Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 127 You're just a burden
four years ago?
Upon hearing this answer, Jin Ping'an asked in surprise, "Four years ago... Ai Liang should still be in elementary school, right? How did you and he know each other?"

"We met in a very ordinary way."

The messenger's expression remained unchanged, showing no alteration whatsoever.

"Normally, elementary school students shouldn't have any contact with bounty hunters."

Jin Pingan couldn't help but complain.

The messenger, without looking up, said, "Normally, someone who has just turned sixteen wouldn't be a consultant in the criminal investigation team."

Hearing the messenger's targeted reply, Jin Ping'an thought the messenger was mocking him for hiding something.

It's not easy for someone to come and help, so we can't let them get away with this little thing.

So he quickly bowed his head and apologized, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked so many questions."

"There's nothing I can't ask. It's just the literal meaning of the words, and we got to know each other very easily."

The messenger still didn't look up, but began to talk about his past.

"Seven years ago, after I finished dealing with my sister's funeral, I stayed at home until four years ago when I had almost run out of my savings before I went out."

When the messenger mentioned his sister's death, his face remained calm, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

"I hadn't left the house for three years, and I didn't know what to do, so I found a job delivering packages."

“Ai Liang lives in the area I’m in charge of, and he often buys popular science books, so we became familiar with each other over time.”

"I worked as a courier for over a year. After I got used to life outside, I quit my job and went back to being a bounty hunter."

"Although I'm no longer delivering packages and my interactions with Ai Liang have decreased, we still contact each other occasionally. Mainly, he pays to listen to my stories about the underworld; I guess he treats me like a living encyclopedia."

"Oh, I see. No wonder Ai Liang knows so much about the black zone."

Jin Pingan scratched his head: "He lied to me before, saying he was involved in organized crime when he was five, hahaha...hahaha..."

As he laughed, Jin Ping'an's laughter faded.

Because the messenger had no intention of chatting with him at all, and was engrossed in looking at the documents.

He felt awkward bothering others if the messenger didn't ask.

An awkward atmosphere began to spread in the room.

About twenty minutes passed.

The messenger put down the documents and stood up from the table: "I've memorized everything. Is there any other intelligence?"

Jin Ping'an, who had been sitting there dumbfounded for half a day, jumped up when he heard this.

"I've written down almost everything. Is there anything I need to add in terms of details?"

Jin Ping'an was eager to try, hoping he could be of help.

The messenger shook his head slightly: "Most of it is useless nonsense, what's there to add?"

The messenger was very polite and gave an objective and fair evaluation of Jin Ping'an's intelligence.

The clues related to the case seem numerous and confusing on the surface, but in reality, there are only three pieces of useful information in total.

First, the appearance and tattoos of the kidnappers; second, the bars frequented by the missing person; and third, the location of the tattoo shop.

Aside from these three points, everything else is nonsense.

To put it nicely, this is called casting a wide net, finding key clues to solve the case from certain small details.

To put it bluntly, this document is just a perfunctory meeting report.

It's exactly the same as the rambling, disjointed essays I wrote in high school that failed to grasp the core theme.

The seemingly elegant language is actually all copied randomly from excerpts of bonus passages, pieced together here and there, regardless of whether it meets the requirements of the topic, as long as it reaches 800 words.

These ingredients mixed together are like cherry cola with soy sauce and wasabi—it's intoxicating just to look at.

Jin Ping'an was slightly disappointed because his intelligence was criticized as worthless by the messenger.

After all, this was the result of more than a month of hard work, and being talked about like this, he couldn't be happy no matter how optimistic he was.

Unfortunately, the messenger didn't give him time to wallow in self-pity; he grabbed the room key and headed for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Jin Ping'an quickly changed into sneakers and followed the messenger.

"Of course we should go to the tattoo shop to investigate. Where else can we go?"

The messenger walked to the door and left the room, making a move to lock Jin Ping'an inside.

"Wait a minute!" Jin Ping'an blocked the door frame with his arm: "Go investigate why you locked me in the house?"

The messenger casually replied, "You've already had dinner. Are you going out for a late-night snack? Stay inside and don't wander off."

As he spoke, the messenger shoved Jin Ping'an's arm back into place.

Jin Ping'an's small frame was no match for the messenger. He was pushed back into the house in no time, with only half of his leg stuck in the door crack.

"Wait! I'm going too!"

The messenger remained unmoved: "What use are you following me? If you were really capable of extracting information from the tattoo shop, you would have written it down on paper long ago."

"You're just a burden to me, understand? I don't want to have to worry about your safety if something happens."

Jin Ping'an must have braced his hind legs against the wall inside the house, because the messenger couldn't close the door for a while.

He didn't dare to use too much force, otherwise it would be troublesome if he broke his employer's bones before the case was even solved.

"That tattoo shop specializes in providing tattoo services to the black market; they don't serve ordinary people!"

"It's located underground in Jiuhua City, which is the most chaotic part of Qianhua. It's good for the two of us to go together so we can look out for each other. Also, if we can't escape, I can reveal my identity, and no matter how rampant they are, they won't kill the consultant of the criminal investigation team."

Jin Ping'an stood guard at the door, pleading, "If you, a stranger, rashly go in and ask questions, you'll definitely be beaten up!"

Bang!

The messenger suddenly released his grip and stepped aside.

Jin Ping'an rushed out of the house, and just as his forehead was about to make intimate contact with the wall, a large hand grabbed his collar.

Jin Ping'an remained calm and continued after standing still, "That tattoo shop is very hidden; you can't find it on navigation apps. I can show you the way."

The messenger didn't answer, but instead raised an eyebrow.

He looked at Jin Ping'an's bruised arm and asked, "So this is how you got your injuries?"

Jin Ping'an immediately fell silent.

The messenger locked the door and said, "Follow me."

Jin Ping'an's face lit up with joy, and he followed the messenger eagerly.

"Did you drive here?" Jin Ping'an asked curiously from the passenger seat.

"It was a temporary rental. Investigating cases inevitably involves traveling around, and it's too troublesome to keep taking taxis."

The messenger started the car while explaining.

On the way to Jiuhua City, Jin Ping'an asked this question.

"Why did you get involved in this? And even went all the way from Nevada?"

"Logically speaking, 100,000 yuan shouldn't be worth risking your lives for in the eyes of people like you..."

The messenger gave him a cold glance.

What do you mean by 'you people'?
Even if someone else knew that this guy didn't have any bad intentions, but was just emotionally inept and bad at speaking, they would definitely kick Jin Ping'an out of the car.

However, the messenger didn't care about that.

"My reason for coming here is simple: I'm short of money lately, and Nevada is too peaceful with no business."

The messenger gripped the steering wheel with both hands and looked straight ahead: "And also, to prevent the tragedy from repeating itself."

"tragedy……"

Jin Ping'an recalled his conversation with Ai Liang at the ATM entrance.

"...I'm sorry, I brought back some bad memories for you."

"It doesn't matter, I don't care."

"Oh."

The messenger's face still held that indifferent expression, and Jin Ping'an couldn't tell whether he was lying or not.

Neither of them spoke again on the way.

An hour later, we arrived at Jiuhua City.

(End of this chapter)