I'm being held captive by a monster

Chapter 154: Took the Hook ( words)
"Lin, Xing, An..."

"Lin Xing'an, Lin Xing'an, Lin Xing'an..."

Xu Zhe flipped through the information and kept repeating these three words.

In Jiang Xiaojiang's school relationships, Lin Xing'an's name suddenly appeared again.

He is Jiang Xiaojiang's direct junior.

He and Jiang Xiaojiang are both majoring in public administration at the School of Management of Nancheng University.

Jiang Xiaojiang is the head teacher of Lin Xing'an's class.

But the two have a closer connection as they are both students of Professor Niu majoring in public administration and have already collaborated on a midterm project.

It looks normal, but...

"This is the fourth time..."

Xu Zhe muttered.

"Haha, that's quite interesting..."

He twisted the ring, and his ears perked up again.

"Boss, this Lin Xing'an... I think he's a suspect."

"Because he was also in the records of people entering and leaving the community that I got from the security guard."

"The form says he came at half past eight."

Liu Xu interrupted cautiously.

"Do you know what he's here for?"

"...Come...come and teach your daughter..."

"daughter?!"

"No, no, no! I'm teaching that loser, that useless person a lesson!"

Liu Xu slapped himself and quickly changed his words.

"When did Jiang Xiaojiang die?"

"About... between nine and nine-thirty... she sent me a message at nine..."

"Where was Lin Xing'an during that time?"

"...at your home..."

Liu Xu lowered his head.

"The security guard downstairs called me at 8:29. Lin Xing'an arrived at my house at 8:34 and left after attending class at 9:55."

"During that time, I didn't smell anything unusual from him, nor did I detect any signs of him using any abilities."

Xu Zhe snorted coldly and said.

Liu Xu nodded repeatedly.

"But...is this really a coincidence?"

Xu Zhe changed the subject again, and a rare hint of interest appeared in his eyes.

"Give me all of Lin Xing'an's information now, especially his identity and abilities."

"Then call Director Bai from the Logistics Department, Lao Zhao from the Medical Department, and Xiao Ke from the Information Department over to me."

"come here."

He waved his hand.

"understand!"

Liu Xu nodded.

In less than half an hour, the four directors of the siege department gathered at 1403, Jiang Xiaojiang's home.

"Old Zhao, what do you think?"

Xu Zhe asked.

"The time of death was around 9:23 am. He didn't die immediately, but lasted for about half a minute."

"The cause of death was internal evacuation."

"It was like something got inside her and mashed her insides up and ate them."

"But the whole process didn't touch her skin at all. It was just a thin layer, without any damage."

Zhao Wuji from the Medical Department looked at Jiang Xiaojiang's body with a strange light in his eyes.

"And the strange thing is..."

"Jiang Xiaojiang's appearance was not damaged at all."

"In other words, the thing that hollowed her out entered Jiang Xiaojiang's body while she was unconscious."

"Maybe liquid? Gas? Related abilities..."

Zhao Wuji thought about it and shook his head.

"I can't think of it at the moment, but ability isn't important. What's important is that the murderer can control his ability to this extent."

"He must have received professional training, and this training is for gluttons, not for humans or animals."

"Killing animals, there's no need for this."

"Also, with the murderer's ability, he could have made the deceased disappear completely without leaving any trace."

"The skin we see here was left here specifically by the murderer for us."

"Without this skin, in today's environment, we might not discover the deceased until a day or even several days later, and we might not even know the exact time of death."

Zhao Wuji sighed and said.

His words made Xu Zhe nod frequently.

There was a glint of light in his slightly narrowed eyes.

"Left behind on purpose? So that's a provocation? Did the Coordination Department send people to kill our people from the Encirclement and Suppression Department?"

"It's no news that they've been secretly training assassins for a long time."

Bai Yue from the logistics department yawned.

Although she was in the room, her red hair seemed to be floating in space in a strange way.

The body also gives people a feeling of being weightless and floating off the ground at any time.

But what caught people's attention the most was her breasts that seemed to be about to burst out of her sweater.

"But was it necessary for the Coordination Department to kill Jiang Xiaojiang?"

"At this critical juncture..."

Ke Ke from the information department asked with a frown.

He has a petite body, skin that looks like it's naturally white, and beautiful features.

The sound is also neutral and a bit soft.

It looks like a girl.

"Xiao Ke, can you think of any ability that could cause the kind of death Lao Zhao just described?"

Xu Zhe asked.

Keke's fingers tapped in the air rhythmically as if he were playing the piano.

Then he slowly shook his head.

"Now I can't see the files of the Coordination Department anymore, and I have no idea who they have."

"But our siege unit... does have a few capabilities that could theoretically do it."

"Brother Cui's [Vaporization] can theoretically vaporize the flesh and blood, leaving only this layer of skin. Sister Xiaolu's [Resilience] seems to work in theory as well."

"But this is all theoretical. In reality... it's simply impossible to do."

"So based on their abilities alone, I think we can rule out those within our siege department."

"But it doesn't rule out the possibility that someone might be hiding their abilities."

Keke said cautiously, pinching his fingers.

Xu Zhe still nodded without saying a word.

"Brother Xu, I see no signs of damage to the doors and windows. Old Zhao also said that Jiang Xiaojiang didn't struggle at all before he died."

"So this must be an acquaintance, right?"

"At least he's someone Jiang Xiaojiang knows, right?"

Bai Yue looked at Xu Zhe with her chest held high.

"And the murderer's strength is at least one level higher than the deceased. Lao Xu, did you hear anything?"

"Any response?"

Zhao Wuji put on his glasses again and added.

"It's the same as your analysis."

Xu Zhe put down the information in his hand.

"Jiang Xiaojiang's emotions before her death were primarily one of disbelief. She had no idea the murderer would kill her."

"That's easy, right? Check out Jiang Xiaojiang's acquaintances, see their abilities, compare them, and then we'll close the case!"

Bai Yue stretched lazily.

At this moment, her sweater almost burst open.

The body floated directly into the air, as if swimming in the water.

"It's not that simple."

Xu Zhe nodded at the thick stack of documents and shook his head. "Jiang Xiaojiang's disbelief isn't about her disbelief that the murderer would kill her, but rather about her complete inability to imagine the murderer was capable of killing her."

"In other words... the murderer is very likely concealing his own abilities and true strength."

"In Jiang Xiaojiang's eyes, or in the eyes of most people, the murderer should be... an ordinary person with mediocre abilities."

"In order to disguise himself, he might also create some other personas for himself."

Xu Zhe's ears trembled slightly, he twisted the ring on his finger, closed his eyes, as if he was thinking about something in his mind.

"I know Jiang Xiaojiang, and he has at least Ding Shang level strength."

"Professionally trained, good at disguise, and meticulous..."

Xu Zhe quietly opened his eyes.

"Brother Xu, are there any suspects?"

Seeing that Xu Zhe seemed to have thought of something, Ke Ke asked quickly.

Xu Zhe did not hide anything and directly displayed all the information collected by Liu Xu on the table.

"There is one."

He took off a ring and threw it on a page of the pile of documents.

Above it was Lin Xing'an's face.

"This person is an acquaintance of Jiang Xiaojiang."

"He had a motive for committing the crime. Jiang Xiaojiang's ongoing academic research is a project that the committee has been working on for several years. The award will allow him to intern at the committee."

"And this Lin Xing'an, his dream is to join the committee so that he can smoothly take over the project after Jiang Xiaojiang's death."

Xu Zhe said calmly.

But the other three directors all frowned.

After reading Lin Xing'an's information, the confusion on their faces deepened.

"Old Xu, are you kidding me? This motive you mentioned... isn't it a bit far-fetched?"

"And his ability is [Wave]. How could this ability kill Jiang Xiaojiang without resistance?"

Zhao Wuji clicked on Lin Xing'an's abilities in the information.

The Wu-level [Wave], whose original strength was Ding, was promoted by relying on the scholarship rewards along the way.

"Old Zhao, if he is the murderer, it is completely consistent with my inference."

"In everyone's eyes, he is a good kid with excellent character and academic performance. This is his personality."

"His ability is [Wave], and this is the result of his concealment."

Xu Zhe said calmly, but before anyone else could speak, he changed the subject.

"But it's basically impossible that he is the murderer because he had absolutely no time to commit the crime."

"This Lin Xing'an is tutoring that loser between 8:30 and 9:55, right at my house."

Xu Zhe took a deep breath.

"So... if the murderer is Lin Xing'an, then he must have used his abilities while he was at your house."

"Brother Xu, did you hear that?"

Keke frowned and tilted his head to ask.

"No."

Xu Zhe shook his head.

"I didn't hear anything during that time, only the sound of his blood rushing and him getting nervous. He wasn't using his abilities, so it was probably from the cold."

"Because he took off his clothes and gave them to that loser."

Xu Zhe's words made the faces of several ministers around him look a little strange.

"Then I am innocent!"

"He studies so hard and lives such a hard life, I want to give him an internship opportunity."

Bai Yue was lying in the air, flipping through Lin Xing'an's information.

Her breasts fell directly on Keke's head, who was squatting on the ground.

"I'm wondering... is this Lin Xing'an using this method to hide the sound of him using his abilities?"

"The sounds humans make when they're in extreme situations and the sounds they make when they're using their abilities are actually very similar."

"It's difficult to imitate, though. After all, people are already in extreme conditions, and it's hard to control them at that time, but it's not completely impossible to imitate."

"So he took off his clothes for that loser because he really didn't want to lose his job?"

Xu Zhe frowned and thought to himself.

"...Brother Xu, if the murderer is indeed this Lin Xing'an, he has undergone professional training and has managed his persona impeccably."

"It even has the ability to escape your ears when using its power."

"Such a powerful person...what was his purpose in killing Jiang Xiaojiang? It can't really be for the qualification of some academic project, right?"

"If he was someone the Coordination Department had painstakingly trained, then there was no need to kill an intern like Jiang Xiaojiang. This would only increase his own risk of exposure."

Ke Ke sat cross-legged on the ground and asked with his hands spread out.

"..."

Xu Zhe fell silent again.

yes……

why……

"Lao Xu, does Lin Xing'an have any other questions?"

After a long time, Zhao Wuji broke the silence and asked.

Having worked together for so many years, he knows Xu Zhe too well.

Xu Zhe would not suspect someone who had no problems at all for no reason.

And once Xu Zhe starts to suspect something, he will not give up until he finds out the reason.

"Indeed, from all aspects, it seems impossible that Lin Xing'an is the murderer of Jiang Xiaojiang."

"But in one week, I saw him three times."

Xu Zhe held up three fingers.

"Study room, milk tea shop, Little Bee recommended him to come to class..."

"Just when he was coming to class, Jiang Xiaojiang died, and he happened to be one of Jiang Xiaojiang's social connections."

"Why do I feel now...that he did it on purpose?"

Xu Zhe rubbed the ring on his finger and leaned forward.

The other directors exchanged glances with each other.

"Brother Xu, how about I go and test him."

Ke Ke looked at the photo of Lin Xing'an in the information and said.

"Okay, I'll follow you the whole way."

Xu Zhe was silent for a moment and then nodded.

"Old Zhao, Bai Yue, please help Liu Xu check on the other people. Maybe I'm worrying too much."

"Oh, by the way, it's best if we resolve this internally and don't let more people know about it."

"The death of such a person at this critical moment is... troublesome."

Xu Zhe handed the information to Zhao Wuji.

Ke Ke, who was squatting on the ground, turned into Jiang Xiaojiang's appearance in the blink of an eye.

……

……

4pm, seminar room at North City University Library.

Lin Xing'an took a cup of hot water and turned on the public computer in the seminar room.

Just finished another tutoring class.

My other part-time job is to dress up as a doll at the Ice and Snow World in North City at 6:30 in the evening.

Part-time job until the park closes at 10:30 pm, 120 yuan for four hours.

It’s equivalent to a full day’s worth of work at an ordinary amusement park in the summer.

"call……"

It took a minute for the public computer to connect to the Internet. He plugged in a USB drive and opened a research report.

"An innovative investigation into the human-livestock distribution plan... You're quite ambitious, young man!"

"After all, the committee isn't even sure about the distribution plan for humans and animals~"

A voice came to Lin Xing'an's ears.

Jiang Xiaojiang leaned down and placed his chin on Lin Xing'an's shoulder with a scarf under his face.

There was almost no distance between their faces.

"Learn...senpai?"

Lin Xing'an was stunned for a moment, his ears instantly turned red from the base to the tip, and he quickly moved away.

Finally took the bait...

He lowered his head as if shy and blinked.

(End of this chapter)