Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The alarm gradually faded, and the mechanical voice of the System reported the results.
[Player Ning Banxian has completed one Murder Case. Confirmed.]
The Danmu in the Live Stream Room had been going wild since Ning Wang appeared.
From the moment Ning Wang took off his bamboo hat to the System’s judgment that Ning Shuo had completed the task, the Live Stream Room Heat only continued to rise.
[Why does he get the kill count?? He didn’t even get a drop of blood on him!]
[Guys, so that Hidden Rule he figured out during the day, was it…]
[Looking at this, it definitely is.]
[I didn’t know what the Hidden Rule was at first, but seeing the Half-Immortal’s demonstration, I think I get it now.]
[So, is this person who looks exactly like Ning Shuo also Ning Shuo? Huh??]
[Mom, my brain can’t handle this.]
[To the person above, Mom’s brain can’t handle it either.]
Existing in the same time and space as one’s past self was practically a temporal paradox.
After much persuasion, Ning Wang finally handed over the Disguise tools.
As Ning Shuo applied the Disguise to the corpse, he asked, “How did you know he was a Ghost/Monster?”
Ning Wang sat on the windowsill, looking at the moon outside. “I didn’t. I just remember waking up and going for a drink, when suddenly a slimy rope wrapped around my neck and nearly strangled me. After I cut the rope, I realized it was the waiter’s tongue.”
Ning Shuo: “…”
Ning Shuo: “That is pretty disgusting.”
Ning Wang: “There’s worse. Even after that, the waiter didn’t die. He chased me for several streets, swinging half a severed tongue.”
Ning Shuo: “…”
Ning Wang: “When he couldn’t catch me, he reported me to the magistrate’s office. The people from the office joined the chase. I don’t know who tripped whom, but eventually, the chase turned into a massive brawl among themselves.”
Ning Shuo: “…”
Ning Wang: “They were still lively despite having several bloody holes in their bodies, so I decided to see if there was anything even more miraculous. I went to the magistrate’s office and saw the official in charge crunching on his gavel, his mouth covered in blood.”
Ning Wang sighed. “This world has finally turned more insane than I could have ever imagined.”
Ning Shuo: “So you learned that you can only truly kill them while they’re still acting normal?”
“Hah, experience is the best teacher.”
…
The rules stated that one could not destroy the physical identity characteristics of the body.
Ning Shuo looked at the Disguise mask he had applied and nodded in satisfaction.
This didn’t count as destruction; he was just hiding the face.
The System had likely never seen someone like him before. The interface flashed red for a moment before returning to normal.
Ning Shuo plopped down on the ground. Just as he was about to speak, Ning Wang said gloomily, “You’re not going to ask me to dispose of the body for you too, are you?”
Ning Shuo said apologetically, “Since you brought it up yourself, I shall graciously accept the suggestion.”
He added helplessly, “I have no choice. My constitution is truly poor. I fear I would collapse after taking only two steps while carrying this gentleman.”
Ning Wang: “…”
Ning Wang asked in confusion, “Who exactly are you?”
Watching someone with his own face doing things completely contrary to his style was almost unbearable.
The System began reminding him to dispose of the body as soon as possible. Ning Shuo said, “How about this: you help me dump it, and I’ll explain as we walk.”
Ning Wang pointed at the Virtual Screen. “Are you disposing of the body because of that thing?”
Ning Shuo was shocked. “You can see it??”
How did he not know his past self had this special ability?
“Oh, I could see it after I woke up that day. This world keeps refreshing, and I’ve seen quite a few people who have them.”
No wonder he had climbed onto the windowsill earlier; he probably found the alarm too noisy.
Ning Shuo was lost in thought, so much so that he didn’t notice when the prompt on the screen stopped.
[Player Ning Banxian, if no system notification is sent to all players within ten minutes stating that a Murder Case has occurred, the System will automatically notify other players and include the location of the victim’s primary crime scene.]
Ning Shuo: “…”
Ning Shuo silently stopped thinking. He grabbed the corpse by the collar and dragged it along as he headed toward the exit of the palace, leaving a winding trail of blood behind him.
“If you don’t help me clean up this trail,” Ning Shuo said to Ning Wang, “then don’t even think about leaving the Imperial Palace.”
Ning Wang looked at him with utter disdain.
Since this person wasn’t going to tell him his true identity, Ning Wang didn’t feel the need to know.
He had only been curious at first because of the man’s appearance and the way he had fought that female ghost.
Ning Wang was about to climb over the windowsill to make his exit when he was suddenly tripped by something. He stood up, unbothered, only to have his foot slip again for some unknown reason.
Ning Wang: “…”
He thought back to the name “Ning Banxian” written on the screen and that warning: “Don’t even think about leaving the Imperial Palace.”
Ning Wang tried to climb out again and found it was possible. However, once he climbed out of the Palace Hall, he looked into the distance.
…Fine. The Imperial Palace was boundless.
Ning Wang cursed under his breath. Looking at the trail of blood winding into the distance, he felt a massive headache coming on.
Ning Shuo hadn’t made things too difficult for Ning Wang. After leaving the hall, he found a bucket, stuffed the corpse inside, and rolled it away.
Timing it to the ten-minute mark, he dumped the body in a strategic location. Once he had lured a guard into discovering the corpse, Ning Shuo used the System to notify all Players that someone had been murdered.
Seeing Players rushing over from not far away, Ning Shuo straightened his lapels. After ensuring he hadn’t accidentally gotten any blood on his clothes, he ran out in a frantic panic.
Almost all the Players arrived at the same time, but the System suddenly popped up a prompt: [This Script is a five-player game. One Player has not yet arrived at the scene of the Murder Case. One hour of free exploration will begin once all Players are present. After one hour, all Players must resume activities according to their character roles.]
Ning Shuo observed the expressions of the other Players and found them equally dazed and shocked.
None of them knew of the existence of a fifth Player.
In other words, this person hadn’t met any of the other Players yet.
Murong asked, “All five Players present… so the one who died wasn’t a Player?”
Her expression grew animated. “Does this mean we can actually all survive?”
Hearing this, Ming Yue-who had managed to escape her heavy guard with great difficulty-snorted coldly. “Have you forgotten? We are Innocents. Innocents need to go to the Notary Office, and once we go there, someone is bound to die.”
Either the Murderer would die, or an Innocent would die.
Even if the Murderer didn’t kill the Innocents, the two factions were locked in a life-or-death struggle.
Murong’s expression crumbled. Jiang Jiang tried to comfort her from the side, but she dodged him. She looked at everyone with deep suspicion, unconsciously biting her nails.
Ning Shuo looked at Jiang Jiang.
Murong’s unconscious behavior was far too anxious. Therefore, the person who had come up with the plan for Murong during the day-allowing them to successfully make contact with him-must have been Jiang Jiang, the one who had spoken up first to question him.
When Murong had come to find him later, it wasn’t just a probe; she genuinely suspected Jiang Jiang was the Murderer.
A few minutes later, the final Player finally arrived.
He wore a mask and introduced himself as State Preceptor Zhong Liang. He was primarily responsible for refining elixirs for the Emperor, and he was the one who had suggested this sacrifice.
Murong asked Zhong Liang to take off his mask, but he refused. “A mask shouldn’t interfere with finding the Murderer, right?”
Zhong Liang ignored Murong and flipped the corpse over. “Have you checked the cause of death?”
Before Zhong Liang arrived, they had still needed to act according to their roles. The Palace Gates were locked; the Princess was not supposed to be out, the Priest usually lived in seclusion and rarely left his Palace Hall, and Ming Yue’s situation went without saying.
Only Jiang Jiang had an excuse, claiming the Princess had punished him by making him patrol the night.
Thus, three Players had hidden in the shadows to avoid being spotted by other guards, while the fourth Player, Jiang Jiang, had openly examined the body.
Jiang Jiang replied, “The fatal wound is a sword strike to the throat.”
Because the fifth Player hadn’t shown his face until now, he carried an inherent sense of mystery to the others. Naturally, he was also the easiest person to suspect first.
Murong was the first to interrogate him: “What were you doing before the body was found? And why won’t you take off your mask?”
Zhong Liang grew impatient. “Didn’t I say? I have to refine elixirs for the Emperor and can’t leave easily. As for the mask…”
He spoke with a mocking tone. “You’re so obsessed with this question. Why? Is my mask getting in the way of you playing Great Detective?”