Chapter 30: An Unexpected Turn

Qiong Cang sat in the lounge and quickly flipped through Li Yujia’s messaging apps, but unfortunately, she did not find much. He Jueyun had deleted almost all of them.

Since she did not know how the plot would develop, Qiong Cang could not accurately judge the usefulness of the information. She simply wrote down Li Yujia’s recent call history and the IDs of her social media contacts, then hurried to the fourth floor to pick up the X-ray scans.

The files had already been placed at the service window. Qiong Cang pulled out the folder labeled with Li Yujia’s name and took it to the attending physician for review.

The relatively young doctor turned the scans over and over, studying them several times. His expression grew increasingly grave. Finally, he swiped his card and began typing rapidly, instructing, “Take the patient to get another scan. After you pay the fee, take the receipt to the nurse standing at the door. She’ll tell you where to go.”

Qiong Cang showed her concern in a routine manner, asking, “Is something wrong? Is there a problem?”

The doctor only gave a vague reply, “We’ll talk when the results are out. It’s not certain yet. Don’t worry too much, both the patient and the family. It might not be a big deal. Go on.”

Qiong Cang took the medical card and thanked him politely.

And so, the time He Jueyun had to spend playing dead in the hospital was extended once again.

He was rummaging through his suitcase when he received this terrible news.

A bright red light flashed in his field of vision, and the system time in the top right corner jumped forward by a massive chunk, nearly causing him to lose his mind.

He Jueyun stood up and angrily threw the clothes in his hand to the floor.

He could not stand this injustice!

Before long, Qiong Cang returned. She placed the folder on the table with a calm expression. Looking at her companion, who was radiating a sullen, depressed aura, she asked innocently, “What’s wrong?”

“Why!” He Jueyun’s mental state collapsed. He pointed at his wristwatch and yelled, “My examination time jumped straight to tomorrow afternoon! I have to lie here for another whole day! Is this Instance in forced AFK mode? Unbelievable, it’s doing this on purpose to mess with me, isn’t it?”

“The doctor looked at the scans and thought there was a problem. He consulted with a few colleagues and decided you need another checkup,” Qiong Cang said regretfully. “I pressed him for a long time, but he wouldn’t tell me why. Do you know if Li Yujia has any serious medical history?”

He Jueyun said dryly, “I don’t know. I didn’t find anything.”

“It’s fine. I’ll stay and talk with you so you don’t get bored.” Qiong Cang sat down by the bed and said with utmost patience, “I don’t think this Instance is very difficult, and there aren’t many characters. Either there’s a key plot point coming up, or the murderer is among these few people. Let’s discuss it slowly, no rush.”

Being comforted by her, that slightly awkward feeling rose up in He Jueyun’s heart again.

Any man treated this way would find it hard to remain indifferent. Although straight men could be a bit slow to react, they were not completely clueless.

He really wanted to see through Qiong Cang’s thoughts, but let alone in a game, even in reality, he found it difficult to read this woman. She had clearly started out acting like a lunatic, only to suddenly switch her persona to a caring partner. Who could have guessed that?

Since Qiong Cang was acting so magnanimous, he could not lose his temper any further. He Jueyun paced around the room and asked, “By the way, where is my phone? I couldn’t find it just now.”

Qiong Cang said, “I remember taking it.”

Qiong Cang slipped her hands into her pockets, looked down in surprise, and pulled out two phones from her pockets.

“Hmm?”

He Jueyun immediately said, “The one with the case is mine.”

Qiong Cang handed it over.

He Jueyun lit up the screen and saw a few unread messages on the home screen, which meant Qiong Cang probably had not opened his phone. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, looked up, and said, “It’s that private investigator from yesterday. He sent me another message.”

Qiong Cang sneered, “He just won’t give up, and he’s got quite the nerve. What did he say?”

He Jueyun scrolled down to read the full message and explained, “He sent me a set of photos.”

Holding the phone, he walked over to Qiong Cang, leaning down shoulder-to-shoulder with her, and brought the screen closer.

Qiong Cang caught the faint scent of medicine on him, turned her gaze, and looked at the photos.

From the angles, these photos were clearly taken covertly from a distance. The investigator had probably rented a room on the same floor in the building opposite Wu Ming’s place to take candid shots.

The photos were a series. The first three showed Wu Ming entering the residential compound, walking into the lobby of his building, and standing by the window in men’s clothing. The last one was the silhouette of a woman.

The first three photos were very clear, but the last one showed a figure blocked by a curtain, capturing only a back view. It clearly conveyed two pieces of information: they were in the same place, and the person was a woman.

With preconceived notions, anyone seeing these photos would find it hard not to believe that there was an improper relationship between the two.

Furthermore, the investigator had drawn a conclusion at the end of the images, stating that Wu Ming was indeed keeping a mistress outside. He urged Li Yujia to pay the remaining balance quickly so he could provide the original photos.

Qiong Cang looked at the last line of text and could not help but laugh.

He Jueyun took back his phone and asked, “Is the woman Wu Ming is cheating with suspicious?”

“She shouldn’t be suspicious,” Qiong Cang said, her face instantly turning serious. “She has been away recently and has no time to commit the crime.”

He Jueyun did not suspect anything and simply replied, “Oh.”

Before long, Qiong Cang’s phone also rang. The person contacting her was none other than the investigator from yesterday.

“I’ve already sent the photos to your wife. You know that, right?”

“Think about what happened yesterday again. Don’t regret it.”

“If this gets out, it won’t benefit anyone. With a divorce and a scandal happening at the same time, can your company even keep running? Influencers need a good reputation, don’t they?”

Qiong Cang turned her phone screen to show He Jueyun as well, saying with complete openness, “Look. This guy has a massive appetite, trying to get paid by both sides. He’s dreaming big.”

He Jueyun followed her train of thought and said, “It seems he was the one who pushed Li Yujia over the edge. Li Yujia was hospitalized after being shoved by Zhou Langxiu, only to have an unknown illness discovered, and now she receives proof of her husband’s infidelity. With several major blows hitting her in succession, her emotions could easily spiral out of control.”

Qiong Cang agreed. At the same time, she took a screenshot of the interface and expertly called the police to report the detective for blackmail.

Keep an eye on whoever she could. Now that both Zhou Langxiu and the private detective were under police control, the only person left with both the motive and the opportunity was Li Yujia.

At this thought, Qiong Cang’s voice paused mid-report to the operator, her gaze turning gently toward He Jueyun.

He Jueyun shivered under her gaze and whispered, “You…”

Qiong Cang made a shushing gesture, and He Jueyun swallowed his words, stopping himself from speaking.

He Jueyun waited until Qiong Cang finished the call before he couldn’t help but prompt her, “Don’t you think Li Yujia is the murderer? It’s highly likely that Li Yujia took the photos to confront Wu Ming and accidentally killed him during their argument. Surely you’ve realized that?”

Qiong Cang replied casually, “Given the physical differences between men and women, it would be quite difficult to make it an ‘accident’.”

“The point isn’t whether it was intentional or accidental. It’s that when facing a major suspect, as the player roleplaying the victim, you should maintain a healthy level of suspicion. What are you doing right now? Why are you being so honest with me? We might not be teammates in this round, and we could even be enemies. There’s no such thing as a free win. Do you actually know the rules of Sanyao’s instances?” He Jueyun spoke a bit quickly out of anxiety, throwing out a string of questions all at once. He was amused and exasperated inside, but his expression remained serious. “You can’t reform the murderer. Sanyao doesn’t have that setting. The person destined to kill you will still kill you. If a character deviates from the script, it’s just considered OOC.”

Although He Jueyun was a supervisor, his main task was to observe the mental state and investigative methods of new players in the game to prevent the overly realistic simulations from causing negative psychological effects on players and viewers. But this didn’t mean he was someone players could rely on. If he was assigned a character script, he had to participate in the game according to that script’s identity.

For example, his identity in the first round was 【Investigator】, which allowed him to help Qiong Cang gather clues.

And in this round, he speculated that his identity was very likely the 【Murderer】, which meant he could only stand on the opposite side of Qiong Cang. Only after the 【Night of Murder】 instance opened and the system distributed the complete script would he be able to confirm whether he was the actual murderer.

Qiong Cang put away her phone. Her eyes were clear, yet they held an unreadable depth. With a smile hovering at the corners of her mouth, she said, “It’s fine, I know.” But I won’t change.

He Jueyun was choked by her response and shook his head helplessly. “Forget it, forget it. I don’t get you.”

·

The viewers in the live stream room had excited, gossip-loving expressions on their faces.

“Tired of saying it: She does. She’s on it. She’s moving fast.”

“Brother Q: You need to keep your guard up against me! Big Boss: Or what?”

“This tells us that the most important thing for a person is to have self-awareness.”

“Bah! Scumbag!”

“I know, Brother Q must be experiencing one of the three major illusions of life¹ right now…”

“The players in the neighboring instance have completely fallen out, but these two are actually still acting lovey-dovey. 【Just kidding】”

“Is it just me? I feel like the crime scene won’t be reconstructed this time, and we’ll go straight to the investigation phase.”

·

Having nothing left to say to Qiong Cang, He Jueyun simply lay on the bed, crossed his legs, and started playing on his phone.

Unexpectedly, someone with Qiong Cang’s personality actually initiated a conversation with him after he fell silent.

She asked, “Do you know Sanyao well? How long have you been working there?”

He Jueyun paused for a moment before replying, “Quite a while.”

Qiong Cang asked again, “Does Sanyao pay well?”

“It’s… decent?” He Jueyun said. “The benefits are pretty good. You won’t get fired even if you talk back to the boss, and we get double pay for overtime. But we usually don’t work overtime. If the workload increases, they just hire new people.”

Qiong Cang: “No wonder you smell like money.”

He Jueyun: “??” His wallet suddenly felt a bit cold.

“It’s nothing.” Qiong Cang adjusted her tone and asked, “Do you have any hobbies?”

He Jueyun hesitated before saying, “Reading, playing games, doing field research? Why do you ask?”

Qiong Cang commented, “Pretty ordinary.”

“What else?” He Jueyun sat up cross-legged, amused. “Spread my wings on the edge of danger and feel the thrill of dancing on the line between life and death?”

Qiong Cang shrugged. “But you can’t deny that many trust-fund kids, because of their abundant wealth, have high entertainment thresholds and need to satisfy their mental needs through different channels.”

“I’m not,” He Jueyun denied flatly. “I’m not a trust-fund kid.” He was probably old money.

By now, it was already dark outside. A nurse came in to take He Jueyun’s temperature, adjusted the room temperature, and closed the door behind her.

He Jueyun’s hair had fallen loose, hanging down at the sides and making him uncomfortable. He went to ask for a hair tie and skillfully tied his hair back.

Qiong Cang was peeling an apple in her hand. Seeing this, she asked, “Did your girlfriend teach you that?”

“What?” He Jueyun said. “Sorry, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Qiong Cang demurred, “You don’t need to apologize to me for not having a girlfriend. After all, I’m not your elder.”

He Jueyun thought about it and felt a bit off. He said, “I apologized only because I couldn’t tell you the specific details, not for the reason you mentioned.”

Qiong Cang: “I didn’t want to pry into the specific details.”

“Heh,” He Jueyun said. “You’re really interesting.”

The blade in Qiong Cang’s hand suddenly slipped, and the long apple peel broke, falling to the ground.

She said meaningfully, “You might regret saying that today.”

He Jueyun: “Why?”

Qiong Cang said, “Because everyone who has ever called me interesting turned out to be a bad person.”

He Jueyun thought it was something serious, but smiled confidently. “You can rest easy on that. I’m as upright as they come², and my greatest virtue is patriotism. Someone like me couldn’t possibly be a bad person.”

Qiong Cang returned his smile and handed him the peeled apple.

He Jueyun narrowed his eyes and reluctantly took the apple.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that the apple was poisoned.

Qiong Cang wiped her hands clean, took a book out of her suitcase, flattened it on her knees, and smiled with gentlemanly grace. “Let me read to you for a bit. Get some sleep.”

He Jueyun felt a chill run through his entire body. …Damn! This was freaking terrifying!

·

Since no major plot points were triggered in the hospital, the game time sped forward.

The next afternoon, Li Yujia’s medical report finally came out.

Li Yujia, mid-stage stomach cancer.

Holding the report, He Jueyun fell into a long silence, at a loss for how to describe this bizarre twist of fate.

By now, with less than half a day left before the 【Night of Murder】 on the 28th began, the two key figures were still sitting idly in the hospital, completely oblivious to any impending danger.

As time ticked away, both of them began to sense that something was off. This peaceful, quiet atmosphere clearly did not match the style of the 【Case Analysis】 instance.

“I’m going to die tomorrow,” Qiong Cang said, her tone as calm as if she were dictating her last will and testament. “Why is the final day before the storm so quiet and uneventful?”

He Jueyun was equally calm. After all, his character did not have long to live either.

The two dying people stared at each other in the hospital ward.

“Don’t you know Sanyao really well?” Qiong Cang asked. “I’m just a newcomer. Sanyao’s rules are explained very vaguely, and I didn’t quite get them. What happens when no subsequent plot points are triggered?”

He Jueyun muttered under his breath, “Could there be another player?”

Qiong Cang blinked.

The more He Jueyun thought about it, the more likely it seemed. “We hid in the hospital, so he couldn’t uncover any plot points, which meant we couldn’t find anything on our end either. As a result, the progress from the 26th to the 27th is a complete blank.”

An ominous premonition rose in Qiong Cang’s heart.

As if to confirm her fears, Sanyao’s system popped up a red notification box.

• Due to one player failing to uncover the main plot and another major player being severely OOC, the storyline has deviated from the script. The 【Night of Murder】 instance has failed to initiate. Game time has been advanced to March 1st, 8:00 AM. 【Victim: Wu Ming】 has died. Anomalous data has been corrected.

Qiong Cang: “…??”

Qiong Cang showed a rare expression of confusion. “So… I just died like that?”

He Jueyun: “Oh?”

Qiong Cang: “You’re grinning.”

He Jueyun wiped his face, trying to control himself. “No, I’m not.”

Qiong Cang was still brooding over it. “Who on earth was that other person? Why did I have to die just because they failed to explore?”

He Jueyun had to remind her, “Mainly because there was also a ‘severe OOC’.”

Given the relationship between Wu Ming and Li Yujia, there was no way he would stay in the hospital to accompany her. He would have even taken Zhou Langxiu’s side. The plot had deviated drastically from that point, making it impossible to predict what the three of them would do when pushed to extremes.

Qiong Cang had thought that keeping an eye on the three suspects would allow her to identify the murderer, but altering the characters’ paths also led to a lack of evidence. And now, she still couldn’t clearly point out who the real murderer was.

“I’m dead,” Qiong Cang said flatly. “And I died because I cared about you.”

He Jueyun accused her, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Qiong Cang’s interface had gone completely gray, and He Jueyun’s face in her line of sight became hazy.

She raised her hand, preparing to click exit with regret, when Sanyao popped up another notification box.

【Since Player ID: QC1361 has achieved a personal clue exploration rate of over 80%, would you like to be redeployed to the instance after clearing the relevant memory data?】

【New Instance Identity: Investigator】

【Instance Time: March 1st, 8:00 AM】

【You have received a report from your jurisdiction and are rushing to the crime scene with your investigators… Click to view identity details.】

Qiong Cang slowly turned her head to look at He Jueyun.

He Jueyun asked uneasily, “What?”

Qiong Cang: “Oh-ho³.”

This “oh-ho” was full of soul.

The author has something to say:

He Jueyun: Why are you asking all this?

Qiong Cang: Multiple choice.

Hospice care.

Pre-death highlight.

Psychological compensation.

Translator’s Notes