Bloodstains in the Lining

Xie Ze's face went blank. After a long moment, he realized this person thought he was the murderer!

"Don't misunderstand, I'm not that twisted. If my girlfriend wants to leave, I'd kill her? Am I even human?" he retorted irritably, not flustered by the baseless accusation.

"Is that so?" Yu Xing looked unconvinced.

"Of course. If you want to accuse me, you need evidence," Xie Ze chuckled, then paused. "How did you know the person who died in reality was a woman?"

Yu Xing blinked. "I guessed. How did you know only one person died in reality?"

This sounded like unreasonable arguing. Xie Ze was speechless, and the couple in the other cup also looked over.

"It's not good to guess like this, Yu Xing," Ling Heng reminded him.

Yu Xing sat up straight, as if waking from a dream, his face full of apology. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. Zhao Yijiu and I got a curse when we were on the drop tower. Emotions get amplified and uncontrollable. I was just... well... suspicious of everyone."

Since it was free, bullshitting came easily.

The young couple exchanged glances.

"Forget it, it's fine... I understand," Xie Ze patted Yu Xing's shoulder, then felt something was off the next second.

It was hot.

The cup wall started to heat up.

Yu Xing's expression changed, and he became flustered. "It's starting, it's so hot, is this cup an oven?"

Calling it an oven wasn't accurate, at least the cup still had a large opening at the top.

"Holy shit," Xie Ze shot up. In a short time, the cup was hot enough to fry an egg.

Yu Xing felt an unstoppable heat transfer from the soles of his shoes to his feet and butt. At this temperature, if no measures were taken, by the end of the game, all parts of him and everyone else that had contact with the coffee chair would be ruined.

He had no choice but to stand up as well.

"Ahhh..." Chen Jiu also cried out, standing up and jumping in the cup. "So hot, so hot! What kind of deduction is this? It's all about tormenting the body. Are they trying to turn us into roasted pigs now!?"

"Only you are a pig." Ling Heng wasn't panicked in this situation. He stood up, carefully avoiding Chen Jiu's injured arm. "Here, I'll carry you."

"Bullshit, if you carry me, what about you?" Chen Jiu spoke very directly, rudely refusing her boyfriend's offer. "I was wrong, I take back what I said about a free trip. This is too hard, ahhh."

Ling Heng shook his head. Taking advantage of the small space in the coffee chair cup, he turned around and braced himself, forcibly lifting Chen Jiu onto his back.

"Did you forget I have the Sacrifice that isolates non-physical attacks?" he smiled, a special cold aura emanating from him. Instantly, the heat from his feet and surroundings subsided considerably.

Xie Ze looked over enviously.

"How long can it last?" Chen Jiu gripped Ling Heng's shoulder, asking worriedly.

"Which aspect are you asking about? If it's the Sacrifice, it can cover two people and last for five minutes. As for me, I can carry you all day," Ling Heng's words were full of reassurance. Chen Jiu breathed a sigh of relief, while Xie Ze's eyes welled up with tears.

Well, that directly blocked his idea of piggybacking on the Sacrifice.

He didn't have any suitable heat-resistant Sacrifices either. This was truly... ugh, why was it suddenly cold beside him?

Amidst the scorching heat, a wave of cold suddenly struck. Xie Ze subconsciously looked to the side and saw a delicate, traditional Chinese lantern in Yu Xing's hand.

The candle in the lantern was already lit. It wasn't very noticeable under the artificial light sphere of the dome, and he could barely see the pale white candle body through the gaps.

And Yu Xing, holding the lantern, was undergoing a terrifying transformation, bit by bit.

A layer of grayish-blue slowly appeared on his handsome face, and his eyes darkened.

The skin not covered by clothing gradually gained a strange luster, his hair grew inch by inch, and his entire aura became sinister.

This change lasted for more than ten seconds. As Xie Ze sweated profusely, his face contorted, feeling like he was about to be cooked, Yu Xing finally stopped changing.

He had become a zombie.

His hair grew to shoulder length, his handsome face looked stiff, his dark circles were as prominent as a panda's, his eyes were pure black, exuding a ghostly aura, and his exposed fingernails were also black, sharp as small blades, looking extremely aggressive.

"What is this!?" Xie Ze hadn't recovered before he was picked up by Yu Xing.

Yu Xing spoke slowly, his voice hadn't changed much, just deeper. "Sacrifice, changing form, to help you."

He had thought this pseudo-ghost transformation form should be able to resist a lot of heat, making him more comfortable.

And also, to lend a hand to Xie Ze beside him.

"Amazing." Xie Ze's feet finally escaped the ordeal. He wasn't tall, and being carried on the back of a tall person like Yu Xing wasn't strenuous at all.

"Ghost transformation?" Ling Heng murmured in the other cup.

Chen Jiu noticed her boyfriend's gaze fixed on someone else. "Hey, Ling Heng, don't you--"

"Did you see that? It's ghost transformation! A living person's ghost transformation! I've never seen such a Sacrifice!" Ling Heng, carrying Chen Jiu, couldn't take his eyes off Yu Xing. A suspicious fervor rose on his gentle face, and his voice became excited. "Yu Xing, is this an ability granted by your Sacrifice?"

"Yes..." Yu Xing noticed Ling Heng's abnormality and looked over during the cup's rotation.

He spoke slowly, pausing before continuing, "After ghost transformation, my thoughts... become much stiffer."

Not at all.

He was perfectly fine, his mind jumping around like a rabbit.

But in front of these three people, he decided to put on an act.

Ling Heng didn't say anything further, but the fervor on his face didn't diminish. Instead, as he thought of something unknown, it grew even more intense.

For the next four minutes, Yu Xing endured such gazes. By the three-minute mark, a resentful look from Chen Jiu was added.

Yu Xing: "..."

When the project ended, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The coffee chair quickly cooled down, and a white slip of paper appeared at the bottom.

"The deceased is among you."

Yu Xing's stiff ghastly face showed no difference, but he keenly sensed a flicker in Xie Ze's pupils, whom he had just put down.

"Yu Xing, your condition... how did you do that?" As soon as they exited the facility, Ling Heng rushed to Yu Xing's side, examining his decaying body from head to toe. "A ghostly creature! It's a ghostly creature!"

"Mhm..." Yu Xing let him examine him.

"So, are you human or a ghost now?" Ling Heng became excited, grabbing his forearm fervently. "Can I ask you some things?"

"Huh?" Yu Xing looked at him blankly, perfectly feigning a lack of comprehension. After two seconds, he nodded, "Ask away."

"How long can this state last?"

Yu Xing thought for a moment. "Thirty minutes."

"That long! Let's go over there, I want to ask you privately!" Ling Heng pointed towards the central plaza where Alice was. "Let's go to the middle, the safest place, okay?"

"Sigh, here we go again." Chen Jiu watched the two of them speechlessly, her gaze towards Yu Xing filled with pity.

"Your boyfriend is..." Xie Ze saw Ling Heng's demeanor and thought, Good heavens, he's like a different person from the gentle one he was before.

"He's a biologist. Ever since he became a deducer, he's been researching certain, uh, I can't quite explain it, but all sorts of messy things between humans and ghosts."

Chen Jiu looked distressedly at her boyfriend being led away. "Don't mind him, he seems normal usually, but when it comes to research, he's practically a mad scientist. He often spends all day in the lab. So, I wasn't kidding when I said this was a paid vacation... He finally got some time off to accompany me, and last night he finally came home for a break, so I just wanted to spend more time with him, anywhere." She tucked a stray strand of hair out of her eyes, watched Yu Xing nod slowly, and then he was pulled away by Ling Heng.

Yu Xing has it tough being questioned by her research-obsessed boyfriend.

She muttered fiercely, "Dog... he only has work in his eyes, not his girlfriend."

Xie Ze chuckled.

Since Ling Heng intended to question Yu Xing for research purposes, he and Chen Jiu didn't follow. They found a small round table in the resting area next to the coffee chairs and sat down casually.

All four clues had been gathered. Apart from the detective, no one else needed to participate in another project unless they had too few clues and were unsure about deducing two identities for the suspects.

As Ling Heng and Yu Xing's figures gradually moved away until they were out of sight, Xie Ze covered his uncomfortable stomach and stretched his legs, which had been ravaged by the heat. He then initiated a casual chat with Chen Jiu, who had been rambling about her boyfriend's research achievements, asking, "You care about him so much, you must love him a lot, right?"

Chen Jiu paused for a moment, then nodded. "Of course. Hmph, I was the one who pursued him back then. His personality is just like that, always so indifferent about everything. I could feel he liked me too, but if I expected him to confess first, I'd be dreaming."

"Hahaha, he sounds quite interesting then." Xie Ze laughed a few times, then asked, "If, hypothetically speaking. He neglected you because he was busy with research, and broke several promised dates, would you be angry?"

"Of course, I would! How can work be more important than a girlfriend! And a promise is a promise, it should be kept." Chen Jiu rolled her eyes in the direction Ling Heng had left.

Xie Ze's expression deepened slightly. "Would you fight with him over this, break up with him!"

Chen Jiu froze.

After being asked so many questions, she suddenly started to realize something.

Why was Xie Ze so interested in these kinds of questions?

Chen Jiu felt a flicker of suspicion and couldn't help but look at Xie Ze.

She was now sitting face-to-face with Xie Ze, separated by a round table. The angle was somewhat similar to when Yu Xing and Xie Ze were sitting in the coffee chair.

She noticed that after sitting down, Xie Ze's suit collar had lifted slightly, revealing a portion of the lining that wasn't visible when he was standing.

And with an unintentional glance, she saw a thumb-sized dark red stain quietly clinging there, near the collar, an area usually hidden by his suit.

What is that?

Chen Jiu wondered curiously.

"Come on, tell me, would you break up with your boyfriend over this?" Xie Ze didn't notice her gaze. He was staring at Chen Jiu's lips, waiting for the answer that was about to come out of her mouth.

A faint scent of perfume wafted into Chen Jiu's nose from Xie Ze.

It was a women's perfume. Due to its poor quality, the scent wasn't elegant but rather a bit pungent.

Chen Jiu thought, This perfume must have been left on Xie Ze by his girlfriend.

But Xie Ze said his girlfriend was breaking up with him? The fact that this scent could still linger suggested that Xie Ze had met his girlfriend not long before entering the game.

Well, it's not impossible it's from another woman... but looking at Xie Ze's suit, his company should be decent. Would women among his colleagues wear such cheap perfume?

She then looked at the dark red stain on Xie Ze's inner lining.

It's blood, isn't it.

An idea formed in Chen Jiu's mind. Her eyes flickered, and she recalled the question Yu Xing had asked Xie Ze in the coffee chair.

Because your girlfriend wants to break up, you can't stop her.

"So you killed her?"