Seeing the thick layers of bandages wrapped around Chen Nian's neck, the group at the stall froze.
Chen Nian had been attacked by the killer, too?!
Yan Jing's mind raced. That meant the serial killer hadn't just murdered the old woman yesterday—he had also tried to kill Old Liu and Chen Nian.
Had he attacked anyone else?
If not, what did these three victims have in common?
Wait, they actually did...
Yan Jing looked up at Chen Nian and Old Liu. Sure enough, the way they were looking at him had shifted.
Crap.
Yan Jing rubbed his forehead in exasperation. The three victims shared one glaringly obvious connection: they were all associated with the Cameraman—meaning they were connected to him.
"Boy, where were you last night?"Old Liu produced a Hongtashan cigarette like a magic trick. He held it between his fingers like a smoking pipe, a gleam of wisdom flashing in his eyes.
For a second, Yan Jing almost thought the old man was wearing a famous detective's signature cape and deerstalker instead of a military overcoat.
"I was sleeping in my room."
Yan Jing steadied his nerves and answered slowly.
"Who can vouch for you?"
Old Liu pressed him, directly demanding an alibi.
Damn you, Holmes. Yan Jing replied helplessly,
"A Player."
"In other words, no witnesses."
Old Liu smiled.
He smoked half the cigarette in a single drag, stared into Yan Jing's eyes, and said slowly,
"A classic move in Holmes is to find the common ground between victims, because that represents where their lives intersect."
"And that intersection usually points straight to the killer."
Yan Jing raised his hands in resignation.
"So you think I'm the killer? You think I murdered the old lady?"
"Exactly."
Old Liu pointed his cigarette butt at Yan Jing.
"There is only one truth, and that is—"
"Yi... Ji... didn't... didn't kill anyone!"
Mantou, who had been completely silent until now, stood up anxiously and stepped in front to block Yan Jing from view.
"Heh, little Nizi, what proof do you have that this boy isn't the killer?"
Old Liu chuckled, utterly convinced of his own deduction.
"Evi... dence... kil... ler..."
Mantou grew anxious. She didn't quite understand what the word 'evidence' actually meant.
Yan Jing gently pulled Mantou by the arm, soothing her so she wouldn't worry, before turning back to Old Liu.
"Old Liu, you've read so many detective novels. Don't they mention that catching a killer requires a complete chain of evidence and a logical loop?"
"It might make sense for me to kill the old lady, but why would I attack you two?"
"Besides, you both had a run-in with the killer yesterday. Didn't you see him? How can you be so sure it was me?"
Old Liu blinked, momentarily stunned by Yan Jing's words.
Chain of evidence... logical loop...
Conan definitely mentioned those things, but he couldn't quite remember the details. Feeling a bit guilty, he rubbed his chin.
"Why you would attack us... well, about that..."
Beside him, Chen Nian coughed a few times and spoke weakly.
"I didn't see his face. He rushed out from a corner, failed to kill me in one strike, and then turned and fled."
"Personally, I believe you aren't the killer, Yi Ji, because the two of us really don't have any bad blood."
That sorted out Chen Nian. Now, only Old Liu was left.
But the Old Man clearly wasn't about to admit defeat. He patted down his pockets and actually pulled a small notebook from the lining of his military overcoat. He opened it to reveal pages packed with notes.
He scanned the notes, his eyes widening as if he'd just found buried treasure, and then burst into laughter.
"Boy, don't be stubborn. I'll make you concede right now."
He spun the notebook around. Written on the page in vigorous, forceful handwriting were the words:
Five-Factor Investigation Method.
"Follow me."
He stood up and waved, signaling for the group to follow.
Then he strode off briskly toward his home.
The rest exchanged glances. Knowing the old guy was probably just feeding his detective addiction, they hesitated to follow.
In the end, Yan Jing decided to go along and see. Right now, Old Liu and Chen Nian were the only ones known to have seen the killer, and he didn't want to pass up any clues.
The group followed Old Liu all the way to a single-story detached house. Old Liu took out his keys, opened the door, and ushered them inside.
Upon entering, they were all taken aback by Old Liu's home.
The house wasn't large, but it was exceptionally well-organized, exuding a unique aesthetic.
The inner windows were lined with various colors of glass, giving off the feeling of glazed tiles. Sunlight poured in, fracturing into multicolored rays that illuminated the bluestone floor.
In the dead center of the room sat a polished Eight Immortals table. On it rested a dilapidated incense burner holding three burning sticks of incense.
Next to it was a recliner modified to look like a grand armchair, a fluffy blanket draped over its armrests.
A folding screen divided the room in half. Through it, one could faintly make out bookcases and ornaments further inside.
How to describe it? It was as if they had stepped into the mansion of a wealthy family from a bygone era. Even though everything was a cheap imitation, the classy atmosphere remained.
"Not bad, Old Liu,"
Yan Jing praised.
"I couldn't tell you were a 'Player'."
"Damn right!"
Old Liu smugly craned his neck, but then caught himself.
"You're a criminal suspect right now! No trying to butter me up!"
Yan Jing shrugged and obediently shut his mouth.
Just as the group was wondering what nonsense this playful Old Man was going to pull next, Old Liu stepped up to the folding screen and pulled it to the left.
A blackboard was revealed.
Pasted densely across it were various old newspaper clippings.
They were all reports regarding the serial killer.
Yan Jing turned to Chen Nian, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
This Old Man was actually serious.
"Did you really think I just read comics all day? My motto—Liu Fu's motto—is progress! Innovation!"
Old Liu smiled smugly.
"Up here are all the reports concerning this serial killer over the years."
"And I've written down the key points summarizing these reports right here."
He pointed to a corner of the blackboard.
"Point one of the Five-Factor Investigation Method!"
"Motive."
Old Liu chuckled mischievously.
"You reminded me just now, kid. Asking why you'd want to kill me was essentially asking for your motive, wasn't it?"
"According to these newspaper reports, the victims this killer targets are usually centered around a specific person, then spread outward through their social network."
"And after comparing the photos of these central figures, I came to a conclusion: they're all exceptionally handsome."
"So the motive is simple."
"It's because you're jealous that this Old Man is so—"
"It's Envy!!"
Chen Nian suddenly interrupted, his eyes gleaming unusually bright.
"Jealousy and envy mean the same thing; I didn't make a grammatical error. Heh, Chen boy, trying to catch me slipping on my words won't work. Back in the day, I started studying poetry at three..."
Before Old Liu could finish bragging, Chen Nian spoke up again.
"No, it's Envy. Envy from the path of Sin."
Both Old Liu and Yan Jing were stunned by those words.
Yan Jing hadn't expected to hear the term "path of Sin" again.
Following Chen Nian's words, the memories regarding Sin in the Cameraman's mind began to resurface.
Old Liu looked at Chen Nian.
"Are you saying..."
Chen Nian nodded, his expression turning serious.
"Exactly. The killer must belong to the Sin system. His motive for murder stems from the fact that he falls under Envy."
"Envy breeds destruction."
Chen Nian clearly knew quite a bit about the Sin system.
Old Liu, on the other hand, was completely lost.
He fell deep in thought.
"So there's a thing like that in the Sin system, huh."
Chen Nian continued.
"Old Sin City doesn't have a Domain of Envy, but it's very easy to identify people from the Envy system. For one, they will absolutely never offer unprompted praise to anyone else."
Hearing this, Old Liu raised his head and looked at Yan Jing.
"So that means you really aren't the killer!"
Yan Jing had buttered him up plenty over the past couple of days.
Yan Jing didn't care about that right now. He suddenly realized this was the perfect opportunity to catch the killer, so he urged Old Liu,
"Point two of the five factors, Old Liu, hurry. We're about to crack the case."
In a flash, the situation had completely flipped. The prime suspect had suddenly become the one pushing to solve the crime.
Although Old Liu was a little bummed that his deduction had failed, he still pointed at the blackboard.
"Point two: Method."
"There's not much to say about this one. The guy's modus operandi is clearly documented. He always approaches wearing a familiar face, gets close, and delivers a fatal slash to the throat."
"Many have tried to find a flaw in his disguise, but virtually all came up empty-handed. Once he strikes, he rarely leaves anyone alive."
"I've found very little information on this front, just a handful of survivor interviews."
With that said, Old Liu wanted to skip past this point, but Yan Jing interrupted.
"Hold on, I want to see those survivor interviews."
He stepped up to the blackboard and began reading the survivor interviews Old Liu had mentioned.
There were two cases in total.
In one case, the Disguiser had impersonated the victim's mother. There wasn't anything overtly abnormal about her behavior, except that she was much gentler that day than usual.
His mother had always had a terrible temper, but that day she was surprisingly mild and barely scolded him at all.
In the second case, the Disguiser had impersonated the victim's mute sister, behaving identically to the real person.
After reading the two interviews, the Player forum post from a couple of years ago surfaced in Yan Jing's mind.
The gentle-tempered mother, the companion who ate overly spicy food, the friend with a cold, the mute sister.
Like finding a single ray of light in the darkness, he grasped the crucial detail.
Voice.
It was the voice.
The Disguiser couldn't fake voices.
Taking it a step further, he recalled his encounter with the old lady that afternoon as a Player, and his train of thought broadened even more.
With the hardest part figured out, he had peeled back another layer of the truth.
"I think this guy can't disguise his voice."
He shared his discovery and explained his reasoning to the two of them.
Old Liu was amazed by Yan Jing's insight. He murmured,
"It really does seem that way..."
He had read a lot more reports; though fragmented, when pieced together, they did indeed corroborate Yan Jing's theory.
Suddenly, as if recalling something, he looked up at Chen Nian beside him.
"Chen boy, your voice sounds a little off today."
Yan Jing also looked over at Chen Nian. It was true—Chen Nian's voice today wasn't just much weaker than usual, it carried a faint, barely perceptible static edge.
"My voice sounds off? Does it?"
Chen Nian's face was hidden behind his mask and high collar, concealing his expression.
As he spoke, that grating static sound grew more pronounced, buzzing and crackling faintly in the small room.
[It seems you are gradually approaching the truth, and the most likely suspect for the real killer has now become the friend you've been getting along so well with.]
[You remember that, in reality, the original host has only been friends with him for a few months. Your memories hold no knowledge of his origins, identity, likes, dislikes, or true strength.]
[So, could it be him?]
The system broadcast in his ear suddenly grew louder. In an instant, the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.