Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

"I see."

Chen Ji noted down the information of the two people and put away Dao Wuyan's business card.

"Teacher Zhou, what are Luo Han's hobbies and interests?" Chen Ji asked carefully.

Teacher Zhou thought for a moment, a flash of memories crossing her eyes.

"He's the captain of the school's soccer team..."

Chen Ji immediately and naturally followed up: "Did his parents train him in this area?"

Teacher Zhou said, "No, not exactly."

“I don’t know Rohan’s parents; they’ve never been to a parent-teacher conference.”

"Usually, it's his aunt who comes to participate."

"Oh." Chen Ji was somewhat disappointed.

Undeterred, he pressed on, "Do you know what his parents do?"

Teacher Zhou shook his head.

"The school didn't care about these things before."

Chen sighed almost imperceptibly. He knew, in fact, that he hadn't seen any information about Luo Han's parents in the archives last night...

There was only a phone number, but Chen Ji discovered it was not in service.

Just as Chen Ji was about to speak, he noticed that Teacher Zhou was looking out the window, a hint of sadness flashing in her eyes.

He followed that gaze and saw the dusty, gray walls of the old teaching building.

Everyone likes Rohan.

Teacher Zhou murmured, "The students back then were too, and so were the teachers."

"He's not as mischievous as his friends, who love playing pranks. Rohan is a very sensible child..."

"He likes to read some leisure books, and I've even said something about it to him. But what difference does it make whether he reads them or not... Ah, it's all in the past."

Chen Ji remained silent.

He suddenly asked, "Teacher Zhou, did Luo Han's family ever come to the school again?"

"No."

Teacher Zhou said regretfully.

Do you have a photo of him?

Chen Ji asked again, thinking of the football team photo that had been taken away.

“There was once a…” Teacher Zhou rummaged through the drawer: “It was a photo of him and his aunt. Oh, where did I put it?”

"No, I think I gave this photo to that male reporter from before. He said he'd give it to me after he made a copy..."

Did he return it to me?

Teacher Zhou kept rambling on and on.

The answer is obviously no; Teacher Zhou searched for a long time but couldn't find it.

Chen Ji silently observed the female teacher before him. She was over fifty, and although she had been quite imposing when chasing Xu Sandao, she seemed less assertive when recalling past events…

The marks of time are evident.

"It's nothing, and it's not important." Chen Ji waved his hand. "I have another question for you:"

“I saw online a while ago that you were the first eyewitness to Rohan’s death.”

Do you remember what happened back then?

Teacher Zhou was still rummaging through the drawers.

After a while, she straightened up, looking somewhat confused: "What?"

Chen Ji repeated the question he had just asked.

"I don't remember," Teacher Zhou replied immediately, her quick response startling Chen Ji.

Chen Ji was surprised by this answer and immediately asked another question: "Then, who did he come into contact with before he died?"

"A lot of people."

Teacher Zhou answered as if by reflex.

I'm referring to people outside the school...

Before Chen Ji could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Teacher Zhou, who strangely squeezed out a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes:

"Rohan was robbed before he died."

Chen Ji was speechless for a moment; that wasn't the question he wanted to ask.

“He told me about it, but I didn’t think it was a big deal. Now I really regret it.” Teacher Zhou’s face was scrunched up, as if she was about to cry but couldn’t: “If I had cared about him more, Luo Han wouldn’t have been killed by thugs for extortion.”

"..."

Chen Ji listened quietly to what Teacher Zhou was saying.

"Speaking of which, I've even met the murderer." Teacher Zhou's voice trembled with a sob.

“A few days before the November 20 incident, I passed by the school gate and saw with my own eyes that young man threatening Luo Han!”

"That guy looked like a thug, covered in tattoos. I was a little scared, so I ignored him."

This matches the killer's photo on the website.

But is this realistic?

Chen Ji felt a chill in his heart.

He carefully observed Teacher Zhou's face, noticing how genuine the other person's remorse was, seemingly stemming from heartfelt guilt for what happened back then.

"Teacher Zhou."

Chen Ji said, speaking very quickly, like a string of bullets: "Please answer a few questions for me, just for Rohan's sake."

"First: Was Rohan's cause of death a stab wound or a blunt force injury?"

Teacher Zhou immediately replied, "Knife wound."

"I was stabbed in the left chest."

Chen Ji then asked, "Second: When you saw Luo Han outside the school gate, was that thug extorting money?"

Teacher Zhou quickly replied, "Yes."

Chen Ji: "Three: Did you call the police?"

Teacher Zhou: "No, I feel very guilty."

Chen Ji: "Four: When the thugs threatened Luo Han at the school gate, were they holding a knife?"

Teacher Zhou: "Take it."

"It's the knife that killed Rohan."

Chen Ji: "Then why didn't you call the police?"

Teacher Zhou: "..."

Teacher Zhou: "I remembered wrong, I don't think I brought a knife."

Chen Ji gazed at Teacher Zhou quietly.

The office was so quiet, the dim sunlight outside was blocked by the curtains, and Teacher Zhou's eyes looked a little red.

Was Rohan's cause of death blunt force trauma or asphyxiation?

Chen Ji continued to ask questions, repeating the first question but rephrasing it in a different way.

Teacher Zhou: "Knife wound."

"I was stabbed in the left chest."

Chen Ji: "Outside the school gate, what did you see as the cause of Luo Han's death?"

Teacher Zhou: "Knife wound."

"I was stabbed in the left chest."

Chen Ji stopped talking.

Luo Han died at Donghe Sports Park, just outside the school gate, the location where Teacher Zhou claimed to have witnessed the first extortion attempt.

At that time, Rohan was still alive.

Moreover, the same Mr. Zhou who could write such a eulogy, the same Mr. Zhou who gently told Luo Han he would grow taller, the same Mr. Zhou who would expel someone suspected of being a delinquent...

They wouldn't do something like knowing a student is being blackmailed and remaining indifferent.

Once the topic of Rohan's experiences before his death is brought up, Teacher Zhou will be automatically prompted to respond, leading the murderer to the petty thugs.

The most crucial phrase here is "Rohan's cause of death".

Whenever asked about the cause of death, even if the question is completely illogical, the answer will always be:

"Knife wound."

"I was stabbed in the left chest."

Chen Ji sorted out his thoughts, silently stood up, looked at Teacher Zhou who was as unresponsive as a machine, and said softly:

"Teacher Zhou."

"last question."

"Is Rohan's body just a skin and bones?"

The office was as silent as a tomb...

Teacher Zhou's computer crashed.

No answer is the best answer.

Chen Ji sighed heavily, knowing that he would not be able to get any more clues here.

He observed quietly from the side, glancing at his watch every now and then.

About an hour later...

Chen Ji suddenly stood up, holding a monkey doll, and poked it near Teacher Zhou's eye!

A pale pink tapeworm, so thin it was almost invisible, emerged from Teacher Zhou's eye.

"what?"

Chen Ji was taken aback; he had thought it was a strand of hair.

After the tapeworm emerged, it immediately shrank and seemed to lose its vitality, and was trapped by the monkey doll.

The very next second, Teacher Zhou coughed a few times, slowly waking up. When she looked at Chen Ji in front of her, she was filled with surprise:

"You are......?"

"We went the wrong way," Chen Ji said softly.

He looked deeply into Teacher Zhou's eyes, and at the end of the whites of her eyes, two pale pink tails floated by.

This was a backup plan that Zeng Guichuan had prepared many years ago.