Professional Killer

Although the Jujube Grove District was a remote development zone in Fuzhou, Officer Xiong arrived quickly this time. In just six minutes or so, he was standing before Lan Mu.

Seeing Lan Mu in a hospital gown, crouching miserably by the roadside, Officer Xiong hurried out of the car to apologize.

"Sorry, Mr. Lan. This was my oversight. Please get in."

Lan Mu knew he was an important witness now, which was why Officer Xiong was being so polite.

"It's nothing. I wasn't hurt. Um... Officer Xiong, have you caught Wang Jinghu?"

After he got into the car, Officer Xiong did not have the driver turn back toward the station. Instead, they first drove into the villa district.

He answered at the same time, "Wang Jinghu has been detained, but we checked the dashcam footage and the intersection surveillance. There were no issues. He never came to the Jujube Grove District at all! Mr. Lan, with only your testimony, I'm afraid..."

Lan Mu took out his phone, played the recording, and transferred it to Officer Xiong via Bluetooth.

Then he said, "I made this brief recording after I was tricked into Boss Zhao's villa... As for Wang Jinghu, I'm sure the hospital can find plenty of people who saw him pick me up. I got into the police car right outside the hospital entrance. That proves he picked me up from the hospital, yet he reported to you that I wasn't there and that he hadn't found me? Heh. Doesn't that explain enough?"

Officer Xiong nodded and called to arrange for people to look for witnesses at the hospital. He was fairly cautious, after all. He could not simply take a stranger's word over that of a subordinate who had worked under him for years. Still, he already believed Lan Mu inwardly, because Wang Jinghu had offered no defense whatsoever and had remained silent.

He then opened the recording on his phone. It was very short, but after hearing the conversation inside, he believed Lan Mu.

"If the recording is genuine, the information in it is very useful. Unfortunately, none of it can be used as evidence."

Officer Xiong added, "Even if it can't be used as evidence, it's enough to make the four people we caught confess. None of the poachers will get away. But as for Boss Zhao... well..."

Officer Xiong kept his words guarded and did not say much, but his meaning was clear. A recording alone could do nothing to Boss Zhao.

Lan Mu understood. He had not expected much, anyway.

"Gasp!" Officer Xiong looked out the window and suddenly sucked in a breath. The police car stopped, and he rushed out, staring in shock.

Lan Mu looked over. They had already entered the villa district. Beyond a stretch of yellow police tape, Officer Xiong's colleagues had sealed off the area. Having collected clues from the scene, they had begun removing the bodies.

Lan Mu drew a deep breath and got out of the car as well. Putting on a shocked expression, he said, "That's one of the poachers! How did he die?"

Officer Xiong had been about to climb over the tape alone, but when he heard Lan Mu, he pulled him along. The two walked past the yellow tape and looked closely at the body being removed.

"Are you sure?"

Lan Mu nodded. "I'm sure! He was one of the poachers!"

"Good. Come identify them!"

Officer Xiong led Lan Mu farther inside. They soon reached the back door of a villa, where another body lay sprawled on the ground.

The police appeared to have finished collecting evidence and had already ordered someone to lift the body away.

"That's right! This was one of the poachers too!" Lan Mu glanced at the corpse and immediately said.

Officer Xiong nodded and took Lan Mu to see every body. Lan Mu identified each one.

"These were all poachers. The older one was their leader. As for these four, I think they were Boss Zhao's men. They were the ones who dragged me out of the car."

"What exactly happened? How did they all die?"

Lan Mu spoke with a grave expression as he instinctively took out his phone and started taking pictures.

"Hey! Don't take pictures! I remember you're a reporter from Magic City, right? Don't report on this matter." Officer Xiong said seriously.

Lan Mu licked his lips, put away his phone, and nodded. "All right."

The police had sent a great many people. After collecting all the bodies inside and outside the villa, they sent them for autopsies.

A man who looked like a superior walked over, and several officers collecting evidence immediately began reporting to him.

"Director Fan, there are no signs that the scene was disturbed a second time. The culprit did not even do any cleanup afterward, as though this were the work of an ordinary person. But every victim died from a single blow, and the attacker was exceptionally ruthless. Preliminary analysis suggests there was only one killer..."

The officers present, along with the director, all widened their eyes. There were twelve dead, yet the murders had been committed by one person!

"Can you be certain? There was only one killer?" Director Fan asked in disbelief.

The younger officers exchanged looks. One of them thought for a moment before confirming again, "There really was only one person. The methods were largely identical: all the victims were stabbed with a sharp weapon, and the wounds were extremely deep. The killer must have been very strong!"

Another officer added, "But we found no murder weapon, nor any traces left by the killer during the crime. It was as if the attacks had come out of nowhere. We suspect the killer was an extremely professional assassin who cleaned away their own traces while deliberately leaving the victims' bodies behind."

After he finished, however, another officer raised a question. "But judging from what we found in the villa basement, that was the starting point of the entire serial pursuit and killing. The killer was very likely hiding in the basement from the start, then hunted down the victims one by one. That would also explain why three of the bodies were scattered in three different directions outside the villa."

"Already in the basement?" Officer Xiong pondered this, then suddenly looked at Lan Mu and could not help asking, "Mr. Lan, did you go into the basement?"

Lan Mu shook his head. "No."

Of course he could not admit it. Otherwise, there would be no way to explain it, especially since the police already knew the entire slaughter had begun in the basement.

The bodies of Huang Sheng and another poacher had been found in the basement.

As long as Lan Mu refused to admit it, the police had no evidence. Even if they harbored some suspicions, it would be useless. They could never deduce the truth of the entire case.

After all, the one who had finished off those people was the White-haired Lion. Let alone the fact that he had left nothing behind, even if there were traces of the killer, they would not belong to him, but to a monster.

"Who is this?" Only then did Director Fan notice there was an outsider at the scene.

Officer Xiong hurriedly introduced Lan Mu. Upon learning that he was a reporter and also a witness in the poaching case, Director Fan immediately said, "Xiong Hui, wrap up the poachers' case first. Take Mr. Lan back to the station so he can identify them."

Xiong Hui understood at once. Director Fan did not want Lan Mu, an outsider, remaining at the scene, especially since his identity as a reporter was somewhat sensitive.

Besides, the poachers' case really needed to be closed quickly. The most important matter now was the newly occurred major homicide.

With his superior's orders, Xiong Hui quickly took Lan Mu away from the scene. Lan Mu did not make trouble either. He himself wanted this matter settled as soon as possible.

Lan Mu was taken to the city bureau, where he identified the four captured poachers. What followed was a tedious process. After signing his statement, he was free to go wherever he wished for the time being, but he had to keep his phone on because the police might need to contact him at any time. In the future, he would also have to return to Fuzhou to testify in court.

Troublesome as it was, there was no avoiding it.

By the time he left the police station, it was already eight in the evening. Xiong Hui had treated him to dinner.

Because of Lan Mu's special circumstances, Xiong Hui even arranged lodging and a ticket back to Magic City for him. But when he returned to testify, he would have to pay for his own ticket.

After checking into the guesthouse, Lan Mu locked the door, plugged in his phone, and briefly inspected the room. There were no problems.

Lan Mu let out a breath of relief. It seemed the police had not suspected him.

Although he had no absolute proof that he had not been at the crime scene, clearly no one believed that he was the killer who had taken down twelve people alone.

He had deliberately left the scene untouched. First, time had not allowed it. He had needed to call Xiong Hui from somewhere conspicuous as quickly as possible, so he could at least somewhat prove that he had escaped before the crime occurred.

Second, the more information the scene revealed, the more it ruled out Lan Mu the human as a suspect.

Because the one who had actually committed the killings was the White-haired Lion.

When he transformed into the White-haired Lion, if he wished, he would not even leave footprints.

Lan Mu was only a reporter, not a professional assassin. Even if Xiong Hui briefly suspected him, he would probably dismiss the thought immediately, right?

"This case will probably become a cold case. There shouldn't be any more trouble afterward."

Lan Mu happily took a shower and lay comfortably on the bed. The weight hanging over his heart had finally lifted, and all he wanted was to return to Magic City as soon as possible.

Before going to sleep, however, there was still one thing he had not figured out. Unless he studied his ability properly, he would not be able to sleep.

As he thought about it, a single thought transformed him into the White-haired Lion, and weakness and pain descended upon him.

The White-haired Lion had been shot twice, both by the Old Hunter. No matter how much time passed in human form, once he transformed back into the White Lion, the wounds remained exactly as they had been before he became human.

Conversely, no matter how badly his human form was injured, once he transformed into the White-haired Lion and then transformed back, the injuries would be healed.

After thinking it over, he could only guess that the little white sphere that merged into his body provided the energy for transformation. This energy could repair a fragile human body, but the White-haired Lion was too powerful for the energy to repair it.

Still, it was not completely ignored. The White-haired Lion itself possessed powerful regenerative abilities. Its wounds had already stopped bleeding on their own immediately. If he remained transformed and lay down for a while, perhaps about an hour, the wounds would basically heal.

After repeated tests, he also confirmed that he could transform into the White-haired Lion anytime and anywhere.

But that raised a question. Back on Fanli Mountain, he had remained transformed for a full seven days. He did not know how many times he had wished to turn back into a human, so why had he been unable to change back then? Why had he needed to wait until he automatically changed back after seven days?

After pondering it for a long time, Lan Mu could only helplessly attribute it to a side effect of transformation. The first transformation had to be maintained for seven days before he could fully master this transformation ability.

"A natural Hunter... This transformation ability counts as a superpower, doesn't it?"

"But what use is it? Aside from saving my life in a crisis, it doesn't seem particularly useful!"

"How can there be so many life-or-death fights in one lifetime?"

Lan Mu scratched his head. After thinking it over, this ability would probably only ensure that he never got sick and could immediately recover from injuries.

Lan Mu was not particularly invested in the idea of superpowers, especially such a useless one.

He had already decided that unless absolutely necessary, he would never casually transform into the White-haired Lion again.

Otherwise, if someone saw him transforming, his life would probably be completely shattered.

Turned into an utter mess.