Chapter 2164 - 1180: Clues_2

"Yes, he goes there every day, almost without missing a day," Captain Ding said.

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao had already confirmed the Ghost’s murder targets and part of its behavioral logic.

The Ghost kills those it believes are unfaithful to their marriage or partner, and the locations where the bodies are dumped post-murder are the sites where the victims had engaged in infidelity during their lifetimes.

Zhang Xiujuan messed around with various men behind her boyfriend’s back at the dance hall, so her body appeared there after her death.

Pan Xiaoxiao had secret meetings with her ambiguous partner by the lake, so her body was left by the lakeside.

Old Zhang had an affair with his female student behind his wife’s back and secretly met her while watching a movie, so his body appeared in a remote corner of the cinema.

Wang Yong was originally married to Liu Hongwei but cheated with a young female employee, meeting in illicit corners of the second-floor corridor, thus he died in the stall of an abandoned restroom at the corridor’s end.

Feng Xiaoyan interacted with a stranger at the cinema in front of her "husband" Guo Tiejun, so she died in the cinema.

As for Ma Jing, there’s not much to say; she dared to kiss another man right in front of her "husband" Hu Weimin, which in the Ghost’s eyes was an unforgivable sin deserving of death!

Six people, six lives, Yang Xiao finally sorted out the clues. Actually, he had vaguely guessed the Ghost’s murder logic last night, but he dared not confirm it.

It wasn’t until this morning, upon discovering Ma Jing’s disappearance, that he breathed a sigh of relief and completely verified his suspicions.

As for why Zhou Wenqing would ruthlessly kill these "unfaithful" people, Yang Xiao also had his own theories.

He believes it is related to Zhou Wenqing’s wrongful death.

After all, during the investigation phase, those who accused and slandered him were instrumental in establishing him as the real culprit.

People like Cui Hongying even directly identified him as the killer, becoming the last straw to break Zhou Wenqing.

Meanwhile, a bold conjecture emerged from the depths of Yang Xiao’s mind; could the real culprit behind these two cases be an insider?

Going darker, these two cases might not be the key; the key may be that someone wanted Zhou Wenqing dead, wanted to silence him.

Could it be that Zhou Wenqing, while hiding in the shadows, truly saw something he shouldn’t have?

During this era, reputation was highly valued. If a leader was involved in a disgrace, once exposed, their future career would be ruined.

Yang Xiao conveyed his assumptions to Chief Zhou and boldly hypothesized; could the real perpetrator of these two assaults be hiding among them, maybe even... within the factory’s defense team back then!

To permanently cover up the truth, Captain Qian Shouyi insisted Zhou Wenqing take the fall to silence him.

This was all carefully planned from the start.

However, Chief Zhou shook his head, solemnly interrupting Yang Xiao’s guess. Upon accepting the case, he first thoroughly investigated all factory defense team members who participated in the case back then, and he confidently asserted that these individuals had no potential for committing such acts.

They identified Zhou Wenqing as the murderer only to complete the case formally, and besides, Zhou himself was an odd person, with a withdrawn personality and strange behaviors. Many clues matched the perpetrator’s profile, so he indeed seemed highly suspect.

"Captain Ma, I understand Qian Shouyi. I believe he wanted to advance politically, but you claim he concocted such a massive scheme just to frame Zhou Wenqing, wanting him dead? That I don’t believe, it’s somewhat far-fetched," Chief Zhou said seriously.

Yang Xiao thought to himself that it wasn’t that far-fetched; he had experienced unimaginable scenarios himself, including cutting a script box when celebrating his birthday. He had seen it all.

However, regardless of his thoughts, facing Chief Zhou’s exceptionally serious expression, Yang Xiao ultimately held his tongue.

After all, as a local, Chief Zhou knew far more about the factory’s situation than these outsiders.

Since it was known the Ghost would stalk Cultural Palace and other places at night searching for the "unfaithful," Yang Xiao immediately canceled the Cultural Palace operation, planning to stay in the security section with everyone tonight.

This proposal undeniably received unanimous support, including Chief Zhou.

Chief Zhou clenched the Exorcism Gourd in his left hand and held a gun in his right, vowing to protect Yang Xiao and his group’s safety.

For some reason, though they knew Chief Zhou’s protection was ineffective against the Ghost, his presence and the aura radiating from other security team members dispelled the unease within everyone.

Then Yang Xiao began establishing rules; with Wang Yong, Feng Xiaoyan, and Ma Jing already dead, they were down to seven people.

Among the seven, only Yang Xiao and Ye Zheng, as well as Zhao Xuejun and Zhang Xiaomin, formed two married pairs.

According to the Ghost’s killing habits, if there would be an attack tonight, the victim would likely come from these two pairs.

Thus, Yang Xiao’s request was that tonight, the four of them should avoid contact with any opposite sex as much as possible, especially to eschew physical contact, avoid smiling at or warmly engaging with them, as the Ghost’s judgment of infidelity is biased and might cause misjudgment.

Night quickly enveloped the area, and under Chief Zhou’s arrangement, the security team brought them food from the cafeteria. The seven-person group improvised dinner in the security section office.