My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

The only light from the music room came from the gaps of the drawn curtain which fell onto the black piano and illuminated the flying dust in the air. It was completely dark and the uncertainty caused courage to dwindle. Shi Nian was so spooked by the previous event that she still felt lingering fear, her forehead was covered in sweat.

In front of her, a tall figure put his forefingers on his lips, gesturing for her to not make a ruckus.

Shi Nian nodded and the boy in school uniform tightened his hold on her wrist, gently pulling her aside. He stuck to the door and opened it a bit, only enough for the intermittent buzz and commanding voice of a male to slip in. "…gather at the assembly point on the track field. Over."

Shi Nian remembered that the voice belonged to Detective Qin Weizhe's. It seemed like he was the one who was in charge of Li Qing's case.

The boy's brows knitted, his thought indecipherable.. He closed the door gently and turned to Shi Nian. "It's safe now. But we can't turn on the lights right now, so bear with it for a while."

Amidst the dark, they could only see each other's silhouette.

Zhang Jiancheng saw Shi Nian nod quietly and a trace of smile flashed through his eyes, albeit it receded soon. "What are you doing here?"

Shi Nian was alerted. Her body stiffened and her lips pursed into thin lines.

"Don't worry." Zhang Jiancheng's tone softened like he was coaxing a small, injured animal. "What you're planning to do, I can guess. You also think that there's something fishy about Li Qing's death, right?"

Shi Nian stared at him, stunned.

Zhang Jiancheng…also thought that something didn't seem right?

As if to prove himself, Zhang Jiancheng started to explain. "It isn't logical for her to commit suicide. First, Li Qing wasn't the kind of person who could do something like this. Second, I had inadvertently heard her conversation with Ruo Tingran's group that she was planning to do something after the monthly exam. It is kind of weird that she would commit suicide all of a sudden. Third…" He paused. "Well, I will tell you later. You want to go to Moonlight Pavilion, am I right?"

Shi Nian looked at Zhang Jiancheng for a while, trying to discern his thoughts but saw nothing but sincerity.

This was the person whom Li Qing said was arrogant and haughty, whose kindness was just a show off. The exact person had now come personally before Shi Nian did to find out about her death. For a while, Shi Nian felt complicated inside.

She decided to trust Zhang Jiancheng this time and nodded.

To her surprise, Zhang Jiancheng pulled out a ring of keys from his pocket. Shi Nian's eyes rounded as she saw the man pick out a single key. "Let's go. We should seize this moment when the police are away."

Shi Nian wasn't given a chance to react when Zhang Jiancheng pulled the door open. Light poured in all of a sudden and Shi Nian's eyes squinted, unaccustomed to the sudden change. The boy beckoned to her as he walked toward the door and pushed the key in, twisted it twice and—click—the lock which almost made Shi Nian break down opened just like that.

As if sensing her confusion, Zhang Jiancheng explained. "I was the President of the Student Council until last semester. Even though I have stepped down from my position, I haven't got the chance to return the keys yet. Who could guess that it will come in handy today."

They went through the door as Zhang Jiancheng put the lock back.

The wind blew, carrying the depressing mood and faint scent of blood to Shi Nian's nose. From her position, she could see the track field where the police gathered. As she expected, Qin Weizhe was standing in front of the teachers and police officers, his expression solemn and grim.

"Come on. There isn't much time." His words brought her back and Shi Nian chased after Zhang Jiancheng's back.

The connecting bridge was short, around ten meters and after that, they arrived in the Moonlight Pavilion. Shi Nian looked around the so-called famous place to confess. The wall was creamy white and because of the long abandonment, there were long vines with orange leaves growing on the pillar, giving off a vintage look. The whole building was empty and it had gathered dust, but the coloured glass window reflected kaleidoscope of colors similar to rainbow, adding on to the beautiful scenery.

However, both of them weren't in the mood to appreciate it.

Shi Nian followed Zhang Jiancheng without a sound as the boy climbed on the dusty and creaky stairs.

If Li Qing really did commit suicide early in the morning, Shi Nian couldn't imagine how she felt when she climbed on this stairs alone surrounded by darkness and utmost silence.

"I forgot to ask you." Zhang Jiancheng reached the top of the stairs and turned sideways. "Why do you think that there's something more about Li Qing's death?"

Shi Nian spread her palms helplessly. She didn't bring her notebook and pen and her phone was still in her school bag thus she couldn't communicate with him. After all, she was only planning to secretly come and take a look, then quickly returned.

Zhang Jiancheng raised a brow then pulled out a phone. "Here."

Shi Nian: "…" The school male god was really proficient.

She accepted it gingerly and typed on the memo. [Intuition.]

Looking at her serious face, Zhang Jiancheng was rendered speechless. "…alright."

They climbed onto the roof of Moonlight Pavilion and saw traces of marks and symbols that were left behind by the forensics. Zhang Jiancheng and Shi Nian separated. Shi Nian walked toward the broken railing and glanced down to see a human shaped figure drawn with white chalk and the splattered bloodstain below.

Nausea churned her stomach and she hastily looked away.

Actually, there wasn't much to see. Because it wasn't raining yesterday nor did it snow, the only clue she could refer to was the footprints on the dusty floor. However, maybe because many people had come here to confess recently, there were numerous different footprints, small and large, overlapping with each other.

If she looked closer, she could find neat footprints leading to the broken railing which was supposed to be Li Qing's. But that was it. There weren't any additional footprints or suspicious marks. This was the scene which had been examined by the forensics, thus every single evidence, no matter how small it was, would have already been collected already.

Shi Nian didn't know what she wanted to seek by coming here but a pang of disappointment hit her chest.

"Did you find what you're searching for?" he asked.

Shi Nian turned back and shook her head. [What about you?]

The boy had both his hands in the pocket as the wind ruffled the strands of his hair. He was slender, but his shoulders were wide and his muscles taut, formed by countless hours of volleyball practice and competition. Shi Nian could judge how powerful he was from the way he had dragged her in one swift movement into the music room.

His eyes locked onto hers, then he slowly said, "If I told you that me in the music room and saving you in the nick of time was a coincidence and I only tagged along to keep you company, would you believe me?"

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A/N: Zhang Jiancheng, you shall be awarded with "The Smoothest Side Character" in MDG. Congratulations~