Chapter 181: I Have Never Failed at Killing

How confident?

K’s question made the priest, who was standing at the edge of the railing, pause in silence for two seconds. He then turned to face K.

Before this, K had never asked about how confident someone was in something. Or rather, his extreme confidence led him to always believe that his plans and orders were the best course of action, and so “confidence” to him was a given—100%.

It seemed the situation was indeed serious, making even K, who was always calm and strategic, feel a sense of panic he hadn’t noticed before. It was as if… he had never seen K throw a computer in anger, yet in such a short time, he had destroyed three expensive laptops with his own hands.

The fire that had begun with the sculptor seemed to be growing stronger, becoming more uncontrollable by the second.

The priest, who wasn’t fond of overthinking, pushed these complicated thoughts aside. He took a Cuban cigar out of his pocket, bit it between his back teeth, lit it, and took a deep drag, exhaling thick smoke.

He then turned and continued looking at the night view of Lushui City, the smoke making his figure appear somewhat illusory. His voice was deep and rumbling as he spoke.

“K, you know…”

“When it comes to killing, I have never failed, and I won’t fail.”

“As long as you need it, I can help you stop the current leaks, just like all the difficult tasks we’ve handled before.”

This was the longest sentence the priest had ever spoken.

K, leaning against a lounge chair, didn’t respond immediately, but it was clear that the priest’s confidence and certainty had made him relax a little.

He then stood up without hesitation, closed his laptop on the table, and said with a neutral expression, “The situation isn’t that bad yet. For now, there’s no need for you to take the risk.”

“The Bomber won’t tell his sister about these things. Even if some information leaks, it will likely be minimal. The butcher has also evaded the police pursuit.”

“As long as Rose never wakes up, everything will end there.”

“Looks like I’ve been too cautious. After playing with these scentless dogs for so long, it’s time to loosen up a bit.”

After saying that, K didn’t look at the computer again. He just took the organization’s dedicated communication phone and walked into the presidential suite behind him to rest.

Meanwhile, the priest, still with the cigar between his teeth, picked up a heavy sniper rifle from the wall and placed it in front of him. Through the high-powered scope, he habitually observed the criminal investigation team of Cangshan, which was still lit up.

…

At the same time, while K was preparing to relax and relieve his tense nerves, the pursuit of the butcher by the Cangshan Criminal Investigation Team of Gusu City, led by Su Ming, was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

At this moment, Su Ming, Bai Yu, Liu Yang, and the others had arrived at a public restroom about two kilometers away from the parking lot at the foot of the mountain.

Eager to complete the task, Liu Yang quickly entered the restroom to check for any traces left by the butcher.

According to their earlier speculation, the butcher had hidden between the grass stack and the dead trees to avoid being detected by Liu Yang and the others who were heading to the mountain cabin. His clothes and pants were likely covered in a lot of burrs from the ghost thorn plant.

However, during his descent, the butcher certainly didn’t have much time to clean himself. But he couldn’t walk into the city with so many ghost thorns attached, as that would make him too conspicuous and hinder his escape.

Therefore, finding a secluded place, far from the mountain but without surveillance or in a blind spot, where he could safely remove the thorns, was the butcher’s top priority after coming down the mountain. And since he needed to remove the thorns from his clothes, his options were now limited, narrowing down to only the public restroom.

A few seconds later, Liu Yang came out of the public restroom with a look of confusion in his eyes. He glanced at Su Ming, who was observing the surroundings, and asked with a puzzled expression.

“Team Leader Su, there’s nothing here.”

“I just checked, and I didn’t find any ghost thorns the butcher may have removed. Could it be that he never came to this restroom?”

“Or maybe, under time pressure, he was so careful that he threw the thorns into the pit and flushed them away?”

Instead of answering immediately, Su Ming walked to the side of the restroom, looked up at the surveillance camera, and analyzed the blind spots in its view.

Then, Su Ming walked to the blind spot of the camera and used a powerful flashlight to begin searching the ground for possible clues or evidence.

Three seconds later, Su Ming slowly bent down and picked up a black, roughly nail-sized sharp thorn from the ground. Narrowing his eyes, he confirmed, “You can never underestimate a butcher who has taken dozens of lives.”

“While ensuring his temporary safety, he could very well have wasted some time by throwing all the ghost thorns he removed into the pit to flush them away and destroy them, thus hiding his tracks.”

“But no matter how cautious and careful the butcher is, when he nears the public restroom, he would likely instinctively touch his back to feel how many thorns are still there.”

“In fact, not just the butcher, but any normal person would do the same—touch their back when they can’t be sure whether there are thorns on their clothes, especially near a restroom.”

“And during this touch, it’s normal for some ghost thorns to fall onto the ground.”

Bai Yu, standing next to him, knocked his cigarette pipe against his thigh, then continued the conversation.

“This place is two kilometers from Xishan. Most tourists would never come to this public restroom.”

“Also, based on the condition of the ghost thorn here, it seems to have just fallen from the top of the thorn bush recently. And it just happens to be in this surveillance blind spot.”

“With so many coincidences piling up, it’s clear that the butcher definitely used this public restroom to remove the thorns from his clothes. And there’s a high chance he’s now hiding in a city with many people, where he’s hard to find.”

“But the current issue is where the butcher might be hiding after leaving Xishan and returning to Liangxi City.”

“A hotel? An internet cafe? Or a bus station?”

“Given how adept the butcher is at counter-surveillance, he probably wouldn’t hide in places that are easy to search and require ID, right?”

These words made everyone present fall into deep thought.

Su Ming also narrowed his eyes, rubbing his chin as he thought for a few seconds, then suddenly remembered something. He looked at Liu Yang and asked, “By the way, Director Liu.”

“Does Fat Cat, the one killed by poison, have any family in Gusu City? Do they live in a residential complex or a self-built house?”