"Wuwuwuwu ah ah oh oh!" The guy seemed unable to speak, only emitting strange sounds.
We ignored him and pulled him back. On the way back, I was curious. This time it wasn't a trap. I picked up my phone and messaged the person. They replied quickly: "Well done, He Sheng. I knew you would inherit our He family's skills. I'll help you if I have time, but I'm busy now!"
"Who exactly are you?" I replied, typing in surprise.
"I am someone very important to you. I'll tell you when there's a chance."
I sent a voice message, but the other party didn't answer. I sent a video, with the same result.
The WeChat account was named "Lost Abyss." I checked his moments; it was empty. This WeChat account seemed to be newly created.
I continued to message him, but there was no more reply. Just as he said, he had to be busy.
I didn't dwell on it for now, as we had already reached the provincial department.
Cao Leping was immediately arranged into an interrogation room.
Liu Yuning poured him a glass of water, and we sat down.
Cao Leping's muscles looked robust, with scars all over. His face was even stranger than we saw in the surveillance footage, his skin darker. At this moment, he was like Lü Bu, bound and furious, staring at us.
"Cao Leping, you know what you've done, right?" I took out my tablet and played all the footage of him committing murder.
Watching the scenes, Cao Leping remained as calm as ever, silent. We had checked his medical records before and found that his vocal cords were normal. This guy should be able to speak.
"Cao Leping, I don't know if I should call you cautious or a fraud. You can clearly speak, but you're pretending to be mute. But it's useless. Even if you don't say anything, these videos can serve as evidence in court. The court will rule as usual. But now you have one last chance to confess. Don't you want to say why you killed those drug addicts?"
Hearing this, Cao Leping finally spoke: "You've found out their identities?"
"Of course. We saw you performing the ritual for that person, but because the addiction treatment center is quite old, we couldn't identify who that person was."
"No wonder he said you were already watching me. So you know everything."
"Heh, Cao Leping, is someone helping you from behind the scenes? Otherwise, why would Zhang Er Niu's case have happened before?" I probed.
"I don't know who Zhang Er Niu is, but he said he would help divert your attention. However, this was just a drop in the bucket, only delaying the inevitable."
Liu Yuning continued, "It's good that you know. You still have a chance to redeem yourself by telling us who that person behind you is."
"No! I don't know who he is either. We only communicate online. Recently, he's been providing me with information about drug addicts. Where else would I find them!"
"Then what's your contact method with him?"
Cao Leping was reluctant to reveal it at first, but after we took his phone and looked, we found he was in contact with that person via WeChat.
"Is it this person called 'Worshipper of Gods'?" Liu Yuning said, looking at the profile.
"I don't know anything!"
"At this point, there's no use denying it. We'll take your phone and study it slowly!"
I left these words, letting Liu Yuning continue the interrogation, and took the phone to the information department to find He Xin.
She immediately connected the data cable and extracted the information from the phone. However, after working for a long time, she said, "The owner of the WeChat account you mentioned has deleted it. They can't be found now."
"He must have known Cao Leping was arrested and abandoned this pawn. I originally thought it was Xiao Yuanba, but he's dead now. It seems Xiao Yuanba was just a puppet of that person," I said grimly.
He Xin nodded. "We were played like fools by him. We thought we had found something, but we've only been arresting small fries recently."
"There's no other way. If he's part of Polaris, his secrecy is very strong, just like when we arrested Pierce before. Alright, we can only take it slow!"
I asked He Xin to continue her work. Although finding the mastermind would be difficult, Cao Leping's case could be considered closed for now. Liu Yuning had previously investigated his motive for murder, which wasn't complicated. As we had speculated, it was due to past bullying. The ritual was for someone who had helped him back then, but who had been bullied to death by those hateful drug addicts. Cao Leping wanted to avenge him.
However, three days later, Cao Leping, while in detention, requested to see me.
I was very curious. Didn't this guy know anything? Why did he want to see me?
I went to the detention room. Cao Leping grabbed the iron bars with both hands, looking at me anxiously: "Actually, I've met that person!"
"Are you sure? Don't fabricate facts just to get a reduced sentence. If it's found out, it won't do you any good!" I said.
"No, it's true. I've thought it through these past few days. I want to tell you his location!"
"Good. If we find the person, you'll get a great merit, and the court will definitely take that into account when sentencing."
"But I need a computer!"
"Anything else?"
"That's all!"
If I hadn't seen Cao Leping operate the computer with my own eyes, I would have thought he was just a simple-minded guy with strong limbs. I didn't expect him to be so skilled with computers.
With a rapid clatter, he typed a lot of information into the computer and then seemed to connect to some software. Soon, he contacted a strange person. Cao Leping told me, "This is another software I use to contact him. The account also has some of his photos!"
I quickly took screenshots. It was clear it was another man. His height and weight were very different from Cao Leping's. Compared to him, that guy looked like a child.
I excitedly patted Cao Leping. "Well done! I will definitely plead with the judge for you!"
I quickly left the detention room. Several criminal investigators were guarding outside. I gave them a few instructions and then, walking through the corridor, went to find He Xin again.
However, only a few minutes after I left, a loud rumbling sound came from the direction of the detention room!
I suddenly felt dizzy and a wave of horror washed over me. How could this be?
I turned back abruptly, not even thinking of going to find He Xin anymore. I immediately rushed into the detention room. Cao Leping's body was half-blown apart. All that remained on the seat was his leg and a badly damaged laptop in front of him.