Criminal Psychology Ch53

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 53

There were too many reasons that could change a person.

An accident, a conversation, a book, or even a smile could offset the established trajectory of life, but this didn’t mean that these subtle events were enough to completely change a person.

People were inherently stubborn creatures. Not only that, but they were also particularly gregarious, so they crowded in herds and were easily excited.

Lin Chen was sitting at the end of the lecture hall while Professor Fu was teaching in front of the podium.

The sound of a megaphone came from outside the window. As the building of the psychology department was high, when it reached the upper floors, it was no longer clear.

Lin Chen watched as his shidi was chatting with the students while casually listening to the sound floating from outside.

“I hope you can provide all the information possible to the police so they can find the missing student, Jiang Liu, as soon as possible…”

The voice in the megaphone was impassioned and was constantly soliciting students and teachers in the surrounding areas.

Lin Chen roughly understood. This seemed to be a search organized by the Yongchuan University student council after learning of Jiang Liu’s disappearance.

He couldn’t help but look out the window.

It just so happened that they were between classes. Many students had just finished class. Several people who looked like student officers were distributing leaflets. The square slowly became crowded as more students started to gather, and the officers became more spirited as their voices got louder.

Lin Chen frowned. Mobilizing the students and teachers to find Jiang Liu was, of course, a quick and effective means, but with Yongchuan University already on edge, coupled with this missing girl, he was afraid it would only cause more waves. He took out his phone and texted Xing Conglian.

[Did you contact the student council and ask for their help in finding Jiang Liu?]

[No. What happened?]

[At student square, the officers of the student council are handing out flyers.]

Outside the campus gate, Xing Conglian retracted his phone and looked at the telephone pole in front of him.

At some point, “missing person” posters had been posted around Yongchuan University.

The poster had a picture of Jiang Liu and underneath it was a heartfelt message that the entire school was looking forward to Jiang Liu’s safe return and if she were to see this message, she should please return to campus as soon as possible.

Just as Xing Conglian frowned and was reading the poster, a girl in a light purple dress stood in front of the school’s bulletin board, reading the same poster with a smile.

The girl was dressed exquisitely and had on light purple eyeshadow and dark red lipstick, which were bright and beautiful, as if her lips were glowing.

A group of boys holding textbooks passed behind her. One of the boys couldn’t help but look at the girl, then paused his footsteps.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this should be the person on the missing person poster.

In the classroom of the psychology department, Lin Chen was leaning against the window, looking down at what was happening in the square.

At this moment, his phone suddenly vibrated.

Lin Chen glanced at the screen and saw it was Xing Conglian. He walked out of the classroom and picked up the phone, but what came from the other end was Xing Conglian’s anxious voice.

“Jiang Liu has appeared.” Xing Conglian was panting heavily, as if he were running.

“Where?”

“A student said just now that they saw her at the entrance to cafeteria No. 3.”

“Did they say which direction she was heading to?”

“They said she went up school building No. 3.”

Lin Chen was taken aback when he heard this. He looked up at the classroom number and saw that it was 3609. If his memory was correct, the teaching building where he was now was No. 3.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

On the other end of the line, Xing Conglian seemed to notice his brief pause and asked with concern.

“If I’m not wrong, I’m afraid Jiang Liu should be on the roof of the building now…”

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding…

Unluckily, the bell for class rang.

Lin Chen couldn’t help but look at the ceiling.

Suddenly, there was a muffled noise outside the building, as if it was the sound of a heavy object landing. Lin Chen only felt his scalp go numb. He quickly rushed into the classroom. There were already a good number of students peeking out the window.

Lin Chen covered a student’s eyes and dragged the boy back to his seat. “Don’t be too curious,” he whispered in the boy’s ear.

Fu Hao moved quickly and had already retracted his gaze from below. He brushed the curtains and said to the students, “Everyone by the windows, close the curtains!”

“Fu Ge, you don’t want to leave us with any psychological scars? Did someone just commit suicide outside?” Taking advantage of this moment, a mischievous boy tried to secretly open the curtain to look out.

“Why are you saying so much nonsense? If you ask again, I will fail you immediately, and you will be forbidden to retake the course!” Fu Hao’s attitude was tough.

Seeing his shidi was controlling the scene, Lin Chen nodded at him, gripped his phone, and rushed out of the classroom.

However, before he reached the door, there was another muffled noise outside the building. Under the teaching building, students’ shouts and screams tumbled up like a tidal wave.

Lin Chen called Xing Conglian’s phone, but was met with a busy signal. He clenched the phone, turned around, and ran to the top floor.

The iron gate on the rooftop was half open. The original iron chain was hanging loose on the door. Lin Chen slammed the iron gate open and rushed through. As far as he could see, there was a dazzling blue sky without a single cloud, and the scorching sun made the corners of people’s eyes sting.

On the edge of the rooftop, there was a long-haired beauty sitting there.

She was wearing a white blouse and black skirt, and her long hair was tucked behind one ear.

Lin Chen looked at her back and walked slowly towards the edge of the rooftop. Just before he got close, the girl looked like she had eyes on the back of her head and snapped back.

“Shixiong, farewell. You must refuel*!”

*(加油) A ubiquitous Chinese expression of encouragement and support, which derives from the Chinese term jiayou. There’s really no direct translation for it.

The girl smiled softly and sweetly as she finished her last sentence.

Lin Chen didn’t even have the chance to speak. In an instant, he only felt the tinging of his eardrums, and his heart turned extremely cold.

A few steps away from him, a weak and slightly opened palm quickly disappeared from the top of the rooftop!

The sound of a heavy object landing was heard and was followed by screams.

With a bang, the rooftop iron gate was kicked open again.

Xing Conglian grabbed the door frame and was panting for breath, but on the rooftop, there was only Lin Chen by himself.

The sky was blue, and the spring breeze was warm. The subtle wind brushed Lin Chen’s black hair and blew up his clothes.

Xing Conglian walked to the edge of the rooftop and stood still at an arm’s length from Lin Chen.

Lin Chen stood still in place. He didn’t even take two steps forward as he looked down at the three students who had fallen.

“It’s not your fault,” Xing Conglian put his hand on Lin Chen’s shoulder and said with relief. To his surprise, he felt no trembling in his palm. Lin Chen stood very firmly, and his voice was still calm.

“You don’t have to comfort me.” Lin Chen showed a self-deprecating smile. “It’s an extremely delicate arrangement. The first and second suicides distracted my attention. If I had rushed to the rooftop as soon as I received the call, I could have saved her.”

Xing Conglian’s hand that was about to pull out a cigarette stopped midair. He turned to put his hands on Lin Chen’s shoulders and pulled Lin Chen towards him.

He bowed slightly, pressing his hand down, and looked into Lin Chen’s dark eyes, as if he were gazing at the depths of his soul.

“Self-blame and sadness don’t suit you. The rest of the police force will be here soon. Let’s go downstairs first.

——

The student activity square wasn’t as hidden as the grove. In addition, the activities of the officers of the student council had attracted a lot of students. For a while, more people from teaching building No. 3 came out and surrounded the outside of the scene.

Many students covered their faces but peeked through their fingers to catch sight of the pools of blood on the ground and the people lying in them.

Lin Chen followed Xing Conglian downstairs. Perhaps it was because he had run too quickly back then that he felt his limbs gradually warm up.

Because the police had been searching for Jiang Liu around campus, they came quickly. A cordon was hastily set up, and Jiang Chao’s men began to drive away the onlookers, but no one rushed to touch the three motionless students.

Lin Chen stood on the flower stand at the outermost part of the crowd, staring coldly at the cruel scene that looked like hell.

Xu Haozhen, Jiang Liu, and an unknown boy were lying in a pool of blood. Red, white, black, purple, and other various colors mixed into a mass. The original screams had gradually weakened into whispers, which were more piercing than the screams.

Jiang Liu fell into a small pond by the square. The water there was extremely shallow—just a thin layer. The bottom of the pond had pebbles of different sizes. There were originally several aquatic duckweed floating in the pond, but they were now smashed to pieces by the falling girl.

The blood slowly seeped away.

An ambulance came whistling in. A doctor trickled through the water and checked the girl’s pupils and pulse, then subconsciously shook his head.

Two nurses carried the girl on a stretcher and sent her into the ambulance.

Everyone present knew very well that the three students who jumped from such a high-rise building had almost no possibility of survival.

The doctors and nurses present seemed to be there just to complete the final procedure.

Lin Chen took a deep breath. The smell of mint tobacco gradually came to the tip of his nose.

He turned around. At some point, Xing Conglian was standing behind him and had naturally placed his hand on his shoulder.

If there was really someone in the world who could keep a straight face in front of Mount Tai collapsing before them, Xing Conglian was that person.

The mixed-race young man was holding a cigarette as he spoke in a calm tone. “Another three. What do these three represent? Some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder*?”

*A mental and behavioral disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts and/or feels the need to perform certain routines repeatedly to the extent where it induces distress or impairs general function.

Lin Chen could hardly believe his ears. When most people faced a sudden accident, even if they didn’t panic, there would still be a brief blankness, but Xing Conglian kept moving forward without any panic from beginning to end. Lin Chen suddenly remembered what he told him. ‘It’s not your fault.’

How tough were this man’s nerves that he would start to comfort others first and foremost?

“No matter what it’s related to, this is an important clue.” Perhaps it was because of the steady hand on his shoulder, or maybe it was the smell that was too reassuring, but it made Lin Chen speak slowly.

“What clue?”

“I don’t know.”

Lin Chen answered honestly. The clues they currently had were pitifully few, so it was impossible for him to analyze the reason behind this number.

It was another three people who committed suicide together. Anyone would think that the number must have a very important meaning, but he really couldn’t say what it represented.

Was it an obsessive-compulsive disorder?

From Xing Conglian’s point of view, it could be one angle. Getting three people to die together could represent a kind of coercive behavior, but if he were to analyze it this way, it would only bring more endless problems.

What caused this kind of obsessive-compulsive behavior? What did it mean? And what was the story behind it?

Why did these children commit suicide, and would there be more?

Questions came flooding in, and Lin Chen felt a splitting headache coming again.

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Kinky Thoughts:

With such a heavy topic in this arc, I just want to say if you’re struggling with mental health, please reach out to someone. Know that you are not alone. 

Here are some resources:
SPRC
AFSP
Yellow Ribbon
Call 988 / Text ‘Help’ to 741741

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