It’s Him – Ch17

Ally

The school janitors get free food and accommodation. The staff dormitory is in an empty student dormitory, with six people per room.

Zhao Jingzheng watched as the others entered the student dormitory, stunned. He had finally found a useful clue after so much effort.

“How could they possibly bind someone and bring them back if they’re sharing a rental?”

Li Xun felt a strange sense of time distortion upon hearing this.

She glanced at Zhao Jingzheng. His father, during the serial murder case years ago, either lived with his wife and child or just with his child, still staying in a teacher’s dormitory.

It wasn’t surprising that his mother thought their current rented house was the crime scene from those years because it really met the criteria.

Li Xun roughly guessed what was going on. Since she was part of this school, she often saw the janitors working, one on the second floor and one on the third floor, cleaning while chatting loudly.

Zhao Jingzheng, who looked like a student, asking such a strange question—it would be strange if they gave him a real answer.

“I’ll check the rumors about the student deaths tomorrow, see if there’s any connection between those students and the janitors,” Li Xun said. “You keep an eye on them for another two days, then see.”

Zhao Jingzheng had been very disappointed, but hearing Li Xun say this, he felt hopeful again.

That night, Li Xun didn’t bring food for Teacher Zhao. He should be fine missing a meal. She didn’t go down to the basement either, not wanting to entertain anyone until she figured out their weakness.

Li Xun held grudges deeply. On the surface, she was very easy to get along with, but in reality, she followed the emotional conservation law that she had developed herself.

She understood emotional conservation so well because she was exactly that kind of person.

She was human, so she couldn’t avoid absorbing negative emotions from the outside world. Unlike Teacher Zhao, she vented the negative emotions she absorbed from the same source.

This way, she could maintain a very calm state with others—relaxed and gentle—so others naturally felt comfortable around her.

Previously, her goal was to pull her mother out of trouble, but now there was an additional goal. She was determined to break the spirit of this person.

In her view, Teacher Zhao was a fully developed pervert with no weaknesses. He didn’t care about his son; if the son died, he’d probably breathe a sigh of relief, cry dramatically in front of others, and pretend to be a pitiful father.

He didn’t care about losing his freedom, about hunger, or about injury. He was flawless.

His pleasure came from the suffering of others. What could she do? No matter how capable Li Xun was, she couldn’t stop the pain of the victim’s family.

Li Xun had been very clever since childhood, which meant she rarely hit walls. This was the first time she encountered such a big setback.

She spent the whole night with her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling, mentally simulating the childhood, youth, and present of this person—

The victims, the suicides at Pingcheng High School, one after another, flashed across her mind.

There were two major characteristics in the cases he had worked on: either the children were extremely noisy, and it was said that during that time, children didn’t dare to cry in public places; or the parents were very irritable, and the children were pitiful.

Li Xun speculated that the first case probably corresponded to his highly sensitive son. He killed the victim to make up for his regret that he couldn’t kill the noisy person at home. The second case corresponded to his childhood, where he had encountered an irritable father. He killed the child to see the irritable parent regret and suffer.

But why did he stop killing later on?

This didn’t make sense. What happened to make him change?

Li Xun always felt that whatever caused this change was the key. Once she grasped this key, she should be able to catch hold of this poisonous snake by its vulnerable spot.

She fell into a dazed sleep at five in the morning, only to dream of gruesome nightmares. Maybe it was because she thought too much about the murder cases the night before, as her dreams were still haunted by them.

She dreamed that she was pushed to the brink and grabbed a kitchen knife in the basement, killing Teacher Zhao, blood everywhere, very scary. In the dream, Teacher Zhao even smiled.

She woke up with cold sweat all over her hands.

It’s hard for normal people to kill, she thought. No, she needed a reliable ally to vent some of her pressure.

At that moment, her phone received a message—

“Who are you? How do you know about Li Hao and Teacher Zhao?”

The sender was Teacher Sun.

The ally had arrived.

But, she needed to prepare something first.

Li Xun sent a message to Zhao Jingzheng, asking for a few things.

—

Since receiving that message, Teacher Sun had been unable to sleep for two consecutive nights. Time seemed to rewind by more than a decade.

Her mind kept telling her that maybe she wasn’t wrong. Back then, Teacher Zhao had pushed the whole thing forward. The fault wasn’t entirely hers.

What had she done wrong at that time? As a teacher, did she really have to let the students sneak out at night to play games, three or five together, wandering around like street thugs?

She began to toss and turn, thinking about herself back then, the students back then, and later when a very outstanding student transferred to the school. The principal privately told that student not to join her class. Though unspoken, she knew. In their eyes, she was just a teacher who, in pursuit of her own career, could push a student to death.

All those inspiring stories were lies.

She hadn’t realized at the time that the war between teachers unwilling to give up and students unwilling to learn mostly depended on the teacher’s change.

At first, she didn’t understand the old, seasoned teachers and thought they were irresponsible. Later, she loosened up and became less strict with students, just like some of the older teachers. She began to believe that teachers could only help those they were destined to, focusing more time and energy on students who were motivated.

Once the initial pain faded, she looked at the message again and couldn’t help but reply.

Li Xun and Teacher Sun arranged to meet at the school. Teacher Sun was now a sophomore teacher, teaching English to Classes 15 and 16. They planned to meet during the break after the second period.

When Sun Ning saw Li Xun, she looked a bit puzzled.

The two hadn’t clarified much in the text messages. Li Xun didn’t introduce herself, just said to meet and talk. Teacher Sun thought Li Xun was a new teacher.

She had thought that Li Xun was another teacher with a similar experience.

But this was a student. Li Xun was a top student from this year’s senior class. Though Teacher Sun taught second-year students, she knew who Li Xun was.

“Teacher Sun, would it be convenient to talk in your dorm?” Li Xun appeared somewhat shy and her tone was weak, as if afraid to upset others.

“Of course.”

This year, Teacher Sun taught second-year students and, for convenience, was living in the school’s teacher dormitory.

The two of them went to the teacher’s dormitory together.

Once inside, Sun Ning poured hot water for Li Xun, and they sat on the nearby sofa.

Li Xun didn’t act as assertively as she had in front of Zhao Jingzheng.

Teacher Sun was still puzzled about where Li Xun had heard about Li Hao’s case. But when she saw Li Xun carefully take the cup and drink the water, and noticed her dark circles and pale, exhausted face, she gently reassured her, “There’s no one else here. Don’t be afraid, you can tell me anything.”

Teacher Sun then saw Li Xun looking at her with watery eyes: “Teacher, please promise me you won’t tell anyone about this.”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone. I give you my word.”

“How did you find out about Li Hao? Why did you say there’s a connection with Teacher Zhao?”

She then saw the high school student in front of her with red eyes, softly saying, “I used to respect Teacher Zhao a lot. After seeing the things online, I defended him on the internet. But then I realized that Teacher Zhao’s help was to watch me kill myself.”

Teacher Sun’s body seemed to be stabbed by something.

“What did you say?”

“You must have heard about my situation, Teacher. At that time, Teacher Zhao made me go to the class I’m in now. I always thought he was being kind, until these past few days when I read a lot about Teacher Zhao online, and I remembered that after I came to this class, he always told the class leaders not to bully me, to give me some leeway.” As for what she had seen online, Li Xun didn’t clarify, leaving Teacher Sun to fill in the gaps herself.

“Every time the class leaders met with him, they’d come back angry and ask me if I’d reported them to the homeroom teacher, saying that they had bullied me.”

Li Xun was telling the truth.

Teacher Sun, being an experienced teacher who had dealt with student conflicts for many years, could immediately understand. If Li Xun had been bullied and went to report it, the teacher’s reprimand would only make the bullying worse. If Li Xun hadn’t been bullied, then being wrongfully accused would naturally anger a high school student of her age. Even if they hadn’t bullied her before, they would probably start.

Teacher Sun had even forgotten that the real point of their conversation should have been about the past. She immediately asked, “So how are things in your class now?”

“I explained everything to the class, and I’m fine now.”

“That’s good.” Teacher Sun sighed in relief and then remembered her true purpose: “Where did you hear about Li Hao?”

Li Xun wiped her tears, took out a piece of paper from her pocket, which was burned and tattered, but still legible. The first name on the list was Li Hao, and the last name was Li Xun.

“What is this?”

“One time I came home late and saw the homeroom teacher burning something from a distance. After he left, I picked this up.”

“I didn’t think much of it at first. When I went back, I searched for the names on it, but I didn’t find anything, until one night, I remembered how Teacher Zhao paid special attention to me and then recalled this list. So I searched with Pingcheng High School added in…”

Teacher Sun took the list, and her body shivered. A terrifying thought froze her in place.

It wasn’t direct evidence, but it was enough.

Li Xun said, “So I tentatively sent a message to the teacher to ask about what happened back then. At first, I didn’t get a reply, and I thought the teacher also thought of Teacher Zhao as just an old man. I didn’t know who to talk to, and I haven’t been able to sleep well these past few days.”

Teacher Sun was somewhat relieved that she had replied in the end: “I was just startled.”

Li Xun continued, “Teacher Sun, you have to believe me. Teacher Zhao is really a pervert. You must help me. I’m just a high school student, and he’s targeting my life. I definitely can’t beat him.” Li Xun seriously pleaded for help. Against such a pervert, she felt her support was insufficient.

“Don’t be afraid. He’s disappeared now. You’re about to take your college entrance exams. Calm yourself, focus on studying, and get good results. As for Teacher Zhao, I will investigate it.” Teacher Sun made up her mind; she had to figure out what was really going on.

“If there’s anything, you have to tell me. I might become the next victim. I’m afraid I’ll never understand what Teacher Zhao is planning to do to harm me, and knowing more will help me prepare.”

Teacher Sun was truly confused at this moment. She didn’t tell Li Xun everything but just comforted her, “Trust me, I’ll help you. You’ll be fine.”

Li Xun didn’t expect to make a teacher share such serious matters with her right away. She knew this had to be done step by step.

Teacher Sun had a class in the third period. After the class, she went home, not to the teacher’s dorm, but to her own house.

At this time, there was no one at home. She didn’t take off her shoes and directly went into her study.

At the bottom of the study was a cabinet, and it contained many important things.

The first handwritten letters from students, handmade crafts, and even a suicide note.

This suicide note was actually from Teacher Zhao.

Teacher Zhao had said, “Teacher Sun, Li Hao has committed suicide.”

She couldn’t remember Teacher Zhao’s expression or tone at that time. This incident was so terrifying that her memory was hazy. She remembered running from the teacher’s office to the student dormitory, where Li Hao was lying outside the boys’ dormitory. His flip phone was dropped beside him, and the battery had fallen out…

Then, she had no memory. It was as if she were being pushed along by the people around her.

She only saw the suicide note later.

The note was filled with insults directed at her.

Crazy old woman, old virgin, strange temper, cursing her to be hit by a car as soon as she stepped outside, saying that his death was all her fault…