Huang Jin Da Pang Zi

Chapter 1008 Deduction

Long Zhao Zhao felt a bit nervous, this being his first time doing something so significant so openly in front of humans.

He hopped around Nie Chong Yang’s office for a good while.

Nie Chong Yang now saw Long Zhao Zhao as a living ancestral spirit. He was incredibly indulgent towards Long Zhao Zhao, letting him cause any amount of trouble. They would heavily rely on Long Zhao Zhao for the upcoming case.

Matters like these were on a different level, and Long Zhao Zhao, being closer to that stratum, understood them better.

Neither Ye Tian Cheng and the little fox, nor Long Miao Miao, who was a mountain spirit and a monster that dared not provoke, and was on a completely different level, could compare to Long Zhao Zhao’s role in this matter.

Long Miao Miao had heard of such things, but they didn’t threaten her. As long as mountain spirits and monsters didn’t harm people, and didn’t cross Long Miao Miao’s path, she never intervened. Naturally, she didn’t understand. And which mountain spirit or monster would be so foolish as to provoke a dragon?

The criminal investigation team quickly arrived with their files and immediately spotted Ye Tian Cheng and the others.

The leader of the criminal investigation team, surnamed Li, was actually on good terms with Nie Chong Yang. Nie Chong Yang even called him "Old Li." Their current conflict arose because Old Li was unaware of the bizarre events and couldn’t believe Nie Chong Yang.

Accompanying Old Li were two team members under him.

Their criminal investigation team did not believe in such nonsensical matters.

However, this time, they were destined to have their worldview shattered. The moment they saw Long Zhao Zhao, a sable, a national first-class protected animal, speak his first words, they were all stunned. Clearly, their understanding of the world had been overturned.

Later, when Long Zhao Zhao spoke of mountain spirits and monsters harming people, Old Li and his team could no longer question him. Instead, they actively cooperated with the work.

Since they now knew that unscientific things were actually true, the seriousness of the situation was evident. They dared not delay. If more people were harmed, the impact would grow, and the matter could no longer be contained.

If the outside world learned of this case, and the perpetrator was still at large, capable of committing more crimes, it would likely cause public panic. As public officials, neither Nie Chong Yang nor Old Li wanted another murder to occur.

According to the files brought by Old Li, those present discovered that the victims had very few commonalities. They came from various professions, and their social networks had no shared connections. Previously, when the criminal investigation team investigated it as a normal case, the only common link among these victims was that young man they had apprehended and then released.

It was no wonder the criminal investigation team suspected that young man.

When they suspected him, the criminal investigation team thoroughly investigated the young man's background.

The young man was an orphan, his parents unknown, and he grew up in an orphanage. However, he was very intelligent, studied diligently, and eventually got into a top 2 university in the country. After graduation, he worked as a white-collar employee in a state-owned enterprise.

If it weren’t for various coincidences that led this young man to come into contact with these victims, and always shortly before their deaths, the criminal investigation team, even if they found the coincidences suspicious, wouldn’t have been able to arrest him. Although, in the end, all the coincidences seemed to be just that – coincidences – the criminal investigation team had no choice but to release him.

But now, knowing that this case was not simple, that mountain spirits and monsters were causing harm, and that the time the victims were discovered was not the actual time of their deaths, the situation was different.

Now, even Old Li and his criminal investigation team, after comparing the timelines, had almost ruled out the young man’s suspicion. They felt he might truly be entirely innocent.

He was just too unlucky to get caught up in these matters. It was unclear if it had caused any particularly serious negative impact on his real life.

Old Li was a man who admitted his mistakes. He was already contemplating whether he should apologize to the young man and clarify the misunderstanding at some point. It would be bad if the person lost his job.

According to the timeline, the interval between the discovery of each victim was about a week, which was quite frequent.

According to Long Zhao Zhao, this should be a mountain spirit or monster with very poor cultivation.

But this also meant that they had little time left. It was likely that in a few days, this mountain spirit or monster would strike again, changing its skin.

They had to apprehend this mountain spirit or monster before then.

Otherwise, there would likely be a seventh victim.

They had already fully believed that there was a sixth victim who had not yet been discovered.

While researching various files and information, they also discovered another commonality: all the victims discovered so far had just resigned from their jobs before being found.

Presumably, the mountain spirit or monster that occupied their skin had no interest in working diligently, which was why they resigned.

Nie Chong Yang and Old Li were beginning to see the young man as an unlucky person, feeling he was not suspicious. Long Zhao Zhao, based on the information he knew, inferred and judged. He didn’t necessarily believe the young man was still suspicious, but he still felt that there might be something else related to him.

Long Zhao Zhao said, "The possible time of the mountain spirit's or monster's crimes has been basically determined. The resignation time of each victim can also correspond to the time of the previous victim's harm, with no significant interval. There is no longer much doubt about this."

"So, what we need to focus on now is another issue."

"The standard for the mountain spirit or monster selecting its targets, and the reason for doing so."

This was Old Li's first time dealing with such a case, and he was very interested in the different explanations.

Hearing Long Zhao Zhao say this, he asked, "Are there any other explanations for this?"

"How are their standards defined? Is there always a pattern? Could it be that they are driven by a violent urge and simply choose targets at random?"

Long Zhao Zhao shook his little head and said, "Generally speaking, there is always a pattern, whether it's the timing or the selection criteria. Mountain spirits and monsters do harm people, but when they harm people in this way, most of them have their own purposes and are not acting without reason."

"How should this be described..."

"It's like when you humans wear masks and skinsuits, you must feel uncomfortable, right? It's similar when mountain spirits and monsters wear human skin. If it weren't necessary, perhaps when you discover the victims, you might think they were killed by wild beasts."

"Instead of thinking a perverted killer was at work."

Nie Chong Yang nodded beside him and said, "So that's how it is. What causes them to do this?"

Long Zhao Zhao said, "The reasons are quite varied. And the reason we want to catch the mountain spirit or monster committing the crime is precisely this reason. Once we find the reason, catching it won't be difficult."

"There must be a significant obsession for the other party to do this. Mountain spirits and monsters are not very intelligent, but they are somewhat cunning, which allows them to not reveal themselves in a short period. But they are persistent enough that they will not easily give up their target for any reason, which makes it easier for us to catch them."

"I think there are still suspicious points about that young man. He may not be the killer or the victim, but I always feel that this matter might be related to him. We can start by investigating him."

This point was still worth acknowledging.

After all, there really weren't that many coincidences in the world. One or two victims might be understandable, but it was precisely that all the victims had come into contact with this young man, and after contact, they all resigned. It was indeed very suspicious.

It was just unclear where to start the investigation.

Nie Chong Yang and Old Li sought Long Zhao Zhao's opinion.

Long Zhao Zhao thought for a moment and then told them, "We can actually think from this perspective and deduce that the young man is the ultimate target of the mountain spirit or monster that is currently causing harm. Deducting from this direction might be closer to the truth."

"Suppose it wasn't because this young man coincidentally came into contact with these victims, but rather that after the mountain spirit or monster caused harm, it deliberately wore these skins to contact that young man?"

Old Li considered it and felt that this was indeed very plausible.

The coincidences that happened to the young man could also be explained. But what was it about this young man that made the mountain spirit or monster so obsessed and caused so many deaths?