CH 53

CW: Suicide, graphic content

A lot of different factors can change a person.

An accident, a conversation, a book, and even a smile could shift the established trajectory of life. But this does not mean that these subtle events are enough to completely change a person.

Humans are inherently stubborn creatures. Not only that, they are stubborn creatures that live in groups and are particularly easily agitated.

Lin Chen sat at the back of the lecture hall. Professor Fu was currently teaching at the podium.

The sound of a high-pitched speaker came from outside the window. The Psychology Department was on a very high floor. Once the voice reached these upper floors, it wasn’t very clear anymore.

Lin Chen watched his junior chat with his students, and listened to the voice floating in from the window.

“I hope everyone can provide more information to the police to help us find the missing Jiang Liu as soon as possible…”

The voice of the male wearing the loudspeaker was impassioned, constantly recruiting teachers and students passing around him.

Lin Chen roughly understood that this seemed to be a search activity organized by the Student Union of Yong Chuan University after learning of Jiang Liu’s disappearance.

He couldn’t help but look out the window.

It just so happened to be the time between two important lectures, so many students had just finished class. Several student officers were distributing flyers. The more students gathered in the square, the more energetic the officials seemed to be, and their voices became louder and louder.

Lin Chen frowned. Mobilizing teachers and students to search for Jiang Liu was, of course, a quick and effective means of doing things. But currently,Yong Chuan University is in a state of panic. Adding the missing girl may cause even greater disturbances. He took out his cellphone and sent Xing Cong Lian a message.

——Did you contact the Student Union to ask for help finding Jiang Liu?

——No, what’s wrong?

——A student union officer is distributing flyers on Wen Xing Square.

Outside the school gate, Xing Cong Lian put away his phone and looked at the telephone pole in front of him.

At some point, many similar “missing person notices” had been posted around Yong Chuan University.

A photo of Jiang Liu was put on the notice, followed by a sincere call, which basically said that all students in the school are looking forward to the safe return of Jiang Liu, and if Jiang Liu is reading this notice, to please return to campus as soon as possible.

At the same time that Xing Cong Lian was reading the notice word by word with a frown, a girl in a light purple dress also stood in front of the bulletin board inside the school, reading the same missing person notice with a smile.

The girl was dressed very beautifully. She had on light purple eyeshadow and a dark red lipstick. She was bright and moving, as if she was glowing.

A group of boys holding textbooks passed behind her. One of the boys couldn’t help but glance at the girl. Then, the boy stopped.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the one on the notice appeared to be the same person reading it.

Inside the classroom of the Psychology Department, Lin Chen was leaning against the window, casually looking down at what was happening in the square.

At that moment, his cell phone suddenly started to vibrate.

Lin Chen looked at the screen. The caller was Xing Cong Lian. He walked out of the classroom and picked up the phone. Xing Cong Lian’s anxious voice came from the other end.

“Jiang Liu has appeared.” Xing Cong Lian panted, as if he was running.

“Where?”

“A student said just now that they saw her at the entrance of cafeteria number 3.”

“Did they say in which direction she went in?”

“They said she just went into the third teaching building.”

Lin Chen was stunned by those words. He raised his head to look at the classroom number, 3609. If his memory was correct, the teaching building he was currently in was number 3.

“What? What happened?”

On the other side of the phone, Xing Cong Lian seemed to have noticed his short pause, and asked with concern.

“If my judgment is correct, I’m afraid Jiang Liu should be at the top of the building right now…”

Ring ring ring…

The class bell rang at this unfortunate time.

Lin Chen couldn’t help but look up to the ceiling.

Suddenly, there was a muffled noise outside the building, as if a heavy object had fallen to the ground. Lin Chen felt his scalp go numb. He rushed into the classroom. There was already  a curious student at the window, leaning out and looking.

Lin Chen covered the student’s eyes and dragged them back to their seats. “Don’t be too curious.”

He whispered in the boy’s ear.

Fu Hao moved quickly. He had already taken his gaze back from downstairs. He closed the curtains with a swish, and said to the students, “Students by the window, close the curtains!”

“Brother Fu, are you trying to shield us from trauma? Did someone commit suicide outside?” A mischievous boy took advantage of the moment and tried to sneakily open the curtain to look out.

“Why are you speaking so much nonsense? If you ask again, you can drop the subject and not be allowed to retake!” Fu Hao’s attitude was very tough.

Seeing his junior control the situation, Lin Chen nodded at him and rushed out of the classroom, his phone in his hand.

However, before he could leave the room, another muffled noise came from outside the building. The students’ exclamations and screams from the downstairs surged like a tide.

Lin Chen dialed Xing Cong Lian’s number, but a rapid disconnect tone came from the other end. Lin Chen gripped his phone, and took the stairs in twos up to the top floor.

The iron gate on the rooftop was half open, and the iron chain hung loosely on the door. Lin Chen aggressively pushed open the iron gate. As far as he could see, the sky was a dazzling blue. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. The sun was blindingly bright.

At the very edge of the rooftop, sat a beauty with long hair.

White shirt, black skirt, long hair tucked behind one ear.

Lin Chen stared at her back as he walked slowly towards the edge of the roof. But before he could get close, the girl turned around, as if she had eyes on the back of her head.

“Senior, this is goodbye for real this time! You have to work hard!”

The girl’s smile was soft and sweet as she finished her last sentence.

He didn’t even get a chance to speak.

At that instant, Lin Chen felt his eardrum tingling, and his heart felt extremely cold.

A few steps away from him, a pair of weak and slightly open palms quickly disappeared from the rooftop!

A heavy object falls to the ground.

The screams started at once.

With a bang, the iron gate of the rooftop was kicked open again.

Xing Cong Lian held onto the door frame and panted. However, on the empty rooftop, there was only Lin Chen’s lonely silhouette.

The sky was blue and the spring breeze was very warm. Those gentle winds brushed through Lin Chen’s black hair and ruffled his clothes.

Xing Cong Lian walked to the edge of the rooftop and stood still an arm’s length away from Lin Chen.

Lin Chen still stood in the same place stupidly. He didn’t even take two steps forward to look downstairs at the three students who had become pulp.

“It’s not your fault.” Xing Cong Lian put one hand on Lin Chen’s shoulder and said comfortingly. To his surprise, there was no tremor in his palms. Lin Chen stood very firm, and his voice was as cool as usual.

“You don’t need to comfort me.” Lin Chen smiled self-deprecatingly. “It was an extremely delicate arrangement. The first and second suicides drew my attention away. If I could have rushed to the rooftop the moment I received your call , then I could have saved her.”

Xing Cong Lian’s hand stopped in the middle of retrieving a cigarette. He turned to put both hands on Lin Chen’s shoulders instead, pulling the person towards him.

He bowed slightly, pressing his hands on Lin Chen’s shoulders, as if he wanted to look into the depths of Lin Chen’s soul through his dark eyes.

“Self-blame and grief doesn’t suit you. Other police officers will be there soon. Let’s go downstairs first.”

———

The student activity square was not as hidden as the small forest. Thanks to the previous activities of the Student Union, it had attracted quite a few students. In a short period of time, more and more people gathered around the crime scene.

Many students had their faces covered, yet still carefully peeped through their fingers at the pools of blood on the ground and people lying in those pools of blood.

Lin Chen followed Xing Cong Lian downstairs. Perhaps it was the urgent sprint from before, but his limbs began to warm up gradually.

Because the police had been searching for Jiang Liu inside and outside the campus, the officers came quickly, and the police tape was quickly put up. Jiang Chao’s men began to drive away the onlookers, but no one rushed to touch the three motionless students.

Lin Chen stood on the flower bed outside the crowd, staring coldly at the hellish scene in front of him.

Xu Hao Zhen, Jiang Liu, and an unknown boy were lying in a pool of blood. The red, white, black, and purple mixed together. The screams had gradually weakened into whispers. But the whispered discussions were more ear-piercing than screaming.

Jiang Liu fell into a small pool beside the square. The water in the pool was extremely shallow, essentially only a thin layer. The bottom of the pool was covered with pebbles of various sizes. The few aquatic duckweeds originally floating in the pool had been smashed by the fallen girl.

The blood slowly seeped away.

The ambulance howled and arrived. The doctor waded through the pool, checked the girl’s pupils and pulse, then shook his head subconsciously.

Two paramedics carried the girl on a stretcher and brought it into the ambulance.

Everyone present knew in their hearts that the three students who had jumped from such a tall building had almost no possibility of surviving.

So the actions of doctors and nurses seem to be just for completing the final proceedings.

Lin Chen took a deep breath, and a familiar menthol tobacco smell gradually arrived at the tip of his nose.

He turned his head. Xing Cong Lian had come to stand beside him at some point, and his hands rested on Lin Chen’s shoulders naturally.

If there are people in this world who can be calm before the landslide, then Xing Cong Lian must be one of them.

The mixed-race young man held a cigarette, his tone as calm as usual,  “It’s another three people. What does the three represent, obsessive-compulsive disorder?”

Lin Chen could hardly believe his ears. When most people face a sudden accident, even if they don’t panic, there would be a short period of blankness. But Xing Cong Lian seemed to not have panicked from beginning to end. Lin Chen suddenly remembered that the first sentence Xing Cong Lian said to him seemed to be: It’s not your fault?

What kind of nerve is tough enough to start comforting others immediately?

“No matter how it’s related, this is an important clue.” Lin Chen said slowly. Maybe it was the steadiness of the hand on his shoulder, or maybe the smell in his nose was too reassuring.

“What clue?”

“I have no idea.”

He answered very honestly. The current number of clues they had were pitifully low, and it was impossible for him to analyze the reason behind this with just a single number.

It was three people who committed suicide together again. Anyone could think that the number three must have a very important meaning. As for what it meant, he really couldn’t say.

Is it obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Xing Cong Lian’s way of thinking was certainly valid. Gathering three people together to die together can represent a compulsive behavior. But if analyzed in this way, it will only bring up more and more questions.

What caused this compulsive behavior, what is its meaning, and what was the story behind it?

Why did these students commit suicide, and will someone commit suicide again?

If the answer is yes, then can they stop the tragedy from happening again?

The questions rushed in like a tide, and Lin Chen once again felt a splitting headache.