Chapter 112: Tricky Items

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"Zi zi."

The Cat King speaker made an electric sound and then returned to silence.

Zhang Yuanqing sat in front of his desk, his mind boiling with various thoughts and complexities, like a tangled mess.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally broke free from the chaotic emotions and sighed while pinching his forehead.

"Really, even you turned out to be an underling of the Mysterious Eye Judge."

After the initial shock, all the clues and details from before began to converge in Zhang Yuanqing's mind, slowly forming the truth of the matter.

The Demon Lord was the servant of the Mysterious Eye Judge, and he had been controlled by the Mysterious Eye Judge when he was still weak.

In the past, there was an audio clip that could testify to this. The Demon Lord had monthly tasks of hunting down Orderly Practitioners. But who issued these tasks?

Zhang Yuanqing hadn't figured it out before, but if the Demon Lord was the Mysterious Eye Judge's servant, then the logic made sense. The Mysterious Eye Judge was a big shot in the evil occupation camp and naturally opposed the Orderly camp.

Arranging his "servants" to suppress the Orderly Practitioners in his jurisdiction, particularly in the Spirit Realm East Branch, made sense.

Yuan Ting from the Taiyi Sect had said that the Demon Lord had a volatile temper and a rebellious nature, and he mixed Orderly and Evil occupations. This was because the Night Traveler belonged to the Orderly occupation, and if he killed Orderly Practitioners with prestige, the Demon Lord would lose morality points.

So, the Demon Lord had to hunt down Evil Practitioners to ensure he wouldn't be wanted in the Spirit Realm.

"The Demon Lord was controlled by the Mysterious Eye Judge when he was very weak. He struggled to survive and sought a way to break the Holy Grail's control until he was about to reach the peak and finally saw hope."

"Then, together with his fellow servant, Brother Bing, they hunted down all the information I had obtained before. All the information can verify this deduction, and the motives and logic match."

Zhang Yuanqing continued to ponder. Now that he understood the Demon Lord's motive for hunting the Mysterious Eye Judge, combined with the mysterious person's actions...

His face suddenly turned grim, and a terrifying conjecture floated in his mind.

If the Demon Lord was the Mysterious Eye Judge's servant, then his identity information must have been recorded in the registry.

If that mysterious person was indeed associated with the Demon Lord, tearing out a page from the registry wasn't to conceal Brother Bing's identity information but to coincide with Brother Bing and the Demon Lord on the same page.

"It shouldn't be this way. If the Demon Lord didn't die, how did Brother Bing obtain his character card? Come to think of it, Li Dongze mentioned that character cards are distributed by the Spirit Realm. Still, my character card was given to me by Brother Bing."

With these thoughts, Zhang Yuanqing's scalp tingled.

"If it's really the Demon Lord, then the reason he didn't kill me is very disturbing. No, I must confirm whether he's alive or not."

Zhang Yuanqing rubbed his face, steadied his thoughts, and took out his notebook, writing down:

"How do Spirit Realm Practitioners remove character cards?"

"How can one obtain someone else's character card?"

If I figure out these two questions, I'll be able to deduce many things. But I definitely can't ask the official organization, especially not Fu Qingyang; he knows too much.

With a determined mind, he put away the Cat King speaker, covered himself with a blanket, and fell asleep.

The next day, Zhang Yuanqing woke up to his grandmother's calls and stretched in bed.

After a night's rest, he was fully recovered.

He went to the living room, where his cousin Chen Yuanjun had just finished breakfast and wiped his mouth with a tissue before nodding at his cousin and saying, "Grandma, I'm going to work."

Zhang Yuanqing blinked. "Brother, today is Sunday."

Chen Yuanjun sighed, "There was an incident at Third Elementary School, and we need to maintain order there. Also, a man in the nearby neighborhood died. My colleagues said it was an accidental fall from a building, but the neighbor next door claimed there was a fight that night."

"The deceased's family believes he was murdered and caused a scene at the police station this morning. It's going to be a busy day."

The deceased was indeed murdered, and I cursed out Black Imp without giving him a chance to save him. Zhang Yuanqing quietly sighed.

Old folks in Songhai had strong tempers, and when they were unhappy, they would berate anyone, even if it was Lord Yan himself. Unfortunately, they had bad luck running into someone as tough as Black Imp.

After Chen Yuanjun left for work, Zhang Yuanqing picked up a steamed bun and asked, "Grandma, where's my aunt?"

"She's still sleeping in her room. It's Sunday today, and I can't be bothered with her." Grandma handed her grandson a youtiao and then took out a stack of 500 yuan bills from her pocket. "Next week's living expenses."

"Thank you, Grandma."

Zhang Yuanqing might be worth 500,000 now, but the living expenses provided by the family were still essential. He couldn't say, "I'm busy killing people and making money, and I'm not short of cash now."

His grandma's expenses came from her pension, which her deceased husband had been receiving. Though it wasn't much, it was still substantial to her, and Zhang Yuanqing didn't want her to live a life of financial hardship.

After breakfast, Zhang Yuanqing began to prepare for today's plans.

The nearest residential area was Yuyang Villa, which was half an hour away from here.

Although he already knew the location, Zhang Yuanqing still checked the address on the property website. Sure enough, the house's price was tens of millions. No wonder a murder there had caused such a ruckus.

There was no news about the deceased person, so Zhang Yuanqing opened his laptop and checked.

He found a piece of news on a small website about a middle-aged man who had fallen to his death the night before. The police had initially ruled it an accident, but the deceased's family had other ideas. They insisted that the neighbor had heard a fight in the deceased's apartment that night.

However, the police investigation found no signs of a struggle in the apartment, and the autopsy showed that the deceased had no external injuries. It was concluded that the deceased had indeed fallen from the building due to his alcoholism.

However, the family members weren't satisfied with the results and had caused a commotion at the police station.

The news ended with the family's dissatisfaction and the police's helplessness.

There was no information about the deceased's name or a photo, only a blurred silhouette.

Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment and picked up his phone to send a message to Black Imp.

"Can you check the details of this news? What's the situation with the deceased's family?"

In a matter of minutes, Black Imp replied, "Already checked. The deceased is named Li Jian, 43 years old, unmarried, and a heavy drinker. He fell from the balcony of his apartment on the 8th floor and died on the spot. No external injuries or signs of struggle were found. His family is insisting on murder, but the police have ruled it an accident."

Zhang Yuanqing frowned. There were many possibilities. It could be a case of an accident or a dispute between neighbors, or even a suicide. But this kind of situation was tricky.

The key was to figure out why Li Jian's family believed it was murder. Were they convinced by the neighbor's statement, or did they have other evidence?

He was about to reply to Black Imp when he received a message from the neighbor next door, Xie Wei.

Xie Wei: "Are you Zhang Yuanqing?"

Zhang Yuanqing was taken aback. He had never communicated with his neighbor Xie Wei before, and he didn't even know his name. Why was Xie Wei suddenly sending him a message?

Zhang Yuanqing hesitated for a moment before replying, "Yes, I am. Do you need something?"

Xie Wei: "I need to talk to you about something. Can you come over to my place?"

Zhang Yuanqing was even more puzzled. What could Xie Wei want to talk to him about? However, since he was investigating the case, he decided to go and find out.

Zhang Yuanqing replied, "I'll be there in a moment."

He quickly put on his shoes, grabbed his phone, and headed out of the apartment building. Xie Wei's apartment was on the same floor, just a few doors down from his own.

When Zhang Yuanqing arrived at Xie Wei's door and knocked, it was quickly opened by a middle-aged man in his forties with a worried expression on his face.

"Are you Zhang Yuanqing?" the man asked.

"Yes, I am. You're Xie Wei, right?" Zhang Yuanqing replied.

Xie Wei nodded and stepped aside, inviting Zhang Yuanqing into his apartment.

Zhang Yuanqing entered and saw that the apartment was clean and tidy. Xie Wei led him to the living room and offered him a seat on the sofa.

"Please sit down. I have something important to discuss with you," Xie Wei said.

Zhang Yuanqing sat down and looked at Xie Wei curiously. "What's the matter? Why did you want to see me?"

Xie Wei hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I overheard your conversation with your cousin Chen Yuanjun yesterday. You mentioned that you have some investigative skills and are interested in solving mysteries. Is that correct?"

Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "Yes, that's right. I have some experience in investigative work."

Xie Wei took a deep breath and said, "I believe that my neighbor, Li Jian, was murdered, and I have evidence to prove it."

Zhang Yuanqing's eyes widened in surprise. This was unexpected. He had come here to find out why Li Jian's family believed it was murder, but now it seemed that Xie Wei had evidence to support that claim.

"Murder? Can you show me the evidence?" Zhang Yuanqing asked eagerly.

Xie Wei nodded and said, "Follow me."

He led Zhang Yuanqing to the bedroom and opened the door to a small study room. Inside, there was a corkboard covered with photographs, newspaper clippings, and handwritten notes.

"This is my investigation board," Xie Wei explained. "I've been gathering evidence and information related to Li Jian's death for the past few months. I believe that he was killed by someone, and I'm determined to find out the truth."

Zhang Yuanqing examined the corkboard and saw that it was filled with various pieces of information. There were photographs of Li Jian, newspaper articles about his death, and handwritten notes with details of the case.

Xie Wei pointed to a specific photograph on the board. It was a picture of Li Jian taken on the night of his death, standing on the balcony of his apartment.

"I took this photo on the night of Li Jian's death," Xie Wei said. "Look closely at his expression."

Zhang Yuanqing focused on Li Jian's face in the photograph. The man appeared to be looking down from the balcony, but his expression seemed tense, as if he were frightened or in distress.

"What's significant about his expression?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

Xie Wei explained, "I've lived next door to Li Jian for years, and I know him well. He was a heavy drinker, but he was never afraid of heights. He would often lean on the balcony railing and smoke a cigarette without any fear. But in this photo, his expression is completely different. It's as if he's seen something terrifying."

Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment. If Li Jian's expression was indeed unusual on the night of his death, it could suggest that something had happened to him before he fell from the balcony. However, it was still a long way from proving murder.

"What else do you have?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

Xie Wei pointed to another section of the corkboard with newspaper clippings. "These are articles about other mysterious deaths that have occurred in our neighborhood over the years. I've noticed a pattern, and I believe they're connected."

Zhang Yuanqing examined the articles and saw that they were about various deaths, some ruled as accidents and others as suicides. However, Xie Wei had marked certain similarities between them, such as the locations, circumstances, and timing of the deaths.

"It seems that you've been conducting your own investigation into these deaths," Zhang Yuanqing remarked.

Xie Wei nodded. "Yes, I have. I believe that there's a serial killer operating in our neighborhood, and Li Jian was one of their victims. I've been trying to gather evidence to convince the police to reopen these cases and investigate further."

Zhang Yuanqing was intrigued by Xie Wei's determination and the information he had gathered. While the evidence presented so far was circumstantial, it was still worth looking into.

"I'm willing to help you investigate this further," Zhang Yuanqing said. "But we'll need more concrete evidence to convince the authorities. Let's work together to uncover the truth."

Xie Wei's eyes lit up with hope. "Thank you, Zhang Yuanqing. I've been doing this alone for so long, and I'm glad to have someone with your skills on board. We'll need to be cautious and discreet, as we're dealing with a dangerous criminal."

Zhang Yuanqing nodded. He was committed to helping Xie Wei solve this mystery and bring justice to the victims. Together, they would embark on an investigation that would take them deep into the heart of their seemingly peaceful neighborhood, where dark secrets awaited discovery.

(End of this chapter)

Thank you for reading ~