Chapter 114 Find Out
The numbers on the sticky notes Sun Yuanzhou gave to each person were different.
Ruan Nanzhu got eight, Lin Qiushi got seven, and Liang Miye got six. This sticky note could distinguish the boxes opened by each person. It was Sun Yuanzhou's clever idea, but he didn't expect it would be so useful right now.
To eliminate the suspicion of Sun Yuanzhou being an insider, Lin Qiushi privately informed Sun Yuanzhou yesterday that he had obtained Miss Mary. However, the box girl hadn't activated her "My Miss Mary" skill until Ruan Nanzhu brought it up again in the crowd. This fact proved that Sun Yuanzhou wasn't on the same side as the box girl, otherwise she would have killed Ruan Nanzhu as quickly as possible. After all, his death would have eliminated a powerful competitor, and the team would have been leaderless.
Based on everyone's performance over the past few days, Ruan Nanzhu suspected that there was a daily limit on the number of chests each player could open. They couldn't open an unlimited number of chests. This was likely a rule designed to prevent players from colluding with the chest-pullers. After all, the chest-pullers knew where the chest-pullers were. As long as they avoided the chest-pullers, players could practically open every chest in a single go and destroy all the useful items. This would essentially be a dead end for any human player.
But judging by their progress in the past few days, the insider certainly cannot be opened casually, and Ruan Nanzhu already has a guess about the identity of the insider.
He and Sun Yuanzhou discussed for a while before returning to the restaurant.
Lin Qiushi was about to ask him, but he noticed that Sun Yuanzhou looked at him with a slightly subtle look, as if there was disdain mixed with a hint of envy.
Lin Qiushi felt baffled and wondered what Ruan Nanzhu had said to Sun Yuanzhou outside.
"Dear." Ruan Nanzhu leaned on Lin Qiushi's shoulder and said, "I have something I want to tell you."
"Okay." Lin Qiushi nodded.
So the three of them left the restaurant, found an empty room on the second floor, and began to discuss things.
In order to make sure that the woman in the box was not with them, Lin Qiushi used the Pen Spirit in the corridor to confirm that the woman in the box was on the first floor and could not hear their conversation.
Ruan Nanzhu went to the room and simply told them about Sun Yuanzhou and the note.
"Sun Yuanzhou is amazing." Liang Miye praised after listening to it, "If he hadn't kept this trick, it would have been difficult for us to deal with it." If they couldn't tell the difference between the boxes opened by the insider and those opened by their own people, that would probably be the worst case scenario.
"Well, now there is a question, who is the accomplice?" Ruan Nanzhu said.
Lin Qiushi thought for a moment and said, "I think if the insider's IQ isn't high, he might reveal some flaws."
Ruan Nanzhu propped his chin up with his hand and said, "I currently have a suspect. If it's really that person, I don't think his IQ is very high."
"If their IQ isn't high, that's all that matters," Lin Qiushi said. "We can simply count the number of boxes they've opened and determine their identity."
They'd been here three days, and the number of boxes they'd opened couldn't have exceeded three. In fact, except for the first day and those with items, most people had opened between one and two. Since the insider was working with the box girl, he'd definitely opened as many boxes as possible. Each person's label was blank to the naked eye, allowing them to write on it to record the box's contents or not. The insider didn't know Sun Yuanzhou had tampered with the labels. She'd likely added multiple labels to prevent players from opening more than one box and obtaining items.
If it weren't for Sun Yuanzhou's careful thinking, they would probably be powerless to deal with the behavior of the traitor.
"So, now we know the exact number of the accomplice?" Liang Miye asked.
Ruan Nanzhu said: "Let's count the numbers on all the boxes first, and pay special attention to the number thirteen." He has already asked for the number of the object he guessed, but it still needs to be confirmed.
So the three of them took out the notebooks and pens beside them, as well as the ultraviolet irradiator given to them by Sun Yuanzhou, and began to carefully check all the boxes that had been opened in the entire villa.
Liang Miye was in charge of technical matters, Ruan Nanzhu was in charge of keeping watch, and Lin Qiushi was in charge of monitoring. Working together with clear responsibilities, the three of them quickly collected the numbers on all the boxes in the house and kept detailed records.
As Ruan Nanzhu had guessed, most people opened between one and two boxes, but there were two people who opened three boxes, thirteen and seventeen respectively.
The owner of the number seventeen was Xiao Ji. Including the boxes he opened on the first day, he had opened six in total, so the number was correct, because he had opened three boxes on the first day.
The person with the number thirteen also opened three boxes.
"She put three notes on it," Liang Miye said. "But we're now on the fourth day, and if you count carefully... three actually makes sense. If this person is brave enough..."
"No." Ruan Nanzhu said, "It's her."
"What do you mean?" Liang Miye asked.
"If she opened three boxes, then she must have eaten every day except the first day," Ruan Nanzhu said. "But no one ate on the first day, and on the second day, only a few people ate. Most of the newcomers chose to continue carrying."
Lin Qiushi asked, "Is it the person I was thinking of?" He also had a vague idea of the person he was thinking of.
"When she introduced herself, she said her name was Tian Guxue," Ruan Nanzhu said. "To be honest, this person has never made much of a presence. I almost forgot her name. It was Sun Yuanzhou who took note of it." He tilted his head, reminiscing for a moment. "But I remember she said a few things, all of them stupid."
Lin Qiushi asked, "Is she the girl who suggested that you put the key back into the safe?"
Ruan Nanzhu nodded.
The box girl didn't dare seek out experienced veterans as partners, because veterans usually came in groups, and most of those who made it to the tenth door together were close friends. If they turned against her for their teammates, her plan would be completely thwarted.
So the box girl chose a fragile and timid newcomer. She probably promised Tian Gu Xue that she would be the only survivor, and then let Tian Gu Xue act as an insider and provide her with information.
It’s a pity that Tian Guxue doesn’t seem to be a qualified insider. At least in front of these old foxes, his identity was quickly revealed.
"Fuck, she's such a piece of shit." Liang Miye cursed. "Now that you mention it, I really remember. Didn't someone suspect you of forging the clue note before? How could you say such a stupid thing? That person and this accomplice are probably about the same IQ."
The clue note could not be forged because no one knew the specific situation inside the door before entering. Only after entering could the note be forged, but after entering, the conditions were no longer there. Therefore, the clue note was the best answer to prove that Ruan Nanzhu was not an insider, and it also convinced everyone.
Lin Qiushi's suspicions were confirmed. He said, "It really is her. Should we open the box again after she opened it?"
"It depends." Ruan Nanzhu said, "But I personally think we can go to her room and look for other clues."
"Okay." Lin Qiushi nodded, agreeing with Ruan Nanzhu's idea.
Checking someone else's room is a very immoral act outside the door, but inside the door where lives are at stake, it is really nothing.
However, they first had to make sure that Tian Guxue would not come back at any time. Liang Miye volunteered and said that he could drag Tian Guxue away and let Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi go to check.
Ruan Nanzhu nodded, and went to Tian Guxue's room with Lin Qiushi, opening her door with a hairpin.
Tian Guxue lived alone. Although she unpacked the boxes with others, she slept alone at night. This was actually very inconsistent with her timid appearance, but because she was not familiar with the newcomers, Ruan Nanzhu and the others did not notice it.
At this time, all the abnormalities were revealed one by one. Tian Guxue was the female accomplice in the box they were looking for.
After entering Tian Guxue's room, Lin Qiushi checked the boxes inside and said, "These boxes should all have been opened."
"Yeah." Ruan Nanzhu said, "She didn't dare open the boxes in other places for fear of attracting attention, so she opened the ones in her own room first... But there must be a limit on the number of boxes she can open every day."
"I hope she didn't reveal any key items." Lin Qiushi sighed, "Let's look for them first."
The two of them searched the house and soon found something under the bed. When Lin Qiushi found a foreign object under the bed with the flashlight on his mobile phone, he reached out and felt inside, then took out a card. When he saw what was on the card, he couldn't help but curse.
It turned out to be a hidden skill card with the words "Move around" written on it.
Moving around is one of the Box Girl's skills. Its effect is that you can view the contents of all boxes in any room and move them at will.
"Moving Around" isn't particularly powerful, but it lays the groundwork for Box Girl's strongest skill, "Right Next to You," bringing this skill one step closer to unlocking.
As long as they find out two more skills of the Box Girl, the Box Girl will be able to unlock "Right Next to You", and then it will only be a matter of time before they are wiped out.
They didn't expect that Tian Guxue would actually develop such a skill, and hide it privately without making it public.
"Huh, what should I do next?" Lin Qiushi felt a little complicated.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Let me think about it." Tian Guyuxue is actually a double-edged sword. She can help them open the box and also help the box girl. Because the box girl doesn't know the specific contents of the box, what she gets depends purely on luck.
They searched the house again but found nothing else. It might be that Tian Guxue had it with her, or she might have destroyed it directly.
"Why didn't she keep the card with her but hide it in her room?" Lin Qiushi asked.
"Who would want to carry this thing?" Ruan Nanzhu said, "Besides, she doesn't seem very brave."
Lin Qiushi nodded.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Put the card away. Leave it in the restaurant after you tell them. Now it's time to ask her if she has anything else."
Lin Qiushi put the card into his pocket. The card felt chilling to the bone, and it was indeed uncomfortable to carry it on his body, after all, it was something related to the box girl.
After the two got this thing, they went downstairs and saw Liang Miye and Tian Guxue chatting with relish in the living room.
Liang Miye looked up at them, and Lin Qiushi nodded at her.
Seeing this, Liang Miye smiled and stood up. Ruan Nanzhu said to the people sitting in the living room in twos and threes, "Everyone, come to the second floor for a meeting. I have something to tell you."
"What's going on?" After killing Wei Xiude, Xiao Ji and Xiao Mei became bound together. He casually asked, "Did they find an insider?"
Ruan Nanzhu smiled but said nothing, but Lin Qiushi noticed that when they were talking, Tian Guxue, who was standing next to them, turned noticeably pale.
Everyone went to the study on the second floor and began waiting for Ruan Nanzhu to announce something.
Ruan Nanzhu directly threw the skill card they found in Tian Guxue's room onto the table and said, "We found this in the insider's room."
Everyone looked at the card, and there was an uproar in the room. The forced smile on Tian Guxue's face disappeared. Her face was as pale as paper, and she looked at Ruan Nanzhu with panic. Her body even began to tremble slightly unconsciously.
"Fuck, who is it!" Sun Yuanzhou had a bad temper to begin with, and when he saw someone hiding a skill card, he instantly got angry.
Before Ruan Nanzhu could say anything, Tian Guxue's emotions completely collapsed. She burst into tears, her voice breathless. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that—I'm sorry, she pushed me into it, and I couldn't help it!!"
When everyone heard this, they looked at Tian Guyuxue in astonishment. It seemed that no one had expected that this newcomer with little presence was the one who sold them out.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Tian Guxue kept apologizing under the hostile gazes of the crowd, but no one could offer forgiveness. After all, if Ruan Nanzhu hadn't forcibly uncovered her identity, everyone would have been doomed. They didn't even know how many box girl skills she had unlocked.
"Shut up!" Xiao Ji said angrily, "Why didn't you say sorry when you fucking tricked us? Will saying sorry be of any use now? Tell me, how much else are you hiding?"
Tian Guxue was trembling with fear at Xiao Ji's roar, but she didn't dare to refute him at all. She looked at Ruan Nanzhu pitifully and said, "Sister Zhu Meng, I only hid one skill card. I didn't hide anything else..."
Ruan Nanzhu said calmly, "Since you're not hiding anything, you shouldn't mind us searching you, right?"
"Why are you searching me?" Tian Guxue panicked when she heard about the body search. She stood up and tried to escape, but was pinned to the ground by the people who had been prepared for her. While being pinned to the ground, she continued to yell, "Why are you searching me? You're breaking the law!!"
Hearing the word "breaking the law", everyone sneered. If there were such a thing as law inside the door, would they still be like this? It was only with the contrast that they realized that the outside world was a paradise.
"Go ahead." Ruan Nanzhu raised his chin towards Liang Miye, motioning her to go for a body search.
In fact, if Tian Guxue was a man, Ruan Nanzhu would have come by himself a long time ago, but she was a girl after all. Although she did such a thing, Ruan Nanzhu still retained some dignity for her.
Tian Guxue cried and struggled, but her hands and feet were still held down. Liang Miye checked her clothes pockets and the bag she was carrying, and soon found something useful in her bag.
"It's a prop!" Liang Miye exclaimed in surprise.
"What props?" Lin Qiushi asked.
"White wooden stick!" Liang Miye took out a white wooden stick from Tian Guxue's pocket. One end of the stick was sharpened, and it looked a bit like a wooden nail used to repel vampires.
This is a very important item in the Box Girl game, almost like gasoline.
In fact, in the Box Girl game, there are three kinds of props that can stop the Box Girl from moving. One is gasoline, the second is chains, and the third is the white wooden stake in their hands.
“Ahhhh, give it back to me, give it back to me!!!” Tian Guxue screamed like crazy when she saw the white wood toon in Liang Miye’s hand. She said, “Give it back to me, give it back to me, that’s mine!!”
"Shut up! If I didn't hit women, I would have beaten you to death!" Xiao Ji was extremely annoyed by Tian Guxue's screams and said, "You still dare to ask for props? We are already merciful by not killing you!"
Tian Guxue completely ignored Xiao Ji's words and continued to cry. Finally, someone couldn't stand it anymore and pulled a piece of cloth from the table next to her and stuffed it directly into her mouth.
"Wuwuwu..." Tian Guxue's tears kept flowing and she could only sob.
Gasoline can burn the box man to death, while white wood thorns and chains can kill the box girl, but the prerequisite is that you must know which prop is the box girl's weakness, otherwise if you use it incorrectly, you will die directly.
"She must have hidden something else." Even as Tian Guxue continued to whine beside him, Ruan Nanzhu remained calm and continued to analyze his current conclusions with everyone. "At least she hid the rule book."
But seeing that Tian Guxue was emotionally unstable, everyone didn't dare to let her go, so they just found a rope and tied her to a chair.
Wait until she calms down before continuing to question her.
The atmosphere in the dining room was very quiet. Except for Tian Guxue's whimpering, everyone fell silent.
Sun Yuanzhou suddenly said, "You mean... this is the only one insider?"
"It seems there is only one at the moment." Ruan Nanzhu said, "At least that's what the evidence shows. Of course, unexpected situations cannot be ruled out." Among the numbers they recorded, only Tian Guyuxue's numbers showed abnormalities.
"I hope there's no one else." Someone murmured.
Tian Guxue cried for more than half an hour. Seeing that no one paid attention to her, her crying gradually subsided. She obviously understood her situation. Her eyes became dull and sad. Finally, she gave up struggling and sat in the chair in silence.
Seeing that she had stopped crying, Ruan Nanzhu reached out and pulled the cloth out of her mouth.
"I know I'm wrong, but there's nothing I can do." Tian Guxue whispered, "I'm scared, really scared..."
"Who wouldn't be scared?" Ruan Nanzhu said, "We're all human. Tell me, where did you hide the rule book?"
Tian Guxue said, "Under the water tank at the back of the toilet on the first floor." She seemed to have really given up and honestly revealed the location of the rule book. "It's all Wei Xiu De's fault, it's all his fault! If he hadn't lied to us, I wouldn't have come in, wuwuwu..."
At that time, outside the door, Wei Xiu De promised to protect them and took them through the tenth door.
But in reality, they knew they'd been tricked the first day they entered. Wei Xiude couldn't even protect himself at the tenth door, so how could he possibly protect them? Tian Guxue had relied on luck to get through the first door; she hadn't expected the second door to be so difficult, so difficult that she saw no hope of survival.
Then, a voice from the box tempted her.
Tian Guxue was bewitched and eventually became the ghost that lured passersby to the tiger.
Ruan Nanzhu sent someone to the place Tian Guxue mentioned, and sure enough, they found the rule book that Tian Guxue had hidden in the water tank.
"Why don't you destroy the rule book?" The rule book was wrapped in a plastic bag and was well preserved. Xiao Ji asked casually while flipping through it.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to remember it." Tian Guxue answered in a low voice. She looked a little dazed. It was obvious that the discovery of her identity had hit her hard. "I'm very scared..."
She didn't completely trust the box girl, otherwise she wouldn't have brought Bai Muchun with her. Tian Guxue was timid and not very smart, so she was indeed an easy target to manipulate. It was a pity that stupid people always revealed their flaws easily. Lin Qiushi could only be thankful that the box girl didn't fall for anyone else.
If the person who was bewitched was a big shot like Ruan Nanzhu, everyone in the room would probably be killed without even knowing it.
The rule book was similar to the board games they had come into contact with, and with this, everyone had a more intuitive understanding of the game.
"Do you have anything else hidden?" asked Xiao Ji.
"No, no, I haven't hidden anything else." Tian Guxue quickly denied this statement.
But everyone looked at her with suspicion, and her current trust had completely collapsed.
Ruan Nanzhu thought of something else. He asked, "How many times can you open a box in a day?"
"Three times." Tian Guxue said, "I've only opened twelve now..."
Twelve is already a lot.
Ruan Nanzhu fell into deep thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Sun Yuanzhou asked him.
Ruan Nanzhu looked at Tian Guxue and said calmly, "Of course I want to find a way to make use of this waste."
Tian Guxue showed a look of horror when she heard this. She had always been afraid of Ruan Nanzhu. Now after hearing what Ruan Nanzhu said, she was shaking like a mouse being stared at by a cat, and looked like she was about to faint from fright at any time.
The author has something to say: In the board game version, gasoline can also kill the box girl, and it has the same effect as the white wood tsubaki chain, but the rules have been slightly modified in the text.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com