SFTD -Chapter 128 Campus Gunfire (Part 9)

Zhou Hai got into Liu Da’s car, speeding toward the city hospital.

Zhou Hai flipped through photos of the dormitory backgrounds of the two girls. In one group photo, something stood out strangely—four girls and one boy holding up a trophy. A chubby girl stood alone on the side, while the other four stood shoulder to shoulder, smiling brightly. The overweight girl’s smile looked forced, out of place, as if she didn’t belong.

Liu Da hung up the phone and said to Zhou Hai, “We’ve caught the guy who posted online and tracked the boy who was following Sun Jingya and Lin Jiajia. He’s being taken to Changhe Branch for interrogation.”

Zhou Hai nodded. Since the killer was in the school, every lead had to be pursued.

“About those thirty-plus officers carrying 9mm Type 92 pistols you mentioned last night—how are we handling that today?”

Liu Da couldn’t help but smile. “I knew you wouldn’t let it go. I came up with a plan yesterday. We’ll use the excuse of an occasional firing-pin malfunction in this model and have multiple departments notify everyone on the list to bring their guns to our weapons management office for a unified replacement.”

Zhou Hai nodded. The excuse was nearly perfect. No one would ignore a safety issue—especially something like a firing pin jam that could cost their life at a critical moment.

“All of them brought in?”

Liu Da’s smile faded. “No. Eight people haven’t turned them in. Four of them are on business trips.”

“So the remaining four—have we gathered their information?”

Liu Da handed over a phone with a list. Zhou Hai glanced through it, but couldn’t find anything useful at first glance. At that moment, the car stopped.

He returned the phone. The immediate priority was the situation at hand. The two quickly got out and rushed into the emergency office. Before they even entered, they heard the sound of a chair crashing inside.

“Aah—!”

The moment the door opened, a deafening scream erupted. Sun Jingya’s father was wildly swinging a chair at Dr. He. Liu Da reacted instantly—long arms extended, pushing the chair aside. It flew sideways, slammed into a desk, and rolled toward the window. At the same time, he shoved Sun Jingya’s father to the side of the room.

Zhou Hai instinctively pulled Dr. He to his side. Liu Da grew angry.

“Sit down!”

Faced with Liu Da’s stern presence, Sun Jingya’s father’s earlier rage weakened. He glanced at the insignia on Liu Da’s uniform, visibly shaken, and dropped into a chair, burying his face in his hands and crying.

Zhou Hai looked at Dr. He and asked quietly:

“Did you tell them?”

Dr. He pointed behind him. “Just now, Lin Jing’s father rushed in asking for his daughter’s ward. That’s how everyone found out.”

Zhou Hai frowned. It seemed Chu Menghan wasn’t suited for handling this kind of situation—her early notification to the father had effectively exposed everything. For a parent guarding a comatose child, there was still hope. But if the child turned out not to be theirs, the emotional collapse would be multiplied several times over.

“I don’t believe it… I don’t believe it…” Sun Jingya’s father sobbed.

“Just a few days ago, the deceased had been to Lianhua Mountain Scenic Area. There were local stones stuck in the seams of her shoes, and traces of ink seals were found on her fingers. She must have recently signed some important documents.”

The father kept shaking his head, but the more he reacted like that, the more Zhou Hai felt he was beginning to believe it.

Zhou Hai opened a tablet and showed another image.

“Also, Sun Jingya’s right pinky finger had previously been fractured at the middle phalanx, correct? And there’s a surgical scar, right?”

The father looked up angrily. “What’s the point of saying this now?”

“This is an X-ray of the deceased’s right hand.”

Trembling, the father took the tablet. Indeed, the middle segment of the pinky finger was slightly angled inward. He shoved the device away and broke down crying again.

After a while, when his sobbing eased, Zhou Hai and Dr. He sat across from him.

Dr. He spoke sincerely:

“Mr. Sun, I’m also a father. I understand how you feel. I won’t argue. When we notified you, we told you a wallet was found on the injured person, containing Sun Jingya’s ID. You confirmed it was your daughter’s, which is why we registered her as Sun Jingya.”

The father remained silent, essentially accepting the explanation.

Liu Da cleared his throat.

“We understand your emotions. But we need your help. Our investigation originally focused on Lin Jiajia as the primary victim. Now we need all information about Sun Jingya.”

“Don’t you want to catch the killer?”

“I can also tell you this—Sun Jingya did not die from a car accident. It was a gunshot wound.”

The father froze, wiping tears from his face in shock.

“Gunshot wound?”

Zhou Hai nodded.

“Based on the injury angles of both girls and the analysis of the first crime scene, Lin Jiajia was likely trying to protect Sun Jingya. She was also shot, but still managed to drive Sun Jingya toward the hospital.”

“However, due to severe blood loss, she became disoriented and crashed. The crash site was only about 500 meters from the hospital.”

“So Lin Jiajia truly cared about Sun Jingya. She used her life to protect her. I think Sun Jingya would feel comforted by that.”

“As for the mistaken identities, none of us expected Sun Jingya’s wallet to end up in Lin Jiajia’s pocket. It may have been picked up by Lin Jiajia or placed there by bystanders after the crash. These things… no one wants them to happen.”

Liu Da patted the father’s shoulder.

“Right now, our top priority is catching the killer. Do you want the murderer to remain free?”

The father’s eyes turned red and he nodded. “No need to persuade me. Ask whatever you need.”

Two investigators were called in to take his statement. Zhou Hai listened briefly before stepping out.

The Sun family’s social connections were simple. It seemed the only path forward was through Sun Jingya herself. Thinking of this, he called Chu Menghan.

“I’ve sent you a photo. Ask the university who the girl standing alone in this group photo is. If you find her, I want to meet her.”

Chu Menghan immediately understood. Zhou Hai would not act without reason at such a critical moment.

“Alright. Wait.”

She forwarded the image to a senior-year advisor she had met the day before.

Chu Menghan: “Do you recognize this student?”

The reply came instantly.

Teacher Wang: “Yes.”

“Her name is Yin Min, a network engineering student in the School of Technology. The five of them represented the college in a performance competition and won an award. This photo was taken at the award ceremony.”

Chu Menghan: “What is her relationship with Lin Jiajia and Sun Jingya?”

Teacher Wang: “Very good.”

“Lin Jiajia and Sun Jingya are good at singing and dancing, while Yin Min is excellent at piano. The three of them often collaborated.”

“Also, she usually comes to prepare performance pieces at noon, since the music room is empty then and she can practice freely.”

Chu Menghan immediately called Zhou Hai.

“The chubby girl in the photo is Yin Min. She goes to the music room every day at noon.”

“Come out. I’m heading to the hospital now—we’ll go to the university together.”