C16 The Female Ghost Had Legs

The trio arrived at the police station first. Given the sensitive nature of Lu Wangshu and Lin Xiangyi's identities, Qiao Liang decided it would be best for them to wait outside while he went in alone to submit the powder as evidence.

Both Lu Wangshu and Lin Xiangyi respected Qiao Liang's decision and refrained from commenting.

Upon reaching the Identification Department, Qiao Liang handed the white powder to a junior officer, emphasizing the urgency of testing the substance. The quicker the composition of the powder could be determined, the better.

The junior officer, aware of the high-profile case Qiao Liang's team was handling, took the task seriously and assured him that he would email the results as soon as they were available.

"Thanks for your hard work, brother. We're counting on you," Qiao Liang said, clapping the officer on the shoulder before leaving the station with purposeful strides.

Next, Qiao Liang drove Lu Wangshu and Lin Xiangyi to Yongzhou No.1 Middle School. Previously, he had used a side entrance to avoid drawing attention, but this time, with Lu Wangshu having already confronted the elusive figure, there was no longer a need for discretion. Thus, Qiao Liang confidently drove straight through the main gate.

They reasoned that requesting surveillance footage from the dormitory corridors would ultimately require the principal's consent. It made more sense to approach the principal directly from the start, saving precious time.

With this in mind, they headed straight for the principal's office. Recognizing them from their previous visit, the principal welcomed them in without hesitation.

"Have you made any new discoveries?" the principal inquired, offering them water.

Qiao Liang nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, exactly. Just last night, Wangshu caught up with that elusive character. Unfortunately, the individual was too quick and managed to slip away."

Upon hearing this, the principal broke into a pleased smile. "I see. So, what brings you to me today?"

"We'd like to request the surveillance footage from last night's incident in the fifth-floor corridor of the boys' dormitory," Lu Wangshu requested.

It's often said that one shouldn't air their dirty laundry in public. Ultimately, whether it was a student prank or the machinations of someone with malicious intent, letting word get out would reflect poorly on us. Outsiders might view Yongzhou No.1 Middle School with ridicule. As the head of Yongzhou No.1 Middle School, the principal would understandably find this distressing.

But the situation was too urgent for such concerns. Without apprehending the individual soon, the situation could deteriorate significantly. Although Lu Wangshu wasn't a police officer or an official member of Yongzhou No.1 Middle School, his ability to crack the case and identify the culprit was all that mattered.

The principal glanced at Lu Wangshu and consented, "Alright, let's proceed to the monitoring room now and review the surveillance footage to understand exactly what transpired."

With that, the principal stood and made his way toward the office door. Lu Wangshu and the others, realizing the principal was on the move, quickly rose and followed his lead.

The monitoring room was located on the first floor of the Administrative Building.

Once inside the monitoring room, the teacher present stood up quickly upon noticing the principal's arrival and asked, "Principal, what brings you here?"

"We've come to examine the surveillance video from the boys' dormitory last night," the principal stated gravely.

Hearing this, the teacher inquired, "Which specific time frame from last night are you interested in?"

The principal, unsure of the exact details, turned to Lu Wangshu. Without hesitation, Wangshu clarified, "We need the footage from 10 to 10:30 pm last night, covering the fifth floor of the boys' dormitory and the corridors from the first to the fifth floors."

After hearing Zhang Qidong's final words, the teacher in the control room looked visibly distressed and said, "Well, we don't have any surveillance cameras installed in the hallways of the boys' dormitory building."

"No cameras? Why?" Lin Xiangyi was perplexed, her face etched with suspicion.

Originally, the plan was to install cameras in the hallways, but during the actual installation, the water pipes were not laid out correctly, leading to a misalignment. This left no space for the surveillance cameras to be installed. The school administration weighed their options and decided that the absence of cameras in the hallways was preferable to not having water pipes. While lacking cameras might make future incidents more challenging to address, the absence of water pipes would make life impossible for the students.

This is why there are no surveillance cameras in the hallways of the boys' dormitory at Yongzhou No.1 Middle School.

Upon hearing the teacher's explanation, the principal snapped his fingers, indicating that he too remembered the incident, confirming that it had indeed happened.

Lu Wangshu sighed, resigned to the fact that for now, it was impossible to track down the individual who had caused the disturbance after leaving the fifth floor.

The control room teacher pulled up the previous night's surveillance footage from the boys' dormitory for Lu Wangshu. He fast-forwarded the video and began to watch.

Before long, the image of the female ghost appeared on the screen, followed by Lu Wangshu's own figure.

Lu Wangshu watched intently as the female ghost, upon seeing him, became flustered. She threw a handful of white powder at him and then hurriedly fled the scene.

With the surveillance video offering an omnipotent perspective, Lu Wangshu could replay the footage and see every detail with crystal clarity.

For instance, he noticed that the so-called ghost actually had feet. Beneath the flowing white dress, he could see a pair of shoes—the very same ones he had worn that day.

The presence of these shoes, or rather, the feet, further confirmed that the female ghost was nothing more than a person in disguise, not an actual specter.

After all, if there truly were a female ghost, she wouldn't have any reason to fear Lu Wangshu, much less turn tail and flee in panic. Who's ever heard of a ghost being afraid of people?

The individual masquerading as a ghost had been spotted in the boys' dormitory, and always at such a late hour, which strongly suggests that he resides in that very building.

School regulations strictly prohibit girls from entering the boys' dormitory, especially after lights out.

Thus, considering the evidence at hand, it's likely that the prankster is a male student.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Wangshu turned to the teacher in the surveillance room and asked, "Could you send me the surveillance video, please?"

The teacher nodded affirmatively and replied, "Certainly, no problem at all. Just type your email address into the computer, and I'll send it to you right away."

Seeing how quickly the teacher had agreed, Lu Wangshu promptly entered his email address without further ado.

The teacher then sent the surveillance footage to Lu Wangshu, and shortly after, his phone chimed with a familiar notification sound. Lu Wangshu checked his phone, confirmed the receipt of the footage, thanked the teacher, and left the surveillance room.

Lu Wangshu intended to review the footage at his leisure once back at the office, as he needed to scrutinize it by repeatedly fast-forwarding and rewinding to thoroughly examine last night's events.

However, staying in the surveillance room would have undoubtedly interrupted the teacher's work, so Lu Wangshu decided it was best to watch the footage on his own computer, where he was more comfortable with the controls.

Once back at the office, Lu Wangshu immediately powered up his computer, logged into his email, and opened the surveillance footage.

Lin Xiangyi and Qiao Liang each grabbed a small chair and positioned themselves on either side of Lu Wangshu, all three peering intently at the computer screen.