Ch7 - Little Sister Carries A Doll (5)

At twelve midnight when Hai Ri was dead tired, he heard the heavy sound of a door shutting along the corridor. A violent screech rang out.

The sound of a heavy object grazing the floorboards followed next. From the sound of it, the deceased was dragging a person along as she made her way out of the corridor. The sound continued for a long time, so long that Hai Ri became a little desensitized to it. 

The livestream was still as lively as before. The streamer King Kong Barbie was passionately thanking the various sisters and brothers in Northeastern Mandarin. Hai Ri even put some thought into contemplating whether he would be able to make money from being a streamer and stop doing tasks.

Finally, at 12.40am, the sound outside ceased.

This was the moment Hai Ri had been waiting for. Closing the app, he shut his eyes almost instantaneously and fell asleep.

Hai Ri woke up at 7am the next morning. Not yet fully awake, he went to the toilet to wash his face and saw that his complexion was still passable. 

Hai Ri saw the mirror in the toilet upon looking up, and was bowled over by his own handsomeness.

“Why am I so handsome?” Hai Ri couldn’t fathom this. He rubbed his face. “It’s early morning and I haven’t even washed my face.”

Hai Ri put on the clothes he wore yesterday. His nose bridge and brow ridge were tall and straight, very much like that of a mixed-race. He had very fair skin, to the extent that the blue-green veins on his lower jaw could be seen. He stood before the mirror, clothed in a neat navy kimono that reached his ankles. He really was drop dead handsome.

While brushing his teeth, he belted to the mirror drunkenly, “The most beautiful of spring winds cannot compare to your smile — how can someone who hasn’t seen it understand?”

“It doesn’t matter if this is infatuation!” Hai Ri raised his toothbrush up high, treating it as a microphone. He raised his head as he sang at the top of his lungs. All of a sudden, toothpaste got into his throat and eyes, resulting in a violent fit of coughing. Supporting himself with the basin, he sang out one more verse with great difficulty, “Or if this is predetermined fate.”

Hai Ri swayed about as he brushed his teeth drunkenly. “But none of this is important–”

A few knocks suddenly sounded on the door. Hai Ri stared blankly for a moment before moving to open the door, toothbrush in mouth. Sheng Canyang stood outside, looking at him with what looked like a smile yet not a smile.

Sheng Canyang continued, “As long as you can return to my embrace?” 

Hai Ri: …

Sheng Canyang peeked into his room. “Not done tidying up?”

“I’ll be done in a moment.”

Hai Ri went back to the toilet to rinse his mouth. Sheng Canyang was humming <Infatuation> through his nose. Even without any lyrics, it was clean, clear, and very soothing. Sheng Canyang had astonishing musical talent, just his humming could take the breath away. 

Hai Ri asked while drying his face, “You also listen to such an old song?”

Sheng Canyang stated, “I’m nineteen, not nine.”

Hai Ri laughed.

Sheng Canyang praised him, “You sing well.” 

Hai Ri replied without any modesty, “Can’t help it, Mongolians are naturally talented. I can even dance. Turn around and I’ll show you.”

“Sure,” Sheng Canyang said. “A Mongolian dance?”

Hai Ri: “I more or less know some.”

Sheng Canyang stood at the toilet door, watching Hai Ri wash up. “You didn’t go out and take a look?” 

Hai Ri: “Nope, who died?”

“Two people died yesterday,” Sheng Canyang said.

Hai Ri glanced at him. “Who?”

Sheng Canyang: “You might be shocked.” 

Hai Ri was in a bright mood, feeling like the him at this moment really did resemble a young boy. “Who? The reporter and Shan Xing?”

Sheng Canyang didn’t say anything.

Hai Ri: …

Sheng Canyang: … 

Hai Ri stared blankly. “Are you for real?”

Sheng Canyang pushed open the door and stretched out his left hand, indicating for him to go out and look. At a loss, Hai Ri walked out and saw that the doors to room 3 and room 7 were wide open. There were two streaks of blood extending all the way to the end of the corridor.

Hai Ri’s eyes widened. Shooting another glance at Sheng Canyang, he pulled him into the room abruptly and shut the door. “Tell me the truth, are you the murderer?”

Sheng Canyang laughed roguishly for a very long time, refusing to say anything. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Hai Ri asked seriously, “Tell me, are you or are you not?”

Vtfcu Jjcsjcu: “Qts rtbeiv P afii sbe?”

Ljl El kjr raeccfv. Lf ofii rlifca jii bo j revvfc.

Vtfcu Jjcsjcu rajgfv ja tlw obg j wbwfca. “Pa rtbeiv tjnf yffc sbe sfrafgvjs cluta.” 

Ljl El kjr atf wegvfgfg lc atf ijra gbecv, yea tf vlvc’a xlii jcsbcf atgbeutbea atf akb clutar.

For one, he didn’t want to kill – at that time, he didn’t know whether there were any clues fatal to him in the timelines of the other people, so he didn’t want to kill blindly. Secondly, he felt that there was no meaning in killing people in this sort of game.

It wasn’t that type of game where only one person could leave in the end. It was all right as long as he wasn’t voted out by the end of it, there was no need to insist on killing.

He hadn’t expected two people to die tonight. 

Sheng Canyang: “In a round with seven people, there will definitely be an accomplice. Each of them can kill one. Think about it – if you’re the murderer, who would you kill?”

Hai Ri: “I don’t know.”

“The people who are the least suspicious,” said Sheng Canyang. “The more suspicious the person, the more reason to leave them till the end, so that the bad ones can mix in with the honest ones and take each other out. If the good ones are left behind, they will lead the group, get a good grasp of the situation, and maybe even capture the murderer.”

Hai Ri muttered, “Sheriff.” 

Sheng Canyang gave a silent smile.

‘Sheriff flow’ in the game werewolf referred to a powerful individual leading a team. After everyone took turns to make their statement, the sheriff would conclude and lead the team to vote someone out. In this game, this sort of scenario would also appear.

Only then did Hai Ri understand why Sheng Canyang had forcibly blackened his role and insisted on pointing out areas of suspicion.

Hai Ri was the deceased’s lover. In line with conventional reasoning, it could be said to be the least suspicious role. This was known not only to the good people, but also the murderers. In order to prevent him from becoming the sheriff, they might have directly eliminated him the first night. 

The ghost’s dithering in front of his door yesterday night might have been due to the murderer’s hesitation over who to eliminate.

No matter how little Hai Ri cared, alarm inevitably coursed through his heart.

Then, tonight…

Sheng Canyang said, “Humans are very good at not learning from their mistakes. You’ll be fine as long as you don’t make yourself appear too innocent. The majority will be people who don’t know how to play. This game has evidently become a one-sided massacre. The murderers might intend to kill to the end and wait for there to be three or four people remaining before joining hands to vote someone out. It’ll be their win then.” 

It was Hai Ri’s first time hearing of such a method of play. It was indeed somewhat thrilling.

Hai Ri hesitated for a moment. “You aren’t a murderer?”

“You’re asking me like this?” Sheng Canyang was finally dumbfounded. “Ge, it’s really difficult for me to answer you.”

Hai Ri hesitated for a while before deciding not to probe any further. 

But Sheng Canyang uttered, “If I’m the murderer, there wouldn’t have been any need for me to help you yesterday. It’s not like I would kill you at night.”

Hai Ri was suddenly terribly moved by these words. Tears of emotion nearly rolled down his face.

What was this called? A child’s filial piety to its parent?

“Shan Xing was a stab in the dark,” Sheng Canyang admitted. “That girl isn’t very smart and went around provoking people. After provoking so many people in one day, there will definitely be someone who wants to get rid of her. By setting her up to take the fall, the rest will think that the murderer has beef with her. She had no choice but to die.” 

Hai Ri touched his chest. “I now feel…”

Sheng Canyang: ?

Hai Ri: “That I won a bit too easily last round.”

He hadn’t thought of all these twists and turns. Or perhaps he was capable of thinking of them, but just didn’t want to act on them. Hai Ri had treaded very carefully as the murderer in the previous game – he didn’t kill, nor did he mess with human nature. He merely allowed the good people to stir things up for two rounds, shifted the suspicion to someone else a couple of times, and that was how he won. He felt like it had been effortless. 

Sheng Canyang said, “The last time.”

He let out a laugh. “Was me sparing your life.”

Hai Ri closed the door and walked out together with him for breakfast. He casually asked, “Why didn’t you expose me?”

He’d let Sheng Canyang seize a fatal flaw in his first round, yet Sheng Canyang didn’t expose him. 

Sheng Canyang thought about it without saying anything. Hai Ri turned to look at his face, clearly intending to listen to what he had to say. At this moment, Chang Ze walked out of her room. Immediately upon stepping out, the first thing she saw was the streak of blood outside her boyfriend’s room. A startled shriek rang out the next second!

Hai Ri more or less had some sympathy for her.

Was this a case of ‘never to meet again in this life’ or ‘separated by death’?

Fu Yuan had already returned to normal society; he would then resume his life. No matter what kind of life he had, he would have to continue facing it. The challenge he issued towards life, his declaration of suicide, had failed. 

Hai Ri walked over with the intention of saying something, but Sheng Canyang directly passed by Chang Ze and into the living room.

Standing beside Chang Ze, Hai Ri didn’t know what he ought to say either.

Reclaiming life was already such a painful matter in their eyes; Hai Ri didn’t know whether he should congratulate her or express his condolences.

Hai Ri placed a hand on her shoulder, wanting to offer a few words of consolation, yet his hand was abruptly swatted away. 

Chang Ze exclaimed in fury, “Scram!”

Hai Ri took a step back and raised both hands, saying helplessly, “Okay, I was being meddlesome.”

Chang Ze’s words were emotion-laden, “Scram!”

Hai Ri: “You… forget it, sorry.” 

As someone who had committed suicide before, Hai Ri was well aware of the overwhelming darkness in the human mind prior to the act of suicide. At that time, he’d felt that any consolation was as insignificant as a feather, a blatant disregard of his suffering. Nobody had understood his pain, which was why he understood that someone in agony would not be able to accept another’s consolation.

Therefore, Hai Ri didn’t know how to comfort her. He could only take a step back, turn around, and enter the living room.

Sheng Canyang was already eating. The deceased was seated at the master’s seat, a satisfied smile on her face. Detouring around her long, long hair, Hai Ri plopped down beside Sheng Canyang.

Sheng Canyang: “You were scolded?” 

“You know?” Hai Ri asked.

Sheng Canyang: “There’s a chance she thinks you’re her boyfriend’s murderer.”

Hai Ri: “I myself almost fell into despair.”

Sheng Canyang: “You can tell her that if you want her to be happier.” 

Hai Ri laughed. Upon turning around, he saw the deceased’s gaze fixed on him. He didn’t think that it meant anything, but vaguely felt that something was not right. He carefully scrutinized the deceased. “Her hair… did it grow longer?”

Casually sweeping an eye over the deceased, Sheng Canyang sat up straight. “Seems like it.”

Hai Ri: “Why? Because she killed?”

Sheng Canyang wasn’t very sure either. His brows furrowed as his gaze settled on the deceased. 

This should be a clue.

Ping Jie’s group walked in, saying with a face full of doom, “Two died last night!”

Xue Chuan followed them in, saying with a flabbergasted look upon seeing that Hai Ri and Sheng Canyang had already come over, “Up so early? Did you sleep well?”

Ping Jie found a seat. “Who could sleep well? The fright kept me up half the night.” 

In contrast, Hai Ri felt that it was still all right.

He was just a little doubtful whether or not they would be able to vote out the murderers this round.

Now that two people had died, the timelines of these two also disappeared. So if there were any key clues in their script, there was a high chance they could no longer be identified.

Hai Ri asked, “The murderers have killed, so what should we do about those two people’s timelines?” 

Sheng Canyang said, “If there are crucial clues in their timelines, it will be provided to us in the form of evidence.”

Hai Ri: “Then wouldn’t the murderers have killed for nothing?”

“Why so?” Sheng Canyang questioned. “Evidence tests our logic, killing tests our mental state.”

Ping Jie laughed. “Big celebrity, you really get it. How long have you been playing?” 

The instant this topic was brought up, there was a shift in Sheng Canyang’s expression, taking on a slight chill.

Ping Jie continued talking to himself, “I’ve only been playing for less than a year.”

Hai Ri suddenly recalled that it had already been more than a year since Sheng Canyang’s suicide.

In this place, was he already considered the longest-staying? 

Was he very close to meeting death?

Hai Ri glanced at Sheng Canyang, who asked, “What?”

Hai Ri shook his head, lowering his head to eat.

Xue Chuan announced, “It’s been half a year since I came here, this is my fifth game.” 

It seemed like she wasn’t lacking money. Hai Ri enquired, “How many points are you short of?”

Xue Chuan: “Your question came too early, I still have a few tens of thousands to go.”

Hai Ri had heard from Liu Jie that they could reportedly submit a death request after accumulating 66,000 points. Once approved, they would be able to die. When Hai Ri first heard of this number, he didn’t feel like it was a significant amount, but now it seemed like many people had stayed a year or two at this place for the points.

Xue Chuan asked, “You?” 

Hai Ri: “Still have 60,000-plus to go.”

Everyone burst into laughter simultaneously, thinking that he was joking.

Hai Ri could still hear Chang Ze’s sobs from behind, the heartbroken feeling induced by those cries hindering Hai Ri from stomaching the food.

Yet, Xue Chuan continued asking without much change in her expression, “Are you a mixed-race?” 

“No, but my mother is Mongolian,” Hai Ri replied absent-mindedly. The thought that one of the four people in this house was most assuredly the murderer or the accomplice inevitably surfaced in his mind.

Hai Ri thought to himself that they definitely had to solve the case before the sky darkened. If another two people were to perish, the murderer would win tomorrow.

Thinking this way, time suddenly became very tight.

Sheng Canyang polished off the soup, shooting a glance at Hai Ri. “Eat something.” 

Hai Ri really didn’t have as good an appetite as him. Standing up, he uttered, “I’m going to the second floor to search for evidence.”

Xue Chuan smiled, “What’s the rush?”

Hai Ri turned around, scrutinizing her. “If another two people die tonight, only three people will be left. Out of these three, two of them are the murderers. The two murderers can directly vote the person out. If we drag it on till tomorrow, we’ll lose this round.”

Xue Chuan stared blankly for a moment. “I know, it’s not like I’m holding you back. You just haven’t eaten much, so I wanted to ask why you’re in such a rush.” 

But Hai Ri had already started to suspect her. Sometimes, intuition didn’t make much sense.

The first room Hai Ri had searched belonged to Xue Chuan, and at that time, he had already suspected her. According to reason, shouldn’t a good person be anxious when they were in a disadvantageous situation?

Chang Ze was still weeping on the floor when Hai Ri walked out, but it was a silent shedding of tears and not loud wailing.  She had very pure, pretty looks that made one think of a goddess. Hai Ri squatted and subconsciously felt around in his pockets before discovering that he no longer had any tissues after changing his clothes. Therefore, he had no choice but to say, “Whether alive or dead, you will meet again at the very end.”

Chang Ze shot him a look. “What if the one who left was your girlfriend?” 

“I don’t like women…” Hai Ri replied casually. “Forget it, if my girlfriend was the one who died, I would be as upset as you.”

Hai Ri: “I wouldn’t have any other ideas either. The person is alive, so there cannot be any ideas.”

Chang Ze: “The two of us died in the name of love, but he went back on his own now.”

Hai Ri subconsciously moved to pat her on the shoulder, but when he thought of what happened just now, he stopped himself. 

Chang Ze was at a loss.

Hai Ri: “I heard that we can go back anytime if we want to go back and live. It’s your choice.”

Chang Ze asked abruptly, “You’re not the murderer, right?”

Hai Ri: “No.” 

Chang Ze: “I’m not either.”

Hai Ri couldn’t quite keep up with her train of thought. Why were they suddenly talking about this?

Chang Ze: “There are only three other people, someone inside wants his life.”

Hai Ri felt like she had suddenly switched gears and was now starting to plot her vengeance. Standing up, he commented, “Yup, play well.” 

When Sheng Canyang walked out, he just so happened to see the two of them conversing. He was still dressed in that weird dress, but it was no longer as glaring to the eyes now that they’d gotten used to it.

Chang Ze stared at Sheng Canyang, seemingly sizing him up.

Sheng Canyang wasn’t originally paying her any heed, but when Chang Ze made her way over, her gaze was still locked on him.

“What?” Sheng Canyang said. “Want my autograph?”