Ye Shikai carefully examined the window. It was at least ten meters above the ground outside, and there were no claw marks of hooks on the cement surrounding the window. Thus, it seemed that the killer didn’t climb up using a rope.
Ye Shikai remembered that Tianjing had once mentioned that the killer was not an ordinary person, but a cultivator. Considering this, it indeed made sense.
"You all, where were you last night?" Ye Shikai called over the villa’s servants— a steward, two chefs, and three maids—who now stood in a row in front of him.
"Is there something you cannot say?" Ye Shikai’s gaze turned cold as he glanced over everyone.
"Officer, I was patrolling the second floor last night when I suddenly smelled a fragrance and then... then I passed out," the steward finally spoke, looking very remorseful. It had been such a significant event the previous night, and he hadn’t recovered yet.
"And me... the same."
The other servants and chefs spoke up as well. If Ye Shikai wasn’t wrong, the killer had deliberately released a sedative fragrance. Everyone else was unaffected, only Zhang Chen was killed—perhaps this was why Zhang Gong believed his son was killed by a business rival.
"Can the fragrance still be extracted from the scene?" Ye Shikai asked the forensic team.
"No, this kind of gas dissipates completely within an hour. By the time we received the call and arrived, it had already been six or seven hours," a forensic technician reported.
"It seems the other party came well-prepared." Ye Shikai continued, "So you’re saying none of you saw the killer."
Everyone shook their heads repeatedly, showing helplessness. In contrast, Ye Shikai seemed even more helpless. There was only one wound on Zhang Chen’s body, which was also fatal, right in the chest. According to the forensic report, the wound was twenty centimeters deep; the weapon likely a dagger. The entire blade appeared to have penetrated the body; Ye Shikai had no choice but to let everyone go back to work while he stayed behind to collaborate with the police in investigating the scene.
"Ring ring." At that moment, Ye Shikai’s phone started ringing. The caller ID was unknown to him, and as Ye habitually noted the names of callers, this call clearly came from a stranger.
"Hello, who is this?" Ye Shikai asked.
"Mr. Ye, hello." A husky male voice came over the line, sounding very low and unavoidably chilling.
"Demon exorcist," the man paused suddenly, "I did those cases."
"What!" Ye Shikai couldn’t help but exclaim, utterly shocked that the killer had appeared and that his first appearance was a direct call to Ye Shikai, the specialist in serial murder investigations.
"Hehe, you seem surprised."
"Yes, I really didn’t expect you to call me." Ye Shikai quickly recovered. Most killers often return to the crime scenes to admire their "work", and Ye had analyzed before that the killer was a hacker, which could explain how he obtained Ye’s number.
"Let’s get to the point quickly, because my technical team will locate your position soon," Ye Shikai said coldly. In fact, as soon as the call was connected, the location had been locked.
"Haha, since I dare to call you, I’m not afraid of being located, Mr. Ye. I called because I have something to say to you," the man on the line sneered suddenly, then his tone became serious.
"It’s strange to hear that—a wanted criminal has something to tell me," Ye Shikai said with a scoffing tone.
"Mr. Ye, you are mistaken. You only help the police solve cases; you aren’t a cop, and I’m not a criminal either."
"You must be insane," Ye Shikai couldn’t help but swear out loud.
"Mr. Ye, as you are not part of the police, you should understand that society needs demon exorcists like me," the man spoke earnestly. "Since we both uphold justice, why can’t we work together? Or is it that you, Mr. Ye, are blinded by convention like everyone else?"
"Ridiculous, you wantonly murder people but dare to masquerade as justice."
"Ha ha, Mr. Ye, there is much dark covered by justice in this world, and I am here to banish the ultimate demons," the confident voice came over the phone. All the characteristics matched Ye Shikai’s speculation—a killer who sees himself as a demon exorcist, cloaking himself in a hypocritical veil of "justice" while committing the most brutal acts.
"Look at those people, every one of them deserved it."
"Their crimes should naturally be punished by the law, your killings are completely unfounded," Ye Shikai said sternly, his tone cold while the other seemed like a hysterical lunatic.
"Ha ha, it seems you are no different from the public."
"Mr. Ye, please be prepared," the man paused before hanging up the phone.
.......................................
"What? The killer called you?" Zhang Ting slammed the table hard, making the sturdy wooden desk tremble as if it were about to collapse.
"Don’t get so excited," Ye Shikai said gloomily, indifferent.
"Nonsense, how can I not be excited? What did you say?" Zhang Ting, curious as a child, grabbed Ye Shikai’s collar, bombarding him with questions.
"Just some words persuading him to surrender, what else could it be?" Ye Shikai sighed, with four lives on his hands, even surrender would likely result in the death penalty; such an "enticement" seemed somewhat powerless.
"How did the location trace go?" Ye Shikai asked a cyber officer nearby.
"We’ve already sent people to the traced location, but it was a rough house in the suburbs and no one was found," the cyber officer sighed. "Also, there were no cameras nearby, so no footage of the killer was captured." The source of thɪs content is NovelHub(.)net
"I figured as much," Ye Shikai sighed wearily. "If he were that easy to spot, he wouldn’t have bothered playing hide-and-seek with us ."
"I’ve already reported this matter to Director Song, but this call seems to have been unproductive." Ye Shikai felt somewhat dejected; a hard-won call felt wasted.