The one who screamed was Yi Ru, Ying Xiaoya's deskmate.
Ying Xiaoya fell from the rooftop and landed right at her feet.
When the security guards arrived, Yi Ru was trembling all over. Her eyes were filled with terror, and tears were streaming down her face like a faucet that had been turned on.
The four security guards were stunned for a moment. The head of the security team finally reacted and immediately said, "You two protect the scene and don't let anyone else get close. I'm going to find the principal. Xiao Liu, you call the police right away!"
The security guard, referred to as "Xiao Liu," immediately dialed the police.
Yu Hanjiang: "..."
There's even a "call the police" step? In the real world, Yu Hanjiang would go to the scene to investigate with his police ID, but unfortunately this is Secret Room World, so he can't show his face and has to hide from security guards.
Xiao Lou was also puzzled upon hearing this. She looked at Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, "Call the police? Are there police in Secret Room World?"
Yu Hanjiang said seriously, "When someone dies at a school, the normal procedure is to call the police immediately. This plot development is reasonable. However, it's still unclear whether the Card World police will help us solve the mystery or deliberately create obstacles for us."
Xiao Lou speculated, "They should be able to help us, right? After all, this is only a C-level difficulty escape room. If even the police mislead us, we won't be able to get out of this room at all if we encounter a Challenger who can't deduce anything."
"That makes sense." Yu Hanjiang paused for a few seconds, looked up at the rooftop, and whispered in Xiao Lou's ear, "Before the police come to the school, I'll check the rooftop to see if there are any clues. Professor Xiao, you stay here and put on the Invisibility Cloak to examine Ying Xiaoya's cause of death later. You're an expert in this area."
Xiao Lou nodded: "Okay."
Yu Hanjiang cautioned, " The Invisibility Cloak only lasts for 30 minutes. Be mindful of the time and be careful not to get caught by security."
Xiao Lou: "Understood, be careful too."
The two exchanged a glance and tacitly went their separate ways.
Yu Hanjiang nimbly slipped into the senior high school building, avoiding surveillance cameras, climbed all the way to the fourth floor, then took the sky corridor to Xingzhi Building, and climbed the stairs to the rooftop on the seventh floor.
Ying Xiaoya fell directly below Xingzhi Building. Since the ground there was all hard cement and the building was seven stories high, if her head had hit the ground, it would have been certain death.
Yu Hanjiang climbed to the seventh floor—and sure enough, he saw that the door leading to the rooftop was open.
He remembered that when he and Xiao Lou were checking the layout of Xingzhi Building yesterday, this door was locked. To prevent students and teachers from climbing to the rooftop and having accidents, the school usually locks the door to the rooftop—but now the door was open, obviously someone had deliberately opened it.
Ying Xiaoya, as a student, could not possibly have the key to the door leading to the rooftop.
The person who opened the door is definitely connected to this case.
Yu Hanjiang walked quickly to the rooftop.
It rained yesterday, and the rooftop is still a bit damp. Because of this, clear and distinct footprints are left when you step on the wet ground. At this moment, there is a series of footprints on the rooftop, about size 37, the same size as Ying Xiaoya's feet. The steps are slightly messy, as if she stumbled and ran there in a hurry.
The footprints disappeared at the fence; jumping down from there would lead directly to the location of Ying Xiaoya's body.
On the surface, these footprints all belong to Ying Xiaoya alone, and there is no trace of a second person at the scene.
However, footprints are not the only criterion for judgment— Yu Hanjiang often investigates crime scenes, and footprints are too easy to fake. For example, someone could wear shoes the same size as Ying Xiaoya, or stand on tiptoe and step on top of Ying Xiaoya's existing footprints, causing the traces to overlap—both of these situations would create the false impression that "only Ying Xiaoya's footprints were found at the scene."
Unlike snow, the damp rooftop makes it impossible to determine the depth of footprints. Therefore, even if there is only one person's footprint at the scene, the possibility that a second person may have been there cannot be completely ruled out.
Yu Hanjiang carefully examined the spot where Ying Xiaoya jumped—the remaining fragments of clothing matched the scarf around Ying Xiaoya's neck.
Just then, there was a sudden, urgent knocking on the door downstairs, followed by the slightly panicked voice of the security captain: "Principal, a student from Class 3 of Senior Three has jumped off the building!"
"What?!" The principal and two vice-principals were discussing something when they heard this and immediately turned around and went downstairs with the security guard. As they walked, the principal said, "Principal Chen, immediately notify all the homeroom teachers to have all the students stay in the classroom after class and not come out! Principal Liu, call all the teachers from the student affairs office and the teachers of Class 3 of Senior Three to the scene!"
A vice principal asked, "Did you call the police?"
The security guard said, "We've already called the police, and they'll be here soon."
The hurried footsteps of the group gradually faded into the distance.
Yu Hanjiang quickly finished checking the rooftop, went from the blind spot of the surveillance cameras to the fourth floor, and then returned to Chongwen Building, the senior high school building, through the sky corridor, and looked down.
The skywalk where he was standing had a great view; he could see the basketball court behind him and clearly see the situation below in front of him.
At this moment, the students of Class 3 of Senior Three were still standing in the basketball court as punishment. They all heard the screams, but did not know what had happened. They looked curiously in the direction from which the sound came.
The PE teacher realized something was wrong and asked Yu Hui to watch the students. He went around the corner to check the situation and found security guards had surrounded the area.
There was a girl lying in a pool of blood, and the PE Teacher's face immediately turned extremely ugly.
Ying Xiaoya, he remembered this girl.
A student died during his class, and he cannot escape responsibility!
The PE teacher clenched his fist nervously and asked the security guard what was going on. At this moment, the school leaders rushed over, as did the homeroom teacher and subject teachers of Class 3 of Senior Three. They also received the news and came to the scene one after another.
Upon witnessing this bloody scene, the school leaders' faces turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
The homeroom teacher's smiling face instantly darkened. He turned and glared at the PE teacher, asking in a low voice, "What's going on? Isn't this Teacher Qin's chemistry class?"
The PE teacher looked uneasy and muttered, "Ms. Qin called me this morning and said her father was going to the hospital for a check-up, and she needed to take the day off to accompany him. She wouldn't be coming to school today, and we swapped her chemistry class with tomorrow afternoon's PE class. I switched classes with her..."
The vice principal in charge of attendance said, "Teacher Qin did indeed take leave today."
The principal frowned deeply: "Switching classes is one thing, but you should take responsibility! A student jumped off a building during your PE class? What kind of teaching are you doing?!"
The PE teacher, pale-faced, explained in a low voice, "I wanted to organize a basketball game for the boys in the class... I never expected that a phone call would lead to this."
The principal roared, "Answering the phone during class and not supervising the students—that's dereliction of duty!! With something this serious happening, I can't protect you anymore. You can expect to be punished!"
Although the principal lowered his voice, Xiao Lou, who was hiding nearby, heard it clearly.
The PE teacher was subjected to a barrage of insults, but was unable to refute them, and hung his head in frustration.
Just then, the bell rang for the end of the fourth period.
The hungry students, who usually rush out of the teaching building to find food as soon as class is over, are now facing a bloody incident. A body is lying below the office building, a spot that every student can see from outside the teaching building...
Fortunately, the principal reacted quickly and notified the homeroom teachers to keep the students in the classroom and not to come out.
Students from other classes were baffled and frantically passed notes among themselves: "Making us do homework in the middle of the day? Has our homeroom teacher gone mad?" "It seems like students from other classes are in their classrooms too. The hallway is so quiet!" "By the way, did you hear someone screaming downstairs just now?" "I heard it, it was really loud!" "What's going on?"
All classes were kept open, leaving the students in the classrooms in a state of panic.
Yu Hanjiang observed the entire situation from the sky corridor on the fourth floor, while Xiao Lou hid around the corner to listen to the commotion.
Witness Yi Ru's face was ashen, and she squatted there trembling. Her homeroom teacher comforted her in a low voice.
The police arrived quickly.
To avoid disrupting campus order, the police cars that entered the school did not sound their sirens.
There were six people who came—four policemen, a Forensic Doctor, and an assistant.
The leading Criminal Police Detachment officer, around forty years old and seemingly experienced, decisively ordered the police to cordon off the scene and then went to find the principal, homeroom teacher, and witnesses to learn about the deceased's circumstances.
Others also began to quickly examine the scene, while the Forensic Doctor put on tools and gloves and went directly to examine the body.
Xiao Lou also took action.
He put on the Invisibility Cloak and followed the Forensic Doctor into the scene.
The Invisibility Cloak's effect is to "become invisible." Not only can the people in Card World not see Xiao Lou, but Yu Hanjiang also cannot see Xiao Lou —but he knows that Xiao Lou will definitely make the most professional judgment on Ying Xiaoya's cause of death and hear the police's questions to everyone at the scene.
Yu Hanjiang entrusted the scene to Xiao Lou with peace of mind, and then turned around and went back to the classroom of Class 3 of Senior Three. He wanted to see if any new evidence had appeared in the class.
As Yu Hanjiang walked to Ying Xiaoya's seat, his eyes narrowed sharply.
Will and Testament
Dear Mom and Dad, teachers and classmates, I'm sorry, I have let you down. I'm leaving now. I have no more attachment to this world. Let my life end at the age of eighteen. — Ying Xiaoya
Yu Hanjiang: "..."
The handwriting on the suicide note matches the handwriting on Ying Xiaoya's homework.
The girl's handwriting was elegant and neat; her suicide note was written stroke by stroke, as if she had thought it through carefully.
Yu Hanjiang frowned, feeling that something was off about those two simple lines of text.
Just then, he heard hurried footsteps behind him. Looking out the window of the back door, he saw two policemen coming upstairs to search for evidence. Yu Hanjiang immediately slipped into the restroom opposite the classroom. Only after the policemen entered the classroom did he calmly come out of the restroom, leave without looking around, and return to the sky corridor.
Downstairs, the Forensic Doctor and his assistant were still examining the body. After a brief examination, they told the Criminal Police Department Director, "Preliminary assessment indicates that the deceased had a fractured skull and multiple intracranial hemorrhages. Further examination is needed to determine the exact cause of death."
The criminal police officer nodded, walked over, and asked Yi Ru, "Are you a witness?"
With the comfort of her homeroom teacher, Yi Ru's emotions had stabilized, and she nodded stiffly, "Mm."
The criminal police officer asked, "Tell me in detail, what was your relationship with the deceased, and what were you doing at the time?"
Yi Ru's eyes were glazed over, and her lips trembled incessantly. She said haltingly, "Xiao Ya, Xiao Ya is my best friend... At the time, the boys were playing basketball, and she didn't like watching the game, so we took advantage of the chaos to go back to our classroom..."
"Today is her eighteenth birthday, and I prepared a birthday present for her. I originally intended to give it to her directly... but when I entered the classroom..."
After I left the room, Xiaoya suddenly said she hadn't eaten breakfast and was very hungry, asking me to go buy her some food. I was hungry too, so I went downstairs to the convenience store and bought two bags of potato chips... On my way back, I... I saw her... She fell from the roof..."
As Yi Ru spoke, she seemed to recall that bloody scene, and broke down, covering her face with her hands and crying.
The police officer winked at his colleague and whispered, "Go to the convenience store and ask if she bought potato chips just now." He scanned the room and asked, "Who is the homeroom teacher of Class 3? Has Ying Xiaoya been acting strangely these past few days?"
The homeroom teacher came over and said, "Xiaoya has been distracted in class lately, and she got the lowest score in the whole grade in last week's monthly exam."
The police officer asked, "Are all the teachers for Class 3 here?"
The homeroom teacher said, "The chemistry teacher is on leave today and hasn't come to school, but everyone else is here."
The police asked, "Did you verbally abuse or physically punish the deceased?"
The English teacher said stiffly, "I did say a few words to her and made her stand for the entire class as punishment..."
The physics teacher, his face pale, said, "I did talk to her. She did terribly on the test, getting all the physics questions wrong... But I promise I didn't hit her or say anything too serious. I just... told her to try harder next time. This student is usually quite diligent; I think she just had an off day."
The two female teachers exchanged a glance, their faces filled with regret.
The homeroom teacher continued, "I called her over during recess and asked her about her relationship with Yu Hui. Could it be that she was too ashamed, and coupled with her poor grades this time, she couldn't take the blow and committed suicide by jumping off the building?"
The teachers exchanged bewildered glances, but the Criminal Police Officer remained calm: "It's still uncertain whether it was suicide." He turned to the principal and said, "Principal, could you please provide me with an office? I need to investigate each student in Class 3 individually. Please call them all over. Also, please provide me with the school's surveillance footage."
The principal immediately cooperated, saying, "Okay, officer! Please go to the math office on the first floor of Xingzhi Building; it's closest to the monitoring center. PE Teacher, go and call the students from Class 3 over."
The criminal police officer cautioned, "Don't tell the students that Ying Xiaoya is dead yet."
The PE teacher nodded and turned to inform the students to gather in the mathematics office in Xingzhi Building.
Xiao Lou was accompanying the Forensic Doctor as they examined the body when he overheard the entire conversation between the Criminal Police Officer and the teacher.
He already had this information even without the police asking.
On the surface, Ying Xiaoya did indeed jump off the building because she couldn't bear the blows—her relationship was discovered by her homeroom teacher, her exam scores were among the lowest in the entire grade, she was punished by being made to stand during English class, and she was scolded by her teacher during physics class. The fragile girl was heartbroken and, taking advantage of the chaos during PE class, returned to the classroom, used the excuse of "I'm very hungry" to get rid of her deskmate, climbed to the roof, and jumped off, ending her young life.
A very complete logical chain.
But they overlooked the scarf around Ying Xiaoya's neck.
Today is her eighteenth birthday. Yu Hui gave her a scarf. Xiao Lou still remembers the girl's smile at that time; she was very happy to receive the gift. Moreover, Yu Hui told her, "It's just a monthly exam; you'll do better next time." Ying Xiaoya nodded at the time, and with Yu Hui's comfort, she had clearly adjusted her mindset.
Her deskmate Yi Ru prepared a birthday gift for her, proving Xiao Lou's previous inference wrong— the origami cranes Yi Ru folded were not for a boy, but for Ying Xiaoya, indicating that the two girls had a good relationship.
With her deskmate's concern and Yu Hui's comfort, it's impossible for her to suddenly jump off a building and commit suicide.
Just then, the Forensic Doctor turned Ying Xiaoya's head around, and Xiao Lou quickly stepped forward to examine her closely.
The girl fell from the rooftop, her head hitting the concrete ground. Her face was a bloody mess, a truly gruesome sight.
But her pupils shrank abnormally.
A cold, mechanical voice warned in my ear: " Invisibility Cloak, 60 seconds remaining..."
Surrounded by police and security guards, Xiao Lou will be immediately arrested and eliminated once the cloak loses its effect.
Xiao Lou quickly turned around and left the scene without making a sound.
After the initial autopsy at the scene was completed, Ying Xiaoya's body was covered with a white sheet and loaded onto a hearse. Two Criminal Police Officers climbed to the roof to examine the scene of Ying Xiaoya's fall, while the captain and another policewoman called the students from Class 3 to the office for questioning.
Xiao Lou, who was hiding behind a tree, wanted to take advantage of the chaos to follow them, but was worried about being discovered by the security guards. Suddenly, a deep voice rang in his ears: "Go wait for me over in the maple forest. I'll follow up here."
It is Yu Hanjiang.
Although he couldn't see where the other person was, the voice in his ear told Xiao Lou that Captain Yu had used the Invisibility Cloak and was going to go directly to the scene where the police were questioning the students from Class 3.
With a senior detective present, Xiao Lou naturally didn't need to stay at the scene, so he turned and walked towards the maple forest with peace of mind.
****