Natural Will

A serious attack-on-police homicide had occurred. One officer was critically injured, and another died in the line of duty.

By the time the numerous police officers and ambulances arrived, it was already too late. The killer had fled, and Ma Xiang had been pronounced dead at the scene.

The officer who had been stabbed down at the alley entrance, however, had not died. Though his vital areas had also been injured, he held on until reaching the hospital and underwent emergency treatment.

As for Ma Xiang, his body was placed in the morgue, with hardly anyone coming to see him.

The bureau's task force rushed to the hospital in a panic, charging straight to the emergency room to wait for the injured officer to come out.

The only people who came to see Ma Xiang were his precinct-chief father and the policewoman Tang Jing.

Seeing the old and worn look on his father's face, Lan Mu stood with his head lowered, silent and heavy-hearted.

When Tang Jing saw Lan Mu, she only recognized him after some effort. Without asking why he looked like a cross-dresser, she merely grabbed him and asked softly, "Were you at the scene?"

Lan Mu slowly nodded.

Tang Jing said, "How did he dare rush to the front? How did he dare go after the killer by himself?"

Those words made Lan Mu feel even more miserable.

If he had not been there, Ma Xiang might not have dared to arrest the man alone.

If Lan Mu had not displayed his incredible speed, if he had not blocked the killer's escape route, if he had not so easily knocked the man down... perhaps he would not have driven him into a corner and made him kill Ma Xiang in order to escape.

It was all because of his carelessness. No one had expected that man to be so ruthless.

By then, Lan Mu understood that the man might not have been a reporter at all, but an experienced, cold-blooded killer likely connected to the Corpse Dismemberment Case.

Seeing his grief-stricken silence, Tang Jing sighed and did not press him further.

Cheng Ming soon arrived at the hospital as well. The moment he rushed over, he demanded, "What happened? What the hell happened?"

His voice was so loud that it instantly shattered the oppressive silence.

If Ma Xiang had been the one in emergency treatment, Ma Xiang's father might have scolded Cheng Ming. But now that his son was dead, the old man had no heart left to reprimand anyone.

When Cheng Ming saw everyone there, he saw that Tang Jing was a woman and charged toward Ma Xiang's father, who was in police uniform. He actually grabbed the old man's collar and roared, "What the hell are you cops doing? Did you catch the killer? I'll fucking cripple him!"

Lan Mu rushed over, shoved Cheng Ming away, and pinned him onto a chair. "Calm down! This is Ma Xiang's father!"

Cheng Ming froze, mortified. He hurriedly apologized to the precinct chief. He had not known Ma Xiang's father.

Ma Xiang's father let out a long sigh, forcing himself to pull it together. Cheng Ming's words had reminded him that the killer was still at large. He might be old, but he had not yet reached the point of losing his will!

"You're Ma Xiang's classmate, right? Lan Mu?" Ma Xiang's father knew of Lan Mu. Clearly, Ma Xiang had often mentioned him.

Lan Mu answered respectfully, "Yes. Please accept my condolences."

Ma Xiang's father nodded, waved a hand, and left. "Come with me!"

Lan Mu followed Ma Xiang's father away, leaving Cheng Ming standing there dumbly. He still had no idea what had happened and could only listen as Tang Jing slowly explained it to him.

Ma Xiang's father took Lan Mu directly to the police station. Once they entered the precinct chief's office, he began questioning Lan Mu alone about what had happened.

Facing Ma Xiang's father, Lan Mu did not hide anything. He recounted everything in detail, including how Ma Xiang had brought him along to secretly film the scene.

Ma Xiang was his son, and he had died in the line of duty. There was no point pursuing the matter of him letting a friend secretly film anything.

What mattered was the situation at the scene.

"You mean Ma Xiang thought he was a reporter, so he dared to arrest him alone?"

Lan Mu nodded. "That's right. It was all my fault. If I had helped too, then he wouldn't have..."

Ma Xiang's father waved his hand and gave a bitter smile. "It has nothing to do with you. I know that child well. He was very independent. He wanted to rely on his own ability for everything. I..."

After only a few words, Ma Xiang's father could no longer continue. After calming himself slightly, he spoke again with absolute resolve.

"The killer will not remain free. He cannot escape!"

"Lan Mu, help us draw the killer's appearance immediately. Since he showed his face, we will definitely catch him!"

Lan Mu had been waiting for someone from the bureau to summon him. This case should originally have been handled directly by the bureau, with the precinct assisting, but Ma Xiang's father, as precinct chief, seemed to want to solve it personally and had not immediately informed the bureau.

After thinking about it, Lan Mu gave the secretly recorded footage to Ma Xiang's father and told him that it contained the killer's face.

Ma Xiang's father's eyes blazed. "Good! Good! Lan Mu, someone from the bureau will come for you shortly. You don't need to mention the secret filming. Don't conceal anything else, and cooperate fully."

Lan Mu only smiled without speaking, not directly agreeing to that.

Ma Xiang's father wanted to investigate the case privately, and Lan Mu would not sit idle either. He was determined to take charge of this case.

Sure enough, before long, people from the bureau came looking for him and asked him to cooperate.

Lan Mu said nothing and simply went with them.

What followed was an entire day of questioning. To the police, Lan Mu only said that he had been passing by when he saw his good brother Ma Xiang and then noticed the man who seemed to be a reporter. The man fled, they gave chase, and the man eventually attacked and killed someone.

No matter how many times the police asked, Lan Mu gave the same answer.

As for the killer's appearance, Lan Mu described it seriously. He also wanted the police to find that man.

It was night again by the time Lan Mu finally got home.

Cheng Ming had called him countless times during the questioning. Only then did Lan Mu call him back.

"Brother Mu! What were you doing? Why were you wearing makeup?"

"Cheng Ming, it's nothing. I was at the scene, and the police wanted to ask me some questions. Also, help out more with Ma Xiang's funeral arrangements..."

Cheng Ming said despondently, "How did this happen? How am I supposed to explain it to Xiao Ling?"

"Xiao Ling?"

"Brother Mu, did you forget? She's Ma Xiang's fiancée! They were already engaged!"

Hearing that, Lan Mu hesitated for a long time. He had no idea what to do either.

All he could say was, "She has to be told..."

"But I've got things to do these next few days, so hold things together for now!"

Cheng Ming snapped, "What could you possibly have to do? What could be more important than Ma Xiang's funeral?"

Lan Mu was silent for a long while before saying, "There is. Ma Xiang cannot die for nothing."

After hanging up, Lan Mu took a deep breath and hurried home.

He had already made up his mind. He would personally avenge Ma Xiang!

Not only the killer who had murdered Ma Xiang—regardless of who stood behind him, Lan Mu would find every criminal connected to the Corpse Dismemberment Case.

He would personally punish them!

Ma Xiang had been one of his best brothers. He had been about to get married, only to die in the line of duty.

Lan Mu could not accept simply standing by and doing nothing. He could only repay blood with blood.

He had never had much faith in the police's investigative efficiency. Rather than passively wait for the killer to be caught, he might as well find him himself.

And what he wanted was not for the killer to face justice, but revenge!

When Lan Mu returned home, he first spent some time with Su Yue as usual. Once Su Yue went into her room, he began searching through his clothes.

He found a black hoodie he had worn years ago, pulled the hood over his head, zipped it all the way up, put on a pair of jeans, and headed straight out.

He did not return until the next day. Over the course of that night, he traversed a third of the city, modifying every roadside tree with Natural Power.

He also showed them the killer's face. If any of the modified trees encountered that person, they would remember him and notify Lan Mu whenever he was nearby.

Trees had always possessed great affinity for elves, and after being modified, they were even capable of communicating with them.

He would turn every tree in the city into his eyes and ears. No evil would escape the will of nature.

For three days in a row, Lan Mu worked day and night without rest, finally modifying every tree in the entire city.

Not only was he not tired, he felt refreshed and invigorated.

Each conversion of Life Energy between himself and the trees seemed to offer him a slight benefit as well.

Over those three days, he did not feel hungry at all. Instead, his Natural Power had grown somewhat richer.

Anywhere there were trees was a place covered by his natural will.

Yet there was still no clue about the killer.

Lan Mu was somewhat disappointed. This was truly a stupid method. Though he had planted informants throughout the city, it was useless if the killer never went outside.

"Where exactly is he hiding?"

On the fifth day of Lan Mu's transformation into an elf, he stopped searching for the killer.

Because today was the day of Ma Xiang's funeral.

Ma Xiang's family, classmates, friends, and colleagues from the police station had all come.

Lan Mu also saw a woman crying with extraordinary grief. She looked exactly like the woman in Ma Xiang's phone photo—his fiancée, Xiao Ling.

Cheng Ming and Lan Mu helped out throughout the funeral. Over the past few days, Cheng Ming had mainly accompanied Ma Xiang's family in arranging everything.

Ma Xiang had already been cremated. His mother carried his ashes the whole way, and he was ultimately buried at Mingjia Mountain.

By nighttime, more than half the people had left, leaving behind only a few close ones.

The police officers from the station were still there. After all, their precinct chief was Ma Xiang's father. Whether their feelings were sincere or false, they had at least stayed until the end.

The funeral was over, and the meal had been finished.

Lan Mu spoke alone with Ma Xiang's father and asked about the police investigation's progress.

Ma Xiang's father shook his head and said, "The video you provided did capture the killer's face. I looked into him. His name is Yu Hetu. He's twenty-three years old, from Shandong, and came to the city to work after graduating from vocational school. He pursued the female manager at his company, was accused of harassment, and lost his job. He was fired last month."

"Could it be..." Lan Mu froze.

"That's right. He is the prime suspect in the Corpse Dismemberment Case, because that female manager was the first victim in the case, and he more or less had a motive."

"It was that obvious. Why did the police investigate for so long? Once the female manager died, they should have suspected him immediately!" Lan Mu said in shock.

But Ma Xiang's father shook his head. "It wasn't that simple. The bureau investigated him before. He had an absolute alibi."

"What alibi?"

"At the time before and after the female manager's death, he was detained at the police station, so it was impossible for him to have committed the crime."

"Huh?"

"He had just been accused of molesting a woman and was arrested."

After thinking it over, Lan Mu said, "He definitely had an accomplice! That accomplice took revenge on the female manager for him. Since he was bound to be the prime suspect, they deliberately had him molest a woman and get detained to create an alibi."

Ma Xiang's father nodded. "That's right. I know that now. Unfortunately, it was too late. By the time we went to arrest him, he was already gone. He did not even pack up the things in his room. Clearly, after he killed... Ma Xiang that day, he never returned to his rented apartment and went directly into hiding."

"Over the past few days, we searched every shady hotel, illegal internet cafe, and even entertainment venue, but we couldn't find him. There is a strong possibility that he is hiding in someone's home, most likely the accomplice's home. But we have no idea who that is, and we cannot search every person's house."

"All we can do is stake out various places and check surveillance footage in an attempt to find him."

Lan Mu pressed, "What about the surveillance footage?"

"The footage shows that after he escaped that day, the last place he disappeared was Pinghu Pedestrian Street. There are no cameras there, so we still haven't discovered where he went afterward."

Ma Xiang's father continued, "But he can't escape! As long as he's still in this city, I will definitely catch him! I refuse to believe he can hide forever!"

"Even if he keeps hiding in residential homes, we'll search them one by one until we find him!"

Lan Mu nodded. He knew the police would eventually find him. The entire city's police force was now searching for Yu Hetu. He could hide for a while, but not forever.

However, Lan Mu did not intend to slowly wait for the police to find him. Once he confirmed the place where Yu Hetu had last disappeared, Lan Mu left.