S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 208

The Intelligent Killer 13 – Disturbance

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Zhan Zhao and his team rushed to the dormitory building to find Sun Jian, but by this time, Sun Jian was already hanging outside the building.

The most surprising thing for everyone was that there was a woman dressed in red standing clearly in the room on the second floor.

Bai Yutang, accompanied by Zhao Hu and Ma Han, charged towards the dormitory building.

By this time, a crowd had gathered in front of the building, all holding their phones and taking pictures. These photos had already been uploaded to the campus network and various social media platforms.

Issel also went to help Bai Yutang, while Eleven stood with his hands in his pockets below, staring at the "female ghost" in red visible through the second-floor window.

The second floor wasn't high, and everything could be seen clearly from this angle.

However, the woman in red in the second-floor room was looking around, and her expression didn't resemble that of a ghost.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu went around to the front of the teaching building.

Bai Yutang climbed up the drainpipe outside the building, reached the second floor, and hung outside the window to check on Sun Jian.

Sun Jian was already dead, with no chance of being saved.

Bai Yutang shook his head and examined the body... At first glance, there were no obvious external injuries on Sun Jian's body. There was a deep ligature mark around his neck, with scratch marks around it.

Bai Yutang took out his phone and took some photos of the places where the rope had rubbed against the wall, then flipped over and climbed in through the window.

The school's security personnel had also arrived to help maintain order at the scene.

Zhan Zhao took out his phone and called Gongsun.

Gongsun had just thawed the corpse from the freezer and was about to perform an autopsy when the call came.

The forensic team had to put the corpse back into the freezer and rushed to the school with their equipment. Gongsun also felt that something strange was going on. This was supposed to be a celebration event between the school and the Bai Group, and even Jintang was here... Was death following them wherever they went?

......

As soon as Bai Yutang climbed into the dormitory building through the window, he heard a woman's scream.

At the same time, Ma Han and Zhao Hu arrived at the door.

In the room, a girl in a red dress with long black hair draped over her shoulders was leaning against the table, covering her mouth. She seemed to have been startled by Bai Yutang's sudden entrance through the window.

The three men closely observed the girl. She looked like a university student who was dressed somewhat oddly, with fairly pale skin, but it was the natural pallor of a human. At this moment, she had a frightened expression and was undoubtedly alive.

Bai Yutang took out his ID and showed it to her. "We are the police, who are you?"

The girl calmed down, caught her breath, and replied, "My name is Wang Xiaomei. I'm a second-year student in the foreign languages department."

"What are you doing here?" Bai Yutang asked.

Wang Xiaomei was about to speak but then immediately closed her mouth and shook her head.

Even without a psychology background, Bai Yutang could tell she was hiding something.

"Do you know Sun Jian?" Bai Yutang asked.

The girl seemed a bit confused.

"You're from the foreign languages department, and Sun Jian is a teacher in the mechanical engineering department. This building belongs to the science and engineering department, not the humanities department," Bai Yutang pressed. "What are you doing here?"

The girl lowered her head and whispered, "I went to the wrong place..."

At the door, Ma Han and Zhao Hu exchanged glances. Such a flimsy excuse was hardly convincing.

At this moment, Zhan Zhao, Zhao Jue and Bai Ye also arrived. Outside, the forensic team's police car had driven directly to the front of the dormitory building.

Meanwhile, the entire school had started to buzz with activity.

Sun Jian's body was hanging outside, and before the forensic team and the investigative unit could collect evidence, they couldn't take it down. However, there were too many people at the school, and with the body hanging outside being watched by onlookers, people were taking photos, and the security guards couldn't keep up.

......

Inside the dormitory building, the girl trembled as she stood by the table, occasionally glancing at it.

Bai Yutang also noticed an ashtray on the table with an envelope pressed underneath it.

The envelope had only three words on it: "For Xu Lie."

Bai Yutang frowned, realising there was trouble ahead – Brother and Xu Lie were still on the campus!

......

At this moment, the school's conference room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Xu Lie had just taken photos with the students and toured the laboratory. Now, everyone had sat down, facing the media from over a hundred outlets, ready to start the interview. The principal had prepared a three-page speech, ready to deliver an emotional address.

But strangely, the media, who were initially focused on Xu Lie and ready to ask questions, were now all looking down at their phones, whispering to each other, with their emotions visibly stirred.

The twins' phones suddenly buzzed. After looking down, Da Ding held his forehead and handed his cell phone to Bai Jintang at the side.

Big Brother Bai took the phone, looked at it, and silently passed it to Xu Lie.

Xu Lie, puzzled, took the phone and saw a photo sent by Zhan Zhao – it was Sun Jian hanging outside the window.

Xu Lie was stunned.

The conference room door opened, and a teacher rushed in, whispering something to the principal. The principal's face froze.

Suddenly, a reporter loudly asked, "Is it true that a resident teacher left a note for Xu Lie and then committed suicide?"

Once the question was out, other reporters chimed in, "Xu Lie, is it true that the teacher was your former roommate?"

"Is it true that they collectively bullied you back then?"

"All three of your former roommates have died now, what are your thoughts on this?"

"Is it really because of the curse of the woman in red? Is the urban legend true?"

......

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

The principal hurriedly instructed the staff to escort Xu Lie out, while he blocked the door to prevent the reporters from chasing after him.

As soon as Xu Lie stepped out of the conference room, Chen Mi grabbed him and pulled him into the nearby stairwell.

Chen Mi took off Xu Lie's jacket.

Xu Lie, snapping out of his initial shock, fell into another one. "So proactive?"

Chen Mi rolled his eyes at him, handed him his own jacket, and gave his clothes to Xiao Ding, who had followed them.

Xiao Ding donned the jacket and hat, then dashed past the reporters swarming out of the door, heading into another stairwell. The reporters, mistaking him for Xu Lie, chased after him.

Chen Mi and Xu Lie took another stairwell down, crossed the hallway, and exited through the back door.

By then, Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen had arrived, waiting with a car at the back door.

They were a bit late because Zhao Zhen had been glued to his phone, which was now buzzing with news of the incident. The whole city seemed to be rushing to the scene. After receiving Chen Mi's call, they came to pick up Xu Lie.

Once in the car, Chen Mi called Bai Jintang to ask if they should go back directly or wait there.

Bai Jintang initially wanted Xu Lie to return, but Xu Lie said, "I want to see it."

Chen Mi glanced at Xu Lie.

Xu Lie smiled bitterly, "Didn't they say there's a suicide note for me?"

Bai Jintang had no objections, so Chen Mi called Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao was eager to see the suicide note's contents. By now, the other police officers had arrived at the scene and set up a cordon, and Gongsun was overseeing the removal of the body.

Bai Yutang arranged for a clear route free of reporters, allowing them to drive over.

......

Meanwhile, back at the dormitory, Xiao Ding, who had diverted the reporters' attention, shrugged off the jacket. The reporters then turned and ran towards the dormitory building.

Da Ding and Bai Jintang also headed down.

The principal, drenched in sweat, had never experienced such chaos. He even fell as he went down the stairs and ripped his pants on the way down.

Big Brother Bai reassured the panicked principal and had the staff take him to the school clinic for treatment.

Once everyone left, the twins' car arrived, and Bai Jintang got in, heading to the dormitory building.

"Did that guy really commit suicide?" Xiao Ding found it too coincidental.

Bai Jintang was looking at the news on Da Ding's phone.

After scrolling through several articles, he noticed each one mentioned – Sun Jian left a suicide note addressed to Xu Lie on his desk, tied a rope around his neck, and jumped out of the window, hanging himself outside the dormitory building.

Big Brother Bai frowned, finding the situation suspicious.

"Setting aside how Sun Jian committed suicide for now... why would the news mention a suicide note addressed to Xu Lie?" Big Brother Bai shook his head. "The reporters were all in the conference room and couldn't have been the first to rush to the classroom building. In other words, the reporters got their information from the campus network and student rumours. That's strange. Did someone witness the whole process of Sun Jian leaving the note and committing suicide? How else would they know the note on his desk was addressed to Xu Lie? Let alone the school teacher's dormitory, even the students' dormitory isn't easy to just walk in, right?"

The twins thought about it and agreed with the logic.

"Could it be the murderer who leaked the information?" The twins tilted their heads. "But if there is a murderer, it wasn't suicide, where did the suicide note come from?"

......

At the same time, Zhan Zhao, holding the envelope and waiting for Xu Lie, had similar doubts.

By now, the girl in red also knew about Sun Jian's death and was crying hysterically.

Two female officers were collecting her fingerprints and DNA, as she was the prime suspect.

Despite facing the accusation of murder, Wang Xiaomei still refused to explain why she was there, only saying she went to the wrong place. As soon as Bai Yutang asked her a few questions, she broke down, crying, "I can't say it. If I say it, I'll die too. I didn't do anything. I didn't kill him..."

Zhan Zhao was still fiddling with the suicide note, illuminating it against the light. He asked Wang Xiaomei, "You signed the contract, didn't you?"

Wang Xiaomei froze, looking up at Zhan Zhao with a complicated expression.

Zhan Zhao nodded, "You don't need to answer. If I'm right, don't show any expression. If I'm wrong, just shake your head. That shouldn't count as breaking your contract, right?"

Wang Xiaomei just stared at Zhan Zhao.

"You signed a contract. The woman in red did something for you, and in return, she asked you to come here today, dressed in red, with a red umbrella, to find Sun Jian. Is that correct?"

Wang Xiaomei stared intently at Zhan Zhao and didn't shake her head.

Bai Yutang frowned, realising that Zhan Zhao had guessed correctly.

"What did you ask the ghost to do?" Zhao Jue asked curiously, "You can't reveal what she asked you to do, but you can tell us what you asked her to do, right?"

Wang Xiaomei hesitated, looking down as if struggling.

Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao also felt that Wang Xiaomei's situation was tricky. If she remained silent and they couldn't find any concrete evidence to charge her, they would be at a dead end.

Fortunately, Wang Xiaomei, being a top student at S University, was certainly not stupid.

"It's not that I'm uncooperative, I can tell you everything except what the contract forbids me to say! At first, I didn't really believe it, but now someone's dead! I'm scared too! Unless you can prove that the ghost doesn't exist, I really don't dare to say anything!"

Everyone nodded at her.

"I stumbled upon that website by accident. I just wanted a spot in the exchange program, which I wasn't supposed to get... but I got it and even received a scholarship." Wang Xiaomei looked full of regret. "I didn't expect this to happen..."

Everyone was speechless – It was all for her studies?

At this moment, Xu Lie arrived.

Zhan Zhao quickly handed him a pair of gloves.

Xu Lie put on the gloves and took the letter, surrounded by curious onlookers eager to know its contents.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: July 19, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 30, 2024 by Soojin