Chapter 164: On What Grounds

Chapter 164: On What Grounds

The sirens wailed incessantly.

Inside a speeding police car on the road.

“Gu Yunfeng, Male, 47, local… He spent years working away from home. His exact occupation remains unclear, but his identity logs reveal that over the past two decades he’s appeared in many remote areas nationwide. No criminal record, no past convictions…”

Guo Qiang flipped through the suspect’s profile on a tablet while reporting to Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu’s mind raced at a frantic pace.

He weighed and mulled over the details Guo Qiang narrated, carefully analyzing the information.

Logical deduction isn’t exclusive to geniuses—it can be honed over time.

Just like any form of problem-solving.

Once you become familiar with a method, your mind naturally employs it in analysis.

When Guo Qiang presented the suspect file, Xiao Yu’s first thought was:

“Could it be that Gu Yunfeng, much like Jia Zhen, was once involved in illegal tomb raiding?”

That would explain Jia Zhen’s murder—using the Engineer’s Shovel as the weapon seems plausible.

Following that line of thought: why would two tomb raiders coincidentally end up in the same city?

Were they acquaintances? Could they possibly know each other?

Otherwise, why would one tomb raider kill another in such a twist of fate?

Pushing the logic further with a forward deduction.

Is it possible that the Gu family discovered their enemy, Che Feiting and Jia Yanli, through Jia Zhen, by a mere stroke of luck?

After all, Jia Yanli is Jia Zhen’s sister.

Then, reversing the deduction: could Jia Zhen have raided his own sister’s corpse because Gu Yunfeng hinted that her death wasn’t natural?

Perhaps Gu Yunfeng initially fed Jia Zhen this secret—a fabricated lie, perhaps.

Maybe he heard it from the daughter working as a nanny, who claimed Jia Yanli’s death was not natural, but a murder meant to incite Jia Zhen?

Was the plan simply to provoke Jia Zhen into causing a commotion, forcing the police to perform an autopsy and uncover the truth?

But things took an unexpected turn—Jia Zhen not only stirred up trouble, he even schemed to inherit his sister’s fortune.

He stole her body to terrorize Che Feiting.

In a twist of fate, this derailed the Gu family’s entire plan.

And thus Gu Yunfeng ended up tracking down and killing Jia Zhen.

Leading the police to recover Jia Yanli’s body.

Isn’t this entire chain of events something that can be deduced logically?

Deduction is much like weaving a story, imagining, and constructing a plausible sequence of events.

It isn’t mindless wandering—it’s constructing a rational process.

Assume boldly, verify cautiously, and eventually uncover the truth…

……

BOOM!

Gu Yunfeng’s doorway was smashed open as armed Criminal Police burst in.

Empty—no one was there?

Frowning, Xiao Yu stepped inside, using Wangdie’s Nose to record the intruder’s scent.

Activating Wax Moth’s Ear, he confirmed there was no hiding person, deep in contemplation.

If I were Gu Yunfeng, what would I most want to do right now?

Wait for the police to examine Jia Yanli’s body… to reveal the truth?

Wait for Che Feiting to get his comeuppance.

After all these actions, not witnessing the death of his enemy—

How could his heart ever be at peace?!

The scent captured by Wangdie’s Nose told Xiao Yu that the culprit hadn’t returned home after the crime.

A murderer would invariably be stained with the tang of blood.

So where would he hide then… Xiao Yu exited the Gu residence.

Lost in thought, he considered a possibility.

If he were finally out to avenge his deceased wife…

Where would he most likely go?

A cemetery… to pay homage to a spirit in the heavens!

……

When Xiao Yu’s team arrived at a cemetery,

it was clear Gu Yunfeng had been there—his scent lingered.

If he hadn’t stayed, where else would he have gone?

Could it be… to meet his daughter?

Xiao Yu blinked, silently thinking, “Did you finally notice something’s off?”

Twenty minutes later,

Xiao Yu entered an apartment building and once again caught Gu Yunfeng’s scent.

There was also a faint trace of blood…

Following the stairs and the scent, Xiao Yu steadily ascended to the fifth floor.

He arrived at the residence of the suspect Che Feiting and stood at the door.

He punched in the code on the electronic lock.

Snap!

The door swung open, and Xiao Yu stepped inside.

The smell grew even stronger…

Xiao Yu strolled over to the sofa and glanced at the floor-to-ceiling windows in the hall.

No, to be precise,

He merely glanced at the floor-length curtains before seating himself on the sofa.

“There’s always been one question that puzzles me,” he murmured.

Taking out a cigarette pack, he lit one and inhaled deeply. “Why go to such extremes? Why not report to the police as soon as you found someone? To involve your daughter, and then yourself too—how deep is your hatred for them?”

No one answered.

Only the sound of his voice and the flick of his lighter echoed.

The hall was utterly silent.

“The case involving Che Feiting and Jia Yanli has already been solved by the police.”

Xiao Yu exhaled a cloud of smoke. “No need to search for your daughter; she’s in custody now. You killed Jia Zhen to make the police find Jia Yanli’s body… you did it all. But I can tell you with certainty, Che Feiting’s crimes don’t merit the death penalty. Under charges of hit-and-run causing death, the maximum sentence is just over seven years. Add in the charges of his wife’s poisoning, cover-up, perjury… even if combined, nothing exceeds life imprisonment. He won’t die!”

“No!”

A furious roar erupted—a long, wolfish howl.

A figure burst out from behind the curtains.

With a sweeping motion of his arm, a flash of cold light shimmered.

A short Engineer’s Shovel slashed toward Xiao Yu, who was seated on the sofa.

Was it really necessary?

Xiao Yu sprang up and delivered a sweeping kick with his thigh.

Thwack!

A whipping kick struck the assailant’s head.

With normal strength, a Combat Expert like Xiao Yu could have snapped his neck in a single kick.

With Bear Force activated, he could have shattered his skull.

But…

Xiao Yu’s kick deliberately held back most of its power.

Boom!

The assailant crumpled onto the hall’s floor.

After all, the man was nearly fifty.

Stunned for a long while after the kick, he couldn’t get up.

Xiao Yu stared calmly at him… at Gu Yunfeng.

For a long moment,

a groggy Gu Yunfeng looked up at Xiao Yu.

In his eyes, frantic and desperate red glimmers flashed.

That wild look was akin to a ferocious beast’s gaze.

“On what grounds? On what grounds did my wife suffer so terribly, while they get to live? You tell me—on what grounds?”

Gu Yunfeng roared like a wild beast, his voice filled with both fury and despair.

Xiao Yu stood frozen, looking at the man wracked with unbearable pain.

Even someone as stoic as Mount Tai’s might be moved, yet his extreme hatred rendered him almost demonic.