“From the traces left at the scene, the time of death of the victim was approximately in the early morning. There is no rose tooth phenomenon, indicating that it was not a death by asphyxiation. The crime scene is a locked room, with no signs of the perpetrator entering or exiting. The victim had no suicidal intentions while alive, therefore, it must be a ghost killing… Hmm, this ghost did a remarkably clean job, even thoughtfully cleaned up the scene…”
Ye Xian glanced at Lin Huai, who was standing next to the bathroom, softly muttering to himself.
Logically, Lin Huai should be contemplating the case… he thought, but why do I feel like he seems a bit excited…
Ye Xian rubbed his tingling scalp and decided to keep his distance. He took a step back, only to bump into another roommate. The roommate was leaning over the sink, seemingly sniffing the mirror.
…Oh my God, both of my roommates are weirdos. Ye Xian thought silently.
The three of them were awakened by a scream.
For Ye Xian, hearing a scream in the early morning was not an unusual experience. Or rather, in the world of infinite flow novels, it would be abnormal not to hear a scream upon waking up, after all, that’s the trope—until he got up and was getting dressed, Ye Xian’s mind was still wandering.
Just as he was about to head out, he realized his two roommates were still lying on either side of him, one looking serene, like a corpse that had been asleep for a hundred years, slowly opening his eyes and sitting up. The other was hugging a pillow, groggily mumbling, “Is there another cockroach?”
Ye Xian: …
He adjusted his glasses and decided to leave alone. But Lin Huai’s voice came from beside him: “Where are you going?”
“Of course, to confirm the situation of the scream,” Ye Xian replied.
“Oh…” Lin Huai pondered, “Will everyone go?”
“…” Ye Xian glanced at the two of them, twitching his lips, “Logically, everyone should go…”
“I see.” Lin Huai also sat up from his bed, “Since that’s the case, I’ll also go be a more sociable person…”
Saying this, he jumped off the bed and followed Ye Xian out of the room. As they reached the door, Lin Huai suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder.
He turned around to see Chu Tian, who had been lying in bed, now neatly dressed and resting a hand on his shoulder: “Let’s go together.”
At the moment the door was opened, Ye Xian watched as the two roommates, who had initially shown little interest, dashed out of the room like arrows, racing towards the crime scene as if in a competitive sprint. Given the game’s rule that acting alone for 15 minutes would trigger a death flag, Ye Xian could only follow along with his two roommates, who were like wild dogs running free.
However, the two wild dogs were not entirely united. At least Lin Huai, watching Chu Tian sprinting beside him, was filled with thoughts of “Why does this person seem so energized at the mention of a dead body?”
“Everyone, make way, make way.” Chu Tian clapped his hands as he entered the scene, casually lifting Tang Wen, who was about to vomit, and moving her to the side, “That lady, please stop screaming, and that gentleman, if you feel faint, move to another place… don’t vomit here, go outside to vomit, don’t use your vomit to ruin the crime scene!”
In fact, he didn’t need to say anything; no one dared to enter the bathroom that was clearly locked but had opened automatically after everyone arrived. He stared at the bathroom for a while, took out the shoe covers and gloves he had prepared, and carefully entered the scene, circling the edges of the crime traces.
At this moment, Lin Huai also arrived next to the bathroom.
He immediately saw the horrifying scene inside. At the same time, Ye Xian’s face turned pale.
“Oh my God…”
To his surprise, Lin Huai, standing next to him, didn’t seem to react much. He looked at the swirling meat sauce in the toilet, clearly somewhat disinterested: “This method… is too dirty.”
“What do you…”
Lin Huai shot him a glance.
Realizing that everyone except him was showing expressions of fear, he began to think.
—Isn’t it more in line with a normal person’s reaction to scream now?
“Ah.” He let out a business-like sound, “So terrifying!”
Ye Xian: …
“I was awakened by the sound of flushing.” In the room, Zhang Lu had already fainted, and only the middle-aged woman, Peng Xuan, was trembling as she sat on the bed, perhaps terrified, her third chin shaking, “I didn’t dare to go in, so I knocked on Tang Wen’s door. When Tang Wen heard there was a situation, she brought the other two over, and then the door opened by itself. When I saw inside, I saw her, she had already been flushed halfway down.”
Hearing this, and recalling the scene at that time, the pale-faced Scene Kid and the green-faced Yu Fu showed expressions of wanting to vomit again, even though their stomachs were already empty.
“Flushed halfway down? How long did it take you to hear the sound and go find Tang Wen?” Lin Huai suddenly asked.
“I sleep very soundly.” Peng Xuan said, “I was awakened by the sound of flushing; it must have been going on for a while before that. After that… it should have been about 15 minutes. When we came back, the sound went off again.”
“The victim, Feng Yao, is 160 cm tall and weighs 57 kg. Based on the density of a human being similar to that of water, Feng Yao’s volume is approximately 0.057 cubic meters. Adding in the high-density bones, Feng Yao’s actual volume is about 0.05 cubic meters. A typical toilet can flush 6 liters of water at a time, which means to flush a person… considering losses, it would take about 10 flushes. Each flush requires a 1-minute interval, so it wouldn’t need to flush for that long.” Lin Huai thought.
When he came back to his senses, he noticed Ye Xian was looking at him with a strange expression.
“So?” Chu Tian, still exploring the bathroom, poked his head out to ask.
He still wore a mask, looking less like a player in an infinite flow world and more like a forensic expert or detective in a crime drama… Lin Huai was momentarily struck by this thought.
“This is a warning, a warning to the players. Otherwise, if killing were that easy, there would be no need to go through so much trouble to flush so much water; it’s too wasteful of resources.” Despite internally complaining, Lin Huai continued to analyze seriously, “So this ghost wants us to know that Feng Yao died a terrible death. What we need to figure out is what Feng Yao did before dying that made the vengeful ghost so angry.”
So why do we need to analyze the mindset of the murderer, no, the vengeful ghost…
Clearly, the gruesome description had already made Ye Xian’s mental state explode, but Lin Huai’s words gave him a bit of strength to complain.
Although Ye Xian didn’t speak, all his thoughts were already written on his face. Lin Huai sighed; he was somewhat pained by these people’s stubbornness: “Don’t think that ghosts are just illogical beings that only know how to kill… Hmm, I admit, there are indeed such ghosts. But some ghosts have their own logic; they won’t act recklessly until the restrictions are lifted.”
“What logic?” Chu Tian, having explored the bathroom, poked his head out again to ask.
He still wore a mask, his voice muffled.
“For example,” Lin Huai said, holding up a finger, “the first type of Dangerous Items you mentioned before, their key phrase for lifting restrictions is ‘purchase.’ Once they are bought and owned, they will be released from restrictions and start a killing spree; or take a wild skin, which only cares about its own face. So if you annoy it, at most, it will break your neck, but if you hurt its face, it will slowly scrape your skin off with its nails…”
…At most, it will break your neck? At most? That’s still pretty terrifying! Ye Xian suppressed his urge to complain.
“Why are you so familiar with this…” Ye Xian twitched his eye, “You’re clearly just a newcomer; I was the one who entered the Game first…”
“Uh,” Lin Huai paused, making a sound like Conan being exposed by a bystander, “I read it in novels and TV shows, that’s how it’s written, hehe.”
Ye Xian: …
“So overall, the rules in this Game are quite complete.” Lin Huai quickly summarized, “Being able to encounter such a logical Game is a blessing comparable to working 996; we should cherish it…”
Everyone: …
Noticing the terrified yet inspired expressions of the others, Lin Huai felt the need to comfort them, so he said, “Actually, you don’t need to be so terrified…”
“Everyone will eventually die, whether lightly as a feather or heavily as a mountain.” Lin Huai said, “We all will die, so don’t anger the Ghost; dying happily in their hands can also be considered a kind of luck…”
Huang Lu: …
“So what exactly…” she hesitated.
“Nothing.” Lin Huai sincerely took out his phone, “I read in novels that people like me, who are open-minded, generally live longer…”
Huang Lu: … I want to point you out right now.
She hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping herself. Her feelings told her that Lin Huai was definitely not a good person, while her rationality told her that real ghosts were definitely not as frivolous as Lin Huai.
Several others shared the same thoughts. Lin Huai, in the midst of their rational and emotional tug-of-war, once again entered the safe zone.
Listening to his comfort, Chu Tian nodded thoughtfully: “You make a lot of sense. As an exchange, I’ll share a secret with you.”
Saying this, he walked towards Lin Huai, hooked his shoulder, and whispered in his ear: “…I no longer doubt that you are the insider.”
“…Huh?” Lin Huai was taken aback.
“I tested you before. The five elements lack wood, Lin Huai; with three woods removed, only ghosts remain.” Chu Tian smiled, “Isn’t that right?”
Lin Huai’s eyes widened: “Ah?”
“Your performance tells me that you know nothing about this.” Chu Tian shrugged, “This indicates that you have a clear conscience…”
“Wait… could you consider being a bit more subtle with your hints…”
“Now, I no longer doubt this. After all…”
“There’s no vengeful ghost as obvious as you.” Chu Tian said, “You seem to be afraid we won’t identify you.”
Lin Huai: …
…What, do I seem that obvious? He carefully thought about his behavior all along, feeling a bit lost.
Chu Tian looked at Lin Huai’s eyes, which were spinning wildly: “But I have a new guess about your identity; I smell a familiar scent on you, for example…”
Saying this, he pinched Lin Huai’s face and rubbed his fingers: “The first test was indeed very cheeky.”
Lin Huai: ?
After saying this inexplicable line, he returned to the bathroom.
Lin Huai, who had been expelled from the ghost list and had his face pinched for the second time, felt very complicated and didn’t even want to speak. Tang Wen watched the strange behavior of the two and rolled her eyes, leaning closer to him: “What did Chu Tian just say to you?”
Lin Huai thought for a moment and said, “He said he’s gay.”
Tang Wen: “Huh?”
Lin Huai continued, “And he touched me.”
Tang Wen: “??”
Lin Huai went on, “And he wants to hook up with me, skr~”
After ruining Chu Tian’s reputation and finishing his rap, he left Tang Wen, who looked like she had been struck by lightning, leaning against the wall, somewhat disinterested and lost in thought. Tang Wen silently moved a bit further away from him, just like Ye Xian and Huang Lu had done before. After a long time, he heard a voice from the bathroom: “Sanmu brother, come in and take a look at the scene.”
“…What the hell is Sanmu brother?”
Muttering this, he still obediently walked into the bathroom, and upon noticing Tang Wen’s gaze, turned his head and smiled innocently at her.
Then, he solemnly made a “shh” gesture and closed the bathroom door.
Tang Wen: …
Only Chu Tian and Lin Huai remained in the bathroom. Chu Tian seemed to be fiddling with the sink; when he saw Lin Huai come in, he simply asked, “Why did you close the door?”
Lin Huai: “Since we’re pursuing excitement, we should go all the way.”
He watched Chu Tian knock here and look there, unable to help but ask, “What are you looking for?”
“I’m looking for the ghost’s behavioral route.” Chu Tian said, his eyes behind the mask unusually serious, “Look.”
He pointed to the fogged-up mirror: “These past few days haven’t been the plum rain season; other places in the bathroom are quite dry, but here, there are many water droplets. Plus, since Feng Yao was flushed down the toilet, I deduce that this is where the ghost first appeared.”
Lin Huai said blankly, “Oh, that makes a lot of sense.”
“And here,” Chu Tian followed the water stains on the ceiling all the way to a puddle behind the toilet, “this is the ghost’s final route; it came out through the mirror, crawled along the ceiling, and finally reached behind Feng Yao. Perhaps due to different speeds of movement, or other reasons, the water stains behind the toilet are noticeably thicker than those on the ceiling. This indicates it stood there for a long time. And from the traces on the ceiling and behind the toilet, it can be seen that it crawled on all fours but stopped behind Feng Yao and stood there for a long time. What could make a ghost wait behind a person for so long without attacking? And what does a person do while squatting on the toilet?”
