Surprisingly, the young man had some insights into criminal investigation and criminal psychology and knew about several high-profile provincial cases from recent years. What does an old detective love most? Drinking and bragging about cases they’ve solved. The two had an engaging conversation.
Eventually, they somehow got to discussing the Xu Baping case.
The young man asked, “Do you think Xu Baping was formidable?”
The old detective instinctively replied, “Yes.” In his mind, someone who killed so many people ruthlessly had to be a fierce character.
But the young man smiled and said, “I think he was nothing special. His methods were quite simple and crude, showing little thought. First, stranger-on-stranger crimes are just inherently difficult to solve—that’s why those infamous killers since the founding of the nation, who killed dozens of people, despite being elementary school graduates or even farmers, took years to catch. Second, forensic methods were backward then. Put him in today’s world, surveillance cameras would catch him immediately—he’d be arrested within a day.”
Though somewhat uncomfortable, the old detective had to admit the young man had a point.
However, the young man quickly changed his attitude, becoming extremely curious and patient, asking about case details from back then. Since the case was solved and the killer caught, there was no harm in sharing details as long as they didn’t involve specific victim identities, so the old detective told him everything.
Finally, when the old detective was too drunk to function, the young man helped him home.
But that was their only meeting—they never met again.
…
You Mingxu’s eyes sparkled with interest: “Does our old colleague remember what the young man looked like? His name?”
Xu Mengshan replied, “He never gave his name, and it’s been two years since that one meeting—the old colleague only has a vague impression of his appearance. But we’re trying anyway—hehe, I’ve already invited the old colleague back, and we’ll be consulting a sketch artist soon.”
The sketch artist he mentioned specialized in portrait drawings.
You Mingxu was pleased—even a rough outline would give them direction. Based on the old colleague’s description, the young man matched both the surveillance footage of the killer and Yin Feng’s psychological profile.
Xu Mengshan’s fourth line of investigation, checking recent reports of female assault and stalking, turned up over ten cases. Some were proven mistakes, others had caught the perpetrators. However, there were two cases where single women, also returning from late-night work, felt they were being followed. But being alert, they managed to escape. You Mingxu had Xu Mengshan check relevant surveillance footage for possible leads.
The fifth line, investigating break-ins, yielded nothing.
As for You Mingxu’s lead, she had thoroughly investigated all employees and customers of both bathhouses, finding no suspects. She even checked regular delivery personnel, maintenance workers, and cleaners… but felt this approach wasn’t working. She had a sense that the pattern was right under her nose, not far away—some connection she had overlooked.
Yin Feng agreed and suggested, “Why don’t I take you for a massage? You can familiarize yourself with the process, talk with a massage therapist about their routines from day one—who they interact with, how they spend their days?”
You Mingxu said, “Get lost!” Though she knew both establishments were legitimate and the former Yin Feng wasn’t that depraved, she disliked hearing him suggest such entertainment. Now that he was hers, she wouldn’t allow such behavior. Massage? Let Guanjun learn and massage him!
Unaware of You Mingxu’s thoughts, Yin Feng wasn’t bothered by her cold refusal. Instead, he asked Chen Feng to find some easy-to-learn massage techniques. Being clever, he memorized them after a few views on his phone, thinking about tonight… a smile spreading across his face.
Though You Mingxu rejected the massage idea, something in Yin Feng’s words struck her. She sensed a previously overlooked lead appearing before her. However, it was too early to tell if it would yield results. She turned to request assistance from an IT department colleague to verify some things.
Unexpectedly, the first breakthrough came from an outsider—Yin Feng’s gardener, Guanjun.
The night after Yin Feng assigned him the task, five days after the second victim’s death, Guanjun sent everyone a collection of online post directories and IP trace results.
Refusing to enter the station, only Yin Feng, You Mingxu, and Xu Mengshan viewed it on the computer.
Following Yin Feng’s instructions, Guanjun had compiled posts from major forums discussing famous serial killer cases. Additionally, he found three popular threads specifically about the Xu Baping case, with replies as recent as last month. Interest in violence was human nature.
Guanjun selected three IPs from these discussions.
You Mingxu asked, “How did he choose them?”
Yin Feng replied, “I told him to select those that made sense to him.”
You Mingxu paused: Guanjun was already somewhat unstable—asking him to select what made sense might actually work in their favor.
The three began reviewing the materials.
The first IP’s owner had commented frequently on several serial killer cases online, including once or twice on the Xu Baping case. His view was that Xu Baping was a talented killer who, despite his poor background and lack of education, showed cleverness in executing multiple crimes successfully. His words suggested he believed Xu Baping didn’t care about getting caught, but sought release.
Reading this, Yin Feng remarked, “That’s correct.”
This IP user used the same ID across several forums, making them somewhat famous in these discussion circles.
Yin Feng said, “It’s not him.”
The second IP’s owner appeared knowledgeable about criminal psychology and investigation, analyzing cases and known methods in detail with each post. Though their analyses were mixed in accuracy, they got many points right. Xu Mengshan shook his head, saying, “There are experts among the masses.”