Zyklon-Säbel

Kapitel 109

“That’s what makes the play more fun, isn’t it?” The little girl in red stepped forward.

"The teacher will be angry," Su Qiao said with a hint of worry.

“Only you care about him. As for me…” The little girl in red reached out and hugged Su Qiao’s leg tightly. Su Qiao closed her eyes, her body trembling with fear.

"You're awake?" Fang Lei pushed open the door and looked at me with surprise.

I just stared blankly at her, Su Qiao's face, and... I felt a pang of disgust... How could that be? How could I feel disgust towards Fang Lei? Was it just because her face wasn't the one I was familiar with?

I lowered my head guiltily. Was my feeling for her so easily tested? Just because of her face?

"What's wrong?" Fang Lei asked with concern. I smiled and shook my head.

"Where's Li Yang?" I asked.

"He's probably still asleep," Fang Lei replied.

"Oh, I'm hungry. Could you get me some breakfast?" I asked.

"Okay, wait for me a minute." Fang Lei seemed very happy that I stopped making a fuss and stopped saying that she wasn't Fang Lei. She quickly opened the door and went out to buy me breakfast.

Looking at her back, I felt powerless. Su Qiao's face and Fang Lei's soul, could I accept her like this?

After sending Fang Lei away, I went to Li Yang's door and knocked.

"Who is it?" Li Yang asked sleepily as he opened the door. I quickly pushed him inside and then closed the door.

"What are you doing?" Li Yang asked, puzzled.

"Do me a favor." I grabbed Li Yang's clothes and threw them at him, saying, "Go to a place and help me investigate some things."

"Where to? I have a meeting!" Li Yang said as he put on his clothes.

"Go to Jiangjia Village in ** County and help me find out about Jiang Hua's daughter. I need to know her situation," I said.

"Jiang Hua's daughter?" Li Yang looked at me and asked, "Why do you want to see her? Wasn't the case closed?"

"Just this once is enough. Also, don't tell Fang Lei. Just say you're going to see a friend," I said.

“But…” Li Yang said, “You can’t just give me some clues. Are you just going to send me off like this?”

"We have no leads, so we can only rely on you, great detective." I flattered him: "**County is very close to here; a day trip is enough."

"Okay, okay." Li Yang had just taken out his wallet when I grabbed him and dragged him out the door.

"You can at least let me brush my teeth and wash my face, right?" Li Yang said helplessly.

"Then hurry up." I practically kicked him out of the bathroom. Just then, I heard someone running towards us at high speed.

"Lin Xiao, Lin Xiao?"

It was Fang Lei's voice. She's back so quickly?

"What's wrong?" I asked as Fang Lei rushed over anxiously, as if something had happened.

Another one died. Fang Lei looked at me and Li Yang and said, "It was a female student who died in the building where sports equipment was stored."

Zhuang Jing? It must be Zhuang Jing!

I forced myself to remain calm. Fang Lei and Li Yang didn't seem to notice that my face had turned deathly pale in an instant. Another one had died!

"What happened? Another one died?" Li Yang asked worriedly. "Why are people dying so often at this school?"

"Including Captain Ni, two people have died. But who is the murderer? Didn't Yu Bo commit suicide?" Fang Lei also became worried, saying, "I really hope the murderer can be caught soon!"

The murderer? I gave a bitter smile. How could they know that I was the one indirectly responsible for killing those two people? And now I'm in a predicament, my only hope probably being that disc.

"I think the police will catch the murderer." After I finished speaking, I gently nudged Li Yang, signaling him to hurry up and do what I asked him to do. Although he was very reluctant, he eventually went out the door.

"Where did he go?" Fang Lei asked me.

"I'm going to find a friend. He's not going to the meeting today, so I'll go instead." After saying that, I took the breakfast from Fang Lei's hand. Fang Lei seemed to want to say something, but she just opened her mouth without saying anything.

I felt her suddenly hug me tightly from behind, gently pressing her face against my back. I was startled, then reached out and took her small hand without saying a word. I couldn't see her face, but I could feel something wet sticking to my clothes.

She cried?

"Lin Xiao..." Fang Lei murmured my name, and I held her hand even tighter.

"Don't leave me," Fang Lei said.

"No, I won't leave you," I answered in a very soft voice, I didn't even know if she heard me. But she hugged me tighter, and I could feel the anxiety in her heart.

Feeling lost? How could I not feel lost and afraid? I'm afraid I'll never see her true face again, I'm afraid I'll forget her. Human emotions are so fragile, how can they withstand so much torment?

My unusual behavior these past few days must have scared her, right?

I turned around and hugged her tightly. No matter how her face changed, her soul remained the same. I loved her soul, not her face, I kept telling myself, almost as if hypnotizing myself…

Although I was in the meeting, my mind was preoccupied with this red patterned disc. There was nothing special about it; it seemed like an incomprehensible symbol or a child's scribbles. I examined it closely, touched it, and even tried to pry it open or peel it off. But this tiny disc seemed utterly devoid of any mechanism; it was barely the thickness of a sheet of paper. How could it possibly contain any ingenious mechanism? I even put it in sunlight, water, and even fire! There was no reaction. Was this just a mockery by Su Qiao?

No, if it's just a joke, that seems too childish. Maybe there really is a trap! But... where is it?

Damn it! I clutched the disc in my hand in frustration, but to no avail; it felt like everything had reached a dead end.

I finished the first half of the meeting in a daze, and as I walked out of the meeting room to rest, I inadvertently saw Juanzi slumped over her desk in the self-study room, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably. What was wrong with her? Was she crying?

I quietly walked over, patted Juanzi on the shoulder, and asked, "Juanzi? What's wrong?"

"Waaah...! Senior!" Juanzi raised her head, her face covered in tears and looking extremely haggard. "Senior... Zhuang... Zhuang Jing is dead! She was my... my best friend!"

"I know, I know," I comforted Juanzi with a bit of guilt, but then I noticed a strange little thing in her hand. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a wooden spinning top.

"What is this...?" I asked curiously.

“This is…this is a spinning top.” Juanzi said while spinning the top, “It was given to me by Zhuang Jing when I first met her! Everyone in her hometown plays with this. She said that just seeing it would remind her of her hometown, which was very important to her, so she gave it to me because I am also very important to her! But now…”

"Don't cry, the dead can't be brought back to life. Besides, Zhuang Jing certainly wouldn't want her best friend to be so sad!" I patted Juanzi's head.

Juanzi didn't answer, but gently spun the top once, and immediately the top spun on the table.

Suddenly, I noticed the surface of the conch shell. The top, which had seemed empty before, was now spinning with spirals, just like the red and blue rotating lights outside a barbershop! How strange, it was completely empty just a moment ago!

"Why are there patterns on it again?" I asked.

"Zhuang Jing said that spinning tops usually don't have very pretty patterns on their surface because you can't see anything once they start spinning. But if you carve something that looks very simple on it, it will create some unexpected patterns when it spins because of the rotation and visual effects!" Juanzi replied.

Unexpected pattern? I stared intently at the spinning top in front of me. Pattern? Pattern? It seemed as if something was about to break through my blocked thoughts. A rare clarity of thought flashed through my mind, and the pattern on the spinning top in front of me grew larger and more striking!

I jumped up from my chair and rushed out of the classroom.

A spinning top! Spinning! How could I not have thought that the seemingly random pattern on this disc would spin like this? Thinking about this, I lost all focus on the rest of the meeting. I rushed back to the guesthouse.

As soon as I got back to the guesthouse, I quickly copied the pattern on the disc onto a piece of paper. Then I made a very simple spinning top using cardboard and toothpicks, and then stuck the copied paper onto the spinning top.

Spin! The pattern didn't seem to change, but as the spin increased, I gradually saw the pattern on the paper begin to disappear, turning into a blank page, and then...

It appeared...

The Big Dipper?

Seven dots appeared on the rotating paper, and their arrangement clearly resembled the Big Dipper in the sky!

But... what does this mean? Is the secret on the disc the Big Dipper? The arrangement of the Big Dipper isn't exactly a secret! But since this pattern only appears after rotation, it can't be a coincidence; it must have some inherent meaning!

The Big Dipper? A secret?

Volume Three: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter Fifty-Three: Nuo Dance

Volume Three: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter Fifty-Three: Nuo Dance

Take a step back! I lay on the bed, troubled. The secret on the disc had been revealed, but the pattern on the disc had stumped me! What does it mean?

I was completely lost, and my head was spinning from thinking so much. I stood up and decided to go for a walk to get some fresh air.

Stepping outside, the students around seemed anxious and worried. Of course, with so many people dead, they would naturally have concerns! The school seemed to have become a series of murder scenes, exuding a sense of eeriness and unease.

"Senior!" Juanzi called out to me from behind.

"What's wrong?" I asked, turning around.

"Are you alright after suddenly running out like that?" Juanzi asked, her eyes still red, as if she had just finished crying.

"Is everything alright?" I looked at this kind-hearted girl and thought of Zhuang Jing again. She must also like to care about others! But I chose to sacrifice her! I kept the person I wanted. This is the selfish nature of people, unforgivable.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I'm going back to the dorm to pack some things. The police should have finished searching by now. I want to go back and help Zhuang Jing pack her belongings so her parents can come and take them back," Juanzi replied.

"Do you need my help?" I asked.

"Hmm..." Juanzi hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded with a smile.

When Juanzi returned to the dormitory, she found that there were only her and Zhuang Jing's belongings in the room. A dormitory meant for four people was only occupied by two people.

“Zhuang Jing is actually a nice person, but she’s too introverted.” Juanzi said as she closed the door, “She’s so introverted that no one wants to be her friend except me. I’m the only one who’s willing to live with her and be her friend.”

"Then why are you willing?" I asked with a smile.

"Because my dad is a doctor at a mental hospital!" Juanzi revealed a long-lost bright smile, saying, "My dad often tells me that being introverted isn't scary. What's scary is having no friends and no one to confide in because of introversion! That's the most terrifying thing! Often, many mental patients develop illnesses because they don't get any emotional release and keep their frustrations bottled up inside. So, since I was little, I've liked making friends with introverted people, because if I can be their friend, it's like giving them someone to confide in. It helps them release some pent-up emotions, isn't that great?"

"What a good child." I patted her head like an older brother. It turns out that not all children nowadays are self-centered; it's just that their ways of expressing themselves are sometimes unique and sometimes subtle, which you may not realize.

"It's a pity, it's useless now. The person is dead." Juanzi sadly tidied the things on the table. I quickly went over to help. It seemed that Zhuang Jing had been very fond of designing clothes when she was alive; the table was covered with many fashion magazines and some books on clothing design.

"Why are you tidying all this up?" I saw Juanzi actually taking the papers out of the trash can one by one and laying them flat on the table.

“These are all drafts she didn’t like designing a few nights ago, which she threw away. Although I never knew what she was drawing, I feel these are her belongings and should be kept. She often couldn’t eat or sleep because of these things. Let’s keep them!” Juanzi spread the papers on the table, and some of them immediately caught my attention.

Although Zhuang Jing had crossed some of the drafts out, I could still tell that these designs were clearly not modern clothes, but rather... traditional costumes! She likes designing traditional costumes?

"Juanzi, what kind of clothes does Zhuang Jing usually like to design?" I asked.

“Her? Fashion! And some cosplay clothes,” Juanzi replied.

"Coaplay?" What's that?

“Coaplay is about imitating characters from Japanese anime. Zhuang Jing often designs clothes and accessories that have appeared in anime for the school’s anime club,” Juanzi replied.

"So that's period drama?" I asked.

"Hmm... I don't think so!" Juanzi frowned and replied, "But some cosplay outfits do look a lot like ancient costumes."

Characters from Japanese anime? But the clothes in these drawings clearly look very much like the clothes worn by people in ancient times during the Han Dynasty, so they probably aren't Japanese clothes!

And this mask! Very strange! I'm looking at the mask on one of the papers, it looks familiar! Where have I seen it before?