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墨書 Inktalez
Eliminate all impossibilities, and whatever remains, no matter how improbable, is the truth of the matter. This is also the case with Hu Ningning lying. Teacher Gao did not lie, yet no one believed him. Gu Hui lied, but everyone believed him.
I should have thought of this sooner; the villagers should have realized it earlier too. However, beneath the innocent appearance of a child, no one considered any other possibilities. Throughout that year, Teacher Gao refuted and defended himself, but no one ever believed his words.
If he harbored resentment and wanted to kill someone, he wouldn’t have waited a year to do so. Even if he needed to wait longer to avoid suspicion, perhaps the person he should have killed was Hu Ningning. After all, it was Hu Ningning who created this entire situation. Why would Teacher Gao kill Gu Hui instead of Hu Ningning?
This point is quite contradictory; Gu Hui was most likely not killed by Teacher Gao.
So who killed Gu Hui?
That day it rained heavily, and Teacher Gao indeed went out; there were fresh and old mud stains on his shoes, indicating he had been out multiple times. There was also another person covered in mud—no, one person was completely covered in it. This clearly indicated that Hu Ningning had also gone out and stayed out for quite some time.
A scene suddenly appeared in my mind: how could someone get completely covered in mud? To become like Hu Ningning was not an easy task. If Hu Ningning was standing, the mud would only be on her legs; if she was running, the mud would splash onto her back. If she fell, the mud would be concentrated on one side.
But Hu Ningning's clothes had mud on both the front and back.
If Hu Ningning was walking and accidentally stepped into a muddy pit, her whole body would sink in, resulting in mud on both her front and back. I closed my eyes and carefully recalled that pit; it was quite narrow. If Hu Ningning fell in, her hands should be resting outside of it. In that case, Gu Hui would be stuck inside while Hu Ningning could climb out by herself.
Perhaps someone helped pull her up.
With this thought in mind, I left Teacher Gao's house and walked toward the pit where Gu Hui's body had been found. When I arrived, a large amount of rainwater was flowing into the hole. However, today’s rain wasn’t as heavy as before; the pit hadn’t completely filled up yet.
I stared at the pit; it was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. After a while, a thought struck me: it wasn’t Gu Hui who fell into this pit first but rather Hu Ningning. I startled myself with this idea. Yet considering Hu Ningning's height and build, this absurd notion took root deeply in my mind.
From the very beginning, Hu Ningning had lied; a year ago she panicked—Teacher Gao never assaulted her at all. What Teacher Gao said was indeed true. This meant that Hu Ningning had injured her lower body herself and then falsely accused Teacher Gao of doing it.
After the forensic examination, the scars on Hu Ningning's lower body did not appear to indicate sexual assault. The police had no evidence to prove that Teacher Gao had indeed assaulted Hu Ningning, leading to Teacher Gao's immediate acquittal. However, not long after, Gu Hui inadvertently revealed what she had "witnessed" during a conversation.
Thus, even in the absence of any evidence, Teacher Gao lost everything under the pressure of public opinion.
Gu Hui was also flustered; it was clear she did not speak out simply for amusement. Someone must have been manipulating her, and the only possible instigator was Hu Ningning herself. It was Hu Ningning who prompted Gu Hui to make such statements in order to frame Teacher Gao.
All of this stemmed from Hu Ningning's feelings for Teacher Gao and her desire for intimacy with him.
A girl no older than ten harboring such deep schemes.
Li Xiaoyan had previously mentioned how Hu Ningning had broken glass and framed Li Jun for it. Yet, Li Jun showed no reaction at all—he was a bully at school but remained indifferent when falsely accused. It was worth noting that Li Jun was someone who even picked on girls.
Aside from Li Jun, Liang Zhengkun had once approached Hu Ningning about returning a game console that bore her name. However, that console was not borrowed by Liang Zhengkun; it was likely borrowed by Liang Zhengyu. But how would Liang Zhengyu know that Hu Ningning owned a game console and had borrowed it?
Moreover, Guo Li's mother mentioned a Transformers toy given to Guo Li by a female classmate. However, that Transformers toy belonged to Zhang Zuocheng. If Guo Li did not steal it, then it meant a female classmate indeed gave it to her. Who could that classmate be? Could it be Hu Ningning?
Lastly, there was one person we had yet to investigate: Yang Ting. If Yang Ting could also be linked to Hu Ningning, then it was clear that Hu Ningning was not an ordinary child.
I suddenly recalled that many people had told me about four individuals who formed a so-called gang, led by a girl known as the Divine Dragon whose identity remained unknown to the others. Initially, I thought this leader might be Guo Li, the only girl among them, but now it seemed otherwise. Could this leader possibly be a girl younger than ten?
As a ten-year-old girl, Hu Ningning was exceptionally clever—perhaps even frighteningly so.
With this thought in mind, I called Mary and said, "Mary, this case is far from over. I previously thought there was no need to investigate Yang Ting further, but now it seems there is indeed someone acting as a link among these four individuals. They are not even in the same class or grade, yet three of them are now connected to Hu Ningning."
"Are you suggesting that this so-called leader is Hu Ningning?" Mary grasped my point and asked, "Did I misunderstand? Or is it that during these individuals' acts of bullying others, Hu Ningning has been behind it all? Has she participated in these acts of abuse?"
I slowly spoke into the phone, "And it's very likely that Gu Hui's death is also related to Hu Ningning. What about Gu Chen? Have him come back to take the call."
"Just a moment," Mary replied.
A moment later, Gu Chen's voice came through the receiver, "Wu Meng, what have you discovered?"
I hesitated about whether to share my unfounded speculation with Gu Chen. Although the current evidence suggested that Gu Hui's death, along with the deaths of the other four, was connected to Hu Ningning, was that really the whole truth?
Even if this were indeed the case, what could we do about a nine-year-old Hu Ningning?
Alternatively, there might be another version of the story—Teacher Gao, harboring resentment for years, could have killed the deceitful Gu Hui. This narrative was well-known and had circulated for a year. It was a story everyone accepted and enjoyed.
Blaming all the wrongs on someone who was already dead seemed beneficial for everyone involved.
"Wu Meng?" Gu Chen asked, noticing my silence.
"I have a new theory regarding your niece. This theory might be correct or it might not be; I need to verify it one last time. The rain is getting heavier; it looks like we'll be staying at your place tonight. Please try to get here as soon as you can."
"Alright," Gu Chen replied firmly.
After hanging up, I made my way back along the village road. My destination was Hu Ningning's home. I was completely soaked by now, and when I pushed open the door, it seemed that Hu Ningning's family was surprised to see me return while they were preparing dinner.
"Officer, did you go out to play in the mud?" Hu Ningning's grandfather asked.
I replied, "I just went out to investigate some matters. By the way, I might need to stay for dinner; Gu Chen will be coming over soon as well. You all should know him."
Hu Ningning's Grandfather nodded and said, "Gu Chen, I watched him grow up, of course I know him."
He then called out to the kitchen in the East Room, "Hey, make some more dishes! The officer will be eating at our place soon. Look at you, you're soaked! Come here, I'll get you some clothes to change into. They're all his father's, just ordinary clothes, so don't be picky..."
"I won't," I shook my head.
With that, Hu Ningning's Grandfather led me to the West Room. He opened the door, revealing a storage room filled with various items—bags of rice and flour, sacks of corn, some cooking oil, bicycles, and more piled up inside.
He pulled out a travel bag from against the wall, unzipped it, and showed me. "You can wear whatever fits you from here; they're all clean clothes."
I nodded and reached in to rummage through the clothes. However, as I casually pulled out a few items, I spotted something that connected all the clues once again.
My movements froze as I pointed to an object in the corner and asked, "Where did this come from?"
Hu Ningning's Grandfather frowned and replied, "That? It's just a box of toys. It's been sitting here for quite a while now. Kids these days only play with phones; these things are pretty much outdated."
I looked over at the box in the corner, which was indeed covered in dust.
The dust had nearly turned its color gray, indicating that it had been untouched for a long time.
Everything started to connect.
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