Chapter 328 - 142: "The Madman" (Part 2)

Chapter 328: Chapter 142: "The Madman" (Part 2)

Song Nanshan had been in a daze for the past few days, his sleeping schedule completely erratic. This didn’t surprise Zhang Shutong, who just sent him a text.

The two of them quickly made their way to the second floor. Standing at the top of the stairs, Zhang Shutong said:

"The room at the very end on the east side is Song’s. I think I tossed the laptop on his bed. You go on ahead..."

He had intended to tell her to go on ahead and check while he kept looking for anything out of place—maybe take a look at the rooftop—but he trailed off and came to a stop.

He suddenly realized that he was standing at the end of the staircase.

Of course it was the end. The building was only two stories high; after the stairs, there was just a shared hallway.

Zhang Shutong froze.

’But if that’s the case, then that person...’

’How did they get onto the roof?’

He hurriedly scanned his surroundings, but there was only the single hallway. It ran from east to west, a combination of balcony and walkway, cluttered with junk. But there was absolutely no hidden passage.

’This isn’t like the school roof,’ he thought. ’There’s no separate stairwell.’

He quickly shared his discovery with Lu Qinglian. She mulled it over for a moment before saying:

"There’s only one way up—from over there."

Zhang Shutong followed her pointed finger. She was indicating the low wall at the edge of the hallway, a short, concrete parapet that took the place of a railing.

It wasn’t very high, just tall enough for someone to lean over and comfortably rest their arms on top.

Zhang Shutong leaned out to look up, estimating the height. ’So to get onto the roof, you’d have to stand on this parapet first, grab the edge of the roof with both hands, and pull yourself up?’

’This is...’

It was unbelievable, but the reality was clear: this was the only way to the roof.

It wasn’t a matter of casually walking up a few steps, but a strenuous climb where a single misstep could send you plummeting.

’And they climbed up anyway?’

A chill ran down his spine. He instinctively wanted to go up and see for himself, but then remembered his injured hand would just get in the way. Just then, Lu Qinglian frowned.

"I’ll go take a look."

It seemed the sheer strangeness of the situation had managed to pique her interest.

With that, she swung one leg onto the parapet. Her body possessed a flexibility that surpassed the average person, a fact Zhang Shutong had witnessed before. He watched as Lu Qinglian, without needing any leverage, just pushed off lightly from the ground with the balls of her feet.

"Be caref—"

Zhang Shutong started to say, but by the time the word was out, Lu Qinglian was already standing steadily on top of the low wall.

The wall was only half a hand’s breadth wide, and standing on it was like walking a tightrope over the weed-choked ground below. Just maintaining balance would require total concentration, yet Lu Qinglian agilely turned her body. Zhang Shutong’s heart skipped a beat, his gaze now fixed on her calves as she moved.

Zhang Shutong’s gaze drifted lower. Her socks weren’t very long, revealing a sliver of skin at her ankle. Her complexion was so fair that any injury stood out starkly. The redness and swelling from her ankle injury had mostly faded, but a shocking, dark bruise remained in its place.

Zhang Shutong worried her injured foot might suddenly give out, but his concern proved entirely unnecessary. The next moment, Lu Qinglian had hoisted herself onto the roof, her movements dislodging a fine trickle of dust that rained down.

Zhang Shutong choked on the dust and quickly called out:

"Anything?"

"Nothing up here."

Lu Qinglian’s calm voice drifted down from above.

"Are you sure they weren’t looking for something on the roof?" he asked again, still unconvinced.

"If you’re not convinced, hand me your phone. I’ll take some pictures so you can see for yourself."

Zhang Shutong held up his phone. The building’s soundproofing wasn’t great, and he could hear the sound of Lu Qinglian walking back and forth above him. After a moment of thought, he asked another question:

"Can you see the school roof from where you are?"

"Barely. Why?"

"I still can’t figure it out. Why would someone run up to the roof of a dorm building?" Zhang Shutong shaded his eyes, trying to gauge the school’s location. "But if they weren’t looking for something... just to be paranoid, let’s assume they could also see the school roof. Is it possible they did it on purpose for us to see?"

There was a moment of silence from above before Lu Qinglian spoke again:

"No."

Zhang Shutong was patiently waiting for her to elaborate when a delicate face suddenly appeared before him—upside down.

He instinctively recoiled. It was Lu Qinglian, half-kneeling at the edge of the roof. She was leaning over, her long hair cascading down, as she stated flatly:

"This building doesn’t have a flat roof."

"You mean the roof is slanted?"

"Higher on the south side, lower on the north." She handed him the phone. "See for yourself."

Zhang Shutong looked at the screen. The building was clearly old, its roof covered in tiles. Just as Lu Qinglian had said, the south-facing side, which looked toward the school, was higher, while the north side was lower, creating a significant slope.

When they had seen the person, they were standing on the southeast corner with their back to them, making it impossible to see the school.

It was also impossible for them to have hidden on the north side and waited for them to appear before walking backward to the south, because the slope would have blocked their line of sight, preventing them from seeing the school roof anyway.

He swiped through the other photos Lu Qinglian had taken. There was truly nothing there—just broken tiles, resilient weeds, bird droppings, and stray branches. That was it.

"Anything else?" Lu Qinglian asked.

"I... don’t think so?" Zhang Shutong couldn’t think of any other leads either.

Hearing this, Lu Qinglian let out a soft sigh, as if a troublesome matter had finally been dealt with. She rolled onto her stomach at the edge of the roof and slid fluidly down into the hallway.

"Zhang Shutong, now that your curiosity is satisfied, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bother me again," she said, her tone laced with exasperation.

"I’m really done this time..."

Zhang Shutong was getting a headache himself. He was no longer sure if he should treat the "fall from the building" as a "purely" coincidental accident.

"Purely," as in, them seeing the person jump was a complete coincidence, unrelated to their plans for the day.

Zhang Shutong then wondered, ’It’s not far from the hospital. I wonder if the island’s hospital admits psychiatric patients?’

’Maybe a psychiatric patient snuck out, climbed the roof out of boredom, and jumped. Then, after the fall hurt, they just went back to the hospital.’

’What kind of nonsense is this...’

He shook his head. While he was mulling it over, Lu Qinglian opened the door, instinctively turning sideways as if expecting a cloud of dust to billow out and hit her in the face.

’My dear mentor,’ Zhang Shutong thought, ’just how messy of an impression did you leave on your students? Lu Qinglian is reacting the exact same way I did.’

He pushed his joking thoughts aside and followed her in, taking a few quick steps to catch up. He first carefully inspected the room’s furnishings—he even considered the possibility that the person on the roof had come to Song’s dorm looking for something. The first thing he checked for, naturally, was the laptop on the bed.

The laptop was still there. He looked at the furniture next; its placement was unchanged. The lock on the door hadn’t been tampered with, either. Then Zhang Shutong’s gaze fell on the window. It was open a crack, but he was sure he had closed it before he left.

"What’s wrong?"

"The window’s open a crack..." As he spoke, Zhang Shutong gave it a hard shake. It turned out the metal frame was rusted; even if he pushed it shut, it would just slide open again before long.

Besides, there were bars on the outside of the window. Even with it open, it would be difficult to even stick an arm through, let alone a whole person.

Zhang Shutong’s eyes moved to the desk. The wind had been strong the last few days. A Red Bull can had tipped over, its reddish-orange liquid spilling onto an exam paper beside it, a stark contrast to the otherwise tidy surface.

"This is..."

Lu Qinglian picked up the can, her brow furrowing slightly.

"I drank that the other day..."

Lu Qinglian shot him a look of exasperation.

Then, the young woman walked to the side of the bed and began carefully flipping through the notebook, while Zhang Shutong once again surveyed the room.

The room was shallow; one could cross from the door to the opposite wall in just four or five steps. Staying here for any length of time would likely feel stifling. The lighting was terrible, too. As it was an old building, only the south side got any sun; the north wall didn’t even have a window. It felt like a prison cell.

A small single bed rested against that wall, above which was a large poster of Liu Dehua. The poster was long since faded, but the Heavenly King’s charm remained. ’Song has pretty good taste,’ Zhang Shutong thought. He admired it for a moment before looking up.

Overhead was a makeshift clothesline Song had rigged himself—just an electrical wire strung between the north and south walls. One of his shirts hung from it, wrinkled and rumpled. Zhang Shutong used to think Song was sloppy for not even taking care of his work clothes, but now he realized the man simply didn’t have the means. There was no iron for him to use here.

All around the room were photos of a woman with short hair, large eyes, and dimples that appeared when she smiled.

Zhang Shutong tried to avoid looking at the photos, but they were plastered all over the room. Unwilling to stare, he simply retreated to the doorway and turned his back.

Lu Qinglian snapped the notebook shut.