Chapter 326: The Battle of the Cornered Beast (Part Three)

Lin Dongxue showed a photo of Ji Changxin and asked, “Have you seen him before?”

Fan Lixue shook her head like a bobblehead doll.

“But the subway station’s surveillance footage shows that on May 7th, he left right behind you. Additionally, he was also present at the school when those students died. Are you suggesting it was all just a coincidence?”

“Please, sister, there are so many people at the school, and I wasn’t the only one who got off at Haicheng Road subway station that day. Han Jingming was there too!”

“We visited your mother this morning. She confirmed that on May 7th, you came home very late, not until ten o’clock. Who were you with?”

Fan Lixue looked panicked, her lips tightly pressed together. Just then, her phone rang. She glanced down at it, and Lin Dongxue could just make out the word “police” on her phone screen. Lin asked, “Who sent the message?”

Fan Lixue, looking defensive, stepped back, then turned and ran. Lin Dongxue and Xu Xiaodong quickly gave chase.

As Fan Lixue neared a teaching building, a disheveled woman burst from behind a tree, holding a glass beaker filled with a foul-smelling liquid—likely sulfuric acid. Teeth clenched, the woman shouted, “Give me back my daughter’s life!” and hurled the liquid at Fan Lixue.

Fan Lixue screamed and jumped back, possibly avoiding being splashed.

Lin Dongxue yelled, “Put down the weapon, we’re police!”

But the woman, crazed, screamed back, “My daughter is gone, I don’t want to live either. Anyone who stops me, I’ll fight!” She flung the sulfuric acid wildly. Groundskeepers arrived but dared not approach. The woman splashed the acid around without hitting anyone, but she burned her own hand. Overwhelmed with emotion, she seemed not to feel the pain.

Xu Xiaodong threw off his jacket and, seizing an opportunity, knocked the beaker from her hand. He then subdued and handcuffed her.

The groundskeepers surrounded the woman as she continued to scream, “Compensate me for my daughter, why do you protect the murderer? It was that wretched girl, why don’t you arrest her!”

Xu Xiaodong said, “Quickly, treat her hand! Can we wash off sulfuric acid with water?”

Lin Dongxue looked around, “Xiaodong, stay here, Fan Lixue has run off. I’m going after her!”

She dashed out of the school but couldn’t see Fan Lixue anywhere. Returning to the school, she searched everywhere to no avail, frantic. She called the station, asking the tech unit to identify who had sent the message to Fan Lixue.

The tech unit told her it was indeed Ji Changxin.

Lin Dongxue asked, “Can you track Fan Lixue’s location?”

“I’ll try, I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

Xu Xiaodong had already treated the woman’s hand. Upon questioning, she was identified as one of the mothers of the five girls who committed suicide. Far from being calmed, she was more agitated, insistent on avenging her daughter.

Lin Dongxue warned her, “Throwing sulfuric acid on others constitutes bodily harm!”

The woman nearly jumped up, shouting, “It’s all your fault, why don’t you arrest the murderer? You know it’s her, why not? I get it, her parents are civil servants, so she’s above the law!”

“Police need evidence to make arrests. Can violence solve the problem?”

“Give me back my daughter, give her back!” the woman wailed, “My daughter, raised for over a decade, gone just like that, no one is willing to seek justice for me, where is the justice?”

Xu Xiaodong whispered to Lin Dongxue, “This parent has gone mad, detain her to prevent further harm… I’ve already contacted the police station.”

Lin Dongxue replied resignedly, “That’s all we can do for now.”

The station called back, reporting that Fan Lixue’s phone signal had last appeared on Victory East Street. Lin Dongxue remembered that Fan Lixue didn’t live there. She hurried to the office to borrow the student roster from the head teacher, and sure enough, Han Jingming lived on Victory East Street.

Lin Dongxue told Xu Xiaodong, “Fan Lixue went to find Han Jingming. She’s not hiding it anymore; she’s definitely planning something extreme! Let’s go stop her!”

When they arrived, only Han Jingming’s crying parents were there. When asked, the parents eagerly said, “Jing