Chapter 121: The Trio Must Never Be Missing, Part 14

Shi Xianyu no longer cared about the shadow, rushing out of the room in a panic.

The third-floor restroom was reserved for staff and was usually locked. Since the second-floor cafeteria had no restroom, those two girls must have gone to the first floor.

Shi Xianyu hurried down the stairs, only to find a crowd of students gathered outside the first-floor women's restroom. Zhou Bushan was there too. Everyone instinctively parted to make way for him as he led out two girls who were sobbing in terror.

Shi Xianyu quickly stepped forward to ask, "What happened?"

Zhou Bushan looked surprised to see her, as he clearly hadn't seen her in the room earlier, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. Frowning, he replied, "Wan Qianqian is dead."

"What?!" Shi Xianyu stared at the restroom in shock, then at the two weeping girls. "Dead in the restroom? How?"

The girls were still in a state of shock, their bodies trembling uncontrollably even after being brought out.

"We came to use the restroom... and heard Wan Qianqian inside talking to someone. She was saying something about who had harmed Du Xiaoling... We were curious, so we hid outside to listen. But as we listened, the voice just stopped. Then we went in and saw... we saw Wan Qianqian... she was lying on the floor... covered in hair..."

The two girls couldn't continue; they clung to each other and began to wail.

Shi Xianyu bit her lip and ran into the restroom to take a look.

The space was small. Wan Qianqian's body lay outside the stalls, eyes wide open, her complexion pale and blue. A clear, red strangulation mark circled her neck, and the tiles beneath her feet were covered in scratch marks from her struggle.

Wan Qianqian had been strangled to death.

Shi Xianyu didn't see the hair the girls had mentioned, but the sight of Wan Qianqian’s remains was enough to deal her a massive blow.

Her heart was filled with growing suspicion. Were they all really trapped in this school just to find some murderer? Du Xiaoling was dead, and now Wan Qianqian was dead too. Who would be next?

Beside her, Zhou Bushan said, "That hair was the lingering remnant of evil energy, which I have already purged. There are too many ghosts here; it is easy for accidents to happen if we act alone. From now on, I hope everyone stays in groups and tries not to separate."

In the crowd, Wang Aiguo asked nervously, "Du Xiaoling was strangled, and now Wan Qianqian has been strangled too. Does that mean... Du Xiaoling's ghost has come back for revenge?"

A girl screamed in fear, "Don't say things like that! It's too terrifying!"

Not only were the girls scared, but some of the boys were even more terrified, snapping, "Wang Aiguo, if you can't talk sense, just shut up!"

Wang Aiguo felt wronged and defended himself, "I'm just saying, I want to get out of here quickly. We were brought here by Du Xiaoling's vengeful spirit. Once she has her revenge and is satisfied, won't we be safe?"

"What if it wasn't Du Xiaoling who brought you here?" Shi Xianyu asked him.

Wang Aiguo was unnerved by the hypothesis, his face turning pale as he muttered, "If it wasn't Du Xiaoling, then who..."

Shi Xianyu said, "I don't think we can rule out that possibility. After all, they were good friends when they were alive, and there wasn't any major conflict between them. No matter what, it shouldn't have come to this..."

"That is not necessarily true," a male voice interrupted her.

Shi Xianyu looked toward the voice. It was Lu Min, standing beside Bai Yuxi. He spoke with a cold expression, "Sometimes, the people we hate the most are the ones closest to us."

Shi Xianyu frowned. "But everyone says Du Xiaoling and Wan Qianqian had a good relationship when they were alive. No matter how well you pretend, you can't fool everyone."

Lu Min said, "Then you probably don't know that the boy who took those photos of Wan Qianqian also widely spread photos of Du Xiaoling before her plastic surgery at school. Du Xiaoling was always trying to catch him in the act, so she wasn't without her own selfish motives in helping Wan Qianqian. Unfortunately, Wan Qianqian lost her nerve at the last minute and didn't dare to make a scene, but Du Xiaoling refused to let it go. Under those circumstances, it's not hard to understand why Wan Qianqian might have taken some extreme actions to get those photos back."

Shi Xianyu was stunned. "How do you know all this?"

Lu Min lowered his eyes to look at Bai Yuxi in his arms. "Yuxi told me. She said that although it looked like Xia Yu had a bigger conflict with Du Xiaoling on the surface, in reality, Wan Qianqian and Du Xiaoling had irreconcilable differences. After Du Xiaoling died, Yuxi actually suspected Wan Qianqian, but she had no proof."

Wang Aiguo couldn't help but interject, "If that's the case, then Du Xiaoling has had her revenge, right? Can we leave now?"

Bai Yuxi trembled in Lu Min's arms. "Yes, when can we leave... I want to go home, I want to go home..."

Lu Min patted Bai Yuxi's back slowly and whispered, "I don't know when we can leave. What I just said is only my personal speculation. Everyone needs to be more careful from now on. It is very strange that Wan Qianqian went to the restroom alone when she knew there was danger here."

As he said this, the crowd became even more anxious.

Zhou Bushan also frowned, scanning the room before saying, "He is right. I specifically warned everyone not to wander off. Why did Wan Qianqian go to the restroom by herself?"

Everyone looked at one another, and slowly, every gaze settled on Xia Yu.

"Xia Yu, you were sharing a room with Wan Qianqian, right? Why didn't you go with her?"

"Exactly. There could be danger everywhere here; how could you let her go alone?"

Xia Yu was caught off guard by the questioning. She hurriedly replied, "I didn't know she was going to the restroom. She told me she had something to say to Yuxi, so I didn't follow her."

Lu Min shook his head gently. "Wan Qianqian didn't come to our room."

Bai Yuxi shrank into his arms and added, "No... Qianqian didn't come to see me..."

Even Zhou Bushan testified, "I saw Wan Qianqian leave the room and head straight downstairs."

Xia Yu was stunned. "But she really told me she wanted to talk to Yuxi."

Someone in the crowd muttered, "I heard Wan Qianqian say that if anything happened to her, it would be because Xia Yu wanted to hurt her. If Xia Yu didn't say something to her, why would Wan Qianqian go to the restroom alone?"

Almost all fingers pointed at Xia Yu, as if she were the murderer!

Xia Yu's expression turned ghastly. Unable to take it anymore, she shouted, "I didn't!!!"

The situation made Shi Xianyu panic. It felt as if an unknown hand was manipulating the thoughts of these "onlookers." They were all determined to see Xia Yu dead!

Wang Aiguo said, "Did Xia Yu know there was a ghost in the restroom, so she tricked Wan Qianqian into going there?"

"Maybe Xia Yu is colluding with the ghost in the restroom!" someone else chimed in.

Xia Yu looked at these familiar faces in disbelief. She couldn't accept that her former classmates would suspect her like this. "Are you... are you all crazy?! What are you talking about?!!"

Shi Xianyu scanned everyone's face, suppressing the fear in her heart as she said, "Without evidence, let's not jump to conclusions. I think everyone is exhausted. How about we take a good rest, calm down, and then discuss what to do next."