NFM Chapter 9

Lin Huai: …

“Alright, I won’t tease you anymore.” Chu Tian said, spreading his hands, “Let’s go, it’s time to eat.”

Lin Huai: “I’m a bit angry.”

As he spoke, he raised his bloodshot eyes to look at Chu Tian.

“Hey, Chu Tian! Lin Huai! Are you still upstairs?” Ye Xian’s voice came from downstairs, “Are you still alive? Respond!”

“Still alive.” Chu Tian leaned over the railing, casually replying to downstairs. Lin Huai stood beside him, pouting in anger.

For some reason, he always felt that this person had sensed something. Just now, his rambling and roundabout talk seemed aimed at tricking him into lowering his guard, so that when he completely relaxed, he could attack his face… But what was he trying to do by attacking his face? Could it be…

Could it be that his real profession was a skincare product salesman? Lin Huai looked at his back and couldn’t help but think of a man with a magnetic charm.

And that strange Three Experiments… What were they experimenting with? A face-squeezing experiment? What on earth was this…

“Hey, Lin Huai.” He suddenly heard that person’s voice, “Why do crows look like writing desks?”

Lin Huai: “Huh? What did you say?”

“Nothing.” Chu Tian said, “Well… forget it.”

He seemed to suddenly find it very boring, lacking interest, and even started playing on his phone. Lin Huai keenly noticed that the wallpaper on his phone was a patch of darkness.

Chu Tian hadn’t spoken for a long time; it was as if he had suddenly lost all interest in Lin Huai, and even in this scenario. Lin Huai then asked him, “What are you doing?”

“Playing.” Chu Tian replied tersely. He leaned over the railing, yawned, and didn’t even glance at Lin Huai.

… For some reason, Lin Huai suddenly felt a bit displeased. He felt like this person had lost all interest in him in an instant. It seemed not only was he no longer lively and fun, but he was also a bit cold and distant.

… Forget it, it didn’t really matter to him anyway. They were at most teammates meeting for the first time, sharing a bed out of courtesy and humanitarianism. Lin Huai thought for a moment and decided to go downstairs alone, but in the next moment, he caught a glimpse of something peeking out from under Chu Tian’s loose shirt, something that seemed to be tattooed on his lower back.

He stared at that pattern for a while and suddenly said, “Is that a tattoo on your waist?”

“Yeah.”

… Another one of those perfunctory answers. Forget it, I, Great Ghost, won’t hold grudges over small matters. Lin Huai silently noted it down as a grudge and said, “It looks like a penguin that stepped on a polar bear and slid a few hundred meters before flipping over, um…”

In the next moment, he saw Chu Tian almost immediately turn his head, looking at him strangely: “Why do you say that? No, how could you think that? Why… why do you describe it like that?”

“Uh…” Lin Huai felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze.

“Where have you seen this kind of description? No… it’s impossible…” He seemed to be talking to himself, then looked up, “You…”

“Because it really looks like that… No, what’s with your questioning tone?” Lin Huai retorted, “You’re looking at me like I’m the enemy who stole your girlfriend…”

“Hey, hey, what are you two doing?” Ye Xian’s voice continued to come from downstairs, “If you don’t come down soon…”

“Wait.” Chu Tian muttered to himself, “There’s one more thing that needs to be confirmed.”

Saying that, he picked up his phone and ran down the corridor without looking back. Lin Huai watched as he seemed to regain his vitality in an instant and asked, “What are you going to do?”

He didn’t expect this suddenly withdrawn Chu Tian to respond, but he actually did.

Chu Tian said, “Looking for a time machine.”

Lin Huai: “… Speak in human language.”

“Actually,” Chu Tian squinted, “just now, at that moment of conversation, a lightning bolt flashed through my brain. In other words… I discovered a new clue about this murder mystery.”

Despite the fact that this man had just been wearing a withdrawn expression, his demeanor at this moment made him seem lively and reliable. His gaze was so determined, as if… he had already discovered the key to the case.

Lin Huai cooperatively asked, “So, what’s the clue?”

“Lower your voice.” Chu Tian turned his head, “If I say it out loud, it won’t work.”

Lin Huai: Do you think you’re making a wish or something…

Was this person’s behavior… discovering something again? With a hint of testing in his heart, Lin Huai slightly lowered his head, letting his bangs cover his reddened eyes.

Bright red blood streaked up his fingers, and in the next moment, a hand gripped his shoulder.

“Almost forgot.” Chu Tian chuckled lightly, “There’s something I left at the bathroom door.”

Saying that, he raised the wrench in his right hand, its cold surface gleaming with silver light.

Lin Huai stared at it for a while, slowly revealing a smile.

“This thing looks quite unusual.”

“Won it in a lottery in the game, consider it a reward.” Chu Tian waved it, “Let’s go, let’s go downstairs to eat.”

Lin Huai followed behind him, silently retracting his blood-stained hands.

He stared at Chu Tian’s back, the corners of his mouth gently rising.

“Quite interesting…” he murmured.

When Lin Huai reached the dining room, everyone had already finished eating. The game was exceptionally generous, providing meals and accommodation; steaming hot dishes had already been placed on the dining table before everyone even got up. Unfortunately, due to what had happened, no one had much of an appetite, and the game’s flirtatious glances were as if thrown to a blind person. Lin Huai thought this and felt a slight regret in his heart.

The only exception was Chu Tian, who had just walked a tightrope between life and death. Half an hour later, he came down and ate enough for two people, while eating, he asked Ye Xian, “If you’re not going to eat the buns, you can give them to me.”

Ye Xian looked at the bun filling, looking like he was about to vomit: “I really don’t want to see meat sauce for a while…”

He stared at the buns while trying to mentally prepare himself to drink milk. Nowadays, any liquid, fluid, or anything else flowing would remind him of things unsuitable for appearing in Jinjiang Literature City.

Lin Huai watched him suddenly become unusually excited and lively, thinking this person was really a…

Perhaps noticing Lin Huai’s gaze, he looked up at Lin Huai: “Aren’t you full?”

Lin Huai: “… I’m full.”

As Chu Tian attacked the next bun, Ye Keke, wearing a black T-shirt, came down from upstairs: “Zhang Lu woke up.”

“I don’t know what happened.” Zhang Lu said, her face pale as she sat on the bed, “Peng Xuan woke me up. When I opened my eyes, Yao Yao was already gone from the bed… When I pushed open the bathroom door, I saw her… her head was still intact on the tank, but below the neck…”

As she said this, she covered her mouth again, looking like she was about to vomit. Peng Xuan comfortingly patted her shoulder, and she began to cry into his arms.

“Does she usually have a habit of getting up at night?” Tang Wen asked.

Zhang Lu shook her head.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I grew up with Yao Yao; we often stayed at each other’s houses since we were little. I have very light sleep even without medication, and I’ve never heard her get up.” Zhang Lu’s eyes turned red again, “I didn’t expect…”

As she spoke, she was about to cry again.

Although death was a common occurrence in the game, losing a friend who could support each other was indeed heartbreaking. However, at this moment, Chu Tian asked her: “You said you have light sleep?”

Zhang Lu nodded: “I’ve always had poor spirits; when I’m at home, I rely on melatonin to sleep, and gradually developed a dependency on the medication. I rushed out this time and only brought an empty bottle… Last night, I took the last two pills.”

As she spoke, she pointed to the empty melatonin bottle on the bedside table, confirming that what she said was true.

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have taken it last night. If I had been awake, maybe she wouldn’t have…”

Chu Tian frowned slightly, stroked his chin, and asked her again: “By the way, did you buy anything?”

“Ah, ah! I haven’t bought anything yet!” Zhang Lu suddenly remembered the game. She instinctively reached for the pillow beside her but didn’t find her phone. When she looked up, she found it on the bedside table, and thus breathed a sigh of relief.

The shopping app opened at eight in the morning, and by the time they were downstairs, everyone had already completed their purchases. Now it was already nine o’clock. Taking this opportunity, Huang Lu also spoke up: “Just right, let’s compare our order information.”

Saying that, she took out her phone, her gaze fixed on Lin Huai. Lin Huai shrugged and also took out his phone, opening the page.

Since it was the first day, everyone had agreed to only purchase one item within the safe zone, with the money spent ranging from 180 to 250. When checking Lin Huai’s order, Huang Lu asked: “Can you show me your phone?”

She still looked at Lin Huai with suspicion, and the latter shrugged, pulling out his phone: “Feel free.”

On the screen were two items.

Order 1: Korean hot-selling soft and non-shrinking pajamas

Order 2: Chic cultural shirt Celestial Style, no discount

Huang Lu: …

After confirming that the purchase record was not photoshopped, she could only reluctantly turn to the next person. Lin Huai took back his phone and continued to look at the sky.

He had already discovered yesterday that no matter what item was purchased, once it appeared in the order history, it would only show a gentle and harmless appearance.

No wonder, otherwise, the game’s difficulty would further decrease.

After checking around, Huang Lu didn’t find any problems. At this time, Zhang Lu also placed her order, arranging the product prices from high to low, ultimately choosing the most expensive one among the remaining items.

The entire purchasing process was smooth, filling in the address, name, contact number, and even selecting the shipping insurance option, finally paying through the money already stored in the app.

After submitting the purchase order, the system popped up a new message: “The hairdryer you purchased has been ordered and is expected to be delivered by 20:00 tonight. Final Destination Express is at your service.”

Everyone: …

“So, what exactly did Feng Yao die from?” Ni Xiao raised a question, “If it was because she got up at night… but first of all, the bathroom is also inside the room, so there’s no possibility of Obliteration from leaving the room. Secondly, Zhang Lu also said that Feng Yao didn’t have a habit of getting up at night.”

“So, it must be because she did something that violated the rules, leading to the consequence of being Obliterated. And this thing must be something she had to do in the bathroom.”

“So this thing is…” Chu Tian interjected.

“… No matter what this thing is, it can’t be playing on the phone in the bathroom.” Huang Lu quickly skipped over Chu Tian’s speaking time, “I think…”

At this point, she got stuck, so what exactly made Feng Yao have to go to the bathroom to do?

… And it was related to the phone.

While she was deep in thought, a light laugh came from behind her.

“Speaking of which, there are indeed many things that need to be done in the bathroom, like shaving, going to the toilet, washing your face…” Lin Huai counted on his fingers, “But there are also many things that can’t be done in the bedroom, right? For many people, the bathroom is quite a safe place. Just like during an earthquake, many people will hide in the bathroom. After being scolded by a teacher, some will also cry in the bathroom. And those drowned Water Ghosts also like to hide their heads in the toilet…”

“How did the last one get mixed in…”

“When people want to hide something, the most common thing to do is to go to a place they think no one will find them.” Lin Huai said, “Speaking of which, if they are good friends, they can even share their phone lock screen passwords and payment passwords, right?”

Saying this, Lin Huai stepped closer to Chu Tian, who was staring at the melatonin bottle on the bedside table, his beautiful peach blossom eyes shimmering with the light of a deep lake.

“… So, Mr. Programmer.” He leaned close to the other’s ear, “Based on your thinking expression and your reasoning ability, what are you thinking right now?”

After saying this, he took a step back, slightly tilting his head, waiting for Chu Tian’s response.

Chu Tian stared at the melatonin bottle and calmly said: “Actually, I’ve been thinking…”

“Is this bottle general waste or recyclable waste?”

Lin Huai: ???

The author has something to say:

*The use of the ○-ed joke:

Taobao: An app that kills time and life; as the saying goes, time is money and money is life, then Taobao must be the culprit of humanity’s extension.