Chapter 240: Bai Yu’s Growth and Confidence, Demon Witch is Doomed to be Caught!

A dozen minutes later.

Under Wang Qi’s full-speed driving, the car carrying Lin Tian, Bai Yu, and the others arrived at the Tianhe Huacheng Residential Complex as quickly as possible.

Without a moment’s hesitation—before the car had even come to a full stop—Lin Tian flung open the front passenger door and rushed toward the house where Yu Ruyi lived.

He dashed up the stairs, and the moment he reached the door, he clearly heard Yu Ruyi’s familiar chanting voice.

It was obvious.

Even though the security police had arrived first, they hadn’t startled Yu Ruyi in the slightest. She hadn’t emerged from her spiritual trance.

That alone was enough to further confirm that Yu Ruyi’s severe Alzheimer’s condition wasn’t being faked.

…

Hearing the urgent sirens outside, the security officers who had arrived earlier were already waiting at the door.

Seeing Lin Tian come up first—even though his face was unfamiliar—his distinct white shirt was enough to indicate his identity within the public security system.

The team leader of the security officers at the front saluted and said:

“Sir, we arrived at this apartment—previously occupied by the suspect Zhang Lifang—about ten minutes before your team.”

“But when we arrived, there was no sign of the suspect.”

“The only people here were Yu Ruyi, who has Alzheimer’s, and a neighborhood committee aunt who told us she was asked by Zhang Lifang to temporarily look after Yu Ruyi.”

This information had already been relayed to Lin Tian during the drive, so he simply nodded and was about to ask more when—

The team leader suddenly pointed to a small camera on the dining table and said:

“Right, sir. When we entered the apartment, we noticed this small standing camera placed in plain sight on the dining table facing the front door.”

“Though we cut the power to it immediately, it’s very likely the footage from when we entered was already uploaded.”

“In other words, whoever’s behind all this likely already knows Zhang Lifang’s identity has been exposed—and that we’re pursuing her.”

Hearing this, Lin Tian immediately followed the officer’s pointing finger and looked at the small surveillance device on the table.

Then he glanced at the visibly uneasy neighborhood committee aunt sitting on the nearby sofa.

The first time he had visited this apartment, every corner had been carefully searched. No surveillance or listening devices had been found. There had been nothing to suggest K was watching.

But now…

Only a short time later, a small device—like a smart speaker—was sitting right there on the dining table, directly facing the front door.

On top of that, Zhang Lifang had deliberately arranged for the committee aunt to come take care of Yu Ruyi. It was clearly a cover for her escape.

These two points alone were enough to definitively conclude that Zhang Lifang was intimately tied to the drug trafficking organization—and was, in fact, the wanted murderer known as Demon Witch.

Suppressing the remorse and complex emotions in his heart, Lin Tian immediately waved Bai Yu over and said calmly:

“Xiao Bai, come with me to the study. Let’s take another look at those books on superstition.”

“Earlier, because of Zhang Lifang’s misleading first impression, we all believed the spiritual items here were just things Yu Ruyi used to pray for Priest.”

“But based on later interrogation and surveillance, it’s highly likely that Yu Ruyi was being manipulated by Zhang Lifang. All that chanting and waving the peach wood sword—those were just deliberate acts to cover for herself.”

With that, Lin Tian no longer paid attention to Yu Ruyi or the committee aunt. There was only one priority now—

Identify Zhang Lifang as quickly as possible and drag her out of hiding before she could escape.

Only then could he make up for the earlier misjudgment and keep this critical lead alive.

It wasn’t that Lin Tian feared taking responsibility. He wouldn’t use any excuse to shift blame for the previous interrogation failure.

He only wanted one thing: the truth.

Right now, nothing was more important than digging out the root of this drug ring and eradicating the tumor.

Once in the study, Lin Tian looked at Bai Yu, gestured at the various spiritual artifacts, the peach wood sword, the bagua mirror, and said softly:

“Xiao Bai, take a look. Do you think any of these could have been left by Demon Witch?”

There was hardly any need for Lin Tian to ask.

The moment Bai Yu entered the room, he had already begun examining the items carefully, holding a pipe and thinking deeply.

During the previous interrogation of Butcher, a key piece of information had been unearthed. In the knowledge Demon Witch shared, one line stood out the most:

“There are countless ways to kill someone. The stupidest one is doing it yourself.”

Just from that, Brother Ming had boldly deduced that the public’s speculation about superstition being involved likely pointed to Demon Witch’s unique method of committing crimes.

In other words, Demon Witch was exceptionally skilled at manipulating the human mind—especially through superstition and the five elements. Her level of mastery was impressive.

Otherwise, how could she convince someone to kill a middle school student using mere words?

And the way she trained Yu Ruyi—who had Alzheimer’s—to perform so precisely proved it further.

If lies could guide and control a healthy mind, then…

Training Yu Ruyi to respond subconsciously to specific trigger words wouldn’t be difficult.

It would just take time and patience. But it was entirely achievable.

And there was another key point.

Considering how cautious K was, and how important both Yu Ruyi and Jiang Sumei were to the organization, he wouldn’t have used just any ordinary lookout.

Fewer people knowing meant greater safety.

All this information, taken together—

If it were Brother Ming here, he would have confidently concluded that the former caretaker Zhang Lifang was absolutely Demon Witch.

With that thought, Bai Yu took a deep breath. A surge of determination and confidence filled his heart, like the admiration he had for Su Ming.

He turned to Lin Tian, rubbing his pipe, and said seriously:

“Chief Lin, Zhang Lifang must be the Demon Witch hiding in Jinling City. Given K’s cautious nature, it’s highly unlikely anyone outside their trained network would be tasked with watching over Yu Ruyi.”

“Considering Priest’s status, Zhang Lifang was probably a nanny originally—recruited by the drug ring for certain unique reasons.”

“After using superstitious manipulation to get someone else to kill the student, she fully joined the organization.”

“We should track Zhang Lifang while also shifting focus toward Luan County, looking for more clues tied to Demon Witch.”

“I believe… Demon Witch is doomed to be caught!”