Chapter 9
Chapter 9
As he left the dormitory building, Nan Mu glanced at the clock hanging on the lobby wall.
It was 10:15 AM. He didn’t have much time left to prepare.
Nan Mu rushed toward the Chongjing Building. Passing the school’s bulletin board, he once again saw the two notices for today’s lectures posted there.
=
Speaker: Xu Lei, Senior Biological Researcher at Wisdom Biotech Company
Topic: Seminar on the Regeneration of Nerve Cells and Cloning Research of Stem Cells
Time: October 24, 2022, 9:40 AM
Location: 305 Biology Research Lab, 3rd Floor, Chongjing Building
=
Speaker: Meng Ran, Senior Materials Researcher at Wisdom Biotech Company
Topic: Quantum Entanglement Theory
Time: October 24, 2022, 9:30 AM
Location: 203 Materials Research Lab, 2nd Floor, Chongjing Building
=
It was those two again. The thought flashed through Nan Mu’s mind, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. Time was running out.
Nan Mu reached the 308 Biology Research Lab on the third floor of the Chongjing Building.
The classroom was empty for the moment. He scanned the room and spotted a scalpel on the podium.
Although his only intention was to take Wen Miao away, he figured he should have a blade ready just in case.
Just as he walked over and picked up the scalpel, the door behind him was suddenly pushed open.
Nan Mu’s heart tightened. He spun around to see Wen Miao standing at the classroom door, looking at him with a strange expression-he was currently standing at the podium, gripping the scalpel tightly.
“What are you doing with that knife?”
Seeing Wen Miao’s nervous expression, Nan Mu realized he might have frightened her. “It’s nothing…”
As he spoke, he instinctively set the knife down on the table. But the moment he let go, he realized it was a mistake. Before he could pick it up again, Wen Miao rushed over in two or three steps and moved the scalpel to another table where he couldn’t reach it.
Nan Mu was stunned. Before he could ask anything, Wen Miao grabbed his hand, her expression tense. She said something very strange: “Calm down! There’s nothing that can’t be resolved! Murder is against the law!”
“Murder?”
Nan Mu was dazed. He had thought that having a knife might scare off or subdue the killer. Killing someone had never been his goal.
“I wasn’t planning on killing anyone…”
“That’s good!” Wen Miao smiled upon hearing this, her tone relaxing slightly. “Has something happened lately? Do you want to talk to me about it? Maybe I can help?”
This was so bizarre that Nan Mu didn’t even have time to ask her other questions. Instead, he pressed, “Why would you say that?”
“Someone told me! They told me I had to come here today to stop you from making a mistake!”
As she spoke, she pulled a letter from her bag and held it out to Nan Mu. “To be honest, I thought you were the one who sent this to me at first…”
Very few people wrote letters in this day and age.
This letter looked quite old; the paper had already begun to yellow slightly.
The address on the envelope was handwritten, but parts of it had started to fade, as if it had been written many, many years ago.
However, the postmark on the envelope was indeed October 24th. There was no sender listed, only the recipient’s name, phone number, and address.
The address read: Happiness Orphanage, Attn: Wen Miao.
But there was no way the current Nan Mu could have sent a letter to the Happiness Orphanage.
“The letter told me that on October 24, 2022, you would come to the 308 Biology Research Lab in the Chongjing Building to attend a seminar on the Regeneration of Nerve Cells and Cloning Research of Stem Cells. The sender told me I had to be in Room 308 before 10:30 AM, saying you would get into a conflict with someone here, and…”
She paused before continuing, “And that you would go to prison for manslaughter.”
Perhaps because Nan Mu’s expression was one of such utter disbelief, she couldn’t help but let out a small, awkward laugh. “I didn’t really believe it at first… but then I saw you holding that knife just now…”
As she spoke, she seemed to realize how ridiculous her thoughts sounded and changed the subject. “By the way, what were you busy with yesterday? I didn’t see you all day. You said those strange things the day before yesterday out of nowhere and made me so anxious. I was tossing and turning all night, I couldn’t sleep at all…”
The day before yesterday? What had he said then? Nan Mu couldn’t remember.
He didn’t know where to begin explaining everything Wen Miao had said. Right now, his head was a complete mess.
According to his original plan, he assumed Wen Miao would be here because someone had arranged to meet her. In that case, he only needed to take her to safety before the killer arrived, then ask her who had asked to meet her. That would naturally reveal the killer’s identity.
But now this strange letter had appeared-a letter whose sender even Wen Miao didn’t know. This meant he couldn’t leave; otherwise, he would never learn the killer’s identity. And without knowing the killer’s identity, he had no way to change Wen Miao’s fate.
His breathing quickened as he took Wen Miao’s hand and tried to push her toward the door. “You need to leave here first.”
“Go where?” Wen Miao was confused, even grabbing Nan Mu’s hand in return. “Are you coming with me?”
“I still have things to do…”
“No way. If you’re not leaving, I’m not leaving.” Wen Miao gripped the letter in her hand. “Don’t you go doing anything stupid.”
“It’s not that…” Nan Mu knew Wen Miao wouldn’t leave on her own. He calmed himself and made up an excuse. “How about this: you go downstairs first. I’ll go to the restroom and then come find you, okay?”
He thought he could coax Wen Miao away and then double back.
But before he could lead her out, a creak sounded from the door.