Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 76
[Welcome to the ‘Murder Case Exhibition Hall’, Hall A.]
[The intention of the exhibition’s curator is for visitors to confront the terrifying side of human nature, thereby heightening their vigilance and self-awareness.]
[Especially for those who have traveled from afar, ‘foreign visitors’, after such a long journey, perhaps you won’t come here a second time. So, in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the exhibition has specially prepared a unique experiential mini-game for these ‘foreign visitors’.]
[This is a special AR scenario, but your minds have been loaded into this mini-game. Death within the game means death in reality, so please take it seriously.]
[You have three days for this experience, and your goal is to survive until the end.]
……
These statements resonated directly within the players’ minds.
After hearing them, Zhou Qian felt like he was experiencing a recursive layer of reality. He and Bai Zhou logged into the major instance of ‘Blue Harbor City’ as players, and now they seem to be inside an instance within an instance.
In analyzing the storyline, the outermost layer of the “matryoshka doll” needed to be discarded.
That meant they should treat ‘Blue Harbor City’ as their real world, genuinely seeing themselves as tourists who have come from afar to visit the exhibition.
From this perspective, something seemed amiss.
The younger versions of themselves, the ‘mother’, and the furniture all appeared to be part of a virtual reality mini-game created by the exhibition.
If Zhou Qian were to identify a murderer in this space, the murderer would only exist within this mini-game, not correlating with the murders in the real ‘Blue Harbor City’.
So, what was the deal with the freshly dead bodies in the exhibition?
While Zhou Qian was pondering, a system prompt appeared.
[Please choose the name you’d like to be addressed by in this instance.]
Following the prompt, ten names appeared on the system panel, with eight surnamed “Ke”, one “Liu”, and one “Jiang”.
Zhou Qian didn’t immediately make a selection, but soon after, the name “Liu Wu” was grayed out. Subsequently, the ‘child version’ of the greasy-haired man had these two golden characters, “Liu Wu”, floating above his head.
This long-haired man’s real name was Ma Luoluo, who specialized in ranged attacks, primarily poison-based.
The insects and reptiles on the beach were his doing.
He looked gloomy, with dark circles under his eyes, probably because of his sinister skills.
Even as a child, he still had long hair, tied in a greasy loop at his waist, possibly hiding some concealed weapon.
However, upon entering the mini-game, all players’ MPs were set to zero. This was the system’s way of preventing players from fighting amongst themselves or challenging NPCs.
After Ma Luoluo chose his name, the next one to get a name was one of his underlings, a healer named Meng Pingping. The name above his head read “Jiang Liu”.
These two obviously chose their names for a purpose.
During this time, using a private chat item, the two were having a separate conversation.
Underling Meng PingPing asked, “Second Brother, why did you ask me to pick this name?”
Long-haired poisonous Ma Luoluo said, “Didn’t you notice? Six of the seven bodies in the exhibition hall had the surname ‘Ke’. It’s evident that this is a serial murder case! The murderer probably has a grudge against those with the surname ‘Ke’, aiming to wipe out their lineage. As for the child without the ‘Ke’ surname, that’s probably collateral damage.”
“I get it!” Meng Pingping laughed. “To survive three days here, the killer will only target those named ‘Ke’. By choosing other surnames, we’re not saying we’re 100% safe, but the risk significantly reduces!”
“Exactly,” Ma Luoluo smirked, glancing at Zhou Qian from a distance.
At that moment, Meng Pingping said, “Thank you for the heads-up, Second Brother! I owe you one! You’re always so reliable!”
“Heh, our legion has just been established. Those who came here, of course, are all my brothers. But under these circumstances… we have to prioritize. You just need to remember that I treated you well. Speaking of which—”
Staring at Zhou Qian, Ma Luoluo asked Meng Pingping, “Do you know about the virtual gaming hall?”
“Of course. High-level gamblers can’t come to Blue Harbor City, but they can go there. Many Rank S players also love going there to research videos of new players. Why?” Meng Pingping asked in confusion.
“When we took the bounty, we saw that the target was a newbie who just got promoted to Rank S, so we accepted it. But on the way to this exhibition hall, I asked someone who frequents the virtual gaming hall. My buddy saw a lot of Zhou Qian’s videos in that hall—”
Ma Luoluo said, “Heh, my buddy praised Zhou Qian a lot. He said that anyone who has seen Zhou Qian play in the virtual gaming hall has followed him. Of course, they also see him as a potential opponent. But now it seems…”
Meng Pingping, understanding his point, looked over at Zhou Qian and gave a cold smile. “This Zhou Qian couldn’t even see the surname trap. He’s clearly a noob. In my opinion, those Rank S players who mix in the virtual hall are all worthless. Why don’t they dare come to places like Blue Harbor City? They’re probably scared!”
“Exactly… The virtual gaming hall prohibits violent killing, but Blue Harbor City is different!
“My brother got into some trouble. In the game, he either enters instances to grind experience or hides in the virtual hall, never coming to semi-open places like Blue Harbor City. Why? Because he’s afraid of getting killed! Tsk, tsk…”
“Yes, you’re right. Those who hide in the gaming hall watching live feeds and don’t dare come to Blue Harbor City are all weaklings. They see Zhou Qian as a boss? Heh, it’s only because they’re too weak.”
Yawning and looking at Bai Zhou next to Zhou Qian, Ma Luoluo said, “As for the Rank God player, we’re even less afraid. I’ve heard their training system is just killing monsters and leveling up, over and over. They don’t understand the essence of this kind of puzzle-solving dungeon!”
Nearby, Zhou Qian stood quietly beside the sofa.
Seeing Meng Pingping and Ma Luoluo smiling at him, Zhou Qian also responded with a naive and bewildered smile, seemingly oblivious to their discussions.
Later, Zhou Qian noticed that Bai Zhou had chosen the name “Ke Yi”.
Looking at Bai Zhou, then at the system, watching the names become grayed out and unselectable, he casually took a name. Above his head, the characters “Ke Qi” appeared.
“Why did you choose ‘Ke Yi’?” Zhou Qian asked Bai Zhou. “Out of the ten players who turned into children, the names are numbered ‘1’ to ’10’, which probably corresponds to our birth order. I wanted to be the eldest*.”
*Clarity: [Wu] (五) = five, [Liu] (六) = six, [Yi] (一) = one, [Qi] (七) = seven
Bai Zhou looked at Zhou Qian and remained silent. Just as Zhou Qian was about to speak again, the system’s notifications disappeared, and the mini-game’s story continued.
At this moment, the mother of the ten children finally entered the room.
Her name was Ruan Mei. She was only in her forties, but she looked quite old, probably because of the hardships of life. She had many bags of groceries, showing her tireless effort in taking care of the family. Yet her face always bore a smile, appearing genuinely happy.
First, Ruan Mei made a trip to the kitchen and put down a bunch of things. She then came to the living room and greeted each child one by one.
She first approached Liu Wu and Jiang Liu, patting their heads. “Did you two argue with your brothers last night?”
With those two names above them, Ma Luoluo and Meng Pingping both looked at Ruan Mei with puzzled expressions.
Ruan Mei continued, “Although you two are adopted, I treat you both the same as my own children. I’m absolutely impartial! Don’t overthink. If any of your brothers bully you, come to me immediately. I’ll set them straight!”
Hearing this, Zhou Qian understood why there were two children without the surname ‘Ke’. They were adopted.
So, out of the ten children in this family, eight were Ruan Mei’s biological children, and the other two were not.
After speaking to the two children without the surname ‘Ke’, the mother went to each of the other children, gently patting their heads, her eyes filled with affection.
Probably the first thing she did every time she came home was to greet each child.
“We all need to get along well in this family. Ah, having such a big group of children, I am truly blessed.”
After expressing her feelings, the emotional mother went to the kitchen. Before leaving, she left a message, “Play for a bit longer, then tidy up the house! In about twenty minutes, your father will be back. He doesn’t like disorder; if he sees the house in a mess, he’ll get angry! Always remember that!”
Soon, the sound of clanging dishes echoed from the kitchen, accompanied by a bustling silhouette.
It was Ruan Mei, preparing meals for the whole family by herself.
Ruan Mei would be busy in the kitchen, while her husband was due to come back in twenty minutes.
Undoubtedly, this time could be used by the players for exploration.
Picking up on this, Ma Luoluo quickly signaled his group of underlings.
Zhou Qian noticed that their group of eight split into two teams: four went upstairs, and four stayed downstairs.
He nudged Bai Zhou with his elbow. “Shall we go upstairs and take a look?”
“Okay. Let’s go.” Bai Zhou nodded and went upstairs with him.
The ten players searched high and low in the vast villa.
Predictably, by the end of the twenty minutes, the house wasn’t tidier, but even more chaotic.
The male head of the household, named Ke Zheng, as Ruan Mei had mentioned, didn’t like a messy room. The moment he returned home and saw the state of the house, his expression clearly changed. Coincidentally, Ruan Mei emerged from the kitchen with a pot of meatballs and placed them on the dining table.
Ke Zheng immediately reprimanded her. “Why is the house in such a mess? How do you manage it?”
“I’m sorry, I apologize.” Ruan Mei quickly responded, bowing her head. She first took her husband’s coat and briefcase, hung them on the coat rack, and then brought him a cup of tea, bustling back to the kitchen.
Ke Zheng wasn’t alone. A glamorous woman in a red dress and high heels, with meticulously applied makeup, was with him—contrasting starkly with Ruan Mei’s housewife appearance. Just as everyone was starting to think that Ke Zheng had brought his mistress home, he told Ruan Mei, “My sister had an argument with her boyfriend and is upset. I asked her to come over for dinner and spend time with the kids. She’ll stay with us tonight. Please prepare a room for her.”
“Oh, okay,” Ruan Mei responded, unconsciously wiping her apron before continuing her way to the kitchen. The so-called “sister” shot Ke Zheng a disapproving look. Zhou Qian checked her information and learned her name was Ke Yun.
“How many times have I said that it’s not easy to marry such a wife? If your soon-to-be brother-in-law treated me the way you do, shouting and ordering me around, I would have broken up with him a long time ago.”
Ke Yun scolded her younger brother with these words, then headed to the kitchen, holding Ruan Mei’s hand along the way. “Let’s go, A’Mei. Are there any dishes left to cook? I’ll help you. I also bought gifts for the kids. They are in the car. I’ll ask A’Zheng to get them later.”
Soon after, Ruan Mei and Ke Yun quickly entered the kitchen to get busy. Throughout their time, snippets of their conversation floated out, reaching the ears of Zhou Qian, who was pretending to drink water in the dining room.
First, Ke Yun complained about her younger brother a bit.
Ruan Mei hurriedly defended him. “No, no. He might have a bit of a temper, but he’s perfect to me.”
Ke Yun joked, “Yes, yes, he’s perfect to you. He really loves you. Otherwise, how could you two have so many children?”
“Shh. Lower your voice. The children are outside!” Ruan Mei said, probably a bit embarrassed and her voice slightly shaky.
Ke Yun laughed heartily and said, “You really don’t need to be like this. You too grew up as the apple of your parents’ eye. Why do you serve him so much?”
Ruan Mei replied, “He’s the young master of the Ke family. He’s used to being served. I was born in a poor family. Being married here and not having to worry about food and clothes, I’m already very satisfied. In a marriage, someone has to compromise. He loves me, so I accommodate him. It’s no big deal.”
Ke Yun shook her head. “Even though he’s my brother, as a woman, I have to tell you, don’t put everything on a man. You should have your own career. Look at me—”
Ruan Mei: “I can’t compare to you. I heard you’re getting promoted to Bureau Director? You’re so successful! I really can’t compare.”
Ke Yun: “Didn’t you always want to be an actress? You can still try.”
Ruan Mei: “That was a young girl’s dream when I was twenty. Now I’m much older. Stop teasing me!”
“How am I teasing you? In my opinion, it’s never too late to pursue your dreams,” Ke Yun said. “I have a producer friend. I’ll ask him. Hey, we’re not asking you to play a leading role. A minor character is fine too.”
“Forget it. Taking care of this family is enough for me,” Ruan Mei replied.
“I really don’t know what to say to you.” Ke Yun shook her head, a hint of disdain in her voice. Then, probably tired of washing the vegetables, she added, “You do work, even though you don’t earn much, and it’s not easy. The Ke family isn’t short of money, why don’t you hire a maid?”
Ruan Mei responded, “I prefer to take care of my husband and children myself. I don’t trust others to do it.”
Ke Yun didn’t say anything for a while, probably feeling that she and Ruan Mei were worlds apart. After about ten minutes, she whispered, “Having seen you struggle over the years, I have to warn you. My brother A’Zheng… There’s a young girl at his workplace who’s been getting close to him. A’Zheng is honest, I know. But he might not be able to resist a temptress. Be prepared.”
At that moment, the doorbell rang.
Ke Zheng, the master of the house, was sitting in the living room reading a newspaper, not moving an inch, not intending to answer the door.
Ruan Mei, who had just finished cooking a dish, quickly washed her hands and hurried to the door.
Outside stood a young woman in a professional suit, her short skirt revealing a pair of slender legs. Looking at Ruan Mei, she said timidly, “I-I came to deliver documents to Mr. Ke. These are materials for tomorrow’s meeting. He needs to familiarize himself with them in advance for the meeting.”
“Oh… okay,” Ruan Mei let her in, then politely said, “It’s a long way here. Come in and have a meal with us.”
“Thank you, thank you, sister-in-law.” The girl didn’t refuse and entered.
When she came in, Zhou Qian noticed her message and found out her name was Zhu Zhu.
Upon seeing Zhu Zhu, Ke Zheng, who seldom smiled at the children, surprisingly stood up all of a sudden, waving at her with a smile. “Come sit down. What would you like to drink? Thank you for making the trip.”
“I’m your assistant! It’s my duty!” Zhu Zhu said, giving him a timid smile and then sitting down.
Seeing her husband’s reactions, Ruan Mei inevitably felt a bit down.
Ke Yun came out of the kitchen, grabbed her hand, and led her back in, raising her voice intentionally. “Goodness, there are so many butterflies these days, always sticking to people. Don’t they know they’re annoying?”
After this, due to the proximity of the kitchen, Zhou Qian overheard Ruan Mei complaining to Ke Yun, “Please, don’t speak like that. It’ll upset him!”
“You always indulge him too much, always bending over backward for him!” Ke Yun responded gravely, “Look, she even dares to come to your house!”
“I trust A’Zheng; he’s not that kind of person!”
“Yes, maybe there’s nothing between them now, but who knows about the future!”
At this point in the dining room, Zhou Qian’s expression darkened, and he said to Bai Zhou, “It’s like I’m seeing another version of my parents.”
Bai Zhou gently squeezed his shoulder. “It’s all in the past.”
“Yes. It’s all in the past. They aren’t worth getting angry over,” Zhou Qian remarked.
At this moment, the voice of the male host, Ke Zheng, echoed from the living room.
He beckoned to his sons, scolding, “Have you no manners? Why aren’t you greeting this sister?”
“This shameful dad,” Zhou Qian commented coldly. “When our real aunt comes, he doesn’t ask us to greet her, but a mere assistant, and he’s all energetic?”
Bai Zhou squeezed his shoulder again, trying to divert the topic. “From your perspective, who seems like the killer here?”
“At first glance, no one seems likely. It’s pretty strange,” Zhou Qian replied, scanning the room again.
The living room looked crowded because of the many people and the vast amount of stuff.
But it was actually a large mansion, luxuriously decorated. The dining room could easily seat twenty people.
In such circumstances, Ruan Mei, the mother, appeared like Cinderella, who married a prince, feeling inferior and constantly careful, thinking she married into wealth and needed to be cautious to maintain it all.
On another note, although the mansion was luxurious, the furniture was outdated. Take, for example, the TV Ke Zheng just turned on. It wasn’t a flat screen but an old bulky one, occupying a lot of space with unclear images.
Zhou Qian also noticed a pager on Ke Zheng’s waist, implying that cell phones hadn’t become popular yet. The setting of this story seemed to be in the late ’80s or early ’90s.
Turning his attention back, Zhou Qian said to Bai Zhou, “In this time setting, many naive girls like Ruan Mei might feel that way. Limited by her own knowledge and understanding, she doesn’t realize the imbalance in her relationship with Ke Zheng, and she wouldn’t think of murder due to this. For now, she seems to love her husband and children a lot, not appearing to be a suspect.”
“As for Ke Zheng, he might be a bit indifferent to his wife and children, but he too doesn’t have an obvious motive to kill.”
“As for Ke Yun, she and her brother Ke Zheng come from such a wealthy family… and judging by the way she speaks, she must have received a higher education. Thus, Ke Yun’s worldview is much broader than the average girl of this era. Her exasperation comes from the fact that iron cannot become steel*. Her feelings are simply born out of frustration because of unmet expectations, and for now, I don’t believe such emotions would culminate in murderous intent.”
*Metaphoric expression describing someone’s feelings of frustration or impatience towards another for not living up to expectations and not making any progress, eagerly hoping they will do better.
At this moment, Zhou Qian’s doubts were undoubtedly shared by Ma Luoluo and the others.
If someone was going to kill the infant of the Ke family tonight, the current suspects were only the mother Ruan Mei, the father Ke Zheng, the children’s aunt Ke Yun, and finally, Ke Zheng’s young assistant, Zhu Zhu. However, among these four people, none seem to have an obvious motive to kill.
After a while, Zhou Qian noticed Ma Luoluo and Meng Pingping staring at Zhu Zhu, probably thinking she, a potential mistress, might have a higher motive for murder.
Zhou Qian said to Bai Zhou using private chat, “I don’t think the killer would be Zhu Zhu. Look at how admiringly she looks at her boss, ‘Mr. Ke’. Her blushing, shy demeanor suggests…”
“Just as the aunt mentioned, she truly admires Mr. Ke. And he probably has some interest in her. But the two haven’t taken their relationship further. If they had been intimate, she wouldn’t be too nervous to meet his gaze, and even her hands would be restless.”
Pausing, Zhou Qian continued, “If she truly had intentions to be the mistress, she should be trying to win over the kids now, acting like a good mother. At this stage, she’s acting innocent, not at the point where the wife and mistress have open confrontations, life-and-death struggles, or even thinking of killing the child in spite.”
Bai Zhou stood quietly for a while, looking at Zhou Qian. “So, what kind of novels do you usually read?”
Zhou Qian: “………”
A quarter of an hour later, dinner was served. At this time, two more suspects arrived.
They were a couple named Ke Di and Wang Mei.
Ke Di was undoubtedly Ke Zheng’s younger brother. Thus, among the Ke family adults, three siblings appeared: the eldest sister Ke Yun, the elder brother Ke Zheng, and the younger brother Ke Di.
Ke Di and Wang Mei seemed to be the most suspicious so far. Wang Mei’s glances towards the children were unfriendly, and her words were sharp during dinner, as if she bore a major grudge against Ke Zheng’s family.
During the meal, while everyone was chatting, Wang Mei suddenly became angry, standing up and slamming down her chopsticks.
Afterward, she glared at Bai Zhou and shouted at Ruan Mei, “Just because your child Ke Yi is top of his class, you think you’re so great? With your background, do you even compare to me?!”
Having said that, Wang Mei stormed out of the dining room.
“What kind of wife have you married? What kind of lady has such a foul temper? She has no manners.” Ke Yun directly criticized her younger brother.
Ke Di hung his head, seemingly not paying any attention. Seeing this, Ke Zheng seemed angered and left the dining room for the study, with his young assistant Zhu Zhu following him.
Ruan Mei looked a bit lost, but as the hostess, she had to clean up and appease the guests. She even made a cup of coffee for Wang Mei, trying to appease her. “Sister, I didn’t mean that. Why compare children’s grades? Our son Ke Yi’s grades are not as good as yours. Please, don’t take it to heart!”
Hearing this, Ke Yun, the eldest daughter of the Ke family, looked speechless, probably not wanting to bother anymore. She sighed heavily and left for the upstairs.
While the adults were in chaos, Ma Luoluo, one of the players, seemed relieved.
He communicated privately to his closest underling, “I told you. The killer is most likely Wang Mei. She’s jealous because her child isn’t doing as well as Ruan Mei’s son, so she takes it out on the Ke family’s children. That’s why she’s targeting those with the surname Ke!”
Meng Pingping added, “I suspect these two brothers have held grudges against each other for a long time. In their era, the winds of reform and opening up hadn’t blown for very long, so their thinking is still quite outdated.”
“Ke Zheng is from the main branch of the family and is set to inherit the family’s assets. His eldest son, Ke Yi, being the firstborn grandson of the main branch, is bound to be envied, isn’t he?”
“Ke Yun is the eldest sister. Women probably can’t inherit family properties, and besides, she’s already on her way to becoming a bureau chief, so she doesn’t lack money. She wouldn’t contend with Ke Zheng over inheritance. So, those who would want to cut off Ke Zheng’s lineage are indeed only left with Wang Mei and Ke Di.”
“Isn’t that right?” Ma Luoluo said, “The Ke family is rich, and Wang Mei probably comes from an equally prestigious family. They just like bullying someone of a humble background like Ruan Mei!”
Meng Pingping sighed. “It’s not easy being the daughter-in-law of a wealthy family.”
Ma Luoluo patted him on the shoulder. “Why the sigh? We’ve made a profit… Hahaha.”
He cast a sinister glance at Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou, continuing, “Once we entered this mini-game, all our MP was depleted. Even a Rank God player is of no use now! Mark my words, Wang Mei’s target tonight will surely be Ke Yi! That Rank God player won’t escape!”
“Hahaha, once he can’t escape and we exit the mini-game, we can easily kill Zhou Qian and claim the reward!”
“Exactly as you said, Second Brother!” Meng Pingping quickly echoed. “We should be rejoicing. Haha.”
……
At night, the young assistant Zhu Zhu returned home. But the other five NPCs, who were also suspects, all stayed here and unanimously slept on the second floor.
After Ruan Mei painstakingly cleared away all the utensils and personally helped the ten children with their evening routines, Zhou Qian noticed that she was so tired she couldn’t even straighten her back. Watching Ruan Mei return to the master bedroom, Zhou Qian’s gaze slowly swept over the long, quiet corridor before returning to his own room.
The ten children stayed in five rooms. When choosing rooms, players were free to pick whichever they wanted without any interference from the system.
During this, Zhou Qian noticed Ma Luoluo took Meng Pingping to a room at the farthest corner. Wang Mei and Ke Di were staying near the staircase. Ma Luoluo probably considered them the prime suspects, which was why he chose a room as far away from them as possible.
Zhou Qian didn’t pay much attention and casually chose a room with Bai Zhou. Once inside and having closed the door, Zhou Qian turned to see Bai Zhou already lying down.
They were sleeping in a two-layered wooden bunk bed, with Bai Zhou on the bottom and the top bunk left for Zhou Qian. After lying down for a short while, Zhou Qian climbed down the ladder.
The young Zhou Qian had slightly chubby hands and feet. Holding onto the ladder, he stretched out his leg and nudged Bai Zhou’s leg. “You’re not seriously going to sleep, are you? Let’s chat?”
“Mm.” Bai Zhou looked at him and shifted a bit to make room.
Zhou Qian then lay down beside him, his eyes wide and curious. “Who do you think the murderer is, and when will they act?”
“Actually, the answer seems quite obvious now. But I have another question for you.”
Bai Zhou turned to look at Zhou Qian’s face, which was still boyishly round, just as it was the first time he met him. In that moment, the memories flooded back.
Zhou Qian currently still wore that flashy and colorful outfit, only a few sizes smaller, and his hair was vibrant and eye-catching. Bai Zhou recalled the first time he met Zhou Qian, who seemed spirited and full of life.
Zhou Qian had been dropped off by a driver in front of the school building. Even though he entered the classroom alongside a group of students, Bai Zhou noticed him immediately.
Now, he looked just as he did back then. Perhaps he wore such clothes and even wore a mask to blend into the city’s style, playfully concealing his identity so he wouldn’t be recognized immediately.
However, Bai Zhou knew Zhou Qian was always the easiest to spot among a crowd.
Zhou Qian always gave off a lively aura.
No matter how he dressed, walking in a crowd, he always stood out. But he was also elusive, slipping through fingers.
Because liveliness never stayed in one place, it moved with the crowd. And maybe by the time he managed to get close, the liveliness would already have moved on, leaving just a faint warmth that was hard to grasp.
“What do you want to ask me?” Zhou Qian questioned.
“I still don’t know,” Bai Zhou replied softly. “Which university did you end up attending?”
Though Bai Zhou’s tone was somewhat serious, his current voice was that of a child. Hearing this voice and seeing his face resembling a seven-year-old’s, Zhou Qian couldn’t help but chuckle, saying, “Jinhua University.”
Jinhua University was the institution both Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou had agreed to attend together. In the past, whenever Zhou Qian tried to skip evening self-study sessions, Bai Zhou would often chide him, “Do you still want to attend Jinhua or not?”
Recalling these memories, Zhou Qian’s smile gradually faded, and he looked at Bai Zhou with a serious expression. Despite the childlike tone, Zhou Qian’s voice held a deeper meaning.
“Why ask that? Are you reminding me that you’re the one who broke our promise?”
As Bai Zhou opened his mouth, about to speak, noises echoed from the hallway.
“Click, click, click…”
It was the sound of high heels.
After giving Bai Zhou a profound look, Zhou Qian’s serious expression faded, and he changed his tone. “Actually, since the murderer is easy to identify, our mission in this game isn’t just limited to finding the culprit.”
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