Chapter 197: Self-Exposed
"Wait, that's not right. They are being a bit too obedient, aren't they? The one that passed by us earlier showed some reaction to us." Yang Ji found it strange. "They seem to be asleep, they haven't even moved."
Upon hearing Yang Ji's words, a sentence from the experimental report flashed through Yin Chengjue's mind: once a person is infected with the virus, they will purposefully seek out normal people, to scratch and bite them, until they confirm the other person is infected, then they will leave to find the next target.
At that time, they were still in the early stages of the experiment, and everyone referred to this source as a virus. Later, after Dr. Fu's in-depth research, this contagion source was glorified by him as the "Genetic Modification Source."
The experimental report did not specify what would happen to those injected with this "Genetic Modification Source," nor whether they would retain the previous habits of the infected. But thinking in this direction, the reason these infected individuals ignored Liu Qingling seemed explainable.
To test his guess, Yin Chengjue also felt his way towards that room. However, before he could reach the door, his hand was grabbed.
Rong Yu's deliberately lowered voice came through: "Where are you going?"
Yin Chengjue: "I'm going in to take a look too."
Rong Yu: "Then I'm going too."
But as soon as Yin Chengjue reached the doorway, he heard a strange roar from inside.
This sound instantly startled everyone else.
"Are the infected becoming agitated? Why? Did Lao Liu touch something?" Yang Ji instantly became nervous.
Yin Chengjue felt his way forward another step. His hand had just touched the room door when a chorus of strange roars erupted from inside the room!
These roars didn't affect Yin Chengjue much, but the few people gathered around the computer screen light watching the surveillance footage were startled. As they moved, the clothes blocking the light slipped off, instantly exposing the computer's light!
"Roooar!" Well, that was all it took. The four infected people immediately sprang to life as if injected with adrenaline, rushed out the door, and charged straight at Yin Chengjue, who was closest to the door!
The computer light had stimulated these infected, but it also allowed Yin Chengjue to see their movements clearly. Seeing them charge at him, he immediately pulled Rong Yu aside and grabbed a nearby chair to block in front of himself.
Blocked by the chair, the infected NPC looked up and met Yin Chengjue's eyes, which in the faint light exuded an icy aura. Seeing his unwelcoming stance, the NPC had no choice but to temporarily ignore the "scratch Yin Chengjue once" instruction coming through his earpiece, and turned to chase Wei Shu and Lei Miao.
Thus, in this room lit only by one computer screen, a rather peculiar scene unfolded.
Wei Shu and Lei Miao ran around the room, laughing and joking, while two bizarrely dressed individuals chased after them. The whole space was filled with Wei Shu's teasing voice: "Come on~ come catch me~ can't catch me~"
The two bizarrely dressed individuals, tired from running, went to grab Qin Ke and Xiao Xiao. So, the previous scene was copy-pasted.
Even Yang Ji, who had initially been screaming in terror, was now numb.
Liu Qingling: "..." The perfectly good horror atmosphere has been completely ruined by you all.
Yang Ji couldn't help but comment: "With you all acting like this, I feel like I won't be afraid to go to haunted houses anymore."
The other two bizarrely dressed individuals had already been lured outside by Hua Yun, who then locked the door, leaving them outside.
Once the horror atmosphere was destroyed, everything became simpler.
They opened the room doors, herded the infected out into the corridor, closed the doors again, completely clearing these three rooms to facilitate a thorough search.
This time, the harvest was obviously substantial. Yin Chengjue searched the middle room, which had once been the bedroom of Dr. Fu's wife. A photo frame of Dr. Fu and his wife sat on the desk, and the cabinets contained a lot of information confirming the identity of the room's occupant.
The reason for saying 'once' was because Dr. Fu's wife had died ten years ago.
The reason the detectives had come here this time was precisely because they received a letter of commission from Dr. Fu. The letter entrusted the detectives to find the culprit who killed his wife ten years ago.
Ten years had passed without the culprit being caught, so Dr. Fu's words in the letter didn't express much hope; he merely wanted the detectives to come investigate here once more, and he had prepaid the retainer fee.
But who would have thought that upon arriving, they would encounter all this?
They originally thought the matter of finding the murderer was just a lie to lure people here, but unexpectedly, Dr. Fu's wife really had died ten years ago.
This entire room looked clean and tidy, clearly having been regularly cleaned and tidied. And besides Dr. Fu, no one else would likely come here to clean.
"But, since this is a room Dr. Fu regularly cleans, why would there be infected inside? Shouldn't it be well protected?" Wei Shu was somewhat puzzled.
"Yeah, since Dr. Fu wants to find the real culprit and protects his deceased wife's room so carefully, he must cherish it dearly. Logically, he shouldn't let others in, unless..."
"One of those four infected is his wife!" Everyone quickly arrived at the same thought!
"By the way, did anyone see the faces of those four infected?" Wei Shu looked around but found everyone's expressions rigid.
"So..." Yin Chengjue slowly spoke, "the reason those two infected persistently chased us and kept waving in front of us was because they wanted us to see their faces?"
"Not necessarily. None of us know Dr. Fu or his wife. Even if they waved in front of us, we wouldn't recognize them!" Qin Ke expressed confusion.
But after voicing this confusion, everyone suddenly realized something and simultaneously looked at the three who had rejoined the team later.
"Have you... already met Dr. Fu?" Liu Qingling squinted, scrutinizing Yang Ji.
Yang Ji waved his hands repeatedly: "I haven't!"
Yin Chengjue: "Only moles and the murderer can lie. If you're not a mole on some mission route, then you are the murderer the detective route is looking for."
Yang Ji wore an innocent expression: "I really haven't! Lao Liu, you know me, I can never hide things on my face!"
Liu Qingling: "...Aren't you ashamed to say that? Do you think nobody watches the shows? Your feat of being a mole on the 'Soaring Through the Skies' variety show and fooling everyone is already widely known, okay?"
Yang Ji: "It's not that exaggerated!"
Wei Shu said with a grin: "It is, it is. My mom loves watching your show the most. She always says you're her idol!"
Yang Ji's face lit up with surprise: "Ah, that is truly an honor!"
Wei Shu: "So, Teacher Yang, you don't need to be too modest. Being a mole is really your strong suit. You'll definitely succeed this time too! Go for it!"
Yang Ji waved his hand, smiling: "Ah, you flatter me, you flatter me. Look at this kid, so good with words... ahem! But those last two sentences are wrong. I'm really not a mole this time!"
Rong Yu and Hua Yun: "..." They didn't know if you were lying, but we do! Since you can lie now without a broadcast warning, it means you must be either a mole or the murderer. Now that you've denied one, in our eyes, it's as if you've exposed yourself as the murderer!
Rong Yu clenched his wrist in secret regret, lamenting why he wasn't on the detective route this time, otherwise he would have won already!
Hua Yun felt the same regret, because Hua Yun, like Rong Yu this time, was on the escape route.
Also on the escape route with them was Liu Qingling.
But among these three known escape route members, there was one mole.
Hua Yun, as the escape route team leader, discreetly glanced at Rong Yu and Liu Qingling. Having observed until now, he still couldn't determine for sure who the mole among them was.
The possibility that the mole was Rong Yu seemed quite high.
Yin Chengjue was also observing their micro-expressions. In his view, Yang Ji, Rong Yu, and Hua Yun must have met Dr. Fu, because when he raised the question earlier, Hua Yun and Rong Yu hadn't answered him directly, only Yang Ji had.
Therefore, in his eyes, Yang Ji held an identity that could lie. Furthermore, Yang Ji himself had denied being the mole. This raised the question of whether Yang Ji was in fact the murderer.
Yin Chengjue rubbed his chin, not entirely sure how much truth was in Yang Ji's words.
"Let's sort out this story line again," Liu Qingling suggested. "After all, no matter which route you're on, you need to know the story."
"Sure, hearing this story sounds good anyway," Hua Yun agreed.
Liu Qingling: "Then I'll start. Ten years ago, an accident occurred in this lab, causing most of the lab members to mutate. Everyone knows this, right?"
The others nodded.
Liu Qingling: "Then, based on the clues in this room, Dr. Fu's wife died before this accident. The cause of death was murder. There were three culprits; two have already been caught by Dr. Fu, and one escaped. So for ten years, Dr. Fu has been searching for him. That's also correct, right?"
Liu Qingling: "Dr. Fu discovered that the outcome of this accident had research value. So, he chose to continue researching in secret, even against his superiors' wishes, right up until recently. He finally cultivated three ultimate experimental subject. So he sent invitation letters to the treasure hunting squad and the detective agency, inviting them to search for the 'Water of Life' and the culprit who killed his wife, respectively."
Liu Qingling: "So, the treasure hunting squad and the detectives came. Three unauthorized intruders also came simultaneously; they were unexpected by Dr. Fu."
"So, that means the person Dr. Fu wants to find is definitely not among those three on the escape route?" Rong Yu followed this logic to a conclusion.
"That's not necessarily true," Yin Chengjue quickly refuted Rong Yu's conclusion. "Because those who can break into this abandoned lab at this time are, in all likelihood, connected to the events of ten years ago."
No comments:
Post a Comment