Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 236 Burning the bridge across the river
If it is true, then all the hermit's actions are being directed by someone behind the scenes.

Then everything makes sense.

The hermit alone.

How could they possibly be a match for all the criminals in Nevada?

How could it be that her true identity remained unknown to anyone?

Are those intelligence brokers and investigators in Nevada all incompetent?
Therefore, there must be someone secretly supporting the Hermit's activities, and even using official channels to erase clues and evidence for him!

This bold conjecture made Tian Hao's heart pound.

Even in the lounge, the faint sound of a pounding heart could be heard.

Once the news of the collaboration between hermits and officials gets out, it's a serious matter.

That wouldn't just be stirring up a media storm, but rather unleashing a media tsunami.

Even if he killed only the most heinous criminals, this method of bypassing the law to kill directly is still a serious crime.

It will still plunge the public into fear.

Previously, the people of Nevada believed that the Hermit was a champion of justice, but once they learned that the Hermit was cooperating with the authorities...

Once the image of a champion of justice is shattered, all sorts of conspiracy theories will follow.

Since such methods can be used to kill evil people.

Could we also use this method to kill our political enemies first, and then smear them?

At that point, the government will no longer need to worry about public credibility.

Whoever controls the media controls the judiciary.

If someone is smeared enough by public opinion after their death, then they deserve to die.

As is widely known, online judges are willing to take the death penalty.

If a few people come along and make some jokes, who knows, the prisoner might even have to make a cameo appearance in "Saw: The Nevada Remake" before he dies.

Where did this document come from?
Who created it?
Why was it sent by Jiang Kaiji?

Tian Hao posed a profound question.

Knowing this shocking secret, which could lead to one's suicide by being shot sixty times in the back, was truly astonishing.

With the feeling of visiting a grave, Tian Hao continued reading.

However, upon seeing the caption under the picture, Tian Hao's heart stopped abruptly.

The hermit's collaboration with the aforementioned individuals occurred before he became a throat-slitting maniac...

"Damn it! Couldn't you have put the date on the arrow?!"

Looking at the date on the introduction, Tian Hao couldn't help but curse.

So all that was just my own wild imagination?
Tian Hao's shout startled Jin Ping'an awake from his rewinding state, causing it to end prematurely.

"What's wrong?!"

Jin Ping'an came to his senses and looked around blankly, looking like a terrified groundhog.

"fine."

Tian Hao immediately lowered his voice to cover up his loss of composure.

He straightened his tie and asked, "Have you seen any new clues?"

Jin Ping'an's expression wasn't good. He picked up his easel and quickly sketched a bar with a punk-style decor.

The deceased was huddled at the bar, drinking cocktails and flirting with someone.

"The deceased met the girl at this bar. He originally planned to take her to a hotel, but he was drugged and passed out."

Jin Ping'an found the portrait he had drawn before, pointed to the portrait of the "girl" and said, "Judging from her skill level, this shouldn't be the first time she's done this kind of thing."

Tian Hao patiently noted down this information: "Are there any other clues? For example, after the person was placed there, how did she transport the person away?"

Jin Ping'an looked dejected, rubbing the strands of hair on his hand between his thumb and forefinger: "You know that although my replay is detailed, I can only see one scene at a time."

What we saw this time was the scene where the deceased was drugged, around 8 PM last night. The flashback was nearing its end not long after.

Tian Hao did not show any dissatisfaction upon hearing this.

They've already obtained clues through such cheating methods that would take ordinary criminal police three or four days to uncover, so what's there to complain about?

Moreover, this message is very valuable.

This is the same principle as finding a wallet on the street and not complaining that there isn't much money in it.

The person who complained about the low pay and then went to find the original owner and beat him up is simply unreasonable.

With the specific time and location, you can simply take someone to that bar and use the spending records to identify the deceased.

Perhaps we can still get some information about the girl from the eyewitnesses.

In a bar, a young girl's looks and outfit are sure to attract attention.

The youthful campus style outfits, the innocent faces, and the allure of being in prison are simply irresistible.

For those greasy middle-aged men, their attractiveness is second only to those mature women with voluptuous breasts and hips that extend past their shoulders.

Alcohol can stimulate desires.

There must have been quite a few hungry wolves who noticed this young girl who came to the bar alone for a drink.

"Given my physical condition, I can perform two more regressions today. Have you decided which segment you want to look for clues from?"

Jin Ping'an looked at Tian Hao, who was deep in thought, and couldn't help but remind him.

When asked which part of the content to revisit, Tian Hao gave his answer without much thought: "Try to revisit the segments on the bus, preferably segments involving getting on and off the bus."

If you were to ask a veteran detective to select a specific part of the crime during the investigation of a murderer...

Then he will definitely make the same choice as Tian Hao.

The scenes of getting on and off the vehicle, whether it's someone being drugged and loaded onto the vehicle, or someone being transported to a secret location for imprisonment or drowning.

Either one can play a crucial role in solving the case.

The former can pinpoint the location where the victim first met the perpetrator, making it easier to find witnesses and surveillance footage.

The latter can pinpoint the killer's hideout and follow the clues to find evidence.

Jin Ping'an didn't think too much about it; he just did as he was told.

Once Jin Ping'an entered the rewind state again, Tian Hao turned his attention back to the electronic document on his phone.

When he shifted his gaze from the portraits of Shi Hongfang and others to the other side, he felt that this person named Mu Si looked somewhat familiar.

Tian Hao slowly zoomed in on Mu Si's photo, and then took out a portrait painting.

This solitary head is none other than the mustache in one of the portraits.

Tian Hao was shocked. Mu Si was one of the few people who had a relationship with the hermit.

Since he appeared in Jin Ping'an's flashback, does that mean that the hooded man is the Hermit?
The messenger, who had once hired the hermit, had always been vague about his reasons for coming to Nevada.

Tian Hao had assumed that the messenger had learned that Jin Ping'an had encountered a similar situation to his own and had specially come from Neva City to quell the injustice.

But now it seems things might not be that simple.

After the hermit turned into a throat-slitting maniac.

The only people who ever hired the hermit were the messengers and the people who maintained a certain relationship with the hermit were the Muslims.

These two people recently visited Qianhua City one after the other.

It is highly likely that they maintain some kind of undisclosed connection.

This also explains why the messenger was able to obtain crucial intelligence every time he made a move.

With a top intelligence provider like Mus, getting some special intelligence is a piece of cake.
Tian Hao initially believed that the throat-slitting case was the work of a copycat.

We have to re-examine this case and consider the possibility of a copycat crime.

The hermit's old acquaintances gathered in Thousand Flower City, and the wounds on the deceased were extremely similar to those the hermit had inflicted in the past.

His mindset gradually shifted from initial skepticism to growing utter fear.

You ask why.

A notorious serial killer with a proven record of killing at least four figures has appeared in Qianhua's territory.

Just ask you if you are afraid.

There are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year.

On average, the hermit kills a criminal almost every day to refresh himself.

It can be said that he treated killing as casually as eating and drinking, integrating it into his daily life.

Is this the kind of behavior a mentally sound carbon-based organism would produce?

Even if those he killed were criminals who deserved to die, it cannot conceal the terrifying nature of this crime.

How does the saying go?

The joys and sorrows of people are not connected.

Tian Hao was, after all, from Qianhua City and had not experienced the chaotic era of Neva City.

Those who died at the hands of the hermit were just numbers to him.

Since the people are already dead, Nevada City naturally wouldn't publicize the things those dead people did.

Tian Hao was unaware that behind each number lay several untold, bloody stories.

Therefore, unlike the people of Inner Mongolia, he would not applaud the hermit's actions or even offer incense to him.

All he knew was that the Hermit was an extremely dangerous, antisocial psychopathic killer.

"It's troublesome..."

Tian Hao muttered to himself.

"What's the trouble?"

Jin Ping'an had just finished two rewinds and was about to describe what he had seen and heard when he heard Tian Hao sighing.

Tian Hao quietly switched to the background, changing the phone screen to Notepad so Jin Ping'an wouldn't see the Hermit's information: "Nothing, how's your progress?"

Jin Ping'an answered honestly, "The pick-up point was near the bar, so I wasted an opportunity."

"It's alright, at least it saves me the time of slowly searching for a bar... Can you tell me the exact location?"

Tian Hao squinted and asked.

"With drug addicts and those kinds of social bars, where else could it be but the outer city of Jiuhua?"

As Jin Ping'an spoke, he couldn't help but complain: "Even if I didn't say it, just based on the fact that he was an addict, you could guess that the deceased couldn't have gone to any respectable bar."

Tian Hao shrugged and gestured for him to continue.

Seeing that Tian Hao didn't respond, Jin Ping'an could only continue talking about the results of another regression: "The girl didn't take the deceased directly to the warehouse to kill him, but before he woke up, she took him to an abandoned industrial park."

"Are there any signs nearby?" Tian Hao asked.

"What do you think?"

Jin Pingan curled his lip: "If I had one, I could just give you the address."

"It seems you've figured something out?"

Tian Hao's face remained completely expressionless.

After two years of getting to know each other.

As soon as Jin Ping'an sticks out his butt, Tian Hao knows what kind of shit he's going to take.

Look at how he's deliberately emphasizing that there are no signs.

It's obvious that he deduced some clue based on his knowledge and wanted to show off in front of himself.

"Cough cough, cough um..."

Jin Ping'an, whose little scheme had been exposed, quickly coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment.

But having spent so much time with a group of people from the underworld, I naturally can't be too thin-skinned: "Based on my previous experience visiting factories, this place was very likely an electronics factory that used to assemble mobile phone parts."

Tian Hao noted down this information: "An abandoned electronics processing plant... Is there anything else? Like license plate numbers or something."

Jin Ping'an angrily retorted, "What else? That industrial park has been abandoned for who knows how long, and there isn't even a street lamp."

By the time we got off the bus, it was already past midnight, and we couldn't see anything except for the area illuminated by the headlights.

About 90 percent of the information humans obtain from the outside world comes from vision.

It's true that retrospection can directly imprint information into the brain.

However, Jin Ping'an has not yet developed his ability to the point where he can immediately read all the information simply by going back in time.

By touching a piece of draft paper, one can know where the problem lies; by touching the outer shell of a fighter jet, one can extract specific parameters and data.

With his abilities evolved to this level, he no longer needs to solve cases.

He should just go to a research center to do data analysis, or become a commercial international spy.

Currently, Jin Ping'an can only receive visual information.

This can be considered a minor drawback of backtracking.

However, as he becomes more proficient in using his abilities, he now occasionally receives auditory and olfactory information as well.

The day when I become the god of information is just around the corner.

"If you can't see it in the industrial park, what happened to the street where the bars used to be?"

When Tian Hao heard that Jin Pingan hadn't seen anything, he didn't give up immediately, but instead asked in a different direction.

Jin Ping'an guessed that Tian Hao was still a little worried, so he added, "Don't worry about it. He drives a taxi, and he has a stack of replacement license plates in his drawer."

This one sentence completely eliminated the possibility of obtaining the car through investigation.

The fact that they always carry fake license plates in their car indicates that they have a very strong counter-surveillance capability.

It's impossible to leave such an obvious loophole for the police.

"Hmm... okay then."

After noting down the last clue, Tian Hao put away his phone and said, "Let's go."

Jin Ping'an was still sketching on his easel: "Where to now? Did the field team find a new lead?"

Tian Hao looked at Jin Ping'an with some surprise: "Where else can we go? Of course, we'll take you back to school. It's getting late."

pat.

Jin Ping'an dropped his paintbrush on the ground.

He felt as if he were hallucinating, so he asked again to confirm, "Where did you just say you were taking me?"

"You've finished reviewing the school and the police reports, so why are you still hanging around here instead of going back to school?"

Tian Hao said it as a matter of course.

Jin Ping'an stared at Tian Hao in disbelief. "You used me and then abandoned me?"
Where did you learn this ability to turn your back on someone so easily?
Tian Hao walked up to Jin Ping'an and said earnestly, "Ping'an, you're still a child. You finally got into Experimental Middle School. You can't stay at the bottom of the class forever, can you?"

The start of the school year is a crucial time, so please try to avoid getting involved in criminal investigations for the time being and focus on your studies.

After saying that, Tian Hao patted Jin Ping'an heavily on the shoulder.

Jin Ping'an was anxious. He had finally found a place where he could make a difference, but he couldn't come over.

"What if we encounter another cold case with no leads? Like this one!"

"Don't worry, I'll prepare the items for you in advance. You only need to ask the teacher for a break of one class period, which is enough for three rewinds."

Tian Hao said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)