Chapter 332: Deng Chao Returns! (2/2)

”I'm not some controlling psycho,” she joked. “I won’t restrict you from making friends. You can go if you want to.”

At this moment, the student representative walked to the podium and the auditorium immediately quieted down. After his speech, an old man walked onto the stage and bowed to the audience. ”Is that the dean?” asked Xiaotao.

”Not the dean, but an honorary alumnus!” whispered Dali. “He’s the famous entrepreneur Bai Lei, the founder of Egou!”

Xiaotao pointed to the old man on the podium and said, ”In the near future, you’ll be the honorary alumnus standing there.”

“Then I’ll have to tell the graduates how much I liked skipping classes!” I chuckled.

Bai Lei's speech was brief and impactful, winning a thunderous applause from the students. His speech was followed by the dean’s. During the entire process, I seemed to be holding my breath for fear of any accidents, like a microphone explosion or the sudden emergence of toxic gas.

However, nothing happened at all. The graduation ceremony entered the final program. The graduates went up on stage one by one to receive their certificates signed by the dean. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

It was soon our turn. We walked to the aisle and formed a line. When I got up, Xiaotao stretched out a grubby hand and spanked my butt. ”Good luck!” she grinned.

”Would I need luck for this?” I retorted.

”Have you two done it yet?” Dali whispered from behind.

”Get lost!” I rebuked. “You’re so dirty-minded!”

The graduates walked up on stage in perfect order. Some of the more polite students bowed to the dean and the counselor, some cried on the podium, while others grinned from ear to ear, shouting at the audience, ”I graduated!” In short, it was a mix of reactions.

The first thing most graduates did as soon as they stepped down from the stage was excitedly call home and inform their families of their achievements.

The line grew shorter and shorter. One of the girls stepped onto stage when she felt a drop of liquid splash onto her. Both her and the dean looked up. ”Ahhh, they’re dead!” came her ear-splitting screams.

The audience burst into panic and the dean fell to the ground in horror. Several professors rushed up to assist him.

Xiaotao pushed her way through the crowd and walked over, holding up her police badge. ”Let me pass, I’m a policeman!” she yelled.

As the crowd made way for her, I too walked up on stage and looked up, only to see three pairs of feet dangling from above. On closer inspection, it turned out that there were three bodies hanging from the top. The girl’s certificate had been thrown to the ground, stained with a drop of crimson blood.

Above the podium was a curtain that could be lifted and lowered, and the bodies were tied to the curtain rope. With the dim lighting and dark red color of the curtain, it was very easy to miss the bodies if we weren’t looking carefully.

Xiaotao ordered the auditorium administrator to lower the bodies. As the curtain fell, I caught a better glimpse of the three dead bodies. A visual inspection showed that they had been dead for more than twenty-four hours. Though hung by the neck, their tongues didn’t extend out of their mouths which suggested they were murdered before they were hung.

When we noticed their faces, both Xiaotao and I had a feeling of deja vu. ”Have we met them somewhere?” asked Xiaotao.

”They were Deng Chao's former roommates!” I exclaimed.

”That fucking son of a bitch!” cursed Xiaotao. “He didn’t even let his roommates off!”

I was well aware of the reason behind his actions. During the investigation, his roommates had provided a lot of information. Perhaps in Deng Chao's opinion, the cause of his imprisonment was closely related to his roommates.

Xiaotao was about to call for backup when a loud voice reverberated in the auditorium.

”Song Yang, long time no see! Do you miss me? Although I'd like to congratulate you on graduating, I'm afraid that’s not going to happen!”