Ch. 24 - Choice & Confirmation

"It's not a matter of believing or not... it's that you really... are a major... suspect," said Cade, who was standing beside Li Xiaoman, stammering slightly as he spoke.

Pang Bo immediately glared. “What the hell do you mean, yellow-haired dude? What gives you the right to say Ye Fan’s the killer?”

“No, I’m not saying that... subjectively. I’m stating... an objective fact. I didn’t say he is... the murderer. I’m just pointing out the fact... that he’s very suspicious,” Cade replied earnestly and stiffly, analyzing the situation with seriousness. “What Liu Yunzhi said... makes sense. Ye Fan had conflict with the deceased, he had a motive... for murder. And, he was... very close, meaning he had the opportunity... to act.”

Although Cade spoke haltingly, everyone understood what he meant. Just like many straightforward Westerners, he was speaking strictly based on facts.

“Blondie, you really don’t understand human emotions. Something so obvious, and you talk like you’re proving a math theorem. So rigid!”

“What’s... a blondie?” Cade asked, confused. “I heard you say... that many times. What... does it mean?”

“You’re the blondie. Too stubborn. I’m not wasting my breath on you.” Pang Bo scowled and ignored him, then turned to Li Xiaoman and asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything? You should know Ye Fan better than anyone.”

Li Xiaoman stood tall and elegant. Under the faint light of a phone, she looked like a graceful lotus blooming in the darkness. Her expression was calm and composed. She gently said, “In my heart, I don’t believe Ye Fan is the murderer. But right now, he does look very suspicious…”

“Li Xiaoman!” Pang Bo was furious and bit her name out harshly, cutting her off. “I can’t believe you just said that. Anyone else doubting him is one thing, but not you! Don’t you know Ye Fan? Even if you two broke up, you don’t have to be so heartless. Are you trying to pour salt in his wounds?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just stating facts.” Li Xiaoman remained calm, her beautiful face pale and flawless. She frowned slightly and continued, “I’m not targeting anyone. I’m just saying, whoever dares to kill, dares to do anything. We’re all in danger now. I want to stay objective, not act on emotion. Fact is, Ye Fan is highly suspicious, and others here may be suspects too.”

Pang Bo sneered. “So in the end, Ye Fan’s still your prime suspect. If you don’t believe in him, why say so much?” He turned his head with a heavy sigh. “I really misjudged you. Back in the day, once you made a decision, no one could change your mind. We thought that was decisiveness. Now I see, it’s just coldness.”

Just then, a timid and quiet voice said, “I… I believe Ye Fan. I believe… he’s not the killer.”

It was the female classmate who had fallen on hard times. She was frail, nervous, and avoided eye contact as she stepped forward, clearly uneasy.

She had once been a cheerful and sunny girl, but recent hardships had drained her confidence. Now she struggled to even speak in front of others.

This was why Ye Fan had felt so much sympathy for her during the class reunion.

Both Pang Bo and Ye Fan felt a deep sense of pity for this classmate. Back in school, she hadn’t been like this at all, she often joked around with the two of them, and their bond had always been close. Being around her used to bring joy.

“Thank you, Liu Yiyi,” Ye Fan said with a warm smile, nodding to her.

“You don’t have to thank me. I believe you wouldn’t kill anyone…” Her voice was soft and gentle, making people feel sympathetic.

“If not him, then who?” Li Changqing shouted, clearly agitated. “Aside from Ye Fan, who else had a motive? He’s taking revenge!”

The female student next to Liu Yunzhi chimed in again. “Ye Fan, how could you be so cruel? That was a classmate you knew for four years!”

“I’ll say it again, I didn’t kill anyone,” Ye Fan said calmly, without a trace of panic. “You can suspect me, but until the truth is clear, don’t throw dirt on me.”

“The facts are obvious. You were lying next to him, closest by far. No one else could have gotten past you and killed him without being seen. You’re the only one with a motive!”

Pang Bo had a short fuse and hated being wronged. He snapped, “Can you be reasonable? There’s no conclusion yet, and you’re already dumping blame. I really don’t get it. You claimed you’d never speak to Liu Yunzhi again after graduation, he dumped you like trash and you hated him. Now you’re all over him, banging the drums for him?”

“You… that’s a vicious personal attack!” the female student turned ghostly pale and trembled with rage, pointing a shaking finger at Pang Bo.

“Attack? Yeah, it’s an attack,” Pang Bo said sarcastically. “I’m using poison to fight poison. Talk sense to humans, throw spit at toads.”

“You…” she was trembling so hard she couldn’t get the words out.

Liu Yunzhi’s expression darkened. “Enough, Pang Bo. Are you even a man? Is this how you argue?” The vajra scepter in his hand shimmered faintly with divine light, making its threat all the more obvious in the dark. If a fight broke out, no one could stop it.

Pang Bo’s face also darkened. “The killer isn’t Ye Fan. You’re just stirring up drama. I’m giving you a taste of your own medicine.”

Ye Fan’s gaze swept across Li Xiaoman and then toward the others. Three more classmates stepped forward and said, “We believe Ye Fan didn’t do it.”

Including Liu Yiyi, Zhang Ziling, and Pang Bo, that made six supporters. With Ye Fan himself, there were now seven. Out of the sixteen survivors, nearly half supported him.

Lin Jia, stunningly beautiful with her curvaceous figure and alluring phoenix eyes, even in this tense moment, exuded a seductive charm. Her voice was calm, but still carried a certain allure.

“I also don’t think it was Ye Fan. We know his character. He’s not cruel. He never picks fights over small things…”

Li Changqing cut her off angrily. “If not him, then who? Which of us here would commit murder? Who’d even think about it?”

Pang Bo exploded. “Li Changqing, you’re a real piece of work. Can you be any more shameless? You’re just making stuff up. I should smack your lying face with this plaque, how dare you say something so stupid?”

“I’m done talking to you!” Li Changqing turned away, still bruised and battered from when Pang Bo beat him up on the altar earlier.

“I believe in Ye Fan too,” said Wang Ziwen, stepping forward. “He’s not that kind of person, he’d never do something so vicious.”

Zhou Yi, who had remained neutral up to this point, finally made his choice. He looked at the glowing vajra scepter in Liu Yunzhi’s hand, then at the calm and composed Ye Fan. “We can’t jump to conclusions. I believe Ye Fan wouldn’t kill a classmate.”

At this moment, the majority stood with Ye Fan. He knew some truly believed him, while others were watching his confidence in the face of Liu Yunzhi’s divine weapon and assumed he must have a hidden card, so they sided with him out of calculated self-interest.

“If it wasn’t Ye Fan, then who? Are you saying the killer is someone else among us?” Liu Yunzhi’s face was cold as he looked at Ye Fan, then at Pang Bo.

“Drop the attitude,” Pang Bo scoffed. “You think waving your glowing stick makes people afraid of you? I’ll smash your face with this dull plaque just the same!”

Liu Yunzhi’s expression turned even gloomier. He gripped his vajra scepter tighter and stepped forward three times!

Ye Fan grabbed Pang Bo to stop him and then addressed everyone seriously and solemnly: “I can tell you right now, the killer isn’t among us.”

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