Yang Ge, Zhang Ji, Song Yue, Liu Bo and Li Xuesong were present at the scene. Li Xuesong was half-kneeling in front of Li Fengmei’s bed, and was right in the middle of covering Li Fengmei properly with a quilt. A trace of tenderness seemed to flash through his expressionless face. Li Fengmei was lying peacefully in bed, seeming as though she was asleep.
Everyone noticed Shen Mu’s arrival, but no one spoke. Shen Mu looked towards Liu Bo, however Liu Bo didn’t seem to notice Shen Mu. He was just lost in thought, not knowing what he was thinking about. Shen Mu looked towards Yang Ge, a hint of sorrow flashed in Yang Ge’s eyes as he slightly shook his head at Shen Mu, before signaling for Shen Mu to follow him outside.
“Is everything alright?” Yang Ge asked with concern, “You seem to look quite dispirited, you didn’t sleep well last night?”
“I only slept for a little while after dawn.” Shen Mu helplessly said as he anxiously stretched his head to look at the situation in the room.
“Yesterday Li Fengmei died.” Yang Ge said, “There are no bloodstains, seemingly like she had naturally stopped breathing. The lock has also lost its effectiveness, since this room is no longer recognized as a ‘player’s room’.”
Shen Mu nodded. : “The Suspended Life Game can allow us to directly arrive here from the real world, it would not be too difficult to make people naturally stop breathing.”
Yang Ge expressed his approval: “This is also good, it is as if she is just temporarily asleep, wait for us to…”
“Yang Ge!” Shen Mu immediately voiced his warning.
Yang Ge also reacted, if he had said, “Wait for us to win so that she still has a chance to regain consciousness,” it would have been tantamount to making it known that his own position was on the town side. Whether it was true or not, it would still be considered as off-site behavior that violated the rules, he would directly be erased!
Yang Ge’s whole body was covered in cold sweat due to shock, and he immediately became a lot more cautious. He nodded gratefully at Shen Mu. Shen Mu then said softly: “I noticed that the rules of the game are more focused on the game itself, ‘the nature of the game’. No matter what the punishment is after losing, I believe that it would not be more terrible than being directly erased.”
Yang Ge’s expression became more stern, seeming to rethink a few issues.
After Shen Mu understood the situation on the first floor, he greeted Yang Ge, before going back upstairs to find No. 8. When passing by the second floor, Shen Mu walked into the restaurant for the first time. The restaurant was very large with an elegant classic long table, seeming as if it was used by European noble families. There was more than enough space for twelve people to sit on the long table, yet currently there was nothing on the table, not even a bottle of water.
When Shen Mu arrived on the third floor, Jiang Shuyi was standing right in front of No. 8’s door, seeming to hesitate on whether or not to push open the door. Jiang Shuyi heard a sound, and seeing Shen Mu, she let out a startled “Ah”, and her raised hand also quickly dropped.
“I…I wanted to call him to go down together.” Jiang Shuyi explained with slight panic.
Shen Mu let out a smile: “It’s okay, I know you don’t have any malicious intent.”
Only then did Jiang Shuyi relax, and allow herself to smile towards Shen Mu, before somewhat anxiously asking: “Then down there…How is Li Fengmei? Did you go to have a look? “
Shen Mu nodded, and told Jiang Shuyi about the situation below.
At this moment, door No. 1 at the end of the corridor opened, Lin Huiru also seemed to be awake.
“Quickly go down and take a look.” Shen Mu nodded to Jiang Shuyi, and then entering No. 8’s room, he swiftly closed the door before Lin Huiru came out.
Jiang Shuyi: “……”
9 : 00, the gaming hall.
All players sat at the big round table in order, No. 8 was also obediently settled by Shen Mu in his own seat. The empty position of No. 7 was particularly conspicuous. The number 7, which had originally exuded a soft silver light, had also turned black, and on each player’s mobile phone, the game rules regarding voting had been updated——
‘During the day, every citizen has the right to vote. On odd numbered days, speeches start from the player after the deceased and go clockwise; on even days, speeches start from the player before the deceased, going in an anticlockwise direction; if the preceding night was peaceful, speeches will start from a random player.’
‘Each player can speak for 3 minutes, and there is only one opportunity to speak. After 3 minutes, it will automatically become the speaking time for the next player, speaking again will be classified as a violation of the rules. To conclude the speech early, you may press the end button on the ‘Identity Implementation’ page.’
‘Other players may not speak or interfere during another player’s speaking time.’
‘After all players have finished their speech, voting must be completed within 3 minutes. Failure to do so will be considered as a waive. The votes will be displayed.’
‘If several players receive the same number of votes, the players who didn’t vote for those players can re-vote. They may only choose to vote for one of the players who received the same number of votes; if during the second vote, the players still receive the same number of votes, then no one is eliminated in this round.’
At that time, the silver number in front of No. 8 turned green. Shen Mu noticed the time, 9 : 03.
The discussion officially began.
The change in the color of the floating number seemed to arouse No. 8’s interest. He reached out a hand and touched the 8 in front of him, finding it very fascinating. Shen Mu began to pay attention to the response of the other players at this time.
No. 1 Lin Huiru gave him a few looks of dislike, before moving her gaze away, so that Shen Mu’s gaze and her gaze didn’t meet. No. 2 Jiang Shuyi lowered her head as though she didn’t want to meet anyone’s gaze, but she couldn’t help looking up and secretly observing the other players’ reactions.
No. 4 Yang Ge seemed to be in contemplation, but Shen Mu noticed that the light in his peripheral vision was continuously flashing. No. 5 Sun Jieqing was still absent-minded, like an inattentive student in class. No. 6 Song Yue was staring at No. 8 who was playing with the number. It seemed that she felt Shen Mu’s gaze, turning her head to smile sweetly at him. Shen Mu immediately became vigilant. Could it be that she was a police officer, and had checked his or No. 8’s identity last night? Shen Mu remained calm and continued to observe.
No. 9 Liu Bo’s face was very gloomy, and he seemed to be concentrating on what he would say during his turn of speech. No. 10 Kexin lowered her head, and appeared to be very scared. No. 11 Li Xuesong was expressionless. No. 12 Zhang Ji looked at No. 8 before looking at the others. He should be a civilian.
At that time, the silver number in front of No. 9 Liu Bo turned green, and the time became 9 : 06. This time, the discussion officially started, and Liu Bo’s face immediately became unsightly, as though he was unprepared.
The space was quiet for a while. After reading the rules of the game, everyone took note of their own behaviour, being careful not to make any improper movements that could be judged as a violation.
“I think,” Liu Bo finally began to speak, “It was very unfortunate that No. 7 was killed, and it could be seen that she was a very smart girl. Except her brother, none of us knew her. Now that she has been killed, it must be either because she offended someone yesterday, or because the killers think of her as a threat.”
Liu Bo’s speech became somewhat more fluent: “I am the first to speak, and there is currently no information. In the versions that I played before, every person could leave a death speech, but this time there were none. Otherwise, we could have known No. 7’s identity as well as her suspicions! Currently, I doubt No.1, because when we were in the lounge yesterday, No.1 was disliked by No. 7 for having a loose tongue. You wouldn’t have harboured resentful feelings from then, right? You can explain this yourself. That’s it, that’s all I want to say at the moment.”
Liu Bo finished, and pressed the end button. The floating No. 9 changed back to silver, and No. 10 Kexin’s number turned green.
“I…” Ke Xin was a little ill at ease, “I haven’t played this game before… I don’t know what I should say. I think that sister Li Fengmei is indeed very awesome. Brother No. 9 thinks that it was sister No. 1 who did it, but I think that Brother No. 9 as the first one to speak, without having heard anything from sister No. 1, already doubts her, the reason was also…Even though sister No. 1 did become angry yesterday, it’s impossible that for this reason…” Kexin ’s voice was getting smaller and smaller, and she herself seemed to be uncertain.
“I’m an innocent, I want to hear what the people behind me have to say.” Finished speaking, Kexin also ended her speech.
No. 11 Li Xuesong made his speech.
“The analysis of No. 9 is reasonable. Although misfortune cannot be ruled out, I also think that the possibility of No. 1 being a killer is not small.” Li Xuesong said quietly. Although his complexion was normal, he was different compared to his natural and gentle state yesterday. A slight tremor in his voice showed that he was trying to suppress his own emotions. “Yesterday, Fengmei’s performance was outstanding. I was afraid at the time that she would be targeted due to standing out…”
At this point in his speech, Li Xuesong sucked in a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and continued to say: “But yesterday’s attention was not just on Fengmei.” Li Xuesong looked at Yang Ge, and swept his gaze past Song Yue, Shen Mu and others: “I can say that from an adult male’s perspective, if it was me, I would have prefered to choose the person who was just as outstanding, more mature, and more threatening No. 4 Yang Ge, rather than a girl still wearing a school uniform. So I have reasons to suspect that there are girls who have connections with Fengmei in the killers team, and perhaps… “
Li Xuesong’s gaze was intently fixed on Yang Ge: “Yang Ge himself was the killer.”
The oppressive emotions in Li Xuesong’s speech were transformed into inspiration, the players at the scene were involuntarily influenced by him, to look towards Lin Huiru and Yang Ge. Lin Huiru’s expression was almost unable to be controlled, yet she was afraid of the penalty for the violation of rules, so she could only fiercely glare at Li Xuesong. Yang Ge’s expression was very serious.
Yang Ge…could be part of the police. Shen Mu secretly thought to himself, but his expression was thoughtful, as though he was pondering over Li Xuesong’s words.
“No. 9’s identity needs to be redefined, we can listen to No. 10’s speech again next round. No. 8… it’s not yet his turn. No. 1, No. 4, if you are innocent, then please speak well and clearly explain your identity and ideas. “
Li Xuesong’s speech almost occupied all his available time. As soon as he finished speaking, it was the turn of player No. 12, the owner of the fried chicken shop, the youthful Zhang Ji.
“What No. 11 said makes sense,” Zhang Ji agreed. “If I had to pick between a little girl and a grown man, I would definitely also choose the grown man. No. 1 and No. 4 should speak well on their turn.”
“However, it’s no use to just speculate ah. The police should jump out to lead the team. No matter if they have checked a killer or an innocent, it would give us some specific information. Moreover, there are 3 people in the police team and the killers won’t win after eliminating all the police according to the rules of this version of the game. The killers will also not specifically pick the police to kill first, but they will definitely pick the good speakers to kill first. If the police do not come out, and if we vote out those who have already been checked and found to be innocents but had bad speeches, won’t everything just collapse?” Zhang Ji somewhat anxiously analyzed the situation.
“Moreover, why do you all not mention No. 8? He doesn’t say anything, but we can’t just let him remain like this until the very end?”
Timeless Translations 