ACIFITFDB – Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Death Toll: 3

“She hasn’t been dead long, still in rigor mortis,” Xun Guangfan gently laid the girl’s body down. Her limbs were stiff, and even on the floor, she was curled up.

The girl had an exquisite face, but now it was swollen from drowning. Yu Jie sighed from behind. These children, even if a bit rebellious, should have been at the most carefree age, yet they encountered this bizarre invasion and became some of the earliest victims.

“I’ll go call Xun Guangfan up. He studied forensics for a while.”

Upon receiving the message, Xun Guangfan immediately came upstairs, frowning. “The cause of death is definitely drowning. The question is whether it was an accident, suicide, or murder.”

He carefully examined the girl’s head and limbs.

“There are no external injuries to her head, but there are a few bruises on her arms, suggesting she might have had a physical struggle with someone. The possibility of accidentally falling into the bathtub and drowning is slim. It’s highly likely murder.”

Yu Jie asked, “What do we do now? Do we need to check who entered her room? That way, we can find the killer. But these kids barely pay us any attention; it’s hard to even get them to gather together…”

Qin Xian suddenly asked, “You just spoke with the students. Didn’t they create any WeChat groups?”

Xun Guangfan’s eyes lit up. “Yes! I joined one. Should I post a notification in the group now? To get them to assemble?”

Qin Xian: “Getting them to assemble is impossible; they’re too rule-abiding.”

Xun Guangfan: “……”

It seemed that during his school days, disobedient classmates did indeed try to avoid flag-raising ceremonies and morning runs…

“We can’t just send a message saying someone died, can we…”

“Why not? They’ve already witnessed a classmate’s death. Causing a little panic now might actually help control the situation faster.”

Xun Guangfan looked at Qin Xian. Although he appeared as a teenager now, his expression was mature and indifferent, as if he completely disregarded the students’ mental well-being. Moreover… why did he smell of blood?

Noticing Xun Guangfan staring, Qin Xian, without any guilt of a murderer, calmly turned and asked, “Why do you keep looking at me? Even if you don’t send a message, they’ll find out sooner or later.”

Xun Guangfan shivered under his gaze and subconsciously took out his phone to send the message.

Within seconds, messages began flooding the students’ small group chat. Doors on both sides opened, and curious heads peeked out.

Indeed, regardless of age, humans possess a strong curiosity towards sudden events, especially explosive ones like death.

“Hey… did someone else die? Who is it? How did they die?”

“Isn’t this the girl from Class 4 who lived here? She stayed in her room since she arrived, never came out…”

“Move aside, move aside, I’m going to see!”

“Ah, I don’t dare to look… What do we do? Two people have died. Who is killing them? Will it be us next?”

“She probably died because she was secretly hiding in her room trying to read and study. As long as we keep playing and having fun, we’ll be fine!”

Several students gradually gathered, trying to peek at the body. However, Xun Guangfan and the others had already covered the body with a bedsheet and were guarding the door, preventing them from getting close.

Qin Xian listened to their conversation and asked, “Why are you so sure that reading and studying is the cause of death?”

A boy turned and replied, “Because when we were at the villa entrance initially, there were rules written on the door.”

“There were words on the door? Why didn’t any of you mention it before?”

“You didn’t ask.”

Qin Xian paused, wanting to discipline the impudent kid, but ultimately held back.

Xun Guangfan asked doubtfully, “You said there were words on the door, so why weren’t they there when we came in?”

“The words disappeared as soon as the door was pushed open… Anyway, as long as we play around and don’t think about studying or rules, we’ll be fine… Besides, we already hated studying, hated school, and hated home.” The boy’s voice grew softer towards the end, and he turned to leave.

Xun Guangfan immediately stopped him. “Everyone staying together now is the only way to ensure your safety!”

The boy immediately retorted, “Gathering together and obeying is just following rules, isn’t it? This place is so bizarre, what if we all get wiped out directly?”

With that, he quickly turned and ran off.

Xun Guangfan sighed and decided to chase after him to persuade him.

Qin Xian, however, didn’t possess such a sense of responsibility. He looked at the remaining students and asked, “Has anyone seen anyone else enter Room 408?”

The students shook their heads. Only one person raised their hand and whispered, “Um, I know the girl in this room. She’s Guo Miaomiao from Class 4… She has a conflict with Tao Xiuping from Class 5. Tao Xiuping lives right next to her and hasn’t come out much until now…”

The other students immediately started discussing.

“It’s Tao Xiuping again! He’s killed two people!”

“I heard he’s been to the police station several times before. Apparently for stealing at school and fighting.”

Yu Jie immediately refuted, “Don’t spread rumors. If he’d been to the police station, we would definitely…”

“Definitely what?” a student asked.

Yu Jie faltered. He suddenly remembered that his current appearance and age were the same as theirs. If he revealed his police identity, some students might become even more resistant.

“Nothing, don’t say such things without evidence.”

“Hmph, you don’t know what Tao Xiuping is like at school. Anyway, if you want to talk about who’s most suspicious, it’s definitely him. He hasn’t come down and doesn’t interact with anyone. But most of us are with our friends, so we have alibis!”

The term “alibi” even came up, suggesting they had watched quite a bit of detective-related content.

Qin Xian stood aside and directly asked, “Since you suspect Tao Xiuping so much, has anyone seen him enter Guo Miaomiao’s room?”

The students fell silent for a long time, until someone, feeling indignant, directly knocked on the adjacent door.

“Let’s just confront him directly, right? Hey! Tao Xiuping! Open the door!”

But even with pounding and kicking, there was no response from inside. Xun Guangfan inwardly thought, “This is bad,” and shoved the knocking student aside before fiercely kicking the door. However, even after ramming it several times, his legs and arms went numb, but the door remained unmoving.

“Let me.” Qin Xian stepped forward and placed his hand on the doorknob. At an angle others couldn’t see, a blue flame ignited inside the lock, completely engulfing the latch.

Qin Xian gave a gentle pull, and the door, which had been locked tight moments ago, opened directly.

The students next to him exclaimed, “Holy crap!? Magic? How did you open it?”

Qin Xian ignored them, entered the room, and after a thorough search, found it empty. A group of people swarmed in and searched everywhere but found no trace of anyone.

Qin Xian asked, “Are you sure he really didn’t leave?”

“After he returned to his room on the first day, we saw him come out twice. Both times he brought a lot of food into the room, as if he didn’t plan to come out again…”

“Let’s search other places. This place is only this big, we’ll find him soon.”

Qin Xian said nothing, merely standing by the window and opening it.

The space outside this house was a void. Outside the window, a bizarre blue sky and white clouds stretched to the edge of the vision, with no ground. He glanced down and said, “No need to search. He’s already dead.”

“What!?”

The people inside exclaimed and rushed to the window to look down. They saw a boy lying bizarrely at the bottom of the building, sprawled on an invisible ground, a large pool of blood suspended in the air. Although his body was prone, his head was eerily tilted upwards, his hollow eyes meeting the gaze of those looking down.

“Aaaah!!!”

A few timid students immediately screamed. Several police officers quickly pulled them away from the window and comforted them.

Qin Xian quietly observed the condition of the body by the window and said, “It seems the girl next door wasn’t murdered by him. He died a long time ago.”

A student asked, “Then was he… suicidal?”

“No, the window was closed just now.”

An uneasy atmosphere began to spread. Some students were on the verge of collapse and were about to cry out, but Qin Xian interrupted them first. “Get everyone to assemble. If they don’t come voluntarily, we’ll apprehend them. If they don’t listen, we’ll beat them.”

“You too. Go downstairs immediately and wait in the living room.” He looked at the students inside the room.

Someone immediately argued, “Why should I listen to you!”

Qin Xian directly punched through the cabinet next to him and asked with lowered eyes, “Any more questions?”

The students’ jaws almost dropped. How did this delicate-looking, long-haired boy smash through the wooden board with his seemingly weak fist? If it were their faces, they’d be paralyzed…

Xun Guangfan and the others also resumed their roles, cracking their knuckles and standing menacingly behind Qin Xian.

Students: “…We’ll go down, we’ll go down.”

Author’s Note: Is anyone still reading? Give a little chirp [pity]