Chapter 362: A Glimmer of Hope

2022-05-20

The moment I saw the principal’s expression, I had a bad feeling—something must’ve changed. And from the look of it, the news wouldn’t be good.

“Well, say something!” Gu Chen stood up, his anxiety obvious.

The principal struggled to catch his breath as he started, “The killer called again.”

Before he finished, the principal’s phone rang once more.

He checked the screen and said, “It’s an unknown number. Every time, it’s a different unfamiliar number. That’s how I know it’s always the killer. They switch numbers each call—it’s got to be the killer.”

As soon as Mary heard the word “killer,” she began pulling items from her backpack. She brought out her special computer, the same one she always used for these cases. I had no idea what she was working on, but from the looks of it, she was prepping some kind of phone tracking program.

I said to the principal, “Put it on speaker.”

He nodded.

That raspy voice, the killer, came through once again: “Alright, time’s up. The second task is for you to find another one. So, can you give me the answer now?”

Mary flashed me an OK sign. Taking the cue, I picked up the phone and spoke slowly, “I’ve got the answer. But the rules are the same—let me talk to Hu Ningning first. I need to know she’s safe, or your little game ends right here.”

“Fine,” the other side replied. “You have your rules, I have mine. Hu Ningning is safe for now. Listen.”

A moment later, I heard Hu Ningning’s voice.

“Repeat after me: ‘The moonlight before my bed.’” I prompted.

Hu Ningning sounded confused but still repeated my words.

She parroted my line, which made it clear she was conscious and unharmed. If it’d been a recording, she wouldn’t have repeated my random phrase. That was a relief.

Confident now, I asked, “You’re okay, right?”

“I’m fine, Uncle! Please come save me!” Hu Ningning cried.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of there,” I promised.

Just then, her voice vanished again. The killer must’ve silenced her. Now the killer spoke up: “Okay, you know she’s fine. Now it’s time to answer my question.”

“Alright, how about I guess? I really don’t want to get it wrong.” I tried to stall, hoping Mary would have more time to pinpoint their exact location.

But the killer lowered their voice, talking quietly, “I know what you’re up to. I know you’re tracking my location. I’ll give you one minute. If you don’t answer or get it wrong, you can collect Hu Ningning’s body yourself.”

“Just imagine—a little girl, only eight years old, dying in a situation like this. You’d be responsible. You know what, I’ve changed my mind. You have ten seconds now. If you can’t answer, you can come collect Hu Ningning’s body.”

I frowned. Looks like trying to buy time failed. I had no choice but to answer: “You wanted us to find another person, right? We did. The answer is Liang Zhengkun, the brother of Liang Zhengyu, who you killed. You killed Liang Zhengyu, but not Liang Zhengkun, even though you could have. That means your killings are selective—your choice.”

The killer burst out laughing. “Very good. Very good. You’re pretty clever after all. This makes the next stage of the game much more interesting.”

The moment I heard that, I knew what was coming. Most likely, there was going to be another body.

“What are you planning?” I glanced at Mary. She shook her head. Without proper professional equipment, it was nearly impossible to trace the killer’s location with just a computer.

So I tried to stall again. “You’re better off walking away while you still can. We already know you’re targeting Taishan Elementary students because of some grudge, but the school is under lockdown. So how do you plan on getting anyone now?”

“Let Hu Ningning go and leave this town. Leave Dongxing City for good. Maybe we’ll never catch you, but if you keep going down this path, you know as well as I do how this ends. You’ve been to high school, even college—you should know better.”

While I threatened, I made sure to leave the killer an escape route. Sometimes, that kind of pressure made them let their guard down—or let victims go.

But this killer wasn’t biting. Their nerves were solid. “Cut the nonsense. The reason I’m playing this game with you is so you’ll get close to the truth. If I wanted, I could just kill and disappear. So here’s your next clue.”

“Go check out Guo Li’s house.” With that, the call ended.

I frowned, and looked at the principal.

He looked from me to everyone else and said awkwardly, “Don’t look at me! I don’t know what’s going on. I made all the safety arrangements, but if the killer went to Guo Li’s house, there’s nothing we can do to protect her.”

I shoved down a few more bites of rice, then said, “No point wasting time. Guo Li’s probably already been targeted. We need to check on her right away.”

Looking at the untouched meal on the table, I swallowed the last bite and told everyone, “Let’s go—let’s see what’s happened at Guo Li’s house as soon as possible.”

The principal gave us the address. Gu Chen drove.

Guo Li’s house wasn’t far from the school. By car, it would only take about ten minutes.

As we drove, I ran the timeline through my head. The kids finished school at 11:45 a.m. Parents usually pick them up, but by bike, it’d take thirty to forty minutes to get home. That meant Guo Li was probably back around 12:30 p.m. If her parents went to work afterward, and it’s about 1:30 now, the killer would only have had half an hour to act.

“Drive faster! The killer might be calling while on the run, which means they’re probably not far away yet!” I pressed Gu Chen.

He nodded and pressed down on the gas.

Meanwhile, I called Uncle Chen. I told him to drop whatever he was doing and go check the area around Guo Li’s house for any traces.

Gu Chen was comfortable behind the wheel, and before long, we pulled up in front of Guo Li’s house. It was an old building, no gated community or security. That meant there were plenty of ways for the killer to get out undetected.

I turned to the principal. “Keep an eye out down here. If anyone suspicious shows up, let us know.”

He gave me a dubious look. “What’s the point? Do you really think the killer might come back?”

I nodded seriously. “It’s definitely possible. Some killers like to return to the scene after the crime, sometimes blending in with the crowd to watch our reactions. I actually caught one that way before.”

The principal’s eyes went wide. He scratched at his thinning hair and said, “Alright, I’ll keep a close watch. I won’t let anyone suspicious slip by.”

I nodded approvingly and signaled to the others. “Let’s go!”

We exchanged looks. Without hesitating, Gu Chen kicked open the door to Guo Li’s house.

The moment he did, I braced myself for the worst—a body. But when the door swung open, all we saw was an empty room.

It looked like any ordinary home. The dishes and chopsticks were still out on the coffee table, like they’d just finished eating. I went over and felt the food. In the summer heat, it had gone cold already.

“Check the other rooms,” I told Gu Chen and Mary. “We’ll split up.”

We each headed in a different direction. I made a beeline for the bathroom. Years of experience as auxiliary personnel told me, the bathroom was usually the place—good for covering noise with running water, easier to clean up.

But when I got there, the bathroom was spotless. Not a single thing was out of place; no sign of a crime. I frowned, then stepped back into the hall. Clearly, the killer’s knowledge wasn’t as extensive as I’d guessed.

Mary and Gu Chen came out at the same time. One look told me they hadn’t found anything in their rooms either.

Mary had checked the kitchen, Gu Chen had looked in one of the bedrooms. That only left us with the last room. If Guo Li’s body was anywhere, it’d have to be there. We looked at each other, nerves tight.

They both turned to me.

I nodded, then walked slowly up to the last door.

Glancing at them for confirmation, I pushed the door open.

Gu Chen was the first one inside. But as we all entered and saw what was inside, we couldn’t help frowning. Something was definitely off.

I’d imagined a lot of scenarios, but not this.

“What is it? What’s happened?” Gu Chen asked.