Program Intelligence

"My name is Yu Xing, Yu as in Yu Ji, and Xing as in luck." Yu Xing answered Han Jiang's question as he walked inside, ignoring the puzzled looks from the police officers who noticed him.

Han Jiang was a very strong and powerful man. His muscles under his police uniform showed that he was quite capable in combat. He was also a little taller than Yu Xing.

He walked beside Yu Xing, pondering how to interact with Yu Xing.

First, after meeting Yu Xing, his suspicions about Yu Xing were not dispelled. Even if Yu Xing had not done anything wrong so far, it was possible that Yu Xing was hiding too well or had too deep a plan.

Zhu Yan's presence serves as Yu Xing's eyes and ears; it can be said that this young woman can keep track of the city's Criminal Investigation Detachment's movements at any time.

Han Jiang knew that even if something was stipulated to be kept secret and not to be told to outsiders, Zhu Yan would tell Yu Xing, because there are always some feelings that transcend duty, Zhu Yan didn't even bother to hide this.

Ahead, a little deeper into the alley, Zhu Yan was squatting there examining the wall. The bloodstains on the wall had not yet been cleaned. This was the most important crime scene, and it was necessary to make sure that no evidence had been missed before cleaning could begin.

Not far from her, on the ground, was drawn a strangely shaped white human silhouette, the very posture Liu Lingling was in when she was murdered.

Yu Xing and Han Jiang walked up to her. Zhu Yan, smelling the milk tea, looked up, saw Yu Xing, and couldn't help but smile. She stood up and said, "You're here!"

Han Jiang couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.

What's going on? Zhu Yan is like a soft lamb in front of Yu Xing, while normally she's like a nimble lion with a hidden ferocity.

If Yu Xing intentionally fostered such a relationship, then his control over people's hearts would be terrifying. If he had any bad intentions, he could probably lead Zhu Yan astray in an instant.

The captain of the Criminal Investigation Detachment silently increased Yu Xing's danger level, and at the same time, he also realized Yu Xing's special status.

Ha, besides this young man, who else would dare to leisurely drink milk tea in a place where someone has just died?

Even the most resilient person wouldn't do something like this, because they should be able to sense the serious atmosphere and wouldn't do anything out of line, just like Zhu Yan, who only took the milk tea but didn't drink it right there.

People like Yu Xing are naturally adept at breaking free from conventional thinking, doing things their own way, and accustomed to the attention of others—this is a very dangerous sign.

Han Jiang also knew that it was wrong to keep imagining the people who came to help as criminals in his mind; losing objective observation would often lead to wrong conclusions.

Even if there were things he wanted to ask, he should wait until after the case was closed, so he suppressed his surging intuition and said to Yu Xing, "Thank you very much for your help. Zhu Yan said you have some clues?"

"That's right." Yu Xing swallowed the chewed pearls and smiled, "Are you going to give a statement now?"

Han Jiang gestured with his chin in the alley. "Or would you like to see the scene and provide us with more assistance?"

"That's the job of police officers and consultants; how could I presume to teach them?" Yu Xing shook his head slightly, appearing extremely humble. "I'll just give a statement."

Zhu Yan subtly pursed her lips behind him.

She couldn't quite understand what Yu Xing was thinking today. She exposed herself just to give a statement and honestly provide clues?

She had thought Yu Xing was interested in the case, but now it seemed that Yu Xing was less interested in how Liu Lingling died than in milk tea.

Han Jiang decided to take Yu Xing's statement himself. One of the policewomen in the team, the one who had taken care of her in the hospital after she was stabbed by the extremist family member of the criminal, quietly came closer and asked in a low voice, "Who is this? Why did Captain Han let him in?"

"His name is Yu Xing, and he provided the clues for this case." Zhu Yan resisted the urge to open her milk tea; she couldn't wait to leave the area surrounded by police tape.

"Is he a witness? He's far too calm," the policewoman muttered to herself before returning to her work.

"Yeah, she's so calm." Zhu Yan repeated softly, tilting her head as she stared at Yu Xing's back, lost in thought.

After a while, she came to her senses.

She had already looked through the photos once, and now she just wanted to take them back for analysis. She had already guessed that when Han Jiang got the information from Yu Xing, he would understand that the current focus was on finding Liu Lingling's affair partner. Only when this person was exposed would there be any possibility of progress.

If Liu Lingling didn't have any sexual intercourse that night, then why did she go looking for her lover? Did she actually see him? And what happened afterward that led her to an alley completely unrelated to Mingchao Road?

But she couldn't leave now. She had finally seen Yu Xing, and she needed to ask him some questions before leaving.

Yu Xing was led by Han Jiang to the car parked outside the alley. He recounted the events of the previous night in detail, only omitting the presence of Boss Hua. When he handed the painting to Han Jiang's gaze became even more peculiar.

"You're an artist?"

"That's right, I'm a freelancer, and drawing is one of my strengths." Yu Xing didn't deny it. In the past few years, he had sold paintings, scripts, and even written novels, doing almost every kind of work that was behind the scenes and didn't require many interpersonal relationships.

"Is this what Liu Lingling wore last night? So late at night, you only glanced at it casually, yet you can remember so many details?" Han Jiang praised, but there was a strong element of probing in his praise.

"She's very beautiful, so it's not a big deal for me to pay more attention to her," Yu Xing said. "Besides, I have a good memory, and since I'm in the art world... you know, the art world is always very sensitive to fashion, so I can recognize that her clothes are all designer brands."

He pointed to the scene in the Han Jiang and said in a casual tone, "Before I came here, I was thinking that if one of these clothes was a limited edition, the buyer's information would be a huge help to this case, wouldn't you say, Captain Han?"

Han Jiang had thought of this a few seconds earlier. He immediately called his colleagues who were still at the station to investigate. After hanging up, he stared at the smiling Yu Xing, and an aura of righteousness and intimidation emanated from his very bones.

In the past, people with guilty consciences would hate being looked at like that by Han Jiang, and would either avoid his gaze or respond with what they thought were impeccable reactions.

But Yu Xing didn't react at all. He just sat there calmly, even leaning back against the comfortable chair behind him.

"You look very relaxed," Han Jiang said.

"Of course, I'm a concerned citizen, not a criminal, so why not relax a bit?" Yu Xing glanced out the window and saw Zhu Yan waiting for him. "Zhu Yan is waiting for me; she probably wants to come with me. Do you have any other questions? If not..."

Seeing that Yu Xing didn't intend to stay, Captain Han immediately asked, "There's one more question: who is Zhu Yan to you?"

"She? She's my tenant, and also my sister." Yu Xing smiled. He had heard Zhu Yan mention Han Jiang many times, saying that he was like a caring father to her, upright and perceptive. Yu Xing had always had a high initial liking and tolerance for such a person.

He wasn't lying; of all the apartments in the building, one was Zhu Yan's, and she could go back to school anytime she didn't want to stay at the dorms.

After answering this last question, Yu Xing got out of the car. Zhu Yan jogged towards him. "All done? I haven't had lunch yet, let's go eat!"

Yu Xing's eyes crinkled into a smile, "You don't have class today?"

"Did you forget it's Saturday today?" Zhu Yan said resentfully. Come to think of it, Yu Xing hadn't contacted her for almost a week, and there hadn't even been many WeChat messages.

"Okay." Yu Xing refused to admit that he had forgotten the date. He chose to answer Zhu Yan's first suggestion and then took her out for lunch.

Police advisors are that free; they can leave whenever they want.

Because Han Jiang, who has the authority to manage her, doesn't like to restrict her.

Han Jiang watched the two leave, forcing out through gritted teeth, "Landlord and brother? You'd better be..."

If Yu Xing is a devil who manipulates Zhu Yan with his emotions, he wouldn't mind arresting Yu Xing himself and sending him to prison.

Because it was too far from the downtown area, Zhu Yan looked at the map and chose an ordinary noodle shop.

Because it was past lunchtime, the noodle shop wasn't crowded; there were only a few tables occupied.

Yu Xing and Zhu Yan sat down by the window, looking at the quiet street outside while smelling the aroma of noodles.

"What are you thinking? Aren't you planning to follow up on the case?" Zhu Yan tugged at Yu Xing's sleeve.

"Well, I wasn't sure before, but after going to the scene just now, I felt there was nothing in this case that I needed to pay attention to." In other words, regardless of who killed the person or whether the wealthy affair partner was a mentally disturbed psychopath, it was not Yu Xing's concern, because there was neither supernatural power nor any deducer involved.

It was just a normal case; Yu Xing might have been interested in it before, but now he had no reason to get involved.

"Okay, if you put it that way, I believe Han Jiang and the others can do it on their own." Zhu Yan felt a little bored. "Oh, right, and me, the police advisor."

With her around, the person who disabled all the cameras on Mingchao Road will soon be identified. The hacking skills used to cover up the truth will only benefit her, a more advanced hacker, which will become the killer's fatal flaw.

The noodles arrived, the steam dissipating into the air, making Zhu Yan's face indistinct in Yu Xing's eyes.

For a fleeting moment, Zhu Yan's beautiful and bright face seemed to be distorted by the moisture into a bizarre and terrifying gray-black ghost face, but it returned to normal in the next instant. Yu Xing's heart skipped a beat. Had he just seen Zhu Yan ghostly appearance?

Is this the manifestation of the abilities gained after contact with the Ghost Tree?

He gained such power simply by "seeing" the true form of the Ghost Tree in the Yuan Xia. No wonder the system didn't allow him to stay in contact with the Ghost Tree for too long. If he gained too much from the Ghost Tree, would it really be beyond the system's control?

Yu Xing was thinking in her mind while watching Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan was a child he had rescued before. At that time, Zhu Yan was only ten years old. When he found her, she was already dead.

They are truly dead, both in body and soul.

Then, as if committing self-harm, he used all the resurrection-related powers he could control at the time, attempting for the first time to resurrect someone other than himself. As a result, he instantly became as weak as he would normally be every two or three years. Meanwhile, Zhu Yan, already dead, opened her eyes in his arms.

When the little girl first opened her eyes, they revealed a lingering fear and an evil that was already distinctly different from that of humans.

Yu Xing realized at that moment that he seemed to have created a hybrid of human and ghost, neither entirely human nor entirely ghost; he had created a monster that was neither human nor ghost, just like himself.

He decided to teach her properly.

Later, the little monster named Zhu Yan grew up healthy like a human, becoming more and more like an ordinary person. Only Yu Xing and she herself knew that she was just gradually becoming good at hiding her ghostly side and separating it from her human side.

Because Yu Xing wanted her to be able to live independently in this society, Zhu Yan almost never unleashed the vengeful spirit within her, and even when assisting the police in solving cases, she relied solely on her intelligence and skills.

"Why are you looking at me? You know you haven't cared about me in so long?" Zhu Yan looked up and met Yu Xing's gaze. She raised an eyebrow. "Or are you thinking of some mischievous idea that you need my cooperation with?"

"No, I'm eating your noodles." Yu Xing; how come this girl didn't inherit any of his all-around strengths in moral character, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor?

How could someone as kind as him often come up with bad ideas!

After having lunch with Zhu Yan, Yu Xing returned home.

He said he would let go of Liu Lingling's case without hesitation, only instructing Zhu Yan to give him a detailed report after the case was resolved.

Now, he plans to look into the [Fear Hospital] and [Devil Travel Group] that Zhao Mou mentioned. If he has to choose one, it's safest to learn about both.

He summoned his Persona Mask, and now on the materialized Persona Mask, three of the six symbols representing the sacrifice are normal, while the other three are as if hidden in a transparent layer, their colors faint and not very obvious.

Yu Xing entered the panel and opened the third section, [Intelligence Trading Center].

Actually, all these live broadcasts are in the [Deduction Yugi Direction Selection Market]. Deducers who meet the requirements can sign up, but all kinds of analyses are in the Information Exchange Center. There are many paid analysis posts, many of which are of high quality, especially the posts from the Research Institute. As long as the conclusions are serious, they are almost always marked as featured posts by the system and placed at the top.

There are no analysis posts yet for the latest episodes of [Fear Hospital] and [Devil Travel Group], only some speculation posts. Yu Xing glanced at them casually and saw that the deducers were having a heated discussion about the identities of the participants, almost to the point of arguing, like the kind of argument that would turn into a real-life bloodbath with sacrifices.

He wasn't interested in watching any further, so he looked up analysis posts from the previous two episodes.

Both live-streaming shows are very popular, even far exceeding the popularity of [Death Parallel Line]. Death Parallel Line is held once a month, while Fear Hospital is held once every two months, and Devil Travel Group is held only once a quarter. What they have in common is that at least half of the participants in each episode are celebrity debunkers, which generates a lot of buzz and also has a high mortality rate.

The difference is that Fear Hospital is a murder Yugi. Each episode consists of three rounds. Those who are "killed" in all three rounds or "lost" in all three rounds will receive a real death penalty.

The Devil Travel Group is an outdoor reality show, though not exactly a proper outdoor adventure; who knows where they'll end up?