“Photos? You took photos?”
“I’m a very cautious person. How could I dare to knock you out without leaving some evidence? What if you turn around and blackmail me?” There were indeed photos. When Lin Ze first arrived at the door, he secretly checked the situation inside with his phone and casually snapped a picture of Huazi being grabbed by the neck.
“I... I... I did hit her, but so what... This is at most corporal punishment for a student! She was causing trouble at school instead of going home after class, that’s why I acted!” There was no other way; he could only insist it was corporal punishment. The worst that could happen was a reprimand or expulsion, but if he admitted to wanting to assault her, that would be the end.
“You really are... stubborn.”
Lin Ze gestured to Huazi, who was biting her lip, and led her outside. Hearing the footsteps gradually fade away, Datong panicked and shouted, “Where are you going? Where am I right now? Come back! Come back! Let me go!”
“Lin Ze... what if he doesn’t admit it...” Huazi didn’t expect the other party to be so shameless, still arguing even after being caught. Did that mean she had to swallow her grievances?
Lin Ze turned off the recording function on his phone, saved the first segment, and his expression gradually turned cold and fierce. “Not admitting it? No problem. The mind is very tense in the dark; a few small tricks will do.”
He brought Huazi back to the classroom, casually found a plastic bottle, punctured a small hole in it, filled it with water, and then took a plastic ruler. Lin Ze wanted to see how long the other party could hold out.
“Huazi, you wait here for your mother to come. I’ll go up for a bit and come back down. You’ll tell your mother everything that happened, but! Don’t let her come up, in case she does something extreme. Wait until I come back down to talk.”
As Lin Ze turned to leave, Huazi tightly grasped his hand. “Lin Ze... don’t do anything bad.”
Seeing her nervous expression, Lin Ze turned his head and flicked her forehead. “What are you thinking? I’m a law-abiding citizen; how could I go overboard? I’m just going to scare him, nothing will happen, I promise.”
“Then come back quickly... I’m scared alone.”
Back in the equipment room, Lin Ze caught Datong’s attention. “Where... where did you go? What do you want to do?”
Lin Ze leisurely circled behind him. “Alright, scumbag, since you’re so stubborn with your words, I want to see if you can hold out.”
Lin Ze picked up the plastic ruler, grabbed Datong’s arm, rolled up his sleeve, and made a cut at his wrist. A red mark appeared, and he let the sleeve fall back down, slowly letting water flow over Datong’s sleeve.
This cheap plastic ruler had a slanted edge, so it was slightly sharp, but it definitely wouldn’t break the skin. The key was that Datong didn’t know that. Unable to see anything, he only felt a pain in his wrist, and then his sleeve and hand started to get wet, followed by drops falling down. Is that blood? Datong was scared.
“You can’t do this to me! This is murder! It’s illegal! You’ll go to jail! Let me go! Let me go! If we can live in peace, I absolutely won’t pursue this!”
Lin Ze squatted behind him to prevent Datong from noticing the water dripping from above when he stood up.
“You know the law? No problem... no one will come looking here; no one will find out about you. I’m very curious, how much blood can you bleed?” After saying this, Lin Ze fell silent, letting Datong shout and scream.
If he hadn’t come today, Huazi would probably have died in the bathroom... Huh? Bathroom? Huazi?
...No way? I must be overthinking it... The Huazi in the bathroom is a child, which clearly doesn’t match Huazi’s age. I’ve been too focused on Kayako and haven’t paid attention to anything else. Today, it was my intense unease that prompted me to come. By the way, what was Huazi wearing today?
Lin Ze’s pupils suddenly constricted. It was a red and white dress! The Huazi in the bathroom is one of the urban legends of Sakura City, but her story background and abilities are not comparable to Ju-on or Sadako, so Lin Ze hadn’t paid much attention to it. He had only seen it occasionally; it seemed there were many versions—bullied to death in the bathroom, found dead by her mother when looking for her, killed by a teacher in the bathroom, etc...
As for Huazi’s abilities... Huazi can be summoned actively and will appear on her own. When she appears, she will ask if you need toilet paper, and after you respond, you will be brutally killed. She has the ability to teleport to various bathrooms, with a rule that guarantees death upon answering.
She definitely can’t be compared to Kayako, but Lin Ze can’t have someone suddenly asking him if he needs paper when he goes to the bathroom! But why doesn’t the age match up?
I still need to verify! Lin Ze remembered the medium’s phone number he recorded today. “Let’s contact them after this.” Thinking this, Lin Ze’s gaze towards Datong turned as dark as ink.
**! No matter if she is or not! That’s not an excuse for you, scumbag, to commit a crime. Moreover, if it really is! How many people have you indirectly harmed? I will never let you off the hook.
“I... I said... please, I will admit my crimes.” Datong’s voice carried a hint of weakness. Lin Ze glanced at the half-full water bottle in his hand, thinking he was still being stubborn? Just this?
Lin Ze opened the recording on his phone. “So? Do you admit that you wanted to lay hands on the female student?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I had bad thoughts; I wanted to assault her. I acted because she resisted, I...” Datong confessed, realizing that if he didn’t say anything, he might really lose his life.
“Have you ever laid hands on other students?” Lin Ze interrupted him. As long as the other party admitted it, that was enough; he couldn’t let him say too much.
“Yes... I have. When I was teaching, I took the opportunity to touch students under the pretense of stretching. I... I once used force on a female student and then took a photo to threaten her not to tell anyone. The photo is on another phone at my house.” Once the psychological defense line collapsed, the sense of fear multiplied. Datong felt like he was going to die, so he revealed everything, hoping the other party would let him go.
Unexpectedly, the other party had already succeeded once. What a beast! Lin Ze decided to let him experience a bit more here. He turned off the recording on his phone and left without saying a word.
Behind him, Datong kept pleading in a low voice, “Please... I’ve said it... let me go...”
When Lin Ze went downstairs, he saw the Hiraki mother and daughter huddled together. Huazi had already informed her mother of what happened. Seeing Lin Ze come down, Mrs. Hiraki was so excited that she almost knelt down to thank him, but Lin Ze pulled her up. “Auntie, please don’t. It’s enough that Huazi is fine.”
“Lin Ze-kun, thank you, really thank you for saving Huazi. If it weren’t for Huazi... I wouldn’t be able to live either.”
“The urgent matter is to go to the police station and lock him up first. Don’t let the police come over; Huazi just transferred here not long ago, and there might be rumors among the students, so it’s best not to make too much noise.” Lin Ze considered Huazi’s personality and the targeted Kayako in the class... he decided not to make a big deal out of this, but Hayano and Datong shouldn’t think they could escape!