It’s Him – Ch01

Homeroom Teacher?

“Have you ever repeatedly had the same dream?”

There were a variety of answers to this question. Some said they frequently dream of climbing the same mountain but can never reach the top. Others said they repeatedly dream of eating the same food, even forcing themselves to continue eating after throwing up.

These were all strange and nonsensical nightmares, with some people analyzing the dreamer’s life circumstances.

Until one response appeared.

“I don’t repeatedly dream the same dream; I only ever dream under one background in this life. Since I was old enough to remember, I’ve always had this dream when I sleep at night. In the dream, I’m in the dark, and there’s a buzzing sound in my ears. I can’t keep my eyes closed, and I can’t speak. Someone is slapping me. The content of the dream sometimes changes, but the overall background remains the same.”

“One of the clearer times, there was a man in the dream. He kept asking me, ‘Are you still listening? Do you understand now? Do you dare to shout anymore?'”

“He would pinch my neck hard, twist my ear, lift me up, and then slam me to the ground.”

“I was very scared, but I didn’t dare cry. My eyes hurt so much.”

“In the end, he cut my stomach open and stuffed it with dry grass. I was buried in the dirt, and the mud was very stinky.”

This was originally supposed to be just an ordinary nightmare response, until someone in the comments said:

“Could it be that you were murdered in your past life, and that’s why you keep having this dream?”

The person responded, “I don’t know, but the dream feels incredibly real. When I was young, I thought everyone had the same dream every night. I only realized in fifth grade that others had different dreams every night, and it really shocked me.”

At this point, it wasn’t a big deal.

Until one day, the person logged on again and added a comment.

“I had that dream again. This time, I dreamed I was standing at a crossroads, holding a red balloon. There were people everywhere, and I kept crying.”

The crossroads and the child holding the red balloon were too obvious.

In the past few days, netizens had been bombarded with tributes to the victims of the red balloon serial killings, so when they saw this, they felt uncomfortable.

“Didn’t someone say people who are murdered in their past lives can’t forget about it, and that it inspired you to post this to seek attention?”

“Are you trying say you were one of the victims of the red balloon serial killings from seventeen years ago?”

“A relative posted a memorial video a few days ago, and it gained attention. The whole internet is discussing this case, and you’re saying this right now?”

“Is this attention-seeking? Don’t you feel bad for the victim’s family, what if they see this?”

The person quickly replied: “I’m a high school student, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just dreamed of new details. I’ve been talking about this dream for several years, I’m not trying to ride the trend.”

The netizens clicked on the person’s profile.

She was a high school student who often shared things on weekends. It seemed like she had only discovered the site a few months ago, and had been answering dream-related questions ever since. Most of the time, she talked about how she had the same dream since childhood, where she would always say something in the dream, but every time she woke up, she couldn’t remember what it was.

It was a bit strange, but it didn’t seem intentional. She was just a high school student, so everyone let it go without scolding her.

Up until now, it wouldn’t have attracted much attention.

Until one day in March, the girl logged on again and updated three sentences.

“This time, the dream had more details. I dreamed of a woman calling my name. She was crying and kept asking me to come home. I wanted to tell her I was here, but I couldn’t open my mouth.”

“When I woke up, I found that I had sleepwalked. I walked to a basketball court construction site in a nearby neighborhood. It was a very strange dream, and this was the first time I had sleepwalked. The site is at least 3 kilometers from my home, and I’ve never been there. I don’t know how I ended up here.”

She attached a photo, showing the early morning sunlight shining warmly on the construction site. Although work hadn’t started yet, the area was already fenced off.

“When I stood here, I had a very strange feeling. I really wanted to lie down.”

Was this person not going to stop?

A netizen commented: “You’re so bold. Are you trying to say you were buried here in your past life?”

“We told you last time, stop using this case for attention.”

“Stop using the tragic case to get attention.”

“This case is extremely tragic. Several family members still haven’t gotten over it. Just a few days ago, a family member committed suicide. Are you not afraid of retribution for using this case for attention?”

“I’ve already reported it.”

The next day, the city’s biggest news story was that a human body had been discovered at a neighborhood basketball court construction site, and investigations were underway.

The most-liked comment under the news was: “Is this the victim of the red balloon serial killings from seventeen years ago? They should investigate this direction!”

Some people, not knowing the details, asked: “Why are you saying that? It’s not certain, is it?”

“There’s an answer on a popular forum, and it’s trending right now. Go check it out, it’s really eerie!”

More people clicked on the link.

The comments under that answer kept growing.

“It can’t be, right?”

“Could it be a coincidence? Is it the same place?”

“It’s the same place. Look at these two pictures, they’re identical.”

“This is a bit too mysterious, but there are indeed some things in this world we can’t explain. I remember a show on CCTV where a sister found her missing brother’s body after he had told her in a dream where to find it. The police followed her directions and really found the body. Later, the murderer was caught. The sister had no connection to the case, and the police investigated her for a long time. She never went there, but no one could explain how she knew where it was.”

A few days later, the authorities gave an answer.

In a long official report, everyone focused on one sentence.

“It was indeed the victim of a serial killing case.”

Someone went to the site and carefully compared the photos.

They really were identical.

“At midnight, looking at these now, it gives me chills. This is the place. Looking at the photo composition, the girl was probably standing here, and then felt that her previous life’s body was buried underneath.”

“This is too bizarre. I can’t figure out how she could sense the body’s presence.”

“You guys are too easily fooled. This photo was probably taken earlier, unintentionally capturing the area that hadn’t been dug up. Then someone must have found the body and posted the information online, exploiting the time gap and information gap.”

“No, I live in this neighborhood. When she posted the photo, construction hadn’t started yet. Some people in the neighborhood opposed it, so work stopped for three days. Yesterday, construction resumed, and an hour later, the body was found. The neighborhood was surrounded, and the police came immediately. With the information network so advanced, someone must have posted it on social media.”

Everyone searched, and indeed, the girl had posted the information before construction started, and there was a three-day gap.

“How could this be? Could the murderer have staged it? Some murderers are so twisted they enjoy toying with the public. Does this case have a statute of limitations?”

“This case is too horrific and has had too much social impact. It’s not subject to the statute of limitations.”

“Would the murderer be foolish enough to talk about it now? With the situation blown up this big, the police will definitely investigate her.”

More people felt chills. They carefully examined the netizen’s answer and, the more they looked, the more they felt uneasy.

“I remember that the only victims who were found in the case were the mother and daughter from the last case. The bodies of the other victims were never found, and we don’t know what happened to them.”

“Now, looking at her dream, everything around her was black, her eyelids couldn’t close, her mouth couldn’t speak, her stomach was slit open and stuffed with dry grass. It’s giving me chills.”

“Is this really a case of past life and present life?”

“If not, how do you explain the details of her dream? How do you explain how she knew the place where her body was buried?”

“I don’t care about past lives and present lives. I just want to know if she remembers what the murderer looked like. The murderer has never been caught, and I thought I’d never see them brought to justice in my lifetime.”

“Why hasn’t she logged in again? Something must have happened, right? With so many netizens following her, she should come out and say something. This is driving me crazy.”

“She’s not an adult, and she’s said she’s still in high school. High school students probably can’t use their phones from Monday to Friday. She probably doesn’t know the news. Let’s wait for the weekend.”

“The police must have seen this information by now. I wonder if they’ve gone to find this girl.”

“They’ll definitely go, but the official authorities probably won’t directly address the issue of past lives and present lives. They’ve always been very cautious about such matters.”

“Let’s wait for the weekend.”

Under the connection of the internet, people from all directions were paying attention to this girl, waiting for the high school student to give an explanation.

At this point, some people still felt that although they didn’t understand the situation, it definitely wasn’t about past lives and present lives. They had a vague feeling that the outcome of this situation would be the high school student coming forward to admit it was a coincidence.

Two days later, the high school student logged in again. She didn’t avoid the issue as some rational netizens had expected. She directly addressed the question.

“The police have already come to see me. I told them everything I know. I’m not seeking attention, I’m not selling anything, and I’m not the murderer. I’m only seventeen years old. Whether you believe it or not, I’m just saying what I know.”

The top comment was: “We believe you, we believe you, sister. Can you tell us, do you remember what the murderer looked like?”

Whether they believed in past lives or not, everyone was glued to their phones, continuously refreshing the comments, waiting for her reply.

One second, two seconds… Other comments kept increasing, but there was still no reply from the high school student.

Just as everyone thought she wouldn’t reply.

A response appeared.

Two words and a picture.

“I Remember.”

The picture was a simple sketch, with a few strokes outlining the face of a middle-aged man.

Despite being rough, it was still clear that it depicted an ordinary, honest-looking man.

At that moment, a student from a high school in Pingcheng took off her glasses, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Homeroom teacher?