Volume One (Prequel): The Seventh Reader - Chapter 8: Powerless Grief

Xing Zhisen sat exhausted in his chair, but his mood was joyful. The major drug trafficking case had finally been cracked. Early this morning, the city's criminal investigation team, after careful planning, raided a warehouse on the outskirts of the city where the suspected criminals were hiding. Two suspects who had escaped last time, one was shot on the spot, and the other was captured alive. Xing Zhisen had been in command of the operation from start to finish. Despite being extremely tired from the overnight interrogation, the joy of victory made him excited. He had intended to take a nap in his office, but he couldn't sleep at all.

At that moment, his phone rang. Xing Zhisen glanced at the screen and saw that it was Ding Shucheng calling. It was probably a congratulatory call. Xing Zhisen answered the phone, but his expression changed after hearing a few words. He exclaimed, "What, another one dead?"

His colleagues, who had been excitedly discussing the morning's operation, suddenly fell silent and all looked at Xing Zhisen. He listened to Ding Shucheng's urgent words on the phone with a solemn expression. Finally, he said, "Wait for me, I'll be right there!" He grabbed his coat, called a few colleagues, and hurried out.

As the police car just drove out of the city bureau's compound, Xing Zhisen's phone rang again, and it was Ding Shucheng once more. After listening to the call, Xing Zhisen sat in the car in silence. His eyes were fixed on the swirling snowflakes outside the window. After a while, he turned to a colleague who had been watching him with concern and said, "Not one, but two."

At the scene, two bodies were found. The first was a female corpse tied to a flagpole. Ding Shucheng received a call from the security office at the university, and as he was about to leave, they called again to report that another body, covered tightly by the snow, was found kneeling outside the sports field.

When Xing Zhisen arrived at the scene, his colleagues had already sealed off the area, and the surroundings were crowded with curious students. Xing Zhisen struggled to push through the crowd and saw Ding Shucheng squatting on the ground, staring blankly at the snowy ground, while a few forensic experts were busy by the female corpse that had been laid flat on the ground.

Xing Zhisen walked over and patted Ding Shucheng on the shoulder. Ding Shucheng jumped as if scalded by fire. Xing Zhisen noticed the rare fear in Ding Shucheng's eyes. He stared at Xing Zhisen blankly and after a few seconds, murmured, "Another person died, and it's two."

Xing Zhisen averted his gaze, feeling annoyed at his subordinate's weakness at this moment. He turned to another police officer present and asked, "What's the situation?"

The officer briefly recounted the process of the case. A student who came to the playground for morning exercise found the female corpse tied to the flagpole and immediately ran back to the security office to report. The duty officer called Ding Shucheng and went to the playground to seal off and protect the scene. While passing by the sports field gate, another vigilant officer thought a snowdrift next to the wall looked suspicious. Upon closer inspection, they found another male corpse buried under the snow in a kneeling position.

Xing Zhisen listened to the police officer's report with a furrowed brow and pondered for a moment before asking, "How is the on-site investigation going?"

The officer hesitated for a moment and said, "It's in progress, but... it's unlikely to yield any clues. The snow is too heavy, almost covering everything."

Xing Zhisen's brow furrowed even more tightly. He looked at Ding Shucheng, who still looked dazed. Xing Zhisen gave him a firm pat on the back and said, "Let's go and take a look over there."

The scene where the male corpse was discovered was similar to this one, with a dense crowd of students gathered around. The forensic experts had already begun to pack up their things. A familiar forensic expert approached Xing Zhisen and asked for a cigarette, taking a deep drag. Xing Zhisen asked if there were any clues, and the forensic expert said, "Death from hypovolemic shock," and then fell silent. After taking a big drag from the cigarette, the forensic expert threw the butt on the ground and extinguished it, then looked up and said, "I haven't encountered such a bizarre situation in many years. Four people have died in less than three months." Seeing Xing Zhisen's grim expression, he wisely kept quiet and went back to help others put the bodies into body bags.

The police officers lifted the body bags and walked towards the police car parked nearby. Due to the bodies being frozen in a kneeling position, the body bags looked oddly shaped and drew the attention of the students. The police waved to the students to make way, but no one spoke, and no one moved.

Xing Zhisen scanned the crowd and felt numerous hostile and distrustful gazes directed at him. He turned to the head of the security office, Chen Bin, and signaled for him to help maintain order. Chen Bin deliberately turned his head away, avoiding Xing Zhisen's gaze, and wore a grim expression.

Someone in the crowd shouted loudly, "How many more people have to die before you do something serious!" Many others immediately echoed in agreement, and the previously quiet playground suddenly became noisy.

The police officers looked at their leader, Xing Zhisen, at a loss. Xing Zhisen walked over, lifted the edge of the body bag, and walked forward. When he reached the crowd, it remained unmoving. A sturdy male student stood in front.

Xing Zhisen looked up at the face, full of energy and rudeness. The student, unyielding, met Xing Zhisen's gaze and his facial muscles twitched slightly.

Xing Zhisen stared into the student's eyes, and as the student's face turned increasingly red, his gaze gradually started to waver, his breathing grew heavier, and finally, he lowered his eyes and silently stepped aside. The crowd behind him also automatically made way.

Xing Zhisen lifted the body bag onto the car, then sat in the front passenger seat. Just as he was about to close the car door, a hand stopped it. Chen Bin's face appeared, and he glanced at the silent Ding Shucheng in the back seat, then looked at Xing Zhisen and said bluntly, "Four people have already died. When are you going to solve this case?"

Xing Zhisen did not respond, pushed away Chen Bin's hand, and closed the car door firmly.

The autopsy report and the on-site investigation report were quickly delivered to Ding Shucheng's desk.

The female victim was named Jia Feifei, a third-year student in the School of Economics at the university, from Gansu. When the body was found, she was naked and tied to the flagpole in the southwest corner of the playground, with the victim's underwear stuffed in her mouth. The autopsy revealed that the victim's hymen was ruptured, but no signs of recent sexual activity were found. Residual ether was found in the victim's mouth and nose, indicating that she was drugged before being stripped and tied to the flagpole. From the marks on the body, it was evident that the victim had briefly regained consciousness and struggled. With a temperature of approximately minus 24 degrees Celsius that night, the cause of death was clear: the victim had died from exposure.

The male victim's situation was rather unique. His name was Song Bo, also a third-year student in the School of Economics and a native of Henan. It was discovered through investigation that he and the female victim had been in a romantic relationship. The autopsy results showed a scalp laceration of about 3 square centimeters, likely caused by a blunt object, but not fatal. The ultimate cause of death was hemorrhagic shock due to an icicle inserted into the back of the victim's neck. The male victim's death appeared to be an accident. However, due to the low temperature that night, the icicle on the victim's head should have been the result of an external force. The investigators had climbed onto the sports field steps above the victim for examination, but due to over 11 centimeters of snow that night, the scene had left almost no valuable clues.

Preliminary investigations and interviews showed that the two victims had simple social relationships and were well-liked in their departments, with no rumors of grudges against anyone. The only valuable external investigation result was that the two victims were the same couple involved in a recent incident in the copy room.

Like the previous two cases, there were still no leads.

In less than three months, four people had died at the university, causing a stir not only within the university but also attracting the attention of the city's residents. This matter had drawn the attention of some leaders in the city, prompting the city bureau to report the situation to the city. It was rumored that the mayor had even lost his temper. After being reprimanded by the city's leaders, the bureau decided to prioritize the university's cases and set up a special task force led by the bureau chief to focus the entire bureau's efforts on solving the case. Xing Zhisen was appointed as the person directly in charge.

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Except for special circumstances, all the personnel in the criminal investigation team were assigned to field duty. Xing Zhisen and Ding Shucheng were also busy day and night. However, a week had passed, and there was still no progress.

The biggest problem was: What was the motive behind the killings?

This was the most troubling question for the task force. For ordinary homicide cases, if the perpetrator's motive could be inferred, the investigation would have a general direction. But in these four cases at the university, it appeared that the victims had no connection with each other. Apart from being concentrated in the School of Law and the School of Economics, there were no similarities or intersections in the victims' backgrounds and social relationships. This made the investigation difficult, and the focus was on the periphery in the hope of finding some leads, but this was a very complex and arduous task, with a very small possibility of finding clues in the short term.

Another issue was: Would there be more deaths?

This was a more pressing concern for the university. The goal of the police was to solve the case, but the goal of the university was to prevent any further similar incidents. The school was already in chaos.

On the day of the homicide on the playground, hundreds of students gathered in front of the administrative building, demanding an explanation from the university president and the security office. The president initially refused to come out, and a few vice-presidents and the president's assistant came out to mediate. The students' emotions grew increasingly agitated, and the crowd grew larger, with about 2,000 people eventually gathering in front of the administrative building, chanting slogans such as "We want safety, we want to survive!" and "The campus is not a slaughterhouse!" and demanding the resignation of the university president due to incompetence. Teaching and administrative activities at the university were paralyzed that day, and a few older teachers said it felt like they had returned to the Cultural Revolution overnight. Later, the president had no choice but to come out with the security office's head, Chen Bin, to appease the students and promise to strengthen campus security and prevent similar incidents. The students still refused to disperse. In the end, the president, with hair turned white, pledged to jump off the administrative building if there were any more deaths, and the students gradually dispersed.

On that day, the university held an emergency meeting and decided to form a campus security joint defense team with the security office and the student union, using a van as a patrol vehicle to patrol the campus 24 hours a day. They also strictly enforced the management system for each dormitory and teaching building, with dormitory doors closing at 10 pm, and students needing to present their student IDs to enter and leave the teaching buildings before 9:30 pm. More personnel were assigned to each teaching building and dormitory, and plastic batons were distributed.

Overnight, the once peaceful and serene university campus turned into a heavily guarded concentration camp.

As evening approached, the campus, once bustling, became eerily quiet. Fewer and fewer students went to the study rooms, and occasional couples who couldn't stand the loneliness came out to meet each other, casting cautious glances around. There were also fewer people in the dormitory, as many local students couldn't bear the oppressive atmosphere and went home directly after classes.

Especially in the male dormitory where the homicide occurred, the boys who used to be lively and talkative seemed to have grown up all of a sudden and became silent. After the curfew, there were no more cheerful chatter or hearty swearing in the corridor. Everyone moved quietly, as if afraid of disturbing a wandering spirit in the building. Occasionally, an accidental spill of a basin or a toothbrush cup would cause a panic and countless frightened glances.

The administrator, Sun Mei, had become increasingly sullen. The school, considering that the male dormitory had only one female administrator and that the school was short-staffed, had assigned a widowed man in his fifties with big yellow teeth and a bewildered look as an additional administrator. Sun Mei had been with him for a few days and then submitted a report to the school requesting a replacement, citing concerns about being a widow and a widower, and fearing rumors. The school was short-staffed and did not agree to the change, but proposed moving Sun Mei to another dormitory. Sun Mei refused, saying that students were more familiar, making it easier to manage, and didn't bring up the replacement of the administrator again. However, her attitude towards the students grew increasingly worse, and if students returned to the dormitory slightly late, they would receive a scolding from her. In front of the students, they called her Aunt Sun, but behind her back, they called her Sun Menopause.

That night, when Feng Mu returned to his dormitory a bit late, he saw Sun Mei about to close the door and hurriedly shouted, "Wait!"

Sun Mei glanced at him and slammed the door shut with a bang, then clicked the lock.

Feng Mu panicked and ran to the door, pounding on it, "Aunt Sun, it's me, open the door."

Sun Mei remained silent inside.

Feng Mu called out a few more times, but there was still no response. He was getting angry and was about to curse when the door opened, and Wu Han's face appeared. He beckoned to Feng Mu to come in quickly, and Feng Mu hurriedly stepped inside.

"You're on duty tonight?" Feng Mu asked in a low voice.

"Yeah, grab a few books. It's past time for lights out," said Wu Han.

"Thanks, Third Brother," Feng Mu said, looking at Sun Mei, who was wearing a stern expression, and didn't say much. He ran up the stairs.

The corridor was quiet. Feng Mu climbed up to the third floor and walked to the door of Room 352, but it was locked.

"Lao San?" a voice came from inside the room.

"Feng Mu."

"You wait here."

The person in the room, only wearing underwear, ran back to bed.

"Why did you lock the door so early?" Feng Mu asked.

The person got back into bed and said, "It's safer. Why are you back so late? We thought you had gone home."

Feng Mu threw his bag onto the bed, "I overstayed my time studying. Damn it, that old hag Sun Mei almost didn't let me in."

A few people chuckled. "Did Sun Menopause scold you?"

"Not really, but she wouldn't open the door. Luckily, Third Brother was on duty tonight."

"Yeah," the person in the bed nodded while lying under the covers. "Third Brother gets along well with Sun Mei."

Feng Mu took off his clothes and picked up a basin to wash his face and brush his teeth in the bathroom. When he returned, he noticed Room 351 across the hall was still pitch black. Despite having six people in Room 351, except for Lao Da and the deceased Zhou Jun, the other four were local students and had all gone home after class recently. Kong Qingdong didn't dare to sleep alone and moved to another room.

Feng Mu looked at the tightly closed door, where the somewhat irritating figure had lived for three years. Every day at this time, he would run around the various dormitories, asking for hot water, bragging, and joking with everyone, but now he lay as a pile of ashes in a small box at home thousands of miles away.

Feng Mu turned and walked back to his room.

With so many people dead, he was already too powerless to grieve.

Feng Mu lay on the bed, but he couldn't sleep at all. He glanced at the clock, there were still more than ten minutes until lights out. He turned over and got out of bed, taking two dumbbells from under the bed, and struggled to do chest exercises.

As the campus tightened its management, the boys returned to their dormitories early every day, finding themselves bored. So, fitness activities quietly became popular in the building. It helped to relieve boredom and, in case of unexpected incidents, serve as a form of self-protection. Feng Mu also bought two dumbbells, but he was not adept at this and felt physically exhausted after a few tries.

As he was panting, Wu Han pushed the door open and walked in.

"Hey, you're into this too?" Wu Han smiled. He took the dumbbells and effortlessly performed a few exercises.

"Wow, you're amazing," Feng Mu said enviously.

"It's nothing," Wu Han put down the dumbbells, maintaining an indifferent demeanor.

"Comparing you to Lao San, you can't keep up. He grew up doing farm work, unlike you, who was pampered," said Zhu Laosi.

Wu Han's expression changed, and he reached for several books from the upper bunk.

"Third Brother, are you on duty tonight?" Lao Wu asked.

"Yeah, grab a few books to read. Go to sleep, and make sure to lock the door," said Wu Han, and then left the room after these words.