In the end, under Ling Yue'er's combination punch of wheedling, throwing tantrums, rolling on the ground, and having the City Lord personally pass along a message, the Demon Suppression Division had no choice but to pinch its nose and agree to her request to "assist with the investigation."
Of course, the prerequisite was that all her actions had to follow the command of the special task force.
And the leader of this so-called special task force was Chu Mengxi, who had just recovered from her injuries and was eager to prove herself.
The member was Lin Feng, who had just taken on this assignment and, in everyone's eyes, had been entrusted with a mission at a critical moment.
As well as Zhao Tie and Li Rui, two die-hard followers who had volunteered, claiming they would "escort and protect" Brother Lin and Captain Chu.
And then there was Ling Yue'er, an "invited consultant" of noble status, combat strength practically equal to zero, but absolutely MAX-level troublemaking ability.
Thus, the most bizarre five-person squad in the history of the Nan Yan Commandery Demon Suppression Division was formed.
The atmosphere in the temporary war room was grave.
Chu Mengxi stood before a huge map of the commandery city, her expression solemn. Wisdom and calm gleamed in her cool phoenix eyes.
"According to the case files, the five victims all had different identities. Their only common point was that they were all young, beautiful women with a trace of spiritual energy in their bodies. This indicates that the Skin-Peeling Demon's targets were specific."
Using a cinnabar brush, she circled the five crime scenes on the map.
"The crime scenes were scattered across the east, west, south, north, and central districts of the city, with no discernible pattern. This indicates that the Skin-Peeling Demon had an enormous range of activity and knew the commandery city's terrain like the palm of its hand."
Zhao Tie listened at the side, nodding repeatedly, then added, "Boss, I found another issue. When we examined the scenes, we discovered that all the doors and windows were completely intact. There were no signs of forced entry."
"Correct."
Li Rui also chimed in. "The Skin-Peeling Demon excels at disguise. It may very well have already disguised itself as some inconspicuous person around us. Right now, everyone we look at seems like the murderer!"
"So, our most urgent task is to narrow down the scope of our investigation."
Chu Mengxi looked at the map and pondered. "Last night, I reviewed every case file within the division related to Skin-Peeling Demons. Combined with the victims' social connections, I have preliminarily identified three targets with the greatest suspicion."
As she spoke, she placed three case files on the table.
"The first is Wu Daozi, an artist from Ink Rhyme Studio in the western district."
"This man possesses extraordinary painting skills, especially in portraits of beautiful women. With a single brush, he can capture a woman's voice, appearance, and expression so vividly that she seems alive. It is said that he is solitary and eccentric, and has remained behind closed doors for years. Most importantly, three of the five victims had commissioned paintings from him."
"The second is Physician Mister Liu of Spring Revival Hall in the southern district."
"This man is highly skilled in medicine, but his methods are strange. He specializes in unorthodox techniques for preserving youth and beauty, and is greatly sought after by the city's noble ladies and young misses. Yet privately, he has been discovered frequently purchasing all manner of bizarre medicinal ingredients, even... materials for making human-skin masks."
"The third is Iron Arm Bear King, chief instructor of the martial arts hall in the northern district."
"This man is an eighth-level True Qi Realm expert. His external martial arts have reached an unfathomable level, but his origins are unknown and his temperament is violent. Most suspiciously, on every night a case occurred, witnesses claimed they had sensed a powerful aura near his martial arts hall."
All three suspects had the motive and possibility to commit the crimes.
Chu Mengxi's analysis was reasonable, well-supported, and clearly organized, leaving Zhao Tie and Li Rui filled with admiration.
Even the usually lively Ling Yue'er had fallen uncharacteristically quiet, propping up her chin as she thought seriously.
"What do we do next? Investigate them one by one? But what if we alert the enemy and let that demon escape?" Ling Yue'er asked.
"We have no other choice."
Chu Mengxi said helplessly, "We'll split into three groups and secretly monitor all three of them at the same time. Hopefully, we can find some clues."
It was the safest method, and also the stupidest.
Throughout the entire meeting, only Lin Feng had leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, resting as though none of this concerned him.
Only now did he slowly open his eyes and yawn.
"I say..."
He spoke lazily.
"Why make this so troublesome?"
Everyone's gazes instantly focused on him.
Then they heard him say blandly, in a tone that made it sound perfectly natural:
"Why not just cut down all three suspects?"
"..."
The entire meeting room instantly fell into deathly silence.
Zhao Tie and Li Rui's mouths twitched wildly.
Here it came, here it came! Brother Lin's familiar, simple and brutal, scalp-numbing "one-blade style" of investigation had returned!
Ling Yue'er froze for a moment. Then her beautiful eyes lit up at once, and as she looked at Lin Feng, they seemed filled with little stars.
"Wow! Big Brother Lin, that idea is so... so domineering! I like it!"
Only Chu Mengxi instantly had three black lines rise across her forehead.
"Lin Feng!"
She drew a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, "We are the Demon Suppression Division! Investigations require evidence! We are not butchers who slaughter innocents at will!"
"What if we kill the wrong people? Two of these three might be innocent! Wu Daozi is a famous artist in the commandery city, and Mister Liu has saved many lives! Though Iron Arm Bear King's origins are unknown, there is no conclusive evidence proving that he is a demon!"
"Oh, then what if all three are?"
Lin Feng spread his hands and spoke indifferently.
"You!"
Chu Mengxi was so furious that her chest heaved. She felt that she simply could not communicate with this fellow.
Their ways of thinking were not on the same wavelength at all.
What she pursued was procedural justice, the truth laid bare.
What Lin Feng pursued was outcome-based justice.
It was how to eliminate every potential threat in the most efficient and direct way possible, while incidentally...
Farming Crit Points.
"In any case! I absolutely will not agree to your proposal!"
Chu Mengxi slapped the table and said forcefully, "We'll do it my way! Split up and monitor them! That is an order!"
"Fine."
Lin Feng shrugged.
Seeing the sword-drawn, bow-bent atmosphere between them, Ling Yue'er's eyes rolled, and she immediately sidled up to Lin Feng with a beaming smile.
"Big Brother Lin, I'll be in your group! You have to protect me well!"
Thus, the most bizarre five-person squad in history split into three groups once more.
Chu Mengxi went alone to monitor Wu Daozi, the artist with the greatest suspicion.
Zhao Tie and Li Rui formed a group and were responsible for monitoring Physician Mister Liu.
Meanwhile, Lin Feng brought along the "burden" Ling Yue'er and listlessly arrived at a teahouse opposite the northern district martial arts hall to monitor the so-called Iron Arm Bear King.
"Big Brother Lin, do you think that Bear King really is a demon?"
Ling Yue'er asked as she cracked melon seeds.
"Don't know."
"Then we're just going to wait here?"
"Mm."
"So boring..."
Ling Yue'er pouted, but her lively, bright eyes never left Lin Feng's profile.
She discovered that this man possessed a unique charm even when he spoke, one that made her heart beat faster.
Yet Lin Feng paid her no attention at all. His perception had already silently spread out, enveloping the entire northern district martial arts hall.
However, after two straight days of surveillance, all three groups had come up empty-handed.
The three suspects lived with the regularity of a textbook.
Other than painting and staring blankly into space, the artist Wu Daozi did nothing each day. He did not even leave his home.
Physician Mister Liu saw patients on schedule every day and healed the sick and saved the dying. Even at night, he went home and behaved himself.
Iron Arm Bear King was even more of a martial arts fanatic. Of the twelve two-hour periods in a day, he spent at least ten practicing in the martial arts hall, tempering his sinews and bones. He did not so much as spare a second glance for any female disciple.
This caused Chu Mengxi's investigation to fall into a deadlock once again.
"Could it be... that we were all wrong?"
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