Dongfang Capital, Outer Ring.
By the time Zhang Wei and Xia Qianyue arrived at Chengbei District, it was already 9 p.m.
Luckily, for Dongfang Capital, this time still fell within the evening rush hour.
Especially for those working in the Central Ring, at this point, they would typically be taking the subway, taxis, and buses back to their affordable rented rooms in the Outer Ring area.
Some of them even rented places near the suburban ring, where the daily commute exceeded two hours.
In the Outer Ring, Chengbei District was known for its heavy foot traffic.
"Never done it, never done it."
"We're not into that style anymore, go try someplace else."
"If you're willing to pay, I could do it for you, but I can't guarantee the quality, yeah? I haven't inked that old design in years!"
Zhang Wei and Xia Qianyue asked around the tattoo parlors in the streets and alleys of Chengbei District, but the responses they received were all unsatisfactory.
Many tattoo artists no longer worked on old designs.
According to them, the primary clientele were now young people who preferred unique and novel designs.
Unlike the older generation of gang members who liked to ink dragons and tigers, radiating sheer dominance, which, in fact, offered no real boost to combat abilities.
Today's youth placed more emphasis on art, highlighting personal traits, with tattoo designs that were much more abstract.
For instance, a young man in a short-sleeve shirt passed by Zhang Wei, his green hair gleaming, each arm tattooed with Pikachu and Raichu.
His friend was even more outrageous, his shirt neckline opened wide, and one could vaguely make out a Blue Fatty.
What did this show? That these youngsters still held a childlike spirit in their hearts~
After several unsuccessful attempts, disappointment was beginning to show on Xia Qianyue's pretty face.
Zhang Wei, on the other hand, wasn't fazed and even took her hand to keep moving forward.
"Come on, let's stake out the biggest plaza nearby and see if we can find someone with the old tattoo designs!"
Soon, the two arrived at the Citizens' Plaza of Chengbei District. However, at over 9 p.m., the plaza dancers had dispersed, and now the area was filled with young couples and individuals out for an evening stroll, or some of the local youths.
Using the light from the street lamps around the plaza, Zhang Wei's gaze swept through the crowd until it locked onto a young man who was shirtless.
"Wow, looks like he's got a tattoo of some mythical creature there!"
Although the tattoo was very abstract, the strokes, edging, and the color scheme all indicated it was an old design.
Zhang Wei knew they had found their target.
He signaled to Xia Qianyue to stay put and then, with a smile on his face, he bought a pack of cigarettes from a nearby vendor and approached a group of young delinquents.
A few minutes later, the youths began to puff away at the cigarettes, and Zhang Wei had reached his intended location.
However, now his expression was extremely solemn.
"Zhang Wei, what's going on? How can asking for directions lead to such a grave expression?"
"Simple-minded one, what do you think we should do if we actually run into the killer?"
Faced with Xia Qianyue's question, Zhang Wei replied with a somber look.
"The killer, you know who it is?" Hearing those words, Xia Qianyue's eyes widened, and her heartbeat quickened.
"No, there's no definite clue yet, just indirect evidence!"
Zhang Wei shook his head and then pointed in a direction, "But hey, my guess is we're not far from the truth now!"
Under Zhang Wei's guidance, the two walked for over ten minutes and arrived at the well-known Chengbei Avenue in Chengbei District.
This road was a famous main artery of the district, with many industrial factories once flanking both sides.
But with the industrial relocation of Dongfang Capital, many facilities moved outside the Outer Ring and into various industrial parks along the suburban ring or simply left Dongfang Capital for neighboring cities to develop, leading to many factories undergoing industrial upgrading.
Nowadays, the area was filled with various educational institutions, entertainment bars, and indoor sports facilities, all of which required significant space, and the factory buildings perfectly met their needs.
Zhang Wei's destination was one of the bars.
Sister Dong's Bar.
The owner of the bar was naturally called Sister Dong, but she was not the person Zhang Wei was looking for.
According to the socialites on the square, Sister Dong had started dating a tattoo artist a few months earlier, who was extremely skilled, especially in tattooing animals like dragons, phoenixes, tigers, and qilin—even the mythical kun fish from the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" could be inked on you.
And now, the person mixing drinks at the bar counter of Sister Dong's Bar, along with Xia Qianyue, was none other than Sister Dong herself.
Like any typical bar owner, Sister Dong was in her thirties, sporting dyed green, slanted bangs in a Skrillex hairstyle, wearing earrings, and dressed in a punk-style black jacket.
"Boss, two glasses of Ballantine's!"
Outside the bar, a young man placed an order.
Sister Dong started to mix the drinks, the shaker flying up and down in her hands, combining with the ambient music to establish a rhythm.
Zhang Wei leaned over to Xia Qianyue's ear and whispered, "Left-hander!"
Xia Qianyue's gaze unconsciously fixated on Sister Dong, her breathing becoming more rapid in response.
However, the other patrons near the bar were also watching Sister Dong mix drinks, and no one noticed the unusual excitement in Xia Qianyue's eyes.
"Simple-minded person, there's another one!"
Zhang Wei had been scanning the room and now focused his attention on a booth on one side of the hall.
There sat a slightly younger man, sporting a couple's hairstyle matching Sister Dong's, tattooing a youngster in the booth.
The man's hands were incredibly nimble, the blade and needle jumping and flying through his fingers like a magician's wand, drawing rounds of cheers from the young patron's companions at the booth.
"His handiwork is quite impressive!" Watching the man's movements, Zhang Wei knew in his heart.
This time, he really had come to the right place; he could pinpoint both killers at once.
The bar owner, Sister Dong, was likely the murderer of Li Ping and Lu Mei, while her boyfriend, the tattoo artist, was the suspect in the last case.
However, Zhang Wei had a question: How had the two connected with Lu Mei, Li Ping, and the third victim, and what shady dealings were they conducting in secret to help them earn 9,500 yuan each week?
Setting aside these doubts, Zhang Wei subtly touched Xia Qianyue's foot with his toe.
After exchanging a look, the two decided to leave the bar.
Outside the bar, the simple-minded person couldn't hold back, "Zhang Wei, is the boss the killer? And that tattoo artist, is he the second accomplice?"
"Until we gather enough evidence to convict them, we can only call them suspects," Zhang Wei shook his head.
These were the words of a professional lawyer and something that criminal investigators needed to be aware of.
Without concrete evidence, any irregularities in the arrest operation on the part of the investigators could potentially become evidence for the suspect's acquittal.
The famous "Simpson case" is one such example: Detective Fuhrman entered the suspect's home illegally without conclusive evidence, and though he found the bloody DNA evidence, his reckless actions gave the defense attorney a window of opportunity, leading to the worst possible trial outcome.
The simple-minded person's face sulked, "That's no fun, then what do you propose we do?"
"What else is there to do but go home and sleep?" Zhang Wei spread his hands and pointed at the moon above.
One can't say that the nightscape of Dongfang Capital is beautiful because the city's neon lights are so abundant that the moonlight isn't even visible.
"Zhang Wei, why did we have to leave? Isn't the bar owner the killer? Couldn't we just go and catch them red-handed?" The simple-minded one still resisted.
But Zhang Wei sighed, a look of helplessness on his face: "Simple-minded person, the connections we've found are all circumstantial evidence, unable to prove they killed Lu Mei and Li Ping. Moreover, the third victim was killed by a single blow, leaving no clue pointing to the killer. Acting rashly would only startle the snake!"
"But they definitely killed those people!"
"I know, but only you and I are aware of this. Lacking the necessary connecting evidence, even if we inform the Procuratorate's Office of our speculation, they wouldn't have enough to prosecute. Besides, from what I know about the Procuratorate's Office, they prefer to announce only cases they're certain they can win!"
Xia Qianyue had never experienced anything like this; all she knew was that bad people should be caught and punished.
So when Zhang Wei spoke like this, she instantly ran out of ideas and became lost, "Then... what should we do?"
Zhang Wei, like a fatherly figure, patted Xia Qianyue's head, offering words of comfort, "That's why we can go home and rest now. We'll come back tomorrow. After all, they won't be leaving anytime soon."
Xia Qianyue puffed up her cheeks, resembling an irritated, pink, little hamster.
But the thought of Zhang Wei also helping me caused his puffed cheeks to gradually deflate, and he finally let out a sigh.
"Well... okay then..."
In the end, Silly compromised and chose to go home.
If not today, then the battle would resume tomorrow!
Watching Silly get into a taxi, Zhang Wei waved his hand, planning to take public transportation.
However, he had only taken a few steps when he suddenly slipped into the shadows at the side of the street.
His gaze was fixed on the direction Xia Qianyue had left; his hands unconsciously reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his phone to compose a message.
Soon the text was ready and sent off.
At the same time, in the direction of that road, a taxi that should have left suddenly turned around and came back.
"Young lady, your boyfriend just paid me to take you to the Central Ring, and now you want to come back. Isn't that inappropriate?"
The taxi driver complained a bit, after all, Zhang Wei had paid for the whole trip, and here the passenger wanted to turn back just 5 minutes later, how troublesome.
But a single sentence from Xia Qianyue made him beam with joy.
"Driver, you can keep the change!"
"If you'd said so earlier. Next time you need a ride, look for me, okay?"
After dropping off Xia Qianyue, he hit the accelerator hard and sped away, as if worried Xia Qianyue might change her mind.
As for Xia Qianyue, after making sure there was no sign of Zhang Wei around, she fixed her gaze directly on Chengbei Avenue and silently made her way toward Sister Dong's Bar.
In the shadows by the roadside, Zhang Wei slowly emerged, watching Xia Qianyue move off on her own, shaking his head and sighing.
"Silly, you think I can't tell you're keeping things to yourself? Young people are always too impetuous."
He spoke, but then realized something was amiss, "But then again, there's another saying that's also right, what would youth be if not impetuous?"
...
Meanwhile.
At the Martial Association Headquarters, Serious Case Group 7.
Though it was late at night, the Serious Case Unit's office was still bustling with activity.
Captain Wu Yong, along with his subordinates Old Xing, Ah Ni, and Tamu, were working through the night.
Of course, it's not every day that they come across a murder case, let alone three in a row, so their busyness was justified.
"What about Lu Mei's boyfriend? Have we confirmed his whereabouts?"
"Captain, confirmed, he was working at the club during the time of the murder. There's a record of his shift, and we have video evidence. He has an alibi and isn't the killer!"
"What about Li Ping? How's the background check going? There are a lot of riff-raff where she lived. Maybe one of them knew Li Ping had come into money and got greedy."
"Captain, we're still working on pinpointing the suspects, but there are just too many punks in that area. There's a constant stream of people at Bar Street every day, we've only reviewed half of the surveillance footage..."
"Have we identified the third victim? Any recent social activities where he might have offended someone?"
"We've got his information, but reviewing his recent social activities requires accessing local area surveillance, and many people have already left work now, so we'll only be able to get that tomorrow."
Listening to the reports from his subordinates, Wu Yong's face darkened.
Just now, his superiors had called him to a meeting, specifically mentioning the three recent murder cases.
The higher-ups believed that there was no absolute connection between the third murder and the first two, so they wanted to hand the third case over to Serious Case Group 1. But Wu Yong argued his case forcefully, using the financial records to barely persuade the superiors to change their mind.
However, the members of Serious Case Groups 1, 2, and even 3 were all eyeing these three murders. If Group 7 couldn't solve the cases quickly, the cases would be transferred to another team.
Wu Yong looked at his team and sighed deeply.
He knew that Group 7 was understaffed and had its share of problem people. They rarely encountered a major case in a whole year. If they could solve these three murder cases now, it would certainly impress the higher-ups.
But so far in the investigation, they had not found a single clue; the only lead was provided by a young man involved in the inquiry.
Wu Yong had even begun to doubt himself, wondering if it had been too long since they'd solved a case—perhaps everyone in Team 7 had grown rusty.
"No, this time we must brace ourselves, otherwise our Team 7 is going to be disbanded!"
Wu Yong encouraged himself in his mind, prepared to continue pulling an all-nighter to check the surveillance footage for clues.
But suddenly, his phone rang with an incoming text message.
"It must be from mom, asking why I haven't left work yet!"
Wu Yong saw the text message notification and instinctively thought of the woman back home, his face showing even more helplessness.
Since joining the major case squad, he had rarely managed to leave work on time, yet he had never complained. If he owed anyone anything, it was his mother and daughter at home.
His wife had contracted a serious illness early on and passed away not long after, leaving him with a daughter still in swaddling clothes. If it were not for his mother still being around and often helping him take care of his daughter, their home probably wouldn't have been able to hold together.
"Forget it, I'll reply to the message, at least to let them know I'm safe."
Seeing that the message notification was still going off, Wu Yong reluctantly picked up his phone to read the message.
The next moment, his expression changed dramatically, as if he'd seen the sky collapse and earth shatter.
"Holy shit, I've found the murderer!"
A shout broke out, drawing Ah Ni, Old Xing, and the others' attention all at once.
"Captain, what did you just say? My Dragon Country language isn't good, I didn't catch the first two words clearly, could you repeat them, please?" Ah Ni asked with a puzzled face, speaking fluent Dragon Country language.
"Remember the kid from the daytime?"
"The one who looked skinny and weak, without much fighting power?" Ah Ni muttered subconsciously, picturing Zhang Wei in her mind.
"That kid said he found the murderer, and even found where they're hiding!" Wu Yong picked up his phone to start composing a reply.
"Captain, you believe that kid's bluff? He's not even part of the major case squad, not to mention a member of our Martial Association. How could he possibly have found the murderer?" Old Xing was the first to express disbelief, shaking his head.
Ah Ni and Tamu, not being good at solving cases either, were also stunned.
"At first, I didn't believe it either, but the clues the kid provided all matched up. We have no choice but to check it out!"
Wu Yong grabbed his coat, getting ready for action.
"Captain, what's going on exactly? What did that kid find?" It wasn't just Old Xing—Ah Ni and Tamu also came over to ask.
"The kid said he found a suspect, the owner of Sister Dong's Bar on Chengbei Avenue in the Central Ring, Xu Dong, and his boyfriend—they both have major suspicions of committing the crime!"
"Really?"
"I didn't believe it at first either, but the kid provided lots of evidence, many of which matched up. Anyway, let's go and talk on the way!"
As Wu Yong spoke, he led the way out of the office area, heading straight for the parking garage downstairs.
Ah Ni, Tamu, and Old Xing exchanged glances and quickly followed.
As the four of them descended the stairs, Wu Yong spoke again: "First off, we have the first victim, Lu Mei. The kid found a sticky note on Lu Mei's desk with the number '666' on it, which corresponds exactly to the address of Sister Dong's Bar on Chengbei Avenue, number 666."
"What kind of clue is that?" Old Xing muttered, somewhat speechless.
He had thought it would be some important clue, but what could a string of numbers represent? There were plenty of buildings with the number 666 in Dongfang Capital.
"Hear me out!" Wu Yong snorted, continuing, "The evidence that linked the victims to the murderer wasn't any other clues, but evidence right under our noses—the tattoos on the two victims' bodies. According to the kid's investigation, the tattoos on Lu Mei and Li Ping are old styles that many tattoo artists in Dongfang Capital don't do anymore. When following up on the clues, they discovered that Xu Dong's boyfriend is a tattoo artist who specializes in old-style tattoos."
Old Xing and the others looked at each other again, but Wu Yong didn't care about their reactions and went on to explain:
"According to the kid's observations, Xu Dong the bartender is left-handed, and likely the one who killed Lu Mei and Li Ping, while his boyfriend is skilled with knives and could very well have killed the third victim."
"With just this evidence, how are we supposed to arrest someone?" Old Xing was still worried, as the current evidence wasn't enough for a conviction.
"That's also my concern, because the kid and his girlfriend are still at the bar, and it seems like they're going to continue gathering evidence."
At this point, Wu Yong's face took on an extremely grave expression.
"If Xu Dong is indeed the murderer, that means the kid and his girlfriend are about to face the real killer!"