Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 178 Following the Clues
Is Jin Ping'an the kind of rebellious son who can't tolerate any wrongdoing?

Or perhaps he himself was unaware of his illegitimate child status?
No, it's not even certain whether Jin Ping'an is someone's illegitimate child...

Although Wang Youcai was not highly educated, he was indeed a smart man.

Even if someone has support behind them, a person's ability to rise to their current position in just a few years is inseparable from their personal capabilities, qualities, and hard work.

If it were someone with average abilities, it would take them even longer to reach this position.

He had previously realized, through subtle clues, that he was a puppet on strings.

However, no matter how clever you are, without key information, it's like the blind men and the elephant—it's difficult to see the truth of the matter.

No matter how Wang Youcai probed, Song Jie remained tight-lipped, refusing to reveal a single word he shouldn't.

Nobody is a fool. Telling Wang Youcai this information before he pledges allegiance to him would be like pushing themselves into a fire pit.

“I said I would tell you the truth after everything was over, but only if you survived. I don’t want to waste my breath on a dead man.”

Wang Youcai was speechless.

Yes, I'm not even sure if I can get through the difficulties ahead, so is it necessary to know so much?
Is it really just to die knowing the truth, with regrets and resentment?
Thinking of this, Wang Youcai's desire to investigate the truth gradually cooled: "Help me investigate when Hu Yingshao will leave the criminal police team. After he leaves, I will turn myself in."

…………

Inside the criminal investigation team, Jin Ping'an, whose health had improved, asked Tian Hao to take him to the detention center where the club's people were temporarily held.

After a whole morning of backtracking, he finally found a new clue: the fake Wang Sheng's body.

In the footage of Hu Yingshao's belongings, he saw the figure of the fake Wang Sheng.

The two appeared in the same frame.

Although the fake Wang Sheng is dead, that's not a big deal.

Others may not have seen the fake Wang Sheng, but the victims definitely have, so they plan to try their luck here first to see if anyone knows where they were imprisoned.

Moreover, after a morning of activities, Liu Yuan had already transported the fake Wang Sheng's body to the forensic autopsy room.

Incidentally, he also exhumed Wang Sheng's body, along with the bodies of the murdered victims, and sent them to the forensic autopsy room.

Even if the victims don't know it, the corpses can still speak in the face of retrospection.

Tian Hao and Jin Ping'an walked together toward the bungalows behind the police station.

In his hand was the interrogation report of the club's staff, the result of Jiang Kaiji's morning's work.

Everyone is working hard in their own way to solve the case.

However, due to the large number of people, many were put back into custody before they could be interrogated.

Because four assassins were on the urgent list, these days even interrogations can be rushed.

Inside the iron bars of the detention center, there are more than a dozen women.

This is only a small part of the people in the club.

Jiang Kaiji didn't know which technicians joined voluntarily and which were victims who were forced to join, so he could only let the technicians reveal it themselves.

Interestingly, no one dared to stand up immediately after Jiang Kaiji finished speaking.

Only after he repeatedly assured people that the club owner was wanted by the police and his backers had been detained did people begin to take small steps forward.

"I've come to ask you a few questions."

Tian Hao cut to the chase: "Does anyone remember who kidnapped them?"

Just as the interrogation report stated, no one answered.

When the police stormed into the clubhouse, the victims were all smiling like porcelain dolls.

After Jiang Kaiji announced the news that the club had been shut down, their expressions became blank, and they stared at Jiang Kaiji with lifeless eyes.

No matter how he asked, no one was willing to answer his questions. If it weren't for their breathing and movements, at first glance, one might even think that these people were lifelike dolls.

Seeing this scene, Tian Hao began to have a headache.

This kind of psychological trauma cannot be cured in a short time.

These are all victims, and it is neither reasonable nor morally right for them to be forcibly questioned.

Jiang Kaiji hasn't even dared to notify the victim's family yet, fearing that the arrival of family and relatives would cause great psychological distress to the victim.

However, Tian Hao was, after all, a veteran detective who had been conducting interrogations for many years. Faced with the victim's silence, he quickly came up with a way to deal with it.

Tian Hao stared intently at the dozen or so victims without turning his head and said, "Ping An, draw a fake portrait of Wang Sheng and Hu Yingshao."

Jin Ping'an did as instructed, and soon two perfectly accurate sketches were produced.

As he continued to suffer the consequences, Tian Hao wanted to observe the victims' reactions to seeing the fake Wang Sheng and Hu Yingshao in order to confirm whether they had actually seen these two people.

Tian Hao knew very well that now was not the time to sympathize with these victims, and he would not take care of their feelings like Jiang Kaiji did.

The most important thing now is to find evidence that can kill Hu Yingshao.

The other party may have left behind a way to dispose of the evidence, so they must race against time.

Give the simplest example.

If police are tracking down a large child trafficking ring and have discovered the whereabouts of one of its smaller groups.

Taking down this small gang could rescue three children who had just been trafficked, preventing them from being broken up and forced to beg, or suffering the tragic fate of being sold into slavery in the mountains, thus saving these three families.

However, this could alert the enemy, causing large gangs to disappear without a trace and completely cut off all leads.

If we don't dismantle this small gang and let them take the children away, we can follow the trail to their headquarters and dismantle the entire industry chain in one fell swoop.

But those three children will be left with lifelong disabilities, facing a dark and tragic future, and their three families will be torn apart.

How would you choose?
Is it better to save the person in front of you, which could lead to more people suffering in the future, or to sacrifice the future of these three children in exchange for the hope of life for more children?

Whichever side you choose to save, it is absolutely unfair to the other side.

Most criminal police officers, on the other hand, choose to remain silent, as they want to consider issues from the perspective of the majority.

This has led to many detectives who make crucial decisions in cases being tormented by their conscience and suffering from mental illness.

After the case is solved, they feel no sense of accomplishment or joy, only deep self-blame and self-loathing.

After successfully rescuing the children, they were too ashamed to face the victims' families, and many of them became despondent and chose to resign.

You might think that doing this is inhumane and too cruel to the victims.

But there is no such thing as a perfect solution in this world. If Hu Yingshao is allowed to destroy the evidence, there will be more victims in the future.

You might say that the stick didn't fall on them, and that the detectives who made the choice didn't feel the pain.

But Tian Hao is different. He will feel sympathy for the three children and feel guilty, but in the end he will still choose to give them up.

He knew this pain all too well, because his own flesh and blood were among those three children.

This is the personal experience of Tian Hao, a veteran criminal police officer in Qianhua City.

Jin Ping'an told Tian Hao about his ability to rewind precisely because of this.

Tian Hao took the sketch and held it up in front of him, gesturing for everyone to look: "Does anyone remember the two people in the drawing?"

Although these dozen or so victims had blank expressions and refused to speak, they still responded when asked questions.

More than a dozen pairs of eyes turned to Tian Hao, and they also saw the sketch in his hand.

Tian Hao quickly scanned the faces of the dozen or so people, and one of the victims with a scorpion braid noticed a clear wavering in his eyes.

Tian Hao wanted to bring her out, but as soon as he reached out, she began to tremble all over.

Left with no other option, Tian Hao had Jin Ping'an take her to the psychologist at the criminal investigation team.

"what happened?"

The psychologist looked at the victim on the sofa, who was curled up like a hedgehog, hugging his knees and legs together.

Unable to contain herself, she questioned Tian Hao, "Old Tian, ​​did you force them to ask questions again?"

"Time is of the essence; we must find clues as soon as possible."

Tian Hao didn't have time to explain in detail; it would be best to find out the location where they were being held from the victim's own account.

If not, then Jin Ping'an will have to spend a lot of time retracing the body of the fake Wang Sheng and finding the relevant locations from the vast sea of ​​memory fragments.

From her tightly closed eyes, Tian Hao deduced that she must have seen something and been punished, which was why she had this stress reaction.

Tian Hao came to see a psychologist because he wanted her to help him open the victim's eyes and use sketching to see which scenes the victim would react to.

Then, by using Jin Ping'an's sketches, they search for the corresponding locations in reality.

But the most important thing now is to get the victim to open their eyes.

"……go out."

"The psychologist said in a low voice."

Jin Ping'an, sitting in the chair, stopped painting, glanced at the painting in his hand, and stammered, "But this..."

"I'm telling you to get out!"

The psychologist, with a stern face, pushed the two of them to the door and then slammed the door shut.

Tian Hao gently patted Jin Ping'an on the shoulder to encourage him.

Left with no other choice, Jin Ping'an could only squat in the corner, supporting his easel with his knees, and continue to paint.

Half an hour later, the door opened.

Jin Ping'an had already drawn several sketches of the factory warehouse.

These are all images that were recalled through Hu Yingshao's shoes.

However, in most of the footage, Hu Yingshao attended the event as an invited guest, rather than coming alone.

The images were all fleeting glimpses, received by Jin Ping'an's brain.

He couldn't determine exactly which one was the problem.

Therefore, Jin Ping'an could only draw scenes at night or those that looked suspicious.

The psychologist stared at the two of them with an unfriendly expression. Tian Hao sighed, picked up Jin Ping'an's painting, and slowly squatted down.

He presented the sketches one by one to the victims.

Upon seeing a grain silo, the victim's emotions began to fluctuate noticeably.

Tian Hao immediately threw the sketch aside. He only needed to determine the location; they could investigate the rest. There was no need to put any more psychological pressure on the victim.

Of the six paintings, the victim only reacted to that warehouse.

After thanking him, Tian Hao quickly left with Jin Ping'an.

"Ping An, I'll go to the technical department to check the distribution map of the granaries in Qianhua City. You go to the morgue to trace back the fake Wang Sheng's body, mainly looking for images with warehouses."

Tian Hao quickly assigned tasks: "Are you sure you can handle it alone? If not, you can ask Liu Yuan to come with you."

Although he was the only one in the team who knew about Jin Ping'an's ability to rewind time, Jin Ping'an was there to examine the corpse.

Even if Jin Ping'an makes some strange reactions, others will only think that he is disgusted by the sight of corpses.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, having someone with you won't lessen the aftereffects, so what's the point?"

Jin Pingan couldn't help but complain.

The two parted ways at the crossroads. Tian Hao went straight to the technical department, while Jin Ping'an went straight to the forensic autopsy room.

…………

"The body was severely skeletalized... with multiple fractures in the arms and lower legs..."

Jin Ping'an had just reached the door of the forensic autopsy room when he heard a conversation inside before he even opened the door.

In addition, there was the stench of corpses that couldn't be blocked even through two doors.

Jin Ping'an put on a mask and pushed the door open to enter.

"Ping An... what are you doing here?"

The forensic doctor did not stop what he was doing. While examining the body parts, he had his apprentice, who was holding a camera and a notebook, record the autopsy information.

"I've come to see the body that Captain Liu brought over today, the one we got from the anti-drug squad."

Jin Ping'an had been vomiting all morning, and now, seeing the mostly rotten corpse on the autopsy table, his abdomen began to ache again.

He tried to turn his head away from the corpse on the platform to avoid feeling disgusted.

However, the omnipresent stench of corpses desperately tried to seep into the gaps in the mask, forcing Jin Ping'an to cover his mouth with his hand while wearing the mask.

"That's what's covered on the table over there. Take a look first, and remember to wear gloves."

The forensic doctor pointed to the cabinet next to him, indicating that Jin Ping'an should put on gloves.

After saying that, he continued with the autopsy.

In his opinion, Jin Ping'an was just there to take a couple of photos for Tian Hao, and there was no need to take it to heart.

Following the forensic doctor's instructions, Jin Ping'an found a pair of gloves, put them on, and then slowly opened the body bag.

The fake Wang Sheng had only been dead for a short time, and his body had not yet shown signs of severe decomposition, but the Y-shaped suture wound on his chest was rather frightening.

With his back to the forensic team, Jin Ping'an secretly pressed his bare skin onto the fake Wang Sheng's corpse.

Soon they entered the space of retrospection.

…………

"vomit!!!"

Five minutes later, under the triple stimulation of the stench of the corpse, the corpse itself, and the aftereffects of his ability to rewind time, Jin Ping'an rushed to the trash can and vomited uncontrollably.

The forensic doctor shook his head, gestured to his apprentice to help him out, and continued fiddling with the bottles and jars.

"Are you alright? Would you like some water?"

The apprentice gently patted Jin Ping'an's back and slid his hand down the back of his neck to slightly relieve the urge to vomit.

Back then, when he first stepped onto the dissection table, just like Jin Ping'an, he watched for a while and then ran to the bathroom to queue for a stall.

Many impatient people ran directly to the flower bed and pond to vomit, causing the cleaning ladies to complain.

Jin Pingan waved his hand to indicate that there was no need to worry: "I'm fine, you go ahead and do your work. I just came to take a look at the fake Wang Sheng's body..."

(End of this chapter)