How You Can Sue Me for My Crimes in Dreams

Computers, cell phones, televisions... fundamentally, they’re just different ways to access the internet.

In later years, the variety of devices would be staggering, but in ’03, there were only two main ones.

One: television!

Two...

Computers!

Computers and televisions looked similar. They were stationary and about the same size.

But they were different from televisions...

You could use a computer for anything you wanted!

”An internet cafe?”

Zhao Shui paused for a moment, a look of astonishment on his face as several images flashed through his mind.

Internet cafes. They started popping up as a novelty around ’96.

The period between ’03 and ’15 was the golden age for internet cafes. Whether they were legitimate or not, almost all of them were raking it in!

The most crucial part was...

This kind of place perfectly matched the key factors needed for these murders!

’The ability to browse freely, constantly monitor public opinion, and move from place to place to commit crimes...’

It was an even better fit than prostitutes!

Even a slightly higher-class prostitute might make some demands. But an internet cafe? You pay your money, you get on. You can stay as long as you want.

”Are there really internet cafes here?”

Li Jianye’s gaze sharpened. He hadn’t heard the term ’internet cafe’ many times, but he knew what they were for.

”Yes,” Xu Huo explained. ”Life in a county seat is repressive, but not completely terrible. This leads to a kind of low-level depression, creating a desperate need for some form of entertainment to release stress.”

For ordinary people, entertainment to relieve stress needs to be cheap.

Like jerking off—low cost, high entertainment.

Internet cafes were the same. Even when you consider purchasing power, the prices back then weren’t exactly cheap, but they were relatively inexpensive compared to other forms of entertainment.

That’s why internet cafes in small county seats often turned a very nice, stable, long-term profit.

And Sishui County was no exception!

”Search them!”

Receiving the affirmative answer, Li Jianye didn’t hesitate for a second.

”Divide the search teams into three zones. Each zone will be centered on one of the three incident locations. Search all nearby internet cafes, moving outwards!”

Xu Huo added, ”Also, search furniture stores—specifically, any shops that were displaying news related to the case around the times of the incidents!”

Hearing this, Zhao Shui didn’t hesitate either and immediately began organizing the investigation.

”Squads One, Two, and Three will head to their respective incident locations. Coordinate with the local precinct’s desk officers to pull up lists of surrounding internet cafes, furniture stores, and other locations. Focus the investigation on the time frame from 10 PM to the early morning hours!” Zhao Shui quickly issued the orders.

His mind worked fast, immediately latching onto the time frame as a key piece of information.

’When are people most excited?’

’When opening a can or unboxing a package. In other words, when it’s time to admire the results!’

’After 10 PM, right after he’s stirred up public opinion, is when the killer’s anticipation would be at its peak. It’s like the moment you finally use the items you’ve been saving up for a lottery draw in a game!’

Seeing that Zhao Shui was about to leave immediately, Xu Huo paused, then reached out and stopped him.

Zhao Shui turned back, a confused look on his face.

Xu Huo wasn’t in a rush. He plucked a ballpoint pen from Li Jianye’s breast pocket, took the notebook from Zhao Shui’s hand, and wrote down a few characteristics.

”His clothes might be washed until they’re faded, he’ll appear clean and tidy, his mannerisms and speech will be different from an ordinary person’s, and he’ll be fussy...”

These were physical characteristics.

These were the suspect’s characteristics!

Seeing the two men’s furrowed brows, Xu Huo capped the pen and casually slipped it into his own pocket.

”The killer is seeking attention.”

”This ’attention’ he’s seeking is a manifestation of self-worth, which is one of the six fundamental human needs.”

What are the basic needs for human survival?

Water? Food?

True, in an apocalypse or in primitive society, water and food are all you need.

But modern society is different!

’The saying ”a full belly and warm clothes lead to lustful thoughts” gets to the heart of it. Once you’re well-fed and comfortable, you start needing other things.’

In Maslow’s theory, he divided human needs into six smaller components and three major categories.

Namely: Physiological (food, water, sex), and Safety (social order, personal security).

The remaining four are all related to society!

Namely: Social needs, Esteem, Self-Actualization, and Self-Transcendence.

As Xu Huo understood it, the last four could, in a sense, be seen as ’the manifestation of self-worth’.

What is the manifestation of self-worth?

In simple terms, it’s about showing off your abilities, proving how awesome and extraordinary you are.

But for someone who’s unhinged, whether they actually have the ability or whether what they’ve done is real or fake doesn’t matter. What matters most is this feeling of being above ordinary people, of being the center of attention!

And the more unhinged they are, the more they fixate on it.

”Under long-term psychological pressure, he’d be like a worm, fantasizing about inching his way toward that goal,” Xu Huo said.

”He wants to distinguish himself from ordinary people, but since he’s fundamentally the same, the only thing he can change is his outward appearance.”

People who crave attention—and have the guts to seek it—rarely want to appear before others looking sloppy and unkempt, like a beggar.

By the same token, if you want to distinguish yourself from ordinary people in an upwardly mobile way, the easiest method is through clothing!

This is also a form of one-upmanship.

”Okay, I’ve got it!”

Zhao Shui nodded, his expression serious.

Then, clutching the notebook, he got into a police car parked nearby and drove off, relaying the information to his team as he went.

The police sprang into action.

But it wasn’t just Zhao Shui. Xu Huo and Li Jianye were also getting to work.

”A two-pronged approach. We shouldn’t stay idle either,” Xu Huo said.

”Let’s use reverse deduction. We’ll bypass the murder scenes and use the information we already have to work backward to find clues about the killer himself.”

Xu Huo didn’t stop. He watched Zhao Shui leave, then turned his head to look at Li Jianye.

”Reverse?”

Li Jianye’s brow furrowed. He thought for a moment. ”Like with the killer’s physical description just now?”

”Yes, but not entirely,” Xu Huo nodded, then shook his head.

”That was forward deduction, a supplementary line of thought derived from the core premise that he wants to attract attention.”

”Next, we’re going to deduce the effect from the cause, and then from that effect, trace it all the way back to the origin!”

”Captain Li, tell me... what kind of person develops a psyche like our killer’s?”

Li Jianye was taken aback. As Xu Huo spoke, an image began to form in his mind.

Xu Huo stared at him and slowly laid out his line of reasoning.

”A person’s personality is changed and shaped by their environment!”

”So... what kind of environment shaped our killer’s personality!?”

Xu Huo had told Li Jianye and the others before.

Your background determines your personality, and your personality determines your way of thinking!

For example, a child from a billionaire’s family is highly unlikely to develop an inferiority complex.

Conversely, someone from a poorer background, or even someone who isn’t poor but is lacking in some area, will feel inferior about something.

This is determined by environmental factors. As long as the environment doesn’t change, it doesn’t matter how many times the physical body changes, the personality will most likely remain the same!

With the exception of a few geniuses, this is practically a law.

And from this, we can draw another conclusion.

”The desires of ordinary people are often vague, their goals not formed by subjective thought. Therefore, their desires are often the polar opposite of the oppression they feel from their environment.”

”Those who lack love fantasize about being loved. Orphans dream of their parents’ affection. Simps long for the goddess of love to take pity on them.”

”Those who lack money, their desire is to have money!”

”The more you lack something, the more you want it!”

”So, thinking in reverse, the more a person wants something, the more they must lack it.”

”In other words, the more a person lacks something, the more their environment will reflect that specific lack!”

Looking at Li Jianye, Xu Huo’s gaze grew focused, his expression increasingly solemn.

”So...”

”What is the killer’s environment!?”