Chapter 93

The scene of the crime was the four-person dormitory where Xia Tianqi had spent three years. The person who reported the incident was Cao Jinhai. He got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and, upon returning, discovered that Yang Shucheng had already been killed.

In the police station's interrogation room, Cao Jinhai sat across from Xia Tianqi and a middle-aged police officer, his voice hoarse as he recounted:

"Changye has been acting strange lately, always on edge. He hasn't gone out to eat with us and just stays in the dorm all day, skipping all his classes."

"Did he mention anything to you, like what might have caused his strange behavior?" the middle-aged police officer asked.

"Yes, he said he's been having the same dream every night."

"A dream?"

"Yes, a nightmare, that's what he said. He told me about it for two days."

"Can you describe the nightmare in more detail?"

"I didn't listen in detail, but he said someone was trying to kill him."

Cao Jinhai then repeated what he had told Yang Shucheng and the others during dinner that night.

"Was it someone in the dream trying to kill him, or someone in real life?"

"It was probably in the dream. Who would want to kill him in real life? Besides, if someone really wanted to kill him, they wouldn't let him know!"

Cao Jinhai suddenly became very agitated, clearly recalling the horrific scene he had witnessed.

"Jinhai, have some water first."

Xia Tianqi handed Cao Jinhai a cup of warm water. After he finished drinking, Xia Tianqi signaled the middle-aged police officer to continue.

The middle-aged police officer nodded and said:

"There's one thing you need to understand: we must verify every detail. This case is very serious and has many suspicious points. We hope you can understand and cooperate with us."

Cao Jinhai put down the cup, his hands trembling, and looked up at the middle-aged police officer, whose face exuded authority:

"They are all my good friends. I will cooperate."

"Thank you for your cooperation," the middle-aged police officer said formally, then returned to the main topic:

"Before the incident, what did you all do?"

"You mean in the evening?"

"Yes."

"In the evening, we went out for dinner. Changye was still acting strange, so he didn't go out with us. Shucheng and I had a little to drink, one bottle of beer each. I swear, none of us got drunk.

Shucheng had to give something to his girlfriend, so I went back to the dorm first. When I got there, I found Changye sleeping, so I didn't wake him up. I climbed up to the top bunk and chatted with a friend on my phone.

Around 9 PM, Shucheng came back to the dorm. Changye was still asleep, and we both made fun of him a bit, thinking we'd drag him out tomorrow. We said if he kept this up, he'd waste away.

Since we had gotten up early in the morning, we didn't chat for long and went to sleep."

When Cao Jinhai got to this point, the middle-aged man suddenly interrupted him:

"Was Shucheng already asleep at that time?"

"I'm not sure, but I think he was."

The middle-aged police officer nodded, wrote a few notes, and gestured for Cao Jinhai to continue.

"I was woken up by the need to urinate. I held it for a while because I was lazy, but eventually, I got out of bed."

"Do you remember the time?"

"10:20 PM. I remember it clearly because I checked the time."

"Did you notice anything unusual, like with Shucheng or Changye?"

"Nothing unusual. I heard Shucheng snoring, and I wasn't sure if Changye was awake. But when I came back from the toilet, I found... I found..."

Cao Jinhai's voice faltered, and it took him a long time to say:

"I found Changye repeatedly stabbing Shucheng with a knife!"

"It was almost 12 AM, so the dorm should have been quite dark. How could you see so clearly?"

The middle-aged police officer asked very detailed questions, not wanting to miss any detail.

"The curtains weren't drawn, so I saw it by the moonlight. At first, I only saw two vague figures, but when I turned on the wall light, I saw clearly."

"Doesn't the dorm have a curfew?"

"Our dorm has 24-hour power."

This time, Xia Tianqi spoke. As a student at Yingcai College, he knew this well. Their dorm building even had a high-end nickname—Nocturnal City.

Hearing Xia Tianqi's testimony, Cao Jinhai nodded in agreement:

"Our dorm building has 24-hour power."

He added:

"After that, you know what happened. I was terrified and ran downstairs before I realized I should call the police."

"Thank you for your cooperation. You can go now, but please keep your phone on for the next few days in case we need to contact you. If you remember anything else, feel free to call us. I've already given you my number."

The middle-aged police officer stood up from his chair and waved at the surveillance camera. Soon, a police officer came in and led Cao Jinhai out.

Before leaving, Cao Jinhai turned to look at Xia Tianqi, signaling him to go out first and find him later.

The middle-aged police officer then organized the notes and said to Xia Tianqi with a somewhat forced smile:

"This case seems straightforward. There's both a witness and physical evidence, so it was Changye who killed him. However, we will conduct a psychiatric evaluation to see if he has any mental health issues or sleepwalking disorder."

Although it seemed clear that Changye had developed mental health issues recently, leading him to mistakenly believe someone was trying to kill him and ultimately kill Yang Shucheng, there was still one suspicious point: why would Changye, who had always been carefree, suddenly develop mental health issues?

Xia Tianqi knew Changye well. He couldn't be described as optimistic; rather, he was the type who never worried about anything. They had known each other for a long time, and he had never seen Changye be troubled by anything.

So, it was hard for Xia Tianqi to believe that such a person could have a mental illness and kill a good roommate.

"I hope you treat him well. I'll come back tomorrow morning to talk to him in person."

In the past, Xia Tianqi would never have imagined himself speaking to the police like this, but now, with his extremely powerful work ID, he could.

However, he felt no joy.

When he left the police station, it was already past 1 AM. The empty street had no cars, and Cao Jinhai was sitting on the side of the road, his head hanging low as if he had lost his soul.

Xia Tianqi reflected that if he hadn't experienced this himself and witnessed such a bloody tragedy, he would have found it unbearable too.

"Ah."

Sighing sadly, Xia Tianqi walked over to Cao Jinhai, his back slightly hunched.