Live Action Murder MysteryChapter 36

(A mistaken liking, a cycle of murders.)


The wind howled. Dark clouds hung low and obscured the moonlight. WXGTRC

It looked like it was going to rain again.

The only thing that was still emitting light were the floor lamps lining the courtyard.

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The white lights landed on the ground vertically, and upon closer scrutiny, the dust floating in the air could be seen.

Yang Ye stared at the white lights for a long time, until he heard movement coming from the nearby yard. dcLYU2

— Gu Liang was going out.

Yang Ye watched him walk towards the main street silently, and then stood up and followed after him without making a sound.

* * *

It was 8:20 in the evening.

lqhnyu

Gu Liang exited the coffin shop from the backdoor, routed around the shop to get to the main street and headed for Neighbour Liu’s house.

Neighbour Liu stayed in the residential building that was right beside Seventh Secondary School, and he stayed in the same building as School Senior Feng and Principal Zha.

In order to get to that residential building, he had to go past the barbeque stall and Seventh Secondary School.

When Gu Liang passed by the barbecue stall, Neighbour Liu’s corpse was lying on the small eatery table. Opposite of him, School Senior Feng, who was played by Li Xiao Yu, raised her eyes to look at Gu Liang and she could not help but heave a sigh. W4NM2Z

Gu Liang acknowledged her with a nod before he walked straight to the apartment building.

Gu Liang was cognizant of the fact that Boss Meng chancing upon School Senior Feng as he was heading to the residential building was a prescribed situation in the script.

Simply put, School Senior Feng had to see Boss Meng take his leave before she could seize the window of opportunity where he was away to conceal the corpse inside the coffin shop.

10 minutes later, 8:30. yZpldr

Gu Liang arrived at Neighbour Liu’s door.

The circumstances surrounding the current script was quite enigmatic; even if they were to disregard how people could lose their memories, it did not change the fact that Gu Liang had seen the dead body of a long-standing acquaintance, and he was only seeing the real person now.

When he reached the door of Neighbour Liu’s house, Gu Liang paused slightly before knocking on the door.

Gu Liang knocked on the door thrice at even time intervals and weight as if he possessed a slight obsessive compulsion. vxCMk8

Very quickly, someone came to open the door.

When the door opened, Gu Liang saw Xun Feng at a glance.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

However, the present Xun Feng was unlike his norm.

The clothes he was wearing were soiled, his eyes were bloodshot, and it seemed like he hadn’t slept in days. hi8mG5

Additionally, the acridness of alcohol clung to his person as if he had been drinking.

His sloppy appearance was genuinely a far cry from his typical image of an earnest and rigorous psychologist.

“Thank goodness you’re okay… that’s not right, I have to kill you a short while… hold on… you’re…”

The moment Xun Feng opened his mouth, disjointed and inarticulate words spewed out and much of it sounded like incoherent rambles. Lfo8ju

Gu Liang had no choice but to pat his shoulder. “Xun Feng, calm down. Let’s go in and talk.”

After walking through the front door, the dining room was on the immediate left and Gu Liang noticed that there was alcohol and peanuts. The props were part of the script requirements— Neighbour Liu was borrowing the excuse of business talk to meet up with Gu Liang and kill him when he least expected it.

On the right was the living room.

The living room was quite messy, the coffee table especially, because there was a lot of white paper spread across the surface and illegible writings and drawings were scrawled all over. V2xJZ5

Arbitrarily, Gu Liang picked up one of the papers, and he knitted his eyebrows together unconsciously when he saw the written text.

He recognised Xun Feng’s handwriting— during the past lengthy treatment process, Xun Feng would use a neat and beautiful regular script to record Gu Liang’s condition every week.

Xun Feng’s handwriting has always been neat and rigorous, but it was different this time around. He wrote “I killed Gu Liang”, “I killed Gu Liang” repeatedly…

When it reached the very end, the handwriting had become so sloppy that it was illegible. uMUHYk

Xun Feng walked to Gu Liang’s side and glanced at those scribbles. Then, he said: “I woke up around half an hour ago. When I just woke up, I didn’t remember anything apart from the settings stated in the card. I figured that I already died once relatively quickly.

“And then I went to the living room and saw… saw the words that I wrote, and I genuinely thought you died, and you were killed by me—”

Xun Feng plopped down on the sofa and issued a long sigh. “Thankfully, you’re alright. I couldn’t resist drinking a lot of alcohol just now. I almost lost control of myself, apologies.”

Gu Liang did not reply. Xun Feng thought of something and asked him: “The script requires me to kill Boss Meng. Since you’re here, even though I wrote down those words on the paper before I lost my memory, it means that you’re Boss Meng, while I… I killed you yesterday? And I have to kill you again today?” 2QXDVY

 

Gu Liang merely said: “You didn’t kill me. It was Neighbour Liu who killed Boss Meng.”

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Xun Feng remained silent. Seeing that he was not going to move, Gu Liang walked into the dining room and sat down while conveniently pouring himself a glass of red wine. He took a small sip of the alcohol before he said: “It’s about time, isn’t it? You should act.”

Getting up from the sofa, Xun Feng followed Gu Liang into the dining room and sat opposite of him. With bloodshot eyes, he stared at him and croaked out: “I can’t act against you.” 1R6ra3

“I know that you’re my doctor in reality. Doctors should be treating illnesses and saving lives, not harming. But we’re in a game right now—”

“It’s not acceptable anywhere!”

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.

Ktlr kjr atf rfmbcv alwf Xe Oljcu tjv obecv Wec Mfcu ragjcuf lc j mbcrlvfgjyis rtbga qfglbv bo alwf, fnfg rlcmf atf lcmlvfca klat atf kjafg.

Ursmtbibulrar ilxf tlw kfgf erejiis mjiw jcv rfio-gfragjlcfv. 8AXNPH

Lf mbeiv cba fzqgfrr tbk gjgf la kjr ab rff Wec Mfcu jmalcu ilxf atlr.

Dea tlr atbeutar abbx jc lwwfvljaf aegc. Snfgsbcf kjr j cbgwji qfgrbc.

Upon arriving at this unfathomable game world, they could completely discard the social identities that once constrained them. Everyone could stop acting, and why should Xun Feng be deprived of the right to reveal his true emotions?

Rather than red wine, Xun Feng poured some white wine for himself and swallowed a big mouthful directly. VZI0mR

Half a beat later, he placed down the glass wine, sat up straight and looked into Gu Liang’s eyes fixedly. “Put yourself in my position, if you were asked to take your own tie to strangle me to death, would you be able to do it? Do you remember how your PTSD came about?”

Gu Liang: “…Apologies.”

“You don’t need to apologise to me.” Xun Feng gave him a faint frown before he continued to speak: “You’re my patient, I am responsible for you.”

Gu Liang frowned, expression containing a trace of helplessness. SLzU5v

This reminded Xun Feng of the instance where Gu Liang went into the water, how he had personally reacted due to his own worries and what he had said to Yang Ye back then— each and every one of those words were expressing that Gu Liang was a lunatic.

Although those words were not deliberate, it did not alter the fact that it had really struck Gu Liang’s heart.

Xun Feng said: “I apologise, that’s not what I meant. I only felt that… if we were to depart from our identities as doctor and patient, I don’t know how I should get along with you.”

Gu Liang was slightly perplexed. “I thought we were friends.” m5209l

“You thought of me as a friend?”

Xun Feng’s expression was filled with gratification and some remorse.

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Underneath the lamp’s illumination, hints of tangled up craze could be discerned in his gaze upon closer scrutiny.

Feeling uncertain, Gu Liang simply said: “I’m slightly perplexed by the meaning of your question. Was I wrong to presume that once my treatment was completed, getting along with you wouldn’t be considered a blight to our professional ethics? Or do you have stricter standards for whom you regard as friends? You don’t consider me a friend?” 0YqXEL

Unexpectedly, Xun Feng nodded his head: “Yes. What if I were to say that I don’t consider you as a friend?”

Gu Liang found it incomprehensible. “If you don’t consider me as a friend? What do you take me for then? A research subject?”

Xun Feng laughed helplessly. He raised his head to drink half of the white wine in his glass before he gazed at Gu Liang again.

Meanwhile, Gu Liang sat there quietly, as though he would always maintain such an expression even if the skies were falling. vY32jq

The appearance he had now, was exactly the same as the one he had when he sought treatment from Xun Feng every Thursday afternoon for a bigger part of a year.

This exact image was what Xun Feng missed the most.

Because even though he was only being diagnosed and treated, Xun Feng could feel that Gu Liang completely trusted and depended on him.

Back then, that Gu Liang had been extremely fragile, and he was his patient alone. ldcgZB

It was as if— the mountains could collapse, the rivers could flow backwards, the galaxies could coalesce… everyone would be running away but only Gu Liang would stand there quietly, like the magnificence or destruction of the world had nothing to do with him.

He did not deliberately ask for death, but he did not have a particularly strong desire to live.

Only he could appear before him and save him.

The sense of satisfaction of being needed was truly wonderful and hard to describe. lyYFq2

But when the treatment concluded, everything ended with it.

And in the wake of that resolution, Xun Feng could not find the same sense of satisfaction no matter how many patients he treated for a long time. It was like he had become sick himself.

Hence, Xun Feng understood that the feelings he had for Gu Liang were not normal and it had long exceeded the boundaries of doctors and patients.

“There are some things I’m not allowed to think about when I was treating you because they are against our professional ethics. And after your treatment concluded, I also needed some time to recognise the feelings I had for you, so I didn’t speak about a word about it. n1DhrN

“But if I don’t say it now, I might never have a chance to do so in the future. When I thought I killed you today, I…

“Just assume that I’m cowardly. When all is said and done, you’re bound to forget everything later.”

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Hearing that, Gu Liang’s eyelids drooped. He stretched his hand out to hold the wine glass in front of him and he seemed to be in a relaxed posture at first glance.

But the line of shoulders to his forearms were tightly strung, making it evident that he was putting his guard up. GvJELC

Although Xun Feng took note of all these changes, he laughed bitterly as he continued to say his piece: “Do you understand what I’m trying to convey with my words?”

Gu Liang did not utter a word.

In a straightforward manner, Xun Feng finally said: “Gu Liang, I like you. And I mean on a romantic level.”

After a long while, Gu Liang replied with a calm tone: “I understand what you’re trying to convey. But I don’t understand why.” 1NLj5e

Xun Feng said: “Because you’re genuinely good. You don’t know how great you are.”

Probably because the soundproofing quality of these temporary houses – which were typically built with planks or other makeshift materials – in the scenario premise were not the best, Yang Ye, who had been tailing Gu Liang and later concealed himself in the dark corridor just outside the door, happened to hear everything.

Yang Ye held his breath and listened with rapt attention. For a moment, he felt that he might be more nervous than Xun Feng for some inexplicable reason.

* * * kcsLmM

Xun Feng remembered the first time he saw Gu Liang.

He was sitting in the consulting room waiting for Gu Liang.

Gu Liang had arrived punctually and he knocked on the door three times consistently.

He was wearing a faint brown wind-jacket, was endowed with rarely seen tea-coloured irises, had a tall nose and deep eye sockets. d0hgGm

When someone of his appearance looked at other people intently, he constantly gave the impression that he possessed profound feelings.

Unfortunately, his visage was too pale and coupled with his indifferent and estranged temperament, this impression was diluted.

“Can you tell me what you would like to talk about? What problems have you encountered?”

“I’m guilty. I caused the deaths of two people.” bdwu4k

“Who did you harm?” The pen Xun Feng was holding in his right hand pierced through the paper in an instant, and the nib almost broke.

Gu Liang said slowly, “Two people. One was my mother. The other, was a little girl’s mother.”

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……

Xun Feng poured himself another glass of wine as he recounted this matter to Gu Liang. “I don’t know why but I felt extremely distressed when I talked to you for the first time. It was quite unprofessional for a psychologist. Every patient deserves sympathy, but—” tBH2Ob

Gu Liang interrupted him: “Sympathising with a person, and wanting to take care of said person, does not necessarily mean you like them.”

Xun Feng smiled helplessly. “You’re right. I was also confused at the start; confused about the feelings I had for you, confused about my own sexual orientation… but I’ve already made peace with myself today. All I want to do right now is tell you my feelings. I’m not expecting anything out of it.”

Gu Liang raised his eyes to meet Xun Feng’s gaze. “Xun Feng, you’re my doctor, you shouldn’t have such feelings for me precisely because you know all the terrible things I’ve done. A person like me isn’t worth your fancy.”

The source of Gu Liang’s entanglement was neither the issue of sexual orientation nor the fact that it was not the right time to discuss such matters right now. lrCOJ1

In essence, he merely thought that people of his ilk were not worthy of being liked.

Xun Feng raised a hand to pinch the space between his eyebrows. “Gu Liang, I’ve said this before, the only reason why you have such a low opinion of yourself is because you…”

“Yes, it’s because of my low self-esteem. You’ve helped me analyse this before; I may look high and lofty but it’s only because I have inferiority buried deep in my bones.”

Gu Liang’s smile was self-deprecating, “You also said that, this is heavily influenced by my original familial circumstances.” AWmNMo

Xun Feng took a breath and sighed, “It doesn’t matter if you have a low self-esteem, or that you look high and lofty… we can even disregard how you’re adamant about the fact that you shouldn’t be pardoned. But has it ever occurred to you that, the affection I feel for you becomes more earnest because I still like you despite understanding everything about you?”

Gu Liang shook his head: “No. I’ll only assume that you have psychological problems.”

Xun Feng: “…..”

When Gu Liang was speaking, Xun Feng was staring at him the entire time. vb5ylF

He knew that Gu Liang had said those words without having the intention of offending him.

When Gu Liang said those words, he was not attacking Xun Feng either; in fact, his expression was extremely serious.

Because he genuinely felt that Xun Feng had issues, and he was helping Xun Feng analyse the problem.

Gu Liang said: “Under normal circumstances, when someone has feelings for a terrible person, it’s typically because their sympathies are left unchecked or perhaps they’re trying to distract themselves from some psychological troubles. Even if we were to disregard the things I’ve done in the past, you can’t deny that I’m not good-looking and I have a bad personality. Therefore, something is definitely wrong with you.” q5K0tA

Xun Feng: “…..”

Yang Ye, who was outside the door: “……”

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Xun Feng smiled bitterly. With the alcohol taking effect, his face was a little red.

Raising his hands, he rubbed his own cheeks with his palms. “In short, Gu Liang, you don’t possess the slightest feelings for me, right? I don’t have a chance at all?” 5dbDqE

In a resolute and decisive manner, Gu Liang answered: “None. I’ve never thought in that direction before.”

Well done. His rejection was truly straightforward.

A person like Gu Liang would not even bring himself to say “Even though you’re a good person, but we’re not compatible”. His rejection was cutting and resolute, through and through.

Xun Feng was not even issued a good person card. However, before he could muster any disappointment, the card had already started to vibrate. PkJ8Eq

Gu Liang looked at Xun Feng calmly. “It’s reminding you that it’s time to act against me.”

Hearing that, Xun Feng loosened the tie on his person, since it was the murder weapon arranged by the script.

A few moments later, Xun Feng walked behind Gu Liang with the tie in hand and lowered his head to say something to Gu Liang.

Gu Liang looked like he was listening to him very intently, as if he hadn’t noticed when an extra tie had appeared in front of his neck. s2WjIb

According to the script, due to dishonest rumours that Principal Zha had spread, the business at Boss Meng’s coffin shop had plummeted drastically.

And Neighbour Liu had invited Boss Meng over in the name of business talk.

However, Gu Liang did not follow the script’s requirement to talk business with Xun Feng. Instead, he only asked: “Right, what was Neighbour Liu’s motivation to kill Boss Meng?”

Xun Feng said: “There was a time where Neighbour Liu had a casual chat with Boss Meng, and he said that he liked School Senior Feng. Boss Meng ridiculed him, saying that he could not even compare to Beggar Ding. Neighbour Liu held a grudge because of it and wanted to kill him to vent.” sADP5V

“Understood. You can act.”

“You actually believe that I’m going to act against you?”

Gu Liang was seated on the chair while Xun Feng was standing behind the chair. He leaned his body forward and wrapped his hands around Gu Liang’s neck. When they were talking at the last moment, his lips were almost touching his ear.

From afar, the pair looked like intimate lovers snuggling up to each other. iMpf83

Although that was the case, Xun Feng could take Gu Liang’s life at any given moment.

At this juncture, Yang Ye, who had witnessed everything from outside the apartment, finally kicked open the door and rushed in straight away.

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“Xun Feng, let go of Gu Liang. We don’t know who the deceased is right now. You might actually be killing him!”

Xun Feng turned his head, and momentary surprise flitted past his eyes before calm was restored. Following, he asked Yang Ye: “What do you want to do then?” lVQ3ME

Yang Ye’s answer was incredibly direct. “Set the premise on fire.”

At this moment, Yang Ye and Xun Feng’s cards sounded with a reminder concurrently: “Repeating the plot once— Neighbour Liu only invited Boss Meng to dinner under the pretext of business talk. Hence, Shroud Wang being at the scene does not conform with the script requirements. Shroud Wang, please leave immediately, and Neighbour Liu is also asked to act accordingly. Otherwise, both players will be punished for their violations.”

Gu Liang looked at Yang Ye warily, not knowing when he had arrived and how much he had heard.

But Gu Liang reacted very quickly. He should have heard everything. Jvf8GP

Since Yang Ye’s presence here was against the rules, it only left the possibility where he had followed him because he was not here to perform a plot task.

Therefore, he was outside the door from the very beginning and he had heard everything as a natural consequence.

But that was the least of Gu Liang’s concerns at the present moment. He stood up hastily and told Yang Ye:  “Go out now.”

Yang Ye spared Gu Liang a deep look, not uttering a word. Then, he headed for the kitchen directly. QPHf7J

Crouching down, Yang Ye opened the cabinet under the gas stove and said to Gu Liang: “Both of you should leave first, and tell the rest of the players to stay away from this apartment building. I’ll be responsible for detonating—”

“How are you going to detonate it?”

“I’ve been trained for this. Rest assured.”

“Yang Ye, this is very dangerous.” V1wghR

“If you know it’s dangerous, you should hurry up and leave!”

At this moment, the long-lost broadcast sounded.

“The following is a town-wide broadcast concerning an unexpected situation: Due to a player’s sabotage, the electricity for the entire city will be cut for an hour.

“This is out of the consideration for everyone’s safety as well. There have been precedents of players carrying out illegal actions which resulted in the crew being annihilated in a sea of flames. Therefore, the safety facilities of the scenario venues, clothes, services and other aspects have been upgraded. K0kBuH

“Preventing fires and explosions, ensuring the safety of all players, is the onus of the system. Apologies for the inconveniences caused.”

Yang Ye: “……”

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Gu Liang: “……”

Xun Feng: “……” s1ZOJa

Two minutes later, the broadcast continued: “Shroud Wang has violated the rules, Neighbour Liu has violated the rules, and they will be punished.”

Once the broadcast ended, four men in black appeared and took away Yang Ye and Xun Feng separately.

Gu Liang sat back in his chair again and held onto his forehead while sighing silently.

The fifth men in black appeared without any prior warning. He picked up the tie and wrapped it around Gu Liang’s neck… 1vxhaj

* * *

The room was dim and the air was humid.

Gu Liang woke up in an old bed.

He sat up and took a look at his own card. The time displayed was August 7, 9 o’ clock at night. d6nHFz

After getting out of the bed, Gu Liang looked at the shirt and jeans that was placed neatly in front of the bed first.

Heart still palpitating, he went to the kitchen, and saw the egg shells that were already in the kitchen dustbin and the porridge that had been preserved with a cling wrap in the refrigerator.

He immediately understood that he had lost his memory, and he might have died once.

Is this the first time I’ve lost my memory? lQa4jg

Did I leave a record somewhere?

Thinking that, Gu Liang drank some porridge in a hurry before he returned back to his attic bedroom.

He rummaged around briefly before he found an account book at the head of the bed.

The book that was originally meant for bookkeeping, had been repurposed into a journal by him. tPrHTm

“7 August (it should be 8 August in reality), 9:00, I woke up. This should be the first time I woke up and realised that I have died once…”

“10:30, I encountered Beggar Ding and School Senior Feng’s corpse with Yang Ye…”

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“6:00 of the next day, my time shows 8 August, 6:00, but according to regular time flow, it should be 6:00 on 9 August. I killed Principal Zha, this is my second time killing him.”

“10:00, School Senior Feng came to find me, I heard her talking to the men in black about tops and bottoms…” 82AvSu

Gu Liang saw himself making a few cross marks here before he wrote the important points again: “In the coffin shop, we found Neighbour Liu’s corpse, it was School Senior Feng who killed him.”

“Afternoon, Yang Ye invited us to a meal. Truth to be told, last night’s dinner and today’s breakfast was also made by him. The breaded pork cutlet was very delicious. En… this still has nothing to do with the case.”

“I received a new plot late in the afternoon… Gu Liang, you can burn this journal once you have read this.”

“Because I have basically ascertained the fact that I am the real murderer in this case.” gdQAG

“The following is an amendment to the contents in the journal. The first article, ‘when I woke up and thought that I had died once’, it should be revised to ‘I had already died twice by then’.”

“I will be going to Neighbour Liu’s house tonight, and he should be the murderer who kills me at 9:00. When that time comes around, I will die in this script for the third time.”

“But this is not important. I will not truly die. Because I am the real murderer in this case.”

“This is a journal you wrote yourself. Burning it should not be considered as the destruction of evidence. There is something hidden under the coffin in the middle of the main hall on the first floor. Once you open the coffin, you will understand everything.” g2DIJP

Leave a Comment

15 comments

  1. He’s got such a low self esteem *sighs

    So he’s the murdered!!! Will YY discover it?? If he’s the detective and doesn’t guess right he’ll die ..

    Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️

  2. No!

    I do not believe that!

    Yang Ye find a way to blow up the scene now!

    Or prove that our cute Gu Liang is innocent now!

    Something is wrong!

  3. WHAT. I still stand by what I said, there’s no way YY or GL are the real murderers. They would die in the game no matter what, like in the previous instances.

    Now, my big issue is with Xun Feng and everything he revealed. It is absolutely disgusting and unprofessional. UGH.

    Thanks for the chapter <3

  4. im excited if GL is the murderer. Hes the MC so hes not gonna die permanently, but it might show how to get away with murder. V curious wtf is hidden there though.

    im so sad about XF’s unrequited love. he only has the guts to tell it bc he’s sure GL would forget. And fuck. I wonder if this is/one of his crime/s??

  5. Actually, I have already types lots of conjectures before this but in the end erased it since I want to organize more my thoughts.

    First: how will the voting start?

    Second: how will they determine the murderer and the deceased?

    Okay. So, the voting should start if one of them should have gotten a clue about the murderer… i think. Then, they identify the murderer and finally vote.

    So, how to find the murderer? This should be related to the murder cycle. Before this, I tried to analyze lots of the order regarding the cycle and correlate their lives and deaths. In the end, I found something so I erased everything.

    What I found is how to break the cycle. So, before, I commented about the order of the murder cycle, which is:

    School senior Feng kills neighbor Liu who kills boss Meng who kills principal Zha who kills Liu Ran who kills the beggar who should be the one that killed school senior Feng.

    This actually can’t be the order since we don’t know who killed who first, and if the one who killed first is the murderer? And about breaking the cycle…

    I am thinking that there is a proper order of murder so this became a cycle. Let’s see which order should it be. And what happens if there is a contradiction? Is that the point of breaking the cycle?

    So, let’s start with the order to a cycle first. To complete the cycle, there should be no contradiction of murders. For example:

    Let’s say principal Zha killed Liu Ran (his murderer is unknown, and is likely principal Zhang since if it was the beggar, who we still haven’t seen whom he killed, then it is a contradiction since Liu Ran killed the beggar. So, the one who killed Liu Ran should be principal Zha. That left the beggar killing school senior Feng, since it was said that everyone should have killed someone.)

    P.S.: remember that ML (MC) said that someone might have killed two people, and that there might be more than one murderer~

    Let’s analyz Liu Ran first, who killed the beggar. But, his murderer is still unknown, and the beggar’s victim is also unknown. Principal Zha’s murderer is boss Meng but his victim is unknown. Meanwhile, school senior Feng killed neighbor Liu but her murderer is unknown.

    These four’s cases should be cleared now so we can guess the order of the cycle. So, let’s start with Liu Ran’s murderer. The ones who don’t have victims are principal Zha and the beggar. But, since Liu Ran killed the beggar, then the beggar couldn’t have killed him. So, principal Zha could have killed Liu Ran.

    Now we have: boss Meng killed principal Zha who killed Liu Ran who killed the beggar.

    How about school senior Feng? Since principal Zha killed Liu Ran that leaves the beggar killing school senior Feng.

    Now we have: boss Meng – principal Zha – Liu Ran – beggar – Feng. Feng killed neighbor Liu, who killed boss Meng, who will kill principal Zha… so this is the order.

    Then, how does the cycle works? There should be no contradictions to anyone’s murders. The first person who kills should remain alive in the end so he can kill his victim, continuing the cycle again.

    Where should we start then?

    So let’s start with principal Zha. He killed Liu Ran. so if Liu Ran dies, then the beggar lives and kills school senior Feng. Remember, Principal Zha has a task of helping school senior Feng kill neighbor Liu, but he can’t do this now since school senior Feng dies. This contradicts his task, and also school senior Feng’s task to kill neighbor Liu. So, if she dies, neighbor Liu lives. And if, neighbor Liu lives, then boss Meng dies. principal Zha remains alive. Although this cycle can be repeated, but there is a contradiction to their task and other people’s murder case. So, this shouldn’t be the perfect cycle.

    Since if we start with principal Zha, Liu Ran dies. Then, let’s start with Liu Ran alive.

    Liu Ran kills the beggar, and Feng who the beggar should kill lived. If Feng lived then she can kill neighbor Liu. This doesn’t contradict to Zha’s task of helping her. And if Liu died, then boss Meng lives and she also could see Meng pass by her, which is her task. But, if Meng lives then Zha dies. This breaks the cycle so this isn’t it either.

    Since both first two are not possible, and Feng seems crucial. Beggar is also crucial since he kills Feng. The same can be said with Zha who will help Feng. Then, we can’t start with Meng either who kills Zha. That leaves –

    Neighbor Liu. If Liu is alive, then he kills Meng. If Meng dies then Zha lives. If Zha is alive then Liu Ran dies. If Liu Ran dies then the beggar lives. If the beggar lives, Feng dies. Stop. This here becomes incorrect.

    Nothing is correct. But, this is because everyone has only one victim. Since it is correct if everyone has only one victim, then… someone must have killed two people. Guess who killed two? And is there really more than one murderer?

    • For now, Liu Ran is the most suspicious because of his previous record. So, let’s say he killed both beggar and Feng. Then, that leaves the beggar with no victim, which is not possible since everyone should have a victim… right? So, what if the beggar’s victim is Zha? But boss Meng already kills Zha. There can be two murderers but there can’t be a victim who was killed twice right? Then, beggar killing Zha should be improbable? Beggar also killing Liu Ran is not possible since Liu Ran killed him. So, beggar should only have Feng as his victim.

      Liu Ran, killing beggar and… Zha? But Zha’s murderer is already boss Meng? But Meng is suspected as the Murderer so he killed Zha and… Liu Ran? But then that leaves Zha no victim? Then this is improbable. Zha should have killed Liu Ran.Then, principal Zha. His victims should be Liu Ran and Feng. But, that still leaves the beggar with no victim?Then what if the beggar killed Zha and Feng? Not possible either since Zha already is Meng’s victim. Again, there can be two murderers but can’t have a victim killed twice, since there is only one death.

      Then… who killed two people? Since we can’t find out, then there should be no perfect murder cycle. Then, we now have to find where the cycle breaks. To break it, we have to find the murderer. And to find the murderer, he might be the first to start this cycle.

      Since boss Meng might be the Murderer, then let’s start with him. If he killed Zha, then Liu Ran lives. If Liu Ran lives then the beggar dies and if the beggar dies, then Feng lives. But, Feng needs Zha’s help to kill neighbor Liu. But Zha is now dead so she can’t kill Liu. Liu lives, so Meng dies. This cycle also ends.

      So, since Meng killed Zha, neighbor Liu lived. Then, neighbor Liu will kill Meng. But, if he kills Meng, Zha would live and in the end he dies. This shouldn’t be correct. He isn’t s murderer.

      Neighbor Liu who we suspect. If Liu is alive, then he kills Meng. If Meng dies then Zha lives. If Zha is alive then Liu Ran dies. If Liu Ran dies then the beggar lives. If the beggar lives, Feng dies. Even if Zha is alive, but Feng is the one to kill neighbor Liu so Liu will live. Then, neighbor Liu is the murderer since he doesn’t need to pay attention to Zha and Feng’s tasks because they will kill him. And now one of them dies after he kills Meng, he lives. He also done his task of killing Meng. So he must be a Murderer!

      Let’s try Liu Ran who has the previous record next. If he kills the beggar, Feng lives. She kills neighbor Liu since Zha should still be alive at this time. Neighbor Liu dies so Meng lives. Then, Meng kills Zha. By this time neighbor Liu is dead, and Zha has finished his task of helping Feng. So, Zha dies. Then, Liu Ran is alive. Thus, Liu Ran must also be a Murderer! And Zha’s role here should also be a trap set like second martial brother in the previous game.

      Who’s next? Principal Zha who is also sus. If he kills Liu Ran, then the beggar lives. If beggar lives, then Feng dies. He fails, since he can’t complete his task with Feng. His role is a trap. He isn’t the murderer.

      The beggar, then. If he kills Feng, neighbor Liu lives. Meng will die, so Zha lives. Then, Zha kills Liu Ran (which doesn’t conflict with his task with Feng), and Liu Ran will fail to kill the beggar so beggar lives. Then, beggar might also be a murderer.

      Wow. We now have three.

      How about Feng, the last one? If Feng kills neighbor (since Zha should still be alive here), then Meng lives. If Meng lives, Zha dies. But, Feng has now finished with him after she killed Liu, so Zha lives or dies should got nothing to do with her from hereon. So, Zha dies. Then, Liu Ran lives. If Liu Ran lives, then the beggar dies. If beggar dies, then, Feng lives. So, she might also be a murderer?

      Seriously, four? But, there should be one NPC, then we have three murderers. This leaves GL having the Deceased Card and Yang Ye with the Detective Card.

      Neighbor Liu, Liu Ran and Feng. The system says there can be one murderer so three is possible. But, we also can’t disregard the fact that someone has two victims. And these all are just my speculations and there should be more clues in the next chapters.

      Sorry for these long comments… 😅😅😅🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️