Chapter 57.1

(A different scene of conflagration; the plastic friends.h.i.+p between female friends)

Su Lan was roughly 1.65 metres in height which meant that she was already shorter by a large measure when she was standing in front of Gu Liang, and now that she was confronting Yang Ye, the impression that she was cute and helpless-looking was even stronger. However, her aura was more than sufficient; with her high heels and raised chin, there was a slight oppressive air to her interrogative questioning.

If it was swapped to a person who cared about her, the atmosphere would have descended into a state of mutual hostility that could be detonated at any given time.

However, Yang Ye did not take her bait at all; hugging his shoulders with his hands carelessly, he raised an eyebrow as he asked her: “Oh, why do you think that way?”

“The fact that you went to find Lady Rong last night, Dong Wan told me about it.”

Su Lan said, “As you were coaxing her to sleep, she blacked out all of a sudden. She was unaware of everything, and when she woke up again, it was because of the water spraying down from the sprinkler system.”

Yang Ye asked: “She didn’t get hurt? What about the bedsheet and blanket?”

Su Lan: “She wasn’t hurt, and she doesn’t possess any memories related to it either. There were scorch marks on her bedsheet and blanket, but the area was not big. However, judging from the fact that the fire prevention sprinkler system did activate, I’m guessing that you definitely used fire.

“I stabbed her with a knife during the power outage last night. I know that Confidant Ai had never been pleased with Lady Rong, and she should have acted against her to some extent. Moreover, she supported Lady Rong back to her room at 9 o’ clock and that was probably her her window of opportunity to act.

“Hence, the person who looked for Lady Rong the latest was you, and the person who has a.s.sociations to fire is also you. The possibility of you being the real murderer is incredibly high.”

Yang Ye posed another question: “Even if I started some kind of fire in Lady Rong’s room, how is it related to Boyfriend Feng’s death?”

“Perhaps there’s some witchcraft that allows for the ‘diversion of disaster’ or something.”

Su Lan said: “We found the spell that enables people to love him in Boyfriend Feng’s room. This symbolises that magic elements exist in this script. Since that’s the case, it’s possible that you didn’t manage to burn Lady Rong back then because of the diversion magic, which only took effect the next day, and transferred the burns to Boyfriend Feng.”

Before Yang Ye could open his mouth to speak, Gu Liang, who had been standing at the sidelines quietly for a long time, slanted his head to look at him before he asked: “Right, I have yet to ask you, why did your character have murderous intentions towards Lady Rong?”

Surprisingly, it was Su Lan who answered for Yang Ye. She told Gu Liang: “I made him go. He was chasing… what I mean to say is, Sc.u.mbag Yu was chasing Designer Mei. As Designer Mei, I didn’t manage to kill Lady Rong during the power outage around 6 o’ clock. Hence, not long after the dance began, I looked for an opportunity to tell him that, if he murdered Lady Rong, I’ll get together with him.”

“……”

Gu Liang looked at Yang Ye in askance.

— The men in this scenario were truly sc.u.ms who were trying to surpa.s.s each other.

Feeling his gaze, Yang Ye said with due haste: “Tch, that’s Sc.u.mbag Yu’s character design, it’s not me.”

Gu Liang faced forward to look at Su Lan again. “If those are the circ.u.mstances, the person he wants to kill is quite evidently, Lady Rong. Hence, if the disaster diverting witchcraft that you mentioned truly exists, then the murderer should be the person using said witchcraft. The fire that Sc.u.mbag Yu started, was merely used by the real murderer to kill Boyfriend Feng. Which means to say that there’s a flaw in your reasoning.”

Su Lan’s complexion became a few shades paler. “It’s not just that. In any case, there are a few areas that can’t be explained for the time being… For instance, only Sc.u.mbag Yu’s doll is gone, which led me to the suspicion that the real murderer could be him.”

Gu Liang asked her: “Intuition?”

Su Lan: “It can be considered intuition, yes.”

Gu Liang said in an indifferent tone: “This game is dependent on evidence and logic; intuition is not reliable. Let’s continue searching for evidence.”

“Thatk2026;” Su Lan’s eyebrows scrunched together as she called Gu Liang to a stop. “Perhaps you’re at a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?” Gu Liang did not understand her meaning.

— What am I misunderstanding? I was only giving an objective a.n.a.lysis of the case.

Su Lan replied, “I’m only offering the ideas I currently have because I reckoned it would help Yang Ye. After all, since I’m capable of having such thoughts, other people might think the same way too. He saved me once. I want to help him. You’re really misunderstanding.”

In his mind, Gu Liang went around in circles for a long time before he finally managed to turn back. “Oh, you’re afraid that I’ll think that you’re suspecting Yang Ye?”

Su Lan: “… Isn’t that what you’re thinking?”

Gu Liang: “Not at all, no? Weren’t you a.n.a.lysing the case plot in an objective manner as well?”

Su Lan remained stiff for a long moment before she squeezed out a smile. “That’s good. It’s good that you’re not mistaken. I’m just trying to help, that’s all.”

The case investigation had just started, attempting to determine the murderer at this juncture was impossible.

Why did you have to declare that you were helping Yang Ye? Was someone bitingly certain that he’s the real murderer?

Moreover, saying words like ‘I suspect you’ and ‘you suspect me’ to test the reaction of others can’t be more normal, what did she mean by that?

It seems a little queer.

But it’s undeniable that she thought too far.

Gu Liang glanced at Yang Ye, and he was probably trying to convey ‘What does she mean’ with his gaze.

Upon seeing Gu Liang’s reaction, Yang Ye laughed. He stepped closer to Su Lan and asked her pointedly: “After you killed her during the power outage last night, did she know you killed her? Or did she, perhaps, ‘black out’ as well?”

Su Lan replied: “She blacked out. When we were conversing after the lights came back, she asked me why everyone was saying that the electricity stopped for 20 minutes. To her, it didn’t feel that long.”

“Got it. Which also means to say that not long after the power outage occurred, she blacked out, and shortly after her black out concluded, the electricity returned. From her perspective, the power outage didn’t last for long. Thanks.”

Yang Ye nodded his head, then hooked onto Gu Liang’s neck and departed. “Wife, let’s go to another place to take a look.”

“No, Yang Ye…”

“Hush, s.h.i.+eld.”

“……”

* * *

After leaving the terrace, the pair headed for the kitchen located in the north.

The back kitchen area was composed of several rooms: apart from the kitchen area that was meant for cooking, there was a cold storage, a prep room, a small room used specifically for the storage of condiments, a miscellaneous room where the various cooking implements were placed, and the resting lounge for chefs.

There were four types of NPCs that Gu Liang had presently met: The first type was the men in black; the second were the likes of Maid Liu, Beggar Ding, Xiao Cao, and the current script’s Boyfriend Feng, whom are NPCs who supplemented and performed important character roles; the third was the service staff in the resting area; the fourth type were the NPCs who served as the backdrop, like the servants and guards in Painted Exteriors and the chefs in this script for instance.

During the case investigation, all of the NPCs who fell in the fourth category would all disappear.

Hence, Gu Liang did not see a single chef. Similarly, he did not find any useful items in the chefs’ resting lounge.

Now situated in the kitchen, he and Yang Ye searched the resting lounge before they went to the miscellaneous room.

Gu Liang unconsciously thought of the incident at the terrace, and it was only at this moment where he finally realised what had happened. He said to Yang Ye: “What Su Lan was suggesting… Did she genuinely take me for a love rival after you used me as a s.h.i.+eld?”

After mulling over Su Lan’s entire performance for a long time, Gu Liang finally reached a possible behavioural logic— she would first doubt Yang Ye as the murderer, Gu Liang would help Yang Ye refute, and after he questioned her, she would act miserable, saying that Gu Liang had misunderstood her because she was here to help.

Was she putting up a show in front Yang Ye? The sort where she made herself look miserable, while framing Gu Liang in a sinister light?

“Maybe.” Yang Ye thought of something amusing, and told Gu Liang, “Hey, Gu Liang Liang, you—”

Gu Liang’s eyebrows raised instantaneously.

Yang Ye changed his tune immediately: “If we encounter a palace conflict script next time, and Gu Liang becomes an imperial concubine…”

Noticing Gu Liang’s expression, he altered his words again: “That’s not right, if you had to act, you ought the emperor, who is surrounded by three thousand beauties? Huh, do you like beautiful women that much?”

Gu Liang was cognizant of the fact that he would never understand what kind of thought processes that Yang Ye possessed.

When he was solemn, he appeared brighter and more imposing than everyone else, capable of arousing admiration in the hearts of others. And when he allowed his mouth to run off, he was particularly skilled at inducing resentment.

However, Gu Liang was beginning to realise that as he continued to ignore and scorn his antics, he had become quite accustomed to it. Unexpectedly, he even asked: “If I’m the emperor, what would you be?”

Yang Ye: “The general, what else? The sort that protects the mountains and rivers because I actually wanted to protect you.”

Gu Liang: “……”

— Did he watch too many nonsensical, antiquated chūnibyō dramas?

Forget it, I knew I shouldn’t have given him a response.

As Gu Liang was searching around with a lowered head, he thought of something. He asked: “Going back to the topic. If Su Lan truly took me for a love rival and treated me as such, going as far as to playing a small trick, this means that the s.h.i.+elding plan you previously implemented has failed, since she hasn’t given up on you. For the same reasons, I’m extremely curious, what did you do in the last scenario to make her have such an unchanging infatuation for you?”

“Let’s put it this way. When I was still living in the real world, it’s true that there have been a lot of people who expressed their goodwill towards me, and there certainly are females and bottoms who have tried to use their seductive charms on me. Be it rivalling someone else for my affections, conceiving nefarious plans, or playing small tricks like the one we witnessed just now, they’ve done it. But truthfully speaking? Such people come in small numbers, their intelligence is immature, they must have watched too many palace conflict dramas, and they think all men are idiots. Most normal people wouldn’t act like that.

“Whereas Su Lan is quite shrewd, and she also belongs to the category of normal people. Logically speaking, she has no reason to act like this either. I think she might have some other plan.

“Finally, Liang Liang, when she was being attacked by the zombies, I opened fire and helped her once. This is the complete explanation between the both of us, please do not misunderstand.”

Why do they keep telling me not to misunderstand?

Raising his eyebrows, Gu Liang no longer entertained the topic. Instead, he lowered his head again to continue searching for evidence.

On the other hand, Yang Ye could hardly restrain himself from taking the chance to ask a few more questions now that they were on this topic. “With how attractive you look, were there a lot of girls who surrounded you in school as well? What was your reaction back then, I’m curious.”

Yang Ye kept feeling that Gu Liang would have struggled to make sense of the heartfelt intentions of those young girls as he was being surrounded by a bunch of girls. Perhaps he would react with an awkward expression; either way, it must be incredibly amusing and interesting.

“You’re thinking too much.” Gu Liang did not raise his head. “There was no such thing.”

Yang Ye found it strange: “How is that possible?”

Gu Liang faltered for a moment before saying: “If we were to speak of my first year in Senior High, that was around the time where my parents divorced. My state of mind wasn’t the best, and I was also afraid that my cla.s.smates would discover the fact that my father was a h.o.m.os.e.xual and ridicule me for it. In any case, I was filled with great bitterness and deep hatred for the most part. Even my teacher-in-charge pulled me out for a talk once, saying that I look as though everyone owed me money, and specifically told me to get along with my cla.s.smates harmoniously. Therefore, it’s highly likely that the majority of the girls were afraid of me.”

Yang Ye felt rather distressed in his heart upon hearing that.

However, he knew that Gu Liang had never liked people pitying him. Hence, he merely feigned a light tone of voice as he teased: “It must truly be a miracle that your desk mate even liked you then.”

Gu Liang barked out a laugh in anger. He thought back about his senior high life briefly, only saying: “There was a boy in my cla.s.s that looked rather good-looking in my cla.s.s back then. He had a good temper too; he was rather smooth when it came to conversing with others. Most of the girls should have liked him instead.”

En? Although there have been instances where the iron and steel straight man Gu Liang has praised women for their attractiveness, hearing him mention some other boy because of their attractiveness is quite rare.

Yang Ye immediately asked: “Who? Is his temper better than mine? Is he more handsome than me?”

Gu Liang turned his head back to gaze at Yang Ye. Initially, his brows were knitted together tightly, because he could not comprehend how he usually managed to say those words out loud so easily.

Upon looking at Yang Ye, however, his narcissistic and roguish appearance made him laugh out of amus.e.m.e.nt.

“It can’t be denied that he’s more outstanding in all aspects, and he has done some things that left a profound impression on others, but I wasn’t well-acquainted with him. The only reason why I thought of him now was because of that strange incident in the previous script… Never mind, I’ll tell you about him after this scenario concludes.”

Having said that, Gu Liang raised a small handbook. “Look at this. I sense that there will be information.”