There was no reason for Xiong Wendong to reject Zhao Yu’s request, given Zhao Yu’s rank and identity.
It didn’t take long for more than a dozen police vehicles to surround Master Zhang’s Daoist temple. Apart from Master Zhang and his wife, the police also arrested all their accomplices in one fell swoop.
What surprised Zhao Yu was that although Master Zhang’s gang had not looked like much, he had as many as 14 helpers!
The technology behind his tricks was even more astounding. It would not have lost against a professional magician’s operations team!
Watching as the police led Master Zhang away in handcuffs, Zhao Yu instructed the officers to take care of him. He’d come back for Master Zhang if his statement proved to be useful for the case!
Just as they were about to leave, Zhao Yu murmured into Master Zhang’s ear, “Master, better change your bad habits! My trick of conjuring a ghost was passed down to me from my ancestors; nobody else knows about it.
“So, make sure to tell your people just to discuss their offenses! Don’t say anything about my trick!
“If anybody dares leak it out, hungh hungh…”
Master Zhang shuddered at Zhao Yu’s glare. He quickly patted his chest and made an oath.
Zhao Yu wasn’t actually worried that they would leak anything. He had already used the Hacker’s Command to wipe the CCTV footage so that no one would be able to find anything.
Besides, Master Zhang and company probably assumed that he had relied on some kind of prop to perform the trick.
As for the two beautiful ladies who fainted out of fear, they could say whatever they liked! It wasn’t like anyone would believe them.
That’s how Master Zhang’s gang was eliminated. Zhao Yu felt pretty good about it. At least through this, he had managed to figure out how to go about cracking the case of the hanging coffins.
Therefore, he made a call to Miao Ying immediately, asking her to check whether there were any deceased persons whose birth data corresponded. That way they could see if they had any new discoveries.
Although Miao Ying didn’t know about Zhao Yu pretending to be a ghost, she felt that Zhao Yu’s suggestion was logical, so she promptly started a new search.
“Sigh!” The policeman who came with Zhao Yu stood at the entrance of the temple, saying, “How unexpected! They turned out to be a bunch of con artists! To think that I’m a police officer! I actually believed them. How embarrassing!”
“Hehe…” Xiong Wendong chuckled next to him. “See? Told ya, right? If Master Zhang were that good, he would have predicted the calamity that befell him today. Do you think he would have waited here like a fool?”
Seeing that Zhao Yu was done with the call and was walking over, Xiong Wendong immediately tried to ingratiate himself with him.
“To think he claimed to be a fortune teller! He didn’t even recognize the master sleuth who cracked the Headless Female Corpses Case and the Beiqian Devil Case! Chey!” Xiong Wendong snickered. “He deserved to be unlucky today!”
“That’s right!” echoed the policeman. “Officer Zhao is indeed experienced and perceptive! He managed to see through their tricks! If it had been me, I would probably be bankrupt by now!”
Zhao Yu felt weary despite the praises being heaped upon him.
Although the Invisible Antidote had neutralized whatever Master Zhang had given him, he had barely gotten any sleep over the last two days. Having reached his physical limits, he wanted nothing more than to crash into bed.
But he couldn’t!
Due to the new leads that had emerged, there were still many loose ends to be tied up. The two of them gave him a lift back to the Wuqing Criminal Investigation Department. He made more than ten calls in the car, already beginning to map out the operation.
The most important task at hand was to find the master who wrote the birth data as soon as possible. As long as they found that person, they would be able to crack the case of the hanging coffins!
On the one hand, he needed someone to follow-up on the list given to him by Master Zhang!
On the other hand, he needed to pay a visit to those wealthy bosses, to get closer to those low-profile fengshui masters.
The former was easier; there was a list, after all. They just had to operate according to standard procedures. Ran Tao could bring a group along with him to investigate the listees one by one.
However, the latter involved privacy concerns. If he simply sent someone to investigate them out of the blue, they would definitely be met with resistance. Worst still, they would risk alerting the enemy.
Therefore, the person in charge of this operation had to be someone who was quick-witted.
Initially, he had planned on doing so himself, but he still had to manage the situation at Mount Wuqing, so that was an issue.
After thinking long and hard, Zhao Yu finally decided that Cui Lizhu would be the best candidate!
After all, she was a skilled burglar, was familiar with the rules of the underworld, was discreet, and was also smart. She would be the best person to deal with the elusive fengshui masters!
The case of the hidden treasure had just concluded not long ago, so Zhao Yu was still somewhat worried about her personal safety. However, he could get the local police to protect her, since this was official business.
Besides, Zhao Yu had previously placed an Emergency Evacuation Ball on Cui Lizhu, so he wasn’t too worried.
Having figured things out, Zhao Yu immediately made a call to Cui Lizhu, conveying his instructions and the relevant information.
Upon receiving his command, Cui Lizhu did not show any displeasure; in fact, she was extremely enthusiastic, and assured Zhao Yu that she would do an excellent job at drawing out the elusive fengshui masters!
Phew.
Having made the necessary arrangements, Zhao Yu was finally able to take a short break.
It was a rare night with clear skies where both the moon and the stars were visible. He reviewed the Qian Gen Hexagram in the system, and there was no sign of completion.
Setting aside the Qian Trigram, and solely based on the Gen Trigram, which was tracking the progress of the case, Zhao Yu was reasonably confident that he was getting closer to cracking the case.
Although the case was bizarre and complicated, he believed that it wasn’t as convoluted as the Headless Female Corpses Case or the Beiqian Devil Case.
It seemed as though the key to solving the mystery had been in front of him all along! He just hadn’t been aware of it!
Or perhaps… it was precisely because the case of the hanging coffins was itself filled with mystery, that he had missed some details?
Having so many things on his mind, Zhao Yu was unable to take a nap.
Instead, he continued to analyze the case facts during the bumpy car ride.
He believed that there were only three key issues, even if it might seem impossible to unravel the case.
As long as he figured them out, he would be able to crack the case.
Firstly, what was the perpetrator’s intention in placing the corpses in the hanging coffins?
Secondly, where did the corpses come from?
Thirdly, how were the corpses placed in the coffins?
After what had happened today, they should already have the answer to the first question. It was likely that someone was seeking to prolong their life through the hanging coffins!
Then… how about the two other issues? How would they be resolved?
