Chapter 014 Experienced Xu Zhiyong_1

"Who is it?"

"Why?"

"What to do?"

Yi Lin bombarded himself with these three philosophical questions in his mind.

Separated by the one-way glass, Yi Lin couldn't see behind him and couldn't confirm who was peering at him from behind that one-way glass.

But Yi Lin, with his Mental Attribute already as high as 5.5, had a perception that was incomparable to that of an ordinary person.

Xu Zhiyong sat in front of Yi Lin.

His expression was somewhat nervous.

Although he hid it well, Yi Lin still caught Xu Zhiyong involuntarily glancing toward the one-way glass every 30 to 40 seconds.

Yi Lin pretended inadvertently to raise his head and glanced at the surveillance equipment above him.

The peering gazes on him were much more numerous than before.

"Are they suspecting me?"

The moment this thought emerged in Yi Lin's mind, he couldn't help but start thinking about his next move.

Time was pressing.

Yi Lin lowered his head, silent.

To an onlooker, this was a perfectly normal reaction for a high school student unwittingly involved in a major murder case.

"Ahem." Xu Zhiyong coughed twice, subtly moving his gaze back from the adjacent glass.

Little did he know, Yi Lin captured this action clearly.

"Yi, you don't need to be nervous, because this matter is... of great significance, a matter of life and death, and the murderer has not been found. That's why some questions must be asked more meticulously," Xu Zhiyong said.

"Mhm." Yi Lin nodded woodenly, his expression blank.

"On the evening of July 8th, 2121, um, between 23:00 and the early hours, where were you?"

"At home."

"What were you doing at home?"

Yi Lin looked up at Xu Zhiyong, a trace of nervousness on his face, "Officer Xu, haven't I already told you? I was at home helping Siao Yang with his homework. Didn't you guys confiscate the homework?"

"Cough, cough. That's not confiscation, that's temporarily holding the evidence. Let's not talk about that for now, do you have proof?"

Yi Lin shook his head, "The AI Housekeeper at my home is an older version, it doesn't have a 24-hour recording feature."

"Why not change it?"

"Because… there's no need."

"..."

This reason was so logical that Xu Zhiyong couldn't refute it.

Indeed, many people's home AI Housekeepers didn't come with a recording feature.

This really couldn't be considered suspicious.

Xu Zhiyong had only asked casually.

He wasn't really concerned.

Xu Zhiyong looked down at the materials in front of him and continued asking questions.

"On July 9th, the day after Siao Yang was murdered, your call records show you dialed Siao Yang four times. Why?"

Yi Lin answered truthfully, his eyes sincere, "The teacher said that skipping classes might affect Siao Yang's record, and asked me to persuade Siao Yang not to keep skipping school... After all, in the teacher's eyes, I am considered a good friend of Siao Yang's..."

As he said this, Yi Lin's eyes dimmed, his voice paused slightly, and then he continued, "And I also needed to return the homework to Siao Yang quickly because there was a history class the morning of July 10th."

Afterward, Xu Zhiyong went over the process of discovering Siao Yang's death several times.

Yi Lin responded truthfully.

About an hour later.

Unable to resist, Xu Zhiyong stole another glance at the glass, then said to Yi Lin, "Alright, Yi, thank you for your cooperation. Don't worry, we will catch the murderer as soon as possible, you don't need to worry about that."

"Oh..."

Yi Lin looked down at the ground, then quickly lifted his head again, lips slightly pursed, "I, I won't have to come here again, right?"

Xu Zhiyong pondered for a moment, then laughed, "Don't worry, we have basically finished gathering evidence on your part. You won't need to come in again if there's nothing else. However, I hope you won't leave the Qingcheng area for the time being... By the way, I heard you have an attribute retest in a few days? Are you interested in applying for the Detective Department? Our Qingcheng Police Station could use a smart young man like you. After you graduate, I, Old Xu, might even be able to recommend you."

Xu Zhiyong asked with a mix of jest and earnestness.

Yi Lin shook his head, "No, thank you Officer Xu, I'm planning to major in Tower Studies later on."

"Tsk, tower studies, eh? Not bad!" Xu Zhiyong gave Yi Lin a thumbs up, "Tower studies will be a hot field in the future since, without understanding what those four towers are all about, they always make people feel uneasy."

Yi Lin didn't continue to banter with Xu Zhiyong. Instead, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and left the Qingcheng Police Station in silence.

It was only after he boarded the maglev orbital public bus that encircled the city that Yi Lin quietly let out a sigh of relief.

Acting,

was exhausting.

Yi Lin made his way home without saying a word.

Once home, he silently practiced the Body Strengthening Technique and Dragon Swim Steps several times.

Even though he knew that these two state-promulgated fitness techniques based on ancient martial arts weren't much of an improvement for him now.

But after working up a sweat, Yi Lin felt his mind seemed calmer.

They say life is a play and it all depends on the acting.

But Yi Lin knew he was never good at acting.

As the saying goes, how far a person can go doesn't just depend on how hard they try, how awesome they are, or how lucky they are, but on whether their self-awareness is profound enough.

There are no flawless humans, and as long as one is human, they will have flaws. There aren't perfect supermen who are good at everything in the world.

Maybe there are...

But Yi Lin had never seen one.

Yi Lin was very clear on what he was good at and what he wasn't.

He had mild obsessive-compulsive disorder.

After realizing this, Yi Lin didn't think about how to treat it, but rather how to turn it into his advantage.

"Is it finally time to contact her in advance?"

Yi Lin gripped the phone tightly, feeling somewhat helpless.

At this point in time, she didn't know Yi Lin.

Moreover, Yi Lin had already taken actions that would cause significant changes in the future.

— He killed Siao Yang, the future leader of the Eight Shadows.

In the so-called butterfly effect, whether he could meet "her" as he had in his previous life was an unknown.

But... that wasn't important.

What was important was that every time he thought about dialing that number, Yi Lin would feel a twinge of discomfort.

So there Yi Lin sat in the gym, holding the phone.

He pondered for a whole 1 hour and 28 minutes.

Finally, Yi Lin dialed a series of numbers that he remembered vividly.

...

...

After Yi Lin left.

Qingcheng Police Station.

Xu Zhiyong took a long breath of relief.

Gu Sinan walked in with a complexion as dark as charcoal.

Seeing Gu Sinan's grim expression, Xu Zhiyong's heart skipped a beat.

"Team Gu, what's with…"

"Old Xu, what do you think?"

"Think? Are you talking about Yi Lin or…"

"The whole case."

As soon as the case was mentioned, Xu Zhiyong grew serious, sorted out his thoughts, and shared his ideas, "You've seen it too, Team Gu. Even though Yi Lin was the first to discover the crime scene and doesn't have an alibi for the time of the crime, based on my years of experience, Yi Lin's nervousness and his behavior were all very normal, and throughout the whole process, almost no faults could be found... Ah, these past few days have really been tough on the kid, poor him…"

"Get to the point."

"Ahem, based on my rich experience in handling cases, I infer that the murderer should be between the ages of 20 and 30, with above-average attributes, at least 9.0, and possibly even higher than the victim's, 10.0 is quite likely too. And the murderer excels in strength and agility... Judging by the absence of any trace at the scene, the murderer is mysterious in mind, intelligent beyond measure. This murderer's mental attribute must not be low either, at least 3.0 or higher. Considering the murderer's skilled methods, I agree with Team Gu's thinking that the murderer is very likely a dangerous person from the 'underworld'."

While saying this, Xu Zhiyong handed an electronic screen to Gu Sinan.

"Based on my years of experience in solving cases, I've checked the database these last few days and have locked down these suspects..."