El hibisco como pintura

Capítulo 25

Grandpa Liu took a deep breath: "Prince Qiu... Prince Qiu..."

"I'm back……"

Grandpa Liu shrank back in fright and glared at the other person: "I don't know anything, don't come looking for me, it has nothing to do with me, I didn't see anything!"

"I died unjustly..."

"I know you're all wronged! But I really didn't do anything! It really has nothing to do with me!" Grandpa Liu shouted.

"Is it really none of your business?"

“I…I really don’t know anything. That night, I was just patrolling as usual. When I got to the concert hall, I saw…I saw Teacher Xia pouring something into the drinks…” Grandpa Liu cried out in fright. “Later, I saw the concert hall catch fire, and then I learned that the students in Class 0 of the first year of high school had all disappeared…”

"What did Teacher Xia pour into our drinks?"

"I don't know... I really don't know anything..."

"The concert hall caught fire, so why are there no signs of it being burned now?"

"Principal Chen had it renovated to cover up the fire damage."

Why did Principal Chen do this?

"I don't know, I really don't know anything. I'm just an old gatekeeper, just trying to earn a little money for food. I really don't know anything else."

There was no sound.

"Please, please don't come looking for me as ghosts. I really don't know anything."

There was still no sound.

Grandpa Liu looked towards the door; it was ajar, and Prince Qiu was gone. Startled, Grandpa Liu rushed out without even grabbing a flashlight. Just then, Chen Shuai jumped in through the window.

"It seems there are advantages to being twins."

Xu An walked in from outside the door: "He does indeed know some things."

"I knew it! Old Liu is all alone and has been working here for so long, patrolling every night. He must know something about what happened that night."

"But our lead has gone cold," Xu An said coldly.

Chen Shuai sighed softly and said, "The clues left by Fang Manting and Grandpa Liu all point to Teacher Xia, and Huang Mao also disappeared at Teacher Xia's house. What is the connection between these things? And what is the relationship between my mother and Fang Manting?"

"I just hope that Xiaoyuan will be safe and sound."

Chen Shuai looked at Xu An: "Do you like her?"

Xu An did not answer.

"Not answering is tantamount to admitting it," Chen Shuai said.

Xu An remained silent.

Chen Shuai had to change the subject: "I remember when we were rehearsing, Teacher Xia did give us Song Guo drinks. What do you think she poured into the drinks?"

Xu An was about to speak when another voice rang out.

"Attention, students of Class 0, Grade 11! Attention, students of Class 0, Grade 11! There will be a rehearsal tonight at 7 PM in the concert hall classroom. Please be prepared!"

Chen Shuai and Xu An both stood frozen in place.

“That voice…” Chen Shuai looked at Xu An: “It’s Teacher Xia’s voice!”

"It's the broadcast!" Xu An exclaimed.

The two of them ran out of the classroom at the same time.

Two strange cups of water

The broadcasting room is located in the teaching building on the east side of the school.

When Chen Shuai led Xu An there, the lights were on in the broadcasting room, but the door was locked.

Chen Shuai pounded on the door desperately, but no one answered. The broadcast continued, repeating the same few sentences.

Xu An pulled Chen Shuai away: "Let's break in!" After saying that, the two of them rammed into the door at the same time. The door was broken open, and the broadcast continued, but there was no one in the broadcast room.

"Where is everyone?" Chen Shuai looked around but couldn't find any other exit. There wasn't even a window in the house, so there couldn't possibly be another exit.

“I think that person left a long time ago.” Xu An walked to the microphone and picked up the recorder that was placed in front of it. “Someone deliberately used the recording to lure us here.”

“But I’m certain that this voice is definitely Teacher Xia’s,” Chen Shuai said, looking at the recording pen.

"Teacher Xia..." Xu An was thinking about something: "Is this recording from that night a year ago?"

Chen Shuai nodded affirmatively.

"Do you think someone deliberately played this recording for us? What's the point?" Xu An asked.

“I remember a year ago, our class was going to participate in a performance, so we decided to practice in the evenings. At that time, Teacher Xia notified us through the broadcast, but…” Chen Shuai bit his lower lip lightly: “I remember it wasn’t seven o’clock, I think it was eight o’clock.”

"Eight o'clock? That means the time recorded on this recorder is one hour different from the time you heard the broadcast back then?"

Chen Shuai nodded: "Strange, how could there be a one-hour difference?"

Xu An glanced around the room, his gaze finally settling on the cup on the left side of the table.

The cup is half full of water.

Xu An stepped forward, picked up the cup, and smelled it: "It's Sprite."

"Perhaps some students drank it while making announcements here during the day and forgot to take it with them when they left," Chen Shuai said.

Xu An frowned, then smelled the cup again and said, "Smell this cup."

Chen Shuai took the cup and smelled it carefully, saying, "Strange, there seems to be another smell in this cup, like... a very sweet smell, as if sugar was put in it before."

“When I was at Teacher Xia’s house, I saw a cup with water stains in the kitchen, and the cup had the same smell.”

“Teacher Xia has been dead for some time now, there shouldn’t be any water stains on the cups at home, and…” Chen Shuai’s eyes lit up: “Could there be someone else in Teacher Xia’s family?”

Xu An nodded and said, "There must be another person living there, and Gao Xiaoyuan's disappearance must be related to that person."

Chen Shuai smelled the cup again: "This person should be a girl, and a girl who loves sweets."

"Who in Class 0 of Grade 11 loves sweets the most?" Xu An asked.

"Lin Nana," Chen Shuai replied cooperatively.

"I think all the mysteries lie with Lin Nana."

"I think so too."

Where do you think we should look for Lin Nana?

"If my feeling is correct, it seems that Ms. Xia's neighbor has been spying on us."

"So, shouldn't we go there and take a look now?"

Xu An smiled, and Chen Shuai smiled too.

The Encounters in Thirty-One Years

The school does not have Lin Nana's home address, or in other words, Lin Nana's information has been lost.

However, Xu An and Chen Shuai now had a plan. Standing in front of Teacher Xia's house, they opened the door in the same way and ran to the bedroom without hesitation.

“This is the only wall in the bedroom that connects to the neighbor’s,” Chen Shuai said, pointing to the location of the wardrobe.

"It seems we were really careless last time," Xu An said.

“This time we definitely won’t be careless.” After Chen Shuai finished speaking, he forcefully opened the wardrobe door, and the two of them quickly took out all the clothes inside and threw them on the bed.

After all the clothes were emptied, Xu An and Chen Shuai began knocking on the cabinet walls, but found nothing unusual.

"Could it be that we've made a mistake?" Chen Shuai wondered.

Xu An stared at the empty wardrobe, but couldn't find any clues. The two of them fell into deep thought once again.

Chen Si reached out and tapped on the wardrobe, looking left and right, but couldn't find the problem. Frustrated, he kicked the wardrobe in anger.

The cabinet suddenly moved, sliding inwards like a door.

Xu An and Chen Shuai looked on in surprise. When the wardrobe stopped, they quickly peered inside and found that it indeed led to their neighbor's room. The two of them quickly went inside.

The room behind the wardrobe is also a bedroom, but it looks very messy, with clothes and socks scattered all over the bed and shoes strewn everywhere on the floor.

Xu An and Chen Shuai stared blankly at these things, which were all items used by girls. It seemed that Lin Nana might really be living here.

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened, and Lin Nana walked in carrying a glass of water. When she saw Chen Shuai and Xu An, she froze for a moment, then screamed, dropped the glass, and ran away. Fortunately, Chen Shuai and Xu An reacted quickly and pounced on Lin Nana, pinning her to the sofa.

"Where do you think you're going to run to!" Chen Shuai twisted Lin Nana's left arm.

"Ouch—it hurts so much! It hurts so much! Be gentle, I won't run anymore! I won't run anymore!" Lin Nana cried out in pain.

Chen Shuai loosened his grip slightly, but still didn't let go of Lin Nana's arm.

"Tell me quickly, where did you hide Gao Xiaoyuan?" Xu An shouted.

"I...I don't know..."

"Still being stubborn!" Chen Shuai twisted Lin Nana's arm hard, causing Lin Nana to groan in pain a few more times.

"Let go first! I'll talk after you let go!" Lin Nana pleaded, "I'll tell you everything."

Xu An glanced at Chen Shuai: "Let her go, she can't escape."

Chen Shuai reluctantly let go of Lin Nana's hand, bent down and sat down next to her. Xu An also sat down on the other end of Lin Nana's seat, sandwiching Lin Nana in the middle.

"Speak," Chen Shuai said, his feet propped up on the coffee table as he glanced sideways at Lin Nana.

"I...I really don't know what happened." Lin Nana looked at Xu An and Chen Shuai in fear.

"Where did you take Gao Xiaoyuan?" Chen Shuai asked anxiously.

"I have no idea where Gao Xiaoyuan is." Lin Nana also seemed a little anxious.

"Are you still trying to make up lies?!" Chen Shuai tried to twist Lin Nana's arm again.

Lin Nana immediately shouted, "Am I making up lies, or are you just making up lies yourselves?!" Upon hearing this, Xu An and Chen Shuai were both stunned.