This had no effect on Meng Fanzhe. He seemed oblivious to Tai Wei. He just kept staring at Fang Mu and continued to walk closer, closing the distance between them.
Tai Wei cocked the hammer of the gun. "Put the knife down now or I'll shoot."
Fang Mu nervously grabbed Tai Wei's arm. "Don't fire; he's my classmate."
Tai Wei stared at Meng Fanzhe a few seconds before easing the gun hammer. He holstered it and took a combat stance.
One after another the doors along the hallway opened. Having heard the commotion, various underwear-clad students stuck their heads out to take a look. Once they saw what was going on, however, they gave an alarmed cry and shrunk back inside their rooms, keeping their doors cracked just wide enough to observe the scene.
Du Yu also came out into the hall. After standing there helplessly for a few seconds, he grabbed a broom from inside his room and ran behind Fang Mu. Shaking with fear, he said, "Meng Fanzhe, don't do anything crazy now."
Meng Fanzhe let out another growl and then swung the knife.
Tai Wei quickly stepped forward, grabbed Meng Fanzhe's knife hand, and twisted his wrist. Despite the pain, Meng Fanzhe did not release his grip on the blade, so Tai Wei gave his knee a hard kick. At last the knife clattered to the floor. Tai Wei yanked Meng Fanzhe toward him, grabbed his collar, and tossed him forward. Meng Fanzhe smashed into the wall, falling roughly to the floor. He curled up in pain.
Tai Wei rushed forward, flipped him over, and held him down with his knees on his back. He cuffed the student's hands together.
Lying on the floor, Meng Fanzhe could do nothing but pant for breath.. Tai Wei took out his phone, dialed, and then said simply, "Dormitory Five, Room Three-Thirteen. Get here as fast as you can." He hung up and turned to Fang Mu. "What happened here? Who is this guy and why'd he want to kill you?"
Fang Mu didn't respond to the question, just stared blankly at Meng Fanzhe as he groaned and breathed heavily on the floor. Fang Mu could only think of a single word.
Why?
By this time the hallway was filled with noise. Nearly everyone who lived on the floor had run out of their rooms to see the excitement. Several yelled out in surprise: "Isn't that Meng Fanzhe?" "What's going on?"
Suddenly Fang Mu rushed forward and knelt beside Meng Fanzhe. In a loud voice, he said, "Can you hear what I'm saying? What's going on with you?"
Meng Fanzhe's eyes were closed, his breathing labored. He made no response.
Fang Mu let go of his bleeding finger, grabbed hold of Meng Fanzhe's shoulders and shook him forcefully. "Talk to me, Meng Fanzhe. What were you doing just now? Why do you want to kill me?"
Meng Fanzhe's eyes opened at once, flashing the same murderous look as before. Twisting his body, he mustered all his strength and lurched at Fang Mu, trying to bite him.
Fang Mu fell backwards onto the floor as Tai Wei stepped forward and kicked Meng Fanzhe in the face.
"Keep still!" he yelled.
Unfazed, Fang Mu crawled forward and grabbed hold of Tai Wei's leg. "Don't hurt him," he said. "Something is definitely wrong here! He's not normally like this…"
Meng Fanzhe's mouth was cut from the blow and as the blood trickled down his ashen skin, his appearance changed beyond recognition.
Fang Mu's wounded finger had also split open and the blood ran down his fingertips and onto the floor. Before long, a small pool had formed.
Seeing that Fang Mu was bleeding, Du Yu quickly grabbed his arm. "Come back to the dorm. I've got bandages."
His mind blank, Fang Mu let Du Yu pull him to the door of Room 313. When they reached the entrance, Fang Mu suddenly remembered that Meng Fanzhe had been drawing something on their door, so he pushed Du Yu off and looked closely at it.
The door appeared empty. Meng Fanzhe didn't seem to have written anything.
After sweeping his gaze across the surface, Fang Mu began inspecting the door inch by inch. Suddenly, he noticed something on the room number.
In-between the "3", the "1" and the "3", Meng Fanzhe had written two "+" signs with his felt-tip marker.
"Three plus one plus three…" muttered Fang Mu. Suddenly, he felt a chill pass through his entire body.
Seeing Fang Mu standing motionless in front of the room door, Tai Wei turned to two of the students nearby. "Watch him for me," he said, pointing at Meng Fanzhe, who was still writhing on the floor. He walked over to Fang Mu.
"What is it?" Tai Wei asked.
Fang Mu didn't respond, just stared dumbstruck at the numbers.
Tai Wei followed his gaze. A few seconds later, Fang Mu heard the cop's breathing suddenly quicken. He looked over. Tai Wei's eyes were locked on the room number, his face registering shocked realization.
By this time the other police had arrived at the scene. "What should we do, Captain?" one of them yelled to Tai Wei. "Interrogate him here or take him back to the station?"
Tai Wei just waved his hand. "All of you, get over here right now!"
Once the officers had all crowded around the door, Tai Wei pointed at the number. "Comrades," he said, his voice shaking slightly, "we got him. This is the guy!"
The police all turned to the room number. After a few seconds of silence, shouts of accomplishment suddenly erupted from the group. Filled with the rush of relief, they congratulated and jostled each other. One of the female officers even rushed through the crowd and hugged Tai Wei.
Squeezed in the middle of this madly happy group, Fang Mu was knocked to and fro. But there wasn't a hint of a smile on his face. He just stared blankly at the door number, that single word still the only thing in his mind.
Why?
"All right, all right," said Tai Wei, waving his hand for silence. In a confident tone, he yelled out: "Everyone on your marks! Let's get to work!"
After giving a brief shout of agreement, the officers all attended to their own tasks. They sealed off the crime scene, collected evidence, determined the suspect's identity. It was the typical follow-up.
Before long, all the onlookers were told to disperse, leaving only Meng Fanzhe lying on the floor and Fang Mu still standing in the doorway.
Two of the cops lifted Meng Fanzhe off the floor, and then with one man grabbing each arm, they began dragging him toward the first floor. Fang Mu tried to run after them, but he was stopped by Tai Wei.
"You need to go to the hospital," the cop said. "Your wound looks deep."
"It's fine," said Fang Mu impatiently. "I need to talk to him; something about this doesn't seem right to me."
Tai Wei seemed a little annoyed by the remark. "Anything that doesn't seem right will be cleared up once we start interrogating him. Little Zhang," he said, waving to one of the officers nearby, "take Fang Mu to the hospital."
The cop nodded and walked over. Having no other choice, Fang Mu followed him downstairs.
A number of police cars were parked at the entrance to the building, lights flashing. Fang Mu saw Meng Fanzhe sitting in one, his head down. Police officers were sitting on either side of him, holding his arms tight.
The cop who was taking Fang Mu to the hospital waved him over to a nearby police car. As Fang Mu walked toward it, he kept his eyes on Meng Fanzhe, as if he hoped to find some clue in his face. It was then that Meng Fanzhe looked up at him.
At once Meng Fanzhe leapt at the window, but now the murderous look was gone from his eyes, replaced instead by one of bottomless fear and despair. He knocked against the window as hard as he could, yelling soundlessly, tears streaming down his face.
The two cops quickly restrained him, beating him about the face and the body.
Fang Mu ran forward, wanting to open the door. But just as he reached the rear bumper, the car suddenly sped off, knocking him to the ground. By the time he climbed to his feet, the car had already turned a corner and was nowhere to be soon, leaving only the sound of its siren echoing across campus.