Chapter 67: Lu Chan's Tour and Inspection 2

Perhaps because of a guilty conscience, whenever anyone proactively asked me about Misao, I always suspected they were probing me.

Lu Youxun’s gaze was fixed squarely on my face. Such focused attention could be interpreted as respectful formality, or perhaps scrutiny.

Why would he ask me a question like this? Had this investigator, skilled in uncovering truths, noticed some clue about me? I could not stop my imagination from running wild.

"What kind of perspective are you asking for?" I deflected the question back to him.

"Since you have fought against Kong Da, you should be well aware that Aberrations possess the supernatural ability to traverse space using shadows as a medium," he said. "Coincidentally, this amnesiac girl named Misao likely vanished into thin air from the hospital through spatial teleportation. And now, in the course of investigating Aberration-related incidents, she has resurfaced within our sights..."

"You suspect she is an Aberration?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out."

After weighing my words, I gave my answer: "I believe that possibility is extremely low."

"Why is that?" he asked with curiosity.

"I have actually fought Aberrations and know their destructive power all too well. They can hurl streetlamps like javelins and manipulate shadows to attack enemies from afar. To such beings, even live firearms are insignificant toys," I said. "Yet this amnesiac girl sneaked into the public security department specifically to steal firearms and ammunition. Would a true Aberration do such a thing?"

"That is a reasonable point," he conceded. "However, she is undoubtedly intertwined with the Aberration incidents in countless ways. You agree, don't you?"

"Yes." I could not deny it.

"If you happen to encounter this amnesiac girl on the front lines, or obtain any clues related to her, I hope you will share them with me," he requested with a humble demeanor. "To be completely honest, I carry the heavy responsibility of finding this amnesiac girl. If you help me, I will certainly do my utmost to repay this favor in the future."

It seemed that when it came to searching for Misao, Lu Youxun was not the ultimate decision-maker of his faction, but merely an executor.

Instead of answering immediately, I glanced at Zhushi. The latter replied expressionlessly, "Fine."

That was a thoroughly insincere agreement; Zhushi probably had no intention of helping him at all. Since I felt the exact same way, I simply echoed, "Same here."

"Then let's return to the case," Lu Youxun said, sensing the awkward atmosphere and steering the conversation back. "Next, I need to use divination to track down the killer's whereabouts. To improve the accuracy of the divination, I need to reference your impressions of the case. May I hear your thoughts?"

Perhaps worried that I wouldn't understand, Zhushi added from the side, "Master Lu's divination art is essentially predictive deduction based on one's own perspective. But relying solely on one's own viewpoint tends to be one-sided, which is why the perspectives of others are needed to supplement the divination."

"Actually, I have a question right now." With that, she looked back at Lu Youxun. "According to my memory, although the killer targets local dignitaries, he never involves bystanders or the families of his targets. Why did he suddenly change his behavior this time?"

She pointed to the indoor crime scene photograph where a middle-aged man, his wife, and their son were all murdered, the family of three staring blankly ahead in death with their eyes wide open.

I had never heard of such a thing before. Viewed in this light, the murder scene did indeed seem rather bizarre.

"This appears to have been an accident," Lu Youxun provided his information. "The victimized mother and son had originally planned to go on a trip that day, but because the mother came down with a fever, the travel plans were temporarily canceled."

"And the killer, assuming the target was home alone, broke in..." I reasoned. "If this direction is correct, was the killer a friend or acquaintance who knew about the mother and son's travel plans?"

"Not necessarily. The mother had a habit of posting her recent schedule online. Even someone not particularly close to her could find out with a little dedicated investigation," Lu Youxun shook his head.

"Since the killer went to the trouble of investigating, it shows he genuinely did not want to involve the mother and son. If so, why did he end up killing them when push came to shove?" Zhushi asked with perplexity. "Surely it wasn't because his true face was seen? Aberrations wear masks by default when they transform, hiding even their original physical features—there's no need to silence witnesses at all."

Lu Youxun stared at the photograph thoughtfully.

"Has the killer's motive been figured out yet?" I shifted the direction of my questioning.

"That part is quite clear," Lu Youxun explained patiently. "Luoshan has attempted to capture Aberrations in the past. But Aberrations seem to have a self-detonation mechanism; whenever we capture them, they detonate themselves. This process appears to be beyond even their own control.

"However, through the study of their remains, we have figured out the Aberrations' motive for killing. They can devour their targets' souls through murder and permanently convert them into their own strength. It's what we call the soul-炼魂 (soul-refining) ability.

"The greater the quantity or higher the quality of the souls devoured, the stronger the power they acquire. If they devour the soul of a Demon Hunter, it accelerates their growth even further."

Soul-refining through murder? Was that why Agent Kong had tried to stab me in the back previously—because he wanted to devour my soul?

I thought for a moment, then asked, "If that's the case, why does the Aberration we are currently tracking prey upon the dignitaries of Saltwater City? Wouldn't targeting ordinary citizens carry a lower risk?"

"That is also a direction we are currently investigating. I even suspected whether this Aberration might be some sort of 'vigilante corruption-fighter', but among the dignitaries he has killed are officials whose reputations and integrity are utterly unblemished—such as this victim whose wife and son were dragged into it." Lu Youxun pointed at the photograph with helplessness. "Before leaving, the killer also made off with the few remaining valuables and cash in the house, and there are records of valuables being stolen in previous cases as well. Perhaps the pursuit of wealth plays a part in the killer's motives."

"To slaughter an entire family for money, such a wretch—" Zhushi revealed intense fury, then struggled to smooth her expression before suddenly asking me, "Zhuang Cheng, what do you think?"

Why did you have to ask for my opinion too?

However, I understood why she asked so abruptly.

She possessed a firm moral stance and also cared deeply about the moral stances of those around her. Perhaps because I had previously confessed to her my genuine belief that superpowered individuals are inherently superior to ordinary people, she was now paying extraordinary attention to my feelings regarding wrongdoers.

Yet, though it might disappoint her, I was someone who would commit evil for my own selfish desires, and had even nearly come to imprisoning an underage girl. The reason I said "nearly" was not because I grew a conscience at the last minute and stopped, but because she managed to escape on her own.

Therefore, it was difficult for me to draw a clear line between myself and wicked people.

Of course, if you asked me whether I hated sex offenders, the answer was a definitive yes; petty thieves were an eyesore to me as well, and criminals who broke into homes to rob and murder for money were entirely unacceptable to me. But my hatred for these people stemmed less from their wickedness and more from the fact that their motives were universally ugly and cowardly.

On this point, I didn't think such specialized thoughts were unique to me. I believed many people had at some point been fascinated by villainous characters in fictional stories who possessed formidable minds and bodies—characters endowed with a distinctive aesthetic, unwavering resolve, or radiant ideals. Some might scold that "only naive minds are drawn to such fictional villains," and I could not refute that, because I indeed possessed a naive streak.

Therefore, if the motivation was rooted in a pursuit of truth or principles, wrongdoing was not entirely unacceptable to me.

In truth, I was well aware. From the perspective of others, whether it was the so-called "pursuit of truth" or the vulgar desires for wealth and lust, they were all fundamentally "selfish desires," and the acts committed were unquestionably evil. Objectively speaking, there was likely no difference between the criminal Aberration and myself. If there was any distinction to be made, it was that he had succeeded, while I had failed.

The reason I liked to wrap myself in the guise of a good person and occasionally draw my sword to help the wronged was not because I possessed an abundance of conscience, but because I wanted to be friends with good people. When I say this, I certainly don't mean that "good people are easy to bully." After all, I had to admit that being friends with good people is simply much more pleasant than being friends with bad ones.

I pondered the distinctions and similarities between myself and that Aberration.

As I thought about it, I suddenly felt a strong urge to meet that Aberration face-to-face. I wanted to ask him about his state of mind when committing evil deeds, and understand how he thought.

"Zhuang Cheng?" Zhushi called me again.

"Let's hurry up and defeat that Aberration, before the next victim appears," I said.

"Ah? Right!" She nodded emphatically.

After that, Zhushi, Lu Youxun, and I discussed the matter a bit longer. Lu Youxun seemed to feel he had gathered enough opinions from others, so he called a halt and began his divination work.

Calling it divination work, he didn't pull out a compass or any other props; he simply raised both hands and kept moving his fingers as if calculating numbers. This appeared to be a form of palm divination. Human palms contain numerous lines and joints, and ancients believed they held a person's destiny, allowing one to calculate the future through them. The "pinching fingers to calculate" mentioned in certain books originated from this practice.

A few minutes later, he stopped calculating, nodded, and told us, "I've calculated it. I will now transmit the results directly into your consciousness."

What did he mean by transmitting into our consciousness?

Before I could figure it out, I saw him extend both hands as if offering a handshake. Zhushi generously reached out and shook his hand. Following her lead, I shook Lu Youxun's hand as well.

In my anticipation, this should have been some method of directly transferring information into consciousness, and I was quite interested in it.

Yet the moment I made contact with Lu Youxun, I felt absolutely nothing.

Instead, he let out a strange cry, violently yanking his hand back as if he had accidentally touched a flame, and tumbled backward out of his chair.

He trembled all over, paralyzed with terror, and stared at me as if he had laid eyes on some ultimate horror.