Chapter 63: Enough, Say No More

“I thought you’d pin him to the ground and give him a good thrashing, but you let him off so easily,” came the remark.

“It’s not good to cause a death. I’m no blood-soaked executioner. By the way, what exactly is your relationship with the Elder of Silence?”

Chen Fan grinned, waving the blank Elder of Silence card in his hand as he teased, “Do you think the silence ability would work on you? You’ve been rather talkative, you know.”

The elder scoffed, now donning the style of a modern-day godfather, complete with a gilded cane. “You’re welcome to try. I’ve yet to see a eunuch who could single-handedly threaten the emperor’s authority.”

Chen Fan was about to counter with an example but immediately sensed the trap in the phrasing and cleverly changed the subject. “This Elder of Silence card is a killer weapon in debates—just silence your opponent and you’ve got a one-way channel for your own perspective.”

The elder let it go, lifting his coffee. “Use whatever works. Aren’t you worried Wei Youlong will come after you again, considering how nonchalant you are?”

Chen Fan threw his head back with laughter, tossing the Elder of Silence card into the pile. “He hasn’t got the guts—he’s all talk. After giving him a scare this time, he probably won’t dare to mess with me again. That’s basic judgment for a player in ‘Werewolf.’”

The elder tapped his cane, and a cloud materialized beneath his feet. “Just don’t regret it when you’re in handcuffs. I’m looking forward to the spectacle.”

The thought of those dramatic arrest scenes in TV shows made Chen Fan want to laugh for no reason.

“Officer, I swear I’m innocent. Like this—convincing enough?” Chen Fan even improvised a performance for the elder. “Relax, no one’s going to believe a student could scale from the first to the fifth-floor balcony, haul someone as heavy as two sacks of rice, and then jump back down to the first floor. Besides, the cameras didn’t catch me—there’s no evidence.”

The elder said nothing, simply watching Chen Fan’s act in silence.

“All your fault. My biological clock is two hours behind thanks to you,” Chen Fan complained, yawning as he used his foot to shuffle the elder’s card back into the pile.

...

“Brother Fan, are you in?”

Faintly, Chen Fan heard someone calling for him. He checked the time—only seven-thirty. There was still an hour before the first two classes, and he didn’t even have class that morning.

“What is it?” Chen Fan squinted, lifting a corner of his bed curtain but not enough to let in the light.

Xu Changhui looked up. “The police are here—they say they have some questions for us.”

“What? The police?” Chen Fan squinted toward the door, and sure enough, two people in uniform stood there.

“Well, officers, what brings you here?” Chen Fan was instantly wide awake, tumbling out of bed.

The two officers each displayed their badges before asking, “You were roommates with Wei Youlong, correct? We’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“Huh. Could the elder’s jinx really have come true?” Chen Fan stood with his hands behind his back, calm as he replied, “We were. What do you want to know?”

“Which one of you is Chen Fan?” asked the officer on the right.

“That’s me. Is there a problem?” Chen Fan’s tone was measured—the handcuffs weren’t out yet, after all.

The taller, thinner officer took out a small notebook, checking its contents as he explained, “At around six-thirty this morning, Wei Youlong, who lives alone, was found unconscious in his bedroom. The first person to discover him was a housekeeper hired for cleaning. His family recalls that Wei Youlong had recently complained over the phone about conflicts with his roommates, so—”

“So because he mentioned my name on the phone, you suspect I knocked him out?” The officer spoke so slowly that Chen Fan lost track, so he finished the sentence himself.

“This is only a preliminary suspicion. We haven’t checked the surrounding surveillance yet. There are still some unexplained things at the scene. When Wei Youlong was found, he was wearing two pairs of pants—one of them long underwear, which was completely soaked. The air conditioning wasn’t on. We can’t figure out why someone would wear long underwear in such stifling heat.”

“Also, we found multiple bruises on him that suggest he’d been tied up. However, nothing was stolen from the room, and the door lock was intact. We have to consider the possibility of someone familiar being involved.”

Chen Fan had no idea why the officer was telling him all this, as if reporting to a superior.

“In that case, you should check the surveillance cameras. Whoever entered or exited during the time frame is likely your suspect,” Chen Fan followed their logic.

“Do you know of any other suspicious individuals?” asked the tall officer.

Chen Fan pretended to think. He considered shifting the blame to Wang Kehan, but since the latter worked for the government, there was no way he’d be involved. So Chen Fan abandoned the idea.

“No idea. Wei Youlong’s offended plenty of people and liked to dabble everywhere. It’s no surprise he finally got what was coming to him.” Chen Fan answered with a hint of schadenfreude.

The two officers exchanged a look and said, “In that case, we’ll take our leave. If necessary, we’ll be back.”

“Thank you for your trouble.” Chen Fan cooperated fully and watched them leave.

...

“Brother Fan, the police made it sound pretty serious,” Xu Changhui whispered.

“Let them investigate. We’ll just go about our business. The world is still full of truth, goodness, and beauty.” Chen Fan climbed back into bed for a nap.

...

After such a commotion, Wei Youlong was taken home for protection. He probably wouldn’t be attending school for the next few days.

“Speak to me, son. Who did this to you?” Wei’s mother hovered anxiously, her son’s gaze darting about.

“Was it that Chen Fan? Did he do this to you?” The name flashed in her mind, and she quickly asked her son.

“Eeeeeee—”

Wei Youlong shook his head vigorously, desperately denying it. If his legs weren’t numb from being tied up, he would have jumped up in protest.

“My poor baby, why won’t you speak? Are you poisoned? Mute? I’ll take you to the hospital right away,” his mother cried, only thinking of dragging him off for a checkup.

Wei Youlong himself was baffled. He’d been able to speak an hour ago, but now it was as if his lips were sewn shut—not a sound would come out.

“Ma’am, there’s news from the surveillance records,” the butler announced after hanging up the phone.

But Wei’s mother was in no mood to listen. She hurried Wei Youlong into the car, determined to get him to the hospital. “If there’s any student with an entry or exit record, bring them all in for questioning—no matter the suspicion. We’ll get a confession out of them. Whoever did this to my baby, you have no idea how my heart aches.”

“But, ma’am, the report says there were no suspicious individuals found—” The butler was at a loss, with not a single suspect to pursue.

“How can that be? Once I’ve seen to my son, I’ll go look for myself.”

With that, Wei’s mother started the car with a rough hand, not even checking the gear. She floored the accelerator, and with a bang, the car slammed straight into the concrete wall behind them.