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"Because the corpse and I had already been living together for two days." Zhen Liu's answer was flawless.

Only then did Brother Hao realize what that slightly off smell he had caught earlier was. Without the humidifier's built-in fragrance, the odor would undoubtedly be even more terrifying. Brother Hao had no interest in torturing himself, so he stopped insisting and unconsciously moved closer to the humidifier's vent. "My men have already left. Tell me—what exactly are you planning to do?"

But Zhen Liu was not so easy to handle. He preferred holding the initiative, so he said, "I want to know what you're planning to do. One question for one question."

"You think you have a choice?" Brother Hao flared up again.

Zhen Liu was even more ruthless than Brother Hao. "Then there's nothing to discuss."

Brother Hao grew even angrier, but before he could say anything else, a ringing suddenly filled his ears. Once people reached middle age, many ailments they had not understood as children began to emerge. Even the toughest person could not overcome that. After waiting a while, Brother Hao calmed down as well. He could not fall out with Zhen Liu just yet. He needed to stall for time.

Because just now, he had used his phone to tell his subordinates to send someone to confirm whether the other four had escaped. Until the results came back, he could only keep up this false cordiality with Doctor Zhen.

Thus, Brother Hao compromised again. Whether he realized it or not, he had already retreated several times without thinking.

"One question for one question. I'll ask first."

This time, Zhen Liu did not argue with Brother Hao. He merely made an inviting gesture, as pleasing to the eye as a painting.

Brother Hao got straight to the point. "Did you kill Ying De?"

"Who else could it have been but me?" Zhen Liu did not even blink. After answering concisely, he posed his own question. "Did you have Ying De drug us with hypnotics?"

Brother Hao's eyes widened uncontrollably. Although he recovered quickly, that fleeting expression was enough to betray him—it really had been him. Professor Lu had only drugged the victim, but the victim had drugged everyone. That was also why Ying De had sent Basketball Qiao out in the rain to buy milk tea.

Brother Hao asked again, "Why did you kill Ying De?"

"Just like I killed your other brothers, people always have to pay the price for what they've done. You can't just dismiss it as youthful recklessness." Zhen Liu sneered. There was not the slightest remorse in his eyes over killing, only satisfaction.

"So it really was you." Brother Hao had not been entirely unaware of what was happening around him. His former brothers had either met with accidents or died; no matter how slow he was, he should have realized they were being targeted. "I'd been wondering whether it was you or that useless bastard." The useless bastard presumably referred to Professor Lu.

Zhen Liu asked again, "What did you drug us for? To kidnap Second-generation Zhao?"

Zhen Liu had thought long and hard about Brother Hao's objective. Among them, Second-generation Zhao was the most valuable. If Brother Hao wanted money, kidnapping the Zhao Family's only son, Second-generation Zhao, was an extremely profitable deal. And if it truly was a kidnapping, then there was a more reasonable explanation for why they had been trapped here for two days—Brother Hao had been using the opportunity to extort the Zhao Family.

Brother Hao raised an eyebrow, surprised that Doctor Zhen had guessed even that. He readily admitted it. "That idiot Ying De could clearly get close to Second-generation Zhao, yet he only knew how to pull petty extortion schemes. It was utterly ridiculous."

Simply put, Brother Hao thought the other man lacked ambition.

Since they could trick Second-generation Zhao into coming out, they should make it big. What was the point of merely threatening Second-generation Zhao for a few scraps? But Brother Hao had been under police scrutiny lately because his second-in-command had been sent to prison, so he had no choice but to keep a low profile. That was why he had thought of using Ying De to kidnap Second-generation Zhao.

Brother Hao had not expected that even such a simple matter would be botched by Ying De. Not only had he failed to kidnap the target, he had even gotten himself killed.

Brother Hao thought with relief that fortunately, he had reacted in time and trapped them in the villa. The money was about to be in his hands. It was time to kill the hostages.

Everyone who knew had to die!

Second-generation Zhao was in the secret room and heard everything. At that moment, his mind went completely blank. Although he kept telling himself that this had all been deduced from data and was not real, he still began to tremble uncontrollably. Shock, disbelief, and regret burned through his organs.

Because he knew very well that this was likely the truth.

He was the one who had gotten everyone killed. The price of his arrogance in sending away the bodyguards had not been merely his own life, but also the lives of his brothers and the other classmates.

Brother Hao was about to ask another question when a wave of dizziness struck him. Spots of black appeared before his eyes, and only then did he realize it was not a decline in his middle-aged bodily functions—something was truly wrong. He tried to call for help, but it was already too late. He, too, paid the price for his arrogance.

Zhen Liu, sitting across from Brother Hao, was not doing much better. When Brother Hao looked over, Zhen Liu had already collapsed heavily onto the sofa. His reaction was even stronger than Brother Hao's, his face pale and twisted with pain.

Yet Zhen Liu was smiling, because his plan had succeeded. It was a mutually destructive plan, but one that could drug Brother Hao with absolute certainty.

—He had put the drug in the humidifier.

Brother Hao would never consume anything by mouth, and it would have been difficult to trick him through other means. Zhen Liu had no way to awaken the host personality either; this game simply had no such mechanic. At first, he had not even known that the role he was playing was an alternate personality. But in order to prove one thing, he had no choice but to step forward himself.

To confirm whether the four had successfully escaped, Brother Hao would definitely send his underlings to investigate the Zhao Family, whom he was extorting. The round trip would give Brother Hao enough time to inhale a substantial dose of the drug.

The only price he had to pay was having Zhen Liu inhale it as well.

After Lucien rushed out, found Brother Hao's phone, and called the police, the game finally rang its ending bell.