Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 6 Xia Qinian

The young man in the leather jacket immediately put on a smile when he saw the male detective next to Ai Liang: "Captain Shi, you've worked hard. This must be the first witness, right? I didn't expect you to be the one interrogating him personally."

"Who let him in!"

The male detective, who was called Captain Shi by the young man, immediately frowned and shouted. The officer who had just been talking to the young man immediately grabbed his documents and prepared to leave.

"Wang Xun! Come here!" Captain Shi wasn't about to let him leave so easily, so he immediately called him back.

"Captain." The detective named Wang Xun shrank back and braced himself as he returned to the group, giving the young man a fierce glare as he passed by.

Captain Shi crossed his arms, looking like an angry Vajra: "Speak, why did you bring unauthorized personnel into the criminal investigation team!"

"Calm down. I'm here to provide clues related to this case, which is why I asked Officer Wang to bring me here."

The young man grinned and put his arm around Captain Shi's shoulder.

The gesture of putting his arm around Xia Qinian's shoulder completely enraged Captain Shi. He forcefully slapped Xia Qinian's hand away and shouted, "Xia Qinian, shut up! You have clues? You have nothing! You're not a member of the criminal investigation team, you have no right to speak!"

Shi Feng's voice was deafening, like an enraged lion, and the entire criminal investigation team could hear his roar.

The criminal police officers who were just passing by to watch the commotion immediately lowered their heads and hurried past, afraid of getting into trouble. Those in the office didn't dare to lift their heads either.

Upon hearing Xia Qinian's name, Ai Liang turned her head and fixed her gaze on him, staring intently at him.

"Captain Shi, why are you shouting so loudly? There are students here. Don't scare the children."

Xia Qinian showed no fear despite Captain Shi's anger, remaining as nonchalant as ever. When he noticed Ai Liang's gaze, he even pointed at her.

"You! Get out now! Right now! From this moment on, anyone who lets Xia Qinian in again, pack your things and get out!"

Captain Shi pointed to the officers present with his notebook, then slammed it on the table and stormed off.

"Brother Nian, you've really put me in a terrible situation. I don't know what the captain will do to me in the future."

Officer Wang looked worried, his brows furrowed with despair about his future job.

"Don't worry, don't worry, he's mainly angry at me, it has nothing to do with me. He's usually quite magnanimous, isn't he?" Xia Qinian put his arm around Officer Wang's shoulder, his attitude like that of a thug.

"Alright, alright, you'd better get out of here, or the captain will skin me alive when he gets back and sees you still here."

Officer Wang broke free from his arm and pushed Xia Qinian toward the exit.

The female detective also brought Ai Liang to the door and asked if he needed her to go home.

She meant well. A fifteen-year-old child was taken to the criminal investigation team, but his family ignored him and now they're letting him go home alone. It's so pitiful.

"No, I'll call a taxi nearby, and it wouldn't look good for a police car to take me back."

Ai Liang politely declined the female police officer's offer of transportation and left the criminal investigation team alone.

However, he had only taken a couple of steps when the young man stopped him: "Hello, classmate. My name is Xia Qinian, and I'm a bounty hunter. Look, it's already noon. How about I treat you to a meal and we can have a chat?"

Xia Qinian's face was full of bright smiles, and one hand was on Ai Liang's shoulder.

In this world, bounty hunters exist in every region. They were originally mercenaries who were paid to do things and made a living by the bounties offered by the police for wanted criminals and by taking on some private jobs.

Later, as times progressed, the Free Federation, in order to reduce the expenditure on social security, actually legalized mercenaries.

They fight crime with criminals, and then exchange that for rewards from the government.

Someone with a stroke would absolutely not be capable of doing something like this without ten years of experience.

This move has resulted in the Free Federation being the most unsafe of the five political systems to this day, even surpassing the semi-feudal Theo by hundreds of times.

Of course, this measure also has a positive side; people will naturally avoid breaking the law in order to avoid being reported by their neighbors and having their money rewarded.

After continuous optimization and improvement, by the time of the Asian Union, almost everyone could register as a bounty hunter.

Registering won't have much of an impact; it's really just adding another title.

Many people in the Asian Union also work as bounty hunters.

They have their own normal jobs, which involve occasional business trips. They check if there are any wanted fugitives in the destinations and use their connections to provide clues to the police in exchange for a reward.

If we had to put it simply, Asia Union's bounty hunters are more like a hybrid profession combining the roles of informant, mercenary, and auxiliary police officer from a previous life.

The minor characters in the story might be Grandpa Wang, who sweeps the streets, or Grandma Zhang, who sells breakfast.

After registering their identities, they would exchange tips they occasionally heard with the police for rewards.

Only famous characters will be highlighted in various regions.

They usually have their own special skills, such as mercenaries with strong combat skills, or genius hackers who can easily infiltrate corporate servers. They are dangerous individuals who need to be reported wherever they go.

Xia Qinian was one of them.

He's a brute.

He was standing at the entrance of the criminal investigation team, holding Ai Liang's shoulder, clearly showing he had him cornered.

Ai Liang understood what he meant; it was simply that Gao Jiajia's father had offered a reward to find the murderer who killed Gao Jiajia.

"There's a private restaurant up ahead, shall we eat there?"

Seeing that Ai Liang did not resist, Xia Qinian casually made a suggestion.

After saying that, Xia Qinian took Ai Liang to the restaurant and ordered four dishes and a soup. While waiting for the food to be served, Ai Liang briefly introduced herself.

Ai Liang remained silent, but Xia Qinian took the initiative to start a conversation.

Xia Qinian immediately began praising, "I heard that when you found the body you knew the victim was murdered, and you even described a bunch of details? You have a good eye."

"Just tell me what you want to know, there's no need to beat around the bush."

Ai Liang didn't even look at Xia Qinian. She took out her phone to let Yang Xingyue and the others know that she was safe, and also told her parents that the matter was over and that they didn't need to send a lawyer.

"Hey, at your age, all I did was play video games at home or go to internet cafes to play video games. I didn't study properly, otherwise I wouldn't have failed the police academy two or three times in a row."

"If you keep spouting this nonsense, I might as well go home." Ai Liang put away her phone and poured herself a cup of tea.

"Tsk, how come kids these days are so precocious? Fine, I'll just say it straight. Real estate developer Gao Fuye is offering a 500,000 yuan reward for finding the murderer of his daughter, with an additional 500,000 yuan as a reward once found. Nevada hasn't seen a deal like this in years. People in the underworld are like sharks that have smelled blood."

Xia Qinian pushed the empty cup over, but Ai Liang didn't even glance at it. He had no choice but to pick up the teapot and pour himself a cup to cover up his embarrassment.

"anything else?"

Ai Liang didn't believe Gao Fuye. He only posted bounties in the bounty hunter circle. With his only blood relative dead, he must have other plans.

"And then there's someone who has little to do with our circle. I heard he just went to the media to put pressure on the police. He's obviously gone crazy. He's just making accusations because he can't find the murderer."

Xia Qinian took a sip of tea, which tasted like plain water, and frowned as he drank it.

"So what do you want to know from me?"

After hearing Xia Qinian's answer, Ai Liang asked him about his purpose.

"To investigate the cause of his daughter's death, we must at least find him and understand the specific circumstances."

The cause of the death—whether it was revenge from Gao Fuye's enemies or simply a dispute with a peer—must be clarified first; otherwise, the investigation will be in vain.

Xia Qinian took out a few banknotes and placed them in front of Ai Liang.

"To see him, you need at least some clues or results. There are plenty of people who want to see him now. Of course, I want to use your status as the first eyewitness to the body to meet Gao Fuye."

"I won't let you work for nothing. I'll give you five hundred now, and another five hundred after you meet Gao Fuye, regardless of the outcome."

Xia Qinian's words were reasonable and well-founded, far superior to those who wandered aimlessly like headless flies, searching for the murderer. Utilizing Ai Liang's methods was akin to finding an informant.

Ai Liang said with a hint of sarcasm, "No wonder he's a man who took the police academy entrance exam three times."

"You've got a really sharp tongue, kid."

While they were talking, the waiter brought the dishes to the table. Just as Xia Qinian was about to continue persuading them, Ai Liang said, "Don't discuss the case while eating. We can talk about it after we finish eating."

Hearing this, Xia Qinian was stunned; he knew this sentence so well that he could never forget it.

"You also have relatives who are criminal police officers?"

"No." Ai Liang didn't stand on ceremony with him. After serving herself half a bowl of rice, she started eating by herself, completely ignoring her employer.

Ai Liang has a good appetite; if it were the girl who saw the corpse this morning, she probably wouldn't be able to eat for a day or two.

"That's quite a coincidence. My uncle used to say that to me all the time. It's an unspoken rule in the criminal investigation team when we eat together." Xia Qinian smiled as he recovered from his daze and picked up his chopsticks.

For a moment, neither of them spoke, silently finishing the food on the table.

Xia Qinian, in particular, felt as if he had returned to his teenage years, sitting at the table with his family to eat. This feeling was mainly due to Ai Liang's words just now.

After lunch, Ai Liang got into Xia Qinian's car and went to school with him.

That's right, it's a school, not a wealthy family.

Gao Fuye should be busy building connections right now; he wouldn't have time to care about bounty hunters.

The crime happened less than a day ago, and they can't find any clues in such a short time. If all bounty hunters were this capable, what would be the point of having police?

Gao Fuye issued the reward simply to consider multiple avenues; the main task of solving the case still depends on the police.

The school gates were already closed, and the students had all gone home for the holidays. Through the iron fence, the entire campus looked deserted.

It's only been a few hours since the reward was posted, and there are already quite a few people loitering around the school, all seemingly trying their luck to find clues.

Unfortunately, the school was sealed off by the police, and no one could get in.

"So why did you ask me to bring you to school? Did you leave something in the classroom and want me to run away, or are you the murderer who came back to destroy evidence?"

Xia Qinian chatted casually with Ai Liang, but in his hands he was flipping through Gao Fuye's rags-to-riches stories over the years, trying to find clues.

"Stop looking. The murderer shouldn't be Gao Fuye's business rival."

Ai Liang rolled down the car window, put her arm by the window, propped her head up with her hand, and looked towards the school gate.

Inside, police officers wearing white gloves were wandering around, examining every suspicious corner.

"Oh? How do you know it isn't? Don't think that just because you've learned a few criminal investigation techniques you can become a famous detective. The first thing in our line of work is to collect a lot of information, find out the details related to the case, and then screen the suspects."

Xia Qinian scoffed, dismissing Ai Liang's statement as something only a show-off would say.

"First, if it was done by Gao Fuye's business rivals, it proves that the conflict of interest between the two sides must have reached a fever pitch."

But you didn't raise it immediately, and Gao Fuye only used the media to pressure the police, proving that he had no one he suspected, so the conflict of interest can be ruled out.

Ai Liang didn't turn around to look at Xia Qinian's expression; she just stared quietly at the school.

"Secondly, it is completely impossible that Gao Jiajia's death was a warning to Gao Fuye by his business rivals."

Gao Fuye only has this one daughter, and you can imagine how much he loves her. Would you choose to kill your opponent's only relative just to avoid provoking them? That would only lead Gao Fuye to a lose-lose situation.

"Third, if it was an old grudge, there was absolutely no need to kill Gao Jiajia at school."

After school, the area around the school is teeming with students and food stalls, and there are security cameras everywhere. Are they afraid they won't be exposed? Wouldn't it be easier to wait until Gao Jiajia gets home, or even strangle her in an alley on her way home?

Fourth, Gao Jiajia died around 9:00 to 9:30 after school.

If someone from outside the school were to enter, they would definitely be asked to register by security. As for climbing over the wall to get in, you probably haven't seen the area around the school after school, have you? Food carts completely surround the school.

"As for the location of the death being off-campus, would you bring a corpse into the school in full view of everyone? Even if you came in at night, the surveillance cameras on the stairs are not just for show."

Xia Qinian, sitting in the driver's seat, was holding his phone with a bewildered expression when Ai Liang turned around and began to summarize.

"Outsiders probably don't know this, but there are cameras installed in many places on our school, including at the stairwells."

Regardless of whether Gao Jiajia was strangled elsewhere or inside the teaching building, since her body was hung at the classroom door to disguise it as a suicide, the murderer would definitely be exposed to surveillance.

The police have definitely reviewed the relevant footage. Since the perpetrator hasn't been identified yet, it proves the cameras either didn't capture anything, or they weren't working.

"Let's make a bold guess: since Gao Jiajia's picture was hung outside her own classroom, does that mean the murderer knew Gao Jiajia and therefore knew which class she was in? Not only that, the murderer must also be very familiar with the area around the school, because to turn off the camera, they would need to go to the electrical box on the first floor and turn off the power in advance."

"Why would Gao Jiajia enter a completely dark teaching building? Or rather, would a girl be foolish enough to stay in the dark after the power went out? It's highly likely that someone she knows is looking for her."

"Therefore, the murderer is most likely someone from the school, such as a student, teacher, or security guard. The possibility of this person is far greater than that of others."

Xia Qinian was speechless, glancing at Ai Liang and then at his phone before silently putting it away.

(End of this chapter)