Chapter 15 of 48

Chapter 15

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“Yesterday, I checked No. 5 and No. 5 was a killer. Actually there was already no need to investigate him. The people who followed my vote, I believe that they’re all innocent, especially since I also checked No. 2 and found that he was a genuine good person.” Shen Mu nodded at Jiang Shuyi. Jiang Shuyi’s face became even paler.

“The little girl as well,” Shen Mu once again turned to Shen Xin. “Think about it, if I was a killer, there are no advantages in helping the town side analyze the rules on the first day. The reason why I would say that is entirely because I have a police’s perspective, and so I have an obligation to give the innocents a clearer outlook. When Yang Ge didn’t die on the first night, I doubted his identity. He was a killer, so how could he possibly help us analyze the rules? You guys must become a little more clear headed! Yesterday, Yang Ge commited suicide so don’t say that a killer commiting suicide is useless: now everyone believes him! Whether or not the suicide had an impact, isn’t it already very clear?”

“You mustn’t forget,” Shen Mu said in a deep tone.”As long as the killer team achieves the final victory, it doesn’t matter whether or not they’re eliminated. Yang Ge saved his two teammates through his own death, forcibly voting me out of the game. It’s a good plan and they won’t suffer a loss! As matters stand, I’m not afraid to tell the truth. No. 8 is indeed my last teammate. This is something Yang Ge had already guessed. If I’m eliminated, the police team can no longer do anything. Yang Ge’s act of suicide seemed ridiculous, but in fact, he hit two birds with one stone: he voted me out of the game and also made the police team become an empty shell.”

Shen Mu finally said: “If this was a normal game round, I’d say that even if you voted me out today, it doesn’t matter because soon your logic would be proved wrong since No. 5 would continue to kill people during the night. However, this is a round of the Suspended Life Game and no one knows what would be awaiting us if we fail, so I urge everyone to calm down and think about it. Yang Ge’s plan had already failed yesterday, so if he didn’t take drastic measures to deal with the situation last night, the killer team would’ve had no chance of winning! Don’t forget everyone, as long as the killer team gains victory in the end, it doesn’t matter if they were eliminated previously! Of course, his lies will collapse in light of the facts tonight because No. 8 and I aren’t the killers. Maybe you’re thinking that even if you voted me out today, the number of votes would still be enough so that even if someone really dies tonight, it’s fine to just vote out No. 5 and No. 1. So what are Yang Ge’s odds? This question also confused me before.”

“But,” Shen Mu took a breath, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth. Yang Ge is the definite killer that is against me and No. 5 Sun Jieqing is a killer, so No. 1 isn’t a killer, but rather a lousy civilian. This is also in line with my teammate Song Yue’s initial analysis. No. 1 and No. 4 can’t make a killer team, however by doing this, Yang Ge is able to not only gain No. 1’s vote, but also conceal a killer teammate, all while waiting for No. 5 and No. 1 to both be eliminated…” Before Shen Mu finished speaking, the green number in front of him suddenly dimmed, and the rest of the words were also cut off in his throat.

The third day’s voting began.

Shen Mu, Sun Jieqing, and Li Xuesong pressed the voting option without hesitation. Lin Huiru and Kexin were a little hesitant while Jiang Shuyi’s face was filled with suffering. Liu Bo gritted his teeth before pressing down after a slight hesitation.

The third round of voting was over.

Those who voted for No. 3 Shen Mu were: No. 1 Lin Huiru, No. 5 Sun Jieqing, No. 11 Li Xuesong, No. 9 Liu Bo;

Those who voted for No. 5 Sun Jieqing were: No. 2 Jiang Shuyi, No. 3 Shen Mu;

The players who abstained from voting were: No. 8, No.10 Kexin;

As soon as the voting results came out, Sun Jieqing, Li Xuesong, and Liu Bo let out a sigh of relief, while Jiang Shuyi’s complexion paled. Shen Mu looked at the result of the voting, his face carrying a trace of sorrow. Shaking his head, he didn’t say anything again. Soon afterwards, he fell onto the table with a “dong”.

Li Xuesong used a complex expression to look at No. 8, before looking at Jiang Shuyi, and finally looking at Liu Bo, as though thinking about something.

Shen Xin watched as Shen Mu suddenly fell down, and couldn’t help feeling shocked. Although the situation wasn’t unexpected, her heartbeat involuntarily accelerated. She couldn’t stay here anymore! Since she felt shocked to this degree, if any flaws were to be revealed, the gains from Shen Mu’s sacrifice wouldn’t be worth the losses. Shen Xin decided to retreat.

By the way, Brother No. 8… Thinking of No. 8, Shen Xin calmed down again and looked back to check on No. 8’s condition, yet this one look startled her. No. 8’s dazed gaze was directed straight at Shen Mu, who lay collapsed on the table. His expression appeared frozen, and wasn’t quite right…

No. 8, when he’d seen that the lights indicating each speaker’s turn hadn’t become green again, had expected Shen Mu to take him to go eat delicious food, and had involuntarily showed an eager smile. However at that moment, Shen Mu had suddenly smiled to himself. Although he’d smiled, No. 8 had somehow felt that he was very sad, and then Shen Mu had collapsed in front of him.

For a moment, No. 8’s heart stagnated.

A familiar, yet foreign feeling filled No. 8’s entire body for a second. No. 8 still didn’t quite understand what’d happened, but his body responded a step faster. Pulling his chair aside, he threw himself straight at Shen Mu.

“Wei? Are you okay?” An unfamiliar, young female voice sounded beside him, mingling with other chaotic voices.

No. 8 pounced on Shen Mu, embracing him as he instinctively searched for his breath. Although the body in his arms was warm, the absent breath on his fingertips suddenly made a boundless fear spread in No. 8’s heart. He still didn’t quite understand what was happening, yet he subconsciously fell into an endless darkness.

Shen Mu was dead.

Death was the antithesis of life; to completely fade away and be filled with despair.

“Hey, hey! Are you okay?” Next to him, Sun Jieqing was also frightened. He reached out to pat No. 8 on the back, yet the boy appeared isolated from the world, and didn’t react.

“Hey…” There seemed to be someone’s voice by his ear, but other sounds also echoched in No. 8’s ears. A fragmented scene flashed across his eyes…

Belated birthday blessings, the heavy rain pouring down all night, a mobile phone without any signal, a girl weeping on the telephone, clusters of raindrops on the glass, a white hospital, red light… Finally, under the snow white bed sheets, a face that had completely lost all signs of blood and breath.

The scene became clearer and clearer, yet simultaneously more and more vague. The voices from the past and present gradually fused together, until all that was left was the lifeless body on the bed in front of him and the noise that was seemingly as far as the horizon, yet also right by his ear: “The tenth round of the Suspended Life Game begins now.”

No. 8 suddenly fainted, falling to the ground, completely losing consciousness.

“F***!” Sun Jieqing, who’d felt a little muddle headed since the voting phase, had been completely shocked awake, and quickly went to check that No. 8 was breathing, “F***ing scared me to death! And I even thought he’d died in the name of love… This must be true love!”

“Did he faint?” Li Xuesong was also quite surprised, and couldn’t help feeling rueful in his heart.

“Wa…” Shen Xin began crying, “I don’t want them to be the killers, they are good guys right…”

“Don’t tell me that we really wrongfully accused innocents…” Sun Jieqing was somewhat foolish for a period of time, before suddenly remembering his identity and the rules of the game, quickly regaining his focus. As he lifted up No. 8, he said, “Don’t answer me, let’s take them back first.” He wasn’t tall, but he clearly wasn’t weak either, being able to carry an adult male and also walk quite fast.

Li Xuesong sighed. Also lifting Shen Mu, he looked towards the three girls and said: “I’ll send Shen Mu back. If there isn’t anything else, then everyone should go back.”

Liu Bo thought of something, and his complexion became a little unsightly. He looked at Li Xuesong as he carried Shen Mu and walked out of the hall without asking for any help.

Sun Jieqing finally dragged No. 8 to his bed: “Hu… I’m exhausted. Despite looking thin, he’s actually quite heavy.” Saying this, he rubbed his aching arms, preparing to close the door and return.

“Wait!” A little girl panted as she ran up the stairs, “Sleepy brother, wait a second!”

“What’s the matter, little girl? Why didn’t you go and eat?” Sun Jieqing was somewhat puzzled.

“I just thought of something,” The little girl who’d anxiously run over, gasped, “Sleepy brother, if you shut the door and No. 8 remains in a coma, how will he come out? If, if he can’t come out then won’t it be a violation of the rules?”

Sun Jieqing suddenly realised: “Oh! That’s it! You’re right.” Sun Jieqing, who was originally going to shut the door, only pulled it half closed, looking towards Shen Xin with a smile, saying, “You are a good child.”

Shen Xin also smiled at Sun Jieqing: ” Thank you brother.”

……

The fourth day, 6:00 am.

With barely half the players remaining, they turned their phones on nervously, but the expected peaceful night hadn’t occurred. On the fourth day, there was still a player who’d died. The person eliminated was No. 5, Sun Jieqing.

At 9:00, the remaining six players began the game discussion for the fourth day. To be precise, there were really five players. No. 8 was still unconscious so he was carried to his seat in the gaming lounge by No. 2 Jiang Shuyi and No. 11 Li Xuesong.

This time, the speaking order was in an anticlockwise direction, starting with No. 2 Jiang Shuyi.

“I, I really don’t know…” Jiang Shuyi tightly knitted her brows, and almost began crying, “Initially, I did trust Shen Mu and thought that he seemed like a police officer. When Yang Ge died yesterday, I also felt it was impossible for Yang Ge to commit suicide and that Shen Mu was actually the killer… But at the end, when Shen Mu said that since everyone already believed in Yang Ge, Yang Ge’s purpose had been achieved, I felt that it was true…”

“However,” Jiang Shuyi finally couldn’t hold back her tears, “The person who died today was another one of Yang Ge’s companions. If he really was a killer, it would be impossible for a killer to once again kill one of their own. No killer team would kill two of their members, it’s impossible… wu… I voted incorrectly, but I, I really am a good person. Don’t vote for me… I’m really a civilian… ” Jiang Shuyi sobbed until she couldn’t speak.

Although Jiang Shuyi cried grievously, the next speaker, Lin Huiru, dismissed her: “If you keep crying then it will affect my speech!”

Jiang Shuyi trembled, and the sobs that had yet to be let out seemed to have been cut-off, however her body still instinctively spasmed, unable to stop for some time. Jiang Shuyi desperately bit her own sleeve, preventing herself from issuing another sound, but her tears wouldn’t stop flowing.

Jiang Shuyi’s muffled crying was pitiful, but Lin Huiru didn’t have any sympathy, only sneeringly saying, “This appearance of No. 8’s doesn’t look like he’s pretending. Then the killer must be someone else. Someone crying like this, isn’t it just because they’re afraid? After all, Yang Ge died yesterday and no innocent person would help Shen Mu vote. Only his teammates would vote with him to eliminate Sun Jieqing!”

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