Chapter 9 An Unexpected Interlude
“What a family. I’m so jealous, hehe.”
Because Liu Nian pa.s.sed out, the forensic woman naturally didn’t have much to say about him. As the lights slowly dimmed until it made people want to sleep, the last moments were getting close.
Especially the wife of that family of three, she didn’t even criticize her husband’s barbaric behavior, and ignored that fact that her son was in pain, as if everything were normal.
And she also unconsciously pinched her son’s left ear. I could tell, at that moment, the child’s expression changed again.
If my intuition did not deceive me, then either the three of them knew some sort of information that we didn’t, or, one of them was someone with a special role.
However, eliminating the possibility of the role being a normal pa.s.senger, it would either be a special role on the pa.s.senger’s side, or be a Howler.
Of course, my guess wasn’t fully developed yet, and I couldn’t confirm what was unusual about the child from the family of three.
I wasn’t sure of the meaning behind those eyes and actions, and what his ident.i.ty in the game could possibly be, because I was still missing a crucial piece.
Before confirming, I would not take a risk.
But it was also at this moment that I realized, even though the forensic woman may not be a kind person, if someone tried to use justice as an excuse to go against her, it would only be dogs fighting against dogs, and neither of them would be considered as good.
“I’m grateful to you, reserved fellow. Looks like I owe you one. I was enjoying this so much just now that I had completely forgotten the rules.”
Xia Ling said with an exaggerated tone and her eyes still aggressive.
I didn’t know about having “forgotten the rules,” but she probably didn’t care about these so-called “rules.” I felt like even if it was the action of the manipulators of this game, she would probably resist and pursue the stimulating sensory experience.
The adrenaline rush could not be brought even with extreme sports. I even doubted whether she was the only one unopposed to the rules of killing in this game, and truly wasn’t anxious to survive but instead was enjoying the moment.
“You’re welcome, but you don’t really owe me one. I just didn’t want to waste any time.”
There was no point in saying too much. Originally, I wanted to survive alone quietly. What did other people’s lives have to do with me? If my actions could save someone unintentionally, then that would just mean that person’s life shouldn’t have ended yet.
If the person was destined to die, even if I hypocritically tried to help out, would it really help that person escape the forced killing of the Howlers?
This was my only belief and rule of survival.
“Amen, time is running out. The next death could be someone innocent around us. Let this little girl lead us to the bright path.”
That old man seemed to be very flexible.
When he found out that Xia Ling was completely mad, he decisively started to lead the rhythm, using the influence that his fake priest ident.i.ty gave him.
“I have no comment. You guys figure it out. There’s nothing I have to say now.”
I didn’t know if Shang Zhiyuan was being sarcastic to himself or trying to mock someone else, there really wasn’t much to be said now. Whether it was the suspicion on him or the forensic woman who broke out halfway through, it expanded the whole mystery, and made the game more dangerous.
“Mhm.”
w.a.n.g Qiang was naturally the safety umbrella. This retired veteran must more or less look at the little Loli as his sister, right?
Even though it hadn’t been long, Pin Chuanxia nodded with a sweet smile, and continued to play her part as a character that was uninvolved.
“Pfft, I bet you are all just afraid to suspect her! I deliberately doubt her. She had such good luck that she suspected the person who died the first round, and investigated the person who protected her the second round? Does she think we’re all stupid?”
The man looked like he wasn’t gonna give up that easily. There was still a stingy smell of alcohol coming from his mouth. He was such a petty man.
“Let me lay it all out on the table. I don’t care if that woman’s mad, but if you have the guts, tell the big tan guy to come at me. Hmph, who knows if you’re with that forensic scientist or not. The killing signatures were so similar.”
The head of the family seemed to not be able to stop once he started. His malicious eyes made Guan Ling take a step back unconsciously.
“If you really have the ability, come at me with everything you got!”
After all, Guan Ling was just a child. Even if she was strong, she still wasn’t an adult. Let alone facing this cowardly man who only dared to be so harsh and audacious in his own nest, picked on the little ones, and chickened out against people stronger than him.
“Enough. Settle down, if you don’t want to die by the next round.”
I had also started to speak up more. That was because I frowned upon these kinds of people. I didn’t always make an exception, but facing this sc.u.m, n.o.body with a heart would be able to tolerate this.
“Hmph…”
Most of the people had changed their att.i.tude, and the sounds of discussion died down. By this time, the atmosphere wasn’t cold and wasn’t heated, it was more like we left it for destiny to decide.
I had some of my own ideas about the situation before I pa.s.sed out.
It seemed like the reason the man refused to back off was because w.a.n.g Qiang was too decisive when he killed earlier.
Because the second death was too similar, he concluded that he was one of the Howlers and completely denied the possibility of w.a.n.g Qiang being framed.
And in the situation of the forensic scientist appearing, the man was sure that w.a.n.g Qiang used a similar way to kill, and in the second round pretended to be wronged to win sympathy and votes.
At the same time because there was a professional present, Xia Ling could completely cover for someone for her own benefit, and point her finger in someone else’s direction.
And because of the binding relationship between w.a.n.g Qiang and Guan Ling, the little girl who was originally considered as fairly clean received added suspicion for no reason, even though the reasoning and ideas behind this were selfish and dark.
On top of that, there were Shang Zhiyuan’s ambiguous att.i.tude, the old man’s enthusiasm for leading the rhythm, Pin Chuanxia’s increasingly ambiguous stance, and the family’s unreasonable action and questionable child.
If I excluded Liu Nian who wasn’t that suspicious, the person who was worth suspecting the most was probably one of the people from the family of three, and this guy, Shang Zhiyuan.
And I felt that, between him and Pin Chuanxia, it was possible that one of them was the Howler.
As for the last person, he or she either died as the rest of the Howlers pretended all three of them were still present, or worst-case scenario, that person was still lurking in the crowd, playing the game at no risk, waiting for an opportunity.
Just like the ‘Werewolves’ in the party game who murdered people without being seen.
A seemingly insignificant statement, or a casual look, could possibly bring an innocent ‘Villager’ to a violent death.
The three hour buffering time was long, but also short. It soon came to an end.
“So nervous…”
Before falling asleep, the last thing I heard was this sentence. Pin Chuanxia really had an innocent little girl’s att.i.tude. But I saw something different from the expressions in her eyes.
Between the states of being asleep and awake, images flashed before me in a second. It was like I saw a huge devil coming towards me, and it wasn’t a fantasy dreamland singing a chorus.
I vaguely saw that everyone around me had long devil horns and wings. Even if someone looked like an angel, their face was odious, wearing a swaying, b.l.o.o.d.y chain of crosses…
Hiss… When I gradually regained my consciousness, it still seemed like there was a layer of white mist surrounding the area around me.
A precious hour had pa.s.sed, and if I remembered correctly, the Howlers were able to move just about half an hour ago.
Whether it was two or one, I still subconsciously hoped that there was a Howler who wasn’t that good at the game among the people who had just died.
Otherwise, this game would be even harder than I imagined.
“Ahhhh!”
A scream pierced the air. It unconsciously startled my body. Aside from the familiar sense of shock and cold chill, I seemed to see that the forensic woman had an even more piercing expression in her eyes.
“What a big mouth, little fellow, it really happened the way you said it would, hehe…”