Police cars were parked on the playground, their lights flashing, and long police tape stretched out.
"Someone's dead! Someone's dead! I heard a girl died in the woods!"
"Wow! Really? Which class is she in? Could she be our classmate?"
"I don't know, I heard his face was all slashed."
"His face was slashed; was this a revenge killing or a crime of passion?"
"Aaaaah! The dorm doors will close in ten minutes! If we don't go back soon, we'll have nowhere to sleep tonight!"
...
As the principal, Gao Haichuan was extremely busy, comforting the two students who were terrified after discovering the body, maintaining order at the scene, and cooperating with the police investigation.
Most importantly, the corpse was bizarre, covered in rose petals, a hallmark of the Rose Killer's crimes. However, the victim's identity did not fit the Rose Killer's style at all.
Figures moved about in the woods, and police dogs barked wildly. Xia Linyin, Yin Yichen, and Shangguan Xin stood outside the cordon, looking at the scene inside. Yin Yichen said, "We need to go in."
“OK!” Shangguan Xin opened her palm, revealing a bronze pocket watch. “You two have caught me.”
Xia Linyin and Yin Yichen grabbed Shangguan Xin's arms from either side. Shangguan Xin flicked open the watch cover with her thumb, and time stood still the instant the cover popped open.
Everyone stopped moving, except for Xia Linyin and her two companions.
Everything seemed to have been paused; the world was incredibly quiet at that moment, and the leaves falling from the trees stopped in mid-air.
Shangguan Xin took out a shoe bag from her pocket, and the three of them put on the shoe bags and crossed the cordon into the woods.
A woman's corpse lay on a thick layer of dead leaves, her expression serene, even with a hint of ecstasy.
She held a rose in her hand, and there was a deep cut on her wrist, the blood flowing out staining all the withered leaves nearby red.
Because of excessive blood loss, her arms were completely bloodless and looked frighteningly pale.
Under the illumination of the searchlight, it exuded a deep aura of death.
Even more horrifying and bizarre was the fact that several hideous gashes had split open on her face, with a few roses clinging to the bloody wounds, making it seem as if vibrant roses were growing from her face.
Feeding on flesh and blood, its flower roots entwine around bones, bursting through the skin to bloom, vying to display the most eerie appearance and release the most bewitching magical fragrance.
Crimson petals were scattered all over the woman's body, like the corpse-fragrant devil flower growing from the rotting flesh in a land of death, creating a nauseating yet alluring sight that was impossible to look away from.
The three stared blankly at the scene before them. Although they had seen photos of other victims' deaths, with delicate petals and pale corpses intertwined sweetly, it was nothing compared to the visual impact of being there in person. It was direct and shocking.
The overwhelming stench of blood made Xia Linyin almost faint. Her fingernails dug crescent-shaped marks into her palms. The girl she had just seen that afternoon was now dead in the grove. Was it a coincidence? Or…?
Coming to her senses, Shangguan Xin glanced at her watch and shouted, "There are only two minutes left! Hurry! Let's take a few pictures!"
Her ability to freeze time was limited by time and had a freeze period. Shangguan Xin took out her phone from her pocket, turned on the camera, and quickly took a few pictures of the corpse.
Yin Yichen took a digital video camera and moved it close to the corpse, recording the surrounding environment as well. After hearing Shangguan Xin urging him, he put away the camera and ran out of the grove.
Because they had a conflict with the deceased on the afternoon of the incident, Xia Linyin and An Meimei were both summoned by the police for questioning the following day.
At the time of the incident, both individuals had sufficient alibis, and the police simply took their statements as a formality before letting them go back to class.
"Xiaoyin, are you scared? I'm so scared right now... Even though I hate Zhou Kefang, I never thought she would die..."
An Meimei started crying as she spoke, "Xiaoyin, what should I do if I'm too scared to sleep?"
"It's alright." Xia Linyin patted An Meimei's back, but the words the police officer had just told her kept replaying in her mind.
"Xia Linyin, do you know that Zhou Kefang later called someone to have your face slashed?"
"Xiaoyin, everyone's saying Zhou Kefang was killed by the Rose Killer, but isn't the Rose Killer only responsible for killing serial killers? Why would the Rose Killer kill Zhou Kefang? Do you think he might come after us?"
An Meimei became more and more frightened as she thought about it, and couldn't help but tighten her grip on Xia Linyin's arm, pressing her trembling body against Xia Linyin's.
“I don’t know…” Xia Linyin shook her head with a furrowed brow.
Zhou Kefang's death caught Xia Linyin and the other three off guard. They had thought that the Rose Killer's target would be one of the murderers in the three serial murders in City A, but they did not expect that the first victim was a female high school student from their school who had nothing to do with the serial killer.
Although Zhou Kefang's character was terrible and she was notorious at school, she was nowhere near as bad as those serial killers who committed one shocking murder after another.
Of course, the outside world speculates that someone is using the Rose Killer's name to commit the crime.
How could the Rose Killer, who only kills serial killers and whose crimes cause a global sensation every time, possibly commit a crime in a small school?
The official conclusion was that Zhou Kefang committed suicide by cutting her wrists.
Although the case that occurred on campus caught Xia Linyin and her friends off guard, the four of them did not let it disrupt their plans. Everything proceeded as originally planned, and they continued to search for the killer in the three serial murders.
Midnight
The streets were deserted, all the shops on both sides of the road were closed, and the night wind was bleak, making people shiver.
The sound of the sharp heels of high heels clicking on the ground rang out clearly in the quiet street.
Xia Linyin was wearing a red shirt, with her slightly curly hair loose. Her tight navy blue jeans accentuated the graceful curves of her hips, and her legs were long and straight. After glancing at her watch, she continued walking towards a secluded spot.
Lately, around midnight every day, she would wander the streets and alleys, wearing red clothes, bright red lipstick, and a pair of blood-red high heels.
Feeling the vibration, Xia Linyin took out her phone from her purse and said, "Hello."
"Xiaoyin, how's it going? Any progress?" Shangguan Xin's voice came from the other end of the phone.
Xia Linyin sighed, "Not yet, the fish are a bit hard to catch."
"My uncle and I haven't made much progress either. Sigh, a serial killer that the police have been investigating for ten years isn't so easy to find. But I heard that Yichen has made a major breakthrough."
After chatting with Shangguan Xin for a while, Xia Linyin hung up the phone.
After putting her phone back in her bag, Xia Linyin realized that she had unknowingly wandered into an alley.
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