In the interrogation room next door, the police questioned school leaders and people who knew the three missing persons in turn.
The first was a 25-year-old male, a teacher at the school's psychological center.
According to the principal, he was assigned to the school by the Education Bureau five years ago. The Education Bureau attaches great importance to the psychological counseling of middle school students and requires schools to offer psychology courses regularly. The principal naturally had to cooperate and even arranged a separate psychological counseling office for him.
For a period of time, Si Han frequently visited his office, so after Si Han fell to her death, the police focused their investigation on him. His explanation at the time was that Si Han's grades were fluctuating and she was under a lot of psychological pressure, so she sought his advice. He even produced records of his conversations with Si Han, and the police did not suspect anything.
His colleagues and superiors remember him as a gentle, handsome, humorous and talkative teacher. He teaches many classes a week of psychological counseling, teaching students a lot about adjusting their mindset. The students love and trust him very much.
What's a little strange is that he suddenly submitted his resignation two years ago. The principal even tried to persuade him to stay, but he said it was for personal reasons.
A male teacher who was close to him revealed that during a drunken night, he let slip that he had fallen in love with a woman and was planning to get married. She didn't want to see him constantly at work and wanted to maintain some personal space. Therefore, he decided to resign, study for a mental health license, and work at a private hospital's counseling center, where psychologists earn significantly more than teachers.
He disappeared shortly after resigning; his family reported him missing.
However, the "marriage partner" he mentioned never appeared. When the police investigated at the time, they couldn't take his words seriously because they were made while he was drunk, and they couldn't find any evidence of his relationship with women, so this point was overlooked.
Now that the old story has been brought up again, Xiao Lou suddenly has a jolt: Could his marriage partner be Zhang Qing?!
At the time, Zhang Qing had only been at the school for a year. She was young, beautiful, and talented. As a single woman, she was attracted to him and they got together. However, for some reason, such as Zhang Qing not wanting to go public, they kept their relationship secret.
His resignation might have been at Zhang Qing's suggestion.
— Not wanting to run into each other all the time in the same workplace, I advised him to leave, and then I found an opportunity to kill him without anyone knowing. After dismembering his body, I buried his remains in the maple forest.
This murderer was intelligent, calm, and cruel, manipulating the psychology teacher with ease.
No wonder this teacher's cause of death was a fractured skull from blunt force trauma; it's difficult for an adult male to be killed outright. But what if it was someone close to him? For example, his beloved fiancée, in his sleep, suddenly grabs an axe and smashes it down on his head...
Xiao Lou felt a chill run down her spine when she thought of that scene.
The disappearance of the school counselor was a cold case years ago, but now it's being investigated together with Si Han's fall. The police have also noticed something's wrong, and after the school leaders left, they immediately said, "Focus on investigating his fiancée; there's definitely something fishy about her!"
The second missing person was a security guard who had been at the school for five years and was said to be a relative of a vice principal.
It's common practice for school leaders to arrange for their relatives to work as security guards on campus, and Xiao Lou is used to it at university.
Everyone's assessment of that security guard was that they "didn't know him very well." They only knew that he liked to wander around the campus and patrol when he had free time, and that he was somewhat arrogant because one of his relatives was one of the vice principals.
Xiao Liu, who used to work as a security guard with him, said that he wasn't well-liked in the security team because he loved to show off.
Therefore, no one likes to work with him.
Shortly after his disappearance, his cousin, who was the vice principal, was suspended from his post by the education bureau for suspected gambling. The school did not pay much attention to his disappearance, assuming that he was also suspected of gambling and was being retaliated against by criminal gangs.
The third missing person was a Chinese language teacher surnamed Zhou, who suddenly disappeared six months ago. His colleagues spoke highly of him, saying he was very talented, could compose poems on the spot, taught Chinese well, had beautiful handwriting, liked to collect calligraphy and paintings, and could even imitate various calligraphic works, sometimes to the point of being indistinguishable from the originals.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Lou was almost certain that the forged suicide note in Si Han's fall five years ago was indeed written by this Chinese language teacher.
After the interrogations in the two interrogation rooms were completed, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang met in the agreed-upon sky corridor.
They exchanged the information they had received.
Yu Hanjiang said, "It can now be confirmed that Zhang Qing is the murderer who killed Ying Xiaoya, and Xie Xinghe is the poisoner who switched the Chocolate, but the relationship between them and the real reason for Ying Xiaoya's death are still unclear."
Xiao Lou said, " Zhang Qing must have used some methods to lure the three suspected murderers of Si Han into a trap. The psychology teacher was completely infatuated with her and almost wanted to marry her; the security guard and the Chinese teacher were likely also fooled by her. This would explain why she, a woman, could easily kill three adult men."
The word "lust" is like a knife hanging over one's head. It's true that lustful men will lower their guard when faced with beautiful women. Little do they know that the beauty of some women is like a flower containing deadly poison. Picking it too easily will only leave them battered and bruised, or even dead.
Yu Hanjiang turned to Xiao Lou: "If your deduction is correct, and all three of them are lecherous, then the truth behind Si Han's fall might be that the three of them conspired to rape this beautiful female student?"
Xiao Lou's face paled slightly: "That's possible."
Therefore, when Zhang Qing carried out his revenge, he also took advantage of their lustful weakness.
Xiao Lou frowned deeply: "But the Ying Xiaoya case still can't be explained. Why did she kill Ying Xiaoya? Five years ago, when Si Han fell from the building, Ying Xiaoya was still in junior high school, which shouldn't be related to this case. Moreover, Yu Hui's testimony mentioned that Xiaoya's parents were in other places, which shouldn't be related to this case either, right?"
Yu Hanjiang thought for a moment and said in a low voice, " The count of Monte Cristo, the protagonist only has three enemies. The three people Zhang Qing killed are the ones who killed Si Han. There shouldn't be a fourth enemy."
He paused, his gaze becoming incredibly deep: "After successfully killing one enemy after another, Zhang Qing's mentality has changed. She derives pleasure and an extremely strong sense of superiority from the process of killing. Her plans are too meticulous; the police can't find any evidence. She thinks she's very clever..."
Xiao Lou was shocked: "So, Ying Xiaoya might have been innocently implicated?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded; "From Xie Xinghe's desire to save Ying Xiaoya, we can infer that Ying Xiaoya is innocent. Let's assume Xie Xinghe already knew all this; the fact that he had the book ' The Count of Monte Cristo ' in his bag suggests he approved of Zhang Qing's method of revenge. Ying Xiaoya unintentionally learned of this, and Zhang Qing wanted to silence her. Xie Xinghe intervened because he felt that while Zhang Qing killing his enemy was understandable, killing Ying Xiaoya was excessive. So he warned her and poisoned her, trying to save this innocent girl and make Zhang Qing stop… but he was too late."
Following Yu Hanjiang's train of thought, Xiao Lou said, " Zhang Qing became addicted to killing and accumulated enough experience. She forged a suicide note, bought the same shoes, and pushed Ying Xiaoya off the building... Xie Xinghe probably didn't expect her to act so quickly. In Xie Xinghe's original plan, Ying Xiaoya or Yu Hui would be poisoned on Monday and sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. The police would come to the school to investigate, and during this time he could persuade Zhang Qing to stop. As long as Zhang Qing didn't harm Ying Xiaoya, and Xie Xinghe didn't want to expose her, the secret of the maple forest would remain a secret forever. He could then fake the fact that a classmate accidentally took the poison, and the matter would be over."
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Xie Xinghe underestimated Zhang Qing's efficiency and ruthlessness, but overestimated his own planning.
The timing of his poisoning and Zhang Qing's actions coincided, which led to a series of cases that connected the Si Han case from five years ago, recent disappearances, and Ying Xiaoya's fall from a building.
He couldn't save Ying Xiaoya, nor could he protect Zhang Qing.
Yu Hanjiang sighed softly and said, " Xie Xinghe is very likely a relative of Zhang Qing. Si Han is also related to them by blood, so he did not stop Zhang Qing when he took revenge. Until Zhang Qing's mind became twisted and he attacked the innocent Ying Xiaoya... he wanted to stop him, but it was too late."
Some murderers may initially commit accidental killings or kill one or two people to achieve some purpose.
But after successfully committing their first crime, the killers will discover that killing is so easy. They will gain a great sense of satisfaction and slowly become addicted to the thrill of killing, turning into brutal serial killers.
Zhang Qing, who originally wanted to avenge the innocent Si Han, ended up becoming the very thing he hated most, personally killing an innocent girl.
***
A notification popped up simultaneously in the air above the two of them—
Please select the reasoning result for Red Heart 3 Escape Room.
Who poisoned Ying Xiaoya: Xie Xinghe? Yes/No/Uncertain.
Who pushed Ying Xiaoya downstairs: Zhang Qing? Yes/No/Uncertain.
Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang, and the other person looked at him as well. The two exchanged a glance.
This time, they didn't hesitate and pressed the first option simultaneously: Yes.
Unexpectedly, the moment they pressed the button, a line of large, blood-red characters flashed before their eyes—
Congratulations Challenger! Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang achieved perfect completion! (hearts)
Completed 3 escape rooms, finding all available clues, in 3 days, 3 hours, and 24 minutes, with a score of 955, breaking the world record for Red Heart 3 escape room!
Both of them were somewhat surprised that they were able to complete the game perfectly.
Zhang Qing and Xie Xinghe have been taken away by the police, and all the clues have been searched. Other clues that can't be found might be "hidden storylines," such as the double murder in the Red Heart 2 Secret Room, which is only revealed to the player in the final hidden story card.
In Red Heart 3 Escape Room, the true cause of Si Han's death, Zhang Qing's revenge process, the relationship between Zhang Qing and Xie Xinghe, and why Ying Xiaoya was killed are likely all hidden plot points that will have to wait for the final plot card.
Breaking the record... seems reasonable, doesn't it?
After all, it was a combination of a Criminal Police Officer and a Forensic Doctor. They knew about Ying Xiaoya's poisoning a day in advance, so they went to search the archives and laboratories beforehand. They stayed up until dawn for two consecutive nights, climbing buildings, breaking windows, picking locks, and outsmarting the security guards...
After three tiring yet exciting days, they have now cleared the escape room, but it is difficult for them to calm down.
Xiao Lou recalled the morning he first met Ying Xiaoya. The girl rushed into the school gate in a panic, wearing a sweater and jeans, her eyes wet, looking as innocent as a little white rabbit that had wandered into the forest.
She stood cautiously at the back of the classroom, clenching her fists and fighting back tears.
In fact, even if Zhang Qing hadn't killed her, she wouldn't have dared to say a word. Unfortunately, she still couldn't escape this misfortune in the end.
Xiao Lou took a deep breath and took one last look at the maple forest on campus.
The magnificent maple forest that I saw when I first arrived at Secret Room World is now a mess, with the trees leaning and falling in disarray because the ground has been dug up. The spectacular sight of countless maple leaves falling in abundance is gone.
He and Captain Yu were about to leave, and watching this scene, he felt a tightness in his chest.
Too much blood has stained our once beautiful school. Xiao Lou can't change the ending of Secret Room World, but he hopes that students in the real world can spend their most innocent and beautiful middle school years peacefully and happily.
Goodbye, Fenglin High School.