Bab 6: Chapter 6: What If It Comes Back to Life?
The dining room at the crime scene had two people squatting in front of Mr. Guo's corpse, not touching it, but appearing to be seriously inspecting something.
The boy seemed a bit afraid of the corpse, but the seemingly weak and gentle Tan Xiaohe was daringly bold, even quietly lifting the white cloth to peek at the Manor Owner's gruesome condition.
"What are you looking at him for?" Yang Ming asked, trying to suppress his disgust.
"I'm checking to see if there are any clues on his body," Tan Xiaohe said, and after lifting a corner of the white cloth, she picked up some chopsticks from the table and poked at Mr. Guo's jacket and trouser pockets.
"You're really bold." Watching her search, the boy felt he couldn't just stand by, so he pinched his fingers to help lift the white cloth.
"There's nothing to fear from the living or the dead."
Muttering to herself, Tan Xiaohe finished prodding the pockets of the suit jacket and trousers and didn't seem to find anything inside.
She put down the chopsticks with a sense of defeat and whispered with a frown, "That woman said that the Scripted Murder Game doesn't end until we find evidence to solve the case? But it seems like our task has nothing to do with solving the case at all. Are they also expecting us to look for it?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Ming leaned in and said, "Don't listen to her, everyone has different tasks, we just need to do our own thing."
Tan Xiaohe glanced at him, and a cold smirk suddenly appeared on her usually docile face, "Yo, I remember you saying you've never played Scripted Murder Games, right?"
Yang Ming: "..."
Now that they were all teammates tied to the same boat, there was no point in making a big deal out of it.
...
While the two of them were quietly checking Mr. Guo's body in the dining room, in the kitchen, the photographer was also inspecting carefully.
Compared to other players, the photographer had a very practical tool—his camera!
After capturing the details of every corner of the kitchen, the photographer stared at the cupboard, deep in thought; he didn't want to touch anything here and risk leaving his fingerprints.
After all, crucial evidence could very well be hidden here!
Instead of guessing that the butler or a servant was the murderer, the photographer's intuition made him more suspicious of the chef, because among all the player identities, only the chef was not an outsider!
Who said in a beginner's Scripted Murder Game the murderer couldn't be a player?
...
While Xu Shuo's car friends were each hiding their own thoughts, he was still sitting on the sofa, drinking tea.
And at that moment, the butler who had dealt with the servants came back again.
Hearing noises outside the living room, those who had been flipping bodies and searching the kitchen quickly stopped what they were doing, looking worried as if they hadn't done anything.
The butler came in, glanced at Chef Zhang who was talking with Zhan Qian, and then said to everyone, "I have already called the police, but due to the weather tonight, they won't be able to come over for now, so there's no need for you to wait up; you might as well get some rest."
"Don't worry, we won't leave before the police arrive," Zhan Qian stood up and said.
"Thank you all," the butler replied, sweeping his eyes across the group before suddenly asking, "Oh, where is the other miss?"
Zhan Qian averted her gaze; she had no mood to speak to the painter who kept stealing her thunder, so the compliant Tan Xiaohe answered, "She seemed a bit shocked and has gone to rest in her room."
The butler nodded apologetically and sighed, "I didn't expect such a thing to happen tonight. Our master has always been modest and polite to everyone, and living deep in the manor, he has never made any enemies. I wonder who could be so cruel as to poison and kill the master!"
No one could really respond to this speech; they weren't even interested in knowing who Mr. Guo was, only managing to awkwardly divert the conversation and comfort the butler insincerely.
As everyone was about to head back to their rooms, the butler suddenly seemed to remember something and called them back.
"By the way, since the master was rather frugal, the manor will be entirely dark after ten o'clock, so please try not to walk around at night to avoid bumping into something and getting hurt." The butler wore a modest and kind smile, as if he was merely giving a regular reminder.
But Zhan Qian, who was walking ahead with her back turned, let out an unnoticeable shiver and swallowed her fear with difficulty.
Then she quietly exhaled, turned around with a noble and elegant perfect expression, and pridefully nodded to indicate that she understood before continuing upstairs. Her long legs under the black dress moved at a steady pace with each step.
The other few exchanged meaningful glances and also expressed their acknowledgment.
Now, all the players were full of perfunctory intentions.
After the guests had left, the butler suddenly looked towards Xu Shuo, who was still on the side, and spoke indifferently, "Chef Zhang, it seems like you and Miss Zhan have a good relationship?"
Xu Shuo paused for a moment and said without any change in expression, "Miss Zhan has a nice personality, and I just happen to get along well with her."
"Mm." The butler nodded calmly, stepped closer to him, and whispered, "Chef Zhang, you've been working at the manor for a year now, and I don't want to suspect you regarding tonight's events. However, until the truth is discovered tomorrow, I hope you will stick to your duties and not do anything unnecessary."
Xu Shuo took a second to think about what the original chef's character should be like and then promptly put on a nervous facade, "Butler, I understand."
"Mm, you know the consequences of leaving the manor without permission." The butler gave him a meaningful look and turned to walk towards the dining room.
"..."
Xu Shuo was slightly stunned and still pondering the meaning behind those words when he heard the butler call out, "Come and help."
He turned and saw that the butler seemed to be attempting to lift Mr. Guo's body.
"This... didn't we say it's best not to move the body before the police arrive?" Xu Shuo asked.
"The master died of poisoning. It will suffice for the coroner to examine the body later. It's not good to let the master lie here all this time," the butler said quietly, his eyes filled with a sorrowful expression that seemed to reflect genuine grief.
"Okay."
Xu Shuo raised an eyebrow slightly and followed the butler's lead, one holding the head and the other the feet. They moved the body to the main bedroom on the second floor.
The main bedroom was the largest room in the villa, adjacent to a study and next to that, the room closest to the corridor, was where Zhan Qian stayed.
As they passed by, she seemed to be drawn by the noise and opened the door to look.
Then her expression immediately became very strange.
The previously noble and aloof demeanor simply couldn't hold up!
Xu Shuo analyzed briefly and concluded that her look was akin to that of someone in a horror movie who is about to be the first victim.
After helping move the body to the bed in the master bedroom, the butler asked him to leave. Xu Shuo stepped out and saw Zhan Qian still leaning against her doorway, looking at him with an indecisive expression.
"Is there something you want to say?"
"Why did you move the body up here?" Zhan Qian asked softly.
"The butler feels pity for his master lying on the ground, insisted on moving him to the bed," Xu Shuo said, spreading his hands.
Zhan Qian's face registered an odd look, as though she was hiding a secret.
Then, she cautiously checked the surroundings, leaned in close to Xu Shuo's ear, and whispered eerily, "Aren't you afraid he might suddenly come back to life?"
Xu Shuo: "…That's unlikely."
He finally understood why the woman had looked like she was about to become fodder. After all, she lived right next to the master bedroom, with just a study in between, practically cohabiting with a corpse.
In the pattern of a horror movie, it was indeed the perfect setup for the first atmospheric kill.
But, the system had already determined that his task one was complete, so any notion of the corpse coming back to life was completely impossible!
Hadiah
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