How You Can Sue Me for My Crimes in Dreams

What guides human behavior?

The mind!

The mind is psychology, and psychology, in turn, is shaped by one’s environment.

To put it another way, the environment shapes a person’s psychology, which then guides their actions.

So, within this framework, how do you control someone?

Change their environment!

Take the simplest example: winning the lottery. People say a lottery win can cure all ills. Becoming wealthy overnight can completely reshape a person’s character.

And character is a reflection of one’s psychology and mind, which causes their actions to shift, becoming completely different from before.

So, what if... that lottery win was deliberately orchestrated?

”By understanding his psychology, we can change his environment!” Xu Huo said, his gaze sweeping over the internet cafe.

”So you’re saying if his environment changes, his behavior will change too?”

Li Jianye was beginning to understand, but his brow remained furrowed.

”But...”

”This guy is a mobile offender. He’s appeared in multiple parts of Sishui County. The area he covers is huge. Wouldn’t changing his ’environment’ take far longer than just catching him?”

”No, it would take very little time,” Xu Huo said, shaking his head. ”Captain Li, what does the killer want?”

’Public opinion. Attention. He wants to be the center of the universe, with all eyes on him!’

Even if that attention was negative, he was still captivated by it.

”Public opinion,” Li Jianye said.

”Exactly. He kills for the attention.”

”Let’s apply some simple reverse logic. If A leads to B, what does the absence of A mean for B? He has no attention, so he kills to get attention.”

Xu Huo paused, then suddenly changed tack.

”So we can look at it another way...”

”If he already had a massive amount of attention, would he still need to kill to get it?”

’If you’re broke, you want money. Finding a few dollars on the street would make your day. But what if you had billions?’

’You wouldn’t even bother. In fact, you’d probably get an indescribable thrill from walking right past that money without picking it up.’

”We can give him that attention!” Xu Huo declared.

Right now, the buzz around the radio station incident is being fueled entirely by netizens sharing it on their own. What if, on top of that...

The authorities gave it a little push from behind?

”A push?” Li Jianye was taken aback, but then an idea seemed to dawn on him.

Until now, the police had never given a serious response to a single reporter!

”You mean... the reporters?”

”Exactly. The reporters.” Xu Huo nodded. Seeing Li Jianye’s brow furrow once more, he spoke again before the captain could object, ”Remember what I said about ’escalation potential’?”

The public opinion around the radio station has escalation potential, which is why the killer is lapping it up.

But is public opinion the only thing that can escalate?

No.

So can behavior!

”And it’s the same for the killer!”

”A madman like this needs intense stimulation. The kind of thrill you can only get from dancing on a tightrope!”

”Right now, his method for getting that thrill is far too simple. He’s just holed up in some internet cafe, watching everything unfold on a computer...”

”Under these circumstances, he’ll start to build a tolerance. Committing the same kind of murder three times is bound to desensitize someone. And so...”

Xu Huo’s mind was perfectly calm as he laid out the killer’s psychology.

”He’ll start getting restless. A beastly excitement will take over, and his mind will be filled with the thought that he can get away with anything!”

’It’s just like a poker player who’s grown tolerant to the stakes and starts betting recklessly, chasing a bigger thrill.’

The killer’s own pursuit of thrills is no different!

”When a person is a nobody, they long for people to notice them.”

”But do you think a movie star’s body double wants to spend their entire life on the big screen, living under someone else’s name?” Xu Huo suddenly asked.

Few ambitious doubles would be content to stay in the shadows, watching their own hard work on screen while the fans cheer for someone else.

”The killer is just like that!”

”He’ll start to feel resentful. Subconsciously, he’ll start leaking bits and pieces of his identity, trying to make people know who he is.”

”If things continue like this, even if the police do nothing, he will inevitably expose himself one day!”

”But, before that happens...”

”A lot more people will die,” Xu Huo stated grimly.

Human greed is like a snowball rolling down a mountainside; it just gets bigger and bigger.

The killer is no different.

As he gets his fix of public attention, his tolerance for the thrill will increase. He won’t be satisfied with just this level of notoriety!

Eventually, driven by his inner urges, he will try something else.

”So, we can bypass his ’growth phase.’ While this new psychological need is just beginning to sprout, we can push the media attention to its absolute peak!” Xu Huo said, his tone firm and decisive.

”It’s like putting a piece of cheese right in front of a mouse!”

”Contact the cyber police and have them loosen the restrictions on the discussion. Call a press conference, and make sure the questions are aimed directly at the killer...”

”We have to blow this story up to its absolute maximum, and fast!”

’It’s like catching a mouse.’

’You can’t catch one with your bare hands out in the open. But if you put down a trap with some cheese on it, it’ll walk right in.’

’The killer wants attention?’

’Fine. We’ll give him all the attention he can handle!’

’Let’s see if he... dares to take the bait!’

”So it’s an open trap? We’re playing with our cards on the table?” Li Jianye understood the logic, but he was still stunned.

”He’d actually dare to come!?”

’He’d walk into a press conference? Into an area surrounded by cops!?’

”Captain Li, do you know why a desperate man will risk everything for money?” Xu Huo asked with a grin.

”Because he can’t take being broke anymore.”

”And he...”

”...can’t take being a nobody anymore.”

Li Jianye froze. He was silent for a moment, then broke into a liberated smile.

’Would he dare to come?’

’The worst thing the police can do to a criminal is give them the death penalty.’

’And this guy... isn’t afraid to die.’

”Let’s do it!”

...

...

It was a sting operation, a classic police tactic.

The method was simple and effective: manipulate the killer’s desires to pull him exactly where they wanted him to go.

There had been a case once, a sting so simple and crude it was almost unbelievable.

They picked a fight with him.

That’s right, an online flame war!

The police, posing as a regular netizen, got into an argument with the killer online. After the killer got good and angry, they challenged him to a real-life fight.

The killer showed up, furious and looking for the netizen he’d been arguing with.

The police showed up with a whole squad, tackled him to the ground at the designated meeting spot, and arrested him right then and there.

And now...

The police were manufacturing public opinion to manipulate a killer!

Was it difficult?

It had its challenges, but not as many as one might think. After all, the police themselves held sway over public opinion.

Public opinion was a tool that anyone with power wanted to grasp firmly in their own hands.

It was a thing that could blind everyone, turn lies into truth and truth into lies.

The facts didn’t matter. What mattered was the perception. As long as no one could see the truth, the lie *became* the truth.

It was a thing that could manipulate everyone, guiding them toward a desired objective.

Of course, if those in power didn’t want a story to gain traction, it would vanish in an instant. Two days later, few would even remember it happened.

Therefore, whenever you see a story—even a controversial one—suddenly explode out of nowhere and dominate the headlines, it’s highly likely that someone is deliberately manipulating the narrative to achieve their own ends.

Did the killer understand all this?

It didn’t matter.

Xu Huo didn’t care if the killer saw through the plan or knew it was a police trap.

Because...

The attention was real!

The police weren’t faking it. The media frenzy they were creating was 100% pure, and the press conference was going to be massive.

Everyone from gossip columnists to reporters from primetime slots on minor evening news channels had all gathered in one place.

In just a single morning...

Every corner of Sishui County, from the city streets to the rural villages, already knew about the press conference.

You couldn’t walk down the street without hearing people talking about it.

The one thing he wanted, the one thing he would die to have, was right here!!!

...

October 1st.

Noon...

12:30 PM.