Chapter Twelve: The Wicked Witch with Countless Crimes

A witch had appeared in the Far North City.

Upon hearing this news, Chen Zi’ang lost all interest in continuing his lesson with Luna Tsukimiya, hastily logging into the work group on his phone.

As expected, nearly all his colleagues were discussing the matter.

The witch, Miho Nishikawa, was originally a local resident of Laoshan Village in Sumida Town. Her husband was a miner, and their children attended the town’s elementary school.

Such mining families were common in Sumida Town, but with the recent downturn in the mining economy and declining wages, her husband began selling tempura at the elementary school gate after work, earning a meager income to support the family, and conveniently picking up the children.

Wild wolves often roamed the plains surrounding Sumida Town. However, with militia patrols nearby, these wolves rarely approached human settlements.

But one day, as her husband was returning home late with the children, they were attacked by a wild wolf pack on the road to Laoshan Village.

When the local militia responded to the distress call, they only managed to retrieve a single arm of her son from the wolves; the rest of the bodies had been devoured completely, leaving not a trace behind.

According to the laws of the Takamagahara Star District, victims of wild animal attacks resulting in loss of life or property could apply for compensation from the state.

Yet Miho Nishikawa refused the compensation offered by the Sumida Town office, instead demanding that the militia exterminate the wild wolves near the town to avenge her husband and children.

Her request was denied. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Ecological Protection Act declared the continental grey wolf a protected species, forbidding any form of killing for any reason. The town office could only instruct the militia to drive the wolves away with food and gunfire, pushing them beyond the range of human activity.

Miho Nishikawa could not accept this outcome. She sold her house, traveled to Far North City to hire a lawyer, and sued the town office. The legal battle lasted five years, with both trials ending in defeat. Afterwards, she vanished entirely—never returning to Sumida Town, nor contacting any friends or family.

No one knew her whereabouts.

Miho Nishikawa’s plight was sympathetic, but as public safety officers, Chen Zi’ang and his colleagues had seen far worse cases. They were, truthfully, quite numb to such tragedies.

But if the intelligence team’s divination was correct, and Miho Nishikawa truly had fallen to become a witch, then pity was no longer the appropriate response… From a criminal psychology perspective, a person like her, if capable, might very well exact revenge upon the entire Far North City.

Chen Zi’ang pondered for a long moment, about to send a message for more details, when Luna Tsukimiya asked beside him,

“What is the Ecological Protection Act? Are wolves really forbidden to be killed?”

“My advice is, just search for it online yourself—don’t discuss it offline,” Chen Zi’ang replied helplessly. “If someone reports you, it won’t be good.”

“Would you report me?” Luna Tsukimiya blinked her large eyes.

“No,” Chen Zi’ang answered succinctly. “But I don’t want to discuss it with you either.”

“Come on, I wouldn’t report you either,” Luna said with a smile, opening her phone to search.

Regarding the Ecological Protection Act, there was almost no discussion online, but searching for “wild wolf” yielded plenty of videos—mostly of Far North City tourists on bus trips to the countryside, tossing snacks out the window to passing wolf packs.

The wolves chased after the buses like eager puppies, causing the passengers to laugh aloud. The comment sections were filled with cheerful banter:

“The way their tails wag is so cute!”

“They’re just like my dog, always running circles around me at mealtime.”

“Reminder: wolves can’t eat chocolate! If you feed them chocolate and they die, you’ll end up in jail (underline this).”

…

To be fair, the wolves in these videos did look much like pets, showing no aggression (after all, the passengers were safely on the bus). Yet, when Luna Tsukimiya connected this to Miho Nishikawa’s story, she immediately felt a surge of disgust.

“This really is… infuriating,” she muttered.

“Senior, by this logic, Miho Nishikawa certainly has reason to seek revenge against the entire Far North City. Her act of releasing the divine relic at Sky Silver Plaza may have been her first retaliation, but surely not the last.”

“But the problem is, we don’t even know where she is,” Chen Zi’ang sighed, handing her his phone. “Have you read the intelligence team’s analysis?”

“At present, Far North City’s CCTV system covers nearly all streets, shops, and public spaces. Everyone entering the monitored areas is identified by facial recognition.”

“Yet three years have passed since Miho Nishikawa’s disappearance, and the surveillance system has not recorded any trace of her.”

“From traditional criminal investigation reasoning, the first hypothesis is she likely has an accomplice—she’s hiding in a private residence beyond surveillance, never leaving, relying on an accomplice to commit crimes for her.”

“Unlikely,” Luna Tsukimiya mused, shaking her head. “Miho Nishikawa’s role as a witch is the key to this case.”

“If the so-called accomplice released the divine relic into society, then the intelligence team’s divination would first trace the relic to the accomplice, then locate Miho Nishikawa.”

Chen Zi’ang looked at her in surprise: this girl had only been on the job two days, yet her investigative instincts were remarkably sharp.

“I was just guessing,” Luna quickly said, tapping her head and smiling bashfully. “Don’t laugh at me, senior.”

Her words were a little affected, but her beauty was so striking it didn’t feel like she was pretending to be cute—after all, most men would instinctively assume that with her looks, there was no need to feign.

“Good guess,” Chen Zi’ang sighed. “We have no evidence whatsoever of an accomplice, so we tend to rule out that possibility.”

“If traditional investigative methods won’t work, we’ll have to analyze it from the occult perspective.”

“Right,” Luna pondered, “Is it possible to change one’s appearance and voice?”

“Who knows,” Chen Zi’ang replied helplessly.

In the world of the occult, almost anything could happen. For example, the chaotic altar in the ancient city of Enlanke mentioned a power called ‘Shapeshifter,’ which could freely alter one’s body or voice, rendering surveillance systems useless.

Of course, even if Chen Zi’ang didn’t bring it up, everyone would naturally consider it. The problem was, even with such suspicions, how could one guard against it?

Expecting the cameras to see through such disguise was impossible; the solution would have to be sought through the occult as well. That was the intelligence team’s domain—perhaps only Rikuho Suikaze could devise a plan.

Chen Zi’ang was still pondering when Luna Tsukimiya suddenly asked,

“By the way, senior. Do you have plans tonight?”

“No,” Chen Zi’ang replied casually.

“There’s a movie I want to see—it’s premiering today at a nearby cinema. Could you come with me?”

Chen Zi’ang’s expression turned helpless; why wouldn’t this girl give up?

“Luna,” he felt he should make things clear, lest she harbor any unrealistic romantic notions. “Actually, I…”

“Stop right there!” Luna crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Senior! As a junior colleague, I’m inviting you to see a movie so we can build a better working relationship. This is perfectly normal social etiquette, isn’t it?”

“How could it be normal?” Chen Zi’ang laughed. “A man and a woman—it sounds just like a date.”

“But senior, after work you sometimes go drinking with other colleagues at the izakaya, right?” Luna argued. “If you go alone with a female colleague, does that become a date too?”

“That’s different,” Chen Zi’ang said, feeling a headache. “Going to the izakaya is for relaxing after work, but this…”

“Fine!” Luna huffed. “Then bringing Little Bamboo along should be acceptable, right?”

“How could Xiaozhu want to go…” Chen Zi’ang grumbled, annoyed—taking a blind girl to a movie? Was she just going to listen to the audio?

“I want to go,” Chen Xiaozhu suddenly spoke up.

“Alright, let’s go then!”