Translator: CinderTL
When the girls left the room, they found the hallway crowded with people.
Several police officers in uniform stood among them, along with their department heads, who looked grim as they explained something to the police.
The girls found it odd but didn't dare ask questions. Their teacher directed them to an office upstairs, where a stern-faced male police officer, presumably the officer in charge, sat at a desk with a female officer beside him, taking notes.
The female officer immediately brought up Meng Yumian, the lead dancer they had locked in the equipment room the previous night.
Instinctively sensing something was amiss and growing fearful, the girls recounted the events of the previous night in detail.
They specifically mentioned that Meng Yumian had seemed unwell after returning in the rain and had stayed in her dormitory, skipping class.
The interview had proceeded normally until the female officer reached this point in her notes. She suddenly stopped writing, looked up at them with a peculiar expression, and asked in astonishment, "What did you say?"
"Meng Yumian got caught in the rain last night and seemed to have caught a cold. She's been sleeping in the dorm ever since. We tried to wake her up this morning, but she wouldn't get up, so we..."
"You're saying Meng Yumian returned to the dorm last night and is still asleep there now?!" Yuan Xiaoyi mimicked the female police officer's voice, her tone suddenly rising several octaves.
"I'm warning you, every word you say is being recorded!" The female officer slammed her pen down, her face as dark as a thundercloud.
The four freshman girls, none of whom had ever witnessed such a tense situation, paled at the officer's sudden shift in demeanor. They frantically insisted that every word they had spoken was the truth, daring not to lie. If the officers didn't believe them, they could simply check the dorm.
One of the girls whispered that Meng Yumian was indeed in the dorm. If the matter concerned her, they could just go and ask her directly. She was the one lying on bed No. 4.
The female officer's expression grew even more peculiar. Before she could press further, the male officer, who had remained silent until then, spoke. His voice was calm and steady, radiating authority.
But what he said next left the four girls utterly dumbfounded.
"We received a report this morning that a body had been found in the small grove east of the school's athletic field. After investigating the scene, we identified the victim as Meng Yumian, a first-year student."
Moments later, one of the four girls swayed and fainted. She was the one who had been drunk the night before and had first suggested locking Meng Yumian out of the dorm.
The others paled in shock, repeatedly murmuring, "No, no, it can't be true! She came back last night! We saw her in bed this morning. She was facing away from us, so we didn't see her face, but it was definitely her!"
Seeing their distress, the two officers refrained from pressing them further and asked them to stay for questioning.
Soon after, the unconscious girl regained consciousness with the help of the school doctor, but she remained in a dazed state, weeping uncontrollably.
Before long, the door swung open, and a middle-aged man in a white lab coat over a police uniform shirt entered. He whispered something to the male officer.
The girls noticed a flicker of unease in the male officer's usually composed eyes. He then hastily left with the middle-aged man, leaving the female officer behind with the four students.
When the male police officer returned, it was noon, and the sun was shining brightly. But he seemed like a different person. After dismissing the bewildered female officer, he patiently questioned the four girls about the events of the previous night.
One of the girls, who had a keen eye for detail, noticed that the moment the officer sat down, he turned off the recording pen on the table.
Under his calm and reassuring demeanor, the four girls slowly recounted the entire story of the previous night, including why they had locked Meng Yumian in the storage room and how she had managed to return.
The officer's questions were incredibly detailed, even probing into Meng Yumian's movements, expressions, and overall condition when she returned in the middle of the night. The girls answered as best they could, piecing together their memories.
As the questioning progressed, guided by the officer's meticulous probing, the girls gradually began to realize that something was amiss.
First, how had Meng Yumian managed to escape from the locked storage room alone?
In their anger, they had secured the outer door with an old-fashioned padlock. Even if Meng Yumian had a key, there was no way she could have reached through the narrow gap in the door to unlock it.
Furthermore, Meng Yuting's condition upon her return was highly suspicious. Her face was deathly pale, as if all the blood had been drained from her body.
"And since she returned, she hadn't said a single word."
"She didn't even wipe the wet hair plastered to her face. Climbing into bed completely soaked like that is almost unimaginable for a girl, especially someone like Meng Yumian, who always took such great care of her appearance."
"At this point, the girl in the bunk opposite Meng Yumian chimed in, trembling. She said she had woken up several times during the night, shivering from the cold. At first, she thought the window might be open, but now she realized the icy chill had been emanating from Meng Yumian's bed."
"After she crawled under the covers, no one saw her move again—not even a twitch. She remained completely still, her head buried under the blanket, her face pressed against the wall, with only the back of her damp hair visible."
"Her hair was matted together in damp, stringy clumps, streaked with yellowish-brown mud."
The male detective gasped. This aligned perfectly with their investigation. The forensic team had searched the dormitory but found no body. However, they discovered a large wet patch, clumps of matted hair, and damp mud on bed No. 4.
"The forensic results came back quickly. The composition of the wet mud sample taken from Bed No. 4 matched perfectly with the mud found at the site where Meng Yumian's body was discovered."
"So, it was Meng Yumian's corpse that was brought back that night," Jiang Cheng said softly, looking at Yuan Xiaoyi.
Yuan Xiaoyi nodded, her voice trembling slightly. "Later, we learned that Meng Yumian had been murdered—by a drunkard who happened to be passing by."
"Apparently, the drunkard, heavily intoxicated, saw Meng Yumian alone on the sports field with no one else around and succumbed to his depraved impulses," Yuan Xiaoyi paused, her expression suddenly grave. "But that's not even the most heinous part. The most despicable thing is that after killing her, the murderer gouged out Meng Yumian's eyes."
"Gouged out her eyes?" Jiang Cheng was taken aback.
"Yes," Yuan Xiaoyi said grimly, pressing her lips into a thin line. "I heard the scene was particularly gruesome. The first person to report the discovery of the body was an elderly professor who went for his morning exercise. He noticed Meng Yumian because she was wearing a bright red dance costume, which made her easily visible."
(End of the Chapter)
---
📖Read (NS) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c1134. [+4]
🔑Early Access at $1.
💥Translated (6) Series, (4.6K+) Chapters, (6.7M+) Words.