Chapter 8

Chapter 8

In the interrogation room, as Qiu Ziyu watched Wen Tangtang sit down across from him, a thought suddenly crossed his mind-had he been played by Nan Mu?

When it came to anything involving Wen Miao, Nan Mu would immediately become incredibly impulsive.

Nan Mu had sounded convincing enough: “You pull the files on Wen Miao’s murder and send them to me. I’ll investigate that end, and you continue the interrogation of Wen Tangtang. We can only uncover the truth hidden behind all this if we crack her.”

But thinking back, why had he gone to Nan Mu in the first place? Wasn’t it precisely because he couldn’t get Wen Tangtang to talk?

As it turned out, Nan Mu had walked away with Wen Miao’s files, while Qiu Ziyu was right back where he started at the station, still trying to break Wen Tangtang.

What was the point of all that?

As the realization sank in, Qiu Ziyu suddenly slammed a fist onto his knee.

Damn it! What about that key? She still hadn’t said anything about it! He really had been talked into circles by Nan Mu.

His colleagues in the observation room saw him hit himself and teased him through his earpiece.

“Captain Qiu, don’t get worked up. Plenty of people couldn’t get her to talk; it’s no disgrace, haha.”

“This woman is strange. She confessed so readily, claiming she did everything. So why won’t she say a word about her motive?”

Qiu Ziyu looked at Wen Tangtang. She was undeniably beautiful, though faint dark circles had formed under her eyes from the overnight interrogation.

She seemed to have no will to live. Her vacant gaze was fixed on the table; if they didn’t ask a question, she didn’t offer a word.

Refusing to give up, Qiu Ziyu tried again. “I heard you’re from A University of Science and Technology. I am, too.”

Wen Tangtang gave no reaction.

“I have a friend named Nan Mu. He said he knows you-that you were classmates in the same year.”

Still no reaction.

“Oh, right. Do you know Wen Miao?” Qiu Ziyu asked in a light, conversational tone, as if mentioning it in passing. “We found a photo of Wen Miao among Xu Lei’s belongings.”

It lasted only for a split second, but Qiu Ziyu saw it clearly: Wen Tangtang’s lowered cheek twitched violently.

***

Nan Mu was currently flipping through the case files Qiu Ziyu had sent over.

He had spent a long time mentally preparing himself before opening the documents, but the moment he saw the photographs, he instinctively slammed the folder shut.

Covered in blood, Wen Miao lay on a table in the Biology Research Lab-a place meant for the dissection of animal specimens.

But on that day, she had been the one lying there, her skull pried open.

In 2022, Wen Miao’s death had sent shockwaves through City A.

A University of Science and Technology had suspended classes for an entire month because of it. Despite pressure from the government and the public, and the deployment of a massive police force, the case remained unsolved.

Wen Miao’s social circle had been simple. She was gentle and somewhat introverted; while not exactly a loner, she was easy to talk to.

Because she rarely took the initiative to socialize, most people other than Wen Tangtang and Wen Xin were merely casual acquaintances rather than close friends.

She had a delicate appearance and a soft, mild temperament. She rarely got angry, and her professors and classmates held her in high regard. Everyone said they had never seen her in a conflict with anyone; a revenge killing seemed impossible.

When she died, aside from the craniotomy, no other part of her body had been harmed. The police had also ruled out a crime of passion.

Although Nan Mu’s previous time travel had delayed the time of her death, it hadn’t changed the method.

In other words, the killer hadn’t acted out of a sudden impulse or at random. They had targeted Wen Miao, murdering her with a calculated plan and premeditation.

That meant the person must have known Wen Miao…

Who was this killer? What kind of connection existed between them and Wen Miao that would make this person bold enough to commit the crime openly twice at a bustling university?
That’s right. Both times it happened in the Biology Research Lab. Could the killer be a student from the Biology Department at A University of Science and Technology?

A University of Science and Technology didn’t have a medical school. The only students skilled in dissection were those in the Biology Department, and the crime scene was the Biology Research Lab…

Could the killer have been by his side all along?

Nan Mu didn’t dare look at the photos; the blood-red images made him feel dizzy.

He could only force himself to continue reading the written records.

He soon found the transcripts from the time of the crime.

After the incident, every biology lecturer and student who had entered or exited the Chongjing Building that day was taken in for questioning by the police. Even Xu Lei, who had been there to give a lecture that day, was summoned for an interview.

When the police investigated the scene, they found no signs of a struggle in the Biology Research Lab. Therefore, they concluded that the killer was likely someone Wen Miao knew. At the very least, Wen Miao hadn’t been on guard when the killer entered the lab, allowing them to succeed with a single blow.

The killer’s physical build was at least larger than Wen Miao’s, with significant strength. The police’s suspect profile at the time was exclusively male, so during the interrogation process, male teachers and students were subjected to rigorous scrutiny.

However, everyone was released shortly after.

During the lecture that day, there had only been a ten-minute break. The police believed ten minutes was insufficient to subdue Wen Miao, kill her, and complete the entire process of dissecting the body.

Nan Mu recalled the scene when he had traveled back to the past and seen Wen Miao; she had gone to the Biology Research Lab alone.

This made him realize he had overlooked something very important: why did Wen Miao go to the Biology Research Lab by herself?

Wen Miao was a student in the Materials Science Department, which had its own dedicated research labs. In other words, the Biology Research Lab was not a familiar place for her.

Would someone go to a place they had no reason to be for no reason at all? She had no cause to enter the Biology Research Lab unless someone had made an appointment to meet her there, and she had arrived first…

If he had asked Wen Miao why she was going to that classroom back then, he might have found out who invited her, and naturally, he would know who the killer was.

It seemed he had to go back again!

==

Rule 2 of the Time Machine Experiment Manual: The same experimental subject must not set the same arrival time for a repeat trip. (Multiple identical “experimental subjects” existing in the same spatial segment carries a high probability of encounter. Dangerous!)

In other words, if Nan Mu went back again, he either had to return to a time before October 8, 2022, or after October 8, 2022.

Nan Mu thought it over and felt that even if he went back to before October 8, there wasn’t much he could do. It would be better to go directly back to October 24, the day of Wen Miao’s second murder.

==

Nan Mu returned to the past for the second time.

October 24, 2022-the day Wen Miao died.

The landing point was still the dormitory. In his memory, the “himself” of this day would be returning to the dorm very soon. Thus, Nan Mu didn’t even have time to change his clothes. He pulled his hat low, put on a mask, and hurriedly left the room.

Because it was the era following the pandemic, wearing a mask was not something that attracted attention.

Nan Mu rushed downstairs and encountered his younger self heading up the stairwell in high spirits. The youthful “Nan Mu” was immersed in joy because of Wen Miao’s invitation, completely unaware that his life would plunge into endless agony in just one hour.

As his “past self” ran up from below, Nan Mu pressed down on the brim of his hat with his hand…

In an instant, the two brushed past each other.

Hearing the footsteps fade behind him, Nan Mu finally let out a sigh of relief. He looked back once-at the path he had run as a young man.