Netherworld Investigator

Chapter 338

We ran out, looking for the dean when someone shouted that they found him. A professor followed the dean out of the opposite lecture building. As it turned out, he was using the restroom on the other side.

Looking at the white-haired dean, a sliver of doubt crossed my mind! I deliberately glanced at his hand, only to find his skin as old as bark before dismissing my suspicions.

Deng Chao’s voice rang once more, "Next comes the fifth test. I’ve hidden a clue on the body. You have 15 minutes to find the right place and answer the question. Good luck!"

I returned to the lecture building, rushed into the classroom and found a keychain hanging on the victim’s belt. It looked very familiar so I looked down at my own pants and realized it was mine.

Grabbing the keychain, I dashed out and bumped into Dali halfway. "Where are we supposed to go next?" he asked.

I shook the keychain in my hand, "The test this time is in our dormitory. He’s intentionally demonstrating his abilities. Deng Chao approached me at some point and stole my keys and he must have tampered with our dormitory while we were busy answering the previous questions."

"What?!” exclaimed Dali. “He was that close to you at some point?! First of all, let me declare that I’m the real Dali. If you don’t believe me, you can ask any question."

I knew very well that Dali was standing before me and not some imposter. But more importantly, I knew exactly how Deng Chao had approached me.

Back in the control room of the auditorium, I didn’t examine the body due to time constraints. The other "corpse" was Deng Chao under disguise. He quietly stole my key while I was speaking to the audience.

I had to admit, the man had courage. But at the same time, it was his twisted self-esteem that drove him to prove how much stronger and smarter he was compared to me.

We hurried back to the dormitory. Since everyone was attending the graduation ceremony today, the corridors were empty. I opened the door to our dorm and saw four dummies sitting side by side in the room. Their heads were painted red, yellow, blue and green respectively, faces twisted into strange smiles.

"Holy shit! That’s creepy!” shouted Dali. “This guy actually sneaked into our dorm to mess with us!"

I noticed a walkman on the table, most likely the hint to the next test. When I pressed the play button, Deng Chao’s unhurried voice filled the room, "Song Yang, you once visited my dormitory. So I had to return the favor. I visited your dormitory as well and left you a little question! These four students are called Redhead, Bluehead, Greenhead and Yellowhead. Each student smokes only one brand of cigarette and drinks one brand of beverage. One night at 8 o’clock, they were engaged in their own activities. One of them left the room and unfortunately met a serial killer. Please deduce who was killed according to the clue. I will only say this once. Please listen carefully and throw the head of the victim you identify out of the window."

After a pause, Deng Chao began, "The student who was reading smokes Hongtashan cigarettes. Bluehead was playing video games at 8 o’clock. The student who drinks Coke was sitting with the student who drinks mineral water. The student who left the room smokes Huanghelou cigarettes. The student watching a movie was farthest from the student reading. There was no one on the right of the student who drinks milk. The student who smokes DHS cigarettes and the student who smokes Huanghelou were sitting together. Greenhead only drinks mineral water. The student playing video games was beside the one reading. There is someone in between the student who drinks mineral water and the one who drinks vitamin water. Yellowhead only smokes DBS cigarettes. The student playing video games smokes Yuxi cigarettes. The student watching a movie drinks milk. So tell me, who is the victim?"

The walkman suddenly burst into flames and was completely scrapped. "Fucking hell! That was confusing!” cursed Dali. “My brain feels like mush!"

"It’s just a simple matter of sorting out the information,” I sneered. “It doesn’t even require reasoning."

"Simple?” Dali spat his tongue. “I really wonder how your brain works."

At the end of the recording, I already had it figured out. I grabbed Greenhead and was about to throw it out the window when Dali interjected, "Dude, are you sure about this? You better be right."

"There’s no way I’m wrong!" I asserted.

When I reached for the head, a thin wire broke off inside, and the head began to smoke. I rushed to the balcony, making sure there was no one below before throwing it at the lawn. Then, I crouched down and sandwiched my head between both hands.

A thunderous boom shook the building. Dust, old paint and loose cement rained down on us, falling into the gap between my collar and neck. Dali lay on the ground, protecting his head. The students in the corridor were horrified as well.

I looked out of the window and saw a huge crater in the lawn. Deng Chao had installed a bomb in the answer. If I had made a mistake, the bomb would have remained in the dormitory and be detonated by other means.

However, the question itself was so simple I couldn’t have answered wrong. Knowing Deng Chao’s distinct methods, that was merely a warm-up. After all, he had allocated 15 minutes this time and I still had more than 10 minutes on the clock.

"The test isn’t over!” I stated, turning to Dali. “Look for clues in the dormitory!"

Dali called in our roommates for help. We each rummaged through our belongings to check if there was anything missing or additional. Xiaotao interrupted, "Song Yang, I just heard another explosion. Is anyone hurt?"

"No," I affirmed.

"The hostage rescue is underway,” she continued. “According to Lao Yao, Bai Lei is locked in that room. He’s now trying to block the video signal. Song Xingchen is already waiting outside."

I was suddenly struck by a thought. "Deng Chao is skilled in switching identities. Please determine if the man inside is really Bai Lei or an imposter."

"Should we inform Song Xingchen if he’s an imposter?" she asked.

"No, come back to me first,” I replied. “The rescue will continue as planned!"

At the end of our conversation, one of my roommates suddenly shouted, "Song Yang, you have a library card on your bed."

Upon further inspection, I said, "Go to the library!"

"Didn’t he forbid us from entering the library?" Dali retorted.

"He’s a slick bastard. He must have something planned at the library,” I sniggered. “He only prohibited us from entering lest we mess up his plans. Let’s go now!"

When we arrived at the library, there was a “Closed” sign at the entrance which I ignored. I instructed the others to comb the place. A minute later, Dali shouted, "Song Yang, come to the third floor. There are many students trapped here!"

I tore hell for leather upstairs and found the door to the classics section locked; even the gap between the door and frame was sealed with strong glue. There were students sitting on the ground with their hands and feet tied. As soon as they caught sight of us, they wailed and screamed.

The sealed space fired up the gears in my head, triggering an idea of what Deng Chao might do. I immediately told Dali to fetch my bag from the auditorium.