Jiang Ran disliked it simply because he found it noisy and annoying.

Still, he answered the call.

After connecting, an excited voice came from the other end: "Jiang Ran! I got him! I caught that serial killer!!!"

The voice sounded somewhat familiar.

Jiang Ran took a moment to recall before realizing—wasn't that Ying Haijun, the former criminal investigator who wasn't one anymore?

A person's voice sounds slightly different over the phone compared to in person.

"You caught him? Where are you right now?"

There weren't many things that could surprise Jiang Ran, but this was one of them.

Because he had estimated that the serial killer who enjoyed crushing others' hopes.

Should have been in another city hundreds of miles away by now.

The difficulty of catching him was extremely high.

So, how did Ying Haijun manage to catch him?

How did he do it all by himself?

"Oh, right here in Nancheng City. Are you coming now?"

Ying Haijun's voice on the phone carried an extreme sense of excitement and exhilaration.

Jiang Ran told Ying Haijun to give him the address.

He genuinely wanted to see how this serial killer had been captured.

Ying Haijun recited a string of addresses to him over the phone.

After that, the call ended.

Jiang Ran put on his clothes properly.

He went downstairs to the electric bike shed.

He got on his own electric bike.

Alice Apartment at a little past three in the morning was completely silent.

As if this place was a dead, silent zone.

When Jiang Ran rode past the security room, he was surprised to discover that the new security guard in the security room was actually still awake at this hour.

Similarly, the security guard, Xiang Shanfeng, seeing Jiang Ran leaving at a little past three in the morning, showed a flash of astonishment on his usually indifferent face. He probably hadn't seen many people going out at this hour.

The two practically brushed past each other.

Jiang Ran rode his bike for over an hour. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

He arrived at a hotel in the downtown area of Nancheng City.

After entering the hotel, he followed the address given by Ying Haijun and went directly to a room on the 6th floor.

He knocked on the door.

He said, "I'm here."

It was now a little past four in the morning.

This hotel area wasn't as deathly silent as Alice Apartment.

Jiang Ran could faintly hear.

Women's voices.

These women's voices were really quite piercing.

But just as he was thinking this, the door in front of him opened.

A beam of light came from inside the room.

Ying Haijun, with his thin, narrow face, stood at the doorway, his eyes gleaming brightly.

Jiang Ran entered this hotel room.

Once inside, he saw a man and a woman on the bed.

The man was naked, his entire body bound with rope, his mouth gagged.

It was none other than that new coach Jiang Ran had paid special attention to last time.

As for the woman, Ying Haijun had given her a bit of consideration.

It was clear she was also bound and gagged.

However, her completely unclothed body was covered with a blanket.

The air conditioner was on in the room.

Blowing hot air.

Nancheng City's geographical location was somewhat awkward.

It was situated in the middle between north and south in Hua Country.

This resulted in winters being very cold.

Northern cities had heating; Nancheng City did not.

And those southern regions, during winter, temperatures weren't this low.

Like spring and autumn, as if winter didn't exist.

So places like Nancheng City, located in the middle between north and south, were quite awkward.

Air conditioning costs were very expensive, you know...

At this moment, Jiang Ran's gaze fell on the face of the woman who was gagged.

What a coincidence, this woman was someone he had met before.

It was that young married woman who had tried to strike up a conversation with him back at the Starlight gym.

Her face was average, but her fitness results were good, and her buttocks were quite attractive.

This young married woman probably also recognized Jiang Ran, as she started excitedly whimpering and moaning.

After Ying Haijun closed the door properly, he stood in front of the bed and removed the cloth gag from the new coach's mouth.

After removing it, he immediately said, "If you dare scream and shout again, you know what will happen."

The new coach had several red slap marks on both sides of his face.

It looked like he had already been disciplined by Ying Haijun for this reason.

Because of this, after the gag was removed from his mouth, the new coach obediently didn't dare make a sound.

"Alright, now we're going to ask you some questions. I'll ask, and you answer obediently."

Ying Haijun pointed his finger at the new coach lying sideways on the bed.

The new coach nodded obediently: "Okay, okay, I'll definitely answer obediently."

Ying Haijun was very satisfied.

And Jiang Ran, glancing at Ying Haijun, thought that this might perhaps be one of the reasons why he wasn't a criminal investigator anymore?

Ying Haijun began questioning the new coach.

"That girl who committed suicide at the Starlight Club—you actually killed her, right?"

The new coach shook his head violently: "No!"

*Slap!*

A hard slap across the face.

Ying Haijun said somewhat darkly, "You like lying, huh?"

The new coach grimaced, panting heavily—that slap must have really hurt.

He pleaded somewhat: "Really! I really didn't lie! I didn't kill that person!"

Ying Haijun: "Heh, stop pretending. I know—you're that serial killer who crushes others' hopes."

"Admit it honestly!"

"I've been tracking you for a very long time!!!"

Hearing this, the new coach became visibly agitated: "Se... serial killer?! I've never killed a single person in my entire life! How did I become a serial killer?! You can't slander someone like this!!!"

*Slap!*

Another slap.

This slap actually made the new coach cry.

Tears continuously welled up from the corners of his eyes, sliding down his face.

Wetting the white bedsheet beneath him.

He began sobbing:

"You... what on earth do you want?! Are you trying to force a false confession through torture?!"

"But I didn't kill anyone! I just didn't kill anyone!"

Ying Haijun sneered: "Truly a top-tier serial killer. Mental fortitude is strong enough, acting skills are good enough. It seems you won't tell the truth unless you eat a few more slaps."

Ying Haijun grabbed the new coach.

His right hand was already poised and ready.

"Ahhhhh! Help!!!"

Seeing this, the new coach couldn't help but scream and shout, no longer caring about anything.

Seeing this, Ying Haijun became extremely furious.

This fury transformed into strength, gathering in his right hand.

"Alright, still daring to scream, huh? Then I'll let you properly taste what a slap is!"

The original cloth gag was stuffed back into the new coach's mouth.

After Jiang Ran finished this action, he said, "Stop. We might have made a mistake. He probably isn't that serial killer who crushes others' hopes."

Ying Haijun, who had been ready to deliver a decisive slap to force the new coach to spill the truth.

His hand stopped in mid-air.

He turned his head, utterly confused: "What?! He's not?! Then... doesn't that mean we completely got it wrong?!"

Ying Haijun's face instantly changed dramatically.

If the person opposite was that serial killer, the methods he used to catch him wouldn't be a big deal.

But if the opposite was just an ordinary person, and he used this series of methods, if the other side decided to settle accounts.

He would really be in deep trouble.