I will be stronger after the remake

As the willow branches swayed, all distracting thoughts were swept away, leaving my mind clear and my thoughts more lucid than ever before.

As the flute music ended, Tang Ping, still immersed in its lingering charm, was about to offer her praise when suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her, and the words Feng Yingying had once spoken came to mind:

There are no coincidences in the lives of psionicists.

In an instant, various clues surfaced in his mind, quickly connecting and combining, and following Tang Ping's thoughts, he deduced deeper, ultimately pointing to a target he had never thought of before!

He was struck dumb, completely stunned.

Chapter 83 The Source

"What an excellent performance! It's so immersive and amazing. No wonder the comrades in the Armed Forces Department are always so energetic. The effect of this music is no less than that of a top-notch masseur."

After enjoying the flute music, Hu Ze, who was quite savvy in social interactions, immediately praised it repeatedly.

"Not at all, please excuse my poor appearance."

When dealing with others, Cen Qin was not so shy and handled things appropriately.

"I heard that the xiao is not your best instrument. If you were to play the qin instead, I wonder what kind of heavenly experience that would be. Tang Ping, don't you think?"

Director Hu, being cunning and shrewd, wanted to take the opportunity to get Cen Qin to promise to play the zither for the Public Security Section in the future. However, after calling out several times, he received no response. Turning his head, he found Tang Ping lost in thought.

"Is he really that immersed in the role? The music has been over for a while, but he's still not out of character?"

Hu Ze found it somewhat amusing and was about to reach out and shake it when he suddenly saw Tang Ping's eyes light up. She said with great interest, "Is everything really just a coincidence? Or is there some kind of cause behind what appears to be a coincidence?"

"what are you saying?"

Hu Ze was a little confused. They were listening to the same music, so why did Tang Ping seem to have been enlightened?

Tang Ping glanced at Director Hu and Yuan Ji, and said in a meticulous analytical manner, "The New Territories Alliance is targeting me because the Guiling Sect's kidnapping attempt on me failed. Continuing to kidnap me can have an excellent misleading effect."

"The Church of Returning Spirits has its eye on me because my game was a huge success, received official praise, and my popularity soared, making me a hot star psychic and the perfect candidate to ignite public opinion."

"I make games because of the need to manifest a spirit type. I advanced to a spirit type that is not suitable for me. If I want to improve my strength, I can't just honestly convert spiritual energy. I have to manifest a spirit type."

"The reason I was promoted to a spirit rank that was not suitable for me was because I was attacked on the day I joined the Psionic Administration Bureau. I had no choice but to be promoted on the spot. At that time, I only had one Dao Seed in Director Hu's possession, and I had no other choice."

"The most suitable spirit type for me is not fox spirit at all. Under normal circumstances, I would never choose it. But I have encountered a situation where I have no choice but to choose it. And the source of this situation is—Han Lin!"

Hu Ze and Yuan Ji were both dumbfounded. After understanding and digesting the information, the former questioned, "Isn't your reasoning a bit too far-fetched?"

Tang Ping admitted, "It was indeed a bit of a stretch. For example, Yuan Ji didn't intend to kill Han Lin in one blow, but instead used all his strength to make him flee in defeat. So I had no reason to be promoted on the spot."

"For example, if I am not in a hurry to develop the spirit and postpone the time by two months, I will miss the opportunity for the Returning Spirit Church to take action."

"For example, if my game doesn't achieve the success I imagined, or if it only becomes a minor hit and its fame falls far short of the Guiling Sect's requirements, then the Guiling Sect might change its choice, and Zhao Yeman would be far more suitable than me."

"But all of the above situations can be intervened upon, guided in secret in a way that we are unaware of."

At this moment, Cen Qin exclaimed, "A hint from a dream!"

Seeing the three people looking at her questioningly, she hurriedly explained, "I forgot to mention earlier that one of the five prisoners possesses a unique spiritual personality called 'Dream Eater,' which allows him to enter other people's dreams and exert psychological influence on them by affecting their dreams. Yuan Ji was influenced by this influence, which is why he developed the conscious tendency to bring Tang Ping into the Illusionary Realm."

"This kind of psychological suggestion cannot be created out of thin air. If Yuan Ji herself does not have such thoughts, she will not be affected at all. It will only exert an influence to make her make up her mind when she has the idea of ​​going to the Illusionary Realm, or when she is faced with several choices, one of which happens to include the Illusionary Realm, it will increase the chances of her choosing the Illusionary Realm."

"Because the effect of psychological suggestion is relatively weak, and it is a push along the subject's thinking without forcibly distorting cognition, the subject will not notice anything unusual at all and will only believe that it is a decision made entirely by themselves without external interference."

After listening, Yuan Ji hesitated for a moment: "So the reason I chose to hold back my strength on the day Han Lin attacked was because I was influenced by psychological suggestion?"

Too much time has passed, and even if she tries hard to recall now, she can't remember what she was thinking back then.

If she had known beforehand that Tang Ping would be forced to advance in the final battle, she would definitely have chosen to defeat Han Lin first. But at that time, she did not expect such a development at all. Instead, she felt that with the director's strength, it would not be a problem to hold back a few ghost soldiers. It would be better to delay the time and find an opportunity to kill Han Lin in one blow, so as not to let the tiger return to the mountain and let the other party continue to harm people.

Even from today's perspective, this judgment cannot be said to be wrong.

Cen Qin cautiously said, "I don't know exactly what you're talking about, but I can't rule out the possibility you're talking about."

Hu Ze thought for a while and shook his head, saying, "Such speculation, which has no evidence and cannot be verified, is meaningless except to add trouble."

“There’s a way to verify this,” Tang Ping said without keeping him in suspense, “find Han Lin and ask him why he attacked the Psionic Administration Bureau that day.”

Yuan Ji said, "If it's psychological suggestion, he might not be able to detect anything unusual. For example, he originally had the idea of ​​attacking the Psionic Administration Bureau, but he was influenced by psychological suggestion and chose that day. In his own eyes, it was just a coincidence."

Tang Ping said, "Well, but he's the only lead right now. Let's try asking him first and see if I'm just worrying unnecessarily, or if someone is really manipulating and guiding us from the shadows."

Yuan Ji asked Hu Ze, "After Han Lin was arrested, although all the evidence has been collected, it seems that he has not been tried yet. He should still be detained, right?"

"Yes, psionicists are considered special talents. As long as they are willing to repent, they can generally be treated leniently, and a death sentence can be commuted to a suspended death sentence. Therefore, a relatively long period of detention will be reserved."

Remembering how young people these days like to sentence criminals to death and can't tolerate any wrongdoing, Hu Ze quickly added, "We psionicists have ways to tell whether someone is genuinely repentant or just saying they regret it because they're afraid of death. Even if it's commuted to a suspended death sentence, we'll leave corresponding restrictions to deprive them of their freedom, forcing them to obey orders and cooperate with our work."

Tang Ping asked, "Is he currently being held in a local prison?"

"Well, he's not a cult member, just an ordinary psychic criminal. There's no need to hand him over to the central authorities."

Although Hu Ze felt that Tang Ping was suffering from the aftereffects of the kidnapping, seeing everything as a conspiracy, it wouldn't take long to verify the matter. He should be as accommodating as possible to meritorious people, so he said, "Let's not delay. Let's leave the Illusionary Realm now, and then I'll call the psychic prison and request to meet with Han Lin."

Everyone agreed.

……

An hour later, just as the four were about to reach the psychic prison, Hu Ze received a call from the prison.

"Han Lin... committed suicide!?"

Chapter 84 Investigating Clues

"How could he commit suicide? How could you possibly supervise a prisoner to the point of suicide in prison!"

As soon as Hu Ze got out of the car, he rushed to question the person in charge, forgetting even his usual official etiquette.

"The cause is still under investigation."

The warden looked extremely grim. He was responsible for the prisoner's death, regardless of the cause.

As Hu Ze hurried inside, he asked, "What was the time of death?"

The warden also rushed over, glanced at the ward chief, who quickly replied, "Twenty minutes ago."

Hu Ze stopped in his tracks, his expression hard to contain: "Isn't this exactly what happened on our way here? Ha, we just happened to have something to ask the prisoner, and then the prisoner died. What a coincidence! It's clearly a murder to cover it up!"

The warden earnestly said, "Believe me, I want to find out the truth more than you do."

The group arrived at the scene of the death. Tang Ping saw Han Lin's body, which had been disturbed. He was lying on his back on the ground with a white ice spike stuck in his chest and heart. There were bloodstains and water stains on his prison uniform. A forensic doctor was squatting next to him examining the body. Not far away, there were markings on the ground to fix the body traces.

"He's a coroner-type psychic, able to extract the information he wants directly from a corpse without needing any instruments, yet with greater precision than any instrument," the warden casually introduced to the group, before asking, "Has the cause of death been determined yet?"

The forensic doctor stated definitively, "It was suicide. The murder weapon was an ice pick in the chest. Because it had melted, it had shrunk considerably, and the fingerprints on it could no longer be investigated. The cause of death was a puncture wound to the heart, resulting in immediate death. At the scene, blood was visible radiating outwards from the height of the heart, with the angle of the splatter consistent with the vertical force of the self-inflicted injury."

"The stab wound was located in the 4th-6th intercostal space on the left chest. The wound path sloped from the front and upper to the back and lower, which is a typical angle for a right-handed self-stab. The depth was about 12cm, accurately penetrating the pericardium. Penetrating wounds to the anterior wall of the left ventricle are common. The wound edges were neat without drag marks, which also proves that the murder weapon was indeed an ice pick, because ice picks do not have a blood groove design. The pericardial blood accumulation was about 200-300ml, and the pleural blood accumulation was 1500ml."

"The absence of defensive lacerations on the ulnar side of the forearm and the palm indicates that the deceased did not resist before death. The fatal wound was a single, fatal injury with no redundant damage. No other wounds were found on the body, and no toxins were detected."

"All the information points to the conclusion of suicide. Most importantly, my psychic ability allows me to sense the location of the murderer when I see the body. This is a resident psychic ability that can also work in the present world, but at this moment it is not giving any indication."

Upon hearing this, Tang Ping immediately thought of the "constable" psionicist among the five prisoners. One of the psionic abilities of the other party, "finding corpses and questioning the murderer," had this effect, and the more intact the corpse was, the more accurate the sensing would be.

Han Lin's body was intact except for a hole in his chest. The fact that no one detected anything in this situation suggests that there really is no murderer...?

“I know Han Lin’s personality very well. Even if he makes a mistake, he will blame it on others and firmly believe that he is innocent. Even if he hurts someone, he will say that he was forced to. How could someone with this personality commit suicide?” Yuan Ji said decisively.

Tang Ping approached the corpse, squatted down, and touched it. She said, "There's no rigor mortis or lividity, so it's clear the body was recently killed. Is there any CCTV footage?"

The warden, wiping his sweat, replied, "Yes, we have them; we're still retrieving them."

Tang Ping turned to the forensic doctor and asked, "What is the specific definition of the murderer that your psychic abilities can help you sense? For example, if A trips B, causing B to be run over by a car and die, is A considered the murderer?"

"It depends on whether A deliberately tripped B to kill him or if it was an accident. My psychic abilities only track intentional murderers. It's about the unity of subjective and objective factors. If A was unintentional, my psychic abilities won't work on him," the forensic doctor explained.

The warden added, "With this psychic ability, he has helped the police solve many cases and uncovered many cases where deaths were staged as accidental."

Tang Ping then asked, "If a psychic mentally manipulates another person, causing them to have suicidal thoughts and successfully carry them out, would the psychic be considered the murderer?"

The forensic doctor thought carefully for a moment and said rigorously, "If it is a case of mind control to make someone commit suicide, then the person will undoubtedly be identified as the murderer, because the deceased did not want to die. But if it is a case of mind control, then it is different, because the deceased did have the idea of ​​suicide. Subjective and objective factors are consistent. I have not personally encountered this situation, so I cannot make a judgment."

The warden chimed in, "Generally, if someone is mentally controlled, it's because they want that person to do something for them. It would be a waste to just let them commit suicide."

Yuan Ji asked urgently, "So, the possibility that Han Lin was mentally manipulated and committed suicide cannot be ruled out?"

The forensic doctor nodded and said, "This can also be investigated. Mind manipulation will inevitably leave behind spiritual remnants, especially in cases where someone has just died and the spiritual remnants have not yet dissipated. However, investigating the spiritual remnants requires activating spiritual energy, so I need to take the body with me to the Illusionary Realm."

The warden took out the Illusion-Breaking Stone and said, "I've already prepared the items in advance. Everyone, go over there now and investigate as quickly as possible."

After saying that, he poured spiritual power into the Illusion-Breaking Stone.

After a moment of dizziness, everyone in the room was teleported to the Realm of Illusion, where they found themselves in a prison, complete with psionicists guarding it.

Clearly, when the psychic prison was built, the possibility of prisoners escaping to the Realm of Illusion through the Illusion-Breaking Stone was taken into consideration, and therefore, containment measures were also reserved in the Realm of Illusion.

Without making any unnecessary movements, the forensic doctor placed his hands on the corpse and activated his psychic powers.

After a moment, he said to the expectant person in charge, "No trace of mind control was detected."

“How is that possible!” Yuan Ji persisted, asking, “Is it possible that I was influenced by psychological suggestion, that kind of superficial mental influence that guides people rather than distorts their cognition?”

The forensic doctor thought for a while and still shook his head: "If it were really psychological suggestion, there would indeed be no spiritual residue, but I think it is unlikely. As you said, psychological suggestion can only guide, not distort cognition. Survival is the most primitive instinct of living beings. Psychological suggestion alone is not enough to make a person have the determination to commit suicide. This is equivalent to fighting against one's own instinct."

Tang Ping chimed in, "It takes an extremely strong emotion to drive someone to suicide."

The warden asked anxiously, "Have you found any other clues?"

The forensic doctor said, "That's all. The information on this body is very concise, and it all points to the conclusion that he committed suicide. The only question is where the ice pick used as the murder weapon came from. Apart from that, it is a perfect suicide disguise. If he was really being mentally manipulated, it can only prove that the other party's level is far above mine."

The warden was silent for a moment, then said, "Let's go back first and look for clues from other angles."

Using a teleportation spell, the group returned to the psychic prison in the real world.

Chapter 85 False Evidence

Unable to obtain further information from the body, the group had no choice but to place their hopes on the surveillance footage, hoping to find clues. Even if there were no clues, it didn't matter; if a camera was damaged and failed to capture the crucial moment, it could still serve as evidence of the murder.

However, to everyone's regret, the surveillance system was working properly; none of the cameras were broken, and they clearly recorded the entire process of Han Lin's suicide.

"We still don't understand where the murder weapon came from. Look at this surveillance camera. The ice spike appeared out of thin air. Suddenly, an ice spike appeared in his palm, and he stabbed himself without hesitation. The guards next to him didn't even have time to stop him."

Forensic pathologist Zhu Xi pointed to one of the surveillance videos and said.

Hu Ze frowned and said, "It can only be considered as psionic energy or spiritual magic."

The warden immediately denied it, saying, "That's impossible! Not to mention that spiritual arts cannot be used in the real world, all spiritual prisoners will be placed with a spiritual restriction, so even normal spiritual energy cannot be effective. Even if Han Lin is exceptionally talented and found a loophole in the restriction, his spiritual rank is Ghost Messenger Fan Wujiu, which has nothing to do with ice making."

Zhu Xi said, "I can testify to this: the spiritual restriction on the corpse still remains and has not been lifted."

Hu Ze couldn't help but slam his fist on the table and said, "Then tell me, what exactly happened? We are all very certain that the prisoner was murdered, but all the evidence proves that he committed suicide. Subjective judgment and objective facts are completely disconnected. Which side is wrong? Could it be that we have all been under a spell and are hallucinating?"

The warden sighed deeply, saying helplessly, "If only I knew the reason..."

After a while, Hu Ze softened his attitude and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper with you. You also want to find the murderer, so there's no point in taking it out on you."

“I understand. If I were in your shoes, I would also lose my temper. But what can I do now? I’m really at a loss. Forget about clues, I don’t even know where to start the investigation. Although we can ask expert detectives for help, based on past experience, they are not as good as ordinary psychics in cases involving murders related to psychics.”

The warden's words were not an excuse, because ordinary people tend to forget things related to psychics. Although daily reminders can revive memories, details are still easily overlooked.

At this point, Tang Ping said, "Let's first sort out the whole story; maybe we can find a breakthrough."

They decided to try anything, even if it seemed hopeless, and no one objected.

“Let me speak,” the warden volunteered. “About an hour ago, I received a call from Director Hu, who approved their application to meet with the inmate Han Lin. Afterwards, I also asked Han Lin himself for his opinion according to the established procedures. He agreed without hesitation and said that he also wanted to meet with the people from the security section.”

“We must be extremely cautious with psychic criminals, so we spent half an hour searching him to make sure there was nothing unusual before taking him to the visiting room. Our visiting room is specially designed for psychics to ensure that security measures are in place and that there are police officers present to supervise, making it safer than a prison cell in some ways.”

"I didn't know when the security department would arrive, but from Director Hu's tone on the phone, he seemed very anxious to meet, so I decided to take Han Lin there first and wait in the meeting room. As a result, in the corridor leading to the meeting room, Han Lin took out an ice pick that appeared out of nowhere and pierced his own heart."

"Next is my personal subjective judgment. When I asked Han Lin for his opinion, his expression and tone conveyed a sense of resentment at being arrested by the Public Security Bureau. He probably agreed to meet with Han Lin with the intention of venting his emotions through an argument. From this point of view, I also believe that he had no motive to commit suicide."

After hearing this, everyone felt a headache coming on.

It wasn't because the case was particularly complex; quite the opposite, the whole case was so simple that it could be explained in just a few words. There was no artificial locked room, no murder trap, and no secret poisoning. Unlike the intricate methods in detective novels that leave people amazed, it was so simple that it was impossible to even begin investigating.

Tang Ping repeatedly played the surveillance video of Han Lin's suicide. On the tenth time, he suddenly paused the video, pointed at Han Lin's face, and said, "Although it's not very clear, when he took out the ice pick to stab himself, his mouth seemed to move, right?"

Everyone immediately craned their necks to stare at the screen and repeatedly played the video.

"It seems...it seems to have really moved."

"So, he spoke before he died?"

"Where are the prison guards? Where is the guard who took him to the visiting room? Call him over immediately and ask him what the deceased said before he died."

At this point, the warden poured cold water on the situation, saying, "I already asked him, and he said he didn't hear anything. Guard Huang is the first eyewitness, so how could we not question him? If it weren't for the surveillance footage proving that Han Lin stabbed himself, and that Guard Huang had no connection with Han Lin, we would definitely have listed him as the prime suspect."