Chapter 38.2
They did not manage to find any additional clues after checking the 12 corpses. After a brief discussion, everyone decided to go their separate ways to continue searching for clues.
Of course, before all the players dispersed, they came to a unanimous decision to tie Princ.i.p.al Zha up for the sake of everyone’s safety. After all, they did not want to risk the possibility of Princ.i.p.al Zhad doing something nefarious as everyone was busy searching for evidence alone.
This was especially so for a girl like Li Xiao Yu. If they gave him free rein during their independent searches, it would be extremely unsafe for her.
In the midst of their free exploration, Gu Liang, Yang Ye, and Xun Feng formed a group unwittingly. They dug around the gra.s.s patches at the school’s flower bed but they did not manage to find any valuable clues.
Hence, Yang Ye turned his attention towards the stone monument that was right in front of the school’s entrance which was engraved with the school rules for a long time. He was hoping that there would be some information concerning the secret of “undying” but he did not find anything.
In the end, the three of them returned back to Yang Ye’s shroud shop to rest.
Yang Ye boiled some tap water, waited for it to cool, and poured it into three cups.
After he distributed the water to Gu Liang and Xun Feng, Yang Ye sat down. “What do you think?”
Gu Liang did not answer. Meanwhile, Xun Feng uttered, “Boss Meng killed Princ.i.p.al Zha, Princ.i.p.al Zha killed BBQ Li, BBQ Li killed Beggar Ding, School Senior Feng killed Neighbour Liu, Neighbour Liu killed Boss Meng. Right now, we still don’t know who killed School Senior Feng.”
Yang Ye said: “If Beggar Ding was the one who killed School Senior Feng, the slaughter will become a complete closed loop.”
Xun Feng: “A closed looped slaughter? Are you trying to say A killed B, B killed C, and C killed A… the possibility certainly exists. The slaughtering became a cycle, and this cycle occurred twice. But therein lies the problem. There are 6 characters, 12 corpses and everyone died twice, and the manners of death are exactly the same. Who’s the deceased? Who’s the murderer?”
A moment later, Yang Ye stated: “All I can say now is that, I think that Beggar Ding is the real deceased.”
Xun Feng: “How did you deduce that?”
“Given our present circ.u.mstances, it’s not something I deduced from the plot itself but from some other instance.”
Yang Ye gazed at Gu Liang, “Do you remember Maid Liu from ‘Death of Boss Bai’?” She was a NPC. After the script enactment concluded, she also partic.i.p.ated in the free exploration segment that came later. Although she didn’t have the right to vote at the end, she was still present for the centralised discussion segment. But Beggar Ding is different, he didn’t show up the entire time because he’s the person who is completely dead. He’s the deceased in this case.”
Xun Feng thought about it for a moment. He said: “Okay, let’s a.s.sume that the deceased is him. Logically speaking, this closed loop should continue ad infinitum. But why did it come to an end? Was there someone who was aware of this closed loop, and proceeded to break the loop? How did this closed loop come about, could it be related to some kind of witchcraft or sci-fi setting? But we didn’t find any clues pertaining to that.”
In his heart, Yang Ye murmured, There is actually a place that hasn’t been searched properly— the coffin shop that Gu Liang resided in.
Yang Ye drank a large gulp of water slowly before he gazed at Gu Liang, who hadn’t issued a word thus far. “Gu Liang, you don’t have any opinions about this?”
Gu Liang raised his eyelids and said placidly, “It’s just that I have nothing to add. Your doubts, are similar to those that I have. The general consensus we have is that the dead will come back to life, but we don’t have any clues that elucidate…What are the conditions necessary to cause actual deaths.”
Yang Ye placed the cup he was holding back on the table, and slowly drew a circle on the rim of the cup.
Subsequently, he asked Gu Liang directly: “Let’s talk alone?”
Rather than Gu Liang, it was Xun Feng who spoke first: “Is there something that I’m not allowed to hear?”
Gu Liang gave Yang Ye a quiet look before he proceeded to stand up. “I’m going back to the coffin shop for a bit. There are some things I’d like to think about on my own. Come and find after 10 minutes. We’ll talk alone then.”
After saying those words, Gu Liang turned and departed right away.
Xun Feng shot a strange look at Gu Liang’s back figure as it was disappearing around the corner of the shroud shop’s stairs. Following, he directed his gaze towards Yang Ye, the doubt in his eyes louder than ever. “What are you hiding from me?”
Yang Ye got up and patted him on the shoulder. “Once I’m done talking to him, I’ll have a proper conversation with you.”
* * *
Gu Liang returned to the attic in the coffin shop three minutes later.
He sat on the bed and took out his own journal.
In the morning, he had torn off the pages with the key information and flushed it down the toilet.
But there were still a few pages with inconsequential information that had survived, like the one regarding the fact that “Yang Ye’s bread pork cutlets were quite delicious”.
Gu Liang stared at the blank pages, recalling the contents that were once written on it. Afterwards, he flipped towards the back absentmindedly until he reached a certain page that was blank and devoid of written words.
While this piece of parchment was blank, faint pen markings could be discerned.
This meant that someone had used a pen to write something on this page, only to tear it off later.
Gu Liang lifted up the journal to carefully scrutinise it, and came to the realisation that the page actually possessed signs of having been torn off.
All the pages that Gu Liang had torn off this morning concerned the records of his timeline and plot, and it ended at where he had suspected himself to be the murderer.
During that span of time, he had never touched the last few pages of the journal.
This could only indicate that prior to the loss of his memories in the previous afternoon, he had probably written something at the end of the journal. It was just that he was not privy to the reason why he had chosen to rip off this page immediately after he wrote down something.
What his state of mind had been then, was not something Gu Liang could pa.r.s.e out because he had lost those memories wholly.
Right now, he could only find a pencil and gently shade the blank page.
After the blank piece of paper was shaded in, the text that had been removed alongside the torn page, finally reemerged.
— I refused to kill Princ.i.p.al Zha with my own hands today, and was punished. Because of this, he actually said that… I was a hero. I don’t deserve being called this adjective at all. I’m a little pathetic. And Yang Ye… He’s a little silly.
Hero?
Yang Ye actually said… I was a hero?
Gu Liang threw the journal aside and fell back onto his bed.
After a while, he raised the journal again to have another look. Then, he closed his eyes, allowing the journal to fall and cover his own eyes.
He did not move for a long time, as though he had fallen asleep.
* * *
On the other end. Ten minutes after Gu Liang’s departure, Yang Ye traversed through their backyards and knocked on his backdoor.
Yang Ye did not have to wait too long before Gu Liang came to open the door.
With the lens of his gla.s.ses, Yang Ye’s gaze seemed quite gentle.
Gu Liang gave him an indifferent glance before he slanted his body to let him in.
Since Gu Liang did not open his mouth, Yang Ye did not speak either, merely choosing to follow him into the main hall of the coffin shop.
— In the centre of the main hall, the coffin lid had already been lifted.
When he saw Gu Liang taking the initiative to flip into the coffin, Yang Ye’s eyebrows furrowed together slightly as he walked over to him.
He understood everything immediately— a secret room was hidden underneath the coffin.
After they followed the stone staircase to climb downwards, Yang Ye and Gu Liang arrived at a cellar.
Several jars of alcohol were stored in the cellar, and one of them had a letter placed on top.
Faint yellows stained the envelope parchment, and it seemed like it had been placed here for quite some time.
Gu Liang surveyed the cellar briefly before his gaze landed on the letter. “I might have come down here yesterday, but I don’t remember the specifics of what I saw anymore. However, a purview shows that there aren’t any clues on the walls or the floors. Therefore, the truth should be hidden in his letter. Do you want to read it with me?”
To Gu Liang’s surprise, Yang Ye did not reply to him immediately. Instead, he advanced towards him and stood firmly.
The cellar was dark. The only source of light was a dim yellow wall lamp.
As the light illuminated Yang Ye’s face, the close proximity he shared with Gu Liang caused the partial shadows of his body and lowered lashes to fall on Gu Liang’s visage.
Despite lifting his head up, Gu Liang could not see Yang Ye’s eyes properly. Hence, he could only stare at the reflection on the gla.s.ses sitting on Yang Ye’s nose bridge, slightly unfocused.
Following that, Yang Ye lifted his hand and held Gu Liang’s shoulder, bringing his entire person even closer to Gu Liang.
Half a beat later, Gu Liang heard Yang Ye say in a soft voice: “Since you brought me here, can I a.s.sume that you’re trusting me?”
Gu Liang’s expression was calm. Upon closer scrutiny, a certain obliqueness veiled his eyes; there seemed to be some agitation and despondency, and even weariness for the world.
Gu Liang did not answer Yang Ye’s question, but Yang Ye perceived something from his expression.
Yang Ye came to the abrupt realisation that his thoughts were wrong.
— Perhaps, he was choosing to be this honest, not because he was willing to cooperate with him.
Yang Ye’s line of sight lowered and stopped at the red cord on Gu Liang’s wrist.
Suddenly, Yang Ye’s expression became incredibly grave. “Gu Liang, tell me, why are you doing this? What’s the actual reason?”
Gu Liang met his gaze, surprised. “Is there something wrong with what I’m doing?”
Yang Ye held up his wrist and stared him in the eyes. “You’re the murderer, I’m the detective. You might be showing me your trump card now, but it seems like you neither trust me nor have the intention to work with me. What kind of impression is this supposed to leave?”
Having understood something, Gu Liang chuckled. “Do you a.s.sume that I’m looking for death?”
After a moment of silence, Yang Ye said: “You don’t deliberately look for death. But I feel that… perhaps, you don’t really want to live either.”
Gu Liang raised his eyebrows as the corners of his mouth curved downwards simultaneously, making it evident that he was somewhat displeased. “Do you think that I haven’t recovered from my depression, just like Xun Feng?”
Upon seeing Gu Liang’s expression, Yang Ye closed his eyes and released a small sigh.
In order to de-escalate the surrounding atmosphere, he released Gu Liang’s wrist and forced himself to switch to a gentle and teasing tone. “Okay. I feel more a.s.sured after hearing you say that. I was just casually asking, because…”
Gu Liang asked him: “Because what? You don’t believe that I’m capable of being this honest?”
Yang Ye tried his best to speak with a derisive tone: “It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s that you don’t believe in me. And if you were to directly hand me the critical pieces of evidence under the circ.u.mstances where you don’t trust me… From your standpoint, you’re giving way to a possibility where you’re throwing away your life. It’s not like you’re taking my life into consideration and you’re reluctant to let me die. You’re such a straight person, and you don’t even like me…”
“Like you?” Gu Liang repeated his phrase. He gave Yang Ye a one-over, as if he found his words to be quite interesting, which caused his lips to quirk up. Without the slightest courtesy, he said: “Of course not.”
Yang Ye: “…..”
“You have the proclivity for thinking too much.” Gu Liang pushed Yang Ye away, walked towards the alcohol jar, bent his waist and picked the letter up.
Then, he raised the letter and turned towards Yang Ye unhurriedly, expression natural and determined. “Even if I were to reveal my trump card to you, I wouldn’t necessarily lose. The centralised discussion lasts for 5 hours this time around, there’s enough time for us to debate.”
Yang Ye observed Gu Liang for a moment. Despite that, he still walked up to him and peered at the letter in his hands.
A few bolded words were written on this letter: Words from Father Meng to Boss Meng.
Hence, these few words concisely conveyed that this letter was left for Boss Meng by Boss Meng’s father.
Since the letter was not glued together, Gu Liang took out the letter without any troubles and proceeded to read the contents with Yang Ye.
“Son, do you know that our small town has another name? It’s called Undying Town. That’s because a great wizard appeared in our town and created an incredibly powerful spell called “Undying Spell”. He is an ancestor of our Meng Family. Therefore, I know how to use this spell as well.
“This spell is terribly sinister, which is why I never dared to use it. But before I died, I calculated that you would be seized by death once, so I decided to use this spell on you in the end… To be exact, I used it on everyone in this small town.
“Once you die in an unfortunate event, you will immediately revive. But starting from the moment of your death, the spell will trigger a chain reaction and everyone on the surrounding street will be affected by the spell, thus becoming cruel and fierce murderers who slaughter.
“Of course, these people who are affected by the spell and start to kill will also be protected by the spell. Even if someone were to die, they will revive accordingly. However, upon their death and instant revival, their memories will revert back to what it was 24 hours prior. As the slaughter continues, everyone on this street might fall into a cycle of death, where everyone is trapped on the exact same day, ceaselessly killing and being killed.
“Fortunately, there is a way to break out of it all— If someone in the group of resurrectors commits suicide, the spell can be broken. Since the suicidal is genuinely begging for death, they will no longer receive the influence of the ‘Undying Curse’ as a natural consequence. When that time comes around, the cycle of death will be broken, the time fetters will disappear, and your lives will revert back to normal.
“Hence, if you were to enter the cycle of death, you have to find a way to make your murderer commit suicide. In that way, not only will you be punis.h.i.+ng your murderer, you can also live like a normal person again and restore peace back to the whole small town.”
* * *
After reading the letter, Yang Ye mulled over it briefly before he gazed at Gu Liang: “Therefore, the subsequent killings were a chain reaction. The reason why it came about was because Neighbour Liu murdered you?”
“Mn, maybe.”
Gu Liang placed the letter in Yang Ye’s hands, “Feel free to show everyone the letter. I don’t mind.”
As Yang Ye took the letter, he heard Gu Liang going on to say: “Firstly, the letter mentioned a spell which happens to coincide with your previous brain hole that everyone had fallen into a cycle of life and death, which trapped them in the same day. But does this cycle really exist? The presupposition in this cycle theory is that School Senior Feng was indeed killed by Beggar Ding. But how did Beggar Ding kill her exactly?
“Secondly, even if Beggar Ding killed School Senior Feng, the cycle still exists. My father might not be the only one who used the spell; other people might have used it. I refuse to believe that in this entire story, only my character is a.s.sociated with the spell. If that’s the case, it’d be too difficult for me to play.
“In fact, even if I was the only one who knew about this spell and my father was its only user, the prerequisite for this spell to take effect is that I have to be the one to die first. But can you prove that I was the first to die? When all is said and done, there are only two of my corpses, just like everyone else.
“Thirdly, if I were to follow my father’s instruction, I should be killing Neighbour Liu. Why is the deceased Beggar Ding then?
“If you are certain that Beggar Ding is the deceased, both of his corpses are wearing pained expressions and their lips are green and purple. He was poisoned to death by the poisoned barbeque. How does that count for a suicide, or perhaps it’s more accurate to question, how did I make him commit suicide?
“Lastly, considering how I’m afflicted with repeated amnesia upon entering the cycle, how did I wake up to the truth, find this letter, and later remind myself to persuade someone to commit suicide? Since I’ve lost my memory and the corpses are buried at your house, I wouldn’t have known about these things. Therefore, I would constantly keep my appointment with Neighbour Liu, which goes to show that I didn’t know that he would kill me at all.”
When Gu Liang said those words, there was palpable provocation in his gaze.
“Beyond that, there are still a lot of places with issues. The letter being in my house cellar doesn’t mean that I’m the real murderer. Which is why I said, you were thinking too much just now. During the centralised discussion, I will definitely get rid of the suspicions on me. Unless— you can resolve these issues in front of everyone.
“Did you hear what Princ.i.p.al Zha said? One gold coin might be equivalent to 10 years of time. I think all the players will be exceedingly prudent when casting their votes later.”
Gu Liang did not expect that after he said those words, Yang Ye would unexpectedly smile.
— What was he smiling for?
I just explicated the fact that I was standing against him, that I’m selfish and ruthless to the extent where I’m putting him in a fatal position, what is he smiling for?
In a blink of an eye, Gu Liang heard Yang Ye state: “I feel comforted after seeing you react like this.”
Gu Liang: “What are you being relieved for? I’m going against you, and yet you’re comforted?”
Whether it was unintentional or deliberate, Yang Ye’s line of sight slid past the red cord on Gu Liang’s wrist. “Yes, as long as you have the desire to live, I’m comforted. After all, I might not get the chance to meet you in every script.
“We’re done here. I’m going to the other areas to have a look. See you later in the centralised discussion.”
After stating those words, Yang Ye moved around Gu Liang, went up the stairs and left the cellar.