Chapter 20 Fear

Looking at the ground covered in fallen leaves and trash, Su Jin'er couldn't help but frown.How long would it take to search through such a huge forest?

Just as she was about to give up, her phone suddenly rang.

Lin Yuan quickly ran over when she heard the ringtone. "Who is it?"

"It's Chu Feifan." Su Jin'er answered the call. "Did you find any clues?"

Chu Feifan paused for a second. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the forest where Zhang Junsheng's body was found."

"What are you doing there? That place is dangerous!"

"Do you have any news?"

"Yeah… I found some information about Zhang Junsheng. Let's meet at the school gate, okay?"

"Okay."

Su Jin'er hung up and took a deep breath.Had Zhang Junsheng really left no clues? Or… was she simply searching in the wrong place?

"We're giving up?" Lin Yuan asked, tossing away the stick in her hand as she clapped off the dirt.

"Yeah. We've searched for so long and found nothing. Next time, let's bring the two guys with us."

When they returned to the school gate, Chu Feifan and Zuo Yi were already waiting.

"What did you find about Zhang Junsheng?" Su Jin'er asked urgently. She was deeply worried about Li Yiqian. It had been four days since her disappearance—perhaps it was already too late.

"You won't believe this," Zuo Yi said, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "Zhang Junsheng is three years older than us. By all rights, he should be at least two grades ahead. So why is he in our year?"

"What's so strange about that? Maybe he repeated two years or started school late," Lin Yuan chimed in.

"Enough riddles! I'm really worried about Qianqian!" Su Jin'er said, frowning with anxiety.

"Zhang Junsheng… twenty-one years old. His family lives in this city, but they're not originally from here. His parents are farmers who moved here for work. Despite that, his grades were excellent, so it's impossible he repeated a grade. The reason he's in our class… is because he went missing two years ago."

"He went missing?"

"Yeah. And his name wasn't even Zhang Junsheng back then. He changed it later."

"How do you know all this? Even if he changed his name, his face wouldn't change. Wouldn't the upperclassmen recognize him?"Instead of clearing things up, this new information only made everything seem more complicated. Had they been overthinking this all along? Su Jin'er couldn't figure it out.

"That's exactly what's strange," Chu Feifan said.

"Aren't there photos in his student file?"

Chu Feifan shook his head. Zuo Yi gave a helpless shrug.

"We tried to find his photo… but there wasn't one. His file was only half there. I think someone must've destroyed the useful evidence before we got to it. Maybe all we're left with are scraps or even misleading information."

Su Jin'er felt her heart sink.With no clues… how were they supposed to find anything?

"And we looked into the three dead students too," Chu Feifan continued. "At each crime scene, only their own footprints and fingerprints were found. Both Li Ran and Zhang Junsheng died the same way — their carotid arteries were cut."

"You mean… ghosts really exist?" Lin Yuan's voice went sharp with fear. She was trembling all over.

"Calm down, Lin Yuan. There are no ghosts. Ghosts are just in people's imagination. Don't scare yourself."

Lin Yuan wasn't the brave type. She'd always claimed she loved anatomy, but the truth was she wanted to be a forensic doctor. But now… with such a bizarre murder case in front of them, she was terrified.

"A forensic doctor can't be afraid of corpses—let alone ghosts. At least, these are still complete bodies."Su Jin'er released her and turned to Chu Feifan and Zuo Yi. "I need a favor."

"What is it?"

"Take me to the police station."

Su Jin'er wasn't reckless. They had reported the case four days ago, but the police had no leads. What was worse, three people had died, one was missing, and yet the school authorities acted as if nothing had happened.Were they not afraid this would ruin the school's reputation? Or…

A chilling thought hit her.No way… I'm overthinking.She shook her head, trying to shake off the disturbing idea. But it wouldn't leave her.

If you want, I can continue with the creepy dormitory scene. This is already a long segment — let me know if you want the next part!