Chapter 166 – 1992-2020
That day RenDong studied all night in the study room. Seeing that it was not early, he simply washed up in the bathroom and then hurried to the classroom.
He met his three roommates in the classroom. The roommates were surprised and asked him where he had been and why he didn’t return home at night on the first day of school.
With panda eyes on his face, Xu RenDong pointed at the book expressionlessly: “Self-study.”
Roommates: “???” You have already started self-study before class even started? You are too studious!
Is this the so-called “I haven’t started previewing yet, the masters have already started reviewing”?!
Looking at the shocked and yearning eyes of his roommates, Xu RenDong not only did not feel the slightest fluctuation in his heart, he even wanted to eat a steamed bun.
“By the way.” Roommate A suddenly said, “Your brother came to look for you just now, did you tell him that you were self-studying?”
RenDong was startled, and then remembered that he was obsessed with studying and forgot that Lian Qiao was coming to pick him up. He subconsciously got up and wanted to find Lian Qiao, but the class bell rang just at this time. The middle-aged female teacher wearing black-rimmed glasses stepped into the classroom expressionlessly and opened her mouth to take attendance.
… In a glance, it could be seen that this woman was hard to get along with. If he walked out of the classroom in front of her now, she would probably fail him on the spot.
RenDong had no choice but to sit down again. He thought to himself, he must get a mobile phone after class, otherwise it would be too inconvenient to contact each other.
A large class lasts more than two hours, with a ten-minute break in between. As soon as the break bell rang, RenDong rushed out of the classroom. As soon as he rushed to the stairs, he heard a familiar voice from behind.
“RenDong!”
Xu RenDong turned around, only to see Lian Qiao standing behind him, walking towards him. It seems that he has been waiting outside the classroom for a long time.
The person I wanted to run to meet turned out to be right in front of me. There seemed to be melting honey flowing in RenDong’s heart. He couldn’t help but raise the corners of his mouth, and went forward.
“I was going to find you.” He said with a smile, but his tone was apologetic, “I’m sorry, I went to study in the all-night study room yesterday and I didn’t have time to tell you. I made you worry… um!”
He didn’t finish his sentence. Lian Qiao suddenly raised his hand and lightly pressed his fingertips on his lips.
“I’m really worried. I’m going crazy with worry.” Lian Qiao stared at him, his eyes moved slowly, and finally fell on his lips, “So you have to make it up to me, you have to make it up to me.”
That playful gaze seemed like a living entity, giving RenDong the illusion that he was caressing himself with his gaze.
RenDong’s face flushed red. He pursed his lips uncomfortably, grabbed Lian Qiao’s hand and pulled it away from his lips.
“Don’t say such things here.” RenDong glanced guiltily at the passing college students, while blaming Lian Qiao, his heart beat violently.
Lian Qiao smiled and said “OK”. Then he said: “By the way, there is bad news.”
“Huh?”
“Little Apple is dead.”
…
Xu RenDong didn’t feel like attending classes any more, so he went to ask the teacher for a leave of absence and hurried to the school’s back mountain with Lian Qiao.
The body was discovered this morning, around the time when Xu RenDong went from the library to the classroom. At that time, Lian Qiao went to the dormitory to pick him up, but he didn’t see anyone. He was anxious and went everywhere to look for him and accidentally found the body of Little Apple in the back mountain.
Seeing the corpse, Lian Qiao calmed down instead, thinking that RenDong must be in class at this time, so he went to the teaching building.
This back and forth wasted a lot of time. Other students had already passed by, found the body and called the police. At this time, the crime scene was cordoned off and there was a large group of students watching, but the police stopped them from entering.
RenDong and Lian Qiao stood in the crowd and heard the college students discussing.
“Who is this girl? Which department is she from?”
“I don’t know, does anyone know her?”
“I heard that the death was terrible… the flesh on the neck was hollowed out…”
“Ah? So scary? Is it a perverted killer?”
“What are the school security guards doing? Why did they let the killer in?”
When RenDong heard this, he felt very uncomfortable. He asked Lian Qiao: “Have you notified the others?”
Lian Qiao shook his head: “Not yet. Everyone is scattered all over the school and I had no time to notify them one by one.”
“This time the scene is too big.” RenDong sighed. “We have to buy a mobile phone to make it easier to communicate.”
On the way to the library yesterday, he saw shopfronts of the three major operators in the school. Although the mobile phone brought in from the outside world has no signal but since there is a business office in the school, the mobile phones bought in the instance may be usable.
Lian Qiao shook his head: “No. I went to see about it. You need an ID card to get a mobile phone number. We didn’t bring any of them.”
Xu RenDong: “…”
Indeed, who would come in with an ID card to an instance.
This instance is too realistic. If it wasn’t for the speed of time, he would have wondered if he was dreaming and if this was in fact the real world.
The police guarded the scene closely, presumably they couldn’t get in easily. It was inconvenient to talk in the crowd, so RenDong and Lian Qiao retreated, found another secluded place on the back hill and sat down to discuss.
“Have you done an autopsy?” RenDong asked.
Lian Qiao sighed: “At that time, I was afraid that something would happen to you and I was in a hurry to find you, so how could I have the heart for an autopsy?”
RenDong felt guilty again. He explained his thoughts to Lian Qiao. Lian Qiao smiled and said: “I don’t blame you. You are right, in fact, I have already felt this way. This dungeon seems to want you to live your life again… Thinking about it, you only met me when you stepped into the elevator and it seems like it was meant to be. Isn’t this amazing?”
“But, isn’t this just…” RenDong was halfway through speaking, and suddenly felt his tongue stiffen, making it difficult to utter a sound.
It was here again, the long-lost feeling.
Isn’t it just like reincarnation when the end and the beginning are joined together?
Maybe this instance really has some connection with his death cycle, so he was forced to silence?
Lian Qiao stared at him, thinking of something, a strange color flashing in his eyes.
“What do you want to say?” Lian Qiao walked in front of him, raised his chin and looked down at him with a smile on his lips, “Are you afraid that after entering the elevator, you will meet another me?”
RenDong was stunned by what he said.
What do you mean? Meet another Lian Qiao after entering the elevator?
…So, there is indeed such a possibility. If he guessed wrong and the elevator was not an exit but another entrance, then…
Xu RenDong became more and more frightened as he thought about it, his back was hairy, and cold sweat broke out all over his body.
Lian Qiao suddenly smiled lowly, leaned down and kissed his forehead.
“Don’t be afraid.” Lian Qiao said softly, “No matter how many times we meet, I will still love you.”
The familiar warm breath made RenDong feel at ease. He put his arms around Lian Qiao’s waist, buried his head on Lian Qiao’s chest, absorbing the warmth of Lian Qiao’s body with some unease. Lian Qiao hugged him and stroked his back, like comforting a child who is afraid of the dark.
Taking advantage of the lunch break, Lian Qiao and RenDong went separately to find people around the school and asked everyone to gather in the campus cafe.
Surprisingly, no one was too surprised by this.
“Sure enough, something happened…” The monk said in a deep voice.
RenDong was surprised: “‘Sure enough’? Did you guys already know?”
Aunt Long-Hair sighed: “Actually, she didn’t come back last night…”
RenDong looked at Lian Qiao, Lian Qiao nodded and said: “Yes. We all stayed in the campus hotel last night but Little Apple didn’t show up for a long time. Everyone went out to search for her at night but couldn’t find her. At that time, we guessed whether something happened to her.”
RenDong was silent for a moment, and asked: “After I entered the dormitory yesterday, what have you been doing?”
He and Lian Qiao messed around in the dormitory all afternoon yesterday, and then he went to study all night.. He didn’t know that Little Apple died tragically during this time. Thinking of this, Xu RenDong felt guilty.
Everyone didn’t notice his emotions and reported their whereabouts yesterday. It turned out that everyone was divided into two groups and explored the campus separately. The monk was in the group with Little Apple but Little Apple left the library halfway because she heard that the gymnasium was distributing books and bedding. She wanted to help RenDong get his things.
Xu RenDong frowned: “You let her go alone?”
The monk lowered his head: “It’s the poor monk who didn’t think about it. I’m at fault.”
RenDong still wanted to talk,but Lian Qiao tugged at his sleeve and said: ” Don’t blame him either. Little Apple disappeared yesterday and even after everyone had given up, he was the only one who searched outside all night.”
No wonder the monk’s eyes are dark and his face is haggard. RenDong sighed, and said lightly: “What right do I have to blame him?”
Lian Qiao smiled and rubbed his hair: “Don’t pursue responsibility, let’s talk about business.” He turned his eyes to everyone and said, “Now the scene of the crime has been sealed off by the police and we can’t get in. I didn’t have time for an autopsy when I found the body, so I can only give a general impression of what happened.”
Everyone sat up straight and became serious.
Lian Qiao pointed to his own neck: “The fatal injury was here. There was a big gash in the neck and the carotid artery was broken. She must have died of excessive blood loss.”
RenDong recalled what he had just heard at the scene: “There seems to be a rumor among the students that the flesh on Little Apple’s neck has been hollowed out?”
“Yes.” Lian Qiao nodded, “It looked like she was bitten by a wild animal. A large piece of flesh on the neck was gone and only a layer of skin remains.”
RenDong: “Are there any other wounds? “
Lian Qiao: “It’s too late to take a closer look but there shouldn’t be any.”
RenDong: “It looks like a one-shot kill.”
Everyone frowned.
“Beast? What kind of beast can there be on the back mountain?”
“Are you sure it’s a beast and not a ghost?”
“But Little Apple can recite Buddhist scriptures, so even if she encounters a ghost, she won’t be killed in one blow.”
Xu RenDong was silent as he listened to the discussion. He felt that Little Apple’s death was very strange and there were many doubts.
First, the body of Little Apple appeared in the back mountain. Why there? Did she go there by herself, or was she thrown into the back mountain after she died?
—Is it necessary for ghosts to throw away the corpse?
Secondly, Little Apple and the Monk separated in the evening, the reason was to go to the gymnasium to get books and bedding. So… what happened to the stuff?
If she was killed in the gymnasium, then the back mountain should only be a place for dumping the body and the books and bedding may be left in the gymnasium. But if she was killed after coming out of the gym, where are the books and bedding she received?
If these things can be found, will they be able to find the scene of the first crime and thus learn the real cause of Little Apple’s death?
Xu RenDong frowned and was organizing his thoughts, but Lian Qiao suddenly spoke heavily, interrupting his thinking.
“I think…” Lian Qiao looked around, his gaze was like a sniper rifle scope, coldly falling on everyone’s face, “The one who killed Little Apple was not a ghost.”
“It was a human being.”
