CHAPTER 776: CHAPTER 776: INTERVENING

Thud, thud, thud.

In the darkness of the room, the sound of heels striking the wooden floor echoed as a man, bound to a chair, watched in terror the man in front of him wielding a blade.

"Please... I beg you, don’t kill... me." Under extreme fear, the man stammered his plea, eyeing the silver glint of the blade, as cold sweat streamed down his forehead.

In front of the terrified man stood another clothed in all black, holding a dagger in his hand and slowly reaching into the pocket of his coat, retrieving a small book. In the dim light, the contents of the book were unclear, but the man in black flipped through it attentively.

"Ye of sin, may the merciful Lord grant thee a chance at redemption, to cleanse thy filthy soul," murmured the man in black, then looked earnestly at the crucifix in front of him.

Suddenly, the surrounding area fell deadly silent, the man tied to the chair held his breath in fear, while the man in black before him stood still, as motionless as a corpse.

Minutes passed, and finally, the man’s body moved, putting the small book back into his coat pocket and slowly walking over to the table.

"Don’t... kill... me."

"The Lord has given you a chance for redemption," said the man in black in a hoarse voice, tossing a stack of A4 papers onto the table, all filled with dense handwriting.

"I spent six hours copying this paper, and you’re a tenured professor at a university. I think four hours should be manageable for you," he said indifferently, tossing a pen onto the table. "Don’t waste time. Four-hour countdown starts now."

In the quiet living room, only the frenzied scratching of the pen across the paper remained, along with the breathing of the two men. One was composed, while the other was in disarray...

After four hours, the alarm clock on the table punctually went off.

"It seems you failed to seize the opportunity," the man in black slowly rose from the sofa and approached with the dagger in his hand.

"I’ve almost... copied it all, just give me... one more hour."

"Repent."

"Don’t... aaah."

.......................................

I remember the last time the Mothman case emerged, it stirred panic throughout Yanjing City and made hearts flutter in fear, but this case was altogether different. The inciting of public opinion had plunged the masses into a state of "madness." The murderer disclosed the case details at large and narrated the "despicable nature" of the victims, exploiting humanity’s negative side to trigger the dark energy within people’s hearts. And these "social scum" who were being killed, they were the fuse. In such a situation, impulsiveness took over reason, and the term "angry youth" emerged.

When Ye Shikai arrived at the police station, he witnessed a scene of even greater chaos—several youths were detained, and the faces of other officers were tinged with panic.

"What happened?" Ye Shikai walked into the office and asked Zhang Ting.

"This morning, we received a call. A few people were wielding controlled knives, giving speeches on the streets," said Zhang Ting coldly.

"Armed with knives and giving speeches? That’s quite novel. What were they speaking on?"

"It’s the work of that same murderer," sighed Zhang Ting helplessly. Now, with ongoing internet discussions, these people openly advocating support for the murderer’s "just" acts were saying that the police are useless and society needs hidden heroes to maintain justice.

"Angry youth," Ye Shikai uttered these two words, sat down and spoke to Zhang Ting, "This is the murderer brainwashing the public, taking advantage of the negative mentality of the ’angry youth.’"

"Do you know, the higher-ups are putting on pressure, I could barely sleep last night," Zhang Ting murmured in complaint.

"Right, the pictures you sent me, I’ve seen them," Ye Shikai took out his mobile phone, "I’ve already confirmed with the team at Yanjing University, these contents are indeed from their paper, sadly stolen and claimed by Yu Xuebin," Ye Shikai said indifferently.

"So, the victim was copying a paper before he was killed?" Zhang Ting expressed her disbelief.

"Exactly." Ye Shikai nodded; the handwriting was indeed Yu Xuebin’s, although hasty and sloppy, suggesting it was done in a rush.

"Why would he do that?"

"I think, the murderer must have been right beside him at that time, and this must have been a requirement of the murderer, perhaps part of the ritual he desired."

"What a pervert," cursed Zhang Ting.

"Indeed, most murders are either for revenge or for money, but this murderer kills in the name of what he calls ’justice,’ or rather a kind of belief."

"Cough, a murderer speaking of justice," Zhang Ting said somewhat discontentedly, knowing full well the actions of the murderer are just adding a veneer of justice to their depravity.

"I think the murderer will strike again to keep the public’s interest up," continued Ye Shikai. News has its timeliness, or in other words, as quickly as news heats up, it also cools down. Ye Shikai was certain that to maintain the atmosphere, the murderer had to continue committing crimes.

"I agree." Just then, a voice came from outside the office; Ye Shikai was too familiar with this voice.

"Tianjing, you’re here." Although Ye didn’t particularly like him, he got up and greeted him out of politeness, and Zhang Ting, who also knew Tianjing, knew his arrival meant that he represented the National Security Bureau. If Ye had guessed correctly, the public opinion had already caused a stir in Yanjing City, and thus the National Security Bureau must be involved too.

"Mr. Ye, didn’t expect we’d be cooperating on a case again," a sentence that confirmed Ye Shikai’s suspicion; Tianjing was sent by the National Security Bureau to collaborate on the case.

"Haha, orders are as heavy as a mountain, I’m here to assist on command," Ye Shikai laughed it off, but Tianjing’s arrival was indeed beneficial for solving the case.

"Ye, Zhang, the National Security Bureau has requested to assist the police in solving the case, Tianjing is now a member of the team," at this time, Song Tian also entered, explaining the situation to them.

"That’s excellent, the more, the merrier," Ye Shikai said with a smile.

"In that case, you better start investigating quickly, the public opinion is raging," Song Tian’s face also wore a tense expression—as long as the case wasn’t solved, neither the police nor society would find peace.

Outside the conference room, Ye Shikai asked Tianjing to step outside, seemingly to discuss something.

"The involvement of the National Security Bureau isn’t just for expediting the investigation, right?" Ye Shikai offered a cigarette and asked directly.

"Haha, Mr. Ye is indeed Mr. Ye. The National Security Bureau was established primarily to focus on cultivators within Huaxia’s borders, to prevent them from wreaking havoc on society."

"So, you’re saying the murderer is also a cultivator."