Puzzle Madness

Chapter 116 Uneasy
Ai Xi missed morning reading again today.

She rushed into the classroom just as the first class was about to begin: the cuffs of her school uniform were dirty and had a strange smell; her face was pale, and she was in a daze, drinking water all the time.

I don’t know if someone went to her house again and threw fresh paint on it - Doudou didn’t have time to share today’s flying experience, and there was also the old man who was practicing Taoism and carrying a woven bag gourd.

Ai Xi wasn't around, so Doudou had to borrow homework from a classmate sitting behind him and finish it all before morning reading. Even when he was copying homework, the classroom was bustling with activity, and no one knew what they were arguing about.
But everyone looked scared—
The only exceptions are Doudou and Ruan Jingbo: the action of separating limbs in the dream should be going smoothly; today they can even lie on the desk and pretend to be asleep.
-
The bell for the first class rang, and the head teacher strode into the classroom and slammed the lesson plan in his hand on the podium with a bang.

He was sweating profusely, his glasses unable to block his nervous vision; he held his forehead, his eyes were red, and his voice sounded choked with phlegm:

"Everyone, be serious. I have something to announce."

"Starting today—if your parents can come pick you up after school, it's best if they do. And during breaks, make some calls."

"If your parents aren't available, find a group of classmates to go home with: at least three people. Tell your group leader who you plan to go home with—after school, the class leader will bring the list to me in the office."

"Everyone needs to register! If anyone hasn't registered, please write a self-criticism and bring it over tonight. If you forgot to bring anything else, don't cry while I call your parents."

"Oh, and also: go straight home after school, don't hang around playing around outside; and if I run into you, I'll just assume you don't have enough homework."

"The most important thing is to run away if you see someone you don't know. If you see hooligans or gangsters, run away and stay away from them!"

"People nowadays don't know what they're capable of. When you grow up, you'll understand. The most peaceful time is still in school."

"And then, there's"

The head teacher suddenly shook his head, turned to face the blackboard, pulled out a wrinkled striped handkerchief from the back pocket of his trousers, and covered his face with it.

The classroom was filled with the sound of his loud, sticky nose blowing - which then turned into low sobs.

Looking left and right——
Faced with the crying head teacher, the students didn't even whisper to each other; there was a strange cloud on their faces, and even the hyperactive student sitting in front of them stopped turning his pen.

It seemed that only Doudou was still unprepared—he had missed too much this morning because he was copying some homework:

"What's up with this? Why are you all so nervous all of a sudden?"

Ai Xi took out a stack of photos from his pocket like a magic trick - all four inches in size.

She stuffed the photo into Doudou's hand, then opened her schoolbag and showed him the Fuji Polaroid camera inside.

"Because someone died in the teachers' dormitory next door. Several people died. And none of them were teachers, you see."

The teachers' dormitory of Mong Cai No. 5 Middle School is adjacent to the school and can be reached by turning out the back door. After school, you can often smell the food coming from there, which is very tempting.

"I was late for morning reading earlier, so I secretly went to take pictures of this thing."

She lowered her voice a little, panted, and tapped the photo with her fingers:
"More police officers arrived later, and there seemed to be plainclothes detectives as well. I ran away first—the dead were probably from the company."

Doudou lowered his head, hid his hands in the drawer, and flipped through the photos one by one:
Two men and one woman; the collars of their black jackets and white shirts were stained red.

The bodies lay on the black-stained cement floor, their hair spread out on the ground, their faces facing the sky.

Ai Xi was very serious when taking the aerial photo, and there were no problems with the framing and composition; it looks like it could be used as an ID photo when crossing the Naihe Bridge.

They were probably between 30 and 40 years old - maybe it was because the photo was overexposed or because of blood loss, but they all looked extremely pale, with no visible pores on their faces.

There are individual close-ups, as well as "group photos" of them together; if it weren't for the wounds on their necks, you might not be able to tell at first glance that they were dead.

His mouth was slightly open, his eyes were out of focus; he was in a daze forever.

The corpse had a completely different look from the one Doudou had imagined. Rather than being calm, it looked more like someone was absorbed: as if completely immersed in the very thought of death.

It seemed like he was playing the game seriously and attentively, but suddenly his heart stopped beating, his brain was deprived of oxygen, and he passed away as if the terminal had lost power.

I wonder if there are any other fatal injuries - the coat is so black that even if there are bloodstains, they are not clearly visible:

"Hey! This style of dressing. In such hot weather, he wears a black windbreaker, a black suit, and a white shirt. He looks like an FBI agent."

He was very familiar with this style of dress; he'd seen it just the week before last: "They really do look like agents from the Asia-Europe Postal Service. Hmm."

"It's a strange death, with all his clothes on. Look, his gun is still in its holster."

Ai Xi rubbed his neck and measured the length with two fingers:

"He died before he could even react to the sensation. The wound was on his neck and looked like a knife wound. I wonder if it was caused by ecstasy?"

"It seems to have happened early this morning. Who do you think did it?"

Doudou flipped through the remaining photos, which were photos of the crime scene.

There were police cars and yellow banners cordoning off the scene; more were the furnishings of the teachers' dormitory complex:
There were single and double poles, a stone chess table, and a small, shabby croquet court - the old people liked to play that, it looked like a golf ball.

I don’t know how Ai Xi sneaked in and found the opportunity to take so many photos:

"Well, it's hard to say. During the summer vacation, I heard from my friend Richard that there are also internal fights and life-and-death struggles within the Asia-Europe Post. The workplace is really cruel--"

"Are other companies also trying to capture the Mong Cai market, so they're engaging in this kind of direct commercial war? This is so despicable. I hope it doesn't affect our schooling."

Ai Xi stared blankly ahead, coughing occasionally. She didn't respond to Doudou's words:

"... I didn't realize a corpse really smells this bad, even worse than a live pig. I never thought of that before. It's so hot, I guess it started to rot immediately. I'm vomiting to death, but luckily I brought a plastic bag."

Doudou handed the mineral water to Ai Xi and patted her on the back:

"You even leaned in to smell it? Why didn't you pinch your nose or hold your breath to take the photo?"

Ai Xi shook his head, closed his eyes, and wiped his face:
"Well, I want to smell it and get used to it. It's better to be prepared. Otherwise, if I encounter a dead person in the future, I will be so scared that I can't move or start vomiting. That would be terrible."

Doudou was a little surprised, but he still sorted the photos and put them into Ai Xi's schoolbag:
"Huh?! Why are you adapting to this? You want to fight a war?"

"Oh, don't think about that for now. Aren't we supposed to recruit new members for your club at noon? Let's take the manuscript to the radio station later--"

Cough!

The head teacher finally perked up and turned around. His eyes and nose were even redder, and he sniffed.

"Then."

"Your math teacher, Mr. Wu, has been feeling unwell these days, so Mr. Li from Class 2 will continue to cover for a while."

"Students, remember this: nothing matters more than life and death. If you feel stressed or worried, you can tell your teacher. Never give up your life lightly!"

"Alas! Teacher Wu, Teacher Wu keeps everything in his heart—"

He shook his head vigorously:

".Okay, let's go to class."

The head teacher shut up and the classroom became unusually quiet.

There was only the constant sound of police cars and ambulances beeping, sometimes near, sometimes far away; it floated in from outside the window and into my ears.

After the second period, they were supposed to go downstairs for morning exercises; but there was no music playing, and the sound of sirens in the distance seemed even louder.

The noises have not stopped for most of the morning.

A voice came from the school radio station - but it was not the Taro Society's recruitment message, but the principal's dry voice, announcing news that was unclear whether good or bad:
There are no classes in the afternoon, so go home and study.

　I have two outdoor photoshoots today and tomorrow! If I don’t update tomorrow at noon, it means I didn’t have time to finish it~ (I’ve used up all my saved drafts recently, so I can’t use them to make up for it)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)