The next day’s after-school ti, Duanmu Huai arrived at the academy’s gate according to the agreed contact.
At this point, most of the students had already left the school, and the entire school gate was almost empty. Duanmu Huai imdiately saw Shajuye waiting there. So he stopped the car, then walked straight to the school gate and greeted Shajuye.
"Yo, I’m here."
"Ah, brother."
Seeing Duanmu Huai’s arrival, Shajuye also smiled and waved at him.
"Please co with , I’ll take you to et the headmaster."
"Oh."
Duanmu Huai nodded, and then followed Shajuye into the campus.
Qianyuan Academy, where Shajuye was studying, was a girls’ school integrating junior and senior high school. Basically, the students here were either wealthy or noble, at least from middle-class families. Students were divided into day students and boarders, and Shajuye was naturally a day student. Boarders lived in a dormitory called "Qianyuan Dormitory" not far from the teaching building. What the school was most famous for, besides the beautiful uniforms and the Noble Misses, was the Clock Tower standing in the center of the academy.
In fact, not only the school, but even the surrounding areas also determined the ti by the chis of the clock almost every day. This Clock Tower was considered a hallmark of Qianyuan Academy.
"Do you know why the headmaster asked here?"
Following Shajuye into the school corridor, Duanmu Huai looked around while inquiring. Facing Duanmu Huai’s question, Shajuye shook her head.
"I’m not sure; although I did ask around a bit, they only said it seed to be related to the boarders’ side. The specifics aren’t clear, and the information seems to be locked down by the teachers... maybe sothing happened."
This was also to be expected; why call a detective like himself if nothing happened?
It definitely couldn’t be sothing trivial like catching runaway cats, dogs, or students.
Quickly, the two arrived at the headmaster’s office on the third floor, where Duanmu Huai also t the headmaster of Qianyuan Academy, Qianyuan Ya.
Qianyuan Ya appeared to be in his sixties or seventies, with graying hair, dressed in a simple, thick suit, and wearing glasses, looking every bit the educator. Seeing Duanmu Huai’s appearance, the headmaster chuckled and greeted him.
"Welco, Mr. Duanmu."
"Hello, Headmaster."
Duanmu Huai nodded to the headmaster as a form of greeting. Then he unceremoniously sat down on the sofa, while Shajuye helplessly glanced at her brother, gave the headmaster a polite bow, and then sat beside Duanmu Huai.
"I don’t like wasting ti, so... may I ask, Headmaster, why did you call ? It wouldn’t be about finding sothing like runaway cats or dogs, would it?"
"Um... perhaps sothing like that."
Faced with Duanmu Huai’s blunt inquiry, the headmaster gave a wry smile.
"I hope you can help find... a certain thing."
"A certain thing?"
Duanmu Huai looked at the headmaster in confusion, bewildered at how vague it was. What exactly am I supposed to find?
The headmaster then calmly began to explain to Duanmu Huai.
"About three days ago, two students living in Qianyuan Dormitory suddenly disappeared. At first, we thought they were just out for a night stroll, but they never showed up. Then we called the students’ families, only to find out they hadn’t gone ho. Considering the urgency, we reported them missing to the police..."
"And then?"
"So far, we still have no clues about those two students, nor do we know where they went."
The headmaster shook his head.
"After that, to prevent similar incidents from happening again, we strengthened the managent of Qianyuan Dormitory and adjusted the night patrols to prevent students from sneaking out again. And then, this tragic incident occurred..."
As he spoke, the headmaster pressed the remote control, and then Duanmu Huai saw the television next to him turn on, showing what was presumably surveillance footage from the night, dated the night before yesterday.
On the screen, two security guards could be seen patrolling back and forth with flashlights. Then one of them seed to notice sothing, glancing around. Then he ran towards the woods nearby. The other guard followed, puzzled. Then their figures disappeared from the surveillance video.
This was also understandable; who would install surveillance in a grove for no reason?
Then the scene shifted to another side, followed by a security guard clutching a flashlight, running out of the woods. Although the surveillance didn’t capture sound, judging by his twisted, terrified expression, he must have seen sothing extrely frightening in the woods.
The security guard was desperately running out of the forest, but before he could get out, it seed like sothing caught him and dragged him back, and the flashlight in his hand fell to the ground.
After that, the surveillance video returned to normal.
"The next day, we sent people to conduct a thorough and comprehensive search of the entire forest, and then we found this."
As he spoke, the old principal pulled out several photos and placed them on the table. Duanmu Huai reached out, took a look, and couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows—appearing in the photos were two emaciated bodies, as if they had been thoroughly devoured by vampires. If it weren’t for the security uniforms on their bodies, one might think they were mummies excavated from so pyramid.
"The police found wounds on their bodies similar to those caused by wild beasts and believed they were attacked by so kind of animal, however..."
Without the principal continuing to speak, Duanmu Huai already knew it was impossible. Although Qianyuan Academy is not located in the city center, it’s still in a densely populated area without any deep mountains or forests nearby. Even if a deer were to co out, it would have to cross a big road to reach the school’s gate, so how could it appear in the school’s forest?
"We took advantage of the holiday to conduct a blanket sweep of the entire school but found nothing. I’m also very concerned about the safety of the students at Qianyuan Dormitory. Although the police are investigating, I can’t just sit back and do nothing. I’ve heard you’re very good at handling tricky situations like this... that’s why I specifically commissioned you, hoping you would help resolve all this."
Of course, the reason the principal chose Duanmu Huai wasn’t just because of his reputation; the most important thing was that he was Kaishin Shajuye’s brother. For his sister’s sake, Duanmu Huai couldn’t just stand by—unless Shajuye transferred schools now.
But that was certainly impossible.
"So what do you want to do?"
Duanmu Huai couldn’t possibly watch his sister’s school have problems, so he leaned back on the sofa, crossed his arms, and stared at the principal.
"I hope you can conduct an investigation at the school for a while."
The principal clearly had already prepared for this.
"Just so happens, our physical education teacher is on sick leave, so I’ll tell everyone that you’re the substitute teacher temporarily in charge. During this ti, you can stay in the duty room—after all, it’s common for the physical education teacher to be on duty at school. And after that, it’ll be up to you, Mr. Duanmu. Of course, to avoid boring rumors and causing panic among the students, please don’t speak about these matters to anyone. After all, outwardly we are claiming that the two security guards were fired for inadequate supervision to avoid questioning and panic from the dia and student parents... To be honest, I don’t know what’s wrong with this school either, so I hope you can help, Mr. Duanmu."
The principal appeared to have thought through everything thoroughly, and Duanmu Huai didn’t object to this arrangent. But physical education teacher... He rembered he was previously a physical education teacher at Ju Wang, and now here he is again as a physical education teacher... Well, it actually wasn’t that particularly strange.
"................."
After hearing the principal’s explanation, Duanmu Huai thought for a while, then looked at Shajuye. The latter stared at Duanmu Huai without saying a word. Seeing Shajuye in front of him, Duanmu Huai chuckled and reached out to pat her head. Only then did he turn his head toward the principal.
"I accept your commission."
Then, Duanmu Huai spoke.
Duanmu Huai didn’t object to the principal’s arrangent, and after receiving his answer, the principal was relieved. Of course, he also explained to Duanmu Huai that to ensure confidentiality, only he and his secretary knew about Duanmu Huai’s investigation; everyone else only knew Duanmu Huai was there to substitute teach. And Duanmu Huai himself had a teacher qualification certificate, so this wasn’t actually an issue.
However, another issue made the principal sowhat hesitant to speak. When Duanmu Huai ntioned wanting to investigate Qianyuan Dormitory, he showed a subtle expression.
"There... well, the situation is quite complex, even I can’t interfere wilfully."
"Quite complex?"
Duanmu Huai looked at the principal with doubt; just a student dormitory, how complex could it be?
"Uh... anyway, it’s not sothing easily explained in a few words, but you’ll know when the ti cos. I can only say I’ll support you as much as I can."
"...........????"
Duanmu Huai looked at the principal in confusion, then at Shajuye, who also shook her head with a puzzled expression. As a commuter student, she wasn’t particularly inford about the situations in the dormitory area either.
However, the more the principal said this, the more curious Duanmu Huai beca.
What could be wrong with a dormitory?
After that, Duanmu Huai also bid farewell to Shajuye and left the principal’s office.
"Qianyuan Dormitory?"
Duanmu Huai stood in the corridor, looking at Shajuye in confusion.
"Do you know anything about that place?"
"I’m not very clear on that either, brother."
Shajuye shook her head but quickly made a suggestion.
"But I rember ijia is a resident student; maybe we could ask her about the situation."
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