Proofreader: Sandra

Chapter 153

Just as they were talking, the waiter brought out their lunch.

The cabin quickly filled with the aroma of food.

Song Wen glanced at the time and realized it was already past eleven.

Qiu Lan hurriedly gathered up the Tarot cards from the table.

The meal on the ship was just a simple lunch. Song Wen ate it with no issues, but Lu Siyu was picky and fussy, frowning as he ate, and only managed to finish half a plate.

After the meal, everyone became more familiar with each other.

Qiu Lan took out her phone and coquettishly asked to add everyone on WeChat. She first went to add the couple and then turned to Lu Siyu and Song Wen.

Song Wen looked at the cheerful girl with some resignation. She didn’t seem like someone here for academic research; she seemed more like a tourist. He and Lu Siyu were here for serious business.

Lu Siyu, however, said nothing and openly took out his phone, opening the QR code for her to scan.

Song Wen pretended not to know him and scanned it as well. Upon checking, he found that Lu Siyu’s WeChat account was indeed brand new, bound to a phone number with no friends. No wonder he wasn’t worried about adding WeChat; he could simply switch it back later and even avoid deleting contacts.

Song Wen didn’t have a spare account, so he set his Moments to invisible and proactively scanned to add them. He added the two female students.

Qiu Lan then created a group specifically named “Nansha Island Typhoon Adventure Group.”

The group had seven members, seemingly including everyone.

Song Wen took a look and recognized that the person with a sky avatar appeared to be Teacher Su.

In no time, the journey was more than halfway over. The ship rocked more violently as the typhoon finally showed some signs, and the sky grew darker, unlike the previous clear skies.

After eating, Lu Siyu felt a bit seasick. Having talked too much with Song Wen earlier, he was now reluctant to speak. He propped himself up on the armrest of the sofa and quietly listened to the others talk.

The two girls began chattering about their itinerary for the trip.

They checked the latest weather forecast and learned that the typhoon was expected to reach Nansha Island tonight and wouldn’t leave until tomorrow morning. This meant they would need to stay in the hotel for the night.

After the typhoon, the weather would improve, and they would have several days of sunshine. Their island stay was for seven days in total. Aside from some research work, they would have plenty of time to enjoy themselves.

Qiu Lan asked Jiang Jiang, “By the way, did you bring a swimsuit? If the weather improves, we might be able to go swimming.”

Jiang Jiang’s eyes widened, “Are you brave enough to go? I heard there are sharks in this area.”

Qiu Lan was skeptical, “Are you kidding me? This is a coastal island, how could there be sharks?”

Jiang Jiang replied, “Of course, there are! Otherwise, how do you think Nansha Island got its name? How did you pass your marine biology class?”

Hearing their argument, Teacher Su intervened to educate the students, “This area is not a major shark habitat, but there are still some sharks here, like the shortfin mako, longfin mako, and reef sharks. These smaller sharks often live around coral reefs or at depths of about 120 meters and occasionally come to the surface. There were even legends of sharks around the island, and some fishermen went missing because of them, which is why the island got its name.”

Teacher Su added, “It’s October now, so the number of visitors to the island has decreased. Even after the typhoon passes, the beach here will still be unsafe. Additionally, the water is cold and could cause cramps, leading to potential dangers. It’s best if you don’t swim.”

Qiu Lan then gave up on the idea of swimming.

Jiang Jiang’s eyes flickered as she looked at Teacher Su and said, “By the way, speaking of it… When I was about to come to the island, my mom was a bit reluctant to let me go. I told her I was coming with my teacher and classmates, and that’s why she agreed.”

Qiu Lan was curious, “Why?”

Qiu Lan’s family was fully supportive of this trip.

Their main purpose was to assist Teacher Su with data recording, provide support, and help organize information. The costs of the trip were covered by the school’s research funding, essentially making it a subsidized trip. If Teacher Su published a paper afterward, they could also be listed as co-authors. Such an experience could also make a good impression on graduate school interviewers, so it was definitely more beneficial than detrimental.

Seeing that others seemed unaware and with Qiu Lan pressing further, Jiang Jiang hesitantly spoke up, “My mom told me that a girl had gone missing on this island. So initially, she and my dad were worried about safety and didn’t want me to come.” She recalled the incident when Teacher Su mentioned past disappearances of fishermen.

Song Wen asked casually, “A girl went missing? Is that true or just a rumor?”

Such islands, tourist spots, and historical sites often come with their own legends and rumors. As these stories are passed around, they become difficult to discern between truth and fiction. Often, the more haunted or mysterious a place is, the more popular it becomes as a tourist destination.

Jiang Jiang said, “It’s true, I’m not making up stories. It’s not from a long time ago, but from just the last two months. After I heard about it from my mom, I even searched for news articles. Don’t you all know about it?”

The others shook their heads, clearly unaware of the details.

Qiu Lan asked, “Can you tell us more? It would be good to be cautious.”

Jiang Jiang hesitated before saying, “Okay, I read about it in the news. It should have been at the end of August, around the end of this summer vacation. A female student around our age came to the island for a visit during the peak tourist season when there were many people on the island. By the way, you know, right? There’s only one slightly larger guesthouse on the island called the Happy Guesthouse, and all the visitors stay there.”

Qiu Lan said, “I know. We booked there too since it’s the only one available online. There are about twenty rooms in total. The guesthouse has a story too. Many years ago, a wealthy businessman fell in love with this small island, thinking it was a paradise. He built a vacation villa for himself, and many of the materials and craftsmen were brought from far away. Later, the businessman’s family fell on hard times, and one branch of his descendants remembered the island, moved here, and converted the villa into a guesthouse for a living.”

Jiang Jiang nodded, “Yes, during the peak tourist season, the guesthouse is always fully booked. The girl stayed at the Happy Guesthouse in the summer, and a few days later, the guesthouse owner reported her missing. Later, the police found the girl’s ID and all her luggage in the guesthouse. They found her phone on the beach, and the last message on it was a group text she sent. Of course, the police never released the full content of the message, but the last line was, ‘I’m sorry, I want to say goodbye to this world.’”

Qiu Lan blinked and asked, “Did the girl commit suicide?” It sounded like a standard suicide note.

“I’m not too sure,” Jiang Jiang replied. “In any case, after that, the girl went missing. No one saw her alive or dead. The police searched for a long time but couldn’t find her.”

Jiang Jiang continued, “I saw online that some people were gossiping about it, and it seems the girl’s parents exposed some details to marketing accounts and media, hoping to get help in uncovering the truth behind her disappearance.”

Qiu Lan asked, “Could there be something more to it? Or was there something suspicious about the girl’s disappearance?”

Jiang Jiang pressed her lips together before continuing: “According to what the girl’s parents said, she didn’t notify her father with the message she sent.”

Qiu Lan frowned, unable to understand: “Why is that?”

Jiang Jiang’s eyes grew deeper: “There’s an analysis by netizens online suggesting that it might be because someone had previously copied her contact list and scammed her parents. The girl’s father’s name wasn’t saved in the contact list. Whenever she called her family before, she would mute the number. And this short farewell message was sent to everyone in her phone, including delivery services and couriers, but it just didn’t reach her father. Moreover, just two days before she went missing, she called her parents to share her itinerary and even said excitedly that the island was a lot of fun. How could such a person commit suicide?”

Erasing the names of the closest contacts from one’s phone is a method used to prevent fraud, and many people do this. Apparently, the person who sent this message was unaware of this situation.

Upon hearing this, Song Wen became fully engrossed, and even Lu Siyu beside him opened his eyes wide. They both sensed that the story of the disappearance seemed more complicated than it appeared. The couple also listened intently, and Teacher Su adjusted his glasses, listening to his student continue.

Lu Siyu had once worked with Wu Qing on a project analyzing various suicide and staged suicide cases, summarizing patterns and characteristics.

Suicide, in the broad sense, refers to an individual deliberately and willingly taking various measures to end their own life under complex psychological influences. It is a complex social phenomenon.

On Earth, someone dies by suicide every few seconds.

To ordinary people, suicide is simply suicide, just differing in methods. But to these “professionals,” suicide has many nuances.

Is a person truly committing suicide? What are the motives behind it? What methods are used?

For the police, how should they prevent suicide, rescue those in the process of attempting suicide, and prevent contagious and mimicking suicides? This is a complex issue.

In cases related to suicide, there are often many clues that are unique to the suicide’s death code.

Domestic scholars generally divide suicides into emotional suicides and rational suicides.

Emotional suicides often involve jumping from buildings, bridges, or traffic accidents. They usually occur after experiencing intense conflicts or significant setbacks, carried out in states of anger, shame, regret, or frustration.

This type of suicide method progresses quickly, has a brief development period, and is difficult to prevent.

Emotional suicides usually have a stage of clear contradictions and conflicts, often showing signs of suicidal intent, which makes them relatively easier to identify.

Rational suicides, on the other hand, involve a gradual emergence of the intent to kill, with purpose and planning. The suicide process is slow, and the development period is longer.

For those committing rational suicides, the act is a solemn decision, with thoughts of suicide brewing in their minds for a long time, showing early signs.

Typically, those committing rational suicides will wear their favorite clothes, have a good meal, and use soft cloth strips or more suitable methods. They will test, repeatedly simulate, and carefully think through the process, using familiar methods.

Regardless of the type of suicide, most non-mentally ill suiciders hope to face death calmly.

In such cases, a suicide note is not a determining factor for suicide, as notes can be fabricated. The key is to investigate the deceased’s psychological state and reconstruct the process of the suicide.

Often, because the deceased cannot speak, some homicide deaths can easily be disguised as suicides. This is when the police need to be particularly discerning.

For example, left-handed individuals rarely use their right hand to commit suicide, and those who hang themselves usually do not use very thin wire or thread. If there are bloodstains, they usually fall naturally in lines, rarely splashing everywhere…

Suicides that do not fit the usual patterns often have flaws and doubts in the eyes of experienced police officers.

When Lu Siyu was still an intern, he encountered a case where a husband committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in his home after being drunk, leaving behind a suicide note. When he arrived at the scene, he quickly discovered that it was actually a homicide. The reason was simple: the charcoal stove was wiped clean, with no fingerprints.

A husband who was already drunk and decided to commit suicide under such circumstances would unlikely have wiped away his own fingerprints.

Further investigation and questioning revealed that it was indeed the deceased’s wife who had committed the crime, and the suicide note was forged.

Just like the story Jiang Jiang is telling now, if the girl had no motive for suicide and had shown no abnormal behavior before, it is likely that the note was not left by the girl herself. The girl might have met with an accident for other reasons long before.

Outside the cabin, the typhoon had begun, and the howling wind could be heard. The sky was partially cloudy, and in the middle of the cabin, only Jiang Jiang’s voice was heard, recounting the story of the girl’s disappearance, which made the atmosphere feel somewhat chilling. Lu Siyu tightened his jacket and continued listening to Jiang Jiang’s account.

Qiu Lan furrowed her brows and said, “So, it’s possible that the suicide note SMS wasn’t sent by the girl herself? And the person who sent the message didn’t know that her phone’s contact list didn’t include her father’s number?”

Jiang Jiang nodded, confirming that the online analysis she had read was similar.

Song Wen couldn’t help but lean forward and ask, “So what was the result of the police investigation?”

Jiang Jiang replied, “The police questioned the tourists on the island, the hotel owner, and other related people, but no one knew the girl’s whereabouts. Many reported that the girl was still at the hotel the day before, and everything seemed normal.”

“The hotel owner said he saw her leave the hotel early in the morning, heading towards the seaside. There were suspicions online that the girl might have fallen into a scam or met someone dangerous. Some even suspected that the hotel staff and owner were lying collectively. The news I saw only mentioned that the police confirmed the incident was not related to a scam and were focusing on searching for the missing girl.”

Qiu Lan sighed, “But the girl’s family must be unable to accept this result, right?”

Jiang Jiang nodded, “Yes, the family posted online raising several doubts. The first doubt is the SMS suicide note. The second doubt is that the girl, originally scheduled to return after two days, ended up staying on the island for five days, having changed her departure time twice. Despite repeated urging from her family to return, she kept procrastinating and didn’t leave. The third doubt is that the girl exchanged a large amount of cash before going to the island, but only a small amount of cash was found among her belongings. On this isolated island, where did the rest of the money go? Did she spend it, or was it stolen?”

“Could there be something on the island that attracted her? Or maybe she was involved in an online romance? Or was it possible that it was a case of robbery and murder?” Qiu Lan’s mind raced with questions.

Jiang Jiang shook her head, “I’m not sure about that.”

Song Wen fell silent upon hearing this. Nansha Island is a small island with few indigenous residents. He had checked before coming and found that there was no police station on the island, only a small port police office at the dock with rotating island police officers who aren’t frequently present.

The nearest precinct would be the Xinchuan Precinct on the mainland, but it only has a few criminal police officers, so their manpower is limited.

Unlike cities and rural areas, the island has many blind spots. The vast surrounding sea alone is enough to make someone disappear.

In such a situation, it would be difficult to properly investigate the girl’s disappearance.

This is also why fugitives like Wu Hongyou could hide on this island for so many years.

Seeing him remain silent, Lu Siyu seemed to understand his thoughts. He quietly said to everyone, “Since this happened during the summer vacation, even if we want to investigate, it’s probably too late to make any progress now.”

The police had announced a full search, but such searches have time limits, and the longer the interval, the lower the chances of finding the missing person.

Qiu Lan turned to the couple and asked, “Don’t you often go to the island? Have you not heard anything about this incident?”

Chen Zui replied, “Do you know the girl’s name? With no name or surname, we can’t confirm if we know her or not.”

Jiang Jiang thought for a moment and said, “I think her surname is Zhao. The news only mentioned Zhao something.”

Amy shook her head, “I haven’t heard of her.”

Chen Zui said, “The girl probably had an accident while she was out exploring, maybe she drowned while swimming?”

Song Wen pointed out the flaw in that theory immediately, “The phone was found by the seaside. If she was swimming, why wouldn’t she keep her valuables safe?”

Chen Zui was caught off guard and laughed awkwardly, “It’s just gossip, let’s not be so serious! As for the text message… it might have been sent by the hotel manager or someone else. I think the purpose of sending it was to absolve themselves of responsibility. If the girl did commit suicide, they might think it’s a win-win situation—no need for the police to investigate further.”

The person who sent the message didn’t expect that it would make the situation even more mysterious.

Amy also nodded in agreement with Chen Zui’s opinion, “Even if the girl had previously reassured her family that she was having a great time, it doesn’t necessarily prove she didn’t die by suicide. She might have had depression or some other condition that suddenly flared up, leading to emotional instability.”

While they were chatting, the ship suddenly jolted violently.

“Dear passengers, we are about to enter a stormy area. However, we will reach Nansha Island in about twenty minutes.”