"Dead? Tang Chou?" Chen Houlu asked, "Could it be that...this Tang Chou is the real ghost-faced killer?"
"No!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
Unexpectedly, Xu Zhen and Shen Mingchen spoke at the same time, speaking in different voices but with the same meaning.
"If the ghost-faced killer knew how to clean up the scene, there would be no need for him to throw the deceased into the garbage dump!" Xu Zhen popularized it from the perspective of criminal psychology, "The murderer's psychology is abnormal. Throwing the deceased in the garbage dump is to give If others see it, it’s impossible to deal with it yourself.”
"Tang Chou practiced Zhiyang martial arts, which focuses on strength, speed, and violence." Shen Mingchen explained from another angle. "I have dealt with this person before. His temples are bright, which means he is not a womanizer. Definitely not the Ghost Faced Killer!"
"Oh... yes, also..." Chen Houlu thought for a while and said, "So, Tang Chou is helping others clean up the scene? So... alas..."
Chen Houlu didn't say what he said directly, but it still made everyone present frown.
Because everyone knew what he said next. Since Tang Chou was Cui Xiaotian's steward, who else could give him the order?
"Two adults, Mr. Shen is here to arrest you," Xu Zhen finally spoke. He pointed at the door and said, "The door has been closed. If you have anything to say, let's be honest, right?"
"Xu Zhen..." Song Zhili spoke first. He stared at Xu Zhen without blinking and asked, "Have you... known for a long time who the real ghost-faced killer is?"
"Master Song," Xu Zhen raised the corner of his mouth slightly, "Not only do I know it, but Qi Yunzheng also knows it all the time!"
"Why?" Song Zhili felt incredible, "I don't understand. Since he already knew who the real Ghost Faced Killer was, why didn't he tell him earlier?"
"Ah? Is it because of Cui Xiaotian?" Chen Houlu was confused but also frightened by what he heard. He had to interrupt and asked, "Is the ghost-faced killer Cui Xiaotian? So... the monk is afraid that we dare not touch Cui Xiaotian? But... but... "
"No," Shen Mingchen waved his hand and said firmly, "It's not Cui Xiaotian! He has never been short of women, and it doesn't seem like something he can do."
"Then..." Chen Houlu was dumbfounded, "Who else could it be?"
"Master Song," Xu Zhen was still answering Song Zhili's question, "the reason why Qi Yunzheng came to the Yamen to surrender, and he didn't tell us who the ghost-faced killer is, if you think about it carefully, the answer shouldn't be difficult."
"You... please stop showing off, Xu Zhen," Song Zhili gasped, "tell me quickly, why?"
"Because," Xu Zhen answered, "Qi Yun is waiting for an opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
"Ah? Opportunity?" Song Zhili still didn't understand, "What kind of opportunity?"
"Have you forgotten," Xu Zhen said, "in a few days, Qiu Batian will be executed? By then, someone from the Ministry of Punishment will come!"
"Ah?" For a moment, Song Zhili felt goosebumps all over his body, and his scalp felt a little numb, "You...you mean..."
"Yes," Xu Zhen said seriously, "Thirteen days, why thirteen days? Because he concluded that Qiu Batian would be executed within thirteen days!
"At that time, the time limit is about to end, and he will tell you who the Ghost Faced Killer is, and then let you catch him!
"Are you going to catch me?
"If he is caught, he can openly and openly overturn his brother's case in front of officials from the Ministry of Punishments and state officials! He will then become the accuser and witness!
"If you don't catch him, then he will die with you and your children will be buried with him!"
"ah!?"
Song Zhili shivered, his back even hit the wall, and his whole body became numb for a moment.
He never expected that Qi Yunzheng's plan would be so ferocious...
"Wait...wait..." Although Chen Houlu was also shocked, he still did not forget his original question, "That monk is indeed powerful, but can you tell me first, who is the ghost-faced killer? "
"Chen County Cheng," Shen Mingchen next to him reminded, "Cui Xiaotian can send Tang Chou out to help the ghost-faced killer clean up the scene, then who else can this ghost-faced killer be?"
"Ah..." Chen Houlu was shocked, "Son... son!!? You mean... he is Cui Xiaotian's son? What is his son's name?"
"Cui Meng!"
While Xu Zhen answered, he calmly took out the information he had prepared long ago from his arms.
The first thing to unfold was a simple map hand-drawn by Xu Zhen, which was all about the location and relationship of the Ghost Faced Killer case.
"Let's take a look..."
Next, Xu Zhen told his previous speculation about the location of the murder, and then told everyone:
"According to my investigation, Cui Xiaotian owned 17 houses of various sizes in the areas where these crimes occurred 13 years ago. These houses were all obtained through violent debt collection.
"Among them, at least thirteen are unoccupied. As Cui Xiaotian's son, Cui Meng naturally knows which houses are unoccupied, but outsiders have no way of knowing."
"Oh..." Shen Mingchen took a breath of cold air, "In other words, the place where the ghost-faced killer committed the murder was in these thirteen houses?
"I remember that we searched all the houses at that time..."
"It was already too late when we searched," Xu Zhen said. "The scene had already been cleaned up by the Ghost Faced Killer, so it was naturally difficult to find him."
He said in his heart, you don't have collection and forensic technology, as long as the murderer cleans up the blood stains, he can avoid detection.
"The murderer first killed three people, paused for a month, and then killed again," Xu Zhen added, "because in the middle month, the government sent patrol teams that happened to cover these private homes, making it difficult for the ghost-faced killer to kill.
“But a month later, the Ghost Faced Killer had figured out the patrol pattern, so he took action again.
"Since we can figure out the patrol rules, it means that the ghost-faced killer is a person who often goes out for walks without being suspected. Cui Meng was helping Cui Xiaotian collect debts at the time. He could go wherever he wanted on the street. Naturally, this fits this condition……"
Next, Xu Zhen discussed the profile of the criminal he had sketched, explaining to everyone that the ghost-faced killer must be an stimulated young man, and Cui Meng was nineteen years old at the time and also met the conditions.
Of course, Cui Meng had three younger brothers, but the three younger brothers were too young, and the eldest was under thirteen at the time, so they could obviously be ruled out.
"Look at this again," Xu Zhen took out another piece of information and introduced, "According to my investigation, although Cui Meng runs the Wansheng Gambling House, he has always been reclusive and rarely shows up.
"People in the gambling house said that Cui Meng had a dark heart and would often do some abnormal behaviors that ordinary people could not understand. He even drank human blood. Because he hurt too many people, Cui Xiaotian restricted his freedom.
"Of course, there is the most crucial point," Xu Zhen added, "There has been an unverifiable rumor in the market that Cui Xiaotian married a petite and beautiful concubine fifteen years ago, but not long after the marriage, the concubine disappeared!
"Some people say that the concubine was killed by Cui Xiaotian because of her affair.
"Although I don't know who the person who had an affair with my concubine is, she is petite and likes to wear bright clothes. She seems to be very similar to the victim of the Ghost Face Killer case..."
Xu Zhen didn't say anything else clearly, leaving plenty of room for everyone's imagination.
Everyone can naturally think that fifteen years ago, Cui Meng was seventeen years old, an age when he was full of energy and easily injured...
"Sir Song," after everyone finished imagining, Xu Zhen handed all the information to Song Zhili, clasped his fists and said, "Xu Zhen is fortunate to have lived up to his command. The mission you gave me has been completed, and the identity of the ghost-faced killer has been identified.
"What to do next, Xu Zhenjin will let you decide!!!"
…
