chapter 12

Footsteps sounded outside the door. A few seconds later, the door pushed open and Li Baixing walked in. “So you’re all here. Find any clues?”

She looked toward the table. The wooden box they’d opened earlier was empty.

Li Baixing smiled faintly. “You don’t actually have to listen to Wang Meng. There’s no rule in the Instance that says all clues you find must be shared. Those four spent ages rummaging around in here yesterday. It’s very unlikely they came up empty-handed.”

But they’d chosen to hide what they’d found.

Chu Yue had already guessed as much.

In an Instance, everyone called it cooperation, but in truth, it was also competition.

There were only so many people. Until you cleared the Instance, people died every single day.

Better them than me. Everyone wanted to be the one who survived to the end.

Li Baixing didn’t ask what clues they’d found, and it was obvious she had no intention of sharing what she’d discovered in the kitchen either.

The only explanation for her attitude was that she believed what she’d found in the kitchen was more important than whatever they’d uncovered.

The three of them understood without saying anything.

They each checked a few more places, and only left when the sun began to dip westward.

Li Baixing chose to head back to the dorm first. Chu Yue and Shen Yubi went to Li Ergou’s butcher shop again, planning to ask about the meat he sold and about Li Ergou’s Wife.

They had barely approached when shouting and curses reached their ears.

“You heartless bastard! Get out here right now!”

“Don’t think I don’t know you’re in there just because you’re hiding in your shop!”

“You brainless son of a bitch! You dare sell me Haitang pork at a time like this? Making money off something so filthy-how can you even swallow it yourself?”

“Li Ergou! Did you hear me? Get your ass out here right now and give me my money back!”

A plump middle‑aged woman stood at the closed shop door, hands on her hips, hurling abuse.

One filthy word after another spewed from her mouth, giving Chu Yue and Shen Yubi a very vivid demonstration of what it meant to be a shrew cursing in the street.

Chu Yue’s stomach churned.

Haitang pork referred to meat from a sow that had already given birth, and the pork this woman had bought from Li Ergou was most likely from that woman in her thirties.

Even if her uterus had been removed, she’d still given birth before.

No matter how the middle‑aged woman raged, Li Ergou never opened the door. Chu Yue couldn’t tell whether he was deliberately hiding inside or truly not in the shop.

“Enough, enough,” a few people came over from the side to calm her down. “His wife went back to her mother’s place. He probably just made a mistake. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”

“Quit making a scene out here and just go home. It’s about to rain.”

At that, Chu Yue looked up.

The sky was indeed overcast, but not so dark that it looked like rain was imminent.

Still, the man’s tone was certain. To be safe, Chu Yue and Shen Yubi decided not to approach. They headed straight back to the dorm.

This little town was too strange. Ever since learning that Li Ergou’s Wife might be a player and was already dead, the sense of unease in Chu Yue’s chest had only grown stronger.

When they returned to the dorm, the Hall was empty. They went upstairs; the rooms were empty too. Aside from the two of them, the other six people still hadn’t come back-including Li Baixing, who’d said earlier that she would head back to the dorm first.

On the 4th Floor, Chu Yue first went to check on the girl who’d been scared insane.

She was still sitting in the same spot where they’d seen her that morning. The quilt over her body hadn’t moved either. Only now, beneath the heavy stench of blood, there was a faint sour, animal smell.

When the two of them entered, she didn’t react at all.

She was truly insane.

Looking in through the small window on the door, because the curtains were drawn, the Woman on the 4th Floor’s room was dim and gloomy. They could only vaguely make out two shapes lying on the bed.
Chu Yue tried knocking on the door. After a moment, a muffled voice came from inside.

“Who is it?”

It was an unfamiliar woman’s voice.

Chu Yue said, “I’m looking for the girl who went to buy meat in a red dress yesterday.”

“Xiao Rou, they’re looking for you.”

“Mm.”

He didn’t wait long before the girl called Xiao Rou opened the door.

“Oh, it’s you two. You need something from me?” She scratched her hair, looking half-asleep.

Seeing that her face had returned to normal, Chu Yue asked, “You don’t remember what happened last night?”

“Last night?” The woman looked suspicious. “Hey, don’t try to scare me, little brother. I went to bed nice and early last night. If someone else hears you talking like that, they’ll get the wrong idea.”

Chu Yue had expected this. As he thought, she didn’t remember anything about the night before.

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just that we heard strange noises again last night, but it looks like you didn’t.” Chu Yue waved a hand, explaining. “Actually, we came today to ask you about something else.”

The woman didn’t care much and asked casually, “About what?”

“Li Ergou’s Wife,” Chu Yue said.

The expression that had been completely unconcerned froze on the woman’s face.

“Wait a second.” She said that, then turned back into her room. Not long after, she came out again, now holding a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

“This way.” The woman said this and walked toward the end of the corridor.

She opened a window and leaned against the sill, pulling out a cigarette and clamping it between her lips. She took a deep drag, then exhaled slowly, her eyes fixed on the gray world outside, gaze falling on nothing in particular.

“I’m surprised you actually thought to come ask me. You Outsiders usually avoid us like the plague, don’t you?”

“We do. But Miss Xiao Rou isn’t the same as them, right? You said yesterday you don’t reject Outsiders.”

Shen Yubi stood quietly at Chu Yue’s side, dutifully carrying out the plan of using Chu Yue’s looks as bait.

The woman let out a soft laugh, a little self-mocking. Her face was faintly cold. “What’s supposed to be different? If you live in this town, you’re all the same. Just ask what you want to ask, will you? When you’re done, I need to go back and catch up on sleep.”

Chu Yue didn’t mind her attitude. “I want to know if Li Ergou’s Wife is dead.”

The woman glanced at him, but answered, “Yes.”

“Does Li Ergou know?”

“Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. You’ll have to ask him that yourself.”

“Is Li Ergou’s Wife’s death related to the gathering?” Chu Yue asked again.

“Yes.”

“During the Three Days and Nights of Prayer, what exactly are you praying for?”

At that question, the woman went silent. Staring out at the hazy sky, she exhaled another plume of smoke. “You’ll have to look into that yourself.”

“Do you know where Li Ergou’s knife is?”

“No.”

The questions and answers between them flowed smoothly enough.

Chu Yue didn’t ask anything else, but Shen Yubi suddenly spoke up: “Was the meat you bought yesterday good?”

She hadn’t expected the topic to jump so abruptly, but since it came from a kid, the woman didn’t think much of it.

“It was pretty good, just seemed to have a bit of a sour taste. Maybe I used the wrong seasoning. The pork from Li Ergou’s place should always be fresh.”

“Oh,” Shen Yubi said.

Crushing the cigarette butt out on the windowsill, the woman shut the window. “That’s all I can tell you. Don’t come looking for me again.”