Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 30 Ghost Hotline - Serial Murder Case 10
The murderer is dead, is that the end of the matter?

They relentlessly pursued the killer, hoping to uncover the truth, but the killer gave up before they could.
After working under the scorching sun for so long, now all the murderer and the truth have vanished like smoke. Zheng Yan felt his mind go blank for the first time. He took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag.

Tan Jia lowered the car window and let out a breath. She relaxed her shoulders and leaned back in the passenger seat, resting her elbows on the car door to support her forehead, letting the wind outside the window gently sway her hair.

Then, feeling agitated, she took out the flattened jujube dough figurine, kneaded it back into shape, and gradually calmed down as she kneaded and rubbed it.

"It's still not quite right." The car was so quiet it was almost oppressive when she suddenly spoke.

"What was Xue Jing's motive for killing them? Was it purely to kill Qu Li and Chen Yingying? Then she shouldn't have called us in the first place. And what about the disappearances of Peng Siyan and Feng Yang?"

"Could she be an even more tragic victim in the wrongful conviction case back then? Peng Siyan and Feng Yang were the perpetrators back then, and Xue Jing helped Qu Li and the others kill the perpetrators, so she was only willing to be killed when it was their turn? But why did she use the obedience potion? And why did she use it on herself?"

“People like that usually really want to see us find out what happened back then. We haven’t found out yet, and she’s dead… Did she think we had already found out?”

“Think about what we’ve found out? The lives of the three victims all seem very simple. They didn’t have many relatives or friends, weren’t close to their parents, and lived alone. But so far…” Tan Jia suddenly straightened up and turned to look at Zheng Yan. “So far, what we’ve been investigating more about is Peng Siyan, Feng Yang, and the perpetrator behind Xue Jing.”

Perhaps Xue Jing's goal was simply to get the police and more people who knew about the incident to focus their attention on the perpetrators from back then.

Why? Why did Qu Li's eyes sparkle with hope before she died? Why was Chen Yingying so happy before she died? Why did the murderer, who seemed to know several places, always fail to find a suspect who matched the criteria?
It wasn't a case of the murderer venting his anger or seeking revenge; rather, it was a case where the victims were aware of each other and acted voluntarily.

This is a suicide case disguised as a serial murder case!
That's a bold guess.

Zheng Yan forgot to bring the cigarette to his mouth, and after a while he took a deep drag and muttered, "If that's the case, exchanging three lives for this purpose is too unwise and too tragic."

There are clearly many better ways.

“It’s not easy for vulnerable groups to find a channel to voice their concerns,” Tan Jia also said in a deep voice. “We still need to find the recipient surnamed Bian. She should know the whole story.”

Zheng Yan took a couple of puffs of his cigarette and recovered. He stubbed out the cigarette and restarted the car.

"Give Tan Ming and the others a call and ask them how their investigation is going. If I'm not mistaken, there must be a connection between Peng Siyan and Feng Yang, and the perpetrator who caused Xue Jing's suicide should also be connected to them."

Tan Jia made the call and received an affirmative answer shortly afterward.

Peng Siyan has a cousin named Peng Shuai, who is a classmate of Feng Yang.

By cross-referencing the interpersonal networks of Feng Yang, Xue Jing, and Chen Yingying, a person suspected of being related to Xue Jing was identified—Wan Lei.

This Wan Lei is actually a friend of Peng Siyan, and Xiao Chen is currently looking for him.

“That’s normal. School bullying usually involves a group of people, and the one who gets bullied is the one who stands alone.” Zheng Yan could guess this.

"None of them are good," Tan Jia commented.

Xiao Chen also told them, "The news on the internet can't be suppressed, it's gone viral. Some media outlets even went to the homes and schools of the deceased with cameras to get firsthand information. Some people even went to confront Feng Yang's family. The video clearly captured the evasive look in Feng Yang's parents' eyes, there's definitely something fishy going on."

Zheng Yan: "Find them as soon as possible. Even if they're dead, we need to see their bodies. Xue Jing and the other two may have worked together to kill those scoundrels before they died. Their deaths were also a result of their cooperation."

Xiao Chen let out a prehistoric mammoth's roar: "Huh???"

"We'll talk about the specifics later; we need to find the only person who knows the truth."

They have driven along the route that "Bian" took this morning and tracked him down to the second street.

There are only a few restaurants on the main street, and behind them are tree-lined paths behind residential areas. The surveillance cameras only point inwards.

At the end of the street, there are two directions: one is the school, and the other is the hospital.

Do you think she's more likely to go to the hospital or the school?

“The school,” Tan Jia said, dealing with the constant tests, slamming the car door shut and walking toward the school gate. “When the past events happened, the murderer, the victim, and the perpetrator were all students.”

When they asked at the school gate, the gatekeeper remembered that a woman had visited that morning.

"She was in her early twenties, very thin, and wearing a mask. She said she was going in to see her sister and had brought a bag of snacks. I called the teacher to confirm before letting her in. I'm not sure if she went out or not. Day students leave school at noon, so she might have gone out with them."

Then take out the register and show it to them.

The registration list included people with the surnames Jiang and Zhang, but none with the surname Bian. Only Wei Jing appeared at nine o'clock this morning. Tan Jia frowned: "Could it be that her surname isn't Bian, but Wei?"

Who knows? Zheng Yan gestured inside: "Just go in and ask."

Just as they were about to leave, the security guard stopped them and asked hesitantly, "Are you investigating that matter online? Is it related to people from our school?"

Have the news from the internet reached the middle school's security office?

The security guard wanted to get the phone to notify the principal's office, but Zheng Yan stopped him.

"Don't do anything that will interfere with the investigation. The police officers behind you will assist you in protecting the students here."

Actually, they were guarding the exit to catch people.

His brows furrowed in a menacing manner, and the security guards were indeed too intimidated to move, so they quickly opened the door for them.

Bian/Wei visited her younger sister, Wei Ting, who is a senior high school repeat student. She had just returned to repeat her senior year two months ago and is in class 27 of the senior year.

They rushed to the building, and Zheng Yan and several police officers found the class and the homeroom teacher to ask questions, while Tan Jia, an unofficial member, observed from the side.

The life of a senior high school student is repetitive and dull. Apart from their school uniform, which gives them a bit of color, their lips, face, and eye bags are all the same color.

A green wolf-tailed American trendsetter blended into the crowd, standing out conspicuously, and people kept looking up to steal glances at her.

When the bell rang, not wanting to be surrounded by onlookers, she followed the flow of people to the school supermarket a dozen meters away, intending to ask a few students while she bought a bottle of water.

Unexpectedly, she was stopped as soon as she entered the supermarket and got two bottles of mineral water.

A tall, thin boy stood in front of her, his school uniform zipper only halfway up, revealing a white T-shirt underneath. With his barely-handsome appearance, he had a certain charm.

"Who are you? You're not from our school, are you?" He blinked one eye. "Shall we get to know each other? What do you want to buy? I'll treat you."

Tan Jia noticed that the students on both sides lowered their heads and silently walked around the man after seeing him.

Looks like a campus bully?
Unfortunately, she had seen many Plus versions abroad.

"You dare to act like a big shot with just two bottles of mineral water? Wait until you're this generous at Autobahn Motors in Singapore before you start saying these kinds of flirting talk." Tan Jia raised an eyelid, scoffed, and walked past him to pay the bill.

The boy's expression shifted from sunny to cloudy, and he chased after her out of the supermarket.

"So who exactly are you? You're an international student? You must have come to the school under the guise of visiting other students..."

Before he could finish asking about her identity, a commotion broke out in the crowd ahead, with someone shouting something.

Tan Jia stopped and subconsciously looked up—a figure had fallen from the roof and landed on the ground outside the teaching building within seconds, leaving a trail of blood.

"what--"

"Someone jumped off a building! Call the teacher!"

"Call 120! Oh my god, that's Wei Ting!"

The boy's annoying voice finally stopped, replaced by screams rising and falling from the crowd.

She threw herself into the water and rushed over, trying to save him.

"Hey classmate! Hang in there!"

The girl who had fallen used her last bit of strength to grab her hand, then looked helplessly at the rooftop.

There was a figure fleeing in panic.

The shadow disappeared, and the bloody hand in Tan Jia's hand slipped down. She suppressed her heart palpitations and looked back. The girl had already stopped breathing, but her eyes were still open, glaring angrily at the sky, and the corners of her mouth were turned up, as if she were smiling.

(End of this chapter)