It’s Him – Ch07

You’d better be the murderer

When Teacher Zhao took over Li Xun’s class during the break, others asked him if he didn’t find it troublesome. He had said something to the other teachers in the office.

“I have high hopes for this student. She has a certain ruthlessness in her.”

He said this because at that time, her grades had dropped significantly, and she had violated school rules. The school was about to expel her. She admitted her mistake and promised that she would improve by one hundred spots within two months.

At this age, students are prone to make mistakes, but what was impressive was that she realized she was on the wrong path and immediately turned things around. She didn’t wallow in her emotions, and she quickly fixed the mess. Even adults might not have been able to do that.

Teacher Zhao kept her around, not just because of what he had said to the other teachers, but also because he was curious about how she would handle the strange looks and bullying from her classmates. Students at Pingcheng High School face a lot of pressure, and bullying is not uncommon.

However, nothing happened. As a teacher, he couldn’t fully enter the students’ internal circles, but even during classes and breaks, he could sense that there was no bullying happening. She was still going about her life smoothly.

He asked the class monitor about it, asking the class monitor to pay more attention to her. The class monitor replied, “Don’t worry, Teacher Zhao, everyone in our class likes her. No one bullies her.”

Teacher Zhao found it very strange. If her ability to clean up the mess had surprised him, then her ability to solve this subtle problem was beyond his comprehension.

But this was only a doubt.

He had originally thought that she was a student who had gone astray but had found her way back, but unexpectedly, he heard her voice in the basement.

Once Teacher Zhao realized it was Li Xun, hope filled his heart, and he started making noises, waiting for her to discover him.

From yesterday to today, he made several noises, but none of them were noticed. Perhaps she had noticed but avoided him.

Around three in the morning, he vaguely heard the sound of a garbage truck dumping trash outside.

“Wake up—wake up—”

Teacher Zhao felt someone pushing him. Dazed, he woke up and saw something white—was it a ghost?!

He was startled and focused. It turned out that there was someone in front of him, with an A4 piece of paper stuck to their face. The paper had two holes poked in it, revealing a pair of eyes.

That strange, lowered voice was coming from under the A4 paper.

“Are you awake?”

Teacher Zhao was still tied up, with a rag stuffed in his mouth, but his eyes weren’t glued shut anymore.

He wasn’t in the same state as when he had just been tied up. He had not eaten or drunk anything for two days, and he had no doubt that if he didn’t give the person the information they wanted, he would slowly starve to death here.

He shook his head, signaling for them to remove the rag from his mouth. He wanted to talk to them.

The person was using their phone’s flashlight for illumination, and the light was dim.

After hesitating for a moment, the person reached out but withdrew their hand. Teacher Zhao had already guessed who it was. He thought they didn’t want him to speak, but then he saw them take a piece of paper from their pocket and wrapped the rag in the paper before taking it out.

Still a high school student.

“Li Xun.” He immediately revealed their identity.

“Who is Li Xun?”

“I know it’s you. I also recognized your mother.” Teacher Zhao didn’t curse or demand to be let go but instead said, “I know you’re panicking and scared right now.”

“I’m not panicking.”

Li Xun then removed the A4 paper from her face and said, “You say you recognized her? Did you realize she was the victim’s family member from the serial murder case?”

Teacher Zhao: “What serial murder case? Why did your mother tie me up here? And why am I supposed to say some address?”

Li Xun looked at him and said, “…You received an entertainment tabloid at school. Don’t tell me you didn’t know about this?”

He seemed to have an epiphany and said, “So it’s because of this? Is it because that drawing looks a lot like me? So you think I’m the killer? Your mother is a victim’s family member? That’s why you tied me up? I’ve been racking my brain these past few days and couldn’t figure this out.”

“Really? I don’t believe it.” Li Xun stared at him, trying to read his expression for any inconsistencies.

He said, “Li Xun, think carefully. That drawing looks exactly like me. The murder happened more than ten years ago. Could I have looked the same back then as I do now?”

Teacher Zhao studied his student’s expression, trying to gather more information from it.

Sure enough, the high school student didn’t dare to meet his gaze anymore. He felt she was starting to believe him, even though she still said, “She must have dreamed about it. Maybe she dreamed about you looking like this now.”

Teacher Zhao: “Do you believe that yourself?”

The high school student, who was facing a huge problem, first looked carefully at her teacher, then saw that he was tied up like this, with blood on the corners of his mouth and red eyes. Suddenly, she gave him a firm look and said, “Teacher Zhao, is it possible that you really are the serial killer?”

“I talked to your son. He said he cried a lot when he was young. He was a high-demand baby, and everyone around him wanted to kill him.”

Teacher Zhao seemed not to understand her point: “Because my son was a high-demand baby, I’m supposed to go out and kill people? Listen to yourself. Do you think that makes any sense?”

As an outstanding student, Li Xun immediately used a practical example to explain her point clearly.

“Look, there are some men in society who are polite and kind to others, very friendly, and have accumulated a lot of anger inside. Once they get home, they take it out on their children or wives, venting their emotions.”

Zhao Laoshi: “You should ask my ex-wife if I’ve ever hit her.”

“Teacher, you need to learn to think more broadly. Everyone has negative emotions. These domestic abusers vent their negative emotions on their family members to achieve an emotional balance. They leave their kindness for others outside. When it’s revealed that they abuse their families, everyone who knows them is shocked and refuses to believe it. They think it’s impossible. I call this emotional conservation. The malice inside them will eventually find a way to be released.”

“So, what are you trying to say? Do you think I have emotional conservation too?”

“Do you think it’s possible that some people are extremely evil? They were born in terrible environments, never received good family education, and have a high-demand baby at home. They don’t know how to release the pressure from their family, so they vent this evil on unrelated people in society. Once they vent it outside, they can maintain patience at home.”

The high school student rested her chin on her hand, watching her teacher. Since the flashlight from her phone was aimed at the teacher, Li Xun was entirely in darkness, and Zhao Laoshi couldn’t observe his student’s expression. He could only hear her say, “Does this situation feel familiar to you?”

“This is just your guess. I’m really not the murderer. There are people like me who are patient. Your so-called theory is just your guess.”

In Zhao Laoshi’s eyes, Li Xun was still pretending to be calm. This was the first reaction from a high school student after discovering her mother had kidnapped her own class teacher.

She hoped he was truly a serial killer because then the situation wouldn’t be so troublesome.

Her mother would be taking justice into her own hands. While the law might still be an obstacle, it was certainly better than kidnapping and abusing an innocent person.

Zhao Laoshi looked at her, still only seeing darkness, but still expressing his sincerity. He said, “I’m really not a killer.”

Li Xun glanced at him and said, “I don’t think you need to keep explaining this.”

“You all think I’m a murderer, and I can’t not explain.”

“If you explain, my mom won’t believe you. Then we’ll be stuck, right? She could really keep you locked up until you tell her where her child is.” Li Xun said, “Why not just tell her where the child is?”

“I really don’t know.”

“Your mom probably has a mental illness. You don’t have to worry about me reporting her after I leave.”

He was so kind and considerate, speaking to his student, “I haven’t really been harmed. It hurts a bit, but nothing serious. As long as you let me go, I’ll just say I was drunk and fell into a gutter.”

Li Xun: “… Do you believe that?”

Zhao Laoshi was silent for a moment.

Li Xun said, “We’re in a difficult position. Someone has to take a step back.”

Zhao Laoshi had already realized that the other person didn’t have any sense of morality or guilt. She knew exactly what she wanted, so it was useless to say anything.

He could only ask, “So what do you plan to do?”

“You can choose to trust me.” Li Xun said, “I keep my promises. My dilemma is if I let you go, my mom will go to jail. Your dilemma is that if you don’t admit you’re the murderer, my mom will lock you up until you die. But if you admit it, you’ll face the death penalty. Your only hope is in my hands.”

“So, what do you want?”

Li Xun said, “I just want to protect my mom. So, I can let you go, but you need to give me something. Tell me, where is the child buried from that case? That way, if you try to hold on to me, I’ll report you as the murderer. If I expose you, my mom will also go to jail for more than ten years.”

She was very serious, continuing to persuade him, “This is your only way out. As long as I have something on you, I can believe you won’t go to the police, and naturally, I can let you go. How about it?”

“It’s a good idea. But I really don’t know. I’m not the murderer. You’ve got the wrong person.”

Li Xun lowered her head and looked at her gentle teacher. She said, “That’s your problem. I only accept this solution. So, if you don’t want to die, you better be the murderer.”

As she spoke, she wrapped the broken cloth again and was about to block his mouth.

Zhao Laoshi, seeing that he was about to lose the chance to negotiate, shook his head to get rid of the cloth and said, “Your mom’s mental state isn’t good. She can still control herself, but once she realizes I can’t tell her where the child is, she might really kill me.”

Li Xun paused, furrowing her brows. This was a major issue.

Zhao Laoshi said, “Killing someone is easy. Handling the body is hard.”

Li Xun suddenly raised her head: “Teacher, how do you know this? Have you done it before? Did you ever struggle with handling a body?”

“Anyone would know that.”

Li Xun exhaled and looked at this man, who was still so gentle even now. She could only say, “Well, I have no choice. Teacher, you should understand my choice. Having a mom is not easy.”

Li Xun once again used the cloth to cover his mouth.

Zhao Laoshi didn’t struggle, nor did he beg for his life. His entire demeanor was that of someone not in a normal state.

Li Xun wasn’t in a normal state either.

One had their mother kidnapping their class teacher, and the other had been imprisoned for two days.

Both were calm, neither breaking down. When they spoke face-to-face, it was like discussing a difficult problem in the classroom, with back-and-forth reasoning on how to solve it.

Of course, one hoped to be let go, with the consequence being her mother going to jail, and the other hoped to be acknowledged as a serial killer, with the possible consequence of the death penalty. This problem couldn’t be solved.

Li Xun finally took away the only light in the basement, and everything returned to darkness.

Li Xun calmly went upstairs, lay in bed, exhaled, as if releasing the breath inside her. The ceiling in the bedroom turned cold white under the streetlight outside. She opened her phone, expressionless, and began searching—

“How many years do you get for helping to dispose of a body?”