"The investigation results are out. The deceased had a twin brother, but when he was three, his twin brother fell off a cliff in an accident, leaving no trace of his body."
Yelan paused, then continued speaking.
"But I have another piece of information. It is said that the younger brother did not die in that accident. On the verge of death, he was picked up by a notorious bandit who passed on all his skills to him. From the age of sixteen, he made his first move, robbing a traveling merchant, killing him, and dumping the body in the wilderness.
"From then on, he struck repeatedly and rarely failed. Each time he acted, he almost never left any survivors."
"A while ago, he suddenly vanished without a trace. Everyone thought he had been killed in a failed mission."
"But based on the current clues, it seems the younger brother happened to obtain information about his own background and then sought out his older brother."
"Perhaps he envied his older brother's life in the sun, or perhaps he had robbed enough money to live out the rest of his life and wanted to use this opportunity to wash his hands of his criminal past. So, he killed his older brother and took his place."
"The older brother's body has already been found in the courtyard's water well. It's basically certain that the deceased was his younger brother."
"In other words, even though the deceased didn't reveal his real name, he still met with an accident."
"Therefore, our previous speculation about the murderer's abilities was wrong. Even if we don't exchange real names, there's still a huge risk to our lives."
"I think the reason the deceased didn't use his own skills to escape this time was perhaps because he believed he was safe, but as you all saw, the outcome was different."
After listening to Yelan's words, the expressions on everyone's faces grew somewhat grave.
Actually, the moment they saw the identity credentials, everyone had already realized this point. But now that reality was laid bare before them, it still dealt them a considerable blow.
Seeing the situation, Yelan shook her head, then slowly said.
"I assume you all realize the danger of this incident. If anyone wants to quit at this time, I will definitely not stop you."
Shortly after Yelan said this, someone suddenly stood up.
"Sorry, I may not be ready to face the fear of death yet."
After leaving behind these words, that person lowered their head and hurried to leave.
His departure seemed to be a signal, and soon several more people chose to withdraw one after another. The danger of this matter had already exceeded their expectations; they were no longer willing to take risks.
Seeing this scene, Hu Tao couldn't help but recall the moment someone bid farewell and left the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. She looked with concern at Yelan, who appeared calm on the surface, wondering what the other person was truly feeling at this moment.
"Is there no one else among the remaining who wants to leave?"
After confirming several times, Yelan nodded and spoke.
"More people remained than I had anticipated. Not bad."
"Since this is everyone's choice, I hope no matter what happens later, no one will regret it."
Responding to Yelan were pairs of resolute eyes.
"That's the spirit."
Yelan nodded approvingly to everyone.
"Now, let's re-examine the clues we've gathered so far."
"So far, it appears that one of the conditions for the murderer to activate their ability is to have seen the target with their own eyes, while the other is to know the person's name, even a fake one. It's also highly possible that a code name would suffice."
"There's another hidden clue that I discovered not long ago."
"The few people whose names were recorded were all actually individuals who had violated Liyue Law.
Yelan spoke unhurriedly.
"They concealed it well, which is why I didn't notice it before. But after I learned the true identity of the fourth victim, a question arose in my mind. I then investigated all the remaining victims, and sure enough, I found something."
"Among them, there were those who sold counterfeit goods, and even used violence to drive away buyers who came to complain."
"There were also human traffickers, thieves..."
"Although I don't know how the murderer learned of their deeds, it seems this is the only commonality among those people."
As Yelan spoke, the faces of everyone present filled with anger.
"Those people are absolute scum!"
Hu Tao said angrily. Among them, the person who sold counterfeit goods and beat up buyers had the lightest crime. At least half of the others had blood on their hands.
To think she had felt sorry for them and even felt a bit guilty before. Now that she thought back, she had truly wasted her kindness on dogs!
"So, the murderer we're after is actually an agent of divine justice?!"
At this moment, Chen Feng spoke hesitantly, and his words made many of the people present question the righteousness of their current mission.
The murderer has indeed killed people, but so far it seems he has only targeted those who truly deserved to die. If not for the murderer's current actions, perhaps these villains would still be roaming free!
"Although it seems the murderer is punishing only evil people right now, I do not believe an individual can stand above the law. If everyone did things according to their own rules, wouldn't Liyue return to the chaotic era of the past where no rules existed?"
At this moment, Yanfei shook her head and stated her opinion.
"Miss Yanfei is right. No matter the reason, since the murderer chose to resolve the matter of these guilty people himself, he is also a criminal in our eyes."
At times like this, the benefit of having a legal consultant on hand was evident.
Given Yanfei's reputation, no one present would doubt her professionalism. Besides, Yanfei is considered half an Adeptus, and her strength is also quite formidable.
After hearing these words, many people dispelled their internal hesitations.
Suddenly, Baizhu thought of something and spoke.
"If the murderer were to reveal this matter, what would the reaction of the people of Liyue be?"
"Unfortunately, although this is a complete criminal act, I think the murderer would receive the support of many people."
Yelan shook her head and spoke.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Baizhu coughed violently a few times first, then quickly stated his own speculation.
"If that's the case, I think the murderer doesn't want Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to pay for his actions, but simply wants to use Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's fame to let all the people of Liyue know about his existence."
"This person's ambition is even greater than all of us ever imagined."
Part of the previous speculation was overturned, but after hearing Baizhu's words, everyone present seemed very excited, because this meant they were one step closer to the truth.
"From the looks of it, that's correct."
Yelan nodded to confirm Baizhu's idea.
"So it's actually like this..."
Hu Tao hadn't expected Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to be caught in the crossfire for this reason, which was even more unbearable to her than being made a scapegoat.
Being a scapegoat could be resolved by clarifying the misunderstanding, but being used by the murderer was equivalent to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor also becoming an accomplice.
Just then, Yelan suddenly looked toward the door.
"It seems the investigation over here is also about finished."
Just as Yelan's words fell, a knock on the door came from over there.
Soon, Keqing and Ganyu appeared in the room.
Keqing looked at the group, whose numbers had clearly decreased, but said nothing, then looked at Yelan.
"Yelan, we have results from the investigation you asked me to look into."
After saying this, Keqing turned to Ganyu, who immediately nodded and displayed the documents in her hands.
At Yelan's signal, everyone quickly gathered around. They saw that Ganyu had laid out a detailed map of Liyue's streets, which also contained several markings.
"Ganyu and I have listed and marked the residential locations of people who have recently passed away in Liyue. We discovered that there is indeed an area where the deaths are more concentrated, especially in the past few days."
Seeing that many of the people present still didn't understand her intention, Yelan spoke up to explain.
"When the murderer first obtained his power, he likely targeted people nearby first. Therefore, this can help us narrow down his current location."
"Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that the murderer calculated this and deliberately left a trap to lure us in."
"But at least this is one direction for our investigation. Moreover, based on my current judgment, I don't think the murderer is such a meticulous person."
At that moment, Chen Feng suddenly looked up and said,
"Miss Yelan, I have a different take on this."
"You said you don't think the murderer is someone with a meticulous mind, but I disagree."
"On the contrary, the murderer may seem arrogant, but in reality, they are extremely cautious."
Hearing Chen Feng's words, an expression of surprise appeared on Yelan's face.
"Oh~"
"Interesting. Go on, tell me more."
At this point, Chen Feng reached out and pointed toward another area completely opposite to the one they had just demarcated.
"Don't you all find this place too quiet?"
"Look at other areas—they all have more or less some degree of abnormal death counts, especially within the circled area. But this place alone has none at all."
"Although the murderer wouldn't know that I have the ability to tell if they've struck, such blatant behavior would be too reckless for them to ignore. After all, the Liyue Qixing would definitely send people to investigate if a specific area had an abnormal death rate."
"Don't you all think this is exactly what the murderer wants us to believe? He's being brazen, openly declaring war on the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and even the Liyue Qixing, then blatantly attacking people near his own home..."
"Chen Feng, are you saying this is a false impression the murderer is deliberately creating to lead us in the wrong direction?" Hu Tao asked hesitantly after listening to Chen Feng's words.
"But isn't that a bit too extreme?"
"It's not a baseless guess. The murderer must have left some traces," Chen Feng shook his head and then spoke again.
"Think about it. Why has this specific area been so quiet lately? Is it possible the murderer, who wants to present himself as a champion of justice, is deliberately ignoring the evil in this place?"
Hearing these words, a flash of insight struck Yanfei.
"Because the evil in this area has already been mostly purged!"
"It's not that the murderer deliberately left a flaw, but that there's simply no one left here to punish!"
Upon hearing Yanfei's words, everyone present suddenly had expressions of realization on their faces.
"Miss Keqing, could you please check the distribution of the deceased from an even earlier time period?"
"It would be best to look at victims from a month ago, two months ago, or even half a year ago. I suspect the murderer actually obtained this power long ago and has been hiding himself all this time."
As soon as Chen Feng finished speaking, the gazes of Yelan, Keqing, and Ganyu were filled with astonishment and admiration. This made Hu Tao feel nervous, and she immediately stood in front of Chen Feng to block their view, asserting her status as Chen Feng's boss.
"Ningguang was indeed not exaggerating. Consultant Chen Feng's abilities are not only outstanding, but his talent is also far beyond what ordinary people can achieve."
Beyond her surprise, a deep trace of wariness flashed in Yelan's eyes.
The more outstanding Chen Feng was, the less simple his identity became. Until she could uncover his true identity or his real intentions, she needed to be constantly careful not to reveal too much before him.
In fact, inviting Chen Feng to join the Task Force was her idea. Of course, the reason was not because of Chen Feng's abilities, but because she had an intuition that this matter was definitely related to Chen Feng's appearance, especially after seeing another piece of information.
Doing this was indeed very risky, but it also made it easier for Chen Feng to reveal his weaknesses.
However, Chen Feng's performance had greatly exceeded her expectations. He was truly helping them solve the case without holding anything back, which even caused a flicker of doubt to arise in Yelan's heart.
Perhaps Chen Feng really is innocent? Or...
Yelan sighed inwardly and suppressed the agitation in her heart.
"Lady Keqing, please show everyone the second set of investigation results."
"Yelan, you don't need to be so formal. You are the Team Leader of the Task Force here, so you can just call me by my name."
As Keqing spoke, she and Ganyu displayed the second map together. The anomalous areas on this map were especially few, almost entirely concentrated in the area Chen Feng had pointed out and its surroundings.
"This is the distribution of the locations of the deceased in Liyue Harbor from one to three months ago, which Ganyu and I investigated together. Just as Consultant Chen Feng said, the number of deaths in this area has been fluctuating slightly during this period."
"In other words, the murderer has actually been killing people since three months ago!"
After hearing Keqing's words, everyone's expressions immediately became incredibly grave.
A vicious serial killer had been committing crimes in Liyue Harbor for three consecutive months before they discovered his criminal activities!
Of course, it's no wonder. After all, his ability was previously unheard of. Even if they had noticed the death toll was slightly abnormal, they wouldn't have taken it seriously as long as the increase wasn't too high.
Later, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor caused quite a stir. Combined with the fact that Chen Feng was considered a suspect, a large portion of Liyue's attention was focused there, making it even less likely they would notice the slight anomaly in the number of deaths.
Just like that, the murderer committed crimes right under the noses of the Liyue Qixing, undetected. If he hadn't been so ambitious, they might not have discovered him for another three months.
At this moment, the Task Force's criminal psychologist began to play his part.
"Initially, the murderer didn't think much about the power he had acquired; he even had some doubts about it. So, he tested the ability on people near him who had bad reputations or were his enemies."
"After discovering the power's strength, he secretly used it to eliminate those people nearby with bad reputations. During this time, the murderer acted cautiously, constantly worrying the Millelith would discover the problem and come knocking at his door."
"However, after some time had passed, the Millelith hadn't noticed a thing. The murderer completely put his mind at ease."
"Then, the murderer heard the people nearby happily discussing how Heaven had finally taken those villains away. The murderer's vanity was greatly satisfied, which in turn fueled his ambition."
"So he came up with a bold plan: use the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's fame to create a massive stir, and finally reveal himself to everyone in one fell swoop."
"He wanted to seize this opportunity to become completely famous, even aspiring to become the God of Justice in the eyes of the people of Liyue."
After hearing this, the others nodded one after another.
"So it turns out the earlier tests of his power were just a performance for us. In reality, he has already fully developed his ability."
"I'm afraid this is also a form of deterrence. I believe the murderer himself hasn't become a transcendent being because of this power; his body is still that of a mortal, which is why he had to be so cautious."
"If the Liyue Qixing had simply yielded because they feared this power, that would have been the best possible outcome for him..."
"Three months ago..."
Hearing this time, Hu Tao murmured softly.
This time seemed to be when Chen Feng appeared in Liyue Harbor.
Thinking of this, a layer of gloom couldn't help but cover Hu Tao's face...
"So you've already discovered the murderer's weakness."
Chen Feng scratched his head a bit awkwardly.
"It seems I showed off too early."
"Consultant Chen Feng, please don't say that!"
Keqing immediately spoke up to explain after hearing Chen Feng's words.
"The three of us also discussed it for a long time before we noticed this point. However, Consultant Chen Feng, you were able to discover the problem alone in such a short time. Your attentiveness and reasoning ability are far above ours."
"Keqing is right. Mr. Chen Feng, please don't be too polite. This is the praise you deserve."
At this moment, Ganyu also added a sentence.
Hearing the praise from Keqing and Ganyu, Chen Feng immediately looked even more embarrassed.
"Oh, how could I possibly accept this. You might as well give me some bonus or something..."
Keqing, Ganyu: "..."
Everyone present: "..."
Hu Tao immediately covered her face, it was simply too embarrassing.
"Alright, alright, I will apply to Lady Ningguang for the bonus."
After all, Ningguang has a lot of money. A mere bonus is no problem.
Yelan waved her hand and then spoke again.
"The murderer is very cunning, but the net of heaven is vast and nothing escapes its mesh. He wants to show off his cleverness in front of all of us in the Task Force, and in the end, he will only bring trouble upon himself!"
"Now that the scope has been narrowed down to this extent, I believe everyone understands how to proceed with the investigation next."
"Try not to reveal your identities and conduct the investigation secretly."
"I won't say much else. I hope everyone stays safe."
After giving a final, solemn instruction, Yelan clapped her hands.
"Meeting adjourned."