CH 117

(Finding the murderer)

Shen Dongqing watched a brat who was barely tall enough to reach an adult’s waist stroll in, sporting a black and white striped tiny suit. His particularly self-satisfied walking posture, when combined with his pompous small face, made people laugh. 

The young nurse, who burst out in maternal love, half-squatted and asked, “What is your relationship with the patient?”

“He’s my father,” the brat said, putting his hands in his pockets and looking at the young nurse.

For a minute, the young nurse’s gaze darted back and forth between the two.

The big guy’s and little guy’s facial features were undoubtedly comparable, but… could such a small child be chosen as a player? If this was the case, the game was truly insane and ludicrous! 

Yup! The young nurse was also a player.

This game instance’s mode was “secret group.” Everyone had a secret that they couldn’t let the other players know, otherwise… There was only one end, and that was to die.

However, according to the game, you could eliminate them if you first learned their secrets. If there was just one player remaining at the conclusion, that player would clear the instance directly.

Fortunately, there was another way to clear the instance, which was to identify the culprit in this murder case.

Three days ago…

…a homicide occurred in the villa neighborhood.

Because the villa region was extensive and the residents were divided by small gardens, the murder at the villa was not immediately discovered, giving the murderer time to deal with the scene.

When the police arrived, the only things left were a corpse and a comatose Shen Dongqing. 

The young nurse assumed the identity of the XX hospital’s nurse as soon as she entered the instance. She had a good chance to approach Shen Dongqing, but she didn’t expect this key character to be amnesiac.

But she wasn’t sure if this amnesia was real, and she didn’t know if Shen Dongqing was a player or an NPC. For the time being, the young nurse could only observe him.

As for the young nurse’s secret…

She glanced at Shen Dongqing calmly. 

Shen Dongqing happened to look up and locked eyes with the young nurse.

The young nurse paused before smiling and instructed the brat: “Don’t make any noise. I’ll be outside waiting for you. You can call me if you need anything.”

Brat: “Got it.”

The young nurse was actually desperate to stay in the room and listen in on their talk in order to gain more information. However, given her identity, it was easy to be suspected if she did so, so she was obliged to withdraw momentarily. 

After the translucent frosted glass door was shut, the surly brat instantly changed his expression and hopped onto the hospital bed after two or three attempts.

Shen Dongqing shifted his buttocks and gave up most of the bed for the brat, then questioned, somewhat grumpily, “Why are you here?”

The brat looked shocked: “Can’t I come?”

Shen Dongqing wasn’t in the mood to pretend with the brat, so he got right to the point: “When did you come in?” 

“Three days ago,” the brat counted on his fingers.

“What’s your secret?” asked Shen Dongqing.

The brat almost blurted it out. He was about to say it when his brain luckily reacted faster. “Can’t say it, I can’t say it,” he shook his head desperately, two pudgy little hands covering his mouth.

“Where is Zhou Wenyan?” Shen Dongqing changed his question. 

It shouldn’t be that the brat came, but Zhou Wenyan didn’t.

Brat: “At home.” He paused, then added, “He can’t come out.”

Shen Dongqing didn’t ask too many questions. In any case, he’d find out when they met. Thinking of this, he jumped off the hospital bed and walked towards the door to go outside.

“There are people outside,” the brat sat on the edge of the bed, swaying his little legs. 

Shen Dongqing peered out through the frosted glass door. There were two uniformed police officers seated at the door, who appeared to be armed to the teeth.

“Your mother died three days ago,” the brat said, shaking his head.

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Standing at the door, Shen Dongqing assessed his own and the two individuals outside’s strength rankings and believed he could knock them down, but he claimed to be the new era’s good young man, never breaking the law or violating the discipline, so he couldn’t collapse his own character. 

He thought for a while before saying, “Let’s climb out the window.”

Crash—

Shen Dongqing poked his head out the ‘opened’ window. This was the fourth floor, which was not particularly high.

The brat scampered down, a little puzzled: “What are you going out for? You can’t go see Big Daddy right now.” 

Shen Dongqing: “How do you know?”

The brat explained: “The plot hasn’t yet officially begun. You can’t go home till it starts.”

Shen Dongqing’s response was “oh.” It didn’t matter that he couldn’t see Zhou Wenyan. They were both adults who would not die simply because they were separated. He naturally wanted to go out to—

“Is there a hot pot restaurant nearby?” 

Brat: “Hot pot? What’s that?”

Poor thing. He’d stayed in Ghost City all along, never venturing out to explore this world of pleasures.

Shen Dongqing’s eyes immediately filled with pity for the brat. “Let’s go, cheap son,” he beckoned.

The two characters, one big and one small, were both daring artists. They climbed down the drainage pipes outside the wall and the protruding balcony before jumping lightly to land on the lawn. 

Shen Dongqing swaggered out, dusting off his hands and taking his cheap son.

The hospital was downtown, and the vivid neon lights of the shopping mall were just two blocks away.

Shen Dongqing found a popular hot pot restaurant and walked in. Rich and imposing as he was, he ordered everything on the menu, including a red oil hotpot.

The waiter looked askance at this man, who was wearing a hospital gown and appeared to have just left the hospital. 

If nothing else, he’d never seen a patient come in to eat hot pot.

This patient not only did not avoid particular foods, but ate rather happily as well.

The country bumpkin brat met this battle head on. Even if two mouthfuls were enough to make him break out in snot and tears, he refused to stop eating and instead poured himself some cola. The brat suddenly thought that being the ghost king was no fun, so he might as well be a hotpot restaurant owner.

Shen Dongqing nodded in approval when he heard the brat’s ambition: “Not bad, not bad. That means I’ll be the father of the hotpot restaurant owner. That’ll be great.” 

They were having so much fun eating that they didn’t notice the young people sitting at the table next to them.

The youngsters placed their orders and began browsing on their phones. “Did you hear about that murder case?” one of them asked, looking at Weibo.

When the subject was brought up, the others quickly followed suit.

“Yes. According to reports, the deceased was a wealthy madam.” 

“Yeah, right—that wealthy madam was actually a mistress. I heard she despised the original wife and was cruel to the child she left behind, wishing to kill him and let her own child inherit everything. What a pity she didn’t get away with it.”

“No way! This is a civilized society.”

“Why not? Who knows what the wealthy are involved in. But I’m curious as to who this Mrs. Wealthy offended to get stabbed to death at home.”

“Damn… It can’t be the one left behind by the wife who did it, right?” 

“Who knows; certainly not me.”

After chatting for a while, they lost interest in the homicide and moved on to other topics.

“Is that me?” questioned Shen Dongqing as he clamped a piece of tripe and slowly cooked it in the soup.

The brat’s mouth was on fire, so his words were unclear: “Yes, yes, yes…” 

“So our objective is to find the murderer?” Shen Dongqing asked.

The brat nodded, then suddenly raised his head in the middle of eating and remarked carelessly, “It’s not really you, is it?”

Shen Dongqing considered for a moment: “I don’t think so.”

Brat: “Why?” 

What Shen Dongqing said was logical: “If the murderer is really me, I will self-detonate as soon as I go out. Won’t the game end right away? I don’t think it should be this retarded. What do you think?”

The brat promptly stated: “I think so, too.”

After finishing their hotpot, the two guys bought milk tea and sneaked back to the room while it was still dark.

Fortunately, no one came in during this period, and no one detected that the occupants of the ward had vanished. 

Shen Dongqing sipped his milk tea, sat cross-legged on the hospital bed, and sighed, “This is called life.”

He will enjoy life fully after exiting this bullshit game.

Whether it was the identity of the ghost king or the ability of the malicious ghost, it was not as good as a spicy hotpot.

Shen Dongqing remained in the hospital for another day before being discharged after ascertaining that his body had totally recovered. 

However, because he was a VIP customer of the hospital, he had recently been accompanied by a nurse to avoid accidents. That choice, of course, was the young nurse.

Because the murder investigation was still ongoing, the police naturally wanted to send someone to protect Shen Dongqing. But, perhaps it was the arrangement of the game plot that there was a bodyguard by his side, so the police dropped this idea. However, the police ordered him to remain in the city for the time being so that he could be summoned at any time.

Shen Dongqing agreed without hesitation. After all, he couldn’t leave even if he wanted to.

As a result, he returned home with a nurse, a bodyguard, and a cheap son. 

Shen Dongqing hailed from an affluent family with a complicated family background in this game.

Father Shen married his first wife when he was young, used his father-in-law’s connections to make a fortune, and had a son. What was surprising was that he had a mistress outside and a son with her who was just a few days younger than his wife’s son.

Later, when Father Shen’s wife died, he quickly married the mistress and made her a stepmother. Maybe it was because his way of doing things wasn’t very thorough, or maybe it was a plot requirement, but Father Shen died in a car accident not long ago. His inheritance had not been distributed and was also being contested.

However, not long after, the stepmother, who was expected to get the bulk of the fortune, was also stabbed to death. 

Thereupon, Shen Dongqing became the primary suspect.

But no one could jump to conclusions without evidence.

The car drove slowly into the yard.

Shen Dongqing exited the car and spotted a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses standing on the steps, carrying a thick stack of documents. 

“I’m a lawyer specializing in managing Mr. Shen’s estate.” The middle-aged man introduced himself.

Shen Dongqing nodded slightly and led the group of people into the villa.

A murder occurred just a few days ago in the villa, and even after it was cleaned up, there was still a bloody odor in the air.

As soon as Shen Dongqing entered, he noticed another man seated on the sofa in the hall. The man was elderly and dressed as a clergyman, and smiled kindly when he saw Shen Dongqing. 

“Mrs. Shen was a devout Christian while alive. She died unexpectedly. I believe she should hope for a Christian funeral service.” The priest folded his hands in courtesy after speaking.

Shen Dongqing nodded and proceeded to the crystal chandelier at the hall’s middle.

The villa door slammed shut after the last person entered, startling the young nurse. When she turned around, she spotted a solemn-looking butler standing in the dim light.

A human, not anything else, shut the door. 

The young nurse silently breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now that everyone is here,” the housekeeper began, “I’ll ask the second young master to come down.”

His steps were rapid but not hurried. He moved steadily up the stairs to the second level, and then his back vanished around the bend, as if he’d been swallowed by some monster.

The group sat down on the sofa and took measure of the others in silence. 

Shen Dongqing, on the other hand, was the most relaxed, sitting back on the sofa cushion, grabbing a handful of nuts and leisurely eating them.

The brat was sitting next to him. Their expressions and actions were nearly identical. The two noisily munched on the nuts, destroying the serious atmosphere.

It didn’t matter whether the mood was serious or not. Someone started a dialogue, and everyone introduced themselves briefly.

The introduction, of course, was not their identity as players, but the identity assigned in the game. With this introduction, the players discovered that, despite the small number of persons, there was no overlap in occupation. 

Nurse, bodyguard, lawyer, priest, rich second generation, rich second generation’s son, and the housekeeper upstairs.

From a professional standpoint, it was clearly not easy for these few people to gather together.

After a short while, the poker-faced butler came downstairs, followed by a young man.

The young man stood tall and straight. Most notably, those legs were really long. Given his physique, he would have no problem being a model. When he got closer, his features were even more attractive, as dazzling and sharp as diamonds. 

Instead of walking downstairs, he came to a halt on the steps and looked at the uninvited guests seated on the sofa.

The young nurse blushed mysteriously when she was looked at.

It’s a shame the person’s glance ran over her and didn’t stop.

The housekeeper said, “This is our second young master. May I ask why you’re all here?” 

“I’m here to look after the patient. The patient has just been discharged from the hospital. Our director is concerned about his health and has requested me to look after him,” the young nurse responded hurriedly.

The patient was peeling a banana and did not appear to be a patient at all. It was unusual for him to take a break from eating to silently greet Zhou Wenyan, who was standing calmly on the stairs.

Zhou Wenyan’s eyes lit up with a smile.

“I’m here for the distribution of Mr. Shen’s estate,” the lawyer explained. “Mr. Shen’s will is a bit intricate, I’m afraid it’ll take two days,” he said as he patted his briefcase, which had a large stack of documents. 

“I’m here to protect the eldest young master,” the bodyguard stated.

“Mrs. Shen was a devout believer, and I want to organize a Christian burial for her,” the priest said, raising his hand and drawing a cross.

Everyone had completed explaining their presence except Shen Dongqing, who had no idea what he was meant to do when he returned. He looked around before finally choking out, “I… I came back to see you.”

The brat raised his hand and added crisply, “Me too!” 

The other players thought to themselves: This excuse is too blunt. They won’t be kicked out, right?

Thankfully, the second young master did not chase anyone away. “In that case, please stay here for now; Butler, arrange rooms for the guests,” he simply nodded.

“Yes, second young master. Guests, please follow me,” the housekeeper said, bowing.

The players had no objection. 

They were aware that the plot took place at this villa, so they would not be rushing to leave. Rather, they cooperated by following the housekeeper upstairs.

The hall was suddenly empty except for Shen Dongqing and the brat.

Zhou Wenyan was still standing on the stairs, with no plans to descend.

Shen Dongqing walked over, brushed off the residue on his hands, and asked curiously, “You can’t come down?” 

There was already a small height gap between the two, but now that Zhou Wenyan was standing on the steps, this disparity had grown even wider. As a result, all he could do was lean down and gently brush away some food residue from the corner of Shen Dongqing’s mouth.

“This is… my secret.” He placed his palm on Shen Dongqing’s shoulder and said softly.

The atmosphere-destroying expert Shen Dongqing rolled his eyes: “…Oh! Isn’t it just a secret? I also have it.”

“Let’s go,” Zhou Wenyan said, taking Shen Dongqing’s hand in his. “We’ll go upstairs and have a look.” 

The abandoned brat found it unacceptable and trotted over on his little legs, shouting, “Me too, me too!”

Zhou Wenyan’s gaze swept over him before he could even touch Shen Dongqing’s jacket hem.

The brat withdrew his hand in fear and muttered, “Fine, I’m not going. So stingy—” He looked up and watched as the figures of the two darens faded away, murmuring thoughtfully: “Eh? How can he be scarier than before?”