I Asked You To Simulate A Crime, And You Pulled Off The Perfect Crime? - Chapter 176

“Blood! That’s blood!”

“That b**** Yamamoto Sakura must’ve cracked Su Xiaoxiao’s head, so cruel! She should pay for this!”

“Pay? She should pay with her life!”

“Su Xiaoxiao’s being bullied so horribly, this is heartbreaking!”

“Wait… that can’t be blood from her head. Yamamoto Sakura only made her drink glue and slapped her, she didn’t smash her head into a wall.”

The audience watched as blood appeared in the foam on Su Xiaoxiao’s hands, all expressing their confusion. Su Xiaoxiao was just as puzzled. She stared at the reddish foam, then, she reached back and touched the back of her head.

There was no wound, she felt no pain. So, the blood wasn’t hers?

Splash. Su Xiaoxiao didn’t dwell on it. She assumed the blood must’ve come from some other wound on her body that got into her hair. She turned on the faucet and rinsed her hands clean. Then she bent over the sink again, letting the warm water rinse the foam from her hair.

Knock, knock. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

“Hey! What’s taking you so long in there? Hurry it up, it’s late!” Liang Wei’s voice came from outside.

“Almost done!” Su Xiaoxiao replied quickly. She shut off the water and, still bent over, twisted her hair like a rope to squeeze out the excess water.

Drip, drip. Water droplets hit the sink with crisp sounds.

Drip. Suddenly, a chill ran down the back of her exposed neck. It felt like a drop of water had fallen from the ceiling but it wasn’t right. If it were water, it should’ve trickled down her neck like the water from her hair. Instead, this substance felt thick, like old glue, sticky and clinging to her skin.

Still, Su Xiaoxiao ignored it, Liang Wei was still waiting outside. She couldn’t delay any longer. Drip. But then more of the thick substance began falling from the ceiling and faster and faster. Drip, drip, drip. Each drop landed squarely on the back of her neck.

Only now did Su Xiaoxiao open her eyes. Confused, she reached up to touch the back of her neck.

Cold, unclean, she felt a wave of nausea rise in her gut. Then she looked at her hand, in the steam-filled mirror, she saw it clearly, it was blood. Bright red blood. It was dripping from the ceiling above the bathroom.

The metallic, putrid stench filled her nose.

In a panic, Su Xiaoxiao threw her wet hair back and looked up. Her eyes scanned the ceiling above. The white-painted ceiling was old, slightly yellowed with age, made of wooden panels fitted together. But some panels… had clearly been pried open.

There were gaps between the boards, thin as a pinky finger. And the blood was seeping out from those gaps. Confused and frightened, Su Xiaoxiao waved her hand to clear the fog in the air. She stood on tiptoe, trying to get a better look.

Suddenly, her eyes widened. A chill ran down her spine, she slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a scream.

She saw it. She saw it clearly.

Inside the gap in the ceiling, a pair of murky, lifeless eyes, staring straight down at her. Dead eyes, wide open, like the soul hadn’t yet accepted death.

Su Xiaoxiao’s hand stayed clamped over her mouth, her whole body trembling violently. It felt like she had uncovered some horrifying secret. Her mind went completely blank.

Knock, knock. Another round of pounding at the door.

“Are you done yet?” Liang Wei asked.

“Y-Yeah…” Su Xiaoxiao forced out the word through gritted teeth. She opened the door but didn’t dare look him in the eye. Trying to act calm, she walked over to the couch, grabbed her school uniform jacket, then bolted for the door.

Bang! She slammed it shut behind her. She ran as fast as she could, terrified that Liang Wei would realize she had seen the secret and come to silence her.

Thump, thump, thump. Su Xiaoxiao raced down the stairwell, taking the steps three at a time, trying to escape the teacher dorm.

Thump, thump, thump. But Liang Wei might have seen the blood in the bathroom. He was chasing her, their footsteps echoed through the stairwell.

“Wait!” Liang Wei called out behind her, he was getting closer. Su Xiaoxiao was panicking, consumed with only one thought. Escape. 

Finally, she saw the exit of the dorm building, it was like seeing salvation. She leapt down the last seven steps in one bound and sprinted for the door.

Thud. But just as she turned the corner, she collided head-on with someone. She fell hard, her elbow slamming against the cement floor. But she didn’t care about the pain, she scrambled to her feet.

“Ms. An…” The sight of the woman she had run into made her scalp tingle.

It was her homeroom teacher, An Jiayu, Liang Wei’s wife, five months pregnant. Fortunately, Ms. An didn’t seem hurt. Despite the collision, her belly showed no signs of pain. Instead, she glared at Su Xiaoxiao with angry eyes.

Before Ms. An could scold her, Su Xiaoxiao looked back, Liang Wei had just appeared at the stairwell landing.

“I’m sorry,” Su Xiaoxiao blurted out, then she ran. She disappeared into the darkness of night.

“Dear… honey…” Liang Wei rushed down the stairs. Seeing An Jiayu holding her stomach at the exit, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and forced a smile.

“What just happened?” An Jiayu asked.

“N-Nothing…” Liang Wei stepped forward and supported her arm. “I saw a student wandering upstairs. When I asked her what she was doing, she didn’t answer and just bolted. I suspect she came to steal something. Bold, huh? Not sure which class she’s from, but if I ever catch her…”

“She’s from my class. Her name’s Su Xiaoxiao,” An Jiayu said with a look of disdain. “A girl with no parents. Only has some lazy good-for-nothing brother. Of course she has sticky fingers. No wonder she’s always getting bullied. Hah, if she’s stealing from classmates, it’s no surprise people avoid her.”

“Let it go, forget about her. Be careful, honey,” Liang Wei said as he helped An Jiayu step into the dark stairwell.

“Hey!” He shouted, triggering the motion-sensor lights. The harsh white light lit up the couple as they slowly climbed the stairs.

Thud. Su Xiaoxiao, gasping for breath, shoved open the main entrance. In the center of the lobby, a young man sat on a sofa, wearing a charcoal-gray jacket and reading a medical book titled Internal Medicine.

“Brother!” Su Xiaoxiao cried out, her voice shaking with fear, she collapsed at the doorway. Chen Shu looked up in surprise. He quickly tossed the book aside and ran over. “Xiaoxiao, what happened?”

Su Xiaoxiao’s lips trembled, at the sound of his familiar voice, the tension that had been coiled inside her finally began to unwind. She hadn’t cried when she was bullied, she didn’t cry when she saw a corpse in Liang Wei’s bathroom, she didn’t cry when she was being chased.

But now, seeing her brother, she couldn’t hold it in anymore. Tears poured down her cheeks as she threw herself into Chen Shu’s arms.

“Brother, I… I don’t want to go back to school anymore…”