Chapter 134: Professional Assassin

Guan Ling looked at Ye Xiaoxuan excitedly as she sat on the grassy slope, ticking off points on her fingers. "Now we can confirm it further: all three cases were committed by the same person!"

Ye Xiaoxuan nodded, saying thoughtfully, "It certainly seems that way. The methods are identical—a fatal blow every time, wasting no energy! Furthermore, the technique is extremely professional, targeting areas of the body that ordinary people rarely attack!"

Guan Ling looked at him with sheer admiration. "Yes! That is also a very crucial point! Perhaps this person is a professional assassin!"

Ye Xiaoxuan chuckled. "Quite likely! To train kung fu to this level and strike with such ruthlessness, one can hardly think of anything else besides an assassin!"

Guan Ling continued, "I've checked into the three victims; they were all local loafers and troublemakers. Based on the traces left at the scenes, the perpetrator is a woman, and quite petite in stature. That establishes the nature of the crime as intentional homicide. These three men likely attempted to assault her, never expecting to run into a man-eater in human skin!"

Ye Xiaoxuan tapped his chin. "Fitting these characteristics requires a few additional conditions. First of all, this woman must be a stranger. An acquaintance wouldn't be reckless enough to lead them to such a secluded spot—that would be asking for death!"

Guan Ling nodded vigorously. "True!"

Ye Xiaoxuan went on, "Secondly, the woman must have looked weak and vulnerable at first glance, otherwise the short ruffian wouldn't have dared to approach her and court his own doom."

The look of adoration and appreciation in Guan Ling's eyes grew even more intense. She sat closer to him and smiled. "Xiaoxuan, you should just come and join our police station!"

Ye Xiaoxuan laughed out loud, waving his hands dismissively. "Forget about it! I'm only interested because I happened to run into this case today! Plus, since you came all this way, I couldn't bear to let your trip be in vain, so I'm just helping out as much as I can. Doing this professionally is not for me! Besides, there's still a major mystery left unsolved in this case."

Guan Ling said with absolute confidence, "You mean the whereabouts of the killer? I already have an idea about that!"

Ye Xiaoxuan shook his head. "I mean, what method did the killer use to inflict those kinds of injuries on the victims? They were literally in agonizing pain!"

Guan Ling smiled slightly and said to him, "We can look at the second victim for reference—his internal organs were pierced through by his own spine. Actually, that isn't too hard to explain, is it?"

Ye Xiaoxuan burst into laughter. He leaned close to Guan Ling's ear and whispered, "Silly girl, men don't have bones in that place!"

Guan Ling's face turned completely red, yet she grew even more puzzled. Looking somewhat anxious, she asked, "How is that possible? Without bones, how could it become... become as stiff as a wooden stick? And pierce through the abdominal cavity?"

Ye Xiaoxuan wore a mischievous smile. Seeing Guan Ling's bashful expression, a sudden urge to play a prank arose in him. He smiled and said, "Do you understand the male body better, or do I? A death like this poor fellow's is simply impossible to happen in reality. That's the most bizarre part of this case!"

Not daring to raise her head, Guan Ling stared at the ground, her face flushed as she lost herself in thought. Seeing her absent-minded state, Ye Xiaoxuan didn't have the heart to tease her further. He smiled and said, "Don't think about it too much. Once we catch the killer and interrogate them, all the mysteries will be solved!"

Guan Ling picked up a long blade of grass and listlessly whipped at the turf beside her. Blushing, she said to Ye Xiaoxuan, "Xiaoxuan, are we friends or not?"

Ye Xiaoxuan was taken aback and immediately shook his head. "No! Anyone who asks that is usually about to lead me into a trap. I'm not that foolish!"

Guan Ling indignantly slapped his arm, knitted her brows, and scolded, "Can you show some loyalty? Not to mention that I'm your big brother's sworn sister and your wife's elder sister, haven't we been through thick and thin together?"

Ye Xiaoxuan stiffened his neck. "Nice try! I'm a street hoodlum, not a knight-errant. Playing the sentiment card won't work—tell me what you're really after first!"

Guan Ling's face was practically rivaling the red mask of Guan Yu. With her head almost touching the ground, she muttered under her breath, "I just can't wrap my head around it. Will you show it to me, please?"

"Huh?" Ye Xiaoxuan didn't understand for a moment. He tilted his head and looked at her. "Show you? Show you what?"

Guan Ling cast a furtive glance downward, quickly lowered her head again, and said, "That phenomenon you mentioned—how something without bones can become hard. No matter how much I think about it, I just can't figure it out. Even after looking at pictures, I don't have a very intuitive impression of it!"

Ye Xiaoxuan finally understood. So this young lady had been agonizing over this question all along! Could such a wonderful stroke of luck actually befall him? Could it be that she was an undercover agent sent by Yu Er and Jaran to test him?

He figured that was unlikely! Because if that were truly the case, they would have already crossed the line back in the cornfield and on the road, and the transgression would have already been committed!

While Ye Xiaoxuan was still hesitating, the young police belle grabbed his arm and pleaded, "Oh Xuanzi, just let me take a look, okay? If I don't understand this point, even if I catch the killer, this case won't truly be considered solved! We'll just take a peek secretly, and I swear I'll never tell a third person. Deal?"

Ye Xiaoxuan blinked his eyes and looked at her hesitatingly. "Really?"

Guan Ling nodded vigorously. "Really!"

Ye Xiaoxuan thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No! Telling someone else means I still don't know yours, so I'd be the one getting the short end of the stick! Unless..."

Guan Ling asked anxiously, "Unless what?"

The corner of Ye Xiaoxuan's mouth twitched upward as he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Unless you let me take a look at yours as well!"

Guan Ling's face flushed as if it were bleeding. She glared at him and cursed, "Go to hell! Are women and men the same thing? I'm not looking anymore!"

Ye Xiaoxuan breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, even better if you don't look! Anyway, trying to make me take a loss all by myself is out of the question! Since we both have dirt on each other, now I can rest easy. After all, I'm a hoodlum, not Lei Feng—I've never liked doing good deeds for free!"

Guan Ling gnashed her teeth in anger and shot him a fierce glare. "You're not a hoodlum, you're a jerk!"