Chapter 15 [Day Two – Four]

JUNE 11, 2021~ REII

Editor : reii

Fang Daichuan and Li Sinian quarreled for some time, but when it became boss Du’s turn to speak, Fang Daichuan immediately quieted and became alert. After he and Li Si Nian had entered their room, he had no way of knowing what was happening outside, but before then, Du Chaosheng was the one who had the biggest opportunity to attack the deceased.

Boss Du said, “I know you suspect me. As the one who went up right after the beer belly it’s a given that I’m the primary suspect. But don’t forget; myself, the deceased, and the mysterious Mr. Li Sinian went upstairs together. Mr. Li is someone who’d been working for the boss* as a professional mercenary. Someone was killed right under his nose but he wasn’t aware of it? That is unlikely. On the contrary, for someone like me, if there was a professional assassin working under my nose, I have no way to detect them.”

(T/N: On English on raw)

Fang Daichuan felt things were starting to go south and wanted to speak up, but Li Sinian grabbed him. Li Sinian firmly pressed down on Fang Daichuan’s thigh with his right hand, gave him a stern look, then turned his head away, a ghost of a smile appearing at the corners of his lips. “Go on.”

Boss Du crossed his hands on his chest and gave Fang Daichuan a once-over. “Take it easy, I was just analyzing the possibility. I personally don’t doubt Li Sinian. Even if he was a wolf, with his previous identity, no one will trust him in the beginning. If I were him, and I got a wolf card, I would act low-key. It’s very unlikely for him to take the risk of killing someone on the first night. And I think the most likely time it happened was not when everyone went upstairs, leaving only the three of us on the first floor. That’s too conspicuous. It would leave either me or Mr. Li as the primary suspect. Would someone planning a murder act like that? It’s basically telling everyone; The murderer is either me or him, everyone just needs to vote for the two of us in the next two days. That way, even if an innocent person gets sacrificed, there’s a hundred percent chance the murderer will get taken out.”

It makes sense! Fang Daichuan felt like nodding, but he kept Li Sinian’s instructions in mind and restrained himself.

“Then when did it happen?” Ding Zihui didn’t have anyone tell her to hold it in.

Boss Du smiled slightly. “It must’ve been when we were all on the second floor. When the deceased goes back to the room to put away his items, someone knocks on the door and asks him to go down together. Isn’t it a given that he’ll turn his back to this person when he goes downstairs? At that moment, no one would be around to see what happened. But there’s also another possibility. When everyone gathered together on the second floor, everyone was focused on you who’d just been attacked. At the time, our positions were like this; you at the center, Fang Daichuan, Yang Song, and Chen Hui in the innermost circle, Li Sinian, the deceased, and me in the outer circle. Du Wei was standing the furthest outside. If someone had the courage to act, wouldn’t that be the perfect chance?”

Chen Hui was the first to respond when she heard this. “Obviously, you just want to shift the suspicion! Du Wei is a villager, I guarantee it.”

“How can you guarantee him?” Yang Song frowned, clasping her arms.

Chen Hui was anxious and pointed to Fang Daichuan and said, “Then how can Fang Daichuan guarantee Li Sinian?! Just like Fang Daichuan can guarantee Li Sinian, I can guarantee my Du Wei!”

The gentleman Liu Xin smiled and persuaded, “Miss Chen, please calm down. What Ms. Yang said is reasonable. They are not lovers, so their testimony for each other is more credible. In your case you two are a couple. Just like in court, the testimonies of husband and wife for each other are not considered valid.”

“Who is to say that they’re not a couple?!” Chen Hui was so anxious she no longer cared about what she was saying. “They could’ve hooked up. They’ve been stuck together since they took their boxes yesterday and they went into each other’s room. I can tell. Is that not enough to prove that they’re a couple?! If you don’t count my testimony, then you can’t count on theirs either! Anyway, Li Sinian is more suspicious than Du Wei!”

“Enough.” Du Wei grabbed Chen Hui and stared at Boss Du with a sneer. “Go on, let’s see what other tricks you have.”

Fang Daichuan had been shot while lying down*. He straightened up on his stool before Boss Du could say anything. “Hey, hey, we’re just here to vote, don’t go around smearing others’ reputations. The great me am the #1 Straightest Man in the entire universe, straighter than a highway*. We rely on our fans to earn our keep in our business. Watch your words or I will sue you.”

(T/N: … *cough* :insert picture of crooked highway fresh from Google: Also, this phrase is an internet buzzword and I know anyone who has read Chinese novels must know this but still, an explanation. This is from Stephen Chow’s movie, Fight Back to School. I would love to show you the screenshot of the lines but this is a 1991 movie so I can’t find any screen shot. Anyway this means something like ‘innocent yet get blamed’)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_Back_to_School

Chen Hui rolled her eyes, pursed her lips and continued to say, “Who doesn’t know that the entertainment circle is a mess?! This one and that one, haven’t they all been exposed to be living together? But they’re still lying to the public saying they’re just a friend.”

“Take that back!” Fang Daichuan slammed on the table and made to stand up but Li Sinian grabbed him.

Du Wei firmly pulled Chen Hui back to her chair, coaxing her, “What’s the matter, what are you doing?”

Chen Hui hugged Du Wei and cried out, “I’m scared, I’m really scared. The first night has just passed, but the seer didn’t identify anyone. I’m afraid everyone will blindly vote and turn you into a scapegoat!”

Du Wei cautiously kissed his girlfriend’s earlobe, murmuring softly, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, nothing will happen.”

Li Sinian didn’t have such a good temper. He simply roughly covered Fang Daichuan’s mouth. Fang Daichuan wanted to continue saying something but Li Sinian glared dagger at him so he could only sit back feeling aggrieved. Li Sinian stared at him for a while, raised his eyebrows and asked with his gaze whether he had calmed down, Fang Daichuan lowered his eyes and nodded.

Li Sinian finally let him go. He took the napkin on the table, wiped the palm of his hand, then said, “Alright, let’s follow the rules and stop fighting. Do you have anything else to say, boss Du?”

Boss Du’s gaze moved between Du Wei and Chen Hui. He then shook his head after regaining his senses, “I’m all done.”

Liu Xin was next after Boss Du. He nudged the glasses on the bridge of his nose, looked down at his teacup and said, “I have nothing to say, I did not notice anything anyway. There was really nothing I could do on the first day. Since Ding, Yang, Chen and Fang, these four people have been identified as innocent, let’s blindly vote for the rest.”

He was the last one.

Fang Daichuan had listened to what everyone said and tried to sort out everyone’s testimonies to find the suspicious one. However, he couldn’t analyse all the information in such a short time, so he could only come up with nothing.

“In that case, let’s vote.” Yang Song stood up and walked towards the machine, looking as if she was confident she knew who the murderer was.

Ding Zihui stood up dumbfounded and looked left and right. “Who to vote for?”

“Who do you want to vote for? You can vote for yourself if you don’t know who to vote for. Anyway, no one will make the decision for you. Either you vote for yourself, or you abstain.” Yang Song said casually, swiping her card to vote.

Fang Daichuan cautiously got close to Li Sinian and asked in a low voice, “Then… who do we vote for?”

Li Sinian looked around, turned his back to him, and said in an inaudible voice, “Vote for Zhao Chu.”

Fang Daichuan’s puppy eyes immediately widened: “What?? How could it be him?! Shouldn’t it…” He swallowed his saliva and lowered his voice, “Shouldn’t it be Boss Du?!”

Starting from Yang Song, everyone went up to vote one by one, and soon it was Ding Zihui’s turn. The girl looked at everyone like a deer in the headlights, but there was no abstain button on the machine.

She turned her head and glanced at Fang Daichuan, the machine ruthlessly prompting, “Please vote quickly! Please vote within ten seconds!”

She looked down at the small keyboard. The photos of thirteen people were arranged on the screen. Each had serial numbers that were randomly generated. The photos were automatically saved when they entered their fingerprints. Everyone looked ugly in them so the photos themselves gave off an ominous vibe. The photo of the unfortunate player who’d died had turned black. She clenched her fist and hammered the machine twice, not knowing which one to choose. The machine had begun to count down: “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…”

Ding Zihui relented and tapped the serial number of the person she suspected. A text “Are you sure?” appeared on the screen when the countdown had already reached three.

Ding Zihui hesitated at the last second. Fang Daichuan’s surprised expression before he and Li Sinian spoke flashed through her mind. As the countdown was about to end, she revoked her original selection and replaced it with another.

When it was Fang Daichuan’s turn, he walked up slowly. Li Sinian’s decisive voice still echoed in his ears, “No time to explain, just listen to me!”

Fang Daichuan stood in front of the machine, shut his eyes tightly for a moment, then pressed the buttons.

(T/N: Voting time! Who dies and who lives? Stay tuned~~~)