Luo Ji understood this very well, his low voice carrying a profound realization after having brushed with life and death:

"After I was expelled from school, I signed a death agreement to join the Advanced Team and entered the Hidden Sect to pioneer new territories, serving as a human probe for the Investigation Corps, using my life to fill the unknown areas’ cannon fodder.

Surviving several near-death experiences, I came to understand one thing."

Cuicui’s pupils slightly contracted. She didn’t know much about the Hidden Sect, but she had heard that joining the Advanced Team meant facing life-and-death odds.

In this case, life-and-death odds weren’t just an exaggeration but a pure mathematical probability.

Zhang Liyou stared at Luo Ji with a thoughtful expression on her face, hesitating before asking:

"So, the mirror you have that can be absorbed into your body, you brought it out from the Hidden Sect?"

Since Luo Ji had already exposed the mirror, mentioning his experience in the Hidden Sect served as an explanation to the two, and he nodded:

"Yes, I brought the mirror out from a terrifying palace within the Hidden Sect. It could hide in the body, so the Investigation Corps didn’t find it.

This mirror could reflect a person’s [Life Chart], but unfortunately, it’s already broken."

Luo Ji briefly explained in two sentences, unwilling to say more, then he shifted the topic back to continue:

"When I came out of the Hidden Sect, I knew that only a person with value would be protected, but a person without value was just like a living, walking sheep."

Luo Ji paused, the corners of his mouth curling into a nearly ferocious cold smile:

"It’s quite obvious that, in this world, in the eyes of some, man-eating monsters are more valuable than the people being eaten."

Cuicui felt like she had plunged into an ice cave, wanting to refute with trembling lips but not knowing how.

Zhang Liyou pondered for a moment and suddenly asked:

"The mirror can see a person’s [Life Chart]?"

She recalled the corridor she had seen through the mirror, remembered the names of those paintings, and vaguely understood:

"Are those the [Life Charts] of the [Mask]?"

"Hmm," Luo Ji nodded.

Zhang Liyou thought for a moment and asked again: "What about Feng Yuhuai’s [Life Chart]? You must have seen it, right?"

Cuicui also quickly pricked up her ears, her breath catching.

Luo Ji’s Adam’s apple bobbed, exhaling a clouded breath slowly, and said word by word: "Shelter of the Curtain."

"Shelter?!" The two girls exclaimed in unison, their voices echoing in the small room.

As Luo Ji spoke, he dipped his finger in water and wrote those four characters on the coffee table:

"I didn’t understand what this [Life Chart] meant before, but now I have a vague guess. Perhaps the ’Curtain’ represents the one sheltering Feng Yuhuai."

Seeing both of them staring at the tabletop intently, Luo Ji added:

"That person’s name probably includes the character ’Curtain?!!’"

Zhang Liyou’s pupils suddenly contracted, lowering her voice:

"I remember that Feng Yuhuai has a brother with a name that includes ’mu’. Yes, I remember now, her brother is called Feng Mu. Could it be this Curtain character?"

Cuicui seemed to have been enlightened as well, nodding hastily in agreement:

"That’s right, I remember too, Feng Yuhuai mentioned her brother, he’s called Feng Mu."

"Wait!" Luo Ji’s face showed astonishment and he shouted: "Did you just say... her brother’s name is Feng Mu?!"

......

"Zheng Hang!!!"

A sudden shout rang out in the meeting room, interrupting the busy constables.

A technician in the corner suddenly stood up, the chair screeching on the floor.

"The photo matched with the database. This man, no, the real identity of [Mask] is Zheng Hang!!!"

The technician pointed at the projected face, his voice shaking with excitement.

The air instantly froze.

The special commissioner sitting on the wide sofa nearby stopped tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table.

All the constables’ gazes shot towards the screen like sharp arrows, their breaths audible.

A brace still wrapped around Feng Ju’s nose, his whole face looking ridiculous and embarrassing.

But no one could laugh now—he stood up abruptly, rushed to the front of the screen in a few steps, and stared dead at that face, examining the matching result on top.

The cold light from the projector illuminated a stern face, the red frame from the database clasping tightly on his facial features like shackles, the black characters "Zheng Hang" standing solemnly in the right information panel.

"Which case?" Feng Ju turned and demanded from the technician.

The technician hastily operated the computer, the projection screen switched, and a wanted notice clearly projected onto the screen.

The wanted photo of Zheng Hang showed him in a school uniform, with an unremoved youthful look in his eyes.

Comparing this to the frenzied [Mask] in the live broadcast, they seemed like two different people.

But machines don’t lie.

The arc of the brow, the width of the nostrils, the angles of the jaw—all biological features lay bare before algorithms.

The bright red "99.4%" match rate in the bottom right corner of the screen was like a judge’s verdict, pinning [Mask] and Zheng Hang as one person, one face!

The technician quickly retrieved the case details again, projecting them on the big screen.

The technician said: "Zheng Hang! The fugitive suspect in the 47 Academy Evil Sacrifice case!"

The special commissioner squinted their eyes: "Evil Sacrifice case?"

Feng Ju hesitated for half a second: "47 Academy?"

On the projection screen, the relevant data scrolled swiftly, one bloody crime scene photo flashing after another.

The final freeze frame’s close-up showed a sinister pentagram altar drawn with coagulated blood on the cement ground with an eerie sheen.

The female student’s body, lying supine, appeared unnaturally grayish-white—her skull mostly caved in, her body entirely drained of blood, shriveled skin crawling with dark red runes.

The special commissioner frowned looking at Feng Ju: "Evil Sacrifice case, such an important clue, how could it be overlooked?"

Feng Ju’s face grew somber, it indeed was a blunder in his handling of the case.

He mustered his courage, feigning composure as he explained:

"The special commissioner may not be aware, in Lower City, occurrences labeled ’Evil Sacrifice’ cases happen more than occasionally each year, but they mostly bear the name only, just an offering ritual, without an actual evil sacrifice descending, so..."

From the Patrol Office’s inherent experience, Lower City’s ’Evil Sacrifice’ cases were mostly obsessions of lunatics or cultists, no more than an unrequited infatuation in appearance.

Thus, the Patrol Office never took ’Evil Sacrifice’ cases seriously.

But looking back now, it was clear that Zheng Hang was different from those fake ’Evil Sacrifice’ cases, the evil had indeed responded to him.

The special commissioner snorted coldly: "Who was handling this case?"

Feng Ju glanced at the technician, who got the hint, fingers quickly tapping the keyboard, rapidly pulling up the investigator’s signature, then hurriedly reporting:

"The case happened around March 18, the investigator was Captain Li Shang."