Chapter 58: Chapter 55: The Woman by the Window (Contains Spoilers about the Murderer's Identity/Read with Caution)

Xu Shuo, fuming, took another close look at the Scripted Murder Game script and then realized that although he seemed like the killer, he also seemed genuinely not to be the killer.

He was merely involved in the case.

After finishing the script, Xu Shuo surveyed the others present without showing any emotion, ready to find the "younger brother" he needed to protect, as well as candidates on whom to throw accusations.

Then, unexpectedly, his gaze met Xu Xi's.

But as they were in the game now and did not know the script that the other had received, they merely glanced at each other and calmly shifted their gazes away.

Yang Lili, who was sitting beside Xu Xi, was looking at the script in her hand when she clearly saw the words "I am the killer," which made her somewhat nervous.

I hope Xi spares me...

Yang Lili would never have expected to be the killer in this game, possibly turning the gaming expert who could have lifted her success into an enemy. She scorned herself inwardly, planning to avoid looking at Xu Xi during the game to prevent it from ending within ten minutes just like the last time.

The last killer in the previous script was a disaster too. Due to a bug in the script, there wasn't much protection for the killer, which led to the game crashing completely.

This time, Yang Lili felt she should be able to last more than ten minutes.

The event of the script took place in an online chat room, where several netizens were discussing the details of a dismemberment murder case that happened in a city ten years ago, while the killer was among them.

The host, timing carefully, spoke up again after the designated script reading time had elapsed, "Time's up. Now, welcome everyone to the chat room. Everyone present has some form of connection to the deceased, Deng Aixin. Before we proceed with the evidence search, we can introduce ourselves to get to know each other a bit."

Instantly, it seemed to the host that the air in this small screen corner had become a little stagnant.

The two male students, who had been talking merrily before, both got into character, silently sizing up everyone. Having received the killer's script, Yang Lili also became quite fierce in order to hide her identity.

Xu Xi habitually had a poker face with little expression, while Xu Shuo's face remained calm, both siblings inheriting that indifference.

The host wiped the cold sweat from his forehead for no reason. Why was everyone so silent and so pressuring—could it be that they were all experts?

Pei Sheng was the only one in the room, sprawling with one leg up in a carefree manner, waving his hand and saying, "The killer isn't me!"

Everyone: "..."

But the tense atmosphere at the scene seemed to break.

With a "Gentleman" Character Card in hand, Xu Shuo let out a slight sigh and said, "I do indeed know Deng Aixin, but our relationship was only that of a transactional nature, as she used to eat often at the restaurant I run, which is where we met."

After Xu Shuo spoke, another student was about to speak, but Yang Lili suddenly cut in, "Deng Aixin and I were very good friends. It's just that I fell in love with her boyfriend, but I didn't want to ruin our friendship. So, troubled by this matter, I left this city for a while."

Her Character Card was "Meng Qiuxue," a female role in this game.

However, after she had finished speaking, Xu Shuo threw her a look indiscernibly, and at the same time, a spark seemed to flicker through Xu Xi's eyes.

...

"The Woman by the Window" had a story background filled with the shadows of a cult, encompassing various strange, gory, and morality-challenging scenes throughout the play.

The host controlled the whole scene, and after the self-introductions and discussions of the first act, it was time for the evidence search. The victim had been murdered and dismembered ten years prior, with clue cards that included maps and images of various props.

In this game, Xu Shuo portrayed himself as a very innocent visitor to the victim, but when searching for evidence, there was a chance of drawing a clue card pertaining to character information.

For instance, the tricycle run by the Gentleman could easily make people think of the transportation used in dumping the corpse.

Xu Shuo sighed silently, wondering why in every Scripted Murder Game, even as an accomplice, one had to do so many risky and easily exposed things.

If it were him...

Forget it, why keep putting himself in the scenario?

Because Yang Lili had received the killer's script, she tried every possible way to obscure her gender, her motives, and her loves and hates.

But Yang Lili's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at her, a face of "betrayed by a close girlfriend" hurt expression, in contrast to the recently agitated Pei Sheng who excitedly sat up.

"Great! At least someone believes I'm not the murderer!"

Xu Shuo looked at him with a smile that wasn't quite a smile and said nothing.

A few votes were cast for 'Impermanence', confirming his identity as the murderer, then votes for 'Prometheus' followed, confirming his identity as the Corpse Dumper.

Neither of the suspects got away.

Pei Sheng glared at Xu Shuo through gritted teeth and said to the host, "Alright, give me a recap now. If I find out this guy was actually the murderer, I'm gonna throttle him later!"

The host said sheepishly, "Don't worry, he's not the murderer."

...

And then the murderer won this game.

Xu Shuo's character was indeed not the murderer, just a Corpse Dumper.

The final recap showed that the murderer was 'Meng Qiuxue', a cross-dressing character who killed the victim because of her identity and then faked the time of death. Afterwards, to help cover up the fact that her brother had committed murder, 'the refined man' dismembered the victim and disposed of the body in different locations.

As for the other characters, each had done some dark deeds for their own reasons, so in fact, none of them were clean.

Pei Sheng, fuming with rage, rushed up, grabbed Xu Shuo by the shoulders, and shook him vigorously: "I knew it! When you set your sights on someone, it's always because you have something even bigger you want to cover up. Damn it! And you had to shift the blame onto me!"

"Your role was just really convenient to be the scapegoat," Xu Shuo said with a laugh. "But you're quite smart too, not taking on the role of the Corpse Dumper as well."

"Ah, you even wanted to pin two crimes on me?!"

The two male students also smiled wryly by the side, as they had been led astray by that guy's pace. Their deductions ran wildly towards cult activities and hospital experiments, thinking it was a case of religious nature.

So throughout the entire game, they had hardly ever suspected 'Meng Qiuxue's identity.

After the host explained the recap and they vented their anger, Pei Sheng lay on the sofa like a salted fish.

Today, his brother sacrificed him for a woman.

Yang Lili said with a happy face, "I was originally worried that Xu Shuo wouldn't find out I was his 'brother', and also worried that being too obvious would reveal it to Xi, but I didn't expect things to go so smoothly right from the start!"

Because as long as the two of them could connect, it would be much easier to cover for themselves and prevent a scenario of fratricide.

Hearing this, Xu Shuo smiled and said, "Actually, at the start, I treated all of you as brothers in the performance, protecting whoever could make the connection."

Everyone: "..."

On reflection, being considered a brother by you is quite valuable?

...

A Scripted Murder Game took almost two to three hours to play, and it was already dark outside.

After the game ended, the two male students were leaving but said they would like to play again next time. So they exchanged WeChat contacts with Yang Lili. As for Xu Xi, she shook her head silently, and the two men didn't insist.

Xu Shuo said he had matters to take care of back at his studio and left without the two girls, taking the salted fish-like Pei Sheng with him.

The sky was dim, the web celebrity shopping street lit up with various neon lights, dazzling and splendid, adorning the streets.

Yang Lili hooked arms with Xu Xi, and they strolled leisurely, speaking, "Xi, you didn't go easy in the last game, did you?"

Xu Xi spoke indifferently, "No, at the beginning I did think 'Impermanence' was the murderer. But after your clue card came out, I guessed 'Meng Qiuxue' must be male and used the Arm Strength Stick to kill the victim. It's just that by then, the script had already been skewed by my brother towards heinous cult sacrifices."

Upon hearing this, Yang Lili laughed heartily for a while, then said with a sigh, "You and your brother, really... Xu Shuo pointed fingers at his friend, and you pointed at me."

Xu Xi remained impassive, her lips curving up ever so slightly: "My brother says that in the game, there's only winning or losing, no sentimentality."