Ji Xinshui.

Lin Xian had not only heard of this name.

He was the one who invited Tang Xin to Donghai to conduct research. He was also the one who drove Zhou Duanyun to a dead end a year ago, but ultimately didn't kill him, sparing his life.

He was once the dean of the Donghai University Research Institute, Xu Yun's mentor, the matchmaker who introduced Xu Yun to her partner, and the one who eventually expelled Xu Yun from the school due to hibernation research.

He had too many identities.

He was also too involved in the deaths of Xu Yun and Tang Xin.

Therefore, Lin Xian had always regarded Ji Xinshui as the same kind of "mastermind" as Zhou Duanyun.

Furthermore, because Ji Lin and Ji Xinshui shared the same surname and were related, Lin Xian also considered them accomplices.

But now...

Ji Lin actually openly admitted it, directly telling him about this relationship...

What exactly was his purpose?

Was it a test?

Was it a trap?

Or did he simply want to probe him, to see how far his investigation had progressed?

However, there was no point in thinking about these questions now.

Because Ji Lin's question was right in front of him, and Lin Xian had to respond quickly.

This name.

Should he admit to having heard of it?

Should he continue to play dumb? Or admit it frankly?

After quickly considering it, Lin Xian nodded.

"I know this person."

"Oh? Where did you hear about him? The news?" Ji Lin was clearly interested.

"Tang Xin told me."

Lin Xian said calmly, "During our high school reunion over the New Year, Tang Xin told us that she was coming to work at the research institute in Donghai after the New Year, and the person who invited her was a very prestigious figure, who was also Xu Yun's mentor, Ji Xinshui."

"I met Tang Xin several times later, and she often mentioned this name, saying that her colleagues were very caring and even introduced her to a symphony orchestra. We talked about these things quite a bit."

...

After much deliberation, Lin Xian felt that playing dumb in front of Ji Lin was not a wise move.

Because Ji Lin was too smart.

He couldn't take risks in front of him.

If Xu Yun's death, Tang Xin's death, and even the meticulous plan to call him to the investigation team were all traps designed by Ji Lin...

Then it was hard to guarantee that his accidental knowledge of Ji Xinshui's name wasn't also part of his design? Within his trap?

Denying it at this point would be too risky, and there would be no benefit.

It would be better to admit it generously. There was no real risk anyway. Tang Xin had indeed said these things to him, just without mentioning the name, mainly because he hadn't asked at the time.

"So, you're Ji Xinshui's adopted child?"

Lin Xian took the initiative and began to ask, "Then what's your relationship with Xu Yun... I'm a little confused. Is the sister you mentioned Ji Xinshui's biological daughter? Or adopted?"

"She's his niece, but we grew up together."

"But didn't you say you grew up in Ji Xinshui's orphanage? How would his niece live in an orphanage?"

"Our family is very complicated." Ji Lin looked up at the ceiling and said slowly, "Ji Xinshui never married and devoted himself entirely to his career, so he adopted many children, who were all in the orphanage. But he would later bring the smarter children to his side to raise... Although it's called raising, he actually left them to be cared for by servants and relatives. I was raised by my sister."

"Okay."

Lin Xian nodded silently.

This big family was indeed very complicated.

To sort out the relationships: Ji Lin's parents were killed in the 00:42 shooting, and then Ji Lin was adopted by Ji Xinshui and raised by Ji Xinshui's niece. Subsequently, the niece married Xu Yun and gave birth to Xu Yiyi. Later, Xu Yiyi fell into a coma, and Xu Yun broke with Ji Xinshui, which led to the subsequent deaths. Ji Lin also came to Donghai as a result.

But Lin Xian wasn't very interested in this family tree...

What he cared more about was that Ji Lin's parents also died at 00:42, but not in a car accident.

This was a bit intriguing.

According to Lin Xian's deduction, the murderers were definitely supposed to kill people in car accidents at 00:42. Could they use other methods under special circumstances?

If that was the case... then he was in some danger!

He originally thought that he only needed to avoid the road at 00:42, but if they were really forced to change their method of killing, then he couldn't avoid danger no matter where he was.

However, it was too early to draw conclusions.

Lin Xian couldn't judge whether what Ji Lin said was true or false.

"Ji Lin, were your parents scientists too? What were they researching?"

"They were both mathematicians." Ji Lin replied, "But... I checked their relevant information. They were still very young 20 years ago and didn't have any particularly great achievements. I was still young at that time and didn't know what they were researching."

"So this is also one of the things I'm more puzzled about. My parents' achievements are far inferior to those of Xu Yun and Tang Xin, and their deaths weren't car accidents either. Looking at the world as a whole... on average, 106 people die for various reasons every minute on Earth."

Ji Lin raised his hand and looked at his glowing smartwatch.

"It's 00:43 now."

"In the past minute alone, approximately 106 people died in various corners of the world. Many of them must have died in accidents, but we can't say that every person who died in an accident at 00:42 was killed by these murderers, can we?"

"It's worth mentioning that since I came to Donghai to join the investigation team, there was a gas explosion in Donghai at 00:42 that killed 3 people; and there was also a car accident at 00:42 where four people were seriously injured, but two of them died after being in the ICU for a few days."

"So... from our known perspective, it seems very strange that the cases happened at 00:42. But if we zoom out and expand the scope of statistics, there are many death accidents occurring worldwide at 00:42 every day, so many that we can't count them all every month."

...

Listening to Ji Lin's words, Lin Xian nodded.

He had also searched online for car accidents that occurred worldwide at 00:42.

The results he found... were simply too many.

The world was too big, with a population of 7 billion people, and so many people died in car accidents every moment. It was truly too many.

He didn't know what Ji Lin meant by telling him these things. Was he trying to weaken the concept of 00:42?

"Lin Xian, I want to ask for your opinion."

Ji Lin suddenly asked, "Do you think... the people who killed my parents and the murderers who killed Xu Yun and Tang Xin now are the same group of people?"

Lin Xian closed his eyes.

This was likely a trap question.

Based on the information Lin Xian currently had, he was almost 100% certain that the deaths of Ji Lin's parents were definitely related to their research.

Mathematicians, the Big-Faced Cat's father was also a mathematician and died for the same reason.

00:42, if he included Ji Lin's parents, there were already four scientists who Lin Xian knew had died at this time.

But in the real world, there was currently no information available about any mathematicians dying at 00:42. If he was too certain, it would arouse suspicion.

"I don't think so."

Lin Xian replied after thinking for a while, "The two scientists who died in Donghai City are both researching hibernation. I think scientists in the field of hibernation are the targets of these murderers. Your parents were mathematicians... so they shouldn't be within their target range."

"Also, the methods of death, shooting and car accidents, are too different, right? Compared to that, car accidents are easier to hide the real motive, while shootings are too obvious."

Ji Lin looked at Lin Xian.

After a while, he nodded, "Is that so... I thought so too."

He turned over and got back into bed.

"It's getting late, let's go to sleep."

...

In the following days, the Xu Yun case special investigation team began working at a high intensity under the leadership of Ji Lin, gradually detailing the image of the murderer, concretizing the criminal behavior, and narrowing the scope of the murder target.

This progress surprised Lin Xian.

He originally thought that Ji Lin was just a troublemaker in this investigation team, hindering the police from carrying out the investigation.

But that wasn't the case.

He clarified the context of the two cases step by step, confirmed that the main targets of the murderers were scientists engaged in research in the field of hibernation, and planned to prepare an ambush the next time a related scientist came to Donghai City, to close the net at 00:42, arrest the murderer, follow the clues, and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Lin Xian didn't know what Ji Lin was up to.

His plan actually coincided with his own thoughts...

Lin Xian's original idea was also to ambush the scene and never let the hit-and-run vehicle escape again.

The reason why there had been no breakthroughs in the previous two cases was that the murderer escaped, the vehicle disappeared, and there were no further clues to pursue.

But if they could set up a roadblock at the scene, or set up roadblocks on the necessary escape routes, they could intercept the hit-and-run vehicle, arrest the driver, and bring this series of murders to an end!

But the problem was...

Lin Xian twirled his pen, glancing at Ji Lin, who was summarizing his speech at the conference table.

Wasn't he also a member of the murderers?

If the police really caught the hit-and-run driver... could Ji Lin, Ji Xinshui, Zhou Duanyun, and these other masterminds really get away unscathed?

...

Chushan River Manor, in the dining room.

A family of three was eating dinner and chatting.

Su Xiuying served Chu Shanhe a bowl of soup, "It's been several days, and there's been no news from Su Su. How did her blind date with Lin Xian go? Did it work out or not?"

Chu Shanhe chuckled, "It's a matter for young people, so let's not ask too much. Let them develop on their own. Asking too much will only put pressure on Lin Xian. Fate is very important in matters of love. If it works out, it works out, and if it doesn't, we can't force it."

"Probably not." Chu Anqing snorted, "Little Aunt has never been in love before. She's never liked playing with boys since she was little. If she played, she would chase after the boys and beat them up. She definitely wouldn't be willing to have a normal relationship. And Senior Lin Xian... I feel like Senior Lin Xian is so refined and gentle that he wouldn't like a carefree, lawless girl like Little Aunt. You two are just making a mess of things!"

"That's not necessarily true."

Su Xiuying smiled, "Su Su is my sister. I've watched her grow up since she was little, and I know her too well."

"It's not like I haven't introduced her to blind dates before. When she came back, she either cursed or acted like she was frustrated and exasperated. She never spoke nicely."

"But this time... she came back quite late that night, and she didn't smell of alcohol at all, which meant she hadn't gone out to play with her friends, but had stayed with Lin Xian until so late. This shows that the two of them talked for quite a long time."

"Then, when she saw me, she was surprisingly calm. She didn't say anything, just told me that the blind date was over, asked me to immediately fulfill my promise and unlock her bank card, and then left without saying anything else."

"Ah? Little Aunt didn't say anything?" Chu Anqing was very surprised, "That's not like her. It's too abnormal!"

"One thing subdues another. Let's not worry too much about it and let them be." Chu Shanhe chuckled, put down his chopsticks, "It's normal that the two of them haven't had any news for a while. Lin Xian has been transferred to the Donghai City Public Security Bureau to work on the Xu Yun case special investigation team. He's very busy. The members of their team all live in the unit's dormitory and work at a high intensity. They usually can't even get out."

"So busy?" Chu Anqing asked with concern.

"There's no way around it." Chu Shanhe said frankly, "The pressure on the Donghai City Public Security Bureau is too great now. There have been two murders of scientists in a row, and there aren't any clues to this day. The pressure from all sides is very high. The leaders' hair has turned white from worry. They just want to solve the case as soon as possible, even if it's just to find a clue. So Lin Xian and the others are really busy."

"Is that so..."

Chu Anqing picked up her phone, opened Lin Xian's profile, and looked at his Moments.

He hadn't posted anything for several days.

The two of them hadn't chatted for many days either.

She mustered up her courage and sent a message, "Senior, are you still busy? Have you eaten? I heard from Dad that you were transferred to the special task force."

Lin Xian replied quickly, "Not yet. My colleagues have all gone to eat. Ji Lin and I are here working overtime. You've met him."

Ji Lin.

Of course Chu Anqing knew him.

He was not only a genius detective but also a famous screenwriter. The two had met at the New Year's Eve banquet, and her father had also mentioned Ji Lin's involvement in the special task force many times.

"Not eating on time is not good... it's bad for your health." Chu Anqing thought to herself.

Seeing that there was still a lot of food left in the kitchen, she took out a lunch box from the cupboard and packed up two portions of food, "I'm going out for a bit!"