Case Files Chapter 45: Campus Suspicions (7)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

As usual, Guan Jin glared fiercely at Lu YunYang before going to bed. The meaning was very simple: When we’re sleeping, you better behave! 

Lu YunYang obediently got into bed and laid close to the other side of the bed, motionless. Then, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Guan Jin, who was already asleep.

In the last two days, he had been thinking about a fact that surprised him a little; he was jealous, jealous of an imaginary enemy on the other end of the phone that he couldn’t see or touch. Just because Guan Jin had used a different tone when he talked to that person, Lu YunYang had actually done something that he scorned himself for, something that would shock everyone if they knew; he had secretly looked through Guan Jin’s phone…

Lu YunYang was someone who didn’t allow anything beyond his control to happen, and he needed reasonable explanations for things that happen suddenly, which was why he carefully reviewed the small things that had happened recently. He had first approached Guan Jin because of a friend’s request to help an amnesiac, timid, and introverted little police officer. But after he approached him, he had discovered that not only was this little police officer not timid or introverted, he was calm and independent, not easily affected, skilled, and exuded a cold, unapproachable aura everywhere, yet he couldn’t refuse acts of kindness. 

He was curious about a lot of things, yet he forced himself to only observe everything indifferently, and he was full of contradictions, which made Lu YunYang want to keep exploring, but he only got deeper and deeper. Originally, it had only been in order to help Guan Jin accept himself, but now, going to any lengths to be entangled with him had slowly become a habit. Guan Jin’s harsh verbal attacks, his awkwardness when accepting what Lu YunYang gave him while still disliking them, his furious look when he was angered yet had nowhere to vent, and the simple and pure emotions that he occasionally revealed seemed to have become the best parts of Lu YunYang’s life.

Only until he committed the ‘treacherous act’ of snooping around because of that phone call did he truly realize the change inside himself——an unexpected desire. Although this feeling had caught him off guard and was beyond his imagination, Lu YunYang was ready to welcome it. He had never been one to avoid or deny things.

Lu YunYang, who had only spent two days straightening out his feelings, finally saw the light. As for Guan Jin, there might be some hindrances for accepting this, but that wasn’t too big of a problem. In Lu YunYang’s eyes, his strongest enemy was himself, so as long as he could cross that hurdle, everything could be settled.

Right, the only contact in Guan Jin’s backup phone——Golden Retriever. Although the contact was named Golden Retriever, of course Lu YunYang wouldn’t think that it was an actual dog on the other end of the phone. That could only mean that it was a nickname. One way or another, this Golden Retriever had already become the first obstacle he needed to clear on the path ahead. This wasn’t some perverted possessiveness; Lu YunYang merely attributed it to a male’s territorial awareness to his possessions.

Guan Jin, who was currently in a dream in which he was teaching A-Gua to show his superiority to cats, didn’t know that he had already become an important item in a certain man’s possession, nor that his future had been unilaterally arranged, as well as their… marriage.

*****

Since he had dreamt about how there was someone always peeping at him in the middle of the night, Guan Jin hadn’t slept well at night, and in the classroom early in the morning, he yawned.

Qin Xiao, who was sitting next to him, saw that he was drawing on a piece of paper. “Wow, you really are addicted, isn’t that the floor plan of the laboratory building? You’re not planning to be a detective and investigate the deaths that happened in that building, right? You’d best leave these things to the police, careful you get yourself involved.”

Guan Jin turned to look at him, “How did you recognize that this is the laboratory building?”

Qin Xiao rested his arm on the side of his chair, “Before, I was also very interested in that place, the ghosts and legends and whatnot. I did a little research into that place, and although the event didn’t end up happening, I still remember a little.”

“What event?”

“It was just a club event, it was called the Supernatural Society or something. At the time, it was spontaneously organized by some people who were interested in kaidan ¹ , so they did things like exploring the old laboratory building at night.”

“I’m very interested in that, can you go into more detail?” Guan Jin narrowed his eyes.

*****

“I know how these people might be connected.” When Guan Jin called them, Lin Bai and Ding Ding were at a small beverage shop outside the school, thinking about the clues.

“There’s a student in my class called Qin Xiao, and he participated in a club that was called the Kaidan Society or something like that, he said that he forgot the name. At the time, some people who loved kaidan hit it off and formed this club, and they designed an adventure, which was to explore the old laboratory building. Qin Xiao said that he joined later, since one of their members was going abroad, so he was their substitute, though it wasn’t in time for that event. 

“They all contacted each other online, and as a new person, he’s never seen the other members, nor does he know their actual names. However, he knows that that event was held near the end of October, and since then, this Kaidan Society dispersed, and its members didn’t reply to any posts anymore. Even that original post is gone now. I asked Zheng Fei, and he told me that Gao Yun was discovered dead in the laboratory building last year on the morning of November first, so the time coincides.”

“You suspect that the victims are all members of the Kaidan Society?” Ding Ding was a little excited.

“It’s only a suspicion, but it’s still a start.”

Lin Bai suddenly recalled something. “Wait, I seem to have seen that post before, something about how the Kaidan Society is established today.” He clacked away at his keyboard for a while. “I got it! It’s this——Celebrating the Dragon Sons Kaidan Society’s official establishment today! This post was deleted last year on November second.”

“How did you find it?! How come you didn’t notice it before!” Ding Ding flicked him on the forehead.

Lin Bai felt wronged. “How would I know? I just thought it was an official club at the school, didn’t they check all the posts here?”

“Can you find who followed this post?” asked Guan Jin.

“Simple. This website needs a student ID to log in, so I can find the student ID that each username belongs to and then compare it to the student IDs in the school database.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

*****

“The Dragon Sons Kaidan Society? The students’ hobbies sure are widespread,” remarked Lu YunYang after he listened. “It really took luck to find such an informal club like this, or else we might’ve never found it.”

Ding Ding nodded absentmindedly as she peeked into the apartment’s bedroom. Guan Jin had said that he was staying here temporarily, but it seemed that Lu YunYang also lived here, and there was only one bed…

There was a sudden rapping on the door. Lu YunYang walked over and opened it, and Lin Bai rushed in. “I found it! All of it!”

“Calm down, do you want everyone in this building to hear you? This place isn’t very soundproof.”

“Ahem, I was a little too excited.” Lin Bai sat down, his eyes shining. “Do you know who followed the post? Gao Yun, Wang TianPeng, Cheng JiaoJiao, Lu MinMin, Tang ZiYou, Li Qiang, Chen Jing, Fang YuTian, and WenWen.”

“So these people really were part of it. But since Chen Jing’s there, what about Dong Ping, who fell from the building? Could it be that Dong Ping’s death doesn’t have anything to do with the previous cases? If that’s the case, we can’t really form a connection between Chen Jing and Dong Ping’s death.” Guan Jin suddenly felt a little lost. “And who are Fang YuTian and WenWen?”

“Fang YuTian is that person I saw sneaking around near the warehouse.” Lin Bai opened his computer and pointed at a photo on it. “Although I only saw the side of his face, I’m sure it’s him, without a doubt. He’s a junior who majors in information technology. As for WenWen, he manages the campus. At the end of last year, he went to the United Kingdom for a student exchange program, and he hasn’t returned yet.”

“So that’s the person that Qin Xiao said went abroad?” said Ding Ding. “But can this Qin Xiao really not be involved? And are these the only people in the club? Perhaps, Dong Ping was also a member, but he just didn’t follow the post.”

“Wait,” Lu YunYang seemed to think of something, “didn’t Qin Xiao say that he joined because WenWen was going abroad, so he was the substitute?”

Guan Jin nodded.

“Is it really that important if a club has one less or one more member? They even need someone to drop out to add a new member.” Lu YunYang looked at them.

“Is this important?” Ding Ding was confused.

“The name of this club is Dragon Sons. Do you guys know what that is?”

“Aren’t they just the sons of a dragon?” Lin Bai was even more confused.

“I know!” Ding Ding, who liked to read miscellaneous books, raised her hand. “Nine sons of the dragon. Bixi, Chiwen, Taotie, Yazi, Bian, Suanni, Pafu, Jiaotu, Pulao, they’re all unique. But there are also a lot of other theories about the composition of the nine sons of the dragon.”

“Exactly. But, the specific composition isn’t important, the important part is that the dragon had nine sons. How many people replied to the post in total?”

“Nine.” Guan Jin didn’t even need to count.

“Its name is Dragon Sons, and it has nine members. Since they like kaidan, it’s not strange for them to follow myths and legends. So if one of them dropped out, they would need to add someone.”

“Assuming what you said is true, then let’s put aside Dong Ping for now. The previous three victims were all members of this Kaidan Society, so the probability of their deaths being accidental is practically zero now.” Guan Jin continued, “I’m afraid these people are almost definitely involved. Lu MinMin, Tang ZiYou, Li Qiang, Chen Jing, Fang YuTian, and Qin Xiao are the suspects in this series of incidents.”

 

“Last year, on the night of October 31st, did they go explore the laboratory building at night, and exactly what happened in the process? It looks like everything still started from Gao Yun’s case…”