Zhang Yuanqing took the phone and read through the file with care, examining everything from autopsy reports and crime scene investigations to witness statements from neighbors and surveillance footage. The minutes ticked by. As Zhang Yuanqing focused intently on the material, Cao Qianxiu sat quietly without uttering a word.
Half an hour later, his brow furrowed deeper and deeper, his expression turning increasingly solemn.
Finally, he lowered the phone and shook his head. "It seems your Anti-Black and White Alliance doesn't have any Saint-stage Scouts among its ranks."
"How did you know?" Cao Qianxiu cleared her throat. "Just tell me your conclusion."
Zhang Yuanqing said in a grave voice, "The fact that the Anti-Black and White Alliance could provide this file proves that higher-ups have been monitoring this string of serial murders. Is their analysis that the killer is a Transcendent-stage Night Walker, no higher than Level 3, who murders to refine yin corpses? An ethnic Chinese person who knows full well that Heaven's Punishment takes a hands-off approach to Chinatown, and who therefore preys exclusively on their own compatriots.
"And if I can deduce the time and neighborhood of the killer's next crime, the task of apprehending them will be assigned to us—am I right?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Cao Qianxiu's eyes, quickly followed by a nod of approval. "You truly are a Scout. Your deductions are spot-on."
Team Leader Self-Reliance had indeed delegated the mission of hunting down the killer to her. According to the Alliance's analysis, the killer should be Level 2. A peak Level 2 Thunder Mage like Cao Qianxiu paired with a Level 2 Scout would be more than capable of taking the target down. To be safe, they could at most send an additional Level 2 Wind Mage for backup.
Therefore, as long as Zhang Qingyang could pinpoint the killer's approximate hunting ground, the remaining task was simply to eliminate the culprit.
Zhang Yuanqing scoffed softly and set down the phone. "The killer is indeed a Night Walker, but I'm afraid their level is quite high. Furthermore, their real objective isn't refining yin corpses. They have an ulterior motive."
"An ulterior motive?!" Cao Qianxiu asked in astonishment. "What do you mean?"
Just as Zhang Yuanqing was about to speak, the landlady walked in carrying a plate of fruit. Glancing at the open math textbook on the table, her face instantly broke into a wide smile.
"Teaching math, are you? Xiao Zhang, let me tell you, this girl is passable in every other subject, but in math she's worse than her little brother. A clever woman like me, how did I ever give birth to such a daughter? If she hadn't been pulled right out of my belly, I'd suspect Old Cao had fathered a bastard behind my back."
As she spoke, the landlady poked her daughter's forehead with her customary rough affection.
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing instinctively thought of a dark joke: *How can you be so sure she came from your belly? For all you know, your husband traded for her using a skill.*
Indeed, Zhang Yuanqing had already confirmed Cao Qing's class: Void (Merchant).
Cao Qing's demeanor matched a Merchant to perfection. Every class had its own characteristic temperament—Fire Specialists were brash and hot-tempered, while Scouts were resolute and austere.
Of course, if that were all, it would only raise the probability; it could not serve as hard evidence.
The concrete proof that clinched Cao Qing's identity came three mornings ago. Zhang Yuanqing had stood invisible outside his own front door, watching Room 401. He had watched the Cao siblings leave for school, and he had watched the landlady head out to buy groceries. Yet he had never seen Cao Qing walk out the door.
And yet Cao Qing had indeed gone to work that day.
Among the Orderly classes of the First District, only one could pull off such a stunt—the Void class's Teleportation!
"Don't worry, Mrs. Cao. Give me a month at most, and I'll get her math score into the top five of her class. You can test her yourself if you don't believe me. If she doesn't make it, I won't charge a cent," Zhang Yuanqing promised, patting his chest.
The landlady's eyes lit up. To a thrifty homemaker, whether it meant her daughter's grades improving or saving money on tutoring fees, either outcome was a win.
"And what if you succeed?" she asked cautiously.
"Then you have to pay me double." Zhang Yuanqing rubbed his hands together.
Cao Qianxiu rolled her eyes. Sometimes she found this Zhang Qingyang completely baffling. At times, the worldly slickness he displayed didn't resemble a serious, rigid, rule-bound Scout in the slightest.
Yet to say he wasn't a Scout seemed equally wrong. He clearly possessed the ability to see through people, always knowing how to flatter her parents, her brother, and herself at precisely the right moment.
He made everyone like him, putting them completely at ease.
Even her hot-tempered mother had never once lost her temper at him. When her mother blew her top, she spared no one, and she certainly wouldn't hold back just because someone was a guest.
"Deal!" The landlady thought it over, decided she had nothing to lose, and left with a beam on her face.
Once she had stepped out into the living room, Zhang Yuanqing skewered a piece of apple with a toothpick and said between bites:
"Based on the existing clues, this killer looks like an early Level 2 Night Walker who has just mastered spirit talismans and is in the middle of refining his own yin corpses. He's ethnic Chinese and knows Heaven's Punishment won't interfere in Chinatown, which is why he targets his own people.
"Because he lacks strength, he is very cautious. The interval between each case is six days, resulting in eleven murders over two months... All of these details are meant to construct the illusion of a low-level Night Walker."
Watching Cao Qianxiu's brow furrow deeper, Zhang Yuanqing swallowed the apple and continued:
"I'll point out just two things. First: if I were the killer, why would I commit my crimes in Chinatown? Are the vagrants of New York County not good enough? Or are the people wandering the streets at night not worth targeting?
"Heaven's Punishment may neglect Chinatown, but among the Chinese community here, there are Spirit Realm walker organizations maintaining order—and formidable ones at that. Repeatedly killing and refining corpses in Chinatown—is he eager to shorten his own life? Vagrants are blatantly superior targets because they leave no loose ends, and New York County is crawling with them."
Cao Qianxiu's expression instantly turned solemn.
Zhang Yuanqing continued, "Second: for a Night Walker who has mastered spirit talismans, no matter how poor their talent, they should thoroughly master the process of refining basic yin corpses after failing with three to five bodies.
"To this day, I have never heard of a single Night Walker who failed across more than ten consecutive corpses, leaving behind half-finished products each time.
"Of course, it's understandable that you didn't catch this. Night Walkers are exceedingly rare and practically extinct in the First District. It's only natural that you aren't familiar with them."
Cao Qianxiu opened her mouth, closed it, and pondered for a long time.
"Are you certain? About the second point, I mean."
Zhang Yuanqing shrugged. "What reason do I have to lie to you?"
Cao Qianxiu sprang to her feet and paced around the room. "If the killer is a high-level Night Walker, what is his purpose in doing this? I can't imagine a motive at all..."
*Still too inexperienced. A young girl after all!* Zhang Yuanqing said bluntly, "It's a performance!"
"A performance?" Cao Qianxiu's brow knitted.
"The killer is looking for someone in Chinatown and killing along the way. Because he can't pinpoint who the target is and only has a broad range, he resorted to serial killings. Masquerading as a low-level Night Walker is a show put on for Chinatown's Orderly organizations. His goal is to avoid drawing the attention of high-tier Spirit Realm walkers before he can eliminate his true target. In fact, he succeeded—he successfully fooled your Anti-Black and White Alliance." Zhang Yuanqing skewered another piece of apple and chewed as he spoke.
"As for who he's looking for, there's no way to deduce that right now. But you can pass this information up to your organization's leadership. Have them investigate the backgrounds of all the victims and find the common thread. Once they have that common denominator, they can work backward to deduce who the killer is after."
After hearing this, Cao Qianxiu couldn't sit still any longer. She snatched up her phone. "I'm reporting this to the team leader right now..."
At this point, she glanced at Zhang Yuanqing.
Zhang Yuanqing tactfully rose to his feet. "You're a bright girl; you grasp the problem-solving logic right away. That will be all for today's lesson—we'll end early."
Listening to the tutor's footsteps fade into the distance, hearing him lavish praise on her in the living room before finally taking his leave, Cao Qianxiu promptly shut her bedroom door and opened the 'Anti-Black and White Alliance Group 6' chat room.
She typed out Zhang Yuanqing's analysis word for word, posting it into the group and tagging Team Leader Self-Reliance.
[Miracle Physician: *Hiss*, not a low-level Night Walker? The organization's analysis of the serial murders was wrong? Judge Cao, that Scout you recruited has real skills.]
[Snow White: Sound reasoning and solid evidence—he convinced me. Is this what Scouts are like? Born detectives!]
[Little Steel Cannon: So the root of this is far worse than a simple serial murder case? Uh, weren't we supposed to be evaluating him? Why does it feel like he's evaluating us instead?]
[Self-Reliance: @Judge Cao, I've read it. I'm reporting this to the Deacon right now to see how the higher-ups react.]
[Judge Cao: Let us know once there are results.]
Everyone traded deductions and thoughts in the chat while awaiting Self-Reliance's update.
Yet it wasn't until eleven o'clock that Self-Reliance's response finally arrived:
[Self-Reliance: The leadership called an emergency online meeting late into the night. It's still underway, so there's no feedback yet.]
*An emergency overnight meeting...* The group members were astonished. This meant the leadership recognized the Scout's deductions, but holding an emergency meeting late into the night went beyond what anyone had anticipated.
The leadership likely already knew something and had realized the truth immediately upon hearing the Scout's analysis. Only that would explain such an urgent assembly.
This was bigger than anyone had imagined.
[Judge Cao: In that case, can my guy join the organization directly?]
[Self-Reliance: He's rendered a major service. Joining the organization shouldn't be an issue. I'll submit the request first. We'll wait for news tomorrow.]
[Snow White: Our organization finally has a Scout too! Scouts are practically the brain trust.]
***
At midnight, sleeping lightly, Zhang Yuanqing was suddenly startled awake and turned toward the balcony.
In the darkness, a figure stood by the window, straight and upright like a vigorous pine, holding a glass of red wine.
"Tsk, tsk. A 1990 Château Lafite. The flavor is indeed exceptional," the man remarked with a sigh.
Hearing the voice, the tension in Zhang Yuanqing's face relaxed slightly. He threw back the blanket, sat on the edge of the bed, and said, "Mr. President, what brings you here?"
*A demigod of the Void class—is his teleportation range global?*
He felt a twinge of envy.
Instead of answering, the President asked, "What rank of hunter are you now?"
"Bronze!" Zhang Yuanqing replied. "I should be able to advance to Silver within a week."
"Too slow." The President took a sip of red wine and turned around. "I'm not pleased with your recent state. You're undisciplined and leisurely. With your abilities, you could easily become a Silver Hunter in three days. The Bounty Hunter Guild requires you to complete one mission before taking another, but there is no cap on how many you can take in a single day."
"There's no cap, but why should I run myself ragged doing missions? I'm not a pack mule for a collective farm." Zhang Yuanqing shrugged. "Being a bounty hunter is just a way to kill time for me. I don't rely on it to level up, nor do I need it to earn money. Why should I grind myself into the ground?"
The President let out a soft sigh.
"That is precisely why I have come. It is time to disclose certain intelligence to you and formally give you your main quest."
Zhang Yuanqing's interest was piqued, and his expression turned serious. "A main quest?"
"Indeed. Having you join the bounty hunters wasn't merely to hone your skills, but to give you a way to make contact with the Guild's upper echelon. Because..." The President's voice grew low and solemn. "The intelligence Diana and I extracted from Pluto reveals that the true backer behind the Bounty Hunter Guild is the Covenant of Freedom."
Chapter 661