Chapter 221: Chapter 220: First, Lure Out the Real Culprit of the Paperman Incident

Bi Hongda and Qi Chaoyu also understood this key point and quickly arranged for people to begin investigating along those lines.

"We need to investigate not only the teacher, Zhang Jiancheng, but also the student he drove to suicide.

If our previous speculation is correct,

then this vigilante must have acted because of the student’s death.

Focusing on that will further narrow the scope of our investigation.

Anyone who can come into contact with a Mysterious Power must be someone of a special status.

They’re either rich and powerful or have some kind of special background.

If we take both of these key points into consideration, we can narrow the scope even more."

Chu He said.

This main line of investigation came from Xu Ping’an.

Some cases may look like random killings, but even randomness has a pattern.

Soon, the investigation report was delivered.

Bi Hongda looked at the report in his hands and said, "Mr. Chu, you were absolutely right.

The victims seemed to have no connection, suggesting the killings were random,

but based on a broader investigation, there’s a pattern in their home locations and the timeline of the attacks."

"What do you mean there’s a pattern in their home locations and the timeline?" Qi Chaoyu asked, completely bewildered.

"It means that the earlier victims lived closer to the Martial Arts Academy.

In other words, it’s highly likely that someone from the Martial Arts Academy is responsible.

If that’s the case, it would all make sense.

The people at the Martial Arts Academy are stronger than ordinary citizens, and many of the students come from wealthy families.

Next, we just need to investigate the students at the Martial Arts Academy."

A look of delight appeared on Bi Hongda’s face.

They finally had a breakthrough in the baffling Paperman case.

Now that they had a lead, Chu He and the others no longer needed to remain in the terrifying, gloomy morgue.

When Chu He agreed to leave, all the Defense Team members, including Bi Hongda and Qi Chaoyu, couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The atmosphere in there was just too oppressive.

Even though they had all dealt with the dead before, to one degree or another, these Papermen were more horrifying than any corpse.

After they left, Bi Hongda led them to a reception room in the office building where dinner had been prepared.

Chu He didn’t refuse and sat down to eat with the others.

At Chu He’s level of cultivation, eating was no longer necessary.

However, these Defense Team members were still ordinary people who needed to eat.

Besides, they hadn’t found any new clues yet, so there was no point in rushing.

The next investigation report arrived even later than Bi Hongda and Qi Chaoyu had anticipated.

It wasn’t until after one in the morning that a hurried Defense Team member rushed in with a stack of files.

"What took so long?

Does it really take this long to investigate one Martial Arts Academy?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Bi Hongda asked with a frown as he took the stack of files.

After all, Bi Hongda was the head of the Huamen City Defense Team.

The efficiency demonstrated here would reflect on his competence in the eyes of Qi Chaoyu and, more importantly, Chu He.

The local Defense Team’s efficiency was a direct reflection of his leadership.

’If Chu He were to become dissatisfied, even a slight hint of displeasure from him could probably get me replaced immediately.’

"The problems at the Huamen Martial Arts Academy are more serious than we imagined."

The Defense Team member who delivered the file looked extremely pale.

He spoke hesitantly,

casting unnatural glances at Chu He and Qi Chaoyu as if he didn’t want them to overhear.

Seeing the man’s expression, Bi Hongda’s heart sank.

He subconsciously started to open the file, but then steeled himself.

He placed the entire stack on the table in front of Chu He.

’The files are here, and Chu He and Qi Chaoyu are here to investigate. There’s no hiding it.’

Chu He opened the files.

They were all filled with reports of abnormal cases.

Chu He scanned through them, reading ten lines at a glance, and a curious Qi Chaoyu leaned in to look as well.

Bi Hongda knew he couldn’t just bury his head in the sand, so he came over to stand on the other side and read along with them.

The more he read, the paler Bi Hongda’s face became.

Before he even finished the first page, Bi Hongda collapsed weakly into his chair.

The entire Huamen Martial Arts Academy had become the Zhang Jiancheng family’s personal fiefdom.

From the guards and janitors to the teachers and department heads, every position was filled by someone Zhang Jiancheng had appointed.

As a result, all information within the academy was locked down tight, with nothing getting out.

Even on the rare occasion that a story did leak,

the principal of the Huamen Martial Arts Academy would use his personal connections to crush it.

The academy even had signal jammers installed on campus.

These issues alone wouldn’t have been enough to make Bi Hongda look so devastated.

The crucial part was that an Evil Spirit had appeared at the Martial Arts Academy,

and the entire Huamen City Defense Team had received no report of it. Even Bi Hongda, the man in charge, had been kept completely in the dark.

If not for this targeted investigation, the situation at the Huamen Martial Arts Academy would likely have continued indefinitely.

Graduating students were being forced to sign employment contracts with the academy,

after which the principal would sell them off to other companies or powerful figures in need of security guards.

Some of the poor, unlucky kids were even sold to criminal organizations as enforcers.

However, these unfortunate students all had one thing in common: they had no family background or connections.

Most of these graduates who were sold off ended up either dead or crippled.

Even though they were Martial Artists, they were still just green, inexperienced young adults.

How could they possibly be a match for insidious men like the principal and Zhang Jiancheng? They were easily manipulated with just a few words.

Beyond that, there were other shockingly depraved acts detailed in the files.

When Chu He finished reading, his expression was unreadable.

After Qi Chaoyu finished, the anger on his face slowly gave way to a sigh.

As for Bi Hongda, the familiar confidence in his eyes was gone.

As a member of the Defense Team himself, he naturally understood the gravity of the situation.

All Martial Arts Academies were established with joint funding from the Great Xia Empire’s official education department and their local cities.

They were meant to cultivate talent to defend the Great Xia Empire against Evil Spirits and other covetous enemy forces.

The Defense Team’s duty was to investigate, monitor, and combat all supernatural events that could endanger the Great Xia Empire, such as those involving Evil Spirits or even Martial Artists.

Bi Hongda would not only lose his current job and position, but he would also have to face the most rigorous investigation from Defense Team headquarters.

"Make all of this public,"

Chu He said, closing the files.

"Make it public? Wouldn’t that cause a local uproar? That would be a huge problem,"

Qi Chaoyu said in surprise.

’I thought Chu He would suggest handling this secretly, just sending men to arrest everyone involved.’

"First, we need to lure out the true culprit behind the Paperman incidents."

Chu He said coolly.

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