Who Is the Killer?

Death was so commonplace that anyone not looking for something amiss would not have noticed anything wrong at first glance.

Jiang Nian had deliberately searched and compared the reports, so he was able to find some clues:

It would have been understandable if ability users had gone out on their own, but where could ordinary people have gone in weather this cold?

He thought it unlikely that they had gone out to kill themselves. If they had really wanted to die, they could have slept without a blanket or worn fewer clothes. That would have been a more dignified way to die, so why go to the trouble of going out?

Besides, one person disappearing every two or three days formed something of a pattern. Mixed in among the normal deaths, it looked abnormal on closer comparison.

After reading the investigation reports on the missing ordinary people, Jiang Nian sat quietly and listened to the others discuss them.

Everyone but him had focused their attention on the fourteen dead night patrol members.

That was only natural. Losing fourteen ability users all at once, without warning, was a huge shock.

At the same time, though, people had gotten tunnel vision and overlooked some inconspicuous details:

The killer's hunt had not begun with the night patrol squad, but with ordinary people. The killer had not been targeting the night patrol or ability users; he had wanted to secretly hunt down ordinary people.

It was nearly seven by the time they returned to the safe house from the command room, and the sky was completely dark.

Huang Qian and the others had gone back to check on the residents whose homes they had not entered during the daytime inspection. She sent a report saying that Xiao Ya and her mother had not been home when they went, and they planned to try again the next morning.

Cheng Jing said nothing. He made dinner and called Jiang Nian over to eat.

Jiang Nian now filled his pockets with snacks whenever he went out and munched on them whenever he had nothing else to do. As a result, he ate very little dinner. After managing a little under half a bowl of rice and a chicken leg, he wrapped himself in a small blanket and curled up by the stove to play on his phone.

By the time Cheng Jing had eaten his fill and cleaned up, he saw that his "Hamster" had started in on the snacks again, going through one packet after another, one kind after another.

He had completely forgotten what he had just said: "I'm full. I can't eat another bite."

Cheng Jing wanted to remind Jiang Nian to eat fewer snacks and more proper meals, but seeing how happily he was eating, he held his tongue.

Forget it. If he said too much, someone would complain that he sounded like a dad again. He could only offer a tactful reminder:

"Drink plenty of water when you eat snacks."

"Got it, Brother Jing~"

Jiang Nian did not even look up, though he answered readily enough. When Cheng Jing came over and sat down, Jiang Nian smoothly fed him a bite to shut him up.

Fine. If he could not beat him, he would join him. Cheng Jing changed tack:

"Delicious... What else did you find today?"

At the mention of business, Jiang Nian turned off his phone, set it aside, and looked up at him.

"I found that the killer is more powerful than I thought, and he might have dual-attribute abilities. One of them is most likely teleportation... Otherwise, he has an accomplice who hasn't shown himself."

His tone was certain. He polished off a packet of little fish in a few bites and opened a box of chilled spicy tripe. His hands moved deftly, and his mouth did not stop either. He told Cheng Jing what he had found and surmised from reviewing Jiahe Court's recent death reports, then concluded:

"They didn't disappear under normal circumstances. They were most likely taken away with an ability. For example, they could have been attacked and then taken somewhere like the basement, where it would be easy to dispose of the bodies."

This was not a wild guess. It was a deduction based on the clues and some of what he had seen and learned in his previous life. Even if it was not entirely correct, there was an eighty percent chance it was.

"..."

Cheng Jing thought it over carefully and followed up with his own analysis:

"That's why all the night patrol squad members ended up in the basement... The killer is an ability user who can teleport people and has a powerful attack that ensures he can take someone down, or even kill them, in one strike."

Whether it was a physical attack or a mental one, the mere thought made his scalp tingle.

"That's probably about right. As for the killer's motive, we still don't know, but one thing is certain: he originally only meant to secretly kill someone every two or three days. He didn't want to attack the night patrol... My guess is they discovered something, so he killed them to silence them."

Jiang Nian continued, his thoughts racing through other possibilities, but the clues would not connect. Something was missing.

"An ability user secretly kills someone every day or two and takes them to the basement. What for? To raise zombies? But what good would that do him? Could he have an ability that lets him control zombies? That would be terrifying."

The more Cheng Jing speculated, the more serious his expression became. The more he thought about it, the more horrifying it seemed.

"..."

Jiang Nian followed his line of thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"For a living person to control zombies, they have to undergo a special mutation and infection that puts their mental power on the same wavelength as the zombies'. To put it bluntly, they have to turn into a zombie and keep their sanity... At least, by the time I died in my previous life, I hadn't heard of any ability user who could control zombies."

He paused after saying this, then suddenly had an idea and muttered to himself:

"But raising zombies is possible..."

"What normal person would raise zombies? They're uncontrollable and dangerous, unless..."

Cheng Jing cut in instinctively, then stopped halfway through and exchanged a look with Jiang Nian.

One remark had led to another, and Cheng Jing's words gave Jiang Nian a nudge. In a flash, the missing clues in his mind connected. The answer came to them, and they both blurted out at once:

"Unless the zombies are their family!"

"Smack!"

Everything suddenly became clear. Jiang Nian clapped his hands together.

"Yes, that's right! That's what happened. Only then would it make sense for a normal person to raise zombies!"

As he spoke, he put down his snacks, pulled over a tissue, and wiped his mouth while organizing the information in his head. Somewhat excited, he said:

"The killer's family member turned into a zombie, and he's been killing people to feed the zombie. Under the current circumstances, one person disappearing every one, two, or three days wouldn't raise much suspicion."

Cheng Jing agreed completely and picked up the thread:

"After the night patrol squad discovered him, he killed them to silence them, then directed the clues toward the idea that they had entered the basement of their own accord. Most people would only speculate about why they went down there and what they were after, and naturally assume they were the first victims..."

"Once they couldn't find anything in the basement, they'd drop the matter and attribute it to a zombie attack... After things blew over, he could go back to killing people in secret."

In most cases, there had to be a certain logic to an event for it to hold up. Even a madman who did not act logically would have certain motives and aims.

"Exactly. There's so much going on at the West District settlement, and people die every day. Once it's settled that they were attacked by zombies, this will quickly be put behind everyone. I have to say, it's a good plan."

Jiang Nian admired him a little. If he had not been reborn and been a little more shrewd than the average college student, this was how the matter would have been hastily concluded under the current circumstances.

Nor would many people have pursued it. There were new crises to worry about every day. Even family members had no time to dwell on too many old grievances. When they could barely keep themselves alive, how could they have so much energy left to think about the dead?

After feeling sorry for them, people would take it for granted:

It was normal for ability users to be killed when they encountered zombies with abilities. This was the apocalypse, the zombies' home turf.