Forbidden Land – CH 006

After eating, Zhang Chao and Lin Yi’ang went to Room 125. Most of the classmates were there, boys and girls, crowding the room.

Everyone looked at Zhang Chao with a strange expression. Some of his closer classmates asked with concern, “Zhang Chao, are you alright?”

Zhang Chao shook his head.

Teacher Liu, sitting in a chair, saw Zhang Chao and asked, “Did you sleep well last night?”

Zhang Chao naturally wouldn’t reveal in public that he had heard a voice talking to him in the middle of the night, so he just smiled and said, “I’m fine.”

Teacher Liu nodded, reassured after hearing that. Once everyone was there, Teacher Liu started a meeting. He first briefed everyone on yesterday’s events. In short, the police, based on surveillance footage and on-site investigation, had basically determined that Li Weihao died by suicide. He hoped that the students wouldn’t be overwhelmed by this and would recover from their grief as soon as possible. He naturally didn’t mention anything beyond the surveillance footage. He also said that this matter shouldn’t be publicized, as it would have a negative impact on the class and the university. If others asked, it was best to say that he didn’t know much. Finally, it was mentioned that the university would be organizing psychological and safety prevention training for students this Sunday, and the Student Leader was asked to organize it; everyone was required to attend.

Anyway, after every incident, there was always some training and education afterwards, so everyone was used to it.

After the meeting, Teacher Liu first went to visit the other dormitories to check on the students’ lives and studies. They exchanged a few jokes to break the tense atmosphere. Finally, he went to Zhang Chao’s Room 123, closed the door, sat down, and asked him, “How are you feeling now?”

Zhang Chao replied, “Teacher, I’m really fine. I’m a pretty easygoing person; these things won’t affect me too much.”

Teacher Liu nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, “Now you’re living alone in your dorm. Do you want to move to another dorm and live with someone else?”

Zhang Chao shook his head and said, “It’s okay. I’m a man; I don’t think about these things.”

Teacher Liu said, “That’s good. By the way, Li Weihao’s parents will be arriving this afternoon. You’d better avoid them, as they are quite emotional.”

Zhang Chao nodded. “I understand. I’ll go study with my girlfriend and come back later.”

“Your girlfriend?” Teacher Liu asked, somewhat surprised. “Is your girlfriend named Bai Qiu?”

Zhang Chao smiled and said, “What, Teacher knows her name too?”

Teacher Liu smiled awkwardly. “I heard she’s a great beauty, haha. I only heard it from other students.”

Zhang Chao didn’t seem to care, then lowered his voice, “Teacher, what about the security footage from the lower floors? Those feet…”

Teacher Liu laughed. “I asked the police. They said they’ve thoroughly checked the security footage from the lower floors and didn’t find anyone else. According to the police technicians, the lighting in the footage is inherently blurry, so it’s impossible to determine whether it’s actually feet; it’s probably just light reflection. Don’t overthink it.”

Zhang Chao asked, puzzled, “Light reflection? How is that possible?”

Teacher Liu said, “That’s what I said too. The police said that a car driving by in the distance or other light could easily reflect images from other places. They said they’ve seen this kind of image many times before, and they have experience to confirm it’s something else. Don’t doubt it; after all, they are professionals.”

“Oh,” Zhang Chao said, still somewhat doubtful.

Teacher Liu said, “By the way, don’t tell the other students about the security footage. It’s confidential according to regulations.”

Zhang Chao nodded.

Teacher Liu chatted about other things, then stood up and told Zhang Chaon not to worry, that things would get better in time. He offered some words of comfort and then left.