The clues obtained by Chu Shiyu and the others were all aimed at Tao Bai.
“Zhou Jingyun, do you have any additional evidence to add?”
Zhou Jingyun shook his head. “No.”
“Then it’s time for Tao Bai and Jingjing to speak.”
Tao Bai said, “Jingjing and I went to the beauty salon and found that the deceased, Tan Wanqi, was a VIP member there. How could Jingjing, as a staff member, not know the deceased?”
“Moreover, we found a phone among Jingjing’s personal belongings. The chat content shows that Jingjing owed more than a hundred thousand in loans and was on the verge of being unable to repay it, almost at her wits’ end.”
“However, according to the spending records of the deceased, Tan Wanqi spent a total of 120,000 at the salon in July, and in August, she spent 70,000 in just eleven days.”
He Jingjing added, “I’ll add one more thing. At the beginning of August, while Tan Wanqi was undergoing a treatment at the beauty salon, a staff member made a mistake that nearly disfigured her. To compensate her, the salon gave her a four-figure handbag and also offered her a 40% discount on all beauty treatments.”
Tao Bai nodded. “We found out that the staff member who made the mistake was He Jingjing.”
“But none of this directly proves that she killed the deceased, so I’ll reserve my judgment for now.”
He Jingjing then said, “After listening to Shiyu’s description, I now suspect Tao Bai.”
“Hu Shuo, Jingjing, it’s your turn.”
Hu Shuo said, “We investigated the area near the trash bin, and we found spilled coffee there. There were lipstick marks on the straw, indicating that the deceased, Tan Wanqi, had bought two cups of coffee, one for the front desk of the ballet studio, and the other was presumably for herself.”
He Jingjing continued, “This means that Tan Wanqi probably didn’t know there was someone she recognized in the mall, namely Tao Bai.”
“We don’t yet know the exact cause of their argument, but based on Shiyu’s information, Tao Bai entered Xili Mall at 4 PM and had been wandering on the seventh floor ever since. The most likely scenario is that Tao Bai knew Tan Wanqi would be at the studio that day, but for some reason, he couldn’t contact her, or Tan Wanqi refused to meet him. So when they ran into each other near the trash bin, they had an intense argument.”
“Additionally, we found more information near the trash bin.” He Jingjing took out a torn photograph. “Zhou Jingyun was seen being intimate with the deceased, sharing a cup of coffee.”
In the photo, taken at a coffee shop, Zhou Jingyun and Tan Wanqi sat at a table with only one coffee cup between them, two straws sticking out.
“Take a look at the background. The bar counter shows another figure, who represents Chu Shiyu, a staff member of the coffee shop.”
“Behind the bar, there’s a calendar showing the date as August 12. Chu Shiyu was still at work then. The photo was taken before 5:30 PM. We suspect that until today, Zhou Jingyun and Tan Wanqi were in a relationship.”
“So, both Zhou Jingyun and Chu Shiyu knew or had seen the deceased, but they lied and claimed to be the couple instead.”
“Who do you suspect?”
“My and Jingjing’s suspect is Zhou Jingyun and Chu Shiyu.”
“Okay, now it’s Junyue and the others’ turn.”
Xu Junyue said, “Let me go first. I searched the death scene.”
“After Tan Wanqi entered the dressing room, she didn’t have time to change clothes before being killed. I didn’t find any ballet clothes among her personal belongings, which means she didn’t come to the studio to practice ballet. She might have lost something, or it could have been because of an appointment with Tao Bai.”
“However, based on the previous clues, the second possibility seems unlikely. But why did she return to the ballet studio at 8 PM after drinking coffee with her boyfriend before 5:30 PM? And since Tan Wanqi didn’t intend to practice ballet that day, how could Tao Bai, who had been waiting at the mall all afternoon, know she would return to the studio?”
“My guess is that someone in the mall helped Tao Bai trick Tan Wanqi into coming to the studio. First, let’s rule me out. The most likely people at the scene are the beauty salon staff, He Jingjing, and the security guard, Hu Shuo.”
“I suspect Hu Shuo for a simple reason: he saw the argument between Tao Bai and Tan Wanqi. To add to that, since Tao Bai had been waiting at the mall from 4 PM, it’s clear he didn’t know when Tan Wanqi would reach the studio. If it was He Jingjing, she would have had the opportunity to ask about the time through work. So, I suspect He Jingjing and Hu Shuo.”
“Okay, Tong Yang, do you have anything to say?”
[Finally, it’s my turn!]
[After hearing their statements, I’m now a bit suspicious of the young lady and Zhou.]
[Same here.]
[But I also think He Jingjing is quite suspicious. Her work mistake would definitely result in a salary deduction, and since she’s so deep in debt, maybe she’s holding a grudge against Tan Wanqi.]
[That makes sense!]
Tong Yang had a notebook in front of her, one she had taken from the ballet studio, her long fingers idly spinning a black pen. She said, “I searched the area at the ballet studio’s front desk.”
Tong Yang turned her gaze toward Xu Junyue. “Xu Junyue, you must have some kind of conflict with the deceased, and we can’t ignore the possibility that you might have been involved in bringing her to the studio.”
“There’s a label on the computer that specifies the requirement for all students to leave before the door can be closed. The chat logs also show that students often only start taking a shower at 10 PM, which delays your clock-out time. Additionally, you were fined 2,000 yuan for losing a customer’s item at the front desk, and when we piece it together with the evidence from Jingjing, the beauty salon’s compensation to the deceased was a four-figure handbag. The item you lost was exactly worth 2,000 yuan, meaning, besides Jingjing, you’ve also had your salary deducted because of Tan Wanqi.”
“You said you weren’t familiar with her, just greeted her, but why would she go out of her way to buy coffee for you after she had already gone to the seventh floor of the mall, possibly even having gone to the studio? Not long ago, she was with her boyfriend drinking coffee. If she needed to leave, she would have bought the coffee beforehand. There was no need to go into the mall and then turn back. I suspect, she did it to please you because she’s the student who always delays your clock-out time.”
Tong Yang poked a few marks on her notebook. “But even if she delayed your clock-out time, that’s part of your job. Why would she specifically turn back to buy you coffee? Even if she wanted to make it up to you, she could have easily bought something else nearby.”
“I originally thought maybe you helped Tao Bai trick the deceased into the studio, but since you brought this up yourself, it doesn’t seem like something a murderer would do.”
“That’s just my thought, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I suspect Xu Junyue.”
[Although Xu Junyue and Tan Wanqi had conflicts, I don’t think it’s enough reason to kill her.]
[That’s right, there’s no motive for murder.]
[The biggest suspects are still Tao Bai, the young lady, and Zhou.]
[Anyway, we still have another round of evidence collection.]
[I feel like everyone’s overlooking something. Xu Junyue, as the receptionist, can’t leave while working. She didn’t have time to kill, but the killer must have entered the studio beforehand.]
“Okay! Everyone has shared their findings, now we can start the discussion.”
“I still want to ask Tao Bai, what exactly is your relationship with the deceased, Tan Wanqi?”
Tao Bai replied, “She really is my girlfriend.”
“You’re a beast! She’s so young!”
Tong Yang added, “I saw her details at the studio. She’s only sixteen.”
Tao Bai looked helpless. “I met her online. We’ve been talking for over two years. I’ve spent over a million on her. She told me she was already an adult, and from her photos, you couldn’t tell her age. I also topped up her beauty card.”
“Are you sure you weren’t tricked? I just thought it was strange. She’s a young girl in her teenage years. At sixteen, spending tens of thousands a month on beauty treatments? That’s unbelievable.”
Tao Bai pursed his lips. “We had an appointment to meet nearby today and then go see our parents, but I waited all morning and didn’t see her. So I found Xili Mall’s seventh floor using the beauty salon’s address. Jingjing told me there was no appointment for her today, and I couldn’t reach her, so I had no choice but to pay Jingjing to help me trick her into coming to the mall.”
“That makes sense. So after meeting, you had an argument, got mad, and killed her?”
Tao Bai bitterly smiled and shook his head. “No, when I saw her, I thought she was lying to me, so we argued. But she claimed she didn’t know me, and her age and voice didn’t match my girlfriend’s, so I knew that I’d most likely been tricked by my girlfriend, and she had used Tan Wanqi’s photo.”
“If I wanted to kill someone, it should have been my girlfriend, not the innocent Tan Wanqi.”
He Jingjing asked in confusion, “But the beauty card you topped up was really in her name.”
He Jingjing added, “It wasn’t her. I really haven’t met the deceased. Someone else used Tan Wanqi’s beauty card to make purchases.”
“Since she was able to use Tan Wanqi’s name to register the beauty card, she must know her, or maybe she’s a relative.”
Tao Bai nodded. “But I didn’t know that. After I argued with Tan Wanqi, I went to a men’s clothing store to change clothes. During that time, I made several calls to my girlfriend, who wanted to break up with me, and that’s when the store sales assistant overheard the threatening call.”
Tong Yang said, “The wound on Tan Wanqi’s abdomen—Tao Bai had just had an argument with her. If he was the murderer, she would have been cautious around him, and she would have struggled before he could hurt her. But there are no signs of a struggle on her. The killer must have been someone she knew and didn’t feel threatened by.”
[With He Jingjing’s testimony, Tao Bai’s suspicion can basically be cleared.]
[Could the killer be Zhou Jingyun? Her boyfriend?]
[I think it’s very possible.]
Tong Yang fell into deep thought. If the beauty salon purchases weren’t really made by Tan Wanqi, then what was the item worth 2,000 yuan that went missing at the studio?
“Xu Junyue, you should still remember which customer lost something, right?” Tong Yang asked.
Xu Junyue nodded. “Tan Wanqi’s cousin? When Tan Wanqi practiced ballet, her cousin was across the street getting a beauty treatment, and they went home together. That day, her cousin seemed to have something urgent to attend to, so she left the bag at the studio.”
“What were you doing at the time?”
“Tan Wanqi asked me to help bring something in, so I left the front desk for about a minute.”
“Whoa! Could it be that Tan Wanqi and her cousin were scheming together?”
“That’s not impossible.”
“So, Junyue also has suspicion.”
“Xu Junyue seems to be the biggest suspect.” Tong Yang drew several lines on the paper, connecting the timeline. “If you didn’t see the killer, then you must be the killer.”
Xu Junyue frowned. “Because it was evening, and no one else was in the studio, it must have been just Tan Wanqi.”
“Tong Yang is right, you’re the biggest suspect, because aside from Tan Wanqi, you’re the only one there.”
“You better recall carefully, were you always at the front desk, not seeing anyone else enter besides Tan Wanqi, or did you leave at some point?”
Xu Junyue said, “I never left the front desk. I didn’t kill Tan Wanqi.”
“Are you sure only Tan Wanqi was in the studio?”
“Yes, other students left by 6 PM.”
“Could it be that some students didn’t leave after class?”
“No, at that time, Tan Wanqi was the only one in the studio. Aside from her, I didn’t ‘see’ anyone else enter.”
“Alright, got it.” Tong Yang nodded. “Anyway, there’s still a second round of evidence collection. Let’s continue.”
“I want to ask Shiyu and Zhou Jingyun, what exactly is your relationship, and why did you lie?”
Chu Shiyu looked at the others and said, “Zhou Jingyun and I are not a couple.”
“Then what is your relationship?”
“He’s my half-brother.”
Zhou Jingyun nodded. “That’s right.”
“Why lie? And why tear up the photo?”
Zhou Jingyun said, “I had an argument with Tan Wanqi at the coffee shop. She spent money recklessly, and her living allowance from her family wasn’t enough, so I was the one giving her pocket money. Today she asked me for 5,000 to buy something, but I couldn’t provide that much at the moment, and I wanted her to wait a few days. She flipped out and broke up with me.”
“Then what happened? What did you do between 5:30 PM and 8 PM?”
Zhou Jingyun sighed. “I had bought movie tickets to take her to watch a film, but in her anger, she said she wanted to break up with me. I love her so much. How could she break up with me over 5,000 yuan? I’ve spent over 200,000 on her in half a year…”
Chu Shiyu added, “We’re a blended family, and we’re not rich. I have to work part-time to pay for my university expenses. My brother has spent over 200,000 on her in just six months. You can imagine what that means for our family. If they stayed together, I could consider that money spent on my future sister-in-law, but she broke up with him just because my brother couldn’t give her 5,000 yuan right away.”
“If she broke up with my brother just because he didn’t give her pocket money, doesn’t that mean she was treating my brother like a fool?”
Hu Shuo asked, “So, you two teamed up to kill her? To avoid suspicion, you pretended to be a couple and tore up the photo of Zhou Jingyun and her?”
Chu Shiyu nodded. “That’s right. At first, we planned it like that. But if we killed her, we wouldn’t get anything. I just wanted her to pay back the money, at least half of it, but she refused to give us a single cent! So, we bought some items for kidnapping, planning to ask her parents for the money.”
“We only wanted to get the money back. We never intended to kill her. If she died, we wouldn’t get anything, and we’d end up in prison.”
“So, you were on the seventh floor of Xili Mall not because of the movie that started at 8:40 PM, but to kidnap Tan Wanqi?”
“Yes.”
“How were you sure Tan Wanqi would go to the ballet studio?”
Zhou Jingyun said, “She told me she had left something in the mall and would go pick it up after dinner.”
Upon hearing this, everyone turned their eyes to Xu Junyue.
“You contacted her?”
Xu Junyue shook her head. “No, I don’t remember anything like that.”
“I remember now!” He Jingjing exclaimed, “I saw Tan Wanqi on the seventh floor. She passed by me, looking very upset. I think she said, ‘It’s clearly not my stuff, why are they calling me about it?’”
“Her cousin?!”
“The person they really wanted to contact wasn’t Tan Wanqi, but her cousin!”
“But the only people connected to her cousin here are Tao Bai and He Jingjing!”
“So, the murderer must be one of them?”
“Which means the coffee was originally meant for He Jingjing!”
Tong Yang reminded, “Not necessarily. After all, she was killed in the studio, so we can’t rule out Tao Bai’s suspicion.”
[Ah! I need to use my brain more! This is so complicated.]
[So, the motive for murder could be her cousin for Tao Bai and He Jingjing, while Xu Junyue, the young lady, and that guy have conflicts with her. As for the security guard, Hu Shuo, and bystander He Jingjing, the possibility of them being the killers seems low.]
[Thanks for the summary, I’m feeling dizzy from all this information.]
“Anyway, the relationships and conflicts seem mostly sorted out. We just need to wait for the second round of evidence collection.”
“Ding dong—”
At that moment, a voice suddenly came through the loudspeaker.
“Time: 9 PM. Progress: First round of discussion has ended.”
“Players, please do not leave your seats.”
With a “boom,” the lights in the rest area suddenly went out, plunging the surroundings into complete darkness.
Everyone, including Tong Yang, was stunned by the sudden pitch-blackness.
“What does this mean?”
“What’s happening?”
“Shit!”
[Huh???]
[What? What’s going on?]
[Oh my god, I can feel chills on my back even through my headphones!]
[Was that the sound of the lights being turned off?]
“Please choose your suspect for the first round.”
A woman’s voice came through the loudspeaker, hauntingly.
“How do we choose?”
“What’s going on?”
“Didn’t they give us any hint on how to choose?”
Tong Yang clenched the pen in her hand and said, “Maybe… we’re not supposed to choose.”
“What?”
[What??]
“Wait, what?”
[Wait?!!]
“Who else could it be besides us? Aren’t there only eight of us players here?”
[Who else could it be besides you? Aren’t there only you guys?!!]
“There’s someone behind you!”
“What?! You too?!”
“Don’t move!”
As they saw shadows floating in the darkness, Tong Yang straightened up and reminded everyone.
[Ahhh, help! Don’t do this to me! I’m getting goosebumps all over!]
[Thanks, I’ll never play a murder mystery game again.]
[If I ever play a murder mystery game again, I’ll be a dog!]
[This is it! Even through the screen, I’m terrified!]
[Thank god there’s no video on, otherwise, a random university student might drop dead from fear.]
[Although I’m scared, I also want to see what the hell this thing is!]
“Shit…”
“I’m never playing again!”
Even in the pitch-black darkness, they could still see many blurred figures moving toward them.
They couldn’t hear any breathing, but the sounds of footsteps were getting clearer and clearer, like waves constantly approaching from the sea. Every cell in their bodies could feel the presence of those figures, and the cold air seemed to envelop them, creating an impenetrable circle around them.
Until, they could clearly feel it: something was standing behind them, less than half a meter away, and it was unclear whether it was human or a ghost.
In such complete darkness, they couldn’t even see each other’s faces, but they all lowered their heads, not daring to shift their gaze even an inch, afraid of seeing something they didn’t want to.
“Please make your selection.”
Despite the safety lights far away in the hallway, it was still difficult to make out the surroundings in this completely enclosed space.
Tong Yang tightly gripped the pen, hearing movement to her right, and immediately reached out to stop it.
“Don’t make any sudden moves,” Tong Yang whispered.
Xu Junyue was holding a butterfly knife with its blade out, almost stabbing the thing behind her.
“Damn it, playing tricks like this, I’ll kill it!”
Tong Yang raised her voice, “Follow the game rules first.”
But besides that, Tong Yang had another concern.
Although she knew they had entered a parallel world, and most of the “people” here were likely from the parallel world, such a large place would certainly involve NPCs. Every store they entered had NPCs, which was the best proof.
If everyone here was from the parallel world, Xu Junyue could just kill anyone, and they could think of another plan. But what if they mistakenly kill someone from the real world?
Tong Yang didn’t want to be involved in the bloodshed of any ordinary people.
Even if only one person among the ten they killed came from the real world, she couldn’t allow that.
Moreover, the current situation definitely wasn’t suitable for directly confronting them.
The figures behind them slowly moved, weaving through the eight of them.
The others held their breath, trembling in fear, almost wanting to cover their ears.
Tong Yang, however, kept her head up, looking at each shadow behind them, carefully distinguishing their features. Perhaps her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, as she began to make out some details.
[Tong Jie? Are you all okay?]
[I really can’t stand this game, why can’t it just follow the rules?]
[If the people you suspect aren’t you, then what’s the point of gathering evidence and understanding what happened?]
Tong Yang didn’t answer.
There were actually only about twelve figures surrounding them in the rest area.
From their builds, some were men, others were women.
They kept moving around the table, looking for their suspected targets. Throughout the entire time, only Tong Yang didn’t have anyone behind her.
“Please confirm your selection.”
The shadows stopped moving, standing behind the others like statues.
“Player 1, two votes.”
“Player 2, two votes.”
“Player 3, five votes.”
“Player 4, no votes.”
“Player 5, one vote.”
“Player 6, two votes.”
“Player 7, no votes.”
“Player 8, no votes.”
“The suspect with the most votes in the first round is Player 3. Please have Player 3 leave their seat.”
“What?”
“Why do they need to leave?”
“Tao Bai?”
Amid the panicked voices, a chair scraping across the floor could be heard.
Everyone instinctively held their breath, feeling the presence of those things slowly leaving.
The shadow surrounding them had disappeared, and the spot where Tao Bai had been sitting was now empty.
“What is going on…”
“Where are they taking Tao Bai? Will he be okay?”
“What should we do now…”
“This is so terrifying.”
Their voices were choked with emotion, clearly shaken by the unexpected situation.
“The game will continue in five minutes.”
“Continue your ass! We’re not playing anymore!”
“Where the hell are you taking Tao Bai?”
“What should we do now?”
“Who the hell suggested we play a murder mystery? Now look what’s happened!”
“Such an immersive experience…”
“Alright,” Tong Yang interrupted impatiently, “What’s the use of saying this now? Did anyone force you to come here?”
Chu Shiyu said, “Everyone, don’t panic. The game isn’t over yet, which means we haven’t found the real killer. Tao Bai should just have been taken away, and he’s not in any danger.”
He Jingjing thought for a moment and said, “Even if Tao Bai is fine right now, what happens after we find the real killer? What will happen when the real killer is taken away?”
Hu Shuo hugged his head in distress. “What should we do? I really… I’m sorry. I didn’t know this would happen. I shouldn’t have brought everyone here.”
Xu Junyue said, “Tong Yang’s right, it’s not your fault. We chose to come with you, and none of us knew what would happen.”
Hearing this, Tong Yang paused for a moment.
Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu had come with them because Tong Yang suspected someone among them had been replaced by a parallel world entity. First, she wanted to expose that person, and second, she knew she couldn’t avoid it and would have to participate in getting rid of that person to prevent future trouble.
But what about Xu Junyue?
She and Tong Yang had both experienced the parallel world. After Tong Yang warned her that there might be danger, she didn’t try to stop anyone. Instead, she repeatedly tried to pull Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu in.
Did she have another purpose?
Five minutes passed, and the lights in the distance lit up again.
“Please proceed to the lit area to search for evidence.”
Using the light from a distance, they saw that Tao Bai’s seat was indeed completely empty.
“The search area has narrowed. Everyone, choose on your own.”
Tong Yang decided to continue to the ballet studio to search for clues, while Xu Junyue, Hu Shuo, and others went to other places.
Arriving at the front desk of the studio, Tong Yang started looking for anything she might have missed.
Looking at the neatly arranged items on the table, a thought suddenly struck her—where was the coffee?
Tan Wanqi had given one of the cups of coffee to Xu Junyue, but in the short few minutes between when she entered the dressing room, Xu Junyue couldn’t have possibly finished the coffee. Even if she did, where was the plastic cup?
Tong Yang carefully searched the counter but found no coffee cup, and the trash bin was empty too.
The coffee was gone.
Tong Yang’s thought process wasn’t wrong. Up until the first round of discussions, Xu Junyue had been lying. She either had seen the murderer, or she was the murderer herself.
Maybe Tan Wanqi hadn’t given her the coffee at all. Perhaps Xu Junyue had lied to make herself look less suspicious of killing her. Alternatively, after Tan Wanqi gave her the coffee, someone else arrived at the studio, and Xu Junyue handed the coffee to them.
If that was the case, the murderer was between Xu Junyue and the person who entered the studio later.
Xu Junyue didn’t get along well with Tan Wanqi. She resented her cousin for causing a 2,000 yuan salary deduction and also hated Tan Wanqi for delaying her clock-out time by taking long showers after work.
“Tong Yang, come over here!”
Xu Junyue suddenly called out from outside the door.
Tong Yang straightened up. After all, everything was just speculation. She walked toward the studio door, where Xu Junyue was standing, holding a black handbag.
“What is it?”
Xu Junyue gave her a strange look and said, “I found this in He Jingjing’s private locker at the beauty salon.”
“So?”
“This is the item that Tan Wanqi’s cousin left at the front desk and later lost.”
Tong Yang frowned. “Open it.”
“Go inside first.”
The two of them returned to the studio’s counter. Xu Junyue unlocked the bag, revealing several items inside.
After clearing out the unnecessary things, they finally found a few perfectly sealed photographs.
“He Jingjing and Tan Wanqi?” Xu Junyue exclaimed.
In the photo, Tan Wanqi was standing next to someone who looked exactly like He Jingjing.
Unlike the other photos, where the identity of the person was just implied, this one clearly showed someone who looked identical to He Jingjing.
“Do they know each other?”
Tong Yang shook her head. “I’m afraid it’s more than just that. Haven’t you met Tan Wanqi’s cousin? What does she look like?”
Xu Junyue shook her head. “She always wears sunglasses and a hat when she comes, so I couldn’t see her face clearly.”
“Why would Tan Wanqi’s cousin’s bag have a photo of He Jingjing and Tan Wanqi together?”
Xu Junyue thought for a moment. “Maybe all three of them know each other?”
“Maybe she’s the one,” Tong Yang said.
“By the way, Tan Wanqi gave you the coffee?” Tong Yang casually asked.
“No,” Xu Junyue responded without suspicion, continuing to dig through the bag. “Don’t ask me why I lied. Ask the plot—it’s necessary.”
“Got it.”
“She made me work overtime, she made me lose my salary, so I wouldn’t drink anything from her.”
“Then who did she give the coffee to?”
“The cleaning lady?”
“Why?”
“Don’t you think the cleaning lady smells like coffee all the time?”
Xu Junyue wrinkled her nose, her sense of smell more sensitive than others.
Tong Yang suddenly froze. If Xu Junyue hadn’t lied from the beginning, the only person who had entered the dressing room between Tan Wanqi’s entrance and their discovery of her body was the cleaning lady.
While they had been sorting through the timeline and evidence, they had completely overlooked the person who found the body.
“After we came in, there was no rule saying the murderer was one of the eight of us, right?” Tong Yang said.
“Yeah,” Xu Junyue nodded.
“After the first round of discussions, the person we chose to suspect wasn’t one of us, but those unknown things. Doesn’t that mean the murderer might not be one of us either?”
“What do you mean?” Xu Junyue asked suspiciously.
Tong Yang’s face grew darker. The unexpected person in the selection of suspects—why couldn’t the murderer also be someone unexpected?
Tong Yang turned and walked into the door leading to the dressing room next to the counter. She saw a wet mop and a dirty water bucket leaning against the hallway wall.
The water from the mop slowly trickled along the cracks in the floor tiles, flowing deeper into the corridor. The overhead light was dim, and the water appeared somewhat murky.
Under such light, it looked like ordinary dirty water.
“There’s coffee,” Tong Yang dipped her fingertip into the water and brought it to her nose.
“Coffee? What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Let’s go, let’s go back,” Tong Yang shook her head.
After the second round of evidence collection, the seven of them returned to the rest area.
After the incident where Tao Bai was taken away, everyone looked much paler.
“Let’s talk about what everyone found,” Chu Shiyu frowned and said, “In the second round, there was no new evidence. Everything we found just supports the guesses we discussed last time.”
“Tao Bai’s girlfriend is Tan Wanqi’s cousin. Even though he had an argument with Tan Wanqi, his target was always her cousin. After the argument, he went to a men’s clothing store. We found his phone, and the communication records show that he was calling his cousin the whole time during the crime, so there was no time for him to commit the murder.”
The rest of them gave similar statements, all of them confirming the information from the previous round.
Tong Yang said, “Since that’s the case, let’s directly share the information you have.”
“He Jingjing, do you know Tan Wanqi?” Tong Yang stared at her intently.
He Jingjing froze for a moment. “What?”
Xu Junyue said, “We found Tan Wanqi’s cousin’s bag in your private locker, and inside it was a photo of you and Tan Wanqi.”
Tong Yang said, “This is the bag Tan Wanqi’s cousin lost at the ballet studio.”
“I…” He Jingjing hesitated.
“Just say it.”
“I don’t know, the person in the photo isn’t me.”
“What do you mean? What are you saying…”
“He Jingjing, is the person in the photo you?” Tong Yang looked toward her twin sister.
He Jingjing nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”
“Got it.”
[The clues are so confusing.]
[I agree, there’s no logic to any of this.]
[Looking at the results from the last round, He Jingjing is the only one not suspected.]
[He Jingjing is the ordinary person who just passed by, right?]
“You and Tan Wanqi, what’s your relationship?”
He Jingjing glanced at everyone and said, “Actually, I’m her cousin.”
“Ah??”
“You’re her cousin?”
“But…”
Tong Yang looked at the photo of He Jingjing and Tan Wanqi together and said, “You really just came to the eighth floor to watch the 8:40 PM movie?”
He Jingjing replied, “No, I didn’t even buy a movie ticket. I knew Tan Wanqi would be here, and I received a threatening call from Tao Bai. I was worried he might harm Tan Wanqi, so I came to check things out.”
“After seeing Tan Wanqi’s body, I was afraid that Tao Bai was the one who killed her, so I kept avoiding admitting my identity.”
“Did Tan Wanqi know you were here?”
He Jingjing replied, “She knew…”
“Actually, I didn’t meet her at the elevator. She didn’t turn back to buy coffee. I asked her to buy it before she came in. One of the cups wasn’t for Xu Junyue, it was for me.”
“When I saw Tao Bai after getting off the elevator, I made an excuse to send her up first.”
“Later, Tao Bai kept calling me to threaten me. I was worried Tan Wanqi might be in danger, and since I thought Tao Bai wouldn’t recognize me, I went up to the seventh floor.”
“If the murderer isn’t Tao Bai, then who could it be?”
Tong Yang fell into silence. If He Jingjing was indeed Tan Wanqi’s cousin, and He Jingjing had been to the beauty salon, why hadn’t she mentioned it in the previous round?
[Yeah, the evidence found in the second round didn’t have any decisive impact.]
[I feel like there are many loose ends in the story.]
“The story still lacks one person.”
“What?”
“One more?”
Tong Yang pointed at herself. “I didn’t receive an identity, so there’s a gap in the storyline.”
“The janitor’s mop in the studio had coffee stains. She likely cleaned up the spilled coffee by the trash bin before heading to the studio. Because some key information is missing, the story can’t connect properly, and I couldn’t search areas related to me for evidence.”
“The security guard and Chu Shiyu’s siblings also have unresolved issues because the storyline is incomplete.”
“In my storyline, there are connections to other plots, but without that person, the information just can’t connect.”
“So what should we do? Can we piece the information together?”
“Hard.”
“Why didn’t Tong Yang get an identity?”
“I’m not sure,” Tong Yang shook her head. “Since I didn’t get an identity, the plot can’t proceed. Without direct evidence, we can’t conclusively say who the murderer is, but Tan Wanqi is still dead.”
“From the information we know, the only person who could have killed Tan Wanqi is the janitor. But we’ve subconsciously ruled her out as a suspect.”
“After Tan Wanqi entered the dressing room, the only person who entered after her was the janitor.”
[Huh??]
[Was it really that simple? Did we overcomplicate things from the start?]
[Mainly because we thought the killer was among the players.]
[But the information has stopped here. Without that one person’s identity, the information provided becomes sparse.]
[Could there be a clue at the 7-20 toy store?]
[What happened at 7-20 has nothing to do with Tan Wanqi.]
[So where did Tao Bai go?]
“The first round of choosing suspects wasn’t us, so it’s very possible the killer is outside of our group.”
“Then the killer can only be the janitor.”
“This is so weird. Why didn’t Tong Yang get an identity?”
“Tong Jie, what exactly happened at 7-20?”
Tong Yang said, “7-20 is about a mother who miscarried, collecting twelve embryos to sacrifice and revive her child.”
“What a terrible script!”
“So confusing!”
“Forget it, let’s just find Tao Bai first.”
“Yes! Worst case, we break out of here!”
“Everything feels so chaotic.”
Tong Yang didn’t respond. She stared thoughtfully at the photo in her hand.
It wasn’t just the plotline that had left them confused, but also the completely random room numbers, all of which were indicators of chaos.
In fact, the entire parallel world was in chaos.
The reason for the chaos was the breakdown of order. What could be responsible for disrupting that order?
It was like the “elevator game” Dr. Wu had used to bring them into the parallel world—breaking the order to travel across spaces.
After entering the parallel world, Tong Yang was first confronted with a new round of order.
Could it be that the condition for traveling between two worlds was chaos and order?
“Ding dong—”
“Time: 9:27 PM; Progress: Second round of discussion has ended.”
“Players, please do not leave your seats.”
With a “boom,” the lights went out, and once again, the surroundings were plunged into darkness.
Soon, a dozen black figures appeared behind them.
They stood like statues, shrouded in thick mist.
They almost appeared out of nowhere!
