Chapter 22 The Cunning Her (First Update)...
On the evening of July 20th, Li Yun returned to the dormitory carrying a water bottle. She saw Fei Hong and Li Yunyun chatting together.
Fei Hong's grades were similar to Li Yunyun's, and the two, who received their job assignment certificates ahead of time, became even closer.
Eight girls lived in the teacher training college dormitory. Five of them were washing their hair, washing clothes, and three others were sitting on the lower bunk discussing their job arrangements after graduation.
The dormitory was stuffy and hot, but the door was closed by a girl who came in from behind. She muttered, "When will this tuberculosis outbreak end? I've got heat rash on my butt."
"Who knows how long this will go on? We have to wear masks when we go out." Li Yunyun has a gentle and caring personality and is very popular. She was unanimously elected as the dormitory head by everyone.
"Sigh. I thought you'd be kept on campus this time. Those who should be kept can't, but those who shouldn't be kept are." The girl who spoke was Zhou Qishan. She came from a wealthy family and had developed a spoiled and naive personality. She could never keep her thoughts to herself.
Her words were pointed, and the other roommates' eyes fell on Li Yun as she returned with water.
Li Yun carried back four thermos flasks by herself because Zhou Qishan needed to wash her hair and needed hot water to take a bath, so she helped her bring them back.
At first, Zhou Qishan refused her help, but later, at her repeated requests, she agreed to Li Yun's attentive treatment, since she had been used to being treated well since she was a child.
"I'll brew the tuberculosis prevention medicine that the school gave us. Drink it while it's hot." Six study desks were placed in the middle of the dormitory, with everyone's personal belongings on them. Li Yun walked over and put the teacups together.
Zhou Qishan sat on the upper bunk combing her hair: "No matter how many cheap, random medicines I drink, they're not as effective as the imported medicines my dad bought. It's a pity the girls next door are all gone, otherwise I could have shared some with them."
Li Yun, with his puffy, oval face, smiled ingratiatingly and advised, "It takes time for imported medicine to arrive. The school doctor said this medicine has no side effects, but it has a strong taste. Just drink it all at once and rinse your mouth, and it will be fine."
Seeing her cautious demeanor, Li Yunyun remembered the previous unpleasantness. Considering that she was about to graduate and would stay at her school while she herself was going to work elsewhere, she decided not to let old grudges linger between good classmates. So she said, "Then pour me a glass."
"You should drink this too, it will affect the efficacy of the medicine if it gets cold." Li Yun poured the medicine into everyone's water cup and handed it to them earnestly.
Zhou Qishan sniffed the aroma, then pouted and asked, "Why aren't you drinking it?"
Li Yun said, "I already drank it at the school clinic."
Another girl raised her water glass, waved it in the air, and said, "Wishing us a bright future and a promising future!"
Zhou Qishan also raised her water glass and said, "Cheers, my sisters! Remember to look me up next time you come to Liancheng. I'll take care of everything, from food and drinks to entertainment."
Li Yunyun also said, "Thank you for giving me wonderful college memories. Tomorrow, Juan'er and I will be transferring our files to our workplaces. Let's never lose touch in the future."
After three years of college, it's time to say goodbye. My roommates' eyes welled up with tears as they talked, and one after another, they drank...
"Wow, the smell is really strong." Zhou Qishan called out to Li Yun, "Quickly pour me a glass of water, my throat is hoarse and numb."
Li Yun walked past the bunk beds, ignoring them. Her lips trembled slightly, yet she couldn't help but let out a strange smile as she glanced at the empty water glasses.
"...Am I allergic to the medicine? Why can't I breathe?" Zhang Juan sat up in pain, grabbing Li Yunyun's shoulders and saying, "I feel so uncomfortable."
Li Yunyun also grabbed her collar, about to speak, when a mouthful of white foam appeared in her mouth. She swayed as she stood up and said, "Is there something wrong with this medicine?"
Li Yun was peeling an apple with a fruit knife by the bedside. He handed it to Li Yunyun and said, "The medicine is genuine, how could it be wrong? You wouldn't think anything I give you is wrong, would you?"
“Something’s really wrong! Ah—” Li Yunyun knocked the apple away, slammed her head on the study desk, and then knelt on the ground. She clutched her collar, her face turned pale, and her mouth was wide open, like a fish out of water.
Zhou Qishan, who was on the upper bunk, suddenly fell down. She lay on the ground in great pain, clutching Li Yun's ankle with her right hand and saying, "Water, give me water, quick!"
"What if the medicine is diluted by drinking water?" Li Yun said, kicking her hand away.
Li Yunyun coughed up a mouthful of blood, her abdomen cramping painfully; she no longer had the strength to stand. The school's loudspeaker was blaring Little Tigers' "Love," and she said weakly, "Xiaoyun, please call the teacher, hurry...we need to go to the hospital."
Li Yun squatted down, admiring her painful and contorted expression, and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll go get your teacher right away. This is a normal reaction, don't be afraid."
The groans of the other people in the dormitory, mixed with the crackling sound of the broadcast system, went unheard by the others.
Li Yun, who said she was going to find the teacher, disappointed her classmates by not leaving the dormitory but instead locking the door from the inside.
With the key in her pocket, she watched them crawling haphazardly on the ground, trembling all over. She felt both fear and excitement; to her, this was a spectacular performance.
Li Yun picked up the apple that had rolled in the corner of the wall, washed it with water, and then sat cross-legged on the study desk, munching on the apple while admiring the beautiful scene she had been looking forward to for so long.
Zhou Qishan wailed and rolled on the ground, her beautiful face covered in tears and snot. She crawled with all her might to Li Yun, but no matter how much she begged, Li Yun not only refused to help her get medical treatment, but was also trembling with fear at her pain: "Cry louder, or you won't have any strength left."
Li Yun sat cross-legged on the study desk, quietly watching them foam at the mouth and roll and crawl all over the dormitory floor.
Night had fallen, and their faces were contorted in agony, their hands and feet tense. Some clutched their blankets in pain, some huddled against the wall, banging their heads against it, and some tried to open the door for help, but to no avail. Some dug their nails into the ground, their fingernails splitting open, leaving streaks of blood. Some stared back, eyes wide with rage, their hair disheveled, foaming at the mouth.
The corpse gradually stiffened, while Li Yun's smile grew wider and wider.
She spent a night alone with seven corpses...
As dawn broke, the building supervisor smelled a pungent, strange odor through the crack in the door. She knocked on the door, but no one answered, so she left.
Later, the girls on the same floor complained that the pungent smell was too strong. The building manager noticed something was wrong, broke down the door, and found the girls who had already died.
The dormitory was like a living hell.
Li Yun, who appeared terrified, was "rescued" as police cars arrived with sirens blaring.
***
The Heavenly Eye's retrospective constantly shifts from the perspectives of the seven girls, and Shen Zhenzhu seems to empathize with them, involuntarily clutching her collar.
From their perspective, Shen Zhenzhu did not see a female college student, but rather, as she analyzed, an extremely dangerous antisocial criminal.
She tried to leave the morgue naturally and went to the toilet to wash her face. Hot tears slipped through her fingers as she wiped them away; her eyes were red with anger!
Li Yun single-handedly killed seven female classmates in her dormitory! What deep-seated hatred could have driven her to do such a thing?
Emerging from the restroom, the throbbing pain in her fist brought Shen Zhenzhu back to her senses. She gritted her teeth, wanting to tear Li Yun to pieces.
Back in the morgue, Shen Zhenzhu helped Li Lili claim Li Yunyun's body and walked to the bus stop.
Li Lili finally spoke: "They say my sister might have committed suicide... I know she wouldn't commit suicide. Do you think my sister's death was in vain?"
Shen Zhenzhu took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears: "No, no one's life disappears for no reason. The murderer will definitely be punished by justice."
As Li Lili was about to get into the car, she loosened her grip on Chen Zhenzhu's hand and said, "Thank you, sister."
Shen Zhenzhu called out from outside the bus, "You can contact me anytime."
***
"Song Xinchen, you're supposed to be an intellectual, how could you enjoy peeping at girls taking a bath?" Since there weren't many leads, they decided to arrest the voyeur and interrogate him, hoping to get some useful information.
Who knew that as soon as he joined the criminal investigation team, Li Yun, one of the victims' friends, would point out Song Xinchen's crimes.
Towards the end of the interrogation, Zhou Chuanxi said in frustration, "The survivors have identified you as someone who may have killed them. Did you do it or not?"
"I really didn't do it." Song Xinchen was short and chubby, quite different from the image of a lewd peeping tom he had in mind.
Because of Li Yun's words, Lu Ye immediately went to the Lian Shi Security Office and brought Song Xinchen back. He thought it would be difficult to find her, as Song Xinchen was still in her rented room admiring the stolen underwear.
"Did you say, 'I'm going to kill you all'?" Lu Ye asked repeatedly, based on Li Yun's confession. "If it wasn't you who poisoned them, then who was it?"
Song Xinchen tilted his head, scratched his scalp with his right hand, and said irritably, "Last night I stole underwear from dormitory building number three and got doused with hot water. Look, my scalp is still raw... ugh... they can testify that I wasn't even there."
According to forensic expert Qin An's estimation, the girls who died from ingesting the highly toxic phorate likely died around 5 PM on July 20th. This poison is also a type of potent pesticide; even a small sip can cause symptoms such as foaming at the mouth and organ failure.
At that time, Song Xinchen appeared on the outer wall of dormitory building number three and was being grabbed and beaten by a group of girls; otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to find him so easily today.
However, it was a lucky accident. The girls dragged him to the security office around 4 PM. After writing a letter of repentance, he came out of the security office while the evening news was playing; it was already past 7 PM. This gave him an alibi.
“Although Li Yun is a survivor, she spent a night in the dormitory with seven corpses, so she is also considered a suspect.” Gu Yanzheng glanced at the interrogation room from outside and asked, “How is she?”
Wu Zhongguo said, "She seemed very distressed. She said she was listening to a cassette tape on her upper bunk last night and fell asleep quickly. She had no idea what happened in the dormitory. Some teachers have reported that she has been marginalized and isolated in this dormitory for more than half a year. It's normal that they don't share their food, drinks, and playful antics with her."
"What was her reaction when you told her that Song Xinchen had been brought back?" Gu Yanzheng asked.
Wu Zhongguo said, "They cried and made a scene, wanting to avenge their sisters."
"She was marginalized, yet she still had such deep feelings?" Gu Yanzheng said, "She first assumed that Song Xinchen was arrested for peeping and developed hatred for other girls, which is why she poisoned him, right?"
Wu Zhongguo said, "There were security guards at the time who can testify that Song Xinchen did indeed shout that he wanted to kill them."
Gu Yanzheng retorted, "Then how did he know which water glass didn't belong to Li Yun? According to the logic of criminals who commit mass poisoning, they would rather kill more than let anyone escape. Anyway, they have so many lives on their hands, one more won't make a difference. Besides, Li Yun has no relationship with him, so why should he let her go alone?"
“...But...even if Song Xinchen didn’t poison her,” Wu Zhongguo analyzed, “Li Yun also said that the deceased Zhou Qishan had recently broken up with her boyfriend, which caused quite a stir. She said that Zhou Qishan was in a lot of pain and had said that she didn’t want to live anymore. Maybe it really involves a crime of passion or suicide. However, the forensic doctor’s current opinion is suicide. There were no signs of choking from force-feeding in her trachea, and the water cup had their fingerprints on it.”
"Why didn't she say anything during the morning's hearing? Song Xinchen just had a witness, and she changed her story?" Gu Yanzheng asked, frowning.
"She said she didn't want Zhou Qishan to be accused of murder, because she felt that Zhou Qishan might not have killed the others as well. But the girls were close and did everything together, so maybe Zhou Qishan didn't want to leave alone."
"Re-examine it when you have time, dig deeper into Li Yun's case, and guide him appropriately if necessary."
Gu Yanzheng glanced back at the interrogation room, shifting his attention from Song Xinchen, and swiftly arranged: "This guy has committed crimes repeatedly, apply for fifteen days of detention. Also, continue investigating his network of acquaintances. This matter is definitely related to a crime committed by someone he knows."
"Is Director Liu putting pressure on us again?" Wu Zhongguo asked.
"A heinous murder, the number one of the eight major cases." Gu Yanzheng said in a deep voice, "Major criminal cases are all sent to the provincial department. This school mass killing case has a terrible impact and the circumstances are extremely serious. We are required to make a solemn pledge to catch the murderer as soon as possible. I'm going to the scene again."
The eight major cases are mainly divided into violent crimes, crimes endangering public safety, and drug crimes. These crimes are extremely serious in nature, and the law stipulates severe penalties. Some cases can even drive the revision of relevant laws and regulations and the adjustment of judicial policies.
Wu Zhongguo closed his notebook, and after Gu Yanzheng left, he sighed softly, "Oh dear, this is going to be troublesome."
A note from the author:
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There will be one more update today!
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