Chapter 135

At this moment, nearing eight o’clock in the evening, with more than an hour left until the fireworks display, pedestrians on the street had noticeably increased. Lu Siyu and Song Wen stood at the street corner beneath the Bright Moon Tower.

A gentle breeze blew, carrying a faint scent of blood.

Beside them, the bloodstains had completely dried, turning into a dark red patch. With a little cleaning, no one would be able to tell that someone had died here just moments ago. At this moment, the woman’s body lay on display in the hotel lobby just a door away from them.

Lu Siyu extended his slender fingers and pressed the play button again, replaying those few video clips.

The filming location was the Lotus Moon Pavilion on the fifth floor where they had previously been, in the Lotus Pond Moonlight private room. By the time of filming, the table was already set with dishes, and much alcohol had been consumed. The room’s door was locked from the inside.

In the first video segment, the image gradually became clear. First, a struggling hand appeared, then the scene widened, revealing a woman with her entire face buried in the cake, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. Her hands were struggling desperately, emitting whimpering sounds. Then the camera panned back, and Zhao Yuliang appeared behind the person, using his hand to press the person’s head, preventing her from breaking free, as if trying to drown her in the cake.

After a while, the person being pressed seemed to have no strength left to struggle. Only then did Zhao Yuliang pull the person up, revealing that the person covered in cake was none other than the students’ teacher—Zhang Dongmei.

By this time, she had already taken off her coat, leaving only an inner garment.

The video was somewhat shaky. Zhang Dongmei’s face was covered in white cake, looking both ridiculous and pitiful. She breathed heavily, her eyes filled with fear. Then she used her hands to wipe the cake off her face. Before she could clean it all off, Ji Meiyun started pouring wine into her mouth.

Zhang Dongmei obviously couldn’t take any more drinks. The excess alcohol flowed down her mouth, and she kept coughing and struggling, but couldn’t break free. Laughter from the students could be heard in the video. Finally, Ji Meiyun poured the remaining wine from her head. The liquid washed away some of the cream from the cake, making Zhang Dongmei even more disheveled.

Then Qian Jiang, the cameraman, said, “Take off her other clothes, don’t get the clothes wet. This meal has just begun, the teacher can hold her liquor well, let’s not stop here.”

The first video segment ended here, and Lu Siyu opened the second one.

In the second video segment, Zhang Dongmei’s clothes had already been mostly removed, leaving only her underwear. Much of the cake was gone from her face, with only some white cream sticking to her hair. By this time, her entire body was wet, and she lay somewhat helplessly on the cold ground, with alcohol and juice flowing down her face. Meng Tiantian sat opposite her with a mask on, “Teacher Zhang, are you choosing Truth or Dare now?”

Zhang Dongmei hesitated for a moment, “Tr… Truth?”

With a slap, Meng Tiantian slapped Zhang Dongmei’s face, then wiped the juice off her hand with a tissue, “Why did you divorce your husband back then?”

Zhang Dongmei choked up, her light makeup smeared: “Because he had an affair with a nurse, and I caught him.”

Slap, another slap was delivered, this one stronger. Zhang Dongmei’s body leaned to the side, but Ji Meiyun pulled her hair from behind to make her sit up straight, and whispered in her ear, “I knew it, he probably saw through your true colors. No man would like a woman like you.”

Tang Shan, sitting in the back row, picked up some food with her chopsticks and ate slowly, watching them hit the person, and leisurely said, “Don’t overdo it. It’s almost enough. She has to go to school tomorrow. Don’t hit her face too much.” Then she added, “If you’re going to hit, hit where it’s not visible.”

After hearing this, Meng Tiantian twisted Zhang Dongmei’s naked arm and stepped on her foot with high heels. Zhang Dongmei immediately let out a scream, and the students burst into laughter again. The cameraman, Qian Jiang, laughed so hard that the video shook.

“Continue, let’s have another round of Truth or Dare.” Meng Tiantian leaned down and asked Zhang Dongmei, “Teacher, where did your money go?”

With Ji Meiyun pulling Zhang Dongmei’s hair back, she trembled as she said, “All the money I gave to my family over the years was taken by my parents to build a new house for my brother. But later, my father got into a car accident and had to pay three hundred thousand to the other party. My brother and my parents had a big fight, kicked them out of the house, didn’t give them a penny. At that time, I still owed a mortgage, and could only get credit cards and borrow money…”

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes, and she sobbed. But this did not elicit sympathy from the students; instead, it made them even more brazen.

The screen froze here, and the second video segment ended.

In the third video segment, the teacher in the footage had already been stripped completely naked, with not a thread left on her body. She cried in pain, covering her face with both hands, but it was still enough for those familiar with her to recognize who she was: “I was wrong… I was wrong. I… I am not a good teacher. I am sorry to all my students… I am guilty. I am ashamed to be a teacher. I won’t do it again in the future. Please forgive me. I am truly repentant. Please…”

Zhao Yuliang, on the side, took several photos, then turned around, the lenses of his glasses reflecting light as he asked, “Is it all recorded?”

Qian Jiang’s voice came through, “It’s recorded. Don’t worry. I’ll blur out our parts later, put a filter on it, and then send it to you. Each of us will keep a copy.”

The three video segments were not long, but the events they recorded were enough to make one’s pores tingle. In those short videos, the teacher was no longer a teacher, and the students were no longer students.

The commonly spoken respect for teachers and righteousness was nowhere to be seen in those scenes.

The first time they watched it, it was unbelievable, chilling. By the second viewing, it was still shocking.

This video revealed that the students were not joking with the teacher; this was torture, abuse. They were humiliating the teacher to the extreme.

The students were undoubtedly in collusion, and when they answered the police questions earlier, they were intentionally lying. They all knew what had happened tonight.

If these videos showed students beating a teacher at school, Song Wen wouldn’t have found it so shocking. But this scene unfolded among a group of students who had graduated for ten years, achieved success and fame. They ruthlessly attacked a middle-aged teacher they faced, and it seemed eerie no matter how you looked at it.

Those who were once the pride of the heavens, rich and handsome young people, seemed to be only wearing a thin layer of human skin, but what they did was despicable. Moreover, it wasn’t just one person doing this, it was a group of people. Even Tang Shan, who was supposed to be a role model, although not directly involved, was scheming and plotting on the sidelines.

Song Wen said, “In this case, the teacher’s death doesn’t seem so sudden.”

Thinking of the testimony of the students just now, what they did after closing the door, doing such things, and then taking the teacher to the restroom should have been to let her tidy up and then threaten her not to talk about it.

Lu Siyu said, “The video is only part of what happened tonight. I don’t think the students would do such things for no reason. There must be a story behind this.”

Song Wen nodded, “I’m curious too. What else is there behind this? From the video alone, Zhang Dongmei might have jumped out of humiliation after being insulted. However… I’m more inclined to think it was murder.”

These were not obedient students; the women were like venomous snakes, and the men were clearly like wolves and tigers, each with a fierce look, seemingly wanting to kill her.

What happened tonight was not so simple, and the relationship between the teacher and the students was not so superficial. This was not a teacher appreciation banquet at all but a premeditated banquet to kill the teacher.

Those students wielded their knives, and the teacher fell into a pool of blood.

The key to the matter was, among these people, who was the murderer, or were they all murderers? And behind this, what was the reason?

After digesting all this, Song Wen called out to Lu Siyu, “Let’s go, upstairs.”

Lu Siyu asked, “What’s next? Shall we call Tan Shan again for questioning, or ask others?”

With these few video clips, the lies of the students were exposed without attack. And Tan Shan, who seemed as innocent as a lotus flower, as the organizer of this gathering, was definitely not simple.

Song Wen said, “Cheng Mo is still here. Give him some face. After we finish questioning everyone and clarify the situation, then we’ll find Tan Shan.” By then, no matter what Tan Shan said, she wouldn’t be able to turn back.

The two went upstairs and returned to the private room. Cheng Mo was still sitting there, not starting the interrogation yet. There were some tea drinks on the table in front of him, as well as nuts and fruit plates. Seeing them coming up, Cheng Mo pretended that nothing had happened and threw the nutshells into the trash can nearby.

Song Wen glanced and said, “Captain Cheng, you seem to be in a good mood.”

Cheng Mo replied, “Oh, it’s nothing. The manager just insisted on bringing these up, saying that we police comrades work hard, and also said that if we wanted to eat something, we could tell them. I haven’t touched much, so see if there’s anything you guys want to eat. It saves you from not having enough to eat later and ordering takeout.”

Song Wen understood. They probably went downstairs earlier under the pretext of ordering takeout and took something, and now the old man was feeling a bit resentful.

He didn’t mind, pushed the fruits and nuts aside, then handed the phone to Cheng Mo. “Captain Cheng, one of the students lost their phone earlier. When we went downstairs, a kind-hearted person found it and brought it over. There are some recordings of what happened tonight on this phone. I think it might help with the case. Take a look, Captain Cheng.”

Cheng Mo wiped his hands with a tissue, somewhat puzzled, and took the phone. He pressed the play button, and the cries of Zhang Dongmei filled the entire private room.

The three video segments were very short, totaling just over a minute. After watching the videos, Cheng Mo’s face turned pale, then green. After all, he had been a captain for many years, realizing that his previous judgment was rash, he had underestimated this case. He turned to Song Wen and asked, “These students, unbelievable! Not only did they do such things, but they also dared to lie and deceive the police. It’s good that we have video evidence now. Let’s see what else they have to say. Captain Song, who should we question next?”

Song Wen thought for a moment and said, “Since this phone belongs to Qian Jiang, let’s call him over and ask him.”

Zhang Ziqi called Qian Jiang from the next room, and the man sat down in the same spot where Tan Shan had been sitting before. Whether he was naturally talkative or influenced by alcohol, this man talked a lot and always smiled when he spoke.

Song Wen pointed to the phone in front of him. “We went downstairs just now, and a kind-hearted person returned your phone.”

Qian Jiang said, “Oh, it looks like I’m pretty lucky tonight. Otherwise, I would have to buy another one.” He bent down to pick up the phone from the table.

But Song Wen pulled the phone back, and said to him sternly, “We’ve watched the videos on it.”

“What are you talking about…” Qian Jiang’s smile froze on his face, then he pretended to be confused. “What videos?”

“It’s the three videos showing how you treated Zhang Dongmei…” Song Wen explained, staring at Qian Jiang intently.

“How is that possible? Even if you found my phone, my phone is password protected…”

Song Wen didn’t answer him, feeling the seriousness from the three police officers across the table. Qian Jiang’s smile gradually froze, he straightened up, seeming to give up trying to retrieve his phone, then suddenly relaxed, leaning back in his chair, a cynical smile playing on his lips.

“Well, it’s okay. I’ve known for a long time that I can’t hide anything from you police. The six of us will all be interrogated one by one, and someone will eventually tell the truth. I didn’t expect you to make progress so quickly.”

As he spoke, Qian Jiang raised his eyes and looked at the three police officers in front of him. He had phoenix eyes with upturned corners, and now, after drinking, the tips of his eyes were tinged with red, making him look somewhat sinister. “That perverted old woman should have died a long time ago. Honestly, her dying here tonight didn’t surprise me at all.”