two of them left the glass building and entered the public security bureau's main building. Guan Ya led him familiarly to the technology department.

After the technical staff carefully inquired about the killer's facial features, it took a whole two hours to roughly reconstruct the killer's appearance. Zhang Yuanqing looked at it and rubbed his chin, saying, "It looks somewhat alike, but I feel like something is off."

The experienced technician, Lao Zhang, pondered for a moment and asked, "Is it the facial features or the temperament?"

"The temperament, I guess. The killer gives off a very fierce vibe."

"Could you describe the fierceness in more detail? It's hard to put into words, so it'd be better to have a reference."

"As soon as I entered, I saw Chang Wei attacking Lai Fu."

"Alright, very good."

Finally, the new criminal sketch was completed, and Zhang Yuanqing nodded in satisfaction, "It's almost there, about seventy to eighty percent resemblance."

Next, through a comparison with the population information database, they identified the target person. "Ou Xiangrong, from Wushi City, Jiangnan Province. He settled in Songhai for a long time. In 2012, he was sentenced to prison for intentional injury and disappeared after his release..."

Sitting in the office chair, Guan Ya smiled, "With this information, we should be able to catch him by this morning at the latest."

"So quickly?"

"Hehe, you should trust the ability of the authorities and scouts." Guan Ya stood up and said, "Yuanshi, your job is done, you can go back to school now. You don't need to worry about the follow-up. Although Night Wanderer is very powerful, you don't yet have the courage and psychological qualities of a warrior."

"Alright," Zhang Yuanqing replied happily.

In the glass building office, Li Dongze finished reading the information sent by Guan Ya. He opened the "Kangyang Grand Region Spirit Realm Walker Management Group" and shared the killer's information in the group.

Big Muscle Man: "Our new Night Wanderer is very efficient; the killer's identity has been confirmed."

Floating on Water: "@Li Dongze, what do you think about having a Night Wanderer subordinate who can be easily manipulated?"

Li Dongze: "I feel pretty good about it."

Tang Guoqiang sent a red envelope.

White Dragon: "Alright, stop being complacent. Deploy the operation and inform the Songhai Public Security Bureau to thoroughly inspect vehicles entering and leaving Songhai. Notify the spirit realm squads in various regions to cooperate with our search. Hopefully, Ou Xiangrong hasn't escaped Songhai yet."

The killer committed the crime this morning, and by now, five to six hours have passed. Even if it's a spirit realm walker with pre-planned escape, they could have already left Songhai.

Normal people can be tracked through surveillance, but it's difficult to track spirit realm walkers.

Green Vine: "Compared to an evil profession that waits for opportunities to retaliate against the authorities, it's better if he has left Songhai."

The former means that spirit realm walkers from the official organization could be assassinated.

Li Dongze: "He won't leave Songhai."

Big Muscle Man: "Are you sure?"

Li Dongze: "If Ou Xiangrong only wanted to kill Zhao Yingjun, he would have done it a long time ago. Even with our Night Wanderer, by the time we identified him, he could have already left Songhai. So why pick this timing?"

Big Muscle Man: "Quit the suspense and tell us directly."

Green Vine: "So, it's still about seeking revenge against the authorities?"

Li Dongze: "No, the situation is probably more complicated. From Zhao Yingjun's memories, my Night Wanderer saw some clues. Ou Xiangrong questioned Zhao Yingjun for the Holy Grail and the roster."

Holy Grail and roster? While the other captains were thinking about these two things, Big Muscle Man directly asked, "What are those?"

Li Dongze ignored him. After waiting for a moment and seeing that his colleagues didn't express any thoughts about the Holy Grail and roster, he had no choice but to skip this matter and sent a message, "Let's not discuss the Holy Grail and roster for now; let's take action first."