She's already been accepted into a very good university, and she's a calm and rational person. If it were me...
Ren Yifei put himself in the original owner's shoes and got into a good school, which shows that the original owner was not prepared to perish together with the deceased, and was even unwilling to ruin his future for this.
Therefore, either the murder is fully prepared and leaves no trace, or the perpetrator doesn't want to get their hands dirty and may be using someone else to do the killing.
Murder always leaves a trace. The more cunning the fox, the better its hound.
Using someone else to do the dirty work is the best strategy.
If we can incite internal conflicts within the enemy ranks, causing them to fight amongst themselves, that would be ideal.
What exactly was the original owner's plan? Did he go to great lengths to lure these people to this remote, ancient village just to have them stay for one night?
As darkness fell, the lights inside the bus were turned on, and rows of tree shadows swept past outside, like rows of ghostly figures standing in a station.
As the outside temperature dropped and they approached their destination, the students on the bus began to perk up. They were like snails after the rain, slowly poking their heads out of their shells.
They gathered together to play cards and chat, some taking out food from their bags to fill their stomachs.
Everyone was hungry at this hour, so Ren Yifei picked up his bag to find something to eat. He found a bottle of water and two pieces of bread. In addition, he also found a folded old newspaper in his side pocket.
However, he did not open it, choosing instead to ignore it, as now was not the best time.
"Hey, top student, can I have a piece of bread?" A hand was stretched out in front of him.
It was that guy again, sitting in the seat behind him, named Liu Jinjie.
Ren Yifei frowned, about to refuse without hesitation, when the person seemed to have been bumped by someone.
"Hey, Chi Bo, do you have fleas on you?" The tall, thin guy who got off the bus with Hei Pi earlier was touching things everywhere, and Liu Jinjie next to him was caught in the act and was very unhappy.
"I remember bringing it with me, but I can't find it?"
What are you looking for?
The tall, thin man glanced at the person in front of him, opened his mouth and whispered, "Smoke."
"Maybe it's in the suitcase?" With this interruption, Liu Jinjie forgot about causing trouble for Ren Yifei and sat back down.
Under the pitch-black night sky, only a small bus travels along a winding road. Far from the hustle and bustle of the city, the road ahead resembles an open mouth, its depths unfathomable, seemingly leading to hell.
This is the perfect setting for telling horror stories.
"Speaking of which, the place we're going to also has a terrifying legend," the horror enthusiast said excitedly, constantly adjusting his glasses. "Do you want to hear it?"
"Ah, I'm going to die, I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it." The short-haired girl next to him covered her ears, but her eyes were looking over.
"Listen, speak!" The other boys seemed to be having a good time and kept egging them on.
Ren Yifei drank mineral water, his eyes looking out the window.
Because it was completely dark outside, he could see his own reflection, so he saw a boy with messy hair and thick glasses.
A boy whose image quality is not high enough and is not clear enough.
The original owner's glasses weren't just for decoration; he was indeed nearsighted, though not severely so—just mild nearsightedness. Ren Yifei, however, didn't inherit his nearsightedness, so his vision is slightly blurry through the glasses.
Of course, it doesn't matter, because the basic details can still be seen clearly.
He could also see the other students in the car through the reflection in the mirror.
Sitting next to him was a boy with a very low profile, slightly chubby, who wore headphones the whole time and didn't say a word.
The boy behind him was Liu Jinjie, who had previously provoked him and tried to provoke Hei Pi, and was quite sarcastic. However, the two of them seemed to have made up now, and Hei Pi was laughing heartily the whole time.
Ren Yifei initially suspected that Hei Pi was the school bully mentioned in the resume. However, when he clashed with Liu Jinjie, other classmates immediately stepped in to stop him, showing no fear or disgust that should be expected of a school bully.
Blackie might not be a school bully, just an athletic guy in the class.
A tall, thin boy named Chi Bo was squeezed between Hei Pi and Liu Jinjie. He reeked of cigarettes; he was a heavy smoker.
None of these are players.
The bus carried thirty-four people, all of whom were students except for the driver and the teacher. Among these students were the original owner's target and some players who had accidentally entered the scene.
In this situation, the difficulty for him to figure out the relationships between the characters and complete his tasks increases exponentially.
Fortunately, while the school bully is suspected, the school beauty is definitely confirmed.
It was Xiang Xue, the pretty girl who had handed him the motion sickness patch earlier. He had seen her when getting on and off the bus; there wasn't a girl prettier than her. If she wasn't the school beauty, then there was something fishy going on.
Next to the school beauty was a girl with an even fiery personality, quick-witted and outspoken, who was always teasing the boys but didn't talk much with the girls. They called her Xiaomin.
The male and female groups are clearly distinct, and each group is further divided into several smaller groups.
When Ren Yifei was in school, he often took leave to film movies. He didn't spend much time in school and had never experienced this kind of atmosphere. He was somewhat realistic, yet also somewhat naive.
But what he was most curious about was the death of the original owner's younger sister. For the original owner to go to such lengths—transferring schools, planning this graduation trip—there must be some secret behind her suicide. How many people were involved in this secret, and are those involved now sleeping soundly?
"We're almost there. It's just across the bridge." The car stopped, and the driver in front reminded everyone that they had arrived at their destination.
"Where is the village?"
"It's right across this bridge."
Upon hearing this, the students opened the car windows and, violating traffic safety regulations, leaned out to look. Sure enough, they saw a high-hanging iron suspension bridge.
On the other side of the bridge, twinkling lights appeared, a symbol of human civilization, which excited the students who were used to the dark mountains.
They're still up the mountain, and they've built a small platform here for vehicles to park. It was probably built a few years ago, but unfortunately, it's dilapidated now. There are more mountains on the other side, but there's a village on a gentler slope halfway up.
Connecting the two sides is a narrow suspension bridge with railings on both sides, but the bridge surface is quite narrow, only wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
"There's a car!" A sharp-eyed student spotted a brand-new black SUV in the dilapidated parking lot, and immediately recognized whose it was. "Isn't that Jiang Shaobo's car? Did he get here first?"
The others also peeked out: "Wasn't he supposed to be going abroad? Why is he here too?"
Ren Yifei noted down the name; he must be a prominent figure, as even leaving behind a car could cause a stir.
"Don't stick your heads out of the car. Everyone, pack your things first. It's cold in the mountains and there are a lot of mosquitoes, so please wear your school uniform jackets." Teacher Wang stood up to remind everyone, but it was no use. She said it several times, but only a few people listened.
They took out crumpled, thin school uniform jackets from their bags. They were blue and white, and some of the white jackets had several names written on them.
Ren Yifei suddenly felt the reality of this being a graduating class. They were wearing coats they would never wear again, and their clothes were signed with many classmates' names, in all sorts of handwritings and with all sorts of names.
If the original owner's sister were still alive, would she be one of them?
Thinking about this suddenly made the scene before me feel jarring. Only the victims remember the pain; the perpetrators forget it in the blink of an eye.
Ren Yifei sat by the window, looking outside. His hand reached into his pocket and touched the electronic car key, as well as the seashell pendant with two children nestled together inside.
The others were discussing the ancient villages they were about to visit. Some students who had prepared beforehand excitedly talked about the history of the places.
Legend has it that this old village nestled in the mountains wasn't discovered until after the liberation. It was formed when an entire clan moved there during a period of war in a certain dynasty, and it still retains many unique traditions.
Later, after the road was built, this place became famous, and tour groups would come from time to time. However, as the tourism boom subsided, the place gradually became less well-known, and you had to make a conscious effort to find it.
It's July now. High school seniors and junior high students have graduated, and their college acceptance letters are on their way, but some students are still in class, so it's not yet the peak summer travel season. Plus, not many people know about this tourist spot, so they haven't encountered a single car going in the same direction along the way.
"This is indeed a suitable location to make a move," Ren Yifei thought, looking at the iron chain bridge swaying in the wind.
"The road ahead is impassable for vehicles; we'll have to walk a section of it ourselves."
The teacher stood up: "Class, we have arrived at Wutong Village. Now, please take your luggage and get off the bus in an orderly manner. If you have large luggage down there, please go and get it one by one, don't rush."
However, the boy at the front didn't give her any face at all. He carried his bag, walked past her, and got off the bus.
The other students looked at the teacher with a hint of doubt in their eyes. The young teacher was both embarrassed and annoyed, and forced a smile, saying, "Then everyone, come down and don't fall behind."
The students all got off the bus and took their luggage.
Ren Yifei silently mingled inside, waiting for everyone else to move their luggage. There was only one dark blue suitcase left inside. Seeing that no one else had moved, he slowly went over and pulled up the suitcase.
Ren Yifei kept thinking about how he would reasonably handle the situation if it were someone else's box. But since no one asked, he assumed it was his own.
This small suitcase was locked, and it had two locks. In addition to the built-in combination lock, there was also a brass lock. I don't know what was inside, but it was very heavy.
"Waaah, I'm so scared." The suspension bridge swaying in the wind frightened the young students.
There are actually two rows of lights, but they've been in disrepair for years, with only about a third of the bulbs still lit, making it look rather ominous in the dark. In addition, although there are mesh railings on three sides, the bridge still sways, which makes everyone a little scared.
When one person says they're scared, others are encouraged to agree: "Yeah, that's terrifying!"
"Girls are so troublesome, we boys will go first." Ren Yifei was standing there perfectly fine when he was slapped on the back again. The boy named Liu Jinjie looked at him with ill intent. "Hey, Xia Chuan, why don't you go first?"
Since this person considers this a way to humiliate 'Xia Chuan', then 'Xia Chuan' must have revealed something before that they felt would be embarrassing for them.
Could it be acrophobia?
Ren Yifei's face immediately turned pale, his hand gripping the suitcase clenched tightly, his fist trembling slightly, whether from anger or fear, it was hard to tell.
His performance pleased the boy, and Liu Jinjie slapped his thigh and laughed loudly: "He looks like a woman, and he's as brave as a woman too."
"Don't go too far," Ren Yifei said in a low voice, suppressing his anger. His voice was still a little weak, showing that he really didn't dare to go across the iron chain bridge in the dark.
"Hey, don't go too far." Liu Jinjie deliberately imitated a girl's voice, repeating the sentence. He looked at Ren Yifei's face: "Do you dare to hit me? You don't dare, you don't even dare to look down."
Judging from what he said, it means he's either afraid of the dark or afraid of heights; in short, he's timid.
"That's enough, that's enough." Seeing that Ren Yifei was really getting angry, several boys rushed over to take sides and separate them.
After being 'persuaded' to the side, Ren Yifei's expression remained unpleasant. But in reality, he was quite calm.
The original owner of this body wouldn't so obviously display his weaknesses to others, so even if those students were afraid of him, it might be fake, just an act.
So why did the original owner want these people to feel afraid of him?