Chapter 26

Chapter 26

He propped himself up on the bed, sat upright, and asked solemnly, “Do you know who he is?”

Wen Miao gave him a strange look. “Him? How would I know who he is?”

“Then why did you say just now… that you knew he was coming for you?”

“I did, but not in the way you’re thinking,” Wen Miao explained. “At first, I thought he was just someone lashing out at society. We just happened to be alone in a secluded area, so he started attacking us. But after we split up, didn’t he start attacking me exclusively?”

She paused for a moment. “That doesn’t fit the logic of an indiscriminate attack. Generally, when someone attacks, they follow two subconscious priorities: they either deal with whoever is closest to them, or they prioritize the person in a group with the highest offensive capability. This is to avoid being flanked. But he abandoned you, even though you were right there. Furthermore, he was on a motorcycle, and the non-motorized vehicle lane was too narrow-it was a restrictive environment for him. Even so, he insisted on attacking me first. That proves he had a target, and that target was me!”

Nan Mu was somewhat surprised by Wen Miao’s analysis.

He suddenly realized that Wen Miao wasn’t an ordinary girl. Or rather, while she was an excellent student, she wasn’t the type who only knew how to study. Her judgment, reflexes, and the depth of her understanding of things far exceeded those of her peers.

“Then… do you have any suspects?” Nan Mu’s gaze slowly settled on Wen Miao.

Wen Miao shook her head. “No.”

“Not even one suspicious person?” Nan Mu asked, growing a bit anxious. “Think carefully. Have you had a conflict with anyone? Or done something that might have caused resentment? Or perhaps you stumbled upon some secret or private matter?”

Wen Miao pondered for a while, but she still couldn’t think of anything that would make someone want to kill her.

Nan Mu felt a bit disappointed; he had hoped there would be at least one or two leads to investigate.

Refusing to give up, he asked again, “Anything at all, no matter how small the possibility…”

Worried that Wen Miao might not trust him, he even emphasized, “You can tell me anything suspicious. You have to trust me.”

When he put it that way, Wen Miao suddenly felt that if she didn’t say something, it would seem like she didn’t trust him. She racked her brains for a long time. “At the end of last month, in the dorm… my roommate left her face wash basin on the floor, and I accidentally placed my foot soak basin on top of hers. When she found out, she was quite angry and even went to the dorm across the hall to badmouth me to others. Does that count?”

Nan Mu: “…”

Wen Miao gave a sheepish smile. “I take it you also don’t think she’d try to kill me over something like that.”

Nan Mu hesitated for a moment before prompting her, “What about conflicts with your teachers? For example, some kind of academic dispute?”

Wen Miao immediately thought of her advisor.

“Definitely not that,” Wen Miao said with certainty. “My advisor is very good to me. He even provided a lot of help when I discovered that new element recently.”

Nan Mu had no choice but to make his hint even more obvious. “What about Xu Lei?”

“Who?” Wen Miao blinked, thinking for several seconds. “You don’t mean Teacher Meng Ran’s husband, that biological researcher?”
“Right.”

After Nan Mu said it, he remembered that the last time he had saved Wen Miao was on the 24th, and today was only the 10th. Naturally, the current Wen Miao had no way of knowing that he knew she was acquainted with Xu Lei.

“Why would you bring him up all of a sudden?” Wen Miao asked, surprised. “He’s not my mentor. He’s in the Biology Department, and I’m in Materials Science. I’ve only seen him a few times, let alone had any real contact with him.”

Regarding this matter, Nan Mu was also quite curious. He hadn’t had the chance to ask her back then. “How did you know that Meng Ran and Xu Lei were husband and wife?”

The jump to such a gossipy topic was abrupt, but Wen Miao answered anyway. “Because they were university classmates of Professor Xu. It was actually Professor Xu who helped introduce them so the school could invite them here to give lectures.”

The Professor Xu she mentioned was her mentor.

“After they finished their lectures at the school, they would stop by Professor Xu’s office for a chat. I ran into them a few times, but I only ever said hello before leaving. Sometimes Professor Xu would tell us stories about his university days, and he’d mention Teacher Xu and Teacher Meng in passing. He was the one who said they got married right after graduation. They were a famous model couple back in school… and now they’re a model husband and wife.”

According to her, there was absolutely no intersection between Xu Lei and Wen Miao.

Furthermore, Wen Miao was the prized student of Xu Lei’s friend. Why was Xu Lei so hell-bent on killing her? He even hired someone…

Wait!

He suddenly realized he had overlooked something that didn’t add up.

In the previous two instances, Xu Lei had done the deed himself. He had chosen the school as the location and used a method that involved brain dissection.

Qiu Ziyu had once said that the killer didn’t seem to be motivated by a personal vendetta against Wen Miao, because during the act of murder, he hadn’t humiliated or mutilated the victim’s body.

However, the person they encountered today did not match Xu Lei at all in terms of build or height. It was clearly not the same person, and the method used was trying to run her down with a motorcycle…

The MO had changed completely.

Why? Or rather, what reason would prompt Xu Lei to change his modus operandi? Unless there was some shared interest or entanglement, would it even be necessary for Xu Lei to hire someone to commit the crime?

Or…

Was tonight’s incident truly just an accident? Was the other party just a pervert taking out his frustrations on society?

No, no, no. Nan Mu immediately dismissed the thought. The signs that the person intended to kill Wen Miao were far too obvious.

But could he be being too sensitive? After all, there were other possibilities. For example…

“Do you think it could be a pervert who specifically targets women?”

Wen Miao’s thoughts had drifted to the same place as his. She rested her chin on one hand, thinking aloud as she spoke. “He only wants to retaliate against women, so he gave up on attacking you and turned to attack me instead? That seems to make sense.”

Nan Mu wasn’t sure either.

Could it really be such a coincidence? That they just happened to run into a pervert who specialized in targeting women?

Moreover, as Nan Mu recalled the way the man had fought him, it was clear the person had some martial arts training. Otherwise, an ordinary person falling off a motorcycle would have been too exhausted to get back up and fight him again.

Could that also just be a coincidence?

Was he being too sensitive?