Fatty suddenly realised Jiang Cheng was holding something like a staff in his hands. Fatty narrowed his eyes and noticed it was similar to Su Yu’s cane.
“When I got out, I saw this thing stuck in Brother Zhen Jianren’s body.” Jiang Cheng poked the end of the staff into Zhen Jianren’s body, trying to recreate the scene for Fatty. “Look.” He squeezed the staff into the flesh. He looked at Fatty and gestured, “It was… right here.”
Ignoring his inhuman action, Fatty raised his brows. “Do you mean… he was not killed by the ghost but Su Yu who was guarding outside the realm of illusions? He poked Zhen Jianren to death?” Fatty questioned.
Jiang Cheng scratched his chin. Then, he raised the cane and poked Fatty at lightning speed. Fatty was unprepared. The cane stabbed him right in his buttcheek.
“Doctor!” Fatty rubbed his butt, “Why did you poke me?”
Jiang Cheng shrugged and asked slowly, “Did it hurt?”
“Hmm…” Fatty thought about it and answered honestly, “Not really.” It was then that he realised the ends of the cane had been worn out by constant usage. Therefore, it was… very dull.
“Doctor,” Fatty cried with excitement, “I understand now. This is a fake weapon! The dull cane can’t poke someone to death!”
“Unfortunately, I believe this is the murder weapon. Since the killer could murder a person with a blunt cane, the power and technique required is not available to a normal individual.” He pointed at the corpse on the ground. “Look. There is only one fatal wound on the body. It’s at the back of the heart. I suspect the killer was hiding behind the wall and then ambushed Zhen Jianren.” Jiang Cheng shook his head, “The killer didn’t act like a dance teacher, but more like a professional killer.”
Fatty thought about it and raised his head. “Doctor, now that you mention it, I remember seeing those killed by Chen Yao in the mirror. There were the security guards, teachers, students… and people like us. There were more than ten of them.”
Jiang Cheng turned around to look into the room that had faded into the shadows. “There were fifteen people, not including Chen Yao.” He said firmly. Clearly, other than the nine who died ten years ago, the rest were their teammates.
Fatty believed he understood Jiang Cheng. His face became worried. “In other words, there’s another person alive other than us?!”
The woman in the qipao, Long Tao, Luo Yi and Zhen Jianren. They had seen the dead bodies of these four so they could be eliminated. Therefore, the candidate could only be among Xu Wen, Zhou Taifu or Zhang Yinyin.
“Doctor,” Fatty suddenly said, “Zhou Taifu should be dead. I saw him in the mirror. There was a flashlight beside his feet. I saw him clearly.” Actually, when Jiang Cheng mentioned a professional killer, the first person that came to Fatty’s mind was the mysterious Xu Wen. Even though they had not seen Xu Wen’s body, they saw her broken arm at Block C. Based on the cut surface and the wounds on that arm, the culprit was the ghost. Therefore, Xu Wen was most likely dead.
The only possibility left was Zhang Yinyin. They had no idea where she went.
“Doctor,” Fatty hesitated, “Do you think it’s possible that Zhang Yinyin has been hiding all this while?”
Jiang Cheng stared at the cane thoughtfully. At this point, time was meaningless. Jiang Cheng said that the sun would not rise again. That was true. Fatty stared at the dark night. The fear in his heart exploded. “What should we do next?” Fatty lowered his voice. “Personally, I think something is definitely wrong with the music classroom. We…”
“We’ll head to the music classroom,” Jiang Cheng didn’t waste time.
Fatty followed and realised he couldn’t keep up with Jiang Cheng’s speed. “Are we not bringing Su Yu with us?” He chased after Jiang Cheng to ask, “He has to be able to help us solve the mission.”
“He is already at the music classroom,” Jiang Cheng answered.
Fatty paused, and then, his eyes brightened. He said to himself, “I get it now, Doctor. Since Zhang Yinyin can use the cane to kill Zhen Jianren, she must have found Su Yu. Su Yu is a key character in this mission, so she must have taken him with her. They could have only gone to the music classroom. That is where Chen Yao hanged herself and the location for the third rehearsal.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t answer. Perhaps he thought Fatty was talkative. When they passed the yard, Fatty realised Su Yu, who should be tied to the chair, was gone. The rope was cut. One end sat on the chair, and the other end landed on the ground.
Fatty moved lighter as they left the Prop Centre and rushed to the music classroom. The mission details had been clarified. It started with a sexual crime and ended in a lie. The result was the death of more than ten people.
“Doctor!” Fatty’s voice travelled far. “There’s one thing that eludes me. Why didn’t Chen Yao kill Su Yu even though she had killed so many people? He is the one who deserves to die the most!” He questioned innocently, “Did the talismans really work?”
Jiang Cheng replied slowly, “It’s the rules…”
That was not the first time Fatty heard that term. Whenever they had something they didn’t understand, Jiang Cheng would say that it was due to the mysterious rules. Fatty suspected Jiang Cheng just didn’t want to tell him the truth.
“I don’t get it…” Fatty pressed, “I know that if I were Chen Yao, I would have done everything in my power to kill Su Yu.”
“There is no absolute dead-end in the nightmare realm. The rules have given every entity a way out.” Jiang Cheng glanced at Fatty beside him. His tone became unfamiliar. “By every entity, I mean participants like us… and locals of this realm, like the ghosts.”
Fatty raised his head in shock. “Ghosts?”
“If we intend to use the term mission, then it means we’re not the only party with missions. Su Yu and Chen Yao both have missions to complete.
“Our mission objectives overlap and intertwine. But there is one unifying factor,” Jiang Cheng stopped moving. Before them was a giant and dark building. “We are all limited by the rules.”