"Hm?"
Tang Qi looked up in surprise and immediately saw a large crowd of students—boys and girls alike, mixed with quite a few faculty members—all surging toward the side area of the Main Campus. Even as they ran, their faces showed a mixture of excitement and fear.
Something had happened!
The thought had only just crossed Tang Qi's mind when several boys running past nearby loudly revealed what had happened.
"Quick, quick! I heard there's been a murder in the Dormitory Area."
"It's true. Several girls died. They were supposedly all hot cheerleaders."
"I heard they died horribly. The killer skinned their whole bodies."
Tang Qi, who had been about to head straight over, suddenly stopped upon hearing the last sentence.
With a movement of his feet, he joined the flow of people heading toward the Dormitory Area.
Besides the Main Campus, St. Thorn High School had a large area occupied by dormitory buildings.
After all, it was the best high school in Messer City, with no small number of students. Some chose to live on campus, and ninety-nine percent of them were housed in the dorms, usually several students to a room.
Someone like Tang Qi, renting an entire small building by himself, was rare.
After all, he could now control that large inheritance himself. Even those from well-off families might not be so extravagant.
Upon reaching the dormitory area, Tang Qi immediately saw a large crowd gathered in front of a red-brick building.
The murder had taken place on the First Layer, in the sixth room. The police had arrived ahead of everyone else and set up a cordon outside the room. Quite a few burly officers formed a human wall, stopping several crazed students from trying to squeeze inside.
A strong stench of blood drifted out.
Even through the surging crowd, Tang Qi could see through the gaps the black blood that had flowed from the open doorway and already congealed.
This horrifying sight did nothing to deter these adolescent students with their intense appetite for the grotesque.
The faculty members mixed into the crowd all wore ugly expressions.
Yet the students were discussing it with great enthusiasm. From their animated expressions as they talked about the tragedy, along with the few scattered sobs, Tang Qi could make two judgments.
First, the victims were probably not very well liked.
Second, their condition—or rather, the way they had died—was horrifying.
After standing in the outer area for a second, Tang Qi suddenly squeezed into the crowd of onlookers. He did not use brute force, merely put some strength into his feet, and in a few moves made his way to the front.
The best position: directly in front of the open door.
With a single glance, Tang Qi took in most of the room's interior.
There were four victims in total, all girls.
None of them wore clothes. Each lay on a bed, and an unimaginable amount of blood had soaked through the bedding before dripping onto the floor, gathering into little streams that ran toward the doorway and finally congealed at the entrance.
Cause of death?
It was impossible to tell for now, because all the skin on their bodies had been peeled off.
He could tell because, beneath the white sheets covering them, a pair of arms remained exposed—arms stripped of skin, revealing bright red muscle.
Still, they had been covered with sheets. Otherwise, if it was truly as Tang Qi imagined, the students who were eagerly discussing the grisly spectacle would probably have vomited on the spot, emptying three days and three nights' worth of meals.
The several cleaners in a corner inside the cordon, vomiting until they were nearly unconscious, were proof enough of that.
Unlike most of the students, Tang Qi did not stare fixedly at the bodies being carried away. Instead, he swiftly took in the layout and every detail of the room.
Very soon, Tang Qi seemed to spot something. His pupils contracted slightly, and his expression immediately darkened.
Though he quickly returned to normal, a trace of doubt remained in his eyes.
It was a brutal murder, and one that had happened in a place like St. Thorn High School. Once news of the case spread, it was easy to imagine the enormous impact it would have on Messer City.
Because of that, both the police and the school were under immense pressure.
With remarkable coordination, they sprang into action. The police sealed off the scene, experts arrived one after another, and the white-haired old principal stepped before the students and announced that classes would not be suspended today. All students were to attend as usual.
Besides temporarily suppressing the news to buy more time to deal with it, this was likely more for the sake of investigating the killer.
Especially the people who had discovered the bodies and the students living in the same building as the victims—they immediately entered the "questioning" stage.
The remaining students were dispersed to attend class.
Tang Qi was among them. Before leaving, he narrowed his eyes slightly. Yet instead of looking back at the crime scene, he swept his gaze over the crowd of onlookers, as though trying to find something.
Unfortunately, he found nothing.
A faint trace of disappointment flashed through his eyes. He turned, intending to head to the Main Campus with the other students.
But at that moment, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Hold it!"
"You, wait a moment."
Having been called out so suddenly, Tang Qi turned around with a puzzled expression and saw a tall female police officer approaching with several subordinates.
She wore a burgundy leather jacket and tight jeans. Her model-like figure could not conceal the heroic air about her in the slightest. Beneath her red hair was a delicate, beautiful face, while her eyes were mature and carried a sharp edge.
"Hello, I'm Chief Inspector Stana. I have a few questions for you. If you don't mind, could we talk over there?"
As soon as she approached, the woman produced her identification, pointed toward a temporary resting area in the hall, and made the request.
A helpless look crossed Tang Qi's face at receiving such treatment as a student. He did not need to think hard to know why.
It was probably because of his heavily bandaged hand.
Any police officer who found someone with an injured hand at a murder scene would immediately pull that person aside for questioning and investigation.
Tang Qi did not think his appearance as an ordinary student would spare him from such treatment.
But before Tang Qi could speak, the principal walked over. He first examined Tang Qi carefully, then seemed to confirm something before turning to the Police Chief. "Chief Inspector Stana, this student no longer has a guardian. If you wish to speak with him, it must be in the presence of a school-appointed guardian representative."
Naturally, the principal said that because he knew of Tang Qi.
This was probably due to Mr. Ronald back then.
However, that personal favor could only get the principal to say this much. Tang Qi had never believed that such a slight connection would make the principal of a prestigious high school vigorously protect him, especially when such a serious murder case was involved.
Securing the presence of a guardian representative was already not bad.
As for being exempted from questioning, judging by the serious look on the Police Chief's face, that was clearly impossible.
As this thought passed through his mind, Tang Qi calmly stopped the principal from calling for a guardian representative. Then he said evenly, "It's all right. I can represent myself, and I'm willing to cooperate with the police. After all, the victims were my classmates too."
With that, Tang Qi took the initiative to walk into the hall.
Behind him, Chief Inspector Stana watched Tang Qi move, and her gaze became even sharper.
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