Chapter 35: Capturing the Murderer Alive

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Capturing the Murderer Alive

A few rats scurried by, leaving streaks of grayish-black afterimages in the night.

But to Gu Qing’s eyes, their movements were as slow as a snail’s, and he followed them with ease.

They crossed one greenbelt after another.

They wound around one academic building after another.

The rats finally stopped near the campus gate, diving into the shadows behind a large building.

Gu Qing looked up and recognized it as the school’s administration building.

Without a second thought, he crouched down and followed the rats to the back of the administration building.

He stepped into a small, weed-choked grove.

The moment he entered, the scene before him made Gu Qing pause.

Dozens of abnormally plump rats with unusually thick fur were swarming a pile of raw meat on the ground, devouring it frantically.

Their tiny teeth tore at the chunks of flesh.

They let out a series of greedy squeaks.

[Meat, meat, meat...]

[Delicious, delicious, delicious...]

[Eat, eat, eat...]

Gu Qing glanced at the text that automatically appeared before his eyes, his gaze quickly fixing on the pile of meat on the ground.

The meat’s color was unnaturally vibrant, a red so bright it was almost jarring.

A faint, slightly pungent chemical smell hung in the air.

This pile of meat on the ground had clearly been pumped full of chemicals and additives.

’Is this meat what’s making the school’s rats so fat, strange, and unnaturally furry?’

’What’s their purpose in doing this?’

Gu Qing’s mind was filled with questions.

A short while later, the sound of footsteps came from the direction of the administration building.

A man in a security guard’s uniform walked unhurriedly out of the building, holding a large basin of the same bright red lean meat. He walked straight to the pack of rats, stopped, and dumped the contents of the basin onto the ground, continuing the feeding.

’A security guard from the administration building?’

’The one in charge of the surveillance monitors?’

’Could... could this person be the legendary perverted Cannibal Giant?’

Gu Qing’s brow furrowed slightly. He stared intently at the guard feeding the rats, his mind racing.

He didn’t make any rash moves, but continued to observe from the shadows.

「A moment later.」

He quietly backed away a short distance.

He stealthily took out his phone.

He dialed the Security Department’s number.

He reported everything he had seen, along with all his suspicions, to the operator in great detail.

He knew he couldn’t be one hundred percent certain that the security guard before him was the perverted Cannibal Giant.

Rushing forward to subdue the man would be pointless and would likely just tip him off.

Professional matters should be left to the professionals.

Notifying the Security Department and having them handle it was the right choice.

He hung up the phone.

He put his phone away.

Gu Qing returned to his original position and resumed his silent surveillance.

The security guard, completely unaware he was being watched, stood quietly in front of the swarm of rats, smoking a cigarette as he waited for them to finish the raw meat on the ground.

Just as Gu Qing was focused on his observation, a rustling sound of footsteps suddenly came from behind him.

The sound was extremely faint.

So faint it was nearly inaudible in the dead of night.

An ordinary person probably wouldn’t have noticed until the newcomer was right behind them.

But Gu Qing’s five senses were far beyond those of an ordinary person.

Even with the person still more than ten meters away, his incredibly sharp ears had already pinpointed the extremely subtle footsteps.

’He has an accomplice?’

’So the perverted Cannibal Giant isn’t working alone?’

’It’s a whole group?’

Gu Qing’s brow instantly tightened.

If it was just one person, it would be a case of a single twisted individual at worst; the danger would be manageable.

But if it was a group, the nature of the situation would be completely different, and the danger level would skyrocket.

’So...’

’...the criminal organization those two men in black mentioned when they warned Zhou Yuan, is it this group of people feeding the rats?’

’And the mysterious Assassin who attacked Zhou Yuan—is he also a member of this organization?’

In just a brief moment, countless speculations flashed through Gu Qing’s mind.

He could almost see an invisible, giant hand silently closing over the entirety of Hai City University.

The footsteps behind him grew closer, now less than three meters away.

Without further thought, Gu Qing instantly cleared his mind, pushed off with his feet, and suddenly spun around to attack the person behind him.

The person was a man in his early forties.

He was wearing a security guard’s uniform.

He was tightly gripping an electric baton.

He had been sneaking up from behind, planning to ambush Gu Qing with the baton while his guard was down.

When he saw Gu Qing suddenly explode into motion and lunge at him, the man was so startled he shuddered, nearly dropping the baton.

Before he could react, Gu Qing was already on him, his fist smashing toward the man’s face.

"THUD!"

A dull, heavy impact echoed.

The man didn’t even have time to grunt before the punch sent him to the ground. He went limp, knocked out cold on the spot.

And that was with Gu Qing intentionally holding back.

Otherwise, a full-power punch would have made the man’s head explode on the spot, splattering blood everywhere.

Meanwhile, the security guard who had been feeding the rats heard the commotion and rushed over.

But as soon as he rounded the corner, a powerful fist met his face, knocking him out cold and sending him crumpling to the ground, motionless.

After easily dealing with the two security guards, Gu Qing didn’t linger for a second, immediately rushing into the administration building at top speed and heading straight for the surveillance room.

"BANG!"

He kicked open the door to the surveillance room, only to find it empty.

’It seems the only ones on duty in the surveillance room tonight were the two guards I knocked out outside.’

He left the administration building.

He returned to the small grove.

Gu Qing stared at the rats still devouring the raw meat, wondering if he should kill them all.

But on second thought, he realized he might need to gather clues from their squeaking in the future, so he just shooed them away, stopping them from eating any more of the chemical-laden raw meat.

After driving the rats off, Gu Qing went back to watch over the two unconscious security guards.

He silently waited for the Security Officers to arrive.

While waiting, bored, he picked up the electric baton and started zapping himself with it to test his resistance to electricity.

He zapped himself several times.

Each jolt lasted for more than ten seconds.

Gu Qing was shocked to discover that not only did his body feel no discomfort, but the tingling, numbing sensation actually felt pretty good. It was almost addictive.

「A few minutes later.」

Security Officers arrived at the scene and quickly took the two unconscious guards into custody.

"Wait, what did we even do? Why are you arresting us? He’s the one who attacked us!"

"Is feeding rats a crime now? We’re not allowed to like rats?"

The two guards began proclaiming their innocence the moment they woke up.

"What’s all the shouting about!"

The Security Officer Captain barked, "Whether you’ve committed a crime or not will be determined by the investigation. For now, cooperate quietly!"

Then, he turned to Gu Qing, his tone softening slightly. "Young man, we’ll need you to come back to the station with us to help with the investigation as well."

Gu Qing nodded. "No problem."

The Security Officer Captain gave him a deep look, his mind racing.

’Earlier today, a mysterious Assassin attacked Zhou Yuan, and Gu Qing appeared on the scene as the one who saved him. And now, late at night, Gu Qing shows up again as the one who reported this rat-feeding incident at the administration building.’

’Both cases are related to rats. Getting involved in two rat-related incidents in a single day can’t possibly be a coincidence. Has this university student been secretly investigating these rat-related events all along?’

’Once we get back to the station, I need to question him thoroughly,’ the Security Officer Captain resolved.

Soon, Gu Qing and the two security guards were taken to the security station.

The two guards, as criminal suspects, were handcuffed and placed in the back of the patrol car.

Gu Qing was only assisting the investigation, so he was seated in the front passenger seat next to the Security Officer Captain.

Just as the patrol car was slowly driving toward the campus gate,

a slender, pretty figure stood silently at the edge of the administration building’s rooftop.

She looked down from her high vantage point.

Her gaze was ice-cold and sharp.

It was locked firmly on Gu Qing inside the patrol car.

For a long, long time, she did not look away.

...