Editor: Junyans
The two policemen opposite Xia Tian had serious expressions, and the one in the lead continued, “I hope you can understand our rashness. This is a big case and shouldn’t have been left unsolved for so long. We have spent a lot of manpower and resources, Sir—”
He said meaningfully, “We didn’t find you out of thin air.”
“I was with Little Bai,” Xia Tian said quickly, turning his head to call, “Little Bai!”
Immediately, a bunch of people helped him find Bai Jingan. Twenty seconds later, Bai Jingan, who was getting a drink, was dragged to him.
“What’s the matter?” Bai Jingan said, sharing a drink in his hand with Xia Tian.
“They asked me for my alibi on the first day of the closing banquet of the second round!” Xia Tian said.
“It’s not as serious as an alibi. We just want to know where the two of you were,” another policeman said kindly, “Mr. Xia said he had been with you all the time—”
“Yes, that’s true,” Bai Jingan said.
“But from the video footage we retrieved, it appears,” the first policeman said, “that the two of you went about your business without saying a word to each other since their arrival on the scene at 6 o’clock. Mr. Xia Tian disappeared from the camera at about twelve o’clock, and Mr. Bai Jingan disappeared half an hour later. It was not until three o’clock in the morning that you two returned to the banquet together.”
“What’s the problem?” Bai Jingan said.
“The banquet had just started, Mr. Bai Jingan, and most of the cameras were intact. You were not at the banquet venue.”
“The venue didn’t have cameras everywhere.”
The two policemen gathered together and discussed in a low voice. From the small window they had opened, it could be seen that Xia Tian and Bai Jingan had been making marks at areas within the scope of the camera lens, an effort they normally would not have bothered to make.
At that moment, the leader turned his head to look at them and said with a sharp look in his eyes, “Are you saying that you two were in bed at that time?”
Bai Jingan looked at them expressionlessly, but Xia Tian felt that he was rendered speechless for a moment, but others couldn’t see it from his expression. Then, Bai Jingan flashed a smile at the two men.
“We both know, officer, that Xia Tian and I don’t need to answer any of your questions,” he said.
He turned around and pulled Xia Tian out, and a group of people quickly made way.
The two men followed, and one of them shouted, “We do have evidence, two of you. We hope you can cooperate a little. We know that none of the Killing Show contestants have clean hands, but that doesn’t mean you can just kill anyone—”
“I’m sorry, do you have a special investigation permit?” Huitian said from the back. She came in a hurry; obviously she had just gotten the news.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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At least that applied for trivial things like getting into fights and killing while drunk.
Bai Jingan pulled Xia Tian away from the crowd, found an empty room, and dragged him inside.
“They have investigated in great detail and said they have evidence,” Xia Tian said, “They must know something.”
“Don’t worry, the crime scene is very clean, without any evidence pointing directly at us, so we can’t be convicted of the murder even if they know,” Bai Jingan said.
He opened the live video of the banquet. The two police officers obviously did not get what they were looking for from Huitian and had already left. But when they got to the door, a couple of reporters stopped them and threw out a bunch of questions. The two men were a bit flattered and answered seriously. Bai Jingan lip-read them.
“Is there an investigation committee or something?” Xia Tian asked, coming over.
“It’s more likely they’re talking to reporters about us having sex,” Bai Jingan said.
“I’m definitely the one taking the lead.”
Bai Jingan sighed, tried to say something, and then closed his mouth.
He finally said, “Let’s look at the product parameters.”
Huitian found the two of them on a set of sofas in the corner of one of the private rooms at the banquet. The two had hauled over a bunch of food and a few bottles of wine. They were eating in silence, passing the bottles from time to time.
She had their location, so she pushed right through the door and walked in.
Xia Tian glanced at her, and Huitian sat down silently across the table and kept staring at the corner of the table. According to the contract, she had to be a woman with exquisite makeup at all times, but at this moment, she was like a mess left over from a banquet. She was depressed, disorderly and exhausted, and even her heavy makeup and bright clothes couldn’t cover it. She was rarely like this.
She had no passion for her work, but she had just become accustomed to the set of bloody rules here.
It wasn’t about the police. It was a nuisance, sure, but for them, it was just the smallest of problems.
Neither of the two Killing Show contestants said anything as they waited for her to speak. She picked up a bottle of the strongest wine she could find, poured a full glass, and poured it down her throat in one gulp.
“I’m very sorry. It happens sometimes,” she said.
She took a card out of her handbag. It was palm-sized and black.
Huitian placed it on the table, and Xia Tian leaned over to look at it.
It had a clear visual depth effect. At first glance, it looked as if a dark hole had been made in the smooth surface of the table. Strings of blood dripped down and accumulated in the center of the “box.” From the darkness of the box sprang faint dark red, as if deeper down, there was an even bigger, bottomless pool of blood.
The sound of screams feebly came from the card-shaped box. It was extremely realistic, as if it really came from a very deep place. There was even a soft echo. They didn’t know if the audio effect was intentionally tuned to sound like that, or if someone had really screamed like that. Anyway, it was very high-tech.
“This is an invitation card for the… Guest Show. I’m sorry,” Huitian said.
Xia Tian reached out and picked up the card.
The invitation card was very light and thin. The pool of blood quivered with the movement of his fingers. It gave the impression that it was a deep well that might open up at any moment in the normal world and drag people in.
He turned it around and looked at it. It was black, and he couldn’t see anything. He said, “Where is the sound coming from?”
“Really? That’s what you care about right now?” Huitian asked.
“I just wanted to know…” Xia Tian said, folding it again and rubbing it. Once it was flattened, it returned to its flat appearance. He wanted to say something more, but after seeing Huitian’s expression, he said, “Forget it.”
“From now on, you’re already in the Guest Show, and all your actions will be recorded,” Huitian said, making a gesture to indicate that the camera had already followed them in.
“The ‘guests’ are selected based on the votes of those in the… VIP seats. Sometimes it’s a whole team that’s selected, and sometimes it’s just one person, depending on their wishes.” She continued, “The Guest Show has a long history. All its shows are customized. Although they are very cruel, grotesque and bloody, the people who watch them are the real bigshots, so… the best teams of Floating Gold TV are used for its planning and improvisation.”
She added, “It is purely something… to satisfy lust and selfish desires. If the Killing Show still considers ratings and basic morals, the Guest Show is just for fun. The power elite in the Upper City… have their own set of hobbies.”
She paused for a moment to organize her sentences.
“There is no basic conscience in the Guest Show. The people who watch the show rule the roost. They hide the truth from the masses and use all their means to seek pleasure,” Huitian said, “They represent the Upper City, and you all… are their property. Leave their cameras alone. You do not have the authority to access them. If they want to watch you…”
She stopped once more. Xia Tian suddenly remembered the gruesome torture he had seen in that dungeon during the medieval age themed third round. At that time, the whole torture process hadn’t been shown to the public, but had been reserved for specific people. Even within the Killing Show, it was considered a deep and bloody well, faintly revealing the terrifying and twisted group behind the curtain.
Now, Xia Tian and Bai Jingan had become the part of the bloody show the perverted group watched.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next,” Huitian said, “There’s no specific arena for the Guest Show. Something is going to happen in your life, and it will only get worse and worse. The show will be like a part of your… life.”
She let out a laugh, the sound ice-cold and gloomy.
“This, this is the bloodiest, the most terrible, the most expensive, and the most perverted show in the Upper City,” she said, “and that’s the… essence of the show.”
She looked at them.
“Don’t go to find Wei Xi and Eric. Don’t get them involved. Once involved in this, anyone’s life would be utterly worthless,” she added.
“Where’s my sister?” Xia Tian asked.
“She…” Huitian paused, cleared her throat, and then said, “She is not in the list, but will be in the show. Those people should not want to make too much of a mess…”
She didn’t say the rest of the sentence, and after a long moment of silence, she said, “I’ll look after her, but just so you know…”
“I know,” Xia Tian said.
Huitian smiled at them and seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she didn’t say anything. Xia Tian couldn’t think of anything to say either.
She stood up, and Xia Tian thought she would turn around and leave, but she suddenly laughed a little nervously.
“I knew they would come for you sooner or later. Those people just can’t see anything good living decently!” She said, “I… I used to lead a team of four… None of them came out alive. It’s been many years since then. When I think of it, I always feel…”
Her whole body was tense, having to work hard to keep from losing her voice and start crying.
“But I sometimes think that this… is normal, that this place is just not suitable for living,” she said, her hands clenched together.
On her pale wrist, the black hydrolytic mark of the hospital was clearly visible, like a patch of mold.
She quickly pulled down her sleeves to block the mark and said dryly, “I overdosed. I just… I didn’t have time to take a shower before I came over. Yesterday, I was a little…” She didn’t finish speaking.
Her sentences were broken into fragments; she was finding it difficult to properly organize her words into sentences.
Xia Tian didn’t say anything either. There were no comforting words to say. This place was hell, and no one could comfort anyone.
She pulled a smile at them and turned to leave.
Xia Tian looked at Bai Jingan. The man had put the card back. It was lying on the elegant table like a dark, bloody gash, exposing the dark recesses of the world.
Xia Tian asked, “So are we going to wait here?”
“Yeah.”
Xia Tian took another sip of wine and handed the bottle to Bai Jingan. Both of them were too lazy to use a glass.
He felt that he should be afraid, but he felt fairly calm. Maybe because he had drunk a lot.
After a while, the man next to him passed the bottle back. They continued to sit and drink in silence, occasionally striking up a conversation or two, waiting for bad luck to come.
With a certain someone by his side, Xia Tian felt like he could brave through hell.
