Ye Tiancheng pondered his words before speaking to Wan Yulin, "Yes, alright, thank you very much for agreeing to cooperate with us."
"So, do you know who the killer targeting you is?"
Ye Tiancheng needed to confirm if Wan Yulin was aware of the situation. Hou Mingzhu should not have told Wan Yulin who the killer was. Ye Tiancheng wanted to know if Wan Yulin had the sensitivity to discover something was amiss on her own.
If a person wasn't smart enough, executing the plan would be more troublesome. It was a good thing for the person executing the plan to be a bit clever and able to adapt.
Wan Yulin replied to Ye Tiancheng, "It's... the recent events around me, the unfamiliar faces who approached me. If I'm not mistaken, I met a Mr. Xu yesterday at the hotel. Is it him?"
Actually, recalling Xu Zhaoxing's appearance and demeanor, it would be difficult for Wan Yulin to connect Xu Zhaoxing with the killer who had committed multiple murders in Lancheng recently.
However, Wan Yulin was indeed not a mere foolish beauty. She was very intelligent and cautious, but she didn't tend to suspect others of the worst intentions. But the current situation was that everything was too coincidental. So, when Ye Tiancheng asked, the first person Wan Yulin thought of was Xu Zhaoxing.
Ye Tiancheng let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Wan Yulin was a person with a good sense of alertness.
Ye Tiancheng then told Wan Yulin, "Yes. Hmm, this person came to our house before, using the excuse of visiting a friend. I discovered this, and then I cross-referenced with the security guards. There was no registration record, which raised my suspicion."
"Then, after our investigation, we connected with the official investigation team. We were worried this person might be problematic, so we gave you all a holiday. We were also concerned that you might get implicated."
"What we didn't expect was that this person was targeting you. Yesterday, when we acted with the official investigation team, we found out he engineered a chance encounter with you. He bumped into you at a hotel, didn't he?"
Wan Yulin was a bit surprised. When Hou Mingzhu notified her, she didn't have much time to explain in detail and only gave a general overview. Wan Yulin didn't know much more.
Hearing Ye Tiancheng's explanation now, Wan Yulin realized Xu Zhaoxing's premeditation and found it quite frightening. And how did Ye Tiancheng know about this?
Wan Yulin said to Ye Tiancheng, "Yes, yesterday at the hotel, he suddenly appeared and bumped into me at a corner. Because the viewing angle there was limited, such accidents are indeed easy to happen. And at the time, he didn't seem like a bad person, so I didn't think too much about it."
"Then, after receiving the notification that a killer was targeting me, I made a connection and could only think of Mr. Xu as a suspect."
"Mr. Ye, were you investigating him with the official team at the time and happened to encounter us, witnessing this incident firsthand?"
Ye Tiancheng told Wan Yulin directly, "Yes, that's right. Teacher Wan, you are quite perceptive and intelligent."
"The official investigation team and I were all present at the scene, following Xu Zhaoxing to the hotel, and we happened to see that scene."
"That Xu Zhaoxing was actually waiting at that corner. We didn't know what he was doing there at first. When you appeared, he suddenly hid back into the corner. We thought he was going to run, but we didn't expect him to engineer an encounter with you."
"I'm afraid he even knew your whereabouts, that you would likely be at the hotel at that time, and he must have found out through some channel beforehand."
Having someone secretly observing and tracking oneself, then engineering a chance encounter and pretending to be innocent, was a terrifying prospect. Hearing Ye Tiancheng's description, Wan Yulin couldn't help but feel a bit scared and creeped out.
Then she heard Ye Tiancheng continue, "We were monitoring the scene from a distance at the time and didn't intervene immediately because we didn't want to expose ourselves prematurely. He didn't have any intention of harming you at the time, nor did he plan to abduct and attack you that day."
"Moreover, we couldn't be entirely sure at the time whether he was targeting you because he truly saw you as his target, or if he had discovered we were monitoring and was using you to divert our attention and focus, with other intentions."
"Therefore, we didn't stop everything from happening at that moment, nor did we warn you about it then. We apologize profusely."
Wan Yulin didn't react much to Ye Tiancheng's subsequent apology, nor did she feel that their actions were inappropriate.
Wan Yulin said to Ye Tiancheng, "Of course I don't mind. Mr. Ye, you don't need to apologize to me. I understand."
"Your choice at the time was the most correct choice and decision. And the facts have proven that nothing happened to me, haven't they? On the contrary, if you had acted rashly then, you would have alerted that person, and I wouldn't be able to help you anymore."
"In that case, wouldn't we be the ones put in a passive position?"
Ye Tiancheng smiled and said, "Thank you for your understanding, Teacher Wan."
"Since you have a general understanding of the situation, I will now explain the plan that requires your cooperation."
"Here, I want to confirm with Teacher Wan again, do you truly feel you are okay and can cooperate with our actions, right?"
Wan Yulin replied to Ye Tiancheng seriously, "Of course. I have absolutely no problem and can cooperate with your actions. Please, Mr. Ye, speak freely."
Only then did Ye Tiancheng truly feel completely at ease.
Then, Ye Tiancheng began to outline the plan to Wan Yulin, "It's like this. Since that Xu Zhaoxing is already targeting you?"
"I remember you exchanged contact information, right? I saw you exchange it. You should be able to contact each other, correct?"
Wan Yulin subconsciously shook her head, then realized she was on the phone and Ye Tiancheng couldn't see her shaking her head. She then spoke to Ye Tiancheng, "We did not exchange contact information."
She explained to Ye Tiancheng, "Mr. Ye, you might have seen me give him my business card. Because we bumped into each other, and I had him pinned down, I was worried I might have injured him. So I told him to contact me if there were any injuries later."
"I only gave him my business card, so he knew my name and phone number, while he only told me his name."
Ye Tiancheng thought for a moment before replying to Wan Yulin, "Oh, I see. That's not a big issue. Since he's targeting you, regardless of whether he's fishing anywhere as a guise to attract our attention, using you to deceive people, or if you are truly his ultimate target."
"Regardless of which of these situations it is, he shouldn't give up on contacting you again so soon. So, your contact with him shouldn't be broken just like that."
"I think it's very likely that he will contact you again recently, and then you can truly maintain contact. So it doesn't matter, it's not a big problem."
Wan Yulin thought about what Ye Tiancheng said and felt it made sense. "It seems like that. The possibility is indeed very high. That's good. If I can help, and we can bring such a heinous killer to justice sooner, I am very willing to help you."
Ye Tiancheng smiled and said, "In any case, we must thank you for your existence. Without you, we wouldn't have thought of such a plan with minimal casualties."
"Then I will continue explaining to you."
Wan Yulin said, "Okay, Mr. Ye, please tell me."
Ye Tiancheng continued, "In short, he will definitely contact you again and will try to lure you out. There is a possibility of him making a move on you during this time. This is the risk you need to bear."
"However, you don't need to worry too much about this risk. We will do our utmost to protect your safety. Even if the plan fails, you will absolutely be fine, so don't be afraid."
"I will definitely explain these risks to you in advance and won't deceive you into doing such dangerous things without knowing anything."
Wan Yulin indicated that she understood. When she heard about this, she had already anticipated that cooperating with such matters would inevitably involve some danger.
However, Wan Yulin was indeed a person with a strong sense of justice and integrity, rather selfless. Otherwise, she wouldn't have rashly agreed to such a thing without confirming all the risks.
But Ye Tiancheng's willingness to proactively explain these risks made Wan Yulin feel that Ye Tiancheng and his team were quite reliable and not trying to deceive her.
Wan Yulin said to Ye Tiancheng, "When I heard about cooperating with this matter, I knew it would involve some risks. Since I agreed, I am not afraid of these risks. Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to it so readily without understanding the situation."
"So, Mr. Ye, please rest assured. I am not afraid, and I trust that you will protect me."
Ye Tiancheng smiled, "Yes, we will definitely protect you closely then and will not give him any opportunity to harm you."
"Then, about our plan, he will definitely lure you out, won't he? So he will definitely have to meet you."
"When he asks to meet you, if you can lead him to a designated location to meet you, that would be the best. This way, we can be more proactive."
"However, if you can't do this, there's no need to force it. We just need to know where you will arrange to meet him, giving us an opportunity to deploy in advance, and that will be sufficient."
Ye Tiancheng paused, then continued, "What you need to do is relatively simple. The main objective is this: to confirm the meeting location."
"Then, we will still have to trouble you to attend the meeting with him. Because we also need to consider whether he will realize it's a trap if you don't go, and then refuse to come. This is the critical part, and the reason we have to trouble you to take a little risk. Otherwise, the plan could be safer."
"After you attend the meeting with him, if there are no accidents, we will have already deployed. You can then stall him, or even guide him to make a move on you. That would be best."
Wan Yulin pondered for a moment. Guiding the other party to make a move on her, wasn't that like entrapment?
However, she only thought about it in her mind and didn't say it out loud. After all, she had read so many books and could understand such behavior. Sometimes, it was just out of necessity.