Chapter 17 Our Promise 9 The City Flooded
According to the class monitor, Hua Jiao had many boyfriends and changed them quickly. First it was Liu Ke, then Guo Tianyin, and after Guo Tianyin broke up with him, it was Lai Jie's turn.
It just so happens that all seven murderers are here; any subsequent changes are likely mostly an act.
How did they manage to kill two people without being discovered?
Given the information network of the class monitor, it wouldn't be easy to avoid him, yet the seven of them actually managed to do it together.
Wu Wangwang thought back on Guo Tianyin for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Guo Tianyin's family background is average, but probably better than Chu Ping's. He's also usually easygoing and should be very obedient to Hua Jiao..."
“It’s not just about being obedient; to be honest, I think Guo Tianyin is…” The class monitor paused, considering what rhetoric to use, “How should I put it? I’m not slandering the deceased’s reputation, but I saw it with my own eyes. Once, I saw Guo Tianyin secretly take away the tissue that Hua Jiao used to wipe her sweat.”
"...Take it and throw it away?" Wu Wangwang tried to continue the conversation.
The class monitor looked at her irritably: "If he had just thrown it away, would I have remembered it for so many years? He put it in a bag and took it home! He lives in the dorms and can only go home one day a week. If you ask me, the word 'simp' is not enough to describe Guo Tianyin. You should say 'obsessed'."
Very good, Wu Wangwang has found the reason why Hua Jiao took action: Guo Tianyin is obsessed with Hua Jiao.
According to others' descriptions of her personality, Hua Jiao is very spoiled and has a bad temper. As a servant, Guo Tianyin should always put Hua Jiao first and be obedient to her.
However, when the servants have too many thoughts, especially such strange behavior, Hua Jiao feels disgusted. Given Hua Jiao's personality, it is not surprising that she would take action.
Now that we've found the reasons, how did they kill them?
Besides, what does Fu Mei have to do with this?
Thinking of this, Wu Wangwang smiled sarcastically: "Ah, there are so many things behind this? I thought they would tell me everything."
The class monitor patted Wu Wangwang on the shoulder: "Don't be sad. Everyone has their own idea of their best friend and secrets that only they know. To be honest, best friends are often not reciprocal."
Wu Wangwang was stunned: "You mean..."
"After all these years, I won't hide it anymore. Back then, Hua Jiao seemed to be your best friend, right? Actually, she should have been close to Du Luo. You were chasing after Hua Jiao, but the person Ya He really wanted to hang out with was you." The class monitor directly brought the friendship line back together.
Very good, now Wu Wangwang knows how the two groups of people are connected, and this is Fu Mei's secret.
Fu Mei became the liaison between the two girls, who happened to be the leaders of their respective small groups, so the final culprits were seven people.
After having lunch with the class monitor, he prepared to go back to work. Before leaving, he said that we could chat about any gossip we had later.
Wu Wangwang saw him into the car. Before the car started, the class monitor rolled down the window again: "By the way, when you came, you said you felt something was strange because of what happened at the party. You might suspect the two of them, but I think it's probably not, because Chu Ping and Guo Tianyin didn't have any other conflicts with them. And the slapping that Yahe mentioned and the forum time you found are still a long time before their disappearance."
In a single sentence, all of Wu Wangwang's investigations were brought back to square one.
What do you mean by saying that these two things are still a long way off?
In other words, these events did not lead Yahe and Huajiao to murder each other, but something happened later that no one knew about.
It was something no one knew, which is why the seven murderers made that vow—they truly managed to forget and cover up all the causes and effects, leaving no trace.
After searching through a bunch of clues, Wu Wangwang ended up back where she started. She was exhausted. Why did she, a ghost, have to become a human?
But there's no going back. The game is set up so that she'll always agree to the player's request. There's no going back now. Just try to live.
I randomly found a place to re-examine the timeline. The class monitor's clues were very important. Those seemingly useless gossips actually entangled the victim and the murderer. Although those romantic issues did not become the main cause of the murder, they certainly had some influence and could not be completely ignored.
After Chu Ping started dating Yang Bin, Ya He ruined their relationship. What happened next that led Ya He and his two companions to kill Chu Ping?
Guo Tianyin's situation is also strange. As a top-notch nanny, and obsessed with Hua Jiao, Hua Jiao might feel uncomfortable. However, Hua Jiao has never lacked protectors. To some extent, as long as Hua Jiao has a boyfriend, someone will protect her and prevent Guo Tianyin from getting close, which would not constitute a reason for murder.
What other problems are there?
Just when Wu Wangwang never expected it, she received a message from Lai Jie.
Lai Jie said that he went back to his parents' house and found a note in his high school textbook with a list of things that Hua Jiao had asked him to buy before.
The list included coffee powder, saffron, hawthorn, and mango—all food items. These were the only things Lai Jie could still find; if they hadn't been tucked inside his textbooks, his parents probably would have sold them all.
After finding this information, Lai Jie asked Wu Wangwang what to do next, as he had no other clues.
Wu Wangwang didn't actually find any useful information. After sending the class monitor's gossip to Lai Jie, she asked Lai Jie what he thought.
Going out made Lai Jie very nervous. He couldn't calm down at all and had no ideas. He just kept asking Wu Wangwang what to do.
With one more person, there would be one more helper in finding clues. Wu Wangwang felt that it was still necessary to find Ya and the other two, so she asked Lai Jie if he knew the addresses of the three people, and it would be best if he could tell her where each of them lived.
Lai Jie certainly wouldn't dare go to those three places, so Wu could only look around. After getting the information from Lai Jie, she told him to continue hiding and that they would contact each other again later.
Wu Wangwang wrote down the four items on the note in her phone. They seemed to be things that girls would buy on a daily basis. Coffee powder was for keeping up with the trend as a beverage, saffron was for delaying menstruation, and as for hawthorn and mango, they were just sour snacks and fruits, so it was not surprising that girls liked to eat them.
Ignoring these things, Wu Wangwang went to Ya and the other two's house first, based on the address.
According to Lai Jie, Ya and the other two live very close together; the three families have been neighbors for many years and will not separate.
They quickly found the place marked on the address. It was a very old neighborhood where the locals all had their own small houses. Yahe and Yang Bin happened to be neighbors, and Yahe's house was across the street from Li Hu's, forming a triangle, so the three families' children played together.
Wu Wangwang walked around the door for a while, peering into the house through the doors and windows. She found that all three families were living normal lives, and only the parents and elderly remained. The children must have gone out to work and didn't come back on weekdays.
Her loitering around the doorway was quite noticeable, and Aya's parents spotted her. They came out warily and asked, "Who are you? Why are you staring at our house?"
"I'm Yahe's friend. I haven't been able to contact her for the past few days, so I came here to look for her. Do you know if you can get in touch with her?" Wu Wangwang asked directly.
Ya and her mother waved their hands: "We don't know. Go find whoever you want. We don't know anything."
After saying that, without waiting for Wu Wangwang's reply, he closed the doors and windows and even drew the curtains, his attitude was very strange.
They wouldn't tell, so Wu Wangwang could only eavesdrop, since it was useless against a ghost like her through the wall anyway.
But Ya and her parents thought it was a scam, and they believed that their daughter would contact her family if something happened to her.
Unable to rely on them, Wu Wangwang went to ask Yang Bin and Li Hu's families, but they all gave the same answer: the anti-fraud propaganda in the game was too strong, which greatly affected the players' ability to find clues!
One by one, places that might have clues were crossed out, until finally there was no one left.
Wu Wangwang squatted by the roadside and counted again and again. She remembered that she hadn't actually found where Hua Jiao and Shi Rong lived, but she didn't know Shi Rong, and she didn't know if Du Luo was still living at Hua Jiao's house.
Today is August 26th, and there are still five days left until the end. She just needs to hide for a few more days to avoid being caught and resurrected by the ghost. The referee didn't say there was a problem with her resurrection, so it's reasonable that she was rescued by the fishermen after jumping into the sea.
But it's ridiculous that she survived being chased face-to-face later on.
We still need to find a way, at least to find a loophole in this instance, and figure out how to completely avoid the ghost's pursuit.
While it was still early, Wu Wangwang went directly to Hua Jiao's house. She lived in a very nice neighborhood, and you had to register to enter.
But when I was registering, the security guard said, "Are you going to visit Miss Hua? She might not be home."
Wu Wangwang, who was signing, paused: "Not here?"
"Yes, a while ago, she called a car, took her luggage, and left. I even asked her if she was moving, and Ms. Hua said she was going on a trip," the security guard said after thinking for a moment.
How could Hua Jiao possibly go on vacation at this time?
Thinking of Du Luo, Wu Wangwang asked, "What about the girl who lives with Hua Jiao? Isn't she leaving?"
The security guard shook his head: "I don't know. To be honest, Miss Du is always the one who goes out more often, while Miss Hua is a homebody. They've only started going out together in the last two months. But I haven't seen Miss Du since Miss Hua went on her trip. They're probably both out having fun."
Upon hearing this, Wu Wangwang knew it was too late, so she had to stop visiting.
Since Hua Jiao's path was also blocked, Wu Wangwang decided to go find the last person—Shi Rong.
Two months have passed since they arrived, and Shi Rong is the only one who has remained completely invisible. She doesn't interact with anyone, nor does she associate with the other players. According to Lai Jie's clues, Shi Rong isn't one of the players, but she pretends to be one and has remained silent all along.
Du Luo is a ghost, Wu Wangwang guesses that Chu Ping possessed him, and Shi Rong might be possessed by Guo Tianyin. So why hasn't he appeared yet?
Wu Wangwang felt that Shi Rong probably knew something too, and since she didn't pursue any of the murderers, she might have some unspeakable secret. She was probably the only breakthrough in this instance.
But Wu Wangwang didn't know where Shi Rong was. Time was of the essence, so Wu Wangwang asked the class monitor directly. She believed that the class monitor must have kept something in reserve when collecting information about the gathering.
The class monitor quickly sent the message, saying that Shi Rong had never gotten along well with her classmates and that Wu Wangwang should not ask her anything too inappropriate, not even Fu Mei.
Shi Rong is a loner and always keeps to herself in class. Unlike Chu Ping, who is isolated, Shi Rong isolates herself from the entire class. Even the class monitor, a smooth talker who can say whatever he wants to anyone, couldn't get to know her.
Wu Wangwang said directly, "It's not that serious. We have a good relationship. We even held hands when we took the graduation photos. I just miss her."
The class monitor was genuinely unaware of this, and he was very surprised: "Eh? Really? But..."
Clearly, the class monitor didn't think Shi Rong was popular, nor did he think Shi Rong would get along well with any of his classmates; he couldn't understand this matter.
Without explaining much to the class monitor, Wu Wangwang thanked him and hurried off to find Shi Rong.
Shi Rong lives in a very old neighborhood. Walking in from the gate, you can see many anti-theft iron frames, all covered in thick rust.
The building does not face the sun, the staircase is external, and once you walk in, you can only see a little light from the courtyard, making it very dark.
The dilapidated staircase was difficult to walk on, and the gaps on all sides made it feel as if something terrifying might always emerge from the corners.
The surroundings were very quiet, as if no one lived here.
Wu Wangwang walked all the way to the top floor. The building didn't even have an elevator. She gently knocked on the door, but there was no response.
The door wasn't very sturdy, and Wu Wangwang hesitated whether to break it down. Anyway, the dungeon was ending in a few days, so what could the police do to her?
Just as he raised his hand to strike, the door opened, revealing Shi Rong's pale and indifferent face.
The raised fist almost landed on the other person's face, but Wu Wangwang quickly withdrew it and chuckled dryly, "Hehe, I thought you had fainted at home and was about to go in to rescue you."
Shi Rong slowly raised her head, revealing eyes of a different color: "No need for excuses, I know you're not Fu Mei."
Upon hearing this, and seeing Shi Rong's black and red eyes, Wu Wangwang was speechless with shock.
Firstly, the player's identity has been exposed, and secondly, Shi Rong is indeed not human, but he doesn't seem to be a very normal ghost either.
Wu Wangwang hesitated about whether to take action directly, but Shi Rong stepped aside to let Wu Wangwang in.
Since the other party couldn't do anything to her anyway, Wu Wangwang went inside.
The house was small and cluttered with all sorts of household items, looking almost unkempt and messy, with clothes and blankets piled up haphazardly.
Shi Rong carefully locked the door before coming over, cleared a spot on the sofa for Wu Wangwang to sit down, and poured her a glass of water.
After Wu Wangwang sat down, Shi Rong suddenly spoke: "You are the sixth person to find this place. I will tell you the truth, but in exchange, you must bring the real culprit to justice."
Wu Wangwang paused in her drinking: "Aren't you and Chu Ping on the same page?"
"Chu Ping? I am Chu Ping." Shi Rong looked at Wu Wangwang with a puzzled expression, and then said something surprising.
After hearing this, Wu Wangwang's mind went blank. She silently put down her water glass, hesitated, and finally wiped her face, speechless.
Shi Rong looked at Wu Wangwang's devastated state, his crimson eyes darting around, just like Wu Wangwang had struggled for a long time to adjust to the movement of human eyes.
After a long while, Wu Wangwang forced herself to calm down: "Don't tell me that the thing on Du Luo's body is Guo Tianyin."
“Yes, there were two people who fell into the water, Du Luo and Shi Rong. Guo Tianyin chose Du Luo, and I chose Shi Rong.” Shi Rong, no, she should be called Chu Ping now, nodded.
Wu Wangwang grabbed her hair and crumpled it into a ball: "Something's not right. This instance isn't supposed to let us survive until September 1st, is it? Why are you two behaving so strangely? And you want to tell me the truth and ask me to help you find the real culprit? Did this instance get written by someone who ate mushrooms?"
Chu Ping calmly replied, "From the very beginning, you've misunderstood. The requirements for passing the test and the requirements for survival are not the same thing."
Upon hearing this, Wu Wangwang's eyes widened suddenly: "Wait, so this level gives you two months. Before August 16th, players are required to complete the survival requirement, and the remaining time is for passing the level?"
"There are two months in total. How you arrange things is your business. After all, my requirement is to survive, while Guo Tianyin's is to pass the test. You can decide the order yourself," Chu Ping replied without any emotional fluctuation.
Wu Wangwang rubbed her head and said, "Forget it, there's no point in worrying about this. Tell me, what are the requirements for survival?"
Chu Ping replied, “Guo Tianyin and I are different people. Our obsessions before we died were also different. I hope to bring all the murderers to justice, while Guo Tianyin wanted to stay with Hua Jiao forever. I will tell the truth to everyone who finds me. In exchange, you must send Hua Jiao to turn herself in.”
After hearing Chu Ping's request, Wu Wangwang suddenly realized that this was not an escape dungeon, but a faction battle dungeon. At the beginning, players were given two choices—to choose Du Luo or Shi Rong. This was clearly stated.
If neither side had raised it during the vote that day, Shi Rong and Du Luo would have found an excuse to bring it up. However, the referee's words misled the players, and those who received different oath contents would inevitably misunderstand.
Guo Tianyin was very fond of Hua Jiao. Even if Hua Jiao conspired with others to kill him, he would still want to be with Hua Jiao. However, Chu Ping had a real grudge against Hua Jiao, so she was determined to bring all seven murderers to trial.
Unfortunately, both of them are ghosts, with the same cause of death and the same resentment. Guo Tianyin protects Hua Jiao, while Chu Ping is powerless to do anything about it. It is Chu Ping who has been trying to expose this matter. Hua Jiao, who was chosen by Du Luo, will know nothing about it and will naturally stand on Du Luo's side.
Wu Wangwang is a very special person. She knows the least information. Chu Ping has already picked her up alone once and threatened her, but Wu Wangwang is unmoved.
Du Luo took action later because she clearly noticed that Wu Wangwang suspected her, and in order to protect Hua Jiao, she had no choice but to kill her.
If the other six of the seven murderers disappear, no one will be able to identify Hua Jiao.
The only remaining free agent to come knocking today is Chu Ping, who is pinning her hopes on Wu Wangwang.
"What about the five people ahead of you? I didn't hear them say they came looking for you. They all said they couldn't find you, and they've disappeared too." Wu Wangwang didn't think Lai Jie would lie to her.
Chu Ping's red eyes began to bleed: "If I tell them the truth, Du Luo will erase the truth. We are playing a game against each other. We are both victims, but we are fighting each other because of this. You don't have to believe me, but if you want to live and don't want to be killed by him, you must get past me."
Wu Wangwang was silent for a moment, then said, "What is the truth?"
"The truth is, I'm pregnant with Li Hu's child. Guo Tianyin went too far, and both sides hate us to death. One day, Fu Mei made a suggestion: if you all hate each other so much, why don't you kill them together?" Chu Ping imitated Fu Mei's tone.
She was so naive back then. Chu Ping was so poor that she needed someone to save her life. Her family favored boys over girls, and she had no other choice. After her relationship with Yang Bin fell through, Li Hu found Chu Ping and offered to buy her with money. Chu Ping agreed.
But later, Chu Ping got pregnant and approached the two of them. Neither of them wanted to reveal it, and they couldn't raise the money for an abortion. The child was actually Li Hu's. At that time, Ya He had a fight with Yang Bin because of Chu Ping, and Li Hu had a rare better relationship with Ya He. He didn't want to reveal the fact that he had slept with Chu Ping.
Neither Yang Bin nor Li Hu could afford an abortion on their own, so they wanted Chu Ping to find a way to have an abortion herself.
Chu Ping tried many methods that poor girls could think of, but she didn't know if they would work. When she went to beg them again, they actually agreed and lured Chu Ping out at night. Later, she drowned in the river.
The school dormitories turn off the lights at night. Chu Ping and Hua Jiao are about the same size. For the first week, Hua Jiao entered the dormitory after dark wearing a mask and pretending to be Chu Ping. Chu Ping was isolated and no one wanted to look at her. With Fu Mei's help, she managed to get away with it for a week.
The boys used the same method, and since Guo Tianyin was always acting strangely, no one noticed that someone had been switched.
As the bosses of this instance, Chu Ping and Guo Tianyin both knew what roles they were playing, but they each had their own selfish motives. Chu Ping wanted all the murderers to confess, while Guo Tianyin only wanted Hua Jiao, regardless of who was replaced inside Hua Jiao; he just wanted this person.
In other words, from the very beginning, this instance assumes that six players will be hunted down. Whoever is Hua Jiao will be protected by one of the bosses until the end. The remaining six will know the truth in advance, but Chu Ping will not help them when they fight against Guo Tianyin.
Only players who defeat Guo Tianyin will receive a chance to live from Chu Ping.
It took Wu Wangwang a long time to sort things out: "You mean, as long as I can get Hua Jiao to turn herself in from Guo Tianyin, I can safely get on the bus on September 1st and leave this instance?"
Chu Ping gave an affirmative answer: "Yes, as long as you can get Hua Jiao in, I will help you stop Guo Tianyin."
Wu Wangwang was half-believing and half-doubting these words. There was no game setting that could be absolutely guaranteed, so it was best not to believe it too much. Besides, after searching for the truth for two months without success, was the truth that Chu Ping gave her really the whole truth?
Wu Wangwang remained noncommittal, but pressed for details: "What happened to the other five players after Guo Tianyin erased their memories? I heard they all disappeared."
Chu Ping looked at Wu Wangwang with her red eyes: "I'm not quite sure about that. The time I can move around in Shi Rong's body is limited each day. Don't be fooled by her appearance, we actually coexist, so the restrictions are a bit greater than those on Guo Tianyin."
When Wu Wangwang first saw it, she found it strange that Shi Rong had heterochromia. It turned out that he had two souls in his body, and Chu Ping was probably in control now.
Many questions lingered in her mind. Wu Wangwang wanted to ask Chu Ping, but Chu Ping said she didn't know. It was very difficult to push the matter further. But if she trusted Chu Ping, wouldn't she end up like Liu Ke and the others?
As a fellow ghost in the dungeon, Wu Wangwang knew there were no mandatory dungeon requirements, but he rarely spoke the truth.
"One last question, how did Shi Rong and Du Luo die?" Wu Wangwang looked up and met Chu Ping's red eyes. Her dark eyes were even deeper and more terrifying than Shi Rong's.
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Author's Note: [End of Chapter]
Wu Wangwang: I can roll my eyes too! I can even do a 360-degree Thomas spin! [clasped hands]
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