The tense atmosphere gradually relaxed, and Wang Tao shared his guess:
"Now that the door is closed, we can’t get out. Did any of you catch what that mysterious person said afterward? He ntioned that if we can’t figure out who the next victim is, it’s very likely that we will all go to the Yellow Spring together!"
The phrase "go to the Yellow Spring together" was uttered by Wang Tao with a sense of righteousness. Although their situation was quite desolate, in that mont, he forcefully twisted it into a narrative of glorious self-sacrifice.
He Jinxia’s face broke into a wry smile, and a flicker of interest passed through her eyes as she eagerly said, "So, our top priority now is to find out who the next victim is?"
Wang Tao nodded, "Exactly!"
Ouyang Baoer asked fearfully, "But isn’t there a killer mixed among us...?"
Wang Tao frowned and pondered, "Think about what that person said just now. If we don’t find the next victim, we might all end up being implicated together. But if we do find him, wouldn’t that an we could avoid it?"
Lin Qingzhu nodded in agreent with this idea, "The killer must have so limitations. The mysterious person said if we can’t find out, it’s very likely we’ll die. But if we think about it the other way around, if we do find out, we probably won’t die, so for now, the killer shouldn’t be feared."
Ouyang Baoer, confused by the discussion, clung to one idea, "Does that an, we are safe now?"
Wang Tao and Lin Qingzhu nodded, and Ouyang Baoer let out a deep sigh of relief, while the others also felt sowhat relieved.
Wang Tao stood up, looked around, and said, "Since we’re supposed to find out who the next victim is in this villa, there must be so clues here. Let’s search separately."
Observing thoughtfully, He Jinxia didn’t object and stood up from her spot.
Wang Tao and Lin Qingzhu went to investigate the closed rooms on the second floor. Although she had initially wanted to go to the second floor as well, seeing that two people were already heading there, she changed direction and road around the ground floor instead.
Ouyang Baoer looked around nervously, biting her lip and hesitating. Not wanting to go anywhere, she simply started observing the living room area, turning over items on the coffee table and checking what was under it.
The ground floor had no residential areas, just the kitchen, utility room, and study, each spacious in its own right.
He Jinxia wandered around in the kitchen, opened jars of oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar to check inside but found nothing; the fridge contained normal fruits and vegetables, and not the "dismbered corpse" she had anticipated.
She said apologetically to the cara, "I guessed wrong, I thought there would be sothing unique in the fridge to add a bit of a horror vibe, but there was nothing. It seems this murderer is quite mild."
The caraman watched her expressionlessly, shouldering the cara faithfully without any interaction with He Jinxia.
Seeing she couldn’t get any clues from the crew, He Jinxia shrugged helplessly and then headed to the study.
There was already soone in the study, Ren Xiao, who was holding a notebook with a shocked expression.
Upon hearing soone enter, Ren Xiao’s hand trembled involuntarily, clearly flustered.
He Jinxia noticed his deanor, her brows furrowing in puzzlent.
Before she could say anything, Ren Xiao quickly said, "I might have found the killer’s hit list!"
He Jinxia hurried over, and Ren Xiao handed her the notebook.
She flipped through it and found that both the front and back were blank, with text only in the middle section.
"Luo Man, female middle school teacher, thirty-eight years old, likes to physically punish students, deserves to die."
"Luo Hongguang, male courier, twenty-seven years old, likes to steal custors’ packages, causing the courier company to always receive complaints, deserves to die."
"Zhang Xiaochen, male dancer, thirty years old, likes young children, dark-hearted, deserves to die."
He Jinxia read out the contents recorded in the notebook one by one. At the end, only two digits remained, written with a bright red marker—"34".
He Jinxia’s expression was solemn, "If I’m not mistaken, this must be a death list, but the question remains whether those recorded are about to be victims or have already died?"
"Ah!" Suddenly, a scream rang out from the living room, and He Jinxia and Ren Xiao hurried out.
Ouyang Baoer saw them, her eyes lit up, and she waved the newspaper in her hand, "Co here quickly, I’ve found the list of victims killed by the murderer!"
Wang Tao and Lin Qingzhu heard the commotion and also ca down from the second floor, gathering again in the living room.
The newspaper reported nothing else but the recent serial killings in the city center.
"Luo Man, Luo Hongguang, Zhang Xiaochen, these three people are of different ages, different genders, and live in different places, it seems there’s nothing connecting them..." Wang Tao murmured.
"There is a connection, didn’t you see the reasons to kill behind each of them? Could the murderer be specifically targeting bad people? And look, the first two victims both have the surna Luo, and the victim that appeared later has the surna Zhang, could the next victim also have the surna Zhang?"
Lin Qingzhu proposed his own guess.
Everyone looked at each other, the atmosphere heavy, and no one spoke.
Ouyang Baoer looked left and right and weakly said, "But none of us has the surna Zhang or Luo."
Lin Qingzhu analyzed calmly, "Guessing based on surnas was just a casual remark, generally speaking, the logic behind serial killers is very ticulous, and the victims they choose are also related in so way, using surnas to determine is too arbitrary."
Wang Tao frowned and said, "Besides that, I rember one very difficult aspect of solving serial murder cases is that if the murderer’s targeting is not fixed, using a random killing thod, it becos very difficult to determine the next victim."
Lin Qingzhu and Wang Tao were not professional investigators, and the analysis they could offer at this mont was based purely on their many years of societal experience.
"Even with random killings, it is possible to narrow down the range of victims, since everyone who appears before the murderer could potentially beco a target, depending on factors like the murderer’s occupation, social status, and usual locations."
Lin Qingzhu spoke confidently, "However, according to the information provided, it doesn’t ntion where the victims live, so it probably doesn’t relate to their usual locations."
Ouyang Baoer looked at Lin Qingzhu with admiration, "Brother Zhu, I have never felt as profoundly as I do at this mont that your presence is so commanding and comforting!"
The others couldn’t help but smile, and Ren Xiao spoke with a smile, "True to a police officer, such ticulous thought."
The atmosphere lightened a little, but the shadow of death weighed on everyone’s heart, and no one dared let their guard down; their laughter carried a heavy undertone.
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