Fortunately, he encountered Li Zhonglou. The internal energy injected into his dantian only gave him a momentary sensation before the man immediately felt his strength actually increase!
"What, what's going on?"
The man, who had never experienced this before, was stunned. His emotions quickly shifted from panic to excitement, but a bucket of cold water was soon poured over his head.
"Don't overthink it. This is what I lent you. Hurry and see if you find anything else on the ground."
So that was it.
The man understood Li Zhonglou's actions. For a moment, he felt both relieved and disappointed, but thankfully, his rationality remained, and he checked the ground again as Li Zhonglou instructed.
With the boost of internal energy, the man, whose cultivation was close to the third layer, finally discovered something different on the ground. Although he couldn't recognize it as footprints directly like Li Zhonglou, he did notice something was amiss.
"What is this?"
Li Zhonglou explained directly, "It's footprints. The killer hid here before committing the murder. Did your daughter also meet her end late at night?"
The man became agitated. "Yes, it was close to dawn. She said she was going out for a night run. The forensic doctor's estimated time of death was also around dawn!"
This time, he finally believed Li Zhonglou's words, as the facts were right before him!
Li Zhonglou added, "So the killer of your daughter is likely not an ordinary person, but someone from our circle, just like us."
This piece of information was also very important to the man, and his expression instantly turned solemn.
"Could it be an old enemy of mine?"
Li Zhonglou's eyes lit up, but he quickly recalled the other two victims.
He then stated the names of the two deceased. To his surprise, the man had never heard of them.
"Perhaps you know their families?"
The man shook his head again. "No, I don't have many friends, and I know each of them well. There are no such casual acquaintances."
This made things more complicated. It meant the killer's victims had no apparent connections, at least not with the man before him.
"Then it's strange. He killed three people consecutively. If it were revenge, there should be a connection, but if not..."
Li Zhonglou walked back and forth, stroking his chin in thought, while the man suddenly clenched his fists.
"If I ever find out who it is! I'll use this old life to make him pay with blood!"
Li Zhonglou glanced at him, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Yes, let me ask, was your daughter ordinary, or did she train with you?"
The man's expression froze. After a while, he sighed, "She was just an ordinary person. I actually thought about teaching her when she was young, but when I thought about the hardships, I gave up. I never expected it to be what led to her demise today!"
Tears as big as beans welled up. Li Zhonglou could empathize, as even with his internal energy, he couldn't protect his loved ones, which would be painful for anyone.
However, it wasn't the time for empathy for Li Zhonglou. An hour had passed since he arrived, and it was now close to four o'clock, yet there were almost no clues.
Earlier, he had considered if the common factor was being from the circle, as he suddenly remembered what Wutong had said: those with cursed power would gain a封解 effect by hunting down similarly powerful individuals!
But it seemed he might have overthought it.
Even if the man's daughter possessed internal energy, he was clearly not someone with cursed power. Furthermore, if the victims were from the circle, their cause of death would almost certainly not be this.
After all, even if they couldn't win, as long as the strength difference wasn't too great, they could still commit suicide. The most crucial point was that there were no signs of a struggle nearby.
It seemed he still had to investigate further.
Just as Li Zhonglou was about to abandon this line of inquiry, the man suddenly said, "Could it be because of my brother? He's been hiding and avoiding people since he returned. It's like he's offended some enemy."
"What happened?"
Li Zhonglou quickly walked over, but the man became reluctant to speak, as if afraid of causing unnecessary trouble for his family.
Seeing this, Li Zhonglou's expression turned stern. "If you want to find the killer, I hope you won't hide anything!"
The man said with difficulty, "But you're from the General Bureau. I don't know if my brother offended your General Bureau..."
As the man spoke, a clear look of struggle appeared on his face. If it weren't for his daughter, he might not have even said these words.
"Then aren't you worried that it's really because of him? If that's the case, didn't your daughter die for nothing?"
Upon hearing this, the man's expression changed drastically, and after a moment, he became resolute.
It was only then that he began to introduce his situation.
The man's name was Tong Chu. In fact, Li Zhonglou had seen his name in the资料, which contained the general family situation of the deceased.
The surname Tong was a small surname in Shangjing, so he naturally remembered it at a glance. However, what he didn't expect was that his family situation was also not simple.
The brother Tong Chu mentioned did not share the same surname. His surname was Tong, but his brother took his mother's surname, Jin. His name was Jin Yi, a simple and straightforward name.
Although Tong Chu's parents were both ordinary people, his father was a live-in son-in-law. Oddly enough, as a live-in son-in-law, his father was already remarried and brought his son with him.
Tong Chu was already over three years old at the time, so after Jin Yi was born, he directly took his mother's surname, and the treatment the two received was vastly different.
As the elder brother, he not only attended ordinary schools but also received no special treatment from his family after graduation. He had to rely on himself to find work as a factory laborer. In contrast, his brother attended prestigious schools with his parents accompanying him and directly took over the family business after graduation!
They were from the same family, yet one lived in heaven, and the other lived on earth.
Originally, Tong Chu harbored some resentment. However, later, when he went out to make a living, he accidentally came into contact with people from the circle, which led him to embark on the path of cultivation, completely changing his destiny.
Only then did he let go of those thoughts.
Returning to the main point, due to his family situation, his relationship with this brother was practically nonexistent. It wasn't until later, when his brother also accidentally entered the circle, that they began to have some interaction.
By then, they were both nearly thirty years old, mature adults, so they tacitly avoided mentioning past events and interacted as friends.
A year ago, his brother suddenly came back late one night. He had been away for nearly two years. When Tong Chu saw him, his face was full of panic.
He also asked Tong Chu to absolutely not tell anyone that he had seen him, and then he disappeared again.
This time, he remained missing until the present.
If Li Zhonglou hadn't mentioned revenge, he wouldn't have thought of this brother.