It’s Him – Ch22

Going Together

Sun Ning found some time to visit the police station. She queued for more than an hour, during which she was thinking about how to explain everything clearly.

Finally, it was her turn.

She calmly told them about the events from back then. She didn’t directly say that Teacher Zhao was the murderer, but she mentioned her conversation with her roommate Li Hao and pointed out that Teacher Zhao had gone upstairs at the time.

The officer took notes and said they would verify the information. She was asked to leave her contact details and was told she would be notified about any follow-up.

It was an uneventful process.

Sun Ning knew deep down that the case would likely not be opened, but she still wanted to do it, even if there was just a sliver of hope.

She returned to her dorm at the school, contemplating what to do next.

At this time, Li Xun found her.

When Sun Ning saw Li Xun, she briefly considered whether she should tell her everything, but this was such a terrifying matter that she was afraid it might affect Li Xun’s emotions.

However, Li Xun did not wait for her hesitation. She spoke first: “I know you must have discovered something, but you’re worried that I might be scared and that it might affect my studies, so you didn’t want to tell me. Well, let me tell you everything I have already found out.”

Li Xun was so serious and sincere!

She brought with her more than a hundred A4 sheets of paper, showing and explaining them as she spoke.

“These are the materials I’ve collected recently, along with my analysis. They are all about Teacher Zhao, but I feel like there are still one or two missing pieces.”

To be honest, she had used every possible method to dissect Teacher Zhao’s soul.

However, the most crucial part—why Teacher Zhao stopped—was still something she hadn’t found.

Li Xun carefully displayed each sheet to Sun Ning as she spoke.

“I believe Teacher Zhao is the murderer behind the serial killings back then.”

“There’s an old saying online: When you find one cockroach, there’s likely a whole bunch more. When you find out that someone has killed one person, they might have already killed a whole group.”

“So, let’s start with the serial killings. Here is the information about the serial killings back then.” The serial killings involved the first case, which was very important.

“These are the details of the first victim,” she pointed to two lines of text at the bottom, “and here is the information that links this case to Teacher Zhao.”

“The time was during the summer vacation, and the location was in Pingcheng Park. At that time, the area had just been developed, and it was sparsely populated, giving him the opportunity to commit the crime…”

Li Xun had printed out all the information, including the victim’s family details, the victim’s information, publicly released police data, and information that had been confirmed to have been leaked by insiders or the victim’s family.

She even categorized everything with labels.

Sun Ning couldn’t believe it. She was now gathering online information. Given the years that had passed, along with so many people muddying the waters and saying nonsense to attract attention, finding the truth amid the mixed-up information was very difficult.

Li Xun continued: “Teacher Zhao suffered severe domestic violence as a child—”

Sun Ning couldn’t help but ask: “How do you know?”

Li Xun replied: “I know his son. I learned some things from him.”

After explaining, Li Xun continued her analysis: “The first case was likely a spur-of-the-moment act. I had his son interview his high school, middle school, and university classmates. He never made any mistakes at school, nor did he show violent tendencies back then, and there weren’t many cases of abnormal deaths around him.”

“So I think the first case was likely an impulse. His son was a very sensitive child, a real troublemaker, and I think it was this period that triggered his violent tendencies. That day, he might have gone for a walk in the park to escape his tormenting child, and met the first victim, who was crying on the ground. Although I’m not sure what method he used, he definitely took the child away. Back then, surveillance wasn’t as widespread as it is now.”

“I think he used that child as a substitute to torment, much like how he treated his own son.”

What could Sun Ning say? She could only nod.

“I read the reports from that time,” Li Xun continued. “Later, the irate parents started apologizing and pleading on the local TV stations, begging the kidnapper to return their child.”

Li Xun could even imagine how pleased Teacher Zhao must have been when he saw them crying and kneeling, begging for the child’s release.

“Teacher Zhao is a psychopath who derives pleasure from other people’s suffering. Add to that the fact that he had a father who abused him; he must have wondered as a child if his death would cause his father to feel pain and regret. And now, this twisted answer brings him immense satisfaction.”

“He enjoys the regret and pain of these angry families.”

As Li Xun spoke, she flipped through the cases to show Sun Ning. “So, these cases basically fit two criteria: either the child was very naughty, or the parents were irritable.”

“Until the last case,” Li Xun’s expression became much more complex. “This case didn’t meet either of those conditions. All the interviews said the little girl was very well-behaved and understanding, and her mother was also very gentle and patient.”

“I couldn’t understand why this happened at first. Later, Teacher Zhao’s son went to the police station to find his grandparents. Before this, Teacher Zhao had always claimed that his parents were both dead, but his son found out from the police that his grandparents were alive, and he even had an aunt.”

“We’re still trying to contact them. I suspect this mother and daughter correspond to his own mother and sister, but we won’t know the specifics until we get in touch.”

At this moment, Sun Ning could no longer see Li Xun as just an ordinary high school student.

“The Li Hao case happened after this mother-daughter pair. This means that Li Hao’s case was the final one…”

“The final case?” Sun Ning was stunned. Didn’t Li Xun give a list? It included all the students from Pingcheng High School who had committed suicide.

Li Xun: “…” She had messed up.

The sheet was forged by her, just to make Sun Ning believe her and quickly investigate the matter.

At this point, she had no choice but to tell the truth.

“That sheet was actually forged by me. I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me. Because the sheet only had me and Li Hao’s information, it was hard to find a pattern, so I added the names of other students who committed suicide.”

The truth was crucial at this moment, or else Sun Ning might go in the wrong direction.

Sun Ning could understand how it felt to be doubted. Although Li Xun had deceived her, that wasn’t the focus right now, so she decided not to hold it against her.

“Are you sure the other suicide cases have nothing to do with Teacher Zhao?”

“Well, it can’t be said to have nothing to do with him. He might have incited teacher-student conflicts and conflicts between students, but he didn’t physically harm anyone, so we won’t find any evidence.” Li Xun couldn’t help but vent: “You don’t know how meticulous and twisted this person is.”

Sun Ning sat down next to her and expressed her understanding. At this moment, no one knew more than the two of them.

“I’m missing the final piece of the puzzle. Why did Li Hao’s case become the last time he acted.”

Li Xun looked at Teacher Zhang. She seriously looked at Sun Ning: “You were there back then, and I want to know what really happened.”

At this moment, could Sun Ning still avoid talking about the past? Could she still not bring out the suicide note? Could she still feel like she was fighting alone without direction?

She couldn’t.