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墨書 Inktalez
Hearing my words, I suddenly noticed a man sitting in the far corner trembling. He tried his best to appear calm, but he couldn't control the physiological reactions driven by his inner fear. He forced a smile on his face, like a child desperately holding back tears, yet anyone could see he was about to cry.
Zhao Mingkun obviously noticed this person as well and was staring at him.
This man was named Luo Ding, an inconspicuous individual. In his thirties, he was slightly overweight, with greasy hair that seemed to have gone unwashed for quite some time. In such an occasion, he wore jeans and a T-shirt, along with black-framed glasses. When he saw me staring at him, he kept adjusting his glasses. These actions clearly indicated that he was afraid of something.
The others furrowed their brows in silence, but none were as anxious and uneasy as Luo Ding. What I had just asked was whether anyone had encountered any strange occurrences recently, even those that could lead to a loss of life at any moment.
Thus, Luo Ding must have experienced something.
Could it be that the Murderer’s next target was him?
From the clues and information Zhao Mingkun and I had gathered earlier, it seemed that the Murderer returning for revenge against Lu Zhiqiu probably didn’t know who had killed Lu Zhiqiu seven years ago. Therefore, the Murderer might indiscriminately kill everyone involved in the internship back then and anyone connected to the interns.
I slowly tapped my fingers against my thigh. In my slow and rhythmic motion, I knew that everyone’s hearts were likely in turmoil at that moment.
After pondering for a moment, I directly questioned, “Luo Ding, what are you afraid of? Have you encountered something strange?”
Luo Ding looked at me and after a moment replied, “Yes, Officer Wu. I feel like something has been off at home lately. I used to sleep soundly until noon, but recently I wake up in the middle of the night. Each time I wake up, I feel like there’s something in the darkness watching me.”
“I’m even afraid to turn on the lights. I can sense that there are eyes staring at me right by my bedside.” Luo Ding continued to tremble: “But it’s too dark; I can’t see what’s there. I’m scared that if I turn on the light, I’ll see whatever is standing by my bed. I fear that when I finally see it clearly, it will be the moment of my death.”
Luo Ding breathed heavily, shaking violently as his hands rubbed against each other incessantly like someone freezing in an ice cellar: “Several times when I woke up, the room felt extremely cold—an eerie chill. Once, I even saw a shadow walking out from my bathroom. I swear I'm not lying.”
“I’ve consulted many mediums; they said my yang energy is too weak and that ghosts are drawn to me.” Luo Ding's voice trembled: “The medium also said this ghost is vengeful—it must have died a tragic death. When she died, I was nearby. So her vengeful spirit has followed me. The medium told me I have no friends because of this ghost clinging to me; people avoid me.”
“Can’t you all feel how cold this room is?” Luo Ding almost curled himself into a ball: “But I didn’t kill anyone! Seven years ago, I didn’t kill Lu Zhiqiu! Why does Lu Zhiqiu follow me instead of others?”
Luo Ding's fear was not feigned; he was genuinely terrified beyond measure.
Listening to his words and watching his actions made me feel as if the air around us had grown colder. What exactly were the ghostly figures Luo Ding saw at home?
“Ghosts—there really are ghosts!” Luo Ding suddenly shouted.
A few people felt somewhat dazed by Luo Ding's antics. The reunion was supposed to start at nine o'clock, and after two hours of eating and drinking, they had spent another hour sitting in the room. Now, it was already midnight. Although the lights outside the hotel were bright, one couldn't help but wonder if something lurked in the darkness that we couldn't see.
Luo Ding seemed possessed, frantically shouting that ghosts were coming.
At that moment, I understood why Luo Ding had chosen such a casual outfit of jeans and a t-shirt for this gathering. Someone who was nearly driven mad by the so-called "ghost" wouldn't care about what to wear to a class reunion. Perhaps Luo Ding just wanted an excuse to escape from home.
He no longer wanted to stay in that haunted house.
"Lu Zhiqiu's ghost has been following us," Luo Ding said, tears streaming down his face. "It's true! We all saw Lu Zhiqiu's body. Her eyes were gouged out, so she doesn't know who killed her. She's waited too long; she can't wait any longer. Anyone who saw her body will die."
"One by one, they will be brutally killed."
I frowned as I looked at Luo Ding. The room was silent except for his voice.
"Enough!" Suddenly, a girl spoke up. "Stop spouting nonsense! There are no ghosts in this world; you don't need to scare others with your theatrics. I remember you, you creepy pervert who sneaked into our dorm to steal underwear! It was Lu Zhiqiu who caught you!"
The girl was Xing Yafang, looking frail and delicate, yet it was surprising that she was the first to counter Luo Ding.
Xing Yafang pointed at Luo Ding and shouted, "That was during the end of our internship! You begged her on your knees for a long time, and she hesitated about whether to report you. You must have lured Lu Zhiqiu out! She decided to expose the truth, so you killed her, didn't you?"
"This matter was only told to me by Lu Zhiqiu," Xing Yafang continued, pointing at Luo Ding's nose. "But shortly after that, Lu Zhiqiu died. If it wasn't you, then who else could it be?"
Tears streamed down Xing Yafang's face as she spoke.
Luo Ding seemed cornered and retorted, "Xing Yafang, stop talking nonsense! Do you have any evidence that I killed Lu Zhiqiu? If anything, it was you who killed her! After the internship, there was a position with a monthly salary of twenty thousand; you and Lu Zhiqiu were the strongest competitors. But you know you're not as pretty as Lu Zhiqiu and your personality doesn't compare either."
Gasping for breath as if he had run eight hundred meters, Luo Ding continued, "So why couldn't it be you who killed Lu Zhiqiu? With her out of the way, no one could compete with you anymore, right? You hated how Lu Zhiqiu was better than you in every way, so you had to kill her!"
Xing Yafang waved her hand dismissively. Seeing all eyes on her, she said, "Yes, after Lu Zhiqiu died, I did get that job opportunity. But does that prove I'm a murderer? If that's how it is, then why couldn't Yang Licheng or Zhou Moli have done it?"
Xing Yafang added, "Because our mentor favored Lu Zhiqiu—she received double the financial aid and scholarships worth around three thousand a month—while Yang Licheng and Zhou Moli came from poor backgrounds and received nothing! They might have harbored resentment and decided to kill her!"
"Bullshit!" Yang Licheng stood up. He was over six feet tall with a buzz cut and dark skin, his hands rough with calluses.
"I could never kill someone over a mere thousand yuan for a month," Yang Licheng said. "I suspect it was Wang Yikai. He was crazily pursuing Lu Zhiqiu back then, and Kori Chiu disapproved. That night, in their dormitory, Zhang Yi, Cheng Lu, Sun Shouwang, and Wang Yikai were drinking together. I distinctly heard them talking about wanting to force themselves on Lu Zhiqiu."
After a pause, Yang Licheng continued, "Do you dare to deny saying such things? Wang Yikai couldn't have her himself; if he couldn't have her, he wouldn't let anyone else have her either. You all liked Lu Zhiqiu at some point too, didn't you? I think it’s the people from your dormitory who couldn’t win her over, so you wanted to kill her."
"How can you take what was said at the table seriously?" Zhang Yi immediately retorted. "If that were the case, Liang Mei, Zhang Xue, and Zhao Pingjuan had conflicts with Lu Zhiqiu over party membership issues. If they had the chance, wouldn’t they want to tear Lu Zhiqiu apart? Why don’t you accuse them of being the murderers? It’s easier for girls to lure other girls out at night!"
Liang Mei refused to back down. "Alright then, since you’re all saying this, Wang Xin and Wang Qianduo are also suspects—and their motives are much stronger than ours. Lu Zhiqiu trusted the wrong people and dragged many into losing tens of thousands of yuan. Wang Xin and Wang Qianduo were two of them, weren’t they? Neither of them comes from a wealthy family; tens of thousands is a lot for them!"
"Exactly!" Zhang Xue chimed in. "Lu Zhiqiu had to pay back that money, but we don’t even know if she managed to do so in the end. Wang Xin and Wang Qianduo might hate Lu Zhiqiu enough to want to kill her out of spite."
Thirteen people began shouting at once. I never expected such a situation to arise. I had intended to eliminate those without criminal suspicion after entering the room and focus on those with motives and opportunity. But now, according to everyone’s words, each person had become a suspect with motives to kill Lu Zhiqiu.
Moreover, all these motives seemed plausible.
What was more concerning was that I could see worry and fear in their expressions. If they were truly innocent and hadn’t harmed Lu Zhiqiu at all, why were they so terrified? At this moment, I couldn’t even discern who among these thirteen was genuinely innocent or who lacked any motive for the crime.
Perhaps each of the thirteen had a different mindset. But ultimately, it all boiled down to self-interest.
If all thirteen had motives, where should we start our investigation?
Xing Yafang slammed the table and shouted, "Enough! I need to leave! I can't stay here any longer!"
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