Chapter 025: The Female Teacher, Tainted

I watched the female teacher’s expression closely, but I did not question her directly. The others continued their chatter, each contributing their opinions; to them, Yunqing was nothing but a thoroughly bad student. News of Yunqing’s confession had already spread through the media, thanks to Yun Gao, and both her teachers and the principal were now aware. In their minds, Yunqing’s sullied reputation had become inseparable from that of a murderer.

I stood up, thanked them, and turned to leave. But I didn’t exit the school immediately. Instead, I waited for the female teacher whose reaction had differed from the rest. When she came out, I called to her.

She seemed nervous, as if she was afraid I’d question her.

“You don’t think Yunqing is a bad person, and you believe she couldn’t possibly be a murderer, do you?” I asked.

The teacher hesitated for a long time before finally nodding. She led me to her office. It was class time, and everyone else was teaching. After pouring me a glass of water, she sat down, waiting for my questions. I asked why she thought Yunqing wasn’t a bad student.

Everyone who knew Yunqing shared the same poor opinion of her; their assessments were almost identical. The teacher pondered for a long moment and finally said, “She’s very well-behaved.”

I was taken aback for a moment. My gaze drifted over her desk and landed on several chemistry textbooks. Suddenly, I understood—“The fire was related to chemistry!” Instantly, the image of Yunqing performing her ritual flashed through my mind: candles all going out at once, without any wind. It must have been some chemical trick she’d played on the wicks.

Sure enough, the teacher confirmed my suspicion. Everyone else believed Yunqing was not only a bad student but also academically hopeless. Only this teacher understood what truly occupied Yunqing’s mind. It was true that Yunqing had no interest in other subjects, but she had a singular passion for chemistry.

The teacher recalled that Yunqing usually scored single digits in every subject, except once—she achieved a perfect score in chemistry. The teacher had been astonished, but soon, rumors of cheating swept through the school. No one believed a student like Yunqing could score full marks.

She remembered that day vividly: Mr. Li, Yunqing’s guardian, was summoned to the school and flew into a rage. Yunqing tore up her perfect test paper and stormed out. From that moment on, she handed in blank sheets for every exam and suffered the scorn of everyone.

Only the teacher noticed that Yunqing was always attentive in chemistry class. More than once, Yunqing had secretly watched the chemistry lab from outside the window. Once, the teacher tapped her on the shoulder and, instead of leaving, Yunqing bit her lip, bowed, and politely asked to enter the lab. Her manner was nothing like the rumors.

The teacher, having observed Yunqing for a long time, knew that, by the rules, Yunqing shouldn’t have been allowed in the lab, but she agreed. From then on, when the lab was empty, she would secretly let Yunqing in. She soon realized Yunqing hadn’t cheated; her grasp of basic chemistry was solid—such an exam was no challenge for her.

Yunqing was a prodigy. The teacher had never encountered such talent. They spent a long time together, and Yunqing pleaded with her to keep her secret. The teacher agreed. She told me that, at the time, if Yunqing had anyone she could confide in at school, it was only her.

No matter how rebellious Yunqing seemed, she was still just a girl. More than once, she cried to the teacher. That’s how the teacher learned the cause of Yunqing’s defiance: Mr. Li favored sons over daughters and sometimes beat her. Yunqing hated to tread the path he set for her; the more he arranged, the more she rebelled.

The teacher sighed, “She’s a pitiable child, clever and bright. I can’t believe she would kill anyone.”

I asked about the fire. The teacher said that after teaching Yunqing for a while, she’d taught her all she could and didn’t accompany her every time. The day of the fire, Yunqing had been running an experiment in the lab when she accidentally started the blaze. It spread quickly and nearly consumed the entire building.

After the fire, Yunqing took all the blame herself, never implicating the teacher. She was expelled from school soon after. What happened to her after that, the teacher didn’t know—she never saw Yunqing again. She regretted not being braver, not speaking up for Yunqing at the time.

“Did Yunqing ever tell you anything else?” I asked.

The teacher shook her head. “She only said she got along well with her brother. Nothing more.”

Her words made my heart sink. I’d suspected as much, but this was confirmation: Yunqing and Yun Gao’s relationship had indeed changed during those months at the Sansong Temple. With nothing more to learn, I left the school.

Thanks to Chen Fan, I met Yunqing once more. She didn’t refuse to see me, but the police told me Yun Gao had visited the station several times, trying to meet her, and each time Yunqing refused. Our meeting place was the same as before. Yunqing asked if I’d discovered anything.

I smiled with meaning and asked, “Are you so afraid that I’ll find something incriminating about your brother?”

Yunqing bit her lip. “The Ghost Banquet case has nothing to do with him.”

I kept my knowing smile. “So, you know who the real culprit is?”

She shook her head. “I don’t, but I know the killer isn’t him. He would never kill anyone.” In saying this, Yunqing admitted to me that her guilty confession was a sham.

I stood up, towering over her as before. I asked if she knew Yun Gao had spread news of her confession. Now, all of the Port District was condemning her; the police could hardly withstand the public pressure—all orchestrated by Yun Gao.

I noticed a trace of bitterness at the corner of her mouth. Still, she took a deep breath, shook her head, and said she didn’t want to know. She begged me to stop investigating.

“I know he isn’t the murderer, but the real one must be connected to him. I’ll find out who it is,” I told her.

Yunqing warned me again: if I continued to dig and didn’t leave the Port District at once, I’d soon lose my life. She clearly knew a lot, but refused to speak further, and I didn’t press her.

“Using chemistry to perform tricks and deceive people—that’s clever. But I want to know: why did you set fire to the Forbidden Gate?” I asked.

Yunqing had caused two fires: one at school, accidentally, and one at Sansong Temple. At the temple, even if she’d wanted to conduct experiments, she couldn’t have done so inside the Forbidden Gate—it was guarded, and only the old Taoist had access.

That fire had been set on purpose.

Yunqing’s shoulders trembled. “You’re not a cop—who are you, and how do you know so much?”

Her question was worth pondering.

Yunqing knew my name and had told me to leave the Port District—she should have known who I was. Yet her question suggested otherwise. I didn’t answer. There was still something I couldn’t figure out: why those who had Yunqing perform rituals for them saw ghosts.

I myself had seen these unclean things twice: once, a ghostly face; once, in a hotel room.

Yunqing seemed to realize I was probing for information and fell silent.

When I left the police station, Luo Feng was outside, smoking. As soon as he saw me, he said he’d found out why that entertainment club had suddenly become so deserted. I was intrigued and asked him why.

He told me the usual patrons had all heard a rumor: the club was “unclean.”

I asked Luo Feng, with interest, what “unclean” meant. He shook his head. He explained that the club’s clientele were all people of some standing—men with money who wanted to indulge discretely. The club’s unique offerings gave them the perfect opportunity. Because of this, the rumor had to have come from someone within their circle; ordinary people couldn’t have reached these men, let alone spread stories among them.

Luo Feng’s contacts learned that some believed the club’s escorts were “unclean,” while others said there was something supernatural haunting the place.

Either way, the rumor was enough to keep people away.

No one wanted to risk catching a disease while sneaking around.

But where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I found the second explanation far more interesting.

Luo Feng elaborated: some people said that when they visited the club at night, they always felt as though a pair of eyes was watching them. Some even claimed that, while in the middle of their business, they suddenly saw a pair of eyes staring at them from inside a cabinet.

Those men, terrified, tried to open the cabinet, but the escorts frantically stopped them, acting mysterious and fearful themselves—which only made the men more afraid.

I glanced at my watch; night had already fallen.

With a wicked grin, I said, “So that place is so interesting. Looks like we must pay it another visit.”