The others were also aware of this. Bingxin wondered out loud, "The PE teacher who just spoke to us is the murderer?"
"Yes, it’s him. We’ve all been tricked!" Xiaotao huffed.
Without saying a word, Song Xingchen rushed out of the door and jumped directly from the third floor, much to the administrator’s surprise.
Through the administrator, we learned some basic information about Mr. Jia. His full name was Jia Chong and he was 28 this year. A quiet man, he usually left class with his textbook in hand and had no friends.
Aside from that, the administrator didn’t know anything else about Jia Chong. However, it didn’t matter. We would pay a visit to the high school where he once studied.
I pulled out a photo of Ke Wenyuan and asked, "Do you know this man?"
"How would I be acquainted with such a man?" the administrator arched an eyebrow.
"As expected of a teacher. You’re terrible at lying! Just tell us the truth!"
Scratching his cheek awkwardly, he truthfully explained that there were several bad students in school who prostituted themselves after mixing around with some punks. When the matter was revealed, the school exposed their patrons, and Ke Wenyuan was one of them.
Because the spread of this matter would have a bad influence on the school and the children’s future, the incident was downplayed. For this reason, the school strengthened their management, putting an end to such incidents.
"Sex with an underage constitutes imprisonment of more than three years and less than ten. The sentence is always heavy since this is no small crime. This school is amazing to have actually concealed such a major incident," mocked Xiaotao.
"We’re merely considering our children’s future,” argued the administrator. “Those girls are still young and were deceived by bad guys. How will they find a job and marry when they grow up?"
"Alright, that’s enough. It's been so hard on you!" Xiaotao sneered.
Schools were a relatively enclosed place, and teachers were conservative. Hence, such a place easily hid sordid secrets and ugly business. Things like bullying and prostitution were only known to the public when the situation got out of hand.
Xiaotao instructed Wang Yuanchao to stay and guard the scene until the police arrived. When we left, the administrator warned us against mentioning anything about today, for fear of affecting the school’s enrollment rate.
Song Xingchen hadn't yet returned. Meanwhile, the three of us headed to Yingjie Private High School. When we spoke to the person-in-charge, he denied everything just as I had expected, though I saw through the lies at a glance.
What the previous school did was nothing compared with this one!
About half a year after Mr. Xu's death, someone found the skeleton of a young girl fossilized under the sandpit. The school failed to associate this matter with Mr. Xu’s daughter, and assumed that a murderer had dumped the body there.
Afraid of affecting their reputation, the school came to a decision to secretly dispose of the body.
If they had called the police at the time and discovered the young murderers, today’s events might have been prevented. Today’s serial killing case came into existence because of the small incident of removing their cell phones ten years ago, followed by a butterfly effect.
I asked the administrator for a list of students in Mr. Xu’s class, and I found Jia Chong's name on it.
When he was studying, his grades were among the best, especially in chemistry which he scored full marks every year. However, the identities of the other victims couldn’t be determined and the teachers from that year had already left the school.
Thus, we telephoned each student, one by one, till we identified all the victims.
The two dead women were Chen Xiaoyan and Ge Qing while the four men were Hu Zhuangzhuang, Zhang Wei, Hou Shan and Qin Yu.
Among them, Zhang Wei and Ge Qing were a couple, while Chen Xiaoyan was the girl Jia Chong had a crush on.
After jotting down the names of the victims, Bingxin said, "Who was the real murderer of Mr. Xu’s daughter that year? Will Jia Chong actually kill himself as promised?"
"I don't know who the murderer is, but I’m certain that Jia Chong won't kill himself. The murderer is a man with strong self-esteem. The real motive behind the murders isn’t atonement, but the derision towards his profession shown by his classmates! The reason why he wants to avenge Mr. Xu is merely to find a fig leaf for his dark heart. It’s a form of self-deception, and the man fully believes in the lies he’s created.
"Additionally, he’s definitely not a man with a sense of justice! Just think about it. As a teacher who educates young people, he uses the pervert who slept with his students instead of calling the police. Jia Chong easily located Ke Wenyuan at the beginning of the murders, indicating that they had always contacted each other in private. Perhaps he has extorted this person for a long time. Would such a person be a messenger of justice?"
Right then, Xiaotao received a phone call. After a brief conversation, she turned to me with a conflicted look.
When I asked what had happened, Xiaotao sighed, her lips rising in a smile. "Song Yang, you’re usually spot on, but this time, it’s your turn to take a hit. Song Xingchen just reported that the murderer committed suicide!"
"That’s impossible!" I stare wide-eyed.
"It’s a fact," said Xiaotao.
Why did Song Xingchen contact Xiaotao instead of me? Was he also afraid of hurting my self-esteem?
In truth, I wasn’t at all bothered about that. I was certain in my behavioral analysis of the murderer. Like a stone, one’s character was hard to change. "Jia Chong will never commit suicide!" I insisted.
"Let's look at the body first!" suggested Xiaotao.
We arrived at Song Xingchen’s location–a residential area where he chased the murderer. After scanning the area, he discovered a door that smelled of blood and hacked the lock with his sword. A grisly scene greeted our eyes.
A man's corpse with his back tied to a wooden board was kneeling on a straw mat, his face eroded by hydrochloric acid. He wore a black robe with an imitation ancient sword in his hand and a soldier’s helmet on the ground next to him.
A closer look revealed an inscription on the ancient sword, which read, "Jade Dragon."
I immediately understood the meaning the murderer wanted to convey–to fulfill the sovereign’s Golden Tower dream, Jade Dragon sword in hand, they battle to their deaths.
There was no obvious trauma on the body, but a red spot left by an injection on the wrist. A syringe had been thrown on the ground beside the body, still containing some liquids. A beaker filled with hydrochloric acid had shattered on the ground so its contents spilled out, burning a large portion of the wooden floor.
There was no trace of a scuffle at the scene. From all the signs, it seemed to be a suicide. The body also matched the murderer’s figure.
I couldn't help but applaud. "Jade Dragon sword in hand, they battle to their deaths. What an incredible curtain call."
"So you admit he committed suicide?" asked Xiaotao.
I shrugged, "I only believe what my eyes see. Let's conduct an autopsy first!"