Chapter 159: The Killer Who Deceived the Entire City

"Uncle, try this wine of mine. You won't find it anywhere else."

"I wouldn't be so sure. When it comes to wine, for the past dozen years I've—" Deputy Bureau Chief Tie stopped mid-sentence. He sniffed the air, catching a unique fragrance.

"Good wine," he murmured instinctively. The old man picked up his glass with both hands and placed it in front of me, his meaning obvious.

I smiled and poured for him. The bright, crystal-clear liquid fell into the carved glass. Not only did its fragrance overflow, but it also had a unique charm.

Deputy Bureau Chief Tie couldn't wait to take a sip. His reaction was just like Huang Boyuan's. He downed it in one gulp, a look of intoxication on his face as he savored the lingering aftertaste.

I saw Mother Tie inhaling the aroma, clearly wanting some but too embarrassed to ask. I quickly offered, "Auntie, would you like a glass too?"

"I'll pass. You two go ahead."

"Have a glass. This wine is steeped with traditional Chinese medicine. It regulates the body, nourishes the internal organs, and even improves the complexion."

Unable to resist, Mother Tie had a glass as well. As the wine went down, a rosy blush dyed her cheeks. She couldn't stop nodding. "Yes, good wine. Very good."

Thanks to a single bottle of wine, the distance between us closed significantly. After we ate and drank our fill, Tie Ningxiang, Yi Yi, and Mother Tie cleaned up the dishes in the kitchen, leaving Deputy Bureau Chief Tie and me sitting on opposite ends of the sofa.

I gripped my knees with both hands, not daring to move. I stared straight at the television, my mind racing to figure out how to break the awkward silence.

Just as I was thinking, Deputy Bureau Chief Tie suddenly waved me over like it was a secret. "Gao Jian, do you have any cigarettes on you? I have a habit of smoking after I drink, but Ningxiang's mother hates it. So, you know."

I understood perfectly. With a bit of hesitation, I pulled out my five-yuan pack of Zhongnanhai. "Uncle, I usually only smoke these."

"Zhongnanhai?" This was a local Jiangcheng brand and very cheap. Deputy Bureau Chief Tie showed no intention of refusing. He skillfully slid one out and placed it in his mouth. "I used to smoke these a lot before I got married. Back then, I was just a neighborhood beat cop. I can't believe over twenty years have passed in a flash."

I lit the cigarette for Deputy Bureau Chief Tie, then lit one for myself. Curling smoke drifted up toward the living room ceiling.

Sometimes, it wasn't that I actually liked smoking, but rather that watching the chaotic shapes of smoke rise into the air felt relaxing.

"Your name is Gao Jian, right?" From across the sofa, Deputy Bureau Chief Tie suddenly asked again. The drunkenness in his eyes had faded; he seemed to be recalling something from a long time ago.

"Yes, I'm Gao Jian."

"Have we met before? From the first moment I saw you, I felt a sense of familiarity."

I didn't deny it. I nodded.

Exhaling a puff of smoke, Deputy Bureau Chief Tie looked up at the expensive light fixture on the ceiling. "Five years ago, I met an intern who hadn't even graduated from the police academy yet. His name was also Gao Jian."

"That kid had a certain resilience in his eyes. He was decisive, bold yet meticulous. I thought he was going to become the best police officer in Jiangcheng."

My fingers trembled. I didn't speak, just took a deep drag of my cigarette.

Deputy Bureau Chief Tie seemed completely oblivious to my reaction. "It's just a pity that a serial murder case five years ago ruined him."

"Torrential rain poured down for three days and three nights. Every midnight, someone in Jiangcheng was murdered, and the killer's methods were extremely cruel—dismemberment and mutilation. Every crime challenged the bottom line of the police force. The people of Jiangcheng were panicking, and the Municipal Sub-bureau dispatched everyone for midnight patrols."

"Police forces were limited, so even though he was just an intern, he was sent out too."

"The rainstorm continued, and the midnight city was filled with thunder and lightning. That elusive killer hid his identity well. No one knew who he was; perhaps he was lurking right beside us at that very moment."

The veins on the hand holding my cigarette bulged. That incident five years ago had left me with too much indelible trauma.

Deputy Bureau Chief Tie gave me a faint look, his tone slowing. "On the third night, at twelve midnight, the first victim was discovered. They were wearing mourning garb, their four limbs pierced through with steel rebar, and provocative words carved into their back with a sharp weapon."

"At one in the morning, the second victim was found in a park five kilometers away. The head had been chopped off and still hasn't been found to this day."

"At two in the morning, the third victim appeared. In a women's university study room, a female teacher was brutally dismembered. The killer even meticulously divided the corpse into equal weights and placed the pieces inside the desk drawers."

"At three in the morning, while everyone was anxiously searching for the bodies, the main bureau received a call for backup from an intern. He said he had found the killer!"

"An intern found the killer ahead of everyone else? How could that be possible?" At this point, Deputy Bureau Chief Tie flicked his cigarette ash and looked at me. I hadn't said a word. "Even though no one believed him, they still rushed to the location he mentioned."

"It was a completely sealed basement. He had fainted beside the fourth victim. We pulled all the surrounding surveillance footage and collected fingerprints inch by inch."

"But the facts proved that in this completely sealed room, other than the victim, only that intern had ever entered."

"If that victim hadn't committed suicide, then the killer could only have been him."

"When you eliminate all the impossibilities, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

The cigarette in Deputy Bureau Chief Tie's hand had burned out. "Actually, I haven't been able to figure it out for these past five years. Why was that intern able to predict the killer's location ahead of everyone else? To me, the killer was just murdering at random. There was absolutely no connection between the victims. It was far too abnormal."

He looked at me in my silence. "Do you know how he did it? I remember that intern seemed to be named Gao Jian too."

The veins on my arm slowly receded. I stubbed out the cigarette and gently exhaled a breath. "No one would believe what he said. It was true five years ago, and I'm afraid it won't change today, five years later. But rest assured, one day he will catch that bastard with his own hands. The net of heaven is vast and lets nothing slip through!"

I got up from the sofa, my mind a tangled mess. A warm and harmonious family dinner like this really wasn't suitable for me after all.

I cupped my hands lightly toward Deputy Bureau Chief Tie, opened the security door, and left.

Hearing the door, the three women busy in the kitchen all ran out. "Gao Jian left?"

"Dad, what did you say to Gao Jian?!"

"You just have a rotten temper. He barely walked in the door and you drove him away! Hurry up and bring him back!"

Facing his wife and daughter's accusations, Deputy Bureau Chief Tie gave a bitter smile. He secretly tucked the ashtray under the coffee table, his eyes fixed on the cheap cigarette he used to smoke in his youth. "That Gao Jian is no ordinary person."

"What nonsense are you spouting? Hurry up and get him back! At the very least, he saved your daughter's and granddaughter's lives!"

"You don't understand." Deputy Bureau Chief Tie seemed to recall the scene five years ago when thousands of pointing fingers had accused him. "Five years ago, a major case occurred in Jiangcheng, and the higher-ups demanded that the murders be solved. In order to crack the case, people lost their minds. The anger in everyone's hearts needed an outlet, and he became a sacrifice. The person who should have been closest to the truth became the scapegoat instead."

Deputy Bureau Chief Tie got up to close the door. He watched the gradually retreating figure, a trace of imperceptible admiration on his face. "If he isn't the killer who deceived the entire city, then he might just be the hero who saved all of Jiangcheng."

Leaving Tie Ningxiang's home, I wandered aimlessly down the path. I lit a cigarette and looked up at the gloomy sky. "The case from five years ago probably wasn't the work of humans."

If I hadn't become a Streamer for the Underworld Live Show, perhaps I never would have come into contact with that world in the shadows. As I learned more, I developed new ideas about that old case: 'No matter where you flee, I will definitely catch you!'

Finishing my cigarette, I was completely unaware that at this very moment, inside this high-end residential complex, two people were discussing my name.

In a house on the shaded side of the complex, Jiang Chen and an old man with a venomous snake embroidered on his collar were sitting in a study.

Jiang Chen, who usually looked down on everyone, behaved extremely respectfully in front of the old man, personally pouring his tea. "Daoist Master, these are that person's birth eight characters. I went through a lot of effort to get them."

The old man looked at the photo and several pieces of yellow paper on the coffee table, stroking his beard. "Gao Jian? Although this name is quite ordinary, his fate is blurry and impossible to figure out."