Chapter 39

Damp…

Soft…

A sticky tactile sensation...

Naturally, he was referring to the bleeding arms.

Lin Wu only felt his entire body being enveloped by a chill. He was so frightened that his hands trembled and almost dropped his phone to the ground. He lowered his head and glanced at the arms before his chest, then asking in a helpless tone, "Jianing, what are you doing?"

"...Thanks…" Pei Jianing's hard-to-decipher words echoed from behind.

"Don't worry about it."

Lin Wu smiled. He then continued, "Em, can you release me first? I feel a little cold."

He wasn't worried that the blood on Pei Jianing would stick with him. These ghosts were formed from obsessions, and so the blood on their bodies were illusions. If not, the interior of the car would have long since been covered in blood.

It was just that their bodies were extremely cold. Even for a ghost that resembled humans so much like Xiao Qin, her body was also icy.

After being hugged for a short while by Pei Jianing, he was so cold that he almost couldn't endure it.

Now, Lin Wu could confirm…

(One must not bang a ghostly existence.)

(Don't believe it?)

(You can go and buy a girlfriend (those inflated dolls), after that, you place the doll in the freezer for a night before taking it out. If you dare to bang it, you would truly become the 'frozen ji' (jiji is slang for pen*s).)

Wu, his heart felt pain for Ning Caichen.

"...Cold?"

Pei Jianing's voice was filled with puzzlement. After that, her embrace got even tighter, like her entire body was pressing into Lin Wu's back. "...Hug...tight…"

"..."

Lin Wu immediately felt half of his body was numb after that. His teeth involuntarily clattered against each other as he shivered, "Sister, I mean the cold's from your body. Are you trying to freeze me to death?"

"...Oh…"

Pei Jianing seemed a little reluctant as she backed away slowly. Only then did she release him.

Lin Wu speechlessly turned to look at her. He helplessly spoke, "Pei Jianing, in the future, you are not allowed to touch me randomly, alright? What if I got the flu from being too cold?"

Pei Jianing cocked her head and thought for a few moments before nodding. "...Alright...then…"

"Oh ya, later when that friend of yours is here, I will persuade her to be a witness. At that time, the police would be able to help you to apprehend the real murderer." Lin Wu then asked again, "How far can you move away from this car?"

Pei Jianing hesitated for a while. After that, she turned and floated away like a cotton ball being tossed.

With a single breath, she only stopped after moving ten meters away. She then turned and looked at Lin Wu.

"Oh, the distance is so short?"

Lin Wu understood. He then waved his hands at her, "Okay, you can return."

Pei Jianing obediently floated back and quietly looked at him.

Lin Wu touched his chin as he contemplated, "Actually, there's nothing much. After the police apprehend the criminal, they would definitely need him to identify the scene. At that time, the murderer would be close to this car, and the remaining stuff would be left to you to handle..."

Pei Jianing blinked and wiped away the blood from the corner of her eye. She then nodded, indicating that she understood.

"Cough, I didn't say anything."

He turned and looked at the sky, speaking as if there was nobody else present, "I'm just a righteous youth whose period of adolescence hasn't yet passed. I only helped to investigate the identity of the murderer to find justice for a dead person, and I don't know that ghosts exist in the world. I also don't know what would happen."

Pei Jianing looked at him and blinked her eyes again. ;

"I'm a flower of the motherland. I'm an atheist; may materialism live on forever…"

Lin Wu bowed to the red flag of the campus located far away from him. He then recited some harmonious words: "Rich and powerful, democracy, civilized, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, lawful, patriotic, dedication, integrity..."

After praising himself for a while more, Lin Wu finally turned and headed into the car.

At this moment, the sophomore students began to leave the school like a hive of bees.

Lin Wu continued waiting for a long time before a female student with her head lowered walked out from the school's entrance. She was all alone; this student was none other than Zhang Yuqing.

Lin Wu winded down the car window and aimed his phone's camera properly, on the video-recording function, before honking to attract Zhang Yuqing's attention.

BLAR~

Zhang Yuqing had just taken a few steps out of school and then lifted her head upon hearing the noise. When she saw a bright red Mazda parked on the opposite road, she couldn't help but start. After that, fear and resentment appeared on her face.

Lin Wu was astonished for a second. When this girl saw the car, she might have thought that she had met Pei Jianing's murderer.

"It's me." Lin Wu stretched his head out from the car window. "Come on over." ;

Zhang Yuqing was startled, and only then did she heave a sigh of relief. She walked over. "Teacher, your car model and the murderer's car are the exact same. If it wasn't for the fact that I've seen the murderer's appearance before, I would have thought..."

"Why don't you take a look at the plate number?" Lin Wu glanced at her.

Zhang Yuqing went to the front of the car. After that, her expression paled. She stared at Lin Wu in shock as she stuttered, "You are…"

"Don't imagine things blindly." Lin Wu glanced at her. "It's just that after the murderer killed Pei Jianing, he didn't dare to continue driving this car. After a series of events, this car fell into my hands."

Taking a deep breath, she walked to the car's window and spoke in a low voice, "Teacher, what else do you want to ask? As long as I know it, I will tell you everything you want to know."

"You and Jianing were friends, right?" Lin Wu asked.

Zhang Yuqing lowered her head and bit her lips. "I naturally want to be her friend...it's just that I'm so cowardly and have even harmed her to death due to my cowardice...am I qualified to be her friend?"

"Whether you are qualified or not, that would depend on you." Lin Wu calmly spoke, "I will ask you a few questions, and you have to be honest with me."

Zhang Yuqing hesitated for a while but eventually nodded.

After pausing for a while, Lin Wu asked, "Xia Bing...did she force you to do something that let Pei Jianing down?"

Zhang Yuqing lowered her head deeply. She fell silent for some time before replying, "Yes…"

"Xia Bing's phone wasn't stolen by Jianing, correct?" Lin Wu continued to ask.

Zhang Yuqing bit her lips and replied in a low voice, "I was the one who did it. Xia Bing told me to stuff her phone into Jianing's bag. Because her boyfriend had taken the initiative to greet Jianing, she suspected that her boyfriend might be fond of her. This was why she wanted to frame Jianing for theft and ruin her reputation…"

"You never thought of rejecting her before?" Lin Wu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Zhang Yuqing's countenance turned grey, and she lowered her head again. "I'm a coward...I'm useless...after being slapped and kicked a few times by Xia Bing, I got so scared that I betrayed my friend…"

Lin Wu fell silent and asked the next question, "The city's outskirts is such a remote place, and Pei Jianing had her legs broken there. I don't believe she would head there for no reason at all. You must have been the one who asked her to go there, right?"

Zhang Yuqing bit her lip so hard that she bled. She could only reply in a low voice, "It's me...it's all my fault...it's I who caused Jianing's death…"

Lin Wu stared at her and frowned.

He had seen such an expression before...loathing everyone around her and even loathing herself more. So, once the psychological barrier was destroyed, she would put all the responsibility and blame on herself.

It seemed like this girl's psychological problems were pretty serious. It was a sort of deformity formed by being bullied in school.

"You don't need to bear all the responsibility."

"I know that you are cowardly, but you are not so cowardly to the extent that you would harm your one and only friend to death. It's good as long as you speak the truth."

Zhang Yuqing fell silent for a time before speaking in a low voice, "Xia Bing lied to me. She said that Jianing caused her and her boyfriend to break up, and she wanted to make things clear with Jianing, telling her to leave her boyfriend alone. So, she lied and told me to bring Jianing to her manor in the city's outskirts. At that time, although I suspected that she might be lying to me, I was too afraid. Hence, I agreed."

"Have you thought of the consequences?" Lin Wu asked.

"I didn't expect her to be so ruthless, getting people to break Jianing's legs and tossing her onto the road."

Zhang Yuqing continued biting her lips, her tears also flowed. "I did think of resisting with my utmost back then, but Xia Bing suddenly took out a knife and cut Jianing's face, destroying her features. Jianing howled miserably, and fresh blood flowed from the many cuts on her face…"

"What?"

Lin Wu's expression changed. He felt even more puzzled. There were no signs of cuts on Pei Jianing's face. Could it be that the cuts have recovered?

But now, he finally understood why the first person Pei Jianing wanted to kill was Xia Bing. Xia Bing indeed deserved death.

As her tears flowed, Zhang Yuqing bitterly continued, "At that time, I was frightened silly. Xia Bing told me to scram. She said that if I reported this to the police, she would sever my arms and legs…"

"My mind turned vacant. When I regained my senses, I discovered that I had actually fled the scene…"

She seemed suddenly neurotic as she began to laugh. "Haha...I actually betrayed someone that was good to me. I even abandoned her...I should die in her place by rights…"

Lin Wu fell silent, didn't know what he should say.

This tragic incident was indeed caused by Zhang Yuqing's cowardice. But it formed only because of the bullying in school.

So tracing to the root cause, who was in the wrong exactly?

"...Yu...qing…"

An obscured voice suddenly rang out.

Lin Wu inclined his head upon hearing this. Pei Jianing had stood before Zhang Yuqing.

"Jianing?"

Zhang Yuqing's tears were flowing, and she had her head lowered. When she heard this familiar voice, she subconsciously lifted her head to look…

A familiar face, skin so pale that there was no color, a body covered with bloodstains like she just came out from a pool of blood… Also, that pair of bleeding eyes were now fixedly staring at her.

"ARGH!!!"

An ear-piercing scream filled with terror rang out.

Zhang Yuqing lost all her rationality. She turned and began sprinting toward the roads, as though she was being chased by a malicious ghost that wanted her life. She was frenziedly fleeing away.

What was Jianing going to say?

Lin Wu didn't have time to stop Zhang Yuqing. But he saw a car rapidly moving over from the corner of his eyes and his expression abruptly changed. "OI! BE CAREFUL!"

However, Zhang Yuqing was like a headless fly. The terror caused her to lose all her calm, and she simply didn't notice the incoming car.

"Screech~"

"BANG!!"

The sounds of tires screeching and a collision, which would cause one's teeth to ache upon hearing them, rang out at the same time!