Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 125 Messenger
Jin Pingan got off at a large shopping mall.

However, he did not enter the mall, but instead went around to the food street behind the mall.

Following the navigation, Jin Ping'an wandered around for five minutes before finally finding the small restaurant where they had agreed to meet.

This is a hot pot restaurant.

Although it wasn't completely dark yet, the store was already quite crowded, and the number of people seemed to be increasing.

Jin Ping'an followed the numbers on the table one by one and came to table number four, which was located in the corner.

With a mixture of probing and anticipation, Jin Ping'an asked softly, "Excuse me, are you a messenger?"

Jin Ping'an's face was tense as he looked at the slender figure in the seat. His feet unconsciously came together and his legs straightened. His left hand gripped the strap of his bag tightly, and his fingers unconsciously rubbed together.

Upon hearing the sound, the person slowly turned around.

What came into view was a face that was both delicate and weathered.

The messenger was dressed very neatly and cleanly, in suit trousers, a leather belt, and a polo shirt. His clothes were almost wrinkle-free, showing that he was a person who paid great attention to his appearance.

Although he doesn't have the kind of strikingly handsome face that makes you instantly awed, his overall demeanor gives him a unique charm.

The first impression he gives is that he's a man with a story.

The messenger's face was somewhat youthful, looking no more than twenty years old, but at first glance, others would subconsciously think he was already thirty.

Although he is indeed over thirty.

"You're Jin Ping'an?"

Judging from appearance alone, people would assume that the messenger's voice must be that of a deep, resonant, middle-aged man.

That's not actually the case. His tone was slightly somber and heavy, as if he were talking to someone through a mask.

"...Yes, it's me."

Jin Ping'an had a lot to say, but when he saw the messenger in person, he didn't know where to begin.

Ultimately, he was just a child who had just come of age and didn't understand the social interactions between adults at all.

"I think I had Ai Liang inform me of the agreed location and time an hour and a half in advance, but you were still twenty minutes late."

The messenger picked up his chopsticks, took a slice of tender and juicy beef from the clear broth pot, and put it in his mouth. With one bite, the broth burst forth, and the savory aroma of the beef bone broth spread from the tip of his tongue all the way to the back of his tongue, leaving an unforgettable aftertaste.

Compared to the composed and relaxed messenger enjoying hotpot, Jin Ping'an appeared extremely nervous: "Sorry! I was busy organizing documents, and there was traffic in the city, so..."

Xin tapped the table with his index finger, interrupting Jin Ping'an's explanation.

"Don't make excuses, being late is being late."

"……Feel sorry."

Jin Ping'an lowered his head, standing motionless by the table like a student being scolded.

"Aren't you going to sit down? Are you just going to stand there like an idiot and make a fool of yourself?"

A strange light flashed in the messenger's eyes.

There are too few students with their own opinions and good judgment these days. Most of them are like dull geese; if you don't clearly tell them what to do, they just stand there dumbfounded.

"Oh...oh, okay."

Jin Ping'an seemed to wake from a dream and quickly sat down opposite the messenger.

However, looking at the unopened bowls and chopsticks in front of him, he hesitated again, unsure whether he should eat together or directly discuss the missing persons case.

"What are you standing there for? I prepared the tableware for you to watch over. We can talk after you finish eating."

After the messenger finished speaking, he started eating his hot pot by himself.

Jin Ping'an's throat involuntarily tightened as he smelled the aroma of the hot pot.

Jin Ping'an originally wanted to discuss the case first, but the messenger completely ignored him, so he had no choice but to start eating as well.

The two of them ate and drank to their hearts' content, and the food on the table was quickly wiped out. Jin Ping'an, who had been starving all day, even drank three bowls of hot pot soup at the end.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the messenger led Jin Ping'an to a nearby inn.

After Jin Ping'an entered the room, he slammed the door shut and locked it from the inside, also hanging up a security chain.

The messenger sat down at the mahjong table and said, "I am a registered bounty hunter, ID M300328. You can check me on the website."

Having learned from the previous two experiences, Jin Ping'an didn't say anything like "I believe in you" this time.

Instead, he honestly took out his phone and logged into the Bounty Hunter website to check his ID.

The two met for the first time and had no trust in each other. Trust needs to be built little by little. Eating together and checking the bounty hunter's ID were the first steps in building trust.

The search results came back quickly; the person in the photo was indeed a messenger.

The Bounty Hunter official website is a public website operated by Asia Union. By simply entering the number, you can find basic information about the person, such as the number of missions completed, social contributions, and whether they have any criminal records.

Of course, this does not include the bounty hunters' personal privacy, such as citizen ID numbers, contact information, home addresses, etc.; it only includes work-related information.

Simply put, it's like a bulletin board; it doesn't even have a private messaging function.

"Let's get straight to the point. Since you're settling your payment in one lump sum, and you're so agreeable, I won't just take this 100,000 yuan for nothing. I'll help you through to the end."

The messenger extended his hand, gesturing for Jin Ping'an to bring over the case files.

At this moment, Jin Ping'an's old problem relapsed.

When no one helps him, he always longs for someone to walk with him.

When someone is willing to help him, he worries about their safety and doesn't want to drag them down or make them face the suffering he has endured.

In short, it's a common problem among young people: immaturity and affectation.

However, after much hesitation, Jin Ping'an still handed the document bag to the messenger.

There was nothing he could do. With his own strength, he couldn't even find out who was behind manipulating public opinion, let alone uncover the truth.

He pieced together all the clues in the bag using his special abilities, bit by bit.

The messenger opened the document bag and began to examine the contents of the A4 paper.

Although Jin Ping'an is a good-for-nothing, he is not entirely useless.

At least he had investigated many murder cases with the police, and his basic data summarization was quite good.

Each piece of information recorded on the A4 paper is basically a concise summary of key information.

Inside the room, the messenger remained silent, his lips pursed, with only Jin Ping'an's breathing and the whirring of the air conditioner echoing in the room.

After a long silence, the messenger put down the documents, pointed to a passage on them, and asked, "How did you know the prisoner had a butterfly tattoo?"

“According to the general process of reasoning in a case, now that you have discovered such a crucial clue, the case cannot have made no progress.”

The messenger pressed his palm on the document and questioned Jin Ping'an: "What is recorded on this paper is less case information and more a piece of a puzzle."

A whole bunch of important and unimportant information is mixed together, without even a chronological order.

You only mentioned the crucial clue of the butterfly tattoo briefly, and there's no record on the paper of when, where, or from whom you obtained this information.

"Are you really doing a serious investigation, or are you just trying to fool me with a bunch of fabricated stories?"

The updates these past few days have been truly appalling, so I apologize to all the readers who have been following along.

I don't know if I offended some 'big shot', but these past two days, there have been several or even a dozen people stirring up trouble and arguing with me in the comments section every day.

For example, I just saw this comment in the comments section: 'Wow, a new female lead every forty chapters. Goodbye.'

I really wanted to ask him, Ye Qing didn't appear until over a hundred chapters later, what do you mean by saying this? Are you trying to stir up trouble without even reading the book? Thinking about it carefully, there's no point in replying to this kind of person, so I just deleted the comment.

There's also a chapter review for Chapter 11, where someone asked me why the police didn't investigate Wang Zi. He even took a screenshot of the original text about the police not investigating and marked it with a red line. The sentence below the red line is the reason why the police didn't immediately start investigating, but he insisted that I hadn't written it out.

There are many similar cases; I've been so bothered these past two days that I haven't been able to sleep.

I will sort out my emotions and resume updates as soon as possible.

I'm so sorry
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(End of this chapter)