Chapter 118: Three Missing One, None Can Be Spared 11

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“This vengeful ghost has no sense at all. It wants nothing but to hurt people! If we don’t destroy it completely, it will cause endless trouble!”

Unlike the trembling students, Zhou Bushan was filled with righteous resolve. He threw the door open without the slightest hesitation!

A gust of icy wind suddenly swept into the cafeteria, and everyone cried out in terror!

Zhou Bushan raised his sword before him and swung it with all his strength. The sinister wind instantly dispersed, and the surroundings fell silent once more. Just as before, there was nothing outside.

“Did it escape again?” Zhou Bushan frowned. After a moment’s hesitation, he stepped outside and looked toward the staircase leading to the third floor.

The place where Du Xiaoling had truly met with disaster was a storage room on the third floor.

On the day of the school anniversary celebration, there had been no one on the third floor, nor were there any surveillance cameras. To this day, no one knew why Du Xiaoling had come there that day, much less why she had climbed out of the storage-room window. Her clothes had caught on something, and she had ultimately been strangled to death by her own necktie.

Zhou Bushan wanted to go upstairs and investigate.

Shi Xianyu called out to him. “Everyone should go together.”

Someone immediately objected, unwilling to go. They were already terrified out of their minds—how could they possibly want to visit the place where Du Xiaoling had died?

But Shi Xianyu’s attitude was unusually firm. Frowning, she said, “We have to find more clues somehow. If you don’t come with us and something happens downstairs, Master Zhou and I won’t be able to get back in time to rescue you.”

After hearing that, no one could argue any longer. After all, the safest place at that moment was beside Zhou Bushan.

Zhou Bushan led the way, while Shi Xianyu brought up the rear.

In truth, Shi Xianyu was frightened too. But she had a protective talisman on her, as well as the life-saving talisman Shen Xiao had given her, so she had at least some confidence.

The group reached the third floor in trembling fear. Unlike the spacious cafeteria, the third floor was much more cramped. There was only one long corridor, with rooms on either side—offices and lounges for the cafeteria staff, along with storage rooms piled high with all kinds of odds and ends.

Zhou Bushan opened the doors one by one, but found nothing unusual.

When they reached the door of one particular room, someone said, “This looks like the room where Du Xiaoling had her accident.”

Zhou Bushan frowned and cautiously wrapped his hand around the doorknob. He turned it slowly, then pushed the door open just as slowly…

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There was wind inside, rustling softly.

Zhou Bushan froze for a moment, then pushed the door all the way open.

Directly ahead was the storage room’s sliding window. Wind poured in through the open window, sending sheets of paper whirling through the room. Photographic prints were scattered everywhere, floating through the air.

The images showed all manner of indecent scenes: naked bodies, drunken gazes, dim and murky lighting. On quite a few of the photographs, the face of Wan Qianqian was unmistakably visible.

Everyone wore a different expression, but all of them turned toward Wan Qianqian.

Wan Qianqian seemed to realize what was happening. She suddenly shoved through the people blocking her way and rushed into the storage room.

When she saw the photographs strewn across the floor, all the color drained from her face. She threw herself down and frantically began gathering them up.

Xia Yu also pushed through the crowd. She stared at the photographs scattered everywhere in shock, then turned her gaze to Wan Qianqian and demanded, “It was you, wasn’t it? You killed Xiaoling to get the photographs back from her!”

“I didn’t!” Wan Qianqian’s voice broke with desperation. “I promised her I would think about it! I never wanted to hurt her!”

“Then how do you explain these photographs?!” Furious, Xia Yu hauled Wan Qianqian to her feet. “She did everything she could to help you find evidence and contact a lawyer, and this is how you repay her?!”

“I didn’t! It really wasn’t me!” Wan Qianqian burst into tears. “She said she would wait until I agreed! I had no reason to kill her!”

“Because you didn’t trust her!” Xia Yu bit her lower lip, her eyes reddening. “You’re always like this. We treat you as a friend, but all you do is use us. No matter how well we treat you, you never trust us!”

Wiping away her tears, Wan Qianqian shot back angrily, “What right do you have to preach to me? Have you ever really treated me as a friend?! Weren’t you always telling Bai Yuxi to stay away from me? Don’t think I don’t know, Xia Yu. You’ve never truly thought much of me!”

Xia Yu was furious. “Yes! If it weren’t for Yuxi and Xiaoling, I wouldn’t bother with you at all!”

Amid the crowd, Bai Yuxi watched them argue, her lips trembling. She could not utter a word.

Shi Xianyu squeezed in from the back and saw the room in complete disarray. Without saying anything, she crouched down and began picking up the photographs from the floor.

Seeing this, Wan Qianqian and Xia Yu seemed to realize that arguing was pointless. They each wiped away their tears and silently began gathering the photographs as well.

Shi Xianyu collected a thick stack and handed it to Wan Qianqian. “Where did these photographs come from?”

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Wan Qianqian lowered her eyes. “I went to my boyfriend’s birthday party. We had too much fun, and I got drunk. His classmates took them.”

“That man was no good,” Xia Yu said. “Even after they broke up, he kept blackmailing her with those photographs. If Yuxi hadn’t paid for everything and Xiaoling hadn’t worked so hard to help her, her reputation would have been ruined long ago!”

“Isn’t my reputation already ruined?” Wan Qianqian gave her a tearful, bitter smile. “You were the one who spread the rumor that I was a bus any boy from the other school could ride whenever he wanted, weren’t you?”

“I didn’t!” Xia Yu shouted.

“Stop fighting.” Shi Xianyu frowned. “What good is this doing? The photographs may not have been brought here by Du Xiaoling. Perhaps someone was threatening her, using these photographs as leverage and luring her here as part of a trap. You should think carefully about who else is suspicious. What use is arguing?”

Wan Qianqian and Xia Yu fell silent.

The others quieted down as well.

After a long while, Bai Yuxi asked in a faint voice, “So… the person who killed Xiaoling wasn’t Qianqian?”

“Of course not!” Shi Xianyu stared at her wide-eyed. “That makes no sense at all. Just considering the fact that Qianqian had no opportunity to do it, she couldn’t have killed Du Xiaoling. And the motive would be even more absurd! If Wan Qianqian wanted to act against her, she would first have had to retrieve the photographs from Du Xiaoling. Wouldn’t she be afraid that, once Du Xiaoling died, the photographs would be leaked?!”

After Shi Xianyu finished speaking, everyone began whispering among themselves. Her reasoning seemed convincing.

Shi Xianyu pressed her advantage. “So stop fighting. These photographs must be a clue Du Xiaoling left behind. If we follow this lead, we’ll definitely find out who the murderer is. Fighting at a time like this only wastes our energy. There are still several rooms on the third floor we haven’t searched. Let’s hurry and investigate them thoroughly.”

Seeing this, Zhou Bushan immediately said, “Come on. Don’t stand around here. Let’s go search the other rooms.”

Wan Qianqian and Xia Yu remained where they were, watching everyone file out of the room. Their spirits low, they lowered their heads and silently followed.

At that moment, Shi Xianyu called out to Wan Qianqian. “Could I speak with you privately about the photographs?”

Wan Qianqian gave her a suspicious look, then slowly walked back. “What do you want to ask?”

Shi Xianyu glanced toward the doorway but did not mention the photographs. Instead, she lowered her voice and asked, “Bai Yuxi and Du Xiaoling—were those two really close?”