Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Although the story spanned two years, Luo Li simplified quite a bit of it and finished the whole thing in just a few minutes.

After listening, Ning Wang asked, puzzled, “Then why don’t you think the Zhu Xiangfeng in this Script is the same Zhu Xiangfeng from the Script you were born into?”

Born…

Luo Li pretended she hadn’t heard that phrasing. It was fairly accurate anyway. “One Script can’t connect to another. That Script has already closed. Besides, the System shouldn’t be ‘recycling’ a dead person like that.”

Ning Wang looked as if he’d just heard a joke. “Have you forgotten Rose Castle? That place had dead people being recycled in piles.” Granted, those dead people had become vengeful spirits, but if they were useful to the plot, that was enough.

Luo Li’s hand paused.

Ning Wang continued, “And even if we set all that aside, why do you know this Zhu Xiangfeng’s preferences so clearly?”

“Lolita, you don’t really think it’s just a coincidence that the cakes she likes line up perfectly with Zhu Xiangfeng’s tastes, do you?”

…

Meanwhile, Ning Wang had guessed right.

For the moment, Ning Shuo really couldn’t find Zhu Xiangfeng.

…Because with Shen Zhiwang’s help, many of the children had been put under Disguise.

Ning Wang really didn’t mind tiring himself out!

Ning Shuo could tell someone was using Disguise, but he couldn’t tell what any of them had looked like before the Disguise. He couldn’t exactly go around washing every child’s face.

He forced down the restlessness in his chest and returned to the ward with Yu Qian first.

There were quite a few examinations scheduled for the evening. This time, several more hours passed before Ning Shuo secretly slipped back out.

Right now, each side had its own advantages.

Ning Shuo and Yu Qian were in psychiatry. For the protection of ordinary patients, almost no one outside the psychiatric nurses and doctors knew them, which meant they could move around more freely outside the psychiatric department. But for safety reasons, they always wore Disguise when they went out, which basically rendered the advantage of “no one knows them” useless-after all, Ning Shuo already had a Disguise cheat himself.

And because the psychiatric inpatient ward was independent from the other departments, that also made the timing of Ning Shuo and Yu Qian’s psychiatric examinations uncertain.

Fortunately, they had scouted the nurses’ inspection times in advance, and so far, they hadn’t messed up.

Qin Genan’s identity was a male athlete paralyzed in both legs. She could often hear the nurses whispering about him, saying he had a terrible temper and was always losing it because of his paralysis. On top of that, caregivers came at set times to look after him, so whether in terms of movement or maintaining the character setting, she had very little freedom.

Then there was Zou Ling. Every examination she went through could be called nerve-racking. To check on her physical condition, doctors and nurses came by almost every other day. Her illness was also related to thyroid abnormalities, so she frequently had to put on a performance of losing control of her temper.

In terms of character setting and freedom of movement, not a single person in the Guardian Faction was suited for guarding.

On the contrary, because every one of their character settings came with a bit of a violent streak, they were actually more suited to the Destruction Faction. Even if they caused trouble, it wouldn’t easily break character.

As for the Destruction Faction, Ning Wang had used Disguise on Zhao Daming’s corpse to make it look like his own, causing the entire hospital to search for “Zhao Daming,” while Ning Wang himself gained the highest degree of freedom of movement.

Shen Zhiwang hardly needed mentioning. Zhuang Yao, who had been taken away by her “brother-in-law,” had also successfully gained freedom. Aside from her daily morning examination, her face-changing prop had already been used up, so Ning Wang’s Disguise cheat came in handy again. At all other times, Zhuang Yao had an extremely high degree of mobility. Because of that, she was mainly responsible for tying down Qin Genan and Zou Ling, the two restricted Player characters.

The only one left with severe restrictions was Luo Li, who had a heart condition. But she was also extremely special: she knew exactly how to satisfy all of Zhu Xiangfeng’s demands.

One by one, the members of the Destruction Faction were all better suited to guarding.
And in a certain sense, destruction was far easier than protection.

Between the two factors of faction and character setup, this was already a catastrophically bad opening for the Guardian Faction.

What exactly was the plot of this Script? At the end of the day, a Murder Mystery Game was still a game. What game would set things up this unfairly?

As Ning Shuo performed the role of an irritable patient for the nurse, he pondered where the breakthrough point in this Script might be.

The nurse’s face suddenly loomed large in front of him. “What are you thinking about?”

Ning Shuo reached out and kneaded her face, pinching hard. “I’m thinking about killing someone.”

The nurse’s face was pinched until it bled, but she didn’t dodge. She was like someone with no sense of pain at all. Only when Ning Shuo showed no sign of backing down and looked ready to gouge a chunk of flesh from her cheek did she finally pull away. “Your tendency toward Harming Others is getting worse. I’ll bring you your medicine later.”

Ning Shuo answered her with a coldly raised middle finger.

After making sure the nurse wasn’t going to come by again, it was already past ten at night. Ning Shuo returned to pediatrics with Yu Qian.

Shen Zhiwang was surrounded by children. Among them happened to be the few girls Ning Shuo had noticed during the day, the ones with builds similar to Zhu Xiangfeng’s.

Had he kept them close because he was worried they really would find Zhu Xiangfeng? Or were none of them Zhu Xiangfeng at all, and all the children were just decoys?

Ning Shuo pressed his lips together and called, “Xiangfeng?”

Shen Zhiwang watched him at leisure.

The children all listened to the doctor. Shen Zhiwang had told them that when other people came, they absolutely must not make a sound.

Ning Shuo looked at Shen Zhiwang, then suddenly laughed. “Fine. These kids really do listen to the doctor.”

Shen Zhiwang had no intention of saying much to Ning Shuo. The more he said, the more chances he had to slip up-especially when the man before him was so clever it was almost uncanny. Better to deal with him as little as possible.

He watched as Ning Shuo seemed to leave in helpless defeat. After that, Ning Shuo never came back.

Shen Zhiwang didn’t let down his guard. After the lesson of the first day, he didn’t believe Ning Shuo would give up just like that.

At eleven thirty-four, there was a sudden knock at the door.

Outside stood Doctor Qu, another pediatrician. He said, “Doctor Shen, let’s give the children a checkup.”

They called it Disguise, but in reality, the children’s faces had simply been swapped around, so Shen Zhiwang wasn’t worried an NPC would notice any unfamiliar faces.

It was probably because the Destruction Faction’s mission failure from the day before still hadn’t fully concluded, and now an NPC had come for a surprise inspection.

Shen Zhiwang gave each child a simple examination. Then Doctor Qu suddenly said, “Why aren’t you checking their throats? Didn’t some of the children have inflamed throats?”

He sat off to the side, his stare fixed on Shen Zhiwang with oppressive intensity, as if he might pounce in the very next second. “Are you worried you’ll hurt them, so you don’t know how to examine them?”

Shen Zhiwang immediately said, “Of course I know how to examine them.”

He closed the door, had the children line up, and told them to open their mouths wide.

In the real world, Shen Zhiwang wasn’t a pediatrician. Though he did know how to perform an exam, his movements were a little rough, and the children inevitably made some sounds.

When it was a little boy’s turn, Shen Zhiwang’s hand paused slightly. He looked at Doctor Qu. “This child-how about Doctor Qu does it?”

Doctor Qu leaned idly against the side. “I’m here to supervise you, and you’re asking me to do it?”

This NPC wouldn’t have that kind of attitude. Shen Zhiwang’s breathing sank, and his tone grew heavier. “Ning… Half-Immortal, are you messing with me?”

“Doctor Qu” smiled faintly and returned to his own original voice. “No helping it. The kids can’t fake their voices, and it just so happens I still remember what Xiangfeng sounded like last night.”