Chapter 13: Lewd Cruise (12)
Ji Ning looked at the countdown. There were clearly still 19 hours left, yet No. 5 had been in such a rush to submit his answer.
According to what Xing Ye had said, the most likely answer for No. 5 was the Left-handed Bodyguard. It now seemed No. 5's answer was wrong; the murderer was not the person exposed on the surface.
"Right!" Ji Ning remembered something Xing Ye had told her before. "The clue hint was—[See Through the Mist to the Truth]. That actually means the surface answer is just the 'fog,' and the real culprit is someone else. Is that what it means?"
"You're right." Xing Ye affirmed her words. "No. 5 didn't receive the hint, nor did he have a role capable of forming a team. He had no way of knowing this seemingly profound but actually crucial hint. His bodyguard identity may have allowed him to gather a lot of key information, but that information pointed to the wrong answer. That's why he was so confidently submitting early, wanting to get the highest score reward."
After listening to Xing Ye's explanation, the light in Ji Ning's eyes dimmed. She lowered her head, struggling to accept that a companion was just gone like that.
Her heart clenched as she waited quietly for a long time, hearing no unusual sounds. She asked Xing Ye in a small voice, "How are people who answer wrong… eliminated?"
Her voice trembled. Hearing it, a long-lost emotion called "heartache" surfaced in Xing Ye's heart. He told Ji Ning simply, "I don't know. You can only see the expression of the person being eliminated, no sound, and then the person slowly fades away. Ji Ning, promise me, never watch."
Ji Ning's heart stopped for a moment. She clenched her hands and answered him, "Alright."
Xing Ye didn't know what to say to comfort a girl. He could only, at an angle where others couldn't see, use his windbreaker as cover and hold Ji Ning's hand.
"Although No. 5 answered wrong, the knife wounds on the victim's body really were made by the Left-handed Bodyguard, the one named Wu Hao, right?" Ji Ning turned grief and indignation into strength, quickly rallying.
Xing Ye was surprised by how quickly she adjusted her mindset and affirmed, "Yes. Although some clues that point somewhere aren't necessarily the answer, they're definitely unique clues, otherwise it would be too difficult."
Ji Ning calmed down and analyzed seriously, "The victim also had a fatal wound on the back of his head. If the killer wasn't Wu Hao, then that means Young Master Hui was already dead before the knife wounds. The person who caused the fatal wound is the real 'murderer'. Brother Xing Ye, did you look closely at the wound on the back of the head? What could have caused it?"
Xing Ye nodded. "I looked. It seemed like something sharp and foreign suddenly pierced in, damaging the brain tissue. There's a skull at the back of the head; without a certain amount of force, you can't inflict a fatal wound."
Another new puzzle had appeared. Ji Ning let out a soft sigh.
Xing Ye stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. "From my experience, this wound was very likely accidental. Aside from this fatal wound and the knife wounds, the victim had no other signs of a struggle. First, even for a man, it's very difficult to land a single hit on the back of the head protected by the skull. Second, if it were premeditated murder, there are far better spots than the back of the head—the throat, the heart, the temple. So, the 'weapon' that caused this back-of-the-head wound was probably environmental."
"Environmental?" Ji Ning frowned slightly. "You mean it wasn't a murder weapon like a dagger?"
Knowing the fatal wound wasn't directly man-made, Ji Ning had a strong intuition that Yang Yi was very likely the final answer.
But without evidence, Ji Ning couldn't bear the price of gambling on intuition. She and Xing Ye still needed more evidence to support their answer, to ensure both of them could survive.
"Correct. So I'll go look right away, find where on the ship could cause this kind of wound. That's the only way to advance to the next clue." Xing Ye was very decisive. Rather than speculate, better to seek proof.
Ji Ning nodded. "Then I'll go too. Two people searching is faster. I'll search the lower deck, Brother Xing Ye, you search the first and second decks. That's more efficient."
"Alright, be extremely careful." Xing Ye gave Ji Ning a deep look.
In this game world that devours people without blinking an eye, every look could be the last.
Livestream comments:
"What a touching duo!"
"No. 6 Ji Ning, I'm a fan. She's very suited to surviving here."
"What exactly is the answer? Watching so many player perspectives, everyone's suspicions seem reasonable."
"Good thing we've already made it out. Even though we're just watching for fun now, I still can't forget the fear of being dominated by that Instance back then."
"I think Ji Ning and Xing Ye will definitely answer correctly."
"Agreed."
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