Chapter 225

"Yianduo, you have violated the club's rules." One of the men, who had chestnut-colored hair and wore enamel-rimmed glasses, stepped forward from the crowd and said with a serious expression. It seemed "Yianduo" was the nickname You He used in this science fiction interest group.

"I'm sorry, Sword Bearer, these three are police officers. They said someone among us has committed murder. I, I had no choice..." You He lowered his head in shame, as if he were a heinous traitor.

The quiet crowd began to stir.

"We have a murderer here?"

"No way, we all know each other so well. No one looks like the type to kill."

"That's not necessarily true; you can know a person's face but not their heart."

The "Sword Bearer" who had spoken first remained the most composed. He stepped forward to stand before them: "We are just a group of science fiction enthusiasts. On what grounds do you say there is a murderer among us?"

Zhong Kui walked in front of You He. Before she even spoke, her aura had already extinguished half of the "Sword Bearer's" dissatisfaction.

"Sword Bearer, I would like to ask, in a place like Baicheng, besides you all, who else knows who Neuromancer is?" As soon as Zhong Kui said this, the crowd, which had only been whispering, suddenly erupted. Clearly, everyone here knew what Neuromancer meant.

This reaction took Qi Fei by surprise. He immediately stared at the "Sword Bearer" and asked, "Which one of you here uses Neuromancer as their code name?"

"Ah, this..." The "Sword Bearer" was clearly not good at lying; his hesitant expression said it all.

When Qi Fei's sharp gaze swept over his shoulder to scan the crowd of people in strange costumes, everyone tacitly began to cast their eyes toward one particular man.

Unlike the others' exaggerated outfits, this person was just wearing worn-out clothes and had drawn heavy dark circles under his eyes to make himself look more haggard.

It seemed this person was "Neuromancer."

However, he just stood there, stunned, clearly not having reacted to everything yet, with no intention of running away.

It wasn't until Qi Fei walked up to him and demanded he submit to an investigation that he seemed to come to his senses and said loudly, "I didn't kill anyone! Anyone can call themselves Neuromancer!"

"What is your name?"

"I..." Neuromancer looked around. "Asking me to state my real name here is more shameful than stripping off my clothes!"

Qi Fei didn't understand and was about to press him further, but Zhong Kui suddenly helped him out in an understanding manner: "We can sit in that reading corner. Leave the people here to Xiao Qiu."

Leaning against the bookshelf that reached the ceiling, the reading lamp made "Neuromancer's" face look even more sickly.

"Can you tell me now?"

"Jiang Yu. I didn't kill anyone; you've got the wrong person."

"Where were you on April 11th, and what were you doing?"

"What day of the week was April 11th?"

"Friday."

"I was definitely at work on Friday." Jiang Yu looked at the skeptical Qi Fei and added, "I can give you my colleagues' contact information. I haven't missed any work lately; feel free to check."

"In your group, besides you, who else likes William Gibson's novels?" Zhong Kui asked from the side.

"It depends on what you mean by 'like.' As a sci-fi group, everyone definitely knows William Gibson. Did that person say he called himself Neuromancer?"

"Yes, that's his screen name for writing web novels," Qi Fei replied.

"Web novels?" Jiang Yu frowned. "This guy writes novels?" As he spoke, he couldn't help but glance at the crowd not far away.

"It seems you have a writer in your group, then?" Zhong Kui immediately saw the clue.

"It's the Sword Bearer who spoke to you at the beginning. He's the owner of this bookstore. I heard he writes articles in his spare time. I'm very busy with work, where would I find the time to write such things? And..." Jiang Yu hesitated.

Zhong Kui gave him an encouraging look. Jiang Yu swallowed and continued, "This Sword Bearer has a very short temper. I am definitely a pacifist, but he has fought with people in the group before. I suggest you go ask him."

Qi Fei sized up the thin young man in front of him and said coldly, "Are you trying to divert our attention?"

His words scared Jiang Yu into waving his hands repeatedly: "I'm doing this out of kindness, please don't misunderstand. If you still suspect me, you can call my colleagues right now. You can even get more contacts if you want, just please don't call my boss. If he finds out I didn't work overtime but came out to a party, I'm dead."

Qi Fei dialed the number in front of Jiang Yu. After asking a few people, they all confirmed he was at work on April 11th. Like You He, he was in Baicheng when Hao Weiwei died.

The two-hour drive between Baicheng and Nancheng became the perfect reason to rule out their suspicion.

Jiang Yu's posture became more confident: "They all know I'm the most self-disciplined person in this group. Hmph, unlike some people..."

Seeing there was more to his words, Qi Fei couldn't help but be curious and pressed, "What about some people?"

Jiang Yu glanced again at the crowd chatting enthusiastically: "The rules set by the Sword Bearer are that we all have exclusive nicknames and don't know each other's real names. I think some people have the illusion that by using a different name, they are completely different from the person they are during the day. Heh, let's put it this way: see that woman with the permed hair? The one flirting with that man? That man is called 'K', and that woman is called 'Qiao Yi'. Understand?"

Qi Fei was confused and was about to say he didn't understand, when Zhong Kui immediately spoke up: "Blade Runner 2049. Qiao Yi is K's holographic companion. It seems those two are a couple."

Jiang Yu said with disdain, "Originally, this group was very pure; everyone gathered together because of a love for sci-fi. The atmosphere was ruined by these people. This Qiao Yi, I don't think she likes sci-fi at all; she's just here to fish for a sugar daddy."

Regarding Jiang Yu's statement, Zhong Kui smiled subtly; the jealousy in his words was too obvious.

"Then, what about the Sword Bearer? Could it be that his fight with the group members was also because of relationship matters?" Qi Fei continued to ask.

Jiang Yu nodded: "You could say that, or you could say not. After all, the Sword Bearer is the founder of the group and actually cares more about the rules than I do. I heard he discovered a member doing something inappropriate and fought them directly. We all guessed it was because members were having unclear relationships with others in private, but the Sword Bearer never said, and that person was expelled..."

"Who was that person?"