Case Files Chapter 55: Campus Suspicions (17)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

“Let’s gather and organize all of our clues that point to the murderer.” Wen JingHan used a whiteboard marker to begin drawing a mind map on the large whiteboard.

“First of all, QiaoYu asked Tang ZiYou and learned that when they joined, they all said their reasons for joining. Wang TianPeng said that he had always been very scared of insects, so he wanted to exercise his courage. Li Qiang said that he was scared of confined spaces and the dark, so he also wanted to exercise his courage. Cheng JiaoJiao said she believed in science as well as ghosts, and the others said that they were interested in the club. Since the killer is extremely familiar with every victims’ peculiarities, or weaknesses, it means that they must be a member of this club or very familiar with a member.

“Second, they use the method of creating an accident to kill people in the laboratory building, which means that they’re avenging Gao Yun. Thus, they must know the truth about that night as well as who was responsible, so they could only be a member of the club.

“Third, the killer is smart, arrogant, persistent, and enjoys danger and death, so they’re very dangerous.

“Fourth, they’ve concealed themselves flawlessly, and they might even be misleading our investigation.”

After Wen JingHan finished speaking, he asked Lu YunYang, “Do you plan on making a preliminary psychological profile?”

“I’m not very good at it, but I’ll try my best. The murderer’s actions show that these are targeted victims in an act of vengeance, and they persistently created the illusion of accidents and in a fixed location. They show signs of paranoid personality disorder, since they have excessive alertness and defensiveness. They have a stubborn way of thinking and behavior, they’re rather pretentious, and they like to blame things on other people. At the same time, they have the others in the palm of their hand, and they regard themself as the mastermind pulling the strings. They also show signs of being narcissistic and immersed in their imagination, yet also indifferent and reserved. In this person’s life, they’re not very enthusiastic, and they might not have a very good relationship with their peers. However, they like to show off their abilities and will blame other people whenever something goes wrong. Occasionally, they’ll have provocative behavior in front of the opposite sex,” Lu YunYang said slowly as he looked carefully at the photos, text, and drawings that covered the board.

“Does anyone on our current suspect list meet this description?” Guan Jin wasn’t very expectant.

“In truth, I don’t think so.”

“Well, then either your analysis is wrong, or our investigations are wrong.”

“Can you be sure about the gender?” asked Wen JingHan.

“Hard to say. More males have paranoid personality disorder, but it’s hard to say for narcissistic personality disorder. And, this case has a lot of revenge and drama involved, which seems like what a female would do. However, it’s also calm, bold, crazy, and arrogant, making it seem more like a male.” Lu YunYang was also a little confused.

“Could it be two people? A male and a female working together?”

“…It’s hard for an alliance like this to form, since the both of them would have to have very strong personalities.”

 “I feel even more dizzy,” complained Ding Ding.

*****

Guan Jin’s head was buzzing with clues and what they had discussed when he returned to his dormitory. The other three people who lived there had gone to attend an event outside of school, so he was the only one there. Guan Jin was glad he didn’t have to go to Lu YunYang’s place and face the harassment of his gaze. He ate by himself and climbed into bed to watch some TV. Lately, he had been too caught up in the case, and he nearly forgot his initial goal: avenge himself and enjoy his life.

As he watched, Guan Jin began to nod off.

His phone’s ringtone suddenly sounded, waking Guan Jin up from his dream. He rolled over and sat up, picking up his phone and saying furiously, “Give me a reasonable explanation as to why you’re disturbing my sleep!”

“Ah, how nostalgic, you speak exactly like Ethan.” Tony, who had disappeared for almost two weeks, sighed on the other end of the phone.

“You’re dead for sure.”

“No! I have a reason! A justified reason! Don’t you want to contact Spider?”

“You found him?”

“If I hadn’t, why would I throw my life away by calling you? I’ve obtained intelligence information about Spider’s partner, so we can try to contact them.”

“Spider has a partner?” Guan Jin felt that this was absurd.

“Hei Xiao had a partner, so why wouldn’t Spider have one?”

“Are they close?”

“Actually, they’re both assassins for the Organization, and the Organization provided them with strong protection and support, so of course they’re not allowed to mess around outside. So…” Tony paused.

“The so-called partner is surveillance in disguise? So you’re saying that you——”

“I’m definitely Ethan’s best and most loyal partner, so you can trust me. I’m in a bar right now, and I received some information from an informant. Spider’s partner is going to be here tonight. Do you want to come?”

“Send me the address.”

Guan Jin changed and hastily left the dormitory, but he quickly discovered that the dormitory building’s front door was locked. He cursed and went to the second floor, opened a window, gauged the distance, stepped into the windowsill, and jumped.

*****

This was a very low-profile bar, and the brown door was tightly closed.

After Guan Jin went in, he spotted Tony with his head full of curly blond hair, talking to and flirting with a tall and slender woman. Actually, this bar was relatively quiet, and there was only a band on the stage in the center quietly playing music. Many people were drinking and chatting in low voices, so it prevented Tony from acting too coquettishly.

“Over here!” Tony dismissed the woman and waved to Guan Jin.

“I better see him tonight, or you’ll have to think of a way to compensate for my sleep and a dream.”

“That sounds very expensive. Relax, my information is never wrong. However, I’ve never seen him before, so we might have to——identify him ourselves.” Tony spread his hands.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“You have to trust my keen sense of smell, I can easily sniff out one of my kind.”

Guan Jin rolled his eyes and ordered a bottle of Bacardi Lime Rum to pass the time.

Tony glanced at the familiar bottle of liquor. “Say, if it weren’t for you being too short, I’d definitely think that you were Ethan and got plastic surgery just to mess with me.”

Short? Guan Jin slowly turned and glared at him.

“Aha, I didn’t mean anything by that, you’re a lot cuter than him~”

Cute?

Poor Tony was unaware that he had already hit three of Guan Jin’s sore spots: sleep, height, and calling him cute.

As they drank, the two of them bickered, and Guan Jin vaguely returned to the past. At that time, he had still been tall and mighty; at that time, he had been coquettish; at that time, he had been a top-notch assassin, Hei Xiao; at that time, there hadn’t been a man taller than him who was pursuing him… Life, how can you play such a merciless trick on me?!

As Guan Jin silently moped for a while, he saw a familiar person out of the corner of his eye. He was a little surprised, and he slowly slid off of his bar stool and walked over.

“If there are too many coincidences in one’s life, then it’ll turn into a story. What role do you play?” asked Guan Jin.

Qin Xiao was clearly also very surprised, but he quickly smiled at him. “A university student who broke curfew to live on the edge? What about you?”

“A member of the disciplinary committee responsible for catching students who break curfew.”

“Haha, Guan Jin, you’re actually quite funny. But, does Professor Lu know about you coming out to a bar to drink with a——foreigner?” Qin Xiao blinked.

“Lu YunYang? What does this have to do with him?” Guan Jin looked at him warily.

“You don’t need to be this hostile towards me, we’re not opponents. If you have a question, you should ask him. I have to go now, bye~”

“Wait, there’s a spider on your shoulder.”

“Hm?” Qin Xiao looked at his shoulders. “Where?”

“It ran away.”

“Hey, is there something off about that person?” Tony caught up to Guan Jin after Qin Xiao left.

“Yes, but it’s unrelated to Spider.”

Thus, the two of them sat in the bar until it was about to close…

Under Guan Jin’s murderous stare, Tony felt very pressured as he paid the large fee for their drinks.

“My information is never wrong. That guy must’ve fallen into a ditch on his way here, which is why he didn’t show up,” Tony said fiercely.

“You think everyone in the Organization is like you, ostentatious and not afraid of looking suspicious?”

“Then he must be too inconspicuous, everyone here looked normal.”

“This better be the last time this happens.”

“Yes, sir!”

They exited the bar and saw a person leaning against a Maserati, his hands in his pockets and his expression a little dark.

“What are you doing here?” Guan Jin widened his eyes.

“As a teacher, how could I do nothing after learning that a student went to a bar in the middle of the night?” Lu YunYang took his hands out of his pockets and slowly walked to them.

“You paid Qin Xiao to be your spy to monitor me?!” Guan Jin looked at him as if he was looking at a pervert.

Lu YunYang didn’t reply. Instead, his gaze landed on Tony. “And this foreign friend is?”

“Hello, teacher! My name is Tony, and I’m Guan’s honey!” Tony stuck his hand out excitedly.

The corner of Lu YunYang’s mouth hooked upwards lightly. Blond hair… Golden retriever, very well; taking Guan Jin to a bar in the middle of the night, very good.

Tony’s skin prickled from his gaze, and he resolutely retracted his hand. “I didn’t finish, I’m his honey’s friend…”

Lu YunYang continued to smile faintly. “May I have the honor of meeting that honey?”

“…That would be difficult. If you want to see him, then I’m afraid you’ll have to kill yourself first. If you only want to go see his grave, then you just need to order a plane ticket.”

Lu YunYang was taken aback and looked at Guan Jin, who was looking furiously at Tony. “Do you want to accompany him?”

“Oh! Guan, don’t be mad, I’ll go now~” Tony waved, and when he was at a safe distance, right before he disappeared around the corner, he called, “Teacher, you have to work hard! Save Guan from his excessive sorrow and unreasonableness, I believe in you~~~”

“Don’t ever fucking show up in front of me again!” Guan Jin couldn’t help but curse at Tony’s receding back. He was fuming, and just as he was about to settle things with Lu YunYang, he saw that Lu YunYang was looking at him with a tender gaze, and his expression was full of…

The corner of Guan Jin’s eye twitched, and he subconsciously took a step backwards. “Lu YunYang, what are you doing? Be reasonable, hey——”

Before he could finish, Guan Jin already found himself wrapped in Lu YunYang’s embrace.

Guan Jin got goosebumps all over. “Person whose surname is Lu, wake up, if you keep being this handsy then don’t blame me if I beat you up!”

Unfortunately, Guan Jin’s threats were completely ignored. Lu YunYang ruffled his hair lightly. “I don’t know what tragic things you have stored in your heart, but I just hope you can share your burden with others at times. It pains me to see you bottling it all up.”

“Are you blind? How am I sad?”

“Of course I’m not. You always get lost in thought and are unwilling to let others near you. You’re just like a little hedgehog, covered in sharp quills, but actually, once their belly is exposed, they’re very soft.” Lu YunYang let go of him and poked Guan Jin lightly in the stomach, laughing as he did so.

 

“Hedgehog” Guan Jin’s quills instantly bristled. “You’re playing me again! Person whose surname is Lu, why don’t you pay my honey a visit tonight, I don’t mind giving you a ride there!”