Jinghua paused, he had never considered these things before.
Ling Chenyue continued, "Moreover, according to the information, this is not his hometown, and he has never even been here before. His objective is known to everyone, and he could implement his ideas anywhere. So why did he choose this city?
Is there something special about it?"
Jinghua was suddenly enlightened and became agitated. That's right! In the past, he had only focused on fighting him, but he wasn't trying to fight him. His goal was only to find evidence of his crimes and bring him to justice. Even if the methods were not ideal, what did it matter?
Jinghua left in a hurry. Ling Chenyue wearily rubbed her temples. Once relaxed, she felt exhausted.
Thinking that she had stayed up so late yet failed to catch the criminal, a bitter feeling welled up inside her, and she began to doubt herself. Was she really suited for this place?
But in the end, she banished the dejected thoughts from her mind, then wrapped herself in a blanket and took a nap in the office. Other matters could wait until tomorrow; for now, she needed to sleep.
Months later, Xing Yuan, looking at the person before her who truly fit all the criteria, toyed with him like a cat playing with a mouse, watching him flee as if seeing hope, only to have that hope dashed and fall to the ground, covered in wounds. A sense of exhilaration rose within her.
This was even more enjoyable than killing people before, as this person was the one she truly wanted to kill from the bottom of her heart.
"Tsk! What, giving up so soon?" Xing Yuan lamented as she trimmed her nails with a dagger, exuding an air of indolence.
The middle-aged man finally recognized the inherent malice in Xing Yuan's bones and said despairingly, "You never intended to let me go. Whether I run or not, the outcome is the same. So why should I keep running?"
"Oh! You figured it out!" Xing Yuan had a naive smile on her face as she skillfully plunged the dagger into the man's leg.
Instantly, blood gushed out.
Xing Yuan looked disdainfully at the bloodstains on her hem and patiently said, "Tell me what I want to know, and I will mercifully grant you a quick end."
"You, you're dreaming," the man said fiercely.
Xing Yuan sighed helplessly, pulled out the blood-stained dagger, and then plunged it into other parts of the man's body: his hands, his feet. Finally, Xing Yuan lightly slashed the man's face twice. The sharp dagger cut through his skin, making his face even more contorted.
"Still not talking?" Xing Yuan was growing impatient.
Chopping him into pieces would be too unsightly, wouldn't it? It wouldn't suit her aesthetic, though it wasn't impossible.
"I, I really don't remember," the man's voice choked with tears.
"It was almost twenty years ago. How could I possibly remember? The children I've handled over the years, if not ten thousand, then at least several thousand!"
Xing Yuan's expression darkened further. She had found many traffickers who looked like this. Because she didn't know if their appearance was congenital or acquired, she had simply killed them all. Yet, none of them had evoked such a clear sense of disgust in her.
However, what the man said made sense. He had sold so many children; it was indeed normal for him not to remember.
Xing Yuan whistled, and a sturdy wolf ran down from the mountain, wanting to affectionately nuzzle Xing Yuan like a dog.
Xing Yuan pushed it away reluctantly, then patted its head and looked at the man, "Darling, he's your lunch. Enjoy it to your heart's content!"
The wolf's growls and whimpers sounded simultaneously, but Xing Yuan did not look back.
She finally understood that she couldn't determine who that person was, and she didn't want to waste any more time. The data analysis had already yielded results.
With advanced technology today, a paternity test is much simpler than searching the world for a trafficker whose appearance is all you know.
She placed a bounty on the dark web, open for anyone to claim.
She uploaded the face she had hated. Anyone who killed a trafficker with that appearance and confirmed it was genuine would receive a hundred thousand in commission. For her, this was a simple method. She would try to avoid harming innocent people, but the ultimate outcome was beyond her control.
Some people believed in her, even calling her Asura. She did not disappoint their goodwill, asking them to collect information and secretly conduct paternity tests. She didn't want to wait any longer.
Finally, her information matched a completely unfamiliar couple.
Perhaps she should be happy. After all, her parents were still alive and seemed to be quite affectionate. Her younger brother, five years her junior, proved this.
Perhaps they had looked for her, but after their efforts proved futile, they found solace in someone else or in their own emotions, and had another child.
This child was named An Xun Jie. Perhaps from this name, one could see that they had truly cared for her back then.
She looked at her brother's photo, her gaze distant. He was indeed very much like her!
Both had a baby face, but An Xun Jie was full of youthful vitality and sunshine, while she was like a doll that cried all day.
She didn't know where to go now. It wasn't until she dazedly boarded the plane that she realized the immense power of this lingering regret, which could forcibly put her to sleep.
She could feel her heart trembling in her chest. She was looking forward to meeting her blood relatives. She thought, perhaps, she had not been forgotten.
"I am different from you, and even if we went back, it would only bring them trouble," Xing Yuan murmured to herself.
She knew that the other self could hear her.
"I just want to see him. As long as you fulfill this last wish of mine, I will disappear completely," she pleaded.
This was the first time she had something she wanted to strive for.
"Fine, let's go and see!" Xing Yuan was also easily softened towards herself.
An Xun Jie had already come of age and was currently attending university in Zhen'an City. His information was clearly written, causing Xing Yuan to take a taxi to his school as soon as she landed. She was stopped by the gatekeeper.
The old man sized up Xing Yuan and said sternly, "You are not a student here, you cannot enter."
Xing Yuan never expected to be stopped at the gate and looked somewhat taken aback. However, she quickly calmed down, nodded, and turned to walk away.
The wall was not high, but there were many surveillance cameras. Xing Yuan was not confident she could come and go without leaving a trace. Therefore, she decided to plan long-term, first understanding An Xun Jie's hobbies, and then engineering a chance encounter.