Live Action Murder Mystery Chapter 37.2

Chapter 37.2

When Gu Liang woke up again, morning light was spilling into the window and illuminating the dim attic room.
His brain was exceedingly woozy.
He sat up and massaged his temples for a long time before he regained his strength, eventually but slowly.
At this moment, the town-wide broadcast rang out again.
“Ding dong, has everyone slept well last night?”
“It is currently 7 o’ clock in the morning on the 10th of August. Everyone will be given an additional hour to rest and adjust their times, the investigation of the case will officially begin at 8.
“The current instance has multiple crime scenes, thus no separate distinctions will be made between the crime scenes and the exploration of the premise. The two sections have been combined and will occur concurrently, and the time limit is 2 hours. At 10 o’ clock, the centralised discussion will begin. Please follow the directions stated on the card map and head to the centralised discussion room when the time comes.
“The centralised discussion will last for 5 hours, snacks and beverages will be provided. Hope everyone enjoys the game!”
It was currently 7AM on August 10. This was the start of the case investigation.
In truth, when the script enactment segment concluded last night, it was the night of August 9.
Gu Liang raised the journal which was personally written by him, and it stated that he had died three times.
When he read that last night, Gu Liang was rather perplexed.
Because according to the setting where his time would turn back by 24 hours every time he died, there was not enough time for him to die three times.
After he had perused the story written in the journal last night, he was planning to go to first-floor main hall to open the coffin to take a look. The unfortunate part was that the system had begun diffusing the sleeping gas and he had no choice but to lie back in his bed and fall asleep until now.
Gu Liang’s gaze lingered on the sentence “I am the real murderer in this case” for a long moment. Then, without another moment’s delay, he jogged down the stairs and headed for the centremost coffin in the main hall.
The plot prompts regarding all the previous happenings had disappeared and Gu Liang could not parse out any information from the card as a result of it.
He could only stare at the coffin and think, Is there a secret hidden under this lid?
Since the coffin plate was quite heavy. Gu Liang had to exert some strength to push it open slightly. However, it was at this moment where he heard someone knocking on his backdoor.
“Gu Liang? Come over to my place to eat breakfast, we can discuss the case while we’re at it.”
It was Yang Ye’s voice.
Gu Liang stopped pushing the coffin plate, furrowing his eyebrows unconsciously.
After a moment of contemplation, he could only choose to shift the coffin plate back, rip up the pages in the journal that contained his important notes, and then flushed them down the toilet.
The system did not make any reports.
It was something he wrote; like he had expected, flushing it away today did not count as the destruction of evidence.
Once everything was put into order, Gu Liang finally opened the door.
Upon opening the door, Yang Ye’s eyelids lowered slightly and landed on Gu Liang’s forehead. The scattered hair there was a little wet, it was probably the result of his sweat soaking through.
Yang Ye glanced behind him before he looked at him again. “Were you exercising in the morning? It took you quite some time to open the door and there’s sweat on your forehead too.”
As Gu Liang raised his eyes to look at Yang Ye, his lips curled up into a smile that was not a smile. “If I said I was getting rid of the evidence, would you believe me?”
Yang Ye smiled back at him, slightly deep with meaning. “I believe it. Why wouldn’t I believe you.”
The curve on Gu Liang’s mouth disappeared. He studied Yang Ye quietly for a moment before he walked around him and stepped straight into the backyard. “You’re staying next door? Let’s go and eat breakfast. We still have an hour.”
“So&#k2026; you genuinely forgot everything again.” Yang Ye kept pace with Gu Liang as they walked towards the other backyard. “And the things that transpired yesterday, you’ve forgotten them as well.”
“Yesterday? What happened yesterday?” Gu Liang turned back to look at Yang Ye. Inexplicably, he found that his gaze was very profound.
“Before you were killed last night, who you met and what you said, have you forgotten all of it?”
Gu Liang shook his head: “If we’re talking about the time just prior to my death, it goes without saying that I didn’t have the time to record it down. I don’t remember it.”
Yang Ye took out the small notebook from his pocket and flipped it open with his free hand. “Whereas I recorded all these for nothing because I didn’t lose my memory at all. Right, where’s your journal? Should we do a comparison and see if there are any details that don’t match up?”
Without turning his head back, Gu Liang said in a placid manner: “My journal is in the bedroom. It’s fine, I’ll double check it for you when you list out the details later. I’ve already read through mine and memorised everything.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Ye’s footsteps came to a standstill.
He observed Gu Liang’s back figure for a long, quiet moment before he chased up to his side with a few large strides. Then, he led him into the small dining room on the second floor of the shroud shop.
* * *
There was already breakfast on the table.
Gu Liang received the cup of water that Yang Ye passed over and sat down slowly.
Looking at the colour of the dishes on the table, Gu Liang recalled a sentence that he had written in the diary— “The breaded pork cutlet Yang Ye made was very delicious.”
Hence, Gu Liang asked Yang Ye. “Right, you’re capable of making breaded pork cutlets as well?”
“En. Last afternoon, you, me, and School Senior Feng had a meal together. School Senior Feng was played by Li Xiao Yu. Why…”
Yang Ye realised something meaningful about his words and smiled. “That was actually written in your journal?”
Gu Liang nodded and answered honestly: “Maybe it was because it was too tasty. What a pity; I’ve completely forgotten how it tastes.”
“What is there to pity? It’s just the matter of remaking it for you once the case ends.”
Gu Liang stiffened when he heard those words.
He asked Yang Ye: “You actually remember everything. You didn’t die at all?”
Yang Ye shook his head: “I didn’t. I came back at 10PM on the 8th of August, and I was visiting my relatives prior to that. Subsequently after, I either played witness to or heard about several cases of homicide. I was basically reduced to a spectator throughout.”
“And as a natural consequence, only your time is correct. The rest of us have issues with our time. We’ll have to rely on your time to determine who the murderer is.”
Gu Liang gazed at Yang Ye and stated: “You’re the detective. There’s no running.”
Yang Ye bit into his own steamed bun and murmured, “Mn.”
You are the detective whilst I am the murderer.
I will die if I get identified by everyone.
And if I escape successfully, you will die.
No matter what the outcome is… It seems like I won’t get to eat the breaded pork cutlet anymore.
Gu Liang’s action of scooping up the steamed egg stopped mid-motion.
Yang Ye, who was standing up to get another bowl of porridge, scrutinised Gu Liang from an elevated point of view and happened to notice his action.
“What’s wrong, Gu Liang?” Yang Ye queried.
“Nothing,” Gu Liang raised his eyes to glance at him before he scooped the steamed egg into his bowl, picked up his spoon again and ate in small bites. “This steamed egg with minced meat toppings is quite delicious. It’s different from the stir-fried minced pork you added to the noodles back then.”
Yang Ye abandoned the idea of getting another bowl of porridge. Instead, he pulled a chair over and sat in front of Gu Liang. “You’re being a little unusual. Did you encounter something?”
“Nothing really.” Gu Liang said, “It’s probably the after-effects of losing my memories too many times. My head is a little dizzy.”
“Sure—” Yang Ye pulled out his notebook, “Since there’s still time before the one hour of rest ends, shall we analyse the case some?”
“Okay,” Gu Liang nodded.
Thus, Yang Ye told everything he had seen and heard in the scenario to Gu Liang, including the digging of Gu Liang’s corpses, the first encounter he had with him in this script, and the fact that they had later witnessed the state of Beggar Ding’s and School Senior Feng’s corpses together.
After listening to his entire account, Gu Liang was expressionless. “Mn, it coincides with what was written in my journal, there aren’t any problems.”
Yang Ye stared into his eyes in scrutiny. He said: “The only thing I’m not privy to is what you said to Beggar Ding when you were alone with him in your coffin shop that day. In fact, it extends to whatever you were doing when you were alone in your coffin shop for the entire afternoon. Is there a secret hidden in the coffin shop?”
Gu Liang gave a pause before he replied, “I can’t remember.”
Propping his elbow on his armrest, Yang Ye supported his chin as he observed Gu Liang. He bent one of his straightened legs and crossed it over, taking on an extremely domineering sitting posture as some investigative intent seeped into his gaze.
“Why are you looking at me like that all of a sudden?” Gu Liang asked.
Yang Ye merely returned a question: “Gu Liang, I have to ask: in your eyes, what kind of person am I exactly?”
“My first impression of you wasn’t the best. You had the disposition of a rich second-generation business elite, cared little for the fours and sixes, and you were quite cunning.”
Gu Liang gave Yang Ye a tentative gaze and discovered that his expression was exceptionally serious and strict. Thus, he adopted a serious attitude and answered him, “But afterwards… I felt that you were quite reliable. That you were a good person; magnanimous, warm-hearted, good at handling interpersonal relations and knew how to care for the people around you.
“Additionally, beneath your frivolous exterior, you possess an unyielding integrity in your bones. In light of the fact that you’ve served in the military, I can understand how that temperament came about.”
Everything Gu Liang said was the truth too.
Perhaps the majority of the players in the game might have committed crimes. Even Xun Feng was no exception to that, because it was within the realm of possibility that he had done something wrong unintentionally.
But Gu Liang had this persistent feeling that Yang Ye was different; it was as though he had broken into this game by accident.
And even if he had a problem, it would merely be a minor one at most, like his company missing out on a certain portion of tax.
“Since that’s what you think…”
The speed of Yang Ye’s speech slowed down. His tone of voice became inordinately heavy. Simultaneously, he stared at Gu Liang without even blinking, as if he did not want to let go of a single micro-expression on his face.
“Gu Liang, can you choose to trust me?”
From the first time Gu Liang met Yang Ye today, he already had a suspicion in his heart.
But now that he was hearing him say these words, Gu Liang could essentially confirm that— perhaps, he had already suspected that he was the murderer.
This person, why did he have to be so smart?
Gu Liang swallowed a mouthful of steamed egg slowly after a brief pause. He wiped his mouth and told Yang Ye: “En, I’ll consider it.”
* * *
After Gu Liang and Yang Ye were done with their breakfast, they walked out of the main doors of the shroud shop together. There were two acquaintances outside the door and it seemed like they had been waiting there for a long time— it was Li Xiao Yu and Liu Ran, who was now acting as BBQ Li after his previous foray as Brother Bai.
Feeling strange, Yang Ye asked them: “Why are you here?”
“I lost my memories, but thankfully, I kept a journal. The most important sentence written in my journal was, Yang Ye is the detective, so finding you can’t be wrong.”
Having said that, Li Xiao Yu looked at Yang Ye and Gu Liang alternatingly. “Both of you came out together… did you sleep together last night?”
“No.” Gu Liang answered in a proper manner.
Yang Ye assumed that he was going to explain, but Gu Liang’s following sentence was this: “But does it even matter?”
“It doesn’t matter, it has nothing to do with the plot.” Yang Ye tapped on Gu Liang’s shoulder before he said to Li Xiao Yu, “We’ve been sleeping together since the last scenario. You have opinions about it?”
Li Xiao Yu: “(〃’▽’〃)”
At the side, Liu Ran issued a few light coughs. Then, he opened his mouth to say: “I was staying in the barbeque stall opposite of you, and I just met… School Senior Feng. I talked to her briefly and heard that she was acquainted with the detective, so I decided to go along with her. I didn’t expect that I would meet an acquaintance. Yang Ye, being able to meet… ah right, Gu Liang’s here too. I am very happy about the fact that I managed to meet the both of you again.
Gu Liang mulled over it, he probably only wanted to say that he was very happy to see Yang Ye at the beginning. After all, Gu Liang knew that he was not the easiest to get along with.
It was just that Liu Ran felt a little embarrassed, hence he brought him into the mix.
Liu Ran tacked on another line, “This script has me befuddled from the beginning to the end. But that’s besides the point… what do you think we should start with for the investigation?”
Yang Ye said: “There are 7 characters in this script, but didn’t the card mention that there was a NPC among us? Who do you think it is?”
Gu Liang spoke first: “My journal said that I suspected it was Beggar Ding. His acting is too natural. However, I was afflicted with amnesia so I don’t remember it.”
Yang Ye replied: “Your journal is right on that count. I suspect that Beggar Ding is the NPC too. When he was conversing with you last afternoon, I was watching. Definitively speaking, his general state isn’t something that a player can enact. Therefore, if we eliminate Beggar Ding, there are 6 players left, and apart from the Principal Zha of whom we’ve never met before, the rest of us are acquaintances which makes everything easier. Presently, four of us have already gathered, we’re just missing Xun Feng—”
“I’m here.” As Xun Feng said that, he walked over from the direction of the apartment building.
When he walked to the front of everyone else, he said: “I initially came over to find Gu Liang first. I didn’t expect that all of you would be here. As for Principal Zha, I encountered him just as I was going downstairs and he said he was going to the field to retrieve his own corpse. How about this, why don’t we find all the corpses first before we start discussing?”
“That works. My notebook states that Neighbour Liu’s corpse is inside the coffin shop. There should be two bodies.” Li Xiao Yu said.
Upon hearing that, Liu Ran took the initiative to walk towards the coffin shop first. “We might as well start searching from there then.”
Li Xiao Yu took a step back. “The shop is packed with coffins, it’s a little frightening, all of you can go ahead first. I’ll follow behind.”
Yang Ye’s expression became serious and the set of his lower jaw suddenly tightened.
However, he recomposed himself swiftly and started towards the backdoor of the coffin shop. “Let’s go. We’ll search together.”
With Gu Liang, Yang Ye, Xun Feng, and Liu Ran around – who were all men of considerable statures – they cooperated in pairs and quickly opened the entire row of coffins that were close to the door.
As a result, everyone found the two corpses without wasting much time.
Both corpses belonged to Neighbour Liu. The method and appearance upon death were exactly the same— their lips were blue and purple, and they wore a smile on their faces.
After carrying both of the bodies to the front door of the coffin shop and placing it down, Liu Ran wiped away his sweat and said: “Should we open the rest of the coffins and have a look? We might have found the two corpses, but it’s highly likely that the other coffins might be hiding some clues.”
When Liu Ran finished speaking, Yang Ye gazed at Gu Liang subconsciously.
Leaned on the front door of the coffin shop, one of Gu Liang’s legs were slightly bent, which made his standing posture look exceedingly relaxed. Similarly, he had an unfazed expression that was as light as the wind carrying clouds.
And as if he had felt Yang Ye’s gaze, Gu Liang lifted his chin and looked into his eyes evenly.
When a slight breeze blew past, it ruffled and shifted the hair in front of Gu Liang’s forehead and eyes. His tea-coloured pupils appeared indifferent and alienating.
Yang Ye shifted his line of sight away immediately, turning towards Liu Ran. “We only have two hours for the free exploration segment, and there are a lot of places we haven’t checked. If everyone were to remain at the coffin shop, it would be wasting too much of our time, especially when the number of coffins are taken into consideration. You can just leave this area to me. I think I have the best physique here. I can settle everything on my own.”