Chapter 86: The Last Classroom
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
The Peeping Tom is Fan Yu’s father‽ Chen Ge never would have imagined that if he had not read the paper notes. Looks like I was right. Fan Yu’s aunt has been hiding something crucial from me.
When Chen Ge was trying to deduce the killer earlier, he had been missing a crucial element, a motive. The notes had provided him with a new line of enquiry.
There are three notes, and they have different handwriting. This means that at least three people knew about Teacher Fan’s dirty secret. Chen Ge did not touch the notes inside the book. The paper was fragile from the passage of time, and he was afraid that his touch might ruin the key evidence.
The handwriting on the paper is very clear. Teacher Fan kept these three notes probably to find the students by comparing the handwriting. After all, Mu Yang High School is small; with the convenience of being a member of staff, three days would have been more than enough time to inspect the handwriting of all the students at this school.
Chen Ge memorized the contents of the notes. To be honest, he was rather curious as to how the three students discovered the secret of the cubicle. Were they all victims? But that does not seem like that from the tone of the notes, especially the last one—If you insist on staying at this school, then you shall stay here forever. That definitely doesn’t sound like something a victim would say.
The message communicated by the three notes was extremely clear, but their demand sounded rather juvenile to Chen Ge. The correct solution to deal with people like Fan Yu’s father was to report to the police and not ask for something like a public apology. If anything, the exposure of the incident might exacerbate the situation, for it might cause further trauma to the victim.
The content of these notes does sound like they came from students, could they be the ones who tossed Teacher Fan into the well?
Chen Ge had the motive, but the timing was all wrong. There were two adults who disappeared that night. To be able to kill two adults and deal with their bodies without leaving any trace behind did not sound like something that was achievable for several teenage students.
I must have missed something. Chen Ge tried to look at the situation from Teacher Fan’s perspective. An open apology was definitely out of question. If this thing was exposed, his life would be ruined. He already had a record before coming to Mu Yang High School, and the punishment for repeat offender would be serious.
Fan Yu’s father knew about that; it was why he had kept those paper notes. He had probably planned to sniff out the students who had threatened him and deal with them personally, but from the result, it seemed like his three-day search came up with nothing.
Here’s the conclusion of everything I’ve found so far. These three notes came from different studies, but even after comparing the handwriting of the students at this school, Fan Yu’s father came up with nothing. These three students discovered the secret of the sixth cubicle, but instead of reporting it to the police, they adopted the method that had the least effect and would easily expose them, which was to threaten Teacher Fan directly. Lastly, the warning on the final note did come true.
These three points made zero sense to Chen Ge. To summarize, three students who could not be discovered found out about Teacher Fan’s Peeping Tom habit and, after their warning failed, made Teacher Fan disappear.
Individual who fits these three criteria basically doesn’t exist. However, Chen Ge already had quite a good idea about who the killer was, but he was still uncertain.
The notes also mention a girl whom they want Fan Yu’s father to apologize to. If I can find her, then many problems will be solved.
After recording everything with his camera, Chen Ge shut the book and placed it back where it had been.
If I did not stay to look through the drawers, I wouldn’t have discovered these notes that are enclosed inside the book. Looks like to solve any mystery, everything starts with the details.
Chen Ge exited the mathematics room and went through the other rooms but came up with nothing.
It’s already 10:30 pm. There won’t be enough time to complete the remaining two side missions if I continue to slug like this. Chen Ge exited the office with the flashlight. He searched the school ground for the well but could not find anything like that even after a one-hour search in the rain.
Where could this well be? The black phone cannot possibly be mistaken! Chen Ge’s pants and shoes were drenched, and he looked positively haggard.
There only half an hour left until midnight; I’ll need to leave the well mission and find shelter. Chen Ge lowered his head to hide from the rain as he walked toward the education building. He wanted to reach the sealed classroom before midnight. If the mission was too difficult, the plan was to give up.
Chen Ge’s boots felt heavy from the water and every step left a clear footprint on the floor. After entering the education block, Chen Ge headed directly for the sealed classroom. Looking from outside the window, the single table in the middle of the room that had the textbook, pen, and paper on it did look weird.
It looks stranger than I expected.
Mu Yang High School had originally been a crematorium. Chen Ge read from the online threads that the sealed classroom was exactly the location of the crematorium’s former morgue. It had powerful Yin energy, and that was why the headmaster had kept the classroom sealed.
Some said a school bus ran into a huge accident when they were out on a school trip. Many people died, but the spirits of the students still came back to school. The headmaster had to leave this classroom open to accommodate then.
The last explanation was the most inspiring. Before Mu Yang High School was closed, the school was the worst school in Jiujiang. Their collective score was always first… counting from the bottom. To improve this situation, some of the staff suggested arranging the classes according to their results, the worse the result, the further to the back their class would be. However, this suggestion was vetoed by the headmaster, and he sealed the classroom to tell the students that no one was born in the last place and labelling them as such would be a horrible mistake.
There were many other rumors about the sealed classroom at Mu Yang High School, but Chen Ge could only remember these three, which were most discussed.
He checked the time again. At 11:36 pm, he opened the door and went into the sealed classroom. Chen Ge moved quickly, and his target was clear, which was to take a closer look at the things on the table at the center.
When he entered the room, Chen Ge did not feel that the classroom was any different from outside, perhaps slightly quieter.
Chen Ge looked at the textbook and the paper, but there was nothing notable written on them. However, when he picked up the textbook, he discovered there was plenty of writing carved into the wooden table.