So...
Where to go?
This time, they definitely had to take Teacher Song's notebook with them, but the problem was, how could they track down that disappeared figure? The surrounding weeds were knee-high. Little Li and the others had also searched the area, but still came up empty-handed.
Zhang Shutong watched the ambulance disappear around the corner:
"You think... it was that thing?"
Ever since he saw the person disappear, he had a hunch, but he couldn't say it out loud because there were other people.
In his impression, only a "clay figurine" could jump from a building over five meters tall and come out completely unharmed.
Zhang Shutong then frowned.
But if what they saw on the rooftop was a clay figurine, then what was it that Lu Qinglian had dealt with?
Judging from the information they got from Teacher Song, they should be the same person...
In an instant, he thought of many possibilities, but they all had loopholes. Just as he was at a loss, Lu Qinglian spoke:
"No."
Zhang Shutong was about to use the photos from the cold-blooded timeline to remind her, but Lu Qinglian said concisely:
"There was blood."
"Blood?"
"Yes, I just checked." Lu Qinglian looked up at the roof. She extended her finger. "The place where that person jumped was not in front of this building, but at the corner between the front and the side, which faces the school's rooftop."
Zhang Shutong immediately turned his head to look.
But Lu Qinglian said again:
"No need to look. I have a good sense of direction. I won't be wrong."
"...That's true."
For example, on the rooftop just now, she could directly tell him to look at ten o'clock.
Zhang Shutong quickly walked to the southeast corner.
He had come from the west side and hadn't checked the east side yet.
Zhang Shutong crouched down and parted the weeds. His finger brushed against the grass leaves, and it felt a bit sticky. He looked closely, and a faint red color was on his fingertips.
He put it under his nose and sniffed.
Indeed.
Zhang Shutong quickly stuck his finger into the soil and pinched a small clump. The soil was also damp and had been dyed a dark red.
Fresh bloodstains.
He continued to push the grass apart. A bloodstain the size of a washbasin appeared in his view, and it had already soaked into the ground.
Lu Qinglian walked to his side:
"That's all we've found so far."
Zhang Shutong said in surprise:
"The people from the hospital didn't even notice the blood?"
Or rather, did they not notice it, or did they find it and conceal it?
This thought just came up and was immediately dismissed.
This bloodstain wasn't very big, and the smell of blood wasn't strong. It was also completely covered by the weeds. You would have to crouch down like this to see it.
And Little Li was wearing a mask, so he probably really didn't smell it.
As for the bald driver, combined with his attitude just now, he probably just went around the dorm building once and left in a hurry.
The only clue that could be linked to the "injured person" was missed just like that.
Clay figurines don't bleed.
But if that was the case, he couldn't say which situation was more confusing—
Think about it. A person was bleeding and injured. Judging from the extent of the bloodstain, the injury was not light. But before the rescuers arrived, the person just disappeared.
Zhang Shutong stood up and looked at the top floor again. He couldn't help but ask:
"If it were you, jumping from a place this high..."
"I would die." Lu Qinglian said decisively. "Especially if you land on the back of your head."
That's right. That person didn't just jump off a building. They had spread their arms and fallen on their back. What was that for?
Why would they do such a strange motion?
A hug?
A hug for what?
The sun?
A new life?
His mind even came up with some scenes from movies. Zhang Shutong subconsciously imitated the posture, but he was still at a loss.
Even if the other person left with an injury, there should have been blood left behind. But he searched around, and the only place where bloodstains appeared was at the bottom of the southeast corner of the dorm building.
An injured person would definitely have difficulty moving. Maybe they leaned against the wall as they walked. Thinking about this, he carefully checked along the side wall again.
The width of the dorm building was six or seven meters. He walked from the front of the building to the back, taking more than a dozen steps, but he didn't find anything at the bottom of the wall, just withered grass and rocks.
"Let's go get the notebook first." Lu Qinglian reminded him from the side.
Zhang Shutong sighed and chose to temporarily give up.
There was nothing to find from the bottom of the building.
He followed Lu Qinglian toward the stairs. She was still the same. There were very few things that could interest her, or rather, that she cared about.
Since the person was neither Teacher Song nor a clay figurine, even though the whole thing was bizarre, she still had an indifferent attitude.
"Thanks for what you did just now." The two of them walked into the dorm building. Zhang Shutong said, "I owe you another favor."
"If it wasn't certain that it was Teacher Song, I would have called an ambulance anyway." Lu Qinglian said casually. "It should have been my share in the first place."
Zhang Shutong stopped talking and looked at the inside of the dorm building.
The last time he was here was at night, and he was in a hurry, so he hadn't looked carefully.
Everything in his sight was covered in dust. The handrails were peeling, and the walls were covered with crooked small advertisements... But even in broad daylight, with plenty of light, there was nothing unusual. This was just an old dorm building.
The stairs were in the middle of the block apartment. The dorms were on both sides, with two rooms on the east side and two on the west. There were a total of eight rooms in the whole building, but only one was inhabited.
Although this was a faculty dorm, the teachers on the small island were all locals and were all getting older. There was a serious lack of new blood. From beginning to end, only Teacher Song lived here.
To be honest, the surroundings were a bit creepy. Zhang Shutong had wanted to ask Teacher Song if he had any idea about the figure, but the other person's phone was still not connecting.
Song Nanshan had been in a groggy state these past few days, and his sleep schedule was not fixed. Zhang Shutong was not surprised. He just sent a text message.
The two of them quickly went up to the second floor. Zhang Shutong stood at the end of the stairs and said:
"The easternmost room is Teacher Song's. I probably threw the notebook on the bed. You can go first..."
He was about to say, "You go ahead and take a look. I'll continue to look for anything suspicious, like going to the rooftop to take a look," but before he could finish, Zhang Shutong stopped.
He suddenly realized that he was standing at the end of the stairs.
Of course it was the end, because this building was only two stories high. After the stairs was the public hallway.
Zhang Shutong was stunned for a moment.
But if that was the case, then how did that person...
Climb up to the roof?
He quickly looked around, but there was really only one hallway. The hallway ran from east to west. It was a balcony, a walkway, and it was even piled with junk, but there was no hidden passage.
This was not the school's rooftop. There was no separate stairwell.
He quickly told Lu Qinglian about his discovery. She thought for a moment:
"The only way to climb up is from there."
Zhang Shutong looked in the direction she was pointing. It was the low wall of the hallway. It was a short wall made of cement that served as a railing.
It wasn't very tall. When a person got close, they could put their arm on it.
Zhang Shutong craned his neck to look up. He estimated the height. In other words, if you wanted to climb up to the roof, you had to first stand on this low wall, then grab onto the roof with both hands and continue to climb up?
This...
Although it was unbelievable, the facts told him that this was the only way to get to the rooftop.
It wasn't an easy few steps. It required a lot of effort to climb up. One wrong move and you could fall.
But even so, they still climbed up?
A cold feeling rose from his back. He subconsciously wanted to go up and take a look, but then he remembered that his arm was in the way. Just then, Lu Qinglian frowned:
"I'll go take a look."
It seemed that the bizarreness of this matter had successfully piqued her interest.
After she finished speaking, the girl had already stepped onto the low wall with one leg. Her body had a flexibility that surpassed ordinary people's. Zhang Shutong had seen it before. Lu Qinglian didn't use any external force. She just used her tiptoes to push off the ground:
"Be careful—"
Zhang Shutong couldn't help but say. But as his words fell, Lu Qinglian was already standing steadily on the low wall.
The width of that low wall was only half a palm. Standing on it was like walking on a tightrope. Below was a field overgrown with weeds. Just maintaining your balance would take all your energy. But Lu Qinglian agilely turned her body. Zhang Shutong's heart skipped a beat. All he could see was her calf.
Zhang Shutong's gaze moved down. Her socks weren't very long, revealing some skin on her ankle. Her skin was very fair, so a small injury would be very noticeable. The redness and swelling on her ankle were mostly gone, but a shocking bruise was left behind.
Zhang Shutong was only worried that her foot would suddenly give out, but the facts proved that his worries were completely unnecessary. The next moment, Lu Qinglian climbed onto the roof, and a thin stream of dust fell with her movements.
Zhang Shutong choked and quickly shouted:
"How is it?"
"I didn't find anything."
Lu Qinglian's calm voice came from above.
"Are you sure that person wasn't going to the rooftop to look for something?" he asked again, still not at ease.
"If you're not at ease, give me your phone. I'll take a picture for you to see."
Zhang Shutong handed his phone over. The sound insulation of this building wasn't great. He could hear Lu Qinglian walking back and forth on the roof. He thought for a moment and then asked:
"From your position, can you see the school's rooftop?"
"Barely. What is it?"
"I still can't figure out why someone would go to the dorm building." Zhang Shutong put his hand over his eyes and also observed the location of the school. "But if they weren't looking for something, even if I'm being a bit paranoid, assuming they could also see the school's rooftop, is it possible that they were doing it on purpose for us to see?"
The top of his head was silent for a moment. Lu Qinglian then said:
"No."
Zhang Shutong was patiently waiting for more, but a beautiful face suddenly appeared in front of him. However, this face was upside down.
He subconsciously took a step back. It turned out that Lu Qinglian was kneeling on the roof. She leaned down, her long hair hanging upside down. She said indifferently:
"This building isn't a flat roof."
"You mean the roof is slanted?"
"Higher in the south, lower in the north." Saying this, she handed over the phone. "See for yourself."
Zhang Shutong looked at the screen. This building was indeed an old one. The roof was covered with a layer of tiles. Just as Lu Qinglian said, it was higher on the south side, which faced the school, and lower on the north side, which was slanted. And the difference in height was not small.
And when they saw that person, they were already standing at the southeast corner, with their back to the two of them. They couldn't have seen the school at all.
Even if the other person had hidden on the north side beforehand and then walked backward to the south after they appeared, it was impossible, because hiding on the north side would block their view. They wouldn't have been able to see the rooftop either.
He swiped through the other photos Lu Qinglian had taken. There was indeed nothing. Broken tiles, stubborn weeds, bird droppings, and twigs. That was it.
"Is there anything else?" Lu Qinglian asked again.
"I think, no more?" Zhang Shutong couldn't think of any other clues either.
Lu Qinglian sighed faintly at his words, as if she had finally solved a troublesome matter. She turned her body and slid into the hallway like a fish, using her hands to grab the roof:
"Student Zhang Shutong, since your curiosity has been satisfied, you'd better not bother me again." She said with a bit of a headache.
"This time, there really isn't anything else..."
Zhang Shutong also felt a headache coming on. He was no longer sure whether he should treat the "fall incident" as a "simple" accident.
"Simple" meaning—it was just a coincidence that they saw the other person jump, and it had little to do with what they were going to do today.
Zhang Shutong then thought that this place was not far from the hospital. He wondered if the hospital on the small island took in mental patients?
Maybe a mental patient had snuck out and, having nothing better to do, climbed up to the roof and jumped off, and then after getting hurt, went back to the hospital.
What a mess...
He shook his head. While he was pondering, Lu Qinglian had already opened the door. She also subconsciously moved to the side, as if a cloud of dust would rush out.
Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "Teacher, how messy was the impression you left on your students? Lu Qinglian's reaction now is the same as mine back then."
He put away his joking thoughts and followed a few steps behind. He first carefully checked the layout of the room. He even considered the possibility that that person had come to Teacher Song's dorm to look for something. The first thing he checked was naturally the notebook on the bed.
The notebook was still there. He then looked at the position of the furniture. It hadn't changed either. The lock on the door hadn't been broken. Zhang Shutong then looked at the window. The window was slightly ajar. But he had closed it when he left.
"Is something wrong?"
"The window is a bit ajar..." Saying this, Zhang Shutong shook it hard. It turned out that the metal window frame was rusty. Even if he pushed it back to its original position, it would slide back out after a while.
Besides, there was a railing outside the window. Even if the window wasn't closed, let alone a person, it would be difficult to even put an arm through.
Zhang Shutong then looked at the desk. The wind had been strong these past few days. A Red Bull can had fallen over on it. The orange liquid was flowing onto the test paper next to it, looking out of place on the neatly organized desk.
"This is..."
Lu Qinglian picked up the can. She just frowned.
"I drank that..."
Lu Qinglian gave him a speechless look.
Then the girl walked to the bed and carefully looked through the notebook. Zhang Shutong, on the other hand, looked at the room again.
The depth of the room was very short.
He could walk from the door to the other wall in just four or five steps.
Staying here for a long time would probably be very stuffy. The lighting was also very poor. Because it was an old building, it only faced south. The north side didn't even have a window, like a prison cell.
A small single bed was leaning against that wall. A large poster was also hung on the wall, a poster of Andy Lau. The poster had already faded, but the star's style was still there. Zhang Shutong thought Teacher Song had good taste. He admired it for a while and then looked up.
Above his head was a handmade clothesline that Teacher Song had made himself. It was just a wire tied to the north and south sides. His shirt was still hanging on it, all wrinkled. Zhang Shutong used to think he was a slob for wearing his work clothes like that, but now he saw that he didn't have the means. There was no iron for him to use here.
The room was covered with photos of a short-haired woman. She had big eyes and dimples when she smiled.
Zhang Shutong intentionally avoided those photos, but they were all over the room. He didn't want to look at them anymore and simply backed up to the door and turned around.
Lu Qinglian closed the notebook with a loud slap.