Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

An hour later, at the Municipal Bureau's Psychological Assessment Center.

The walls here are a soft off-white, the lights are a warm, pale yellow, and the air is filled with a faint, calming aromatherapy scent.

"Butcher," also known as Ah Gui, changed into a loose hospital gown and sat on a soft sofa. He was no longer as frantic as before; instead, he became unusually quiet, with a vacant stare and drool at the corner of his mouth, like a real mental patient.

Separated by a one-way glass, Lu Jingyan stood side by side with an elderly professor with gray hair and wise eyes.

"Professor Wang, what do you think?" Lu Jingyan asked.

Professor Wang is one of the top criminal psychology experts in China and a specially appointed consultant to the police. He stared at Ah Gui in the observation room for a full ten minutes before slowly speaking, his voice hoarse:

"It's very performative."

"A true schizophrenic patient has a vacant gaze, but deep within that gaze lies logic. He is imitating, imitating what he perceives a 'madman' should be like."

Professor Wang shook his head. "He's very smart and has extremely strong counter-surveillance capabilities. Ordinary psychological tests and lie detectors probably won't work on him."

"It didn't work?"

Lu Jingyan smiled, a smile that sent a chill down Su Xiaoxiao's spine for no apparent reason.

"Professor Wang, you may not know this, but our special investigation team recently... introduced a brand new, unconventional psychological counseling device."

……

Inside the observation room.

The door was pushed open.

Lu Jingyan walked in.

He wasn't wearing a police uniform, but instead a white coat, gold-rimmed glasses, and a whiteboard in his hand, looking like a refined psychologist.

"Hello, Mr. Gui."

Lu Jingyan pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him, her voice as gentle as a spring breeze, "Don't be nervous, I'm not here to interrogate you. My name is Dr. Lu, and I'm here to provide you with psychological counseling."

Ah Gui raised her head, gave him a blank look, and mumbled incoherently, "Eat...eat candy...I want to eat candy..."

Want some candy?

Lu Jingyan smiled, took out a White Rabbit milk candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, and held it to his lips.

"ah--"

Ah Gui opened his mouth like a child.

However, what he received was not candy, but a resounding blow filled with the light of righteousness—

"Snapped!"

Big cunt.

The slap was swift and hard, the sound crisp and loud, even echoing in the quiet room.

Ah Gui was completely stunned by the slap.

He covered his face, which had suddenly swelled up, and stared incredulously at the "Dr. Lu" in front of him who had suddenly changed his expression, his mind blank.

[Ding! Skill "True Word Overpowering" has been activated!]

[The target has entered a state of "forced calm" and "truth," lasting 60 seconds!]

"You...you hit me?" Ah Gui asked instinctively.

"Would I hit you?"

Lu Jingyan flexed his wrists, his tone flat, "No, I'm giving you 'electroshock therapy.' Now, do you feel more awake?"

Ah Gui felt that his mind had never been so clear.

The feigned madness and chaos from before vanished completely with that slap. In its place was an absolute, uncontrollable calm.

He wanted to get angry, wanted to yell, but the words that came out were...

"I'm awake now."

"very good."

Lu Jingyan picked up the lie detector connection cable from the table and skillfully attached it to A Gui's fingers and chest.

"Now, let's play a question-and-answer game."

Lu Jingyan looked at him, a devilish smile playing on his lips. "I'll ask, you answer. No lying, okay?"

Why are you pretending to be crazy?

"Because...because I want to get away with this." Ah Gui said uncontrollably, and he was startled as soon as the words left his mouth.

"What happens after you're exonerated?"

"Once things calm down, I'll apply for medical parole, then find a way to escape, change my identity, and continue killing."

Why kill?

"Because...because I like that feeling. I like seeing their fear, I like the thrill of life slipping through my fingers. It makes me feel like a god."

The question and answer flowed smoothly.

In the observation room next door, Professor Wang's thermos cup clattered to the ground, spilling hot water all over the floor.

He looked at the young man who seemed to control everything like a god, and then at the murderous maniac who answered every question. He felt that the professional knowledge system he had built up over the decades had collapsed at this moment.

What... what kind of insane interrogation method is this?!

"One last question."

Lu Jingyan stared at the perfectly steady curve on the lie detector screen, his eyes turning icy cold. "Five years ago, where did you hide the body of the fifth girl you murdered?"

This question remains the only unsolved mystery in the "Rainy Night Butcher" case.

Ah Gui's body trembled violently. His consciousness struggled frantically, but his mouth opened uncontrollably.

"In...in the suburbs...inside the unfinished building...in the concrete pillars..."

[Ding! "Truth" status has ended.]

Ah Gui instantly snapped back to reality. He realized what he had just said, and the last trace of color drained from his face.

"No...it wasn't me...you put something in my head!" he screamed hysterically.

"It's too late."

Lu Jingyan stood up, took off his white coat, and threw it on the chair.

"Mr. Butcher, welcome to hell."

He turned around, opened the door, and calmly gave the order to the stunned crowd outside:

"Dismissal. Notify the criminal investigation team to exhume the body."

……

With the arrest of the "Rainy Night Butcher" and the glorious achievement of wiping out the entire group at the Internet Celebrity Festival.

The "Clean and Bright Action" in Jinghai City has come to a perfect end.

The city's crime rate has dropped to an all-time low.

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the special investigation team's office, Lu Jingyan looked at the city gradually returning to order and finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

In the past few months, he has almost single-handedly sent all the well-known "protagonists" and "villains" in this world to work on sewing machines.

This world should... be able to have some peace for a while, right?

He looked up at the sky outside the window.

Azure and clear, just like his mood at this moment.

However, just as he was about to turn around and make himself a cup of tea.

"Click—"

A soft sound, like the cracking of glass, suddenly came from the heavens.

Lu Jingyan's pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw that, without warning, a thin, spiderweb-like crack had appeared in the clear, cloudless sky...

Purple cracks.

The crack wasn't large, but it resembled an ugly scar branded onto the azure sky, exuding a chilling, otherworldly aura.

Moreover, the crack is slowly expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

[Warning! Warning! Highest level red alert!]

The system notification sound, which had been silent for a long time, exploded wildly in his mind again, sharper and more urgent than ever before!

[The high-dimensional energy barrier has been detected to be continuously breaking down! The stability of the world's barrier has dropped to 10%!]

The Reiki revival process is irreversible!

[Countdown: 3 days!]

The first wave of "superhumans" worldwide is about to awaken!

Volume 3, "Ancient Martial Arts Cultivation," has officially begun!

[New mission generated: Please prepare yourself for the arrival of—]

[A brand new, chaotic, and monstrous era of superpowers!]

Lu Jingyan looked at the ever-growing purple crack, then glanced at the ordinary people on the street below who were oblivious to it and continued hurrying along.

He was silent.

After a long while, he slowly uttered a sentence that puzzled Su Xiaoxiao behind him.

"It seems that in the future, the Criminal Law alone may not be enough to handle the cases."

"Should I take some time... to memorize the Classic of Mountains and Seas?"