Chapter 28 The Truth of What Happened Back Then!

Muhe University of Science and Technology.

3:00 PM.

The campus atmosphere in September was excellent, thick with the scent of youth. It wasn't just Chen Mo and Long Hao who were observing the school's facilities; the newly registered freshmen around them were doing the same.

The two didn't waste any time and headed straight for the administration building.

Since they had determined that the killer was a university classmate of the two victims, and possibly even a fellow student from the same class,

then going directly to the counselor was the quickest method.

They took the elevator to the third floor and then arrived outside an office.

The person they were looking for this time was named Liu Hongxia, 45 years old, who worked at the school.

As soon as they walked in, a middle-aged woman wearing a long black dress with a hint of crow's feet at the corners of her eyes came into view.

This was the person they had come to find.

“And you are?” Liu Hongxia looked at the two men who had suddenly appeared before her, a look of confusion on her face.

“Police.”

Long Hao pulled out his credentials and then tucked them away.

“Police!? What do you want with me?”

Her reaction was a bit strong, but it was normal. For ordinary people, it’s natural to be surprised when the police suddenly show up at their door.

“Do you remember Song Fei and Li Jiaxin, who graduated three years ago?”

Liu Hongxia was taken aback upon hearing this, but she quickly realized it had nothing to do with her. While she breathed a sigh of relief, she also fell into thought.

She answered slowly, “Yes, they were students I supervised. What happened to them?”

She had seen clearly just now; these two weren't civilian police, but criminal investigators.

A criminal case!

“They're dead. They were murdered.”

“Murdered!?” Liu Hongxia covered her mouth, her eyes widening.

She still had an impression of those two students; she hadn't expected to hear of them again only to learn of their deaths.

“Yes. The main reason we've come to you is that we suspect the person who murdered them is also one of your students.”

Liu Hongxia nodded upon hearing this, then stood up and ran to a bookcase. After rummaging through it, she pulled out a graduation class photo.

“This is probably what you want.”

“This is Li Jiaxin, and this is Song Fei.”

She pointed her finger at a girl crouching in the front row and at Song Fei, who was making a peace sign in the back row.

“In this photo, did anyone ever have a conflict with the two of them?”

“Well, it’s been three years. At my age, how could I remember clearly...”

“...”

During that time, Long Hao asked many questions, basically inquiring about everyone in the graduation photo.

Liu Hongxia also appeared very cooperative, answering whatever was asked.

But when it came to the key question of whether anyone had a conflict with the deceased, she got stuck.

By the time the two left the office, half an hour had already passed.

“It doesn't make sense. I think your line of reasoning is correct; we shouldn't have come away with nothing.”

Judging by the killer's deep-seated hatred for the two victims,

if a conflict had indeed occurred, it wouldn't have been a small one. Even if the details weren't clear, someone would definitely be able to recall that such a thing happened.

“This Counselor Liu is also lying.”

A look of interest appeared on Chen Mo's face.

One after another, they all seem to know who the killer might be, yet they collectively choose to lie. This case is getting more and more interesting.

“Lying?”

He had been the one asking the questions the whole time. Liu Hongxia had answered everything he said, being as cooperative as could be. And in the end, she was actually lying?

Speechless.

“In that case, I'll just invite her to the Municipal Bureau for a chat.”

He didn't believe they couldn't get the truth about what happened back then!

Concealing known information is a criminal act.

“When they'd rather let us fail to catch the killer who murdered their children than speak up, shouting a few threats at them won't do any good.”

Chen Mo shook his head, indicating that this approach wouldn't work.

While lost in thought,

his eyes subconsciously scanned the various buildings of the school; they weren't much different from the later generations. Many of the buildings he saw in the future were built during this era; even the very grand-looking Oriental Pearl Tower was actually built in 1991 and completed in '94.

—Thud.

A young man wearing a baseball cap and carrying a black backpack, looking like a student, accidentally bumped into him as they brushed past each other.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to.”

The youth apologized hurriedly, his expression very nervous.

“You... I'm fine, you can go.”

It wasn't that he was hesitant because of the other's nervousness. After all, in the future, socially anxious people were everywhere, getting incredibly nervous just from saying a word to a stranger.

His main point of hesitation was that the youth had a somewhat sour, quite pungent smell on him, as if he hadn't showered or something.

“Thank you.”

After thanking him, the youth quickly walked away.

Watching his retreating back, Chen Mo's eyebrows twitched, and he thought it was strange.

“Are you okay?”

Long Hao looked him over from side to side, fearing that the youth had hurt him in the collision.

Chen Mo shook his head, indicating he was fine.

The current situation was this:

Three parties were lying: Li Jiaxin's parents, Song Fei's parents, and the school counselor.

They were all intentionally concealing what had happened back then.

To push the case forward, they had to figure this matter out.

Long Hao, by his side, naturally understood this logic as well.

He immediately proposed a new method.

That was to directly contact the victims' classmates. For the killer to hate them to that extent, the conflict back then couldn't have been small.

One or two people might lie, but a whole group wouldn't lie at the same time.

...

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, it was 8:00 PM.

“That's all the information I know. I don't know if it will be of any help to you.”

In the meeting room of the Municipal Bureau sat a woman in a business suit who worked in car sales. She was a classmate of Li Jiaxin's during their school days and was also the one who had originally informed the police about Ma Hang being defrauded in a marriage scam.

“It's very helpful. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Long Hao shook hands with her and signaled Xiao Zhang to see her out.

He then turned his head to look at Chen Mo: “So, according to this, while Li Jiaxin was being raped by their classmate Wang Chongyang during university, Song Fei passed by and saved her. Three years later, Wang Chongyang was released from prison and sought revenge on the two of them.”

“A natural-born villain, he hasn't changed in three years.”

It was hard to imagine how much of a danger such a person was to society.

He did something wrong, finished his labor reform; why couldn't he start over? Why go as far as to seek revenge again?

“Why would you think that?”

Sitting in his chair, Chen Mo was stunned for a moment by Long Hao's words.

“If it really happened as you said—if Li Jiaxin was the victim and Song Fei performed a good deed—why would both sets of parents lie? Wouldn't it be enough to just say it?”

“And what is Counselor Liu Hongxia's position in helping them lie? To prevent the police from knowing that a student she once supervised was a rapist, she would risk criminal charges by choosing to conceal it as well?”

“It doesn't add up. Out of so many students, if one bad seed turns up, what does that have to do with her as a counselor? There must be more to this story.”

His words reached Long Hao's ears, causing him to suddenly wake up to the reality.

Just now, he had only been thinking that Wang Chongyang was a bad seed who hadn't reformed in three years.

He really hadn't considered the possibility that the case had been handled incorrectly.

“Then what do you think the truth from back then is?”

Long Hao looked toward Chen Mo.

“Song Fei was the rapist, and the person passing by was Wang Chongyang!”