IGSB – Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Who's the Murderer? (Part 11)
The fifty-point result caught the players completely off guard.
They had thought victory was certain, that they only needed to find the Ferry Crossing to clear the instance. They never imagined there was another hidden fifty-point answer!
Was the New World always this tricky?!
Before anyone could react, a few screams rang out. The Ghost King's long hair had viciously whipped Wu Yong's arm, leaving several fiery red marks.
If the force had been just a little stronger, it would have split his skin and sent blood flying.
Wu Yong clutched his hand, glaring viciously at Zhou Xiuxiu, his fierce expression unconcealed.
But the next second, remembering who she was, he reluctantly reined in his temper and dissatisfaction.
He wanted to glare at Jing Ruyu, but then he remembered she was not to be trifled with either. His bravado instantly deflated, and he could only grumble inwardly.
What is this crap, what kind of stupid answer is this? The murderers are obviously those three, so how is it only fifty points?!
Is this instance deliberately targeting me?!
The others also found it strange.
Based on the information they had gathered so far, it was a foregone conclusion that those three were the murderers. In fact, one could say Sun Jun was the origin of the entire tragedy.
But the answer told them that was far from enough.
Had they missed or overlooked some information?
Xia Zhiyi felt a headache coming on.
Investigating a case was a technical skill, and clearly, not everyone was cut out for it.
While they were all perplexed, the countdown on the blackboard suddenly refreshed, and the number forty-eight appeared before their eyes.
【The countdown for the second answer now begins. This countdown is for 48 hours.】
【Please participate actively in the game, seize the opportunity, and cherish your life. It is everyone's responsibility.】
Forty-eight hours, a full day shorter than the first attempt!
“If you fail to answer correctly next time, I will not show any mercy.”
Zhou Xiuxiu slowly rose to her feet, her calm voice echoing in the empty room with an indescribable eeriness.
She turned and walked out of the classroom, her flowing hair floating obediently behind her like a gentle stream, while the viscous black blood in the room receded like the tide.
Jing Ruyu followed her out of the classroom, and in the blink of an eye, Zhou Xiuxiu had vanished.
The surrounding light suddenly brightened, and the sounds of students playing and laughing filled the air once more.
The chill left by the Ghost King had clearly dissipated, but she could still feel a coldness.
The coldness of impending death.
If they couldn't get a hundred points this time, it would be all over.
Jing Ruyu walked back into the classroom and found that the date on the blackboard had changed again. She then looked at Sun Jun's seat—it was empty.
She casually asked a student, “Excuse me, where did Sun Jun go?”
“Sun Jun?” the person repeated the name, then said matter-of-factly, “Oh, he was expelled. He’s about to face legal consequences.”
Xia Zhiyi came forward and asked, “Really? Have all the murderers been caught?”
The NPC nodded. “Yes, they’ve all been caught. They killed Xiuxiu, and her parents said they won’t let them get away with it. They’re done for this time!”
Xia Zhiyi: “Thank you…”
The NPC left.
Xia Zhiyi and Jing Ruyu remained where they were.
They stood in silence, thinking, their eyes reflecting each other's confusion.
“The answer about Sun Jun and the other two must be correct, so who else is there?” Xia Zhiyi stroked her chin, her brow furrowed. “What information did we miss?”
Jing Ruyu was thinking about the clues Liu Xue had seen last night.
Words like “Sun Jun,” “bitch,” and “are you happy” were very likely things Sun Jun and the others had said to Zhou Xiuxiu on the night of the incident.
The word “zi” was quite perplexing, a clear gap in their information.
And “go home”… could the rest of the answer lie with her parents?
Did they need to go to Zhou Xiuxiu's house to find out the whole story?
Jing Ruyu wasn't sure, but at least it was a line of thought.
Just then, Chen Jianxiong spoke up, “Could it be Ming Hui?”
He analyzed with a serious expression, “The instance started by having us approach things from Ming Hui's side, and she led us to Sun Jun. But she hasn't appeared at all since then. It's too mysterious, it's hard not to overthink it.”
Beside him, Liu Xue thought for a moment before saying, “What you said is possible, but we only have two days left. We can't bet everything on her.”
“And have you considered that Ming Hui might just be a guide, responsible only for getting the players emotionally invested and directing them towards Sun Jun, rather than being part of the answer?”
“Movies and TV shows have red herrings. Wouldn't the treacherous New World have them too?”
Hearing this, Xia Zhiyi thought about it seriously and agreed with her deduction. She then nodded in strong approval. “Treacherous is a good word to describe it. I like it.”
Jing Ruyu: “…”
You’re missing the point again.
Chen Jianxiong felt that Liu Xue's analysis was not without reason.
Time was tight. It was too risky to bet everything on one person, lest they end up with nothing.
“Then let's split up and cooperate,” Chen Jianxiong proposed. “One group will be responsible for contacting Ming Hui, trying to meet her and see if we can get any useful information. The other group will continue to investigate the clues we already have. I remember there's still a road outside the school we haven't checked, right?”
No one objected.
Chen Jianxiong: “So who will handle Ming Hui, and who will handle the area outside the school?”
As soon as he said this, the atmosphere instantly fell silent.
Compared to the former, the latter was filled with unknown dangers, making it difficult for anyone to volunteer…
Jing Ruyu slowly raised her hand, breaking the silence with perfect composure. “I'll take the area outside the school.”
Seeing this, Xia Zhiyi unhesitatingly raised her hand as well. “I'll go with her.”
Jing Ruyu turned to look at her. “Zhiyi?”
To be honest, she didn't want Xia Zhiyi to leave the school, especially after what had happened the previous night.
Xia Zhiyi returned a smile. “We’re teammates, so we should stick together and watch each other’s backs. Besides, didn’t they say we’d be fine as long as we’re in bed at night? If we can’t make it back, we can just stay overnight somewhere.”
“As for leaving school without permission, if I use a leave slip to get out, they can’t say I left without permission, right? But it can’t be signed for two people at once…”
“One is enough. I don’t need it,” Jing Ruyu said, looking at her. “We might have to act separately when necessary. You have to protect yourself then, understand?”
Xia Zhiyi knew the path ahead was dangerous and nodded seriously. She then leaned closer and whispered, “I’ll practice my running when I get home, don’t worry.”
Sooner or later, the New World was going to force her into becoming a track star!
Speaking of which, a flash of inspiration struck her, and she said, “Maybe I can ask the homeroom teacher for leave today, and you can ask tomorrow?”
Before Jing Ruyu could even respond, she had already shot out of the classroom like an arrow from a bow, putting her experiment into action—only to return empty-handed.
The homeroom teacher said the quota for leave requests for the day was full and told her to come back tomorrow.
Liu Xue patted her shoulder sympathetically. “My condolences.”
She then added, “In that case, I'll work with the other two on the Ming Hui lead.”
Jing Ruyu added a reminder, “Everyone, don't forget our common goal: to find the Ferry Crossing to clear the instance.”
The others nodded, then fell silent under the pressure of the countdown. At that moment, they suddenly didn't know which direction to go.
“Why don't we go online first? I have a prop that can access the internet,” Xia Zhiyi suddenly suggested.
They still had a mobile phone prop that they hadn't used even once. They couldn't just let it sit there.
Besides, they had learned the names of the other two murderers from the internet, so maybe they could find some new information this time.
The other three were very surprised to learn they had such a prop, but also pleasantly so.
Having a prop to use was better than having none.
The group hid by the back door, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, pretending to read.
Since they could only go online three times, each use was precious and required extreme caution.
Xia Zhiyi instinctively looked at Jing Ruyu. “What should we search for?”
“Let's look at the news reports,” Chen Jianxiong suggested from the side.
“Right, we can check the reports,” Liu Xue said.
“Let's just look. We still have three uses, don't we?” Wu Yong was still as nonchalant as ever.
Xia Zhiyi was still looking at Jing Ruyu. “What do you think?”
Jing Ruyu gave a slight nod, agreeing with the suggestion.
They searched for related news reports. Sun Jun and the other two had indeed been brought to justice, but the matter wasn't over—Zhou Xiuxiu's parents were suing netizens.
Seeing this headline, the group immediately sensed that this was not a simple matter.
Xia Zhiyi decisively clicked on it—the webpage failed to load.
Refresh, load failed. Refresh, load failed… It was as if the page didn't exist at all, just a headline teasing them.
The group: “?” They were completely stumped.
Jing Ruyu's brow furrowed. After a moment of thought, she said, “Perhaps it wants us to go directly to Zhou Xiuxiu's parents. After all, staying inside the school is too safe.”
The one thing the New World probably disliked the most was the word “safe.”
If players stayed in the safe zone forever, what chance would the ghouls and demons here have to bare their wicked fangs? All the elaborate horror shows they had prepared would be for nothing.
Xia Zhiyi looked up. “So, does that mean the other path is likely Zhou Xiuxiu's house?”
Jing Ruyu nodded grimly.
The Ghost King's house. The danger level would instantly skyrocket.
Liu Xue had only slept in the Ghost King's bed and managed to summon her. Who knew if going to the Ghost King's house meant they would have to bravely face the Ghost King all day long?
“…”
Xia Zhiyi sighed. She felt helpless, but they still had to go.
“Should we keep looking? What's next?”
“Yes,” Jing Ruyu said, remembering something. “Let's look at Zhou Xiuxiu's social media account?”
She remembered a roommate saying that Zhou Xiuxiu had a social media account with many selfies and photos of Quicksand Park.
They hadn't been to Quicksand Park yet. Perhaps they could glean a clue or two from the photos.
Xia Zhiyi nodded in agreement. She first got Zhou Xiuxiu's account ID from a classmate and then started searching. She found it quickly.
After clicking on it, the page was fresh and clean.
The account documented Zhou Xiuxiu's daily life.
Studying, going out with classmates, doing math olympiad problems, dressing up… the life of a cute, positive, and sunny girl was vividly displayed before everyone's eyes.
And just as her roommates had said, Zhou Xiuxiu did have many beautiful dresses. They were her treasures, and they always made her look like a radiant angel.
The thought that such a girl with a bright future had met with such an accident and then taken her own life made Jing Ruyu and the others feel terrible.
Her future shouldn't have been like this…
After looking for a long time without finding anything, Wu Yong started to get annoyed.
Especially since the marks from the Ghost King's whip on his arm still hurt. They hurt like hell, making him extremely irritable!
Why did he have to be the one to answer this stupid question?! And he even got punished for getting it wrong!
And this Ghost King, couldn't she pick on someone else?
How much longer did they have to stay in this annoying instance, being toyed with?!
As he thought these irritable thoughts, he looked at the brightly smiling girl on the phone, and a surge of anger rose in his heart.
“I think we should have written her name on the blackboard just now!”
He began to rant and point fingers.
“Who told her to wear dresses every day? For this to happen, she has to bear half the responsibility herself!”
The foul statement was so unexpected that it left Xia Zhiyi and the others stunned. They glared at him angrily, ready to ask if he had forgotten to bring his brain at birth, otherwise how could he say something so disgusting?
But before they could speak, the surrounding light suddenly dimmed, as if the sun had been abruptly extinguished.
A bone-chilling cold once again filled the entire classroom.
The sound of viscous slithering once again reached their ears.
—The Ghost King was back.
At that moment, Wu Yong felt an extraordinary cold behind him, and something poked him lightly from behind.
He turned his head stiffly, and a bloody, mangled face abruptly pressed against his!
“Ah—”
He screamed in terror, turned, and bolted.
The others only heard a sudden whooshing sound, and the next moment, Wu Yong fell down, stiff as a board.
Her spiderweb-fine hair had transformed into a sharp blade, and blood slowly dripped down from its tip.
With a dull thud, Wu Yong's head hit the ground and rolled a couple of times.
The shocking red of the blood matted with his red hair, making it impossible to distinguish which was blood and which was hair.
This sudden turn of events caught everyone completely off guard.
Zhou Xiuxiu's face returned to its clean state. Her expression was blank, her eyes so cold they were almost merciless.
Killing didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. This was her domain, and she could do as she pleased.
Turning around, she stepped over the blood on the ground and walked away, one step at a time.
Xia Zhiyi was terrified by this sudden turn of events, clutching her phone tightly. “Ruyu…”
Hearing her, Jing Ruyu pulled her into an embrace, gently comforting her, then silently gazed at the bloodstains on the floor.
She immediately understood the cause of Wu Yong's death.
—The Death Keyword.
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