Chapter 157 – Who Is the Sniper, Really?

“A letter?” Qin Ling stepped forward. “Give me your email account.”

She intended to look into it.

Utterly panicked, He Mingyuan shook his head.

“You won’t hand it over?!” Qin Ling planted her hands on her hips. “You’ve got guts. Thor, give him the full torture treatment!”

“Yes!” Thor cracked her knuckles eagerly.

He Mingyuan hurriedly pulled a sheet of paper from inside his coat.

“It’s not an email!”

“It’s a physical letter!”

“This is the one!”

Thor took the letter from He Mingyuan, and the girls gathered around to read it.

“Whoever wrote this was pretty cautious.”

None of the words on the letter were handwritten. They had all been printed. Qin Ling said, “But judging by this letter, they know about the time we robbed Jinrui Bank.”

Lin Xi exclaimed, “Is it that sniper who blew Shi Yu in half with a single shot?!”

Qin Ling nodded. “Most likely.”

Shi Yu raised a question. “Didn’t we previously conclude that this person was from the Dark Realm Alliance?”

Their previous theory had been that a sniper from the Dark Realm Alliance was targeting Shi Yu, while the Dark Realm Alliance’s Evil Maid was targeting Lin Xi.

“This letter is clearly trying to get someone else to do their killing for them. But would someone from the Dark Realm Alliance really need Shuguang Technology’s help to deal with me?”

“That is suspicious…” Qin Ling pondered for a moment. “Maybe this sniper isn’t from the Dark Realm Alliance. Maybe our previous conclusion was wrong…”

“Shi Yu, do you have any enemies?” Lin Xi asked.

Given Shi Yu’s nasty side, Lin Xi felt she might very well have provoked someone she shouldn’t have.

Shi Yu remained noncommittal. “Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t.”

Lin Xi was speechless.

So they existed and didn’t exist at the same time? What were they, Schrödinger’s enemies?

Qin Ling suddenly said, “That sniper may very well be someone from Z City No. 1 Middle School!”

Her astonishing statement left everyone stunned.

“Why do you say that?” Lin Xi asked.

Qin Ling began her analysis.

“Everything was quiet while Shi Yu was staying at the Safe House, wasn’t it?”

“The sniper must have assumed Shi Yu was already dead.”

“But then Sister Lin repaired Shi Yu, and she went bouncing right back to school, alive and well.”

“If the sniper is someone from Z City No. 1 Middle School, it would make perfect sense for them to learn so quickly that Shi Yu was still alive.”

Everyone fell silent, deep in thought.

Qin Ling’s analysis made sense.

“But that still leaves far too many suspects…” Lin Xi said helplessly. “There are so many people at Z City No. 1 Middle School. There’s no way to pinpoint the sniper.”

She couldn’t resist adding, “Seriously, our school really is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. We’ve got all kinds of people there.”

“Then let’s narrow it down further,” Qin Ling boldly suggested. “The first people to learn Shi Yu was still alive would have been her classmates and teachers.”

“Shi Yu and I are in the same class,” Lin Xi said. “She’s always pretended to be a sweet and gentle beauty in class-“

“I am a sweet and gentle beauty!” Shi Yu interrupted.

Lin Xi was speechless.

“Fine. What I’m saying is that the sweet and gentle beauty, Miss Shi Yu, is very popular with both the teachers and students in our class. She doesn’t have any enemies there.”

Shi Yu nodded. “I’ve never offended a single one of my classmates-“

“Have you forgotten everything you did to offend me?” This time, it was Lin Xi’s turn to interrupt Shi Yu.

Shi Yu fell silent.

“Did you hire the sniper?”

“Hire my ass,” Lin Xi shot back.

“Well…” Even Qin Ling was out of ideas now. “Think carefully. Who else saw Shi Yu early on?”

“Oh, and Xinning,” Lin Xi said. “The other day, I went clothes shopping with Xinning and happened to run into Shi Yu. It gave me quite a shock at the time.”

“Yes, we met in a lingerie store,” Shi Yu said. “Lin Xi and Zhao Xinning were probably the first people from our school to see me.”

“A lingerie store?!” Thor immediately zeroed in on the crucial detail. “Master! You actually went lingerie shopping with Zhao Xinning?! Last time I begged you to go with me, you flat-out refused!”

Lin Xi had no response.

“Next time, Thor. I promise.”

Once she’d gotten Thor to stop talking, Lin Xi continued, “It’s true that Xinning and I saw Shi Yu first, but Xinning couldn’t possibly be the suspect, right?”

Qin Ling didn’t know Zhao Xinning well.

Shi Yu and Lu Yi did, and they agreed with Lin Xi. It couldn’t possibly be Zhao Xinning.

Lu Yi was even in Zhao Xinning’s class. “Miss Xinning is a very gentle person. We’ve been rehearsing a play together lately, and she’s helped me a lot.”

“Of course,” Lin Xi said proudly. “Xinning is Angel-sama herself-and my dearest friend.”

Thor had a different opinion.

“I think there’s something suspicious about Zhao Xinning.”

“Why?” Qin Ling asked.

“Because last time, she was talking to herself in Master’s bedroom-“

“Enough,” Lin Xi said unhappily. “What’s wrong with talking to yourself? What does that have to do with any of this?”

“Thor, are you deliberately nitpicking Xinning just because she and I are close?”

“Don’t talk trash about Xinning behind her back. I really will get angry.”

Thor hurriedly apologized. She had indeed been nursing a petty desire to find fault with Zhao Xinning, but she had severely underestimated how much Zhao Xinning meant to Lin Xi.

Now everyone knew that the person Lin Xi cared about most was Zhao Xinning…

“Anyway, it absolutely can’t be Xinning,” Lin Xi said. “And the sniper couldn’t be any of the students or teachers in our class, either.”

Lin Xi admitted that her classmates liked doing bizarre things for laughs, but they were all good people.

Class 1 was one big, happy family.

Shi Yu thought so too. “Maybe the sniper saw me when I entered the school or while I was walking around between classes.”

“Yeah,” Qin Ling said. “There are too many possibilities…”

She folded the letter and put it away. “A typed anonymous letter like this isn’t enough to track down the sniper.”

“All we can do is wait for him to make another move.”

“He definitely will,” Qin Ling said with certainty. “As long as Shi Yu is alive, he’ll make another move.”

Shi Yu rubbed her aching head. “I honestly can’t imagine who I offended so badly that they’d insist on killing me.”

“Just watch your back.” Qin Ling could only wish Shi Yu luck.

Shi Yu looked at Lin Xi, who snapped, “What are you looking at? Do you still think I hired someone to kill you? If I wanted you dead, I’d just do it myself. You’ve already seen how terrifyingly powerful I am.”

“That’s not it,” Shi Yu said. “I was wondering if I could move back into your place… Could you protect me? I won’t freeload. I’ll pay you a protection fee!”

“No! I’m the only one allowed to live in Master’s home!” Thor cut in before Lin Xi could answer.

“Thor, I was the one who moved into Lin Xi’s place first!” Shi Yu shot back, refusing to yield an inch.

“You wanna fight?” Thor rolled up her sleeves.

“Are you the one who wants to fight?” Shi Yu rolled up her sleeves as well.

Thump! Thump!

Lin Xi gave each of them a whack.

“We’re still on-site for a mission! Could you two at least try to act professional?!”