Chapter 63

(Gu Liang: “Come and bite me.”)

“The centralised discussion has come to an end. The voting segment will be commencing next.

“In the case of《Carrying The Doll 》, everyone has seen the deceased in Boyfriend Feng’s room, their postmortem was truly miserable. As for the person who harmed them, who are they exactly?

“Ding dong, a special feature in this particular case is hereby announced— a real murderer and an accomplice exists in this case.

“The real murderer is the person who killed the deceased in the end; the accomplice is the person who helped them complete the murderous action, or perhaps helped them conceal the crime.

“There are two rounds in the vote casting, the first round is a vote for the real murderer; the second round is a vote for the accomplice.

“If the first round of votes fails, there is no need to conduct the second round, because this means that the accomplice’s task is successful.

“If the first round of votes succeeds, the interface will automatically switch to the second round’s voting interface.

“Due to the newly added regulations in this current instance, the vote casting will officially begin 10 minutes after, to give everyone the last few minutes to decide.”

Once the system was done with its broadcast, the room went silent.

Quite evidently, all the players present did not require more time to contemplate their options.

However, these 10 minutes were unquestionably, pure torment for Dong Wan.

Having fallen to the ground, her whole body was trembling as if she was convulsing.

When all was said and done, Dong Wan was a woman, so Li Xiao Yu and Su Lan still went up to her and supported her back to her seat.

However, their aid did not prove to be useful because she fainted directly.

When that occurred, Yang Ye and Gu Liang stood up as well. Despite having his lips pursed, Butler Hao still went forward to a.s.sist her in the end. He pinched her “human centre” acupuncture point to help her sober up.

After seeing that, everyone went back to their seats silently.

Butler Hao continued to hold Dong Wan, not making a sound the entire time.

Dong Wan closed her eyes, and tears constantly flowed out.

After a short while, she opened her eyes to gaze at Butler Hao, “I know I’ve wronged you. Can you promise me one thing… When the screen displays my curriculum vitae, don’t look.”

Butler Hao: “But I want to look.”

“Why?!” Dong Wan grabbed hold of his s.h.i.+rt collar in disbelief. Her emotions were already on the brink of collapse then, which inevitably made her growing hysteria more p.r.o.nounced.

“The fact that you’re saying that definitely means that you’ve done something terribly abhorrent, right?” Butler Hao said, “Since that’s the case, I want to see what you’ve done.”

“You… Why are you… You…”

“Because I want my heart to die.”

“Ding dong. The 10 minutes are up! Everyone, please cast your votes!”

“This is another reminder, the first round is a vote for the real murderer, the second round is meant for the accomplice oh, do not vote incorrectly!”

“There is one minute of voting time.”

One minute later.

“Woah, let us look at the voting results. Following, I announce that Butler Hao has 2 votes while Lady Rong has 5 votes.”

How did this happen?

Could it be that Lady Rong and Butler Hao, both voted for Butler Hao?

Gu Liang looked towards Butler Hao subconsciously, and happened to see him wearing an expression which conveyed that nothing was sadder than a withered heart.

“Congratulations everyone, you have voted correctly! Lady Rong is the real murderer of this current case! She will be losing her right to vote in the second round.

“The following is the commencement of the second round of voting! The time limit is still one minute. Remaining players, please continue casting your votes.

Another minute pa.s.sed.

“The following is the announcement of the second round’s voting results. In this case, who had been constantly helping the real murderer conceal the truth?

“Wow, Butler Hao has received all the votes.

“Congratulations everyone, you have voted correctly!

“Oh my, we have reached the punishment segment again.

“Firstly, let us see, what has Lady Rong done? Sinner, your crimes will be carved on your epitaph for all those who come after to spurn!”

One of the wall faces lit up, displaying Dong Wan’s curriculum vitae.

“Lady Rong, real name Dong Wan, 28 years old, a high-ranking business person, obsessed with being the third party and breaking up families. After fooling around a certain superior of hers, she refused to give up, and even forced his original partner and the twins inside her stomach to death. Sinner, accept your punishment!”

That wall face immediately opened up, revealing a room full of babies that were smiling at Dong Wan.

Although they had the shape of an infant, they had terrifying claws and teeth.

Dong Wan fainted instantaneously. Soon after, two men in black brought her into the room and everyone could see the babies pouncing on her before the wall closed up again.

When Gu Liang turned his head back to look at Butler Hao again, he realised that his eyes were closed.

It was unknown if he had chosen to close his eyes in the end because he could not bear watching Dong Wan suffer from such a death penalty, or if he had his eyes closed ever since the screen started to display her curriculum vitae.

If it was the latter, it meant that he actually agreed to Dong Wan’s final request.

“The following is the announcement of Butler Hao’s curriculum vitae.

“Even though the accomplice is not the true murderer, he helped the real murderer conceal the crime, and he will be receiving his punishment as well. The contents of his punishment will be determined by his curriculum vitae.”

The darkened wall face brightened up once more.

“Butler Hao, real name Liu Bo Wen, 27 years old, a PhD holder from the astronomy faculty of Jinhua University. Crime Coefficient Score: 270, does not meet the criteria for death penalty.”

The system’s voice sounded once more. “Woah, it seems like our Player Liu Bo Wen has never committed any extremely wicked or evil deeds. Congratulations to you then, you have escaped from the death penalty. However, you have failed your task, and the settlement of your rewards and punishment will be doled out right now.

“Liu Bo Wen’s accomplice task has failed, 10 gold coins will be deducted.

“If your gold coins prove to be insufficient, they will be exchanged into years of service.

“Liu Bo Wen, how many gold coins do you have?”

Liu Bo Wen took out his two gold coins silently and placed them on the table.

System: “How unfortunate, you do not possess sufficient gold coins. Hence, I hereby announce that your ident.i.ty has been changed from player to NPC, and you will begin serving the system for the long term. Since you owe the system 8 gold coins, your years of service will be 80 years.

“Of course, the system provides a point reward system for the NPCs, if you gather enough points, you can reduce the number of years served.

“That being said, Liu Bo Wen, please continue working hard after your ident.i.ty has changed!

“Lastly, I would like to congratulate our remaining players. For the players who have voted for the correct real murderer, each person will be obtaining three gold coins; in addition, since everyone has found the accomplice without a hitch, you may draw three reward cards.”

A number of men in black appeared, walking towards the players with their rewards held out. After they departed, the broadcasted voice rang out again.

“The story has yet to conclude. Players, please take a short rest. At 12 midnight, you will be welcoming the next portion of the story.”

* * *

Night time.

Yang Ye made a simple meal for everyone to eat.

Once they were done eating, everyone returned back to their own rooms on the sixth floor to rest.

It goes without saying that while the remaining players went back to their own rooms, Yang Ye went to Gu Liang’s room.

Once they were done with the case solving, the routine of exchanging what they had learned and drinking some alcohol had essentially become a cultivated habit.

The red wine in the ancient castle was quite decent as well, so Gu Liang drank slightly more than usual tonight.

He had chosen to take a shower in the middle. And when he eventually stepped out, all wrapped in a bath towel, he saw Yang Ye sitting on the sofa, appearing as though he was contemplating life.

Furthermore, Yang Ye had taken off his gla.s.ses and placed it on the coffee table at the side.

With the moonlight s.h.i.+ning in, half of his face was in the light while the other half was in the dark, thus deepening the three dimensionality of his facial features.

“What are you thinking about?” Gu Liang verbalised his question as he raised his towel to wipe his hair.

When Yang Ye tossed a look at Gu Liang, he saw his wet and damp hair, and his slightly red eyes which was probably the result of water entering them while he was showering.

As his heartbeat quickened by a few paces, Yang Ye became all the more restless.

I’m currently thinking about three questions.

One, should I confess.

Two, how should I confess.

Three, what am I going to do if the confession gets rejected.

Yang Ye mused in his heart, it was evident that he was not young anymore, and yet there were still times where he was getting vexed over such questions.

Did he ever consider the past causes and future effects like this before?

If it succeeds, it succeeds, if it fails, they would scatter. What was there to consider prudently and constantly get entangled over?

It was only now that he understood the truth in one sentence— Love was restraint.

Gu Liang was the type of person who would dig up the roots and inquire about the base, wherein everything had to be reasoned with logic. He would most definitely ask him why he liked him.

And what should he reply with?

‘I fell in love with you at first sight?’

Will that answer make it seem like I’m not being earnest enough?

Mn, now that I’m carefully thinking about it, love at first sight isn’t really accurate in all honesty.

But it was true that he harboured intense good feelings towards him at first glance.

And later, he had fallen deep without being conscious of it.

“What’s the matter? Are you thinking about the case?”

Gu Liang wiped his hair before he brought the towel to the balcony for drying. Then, he returned back to the room to sit in front of Yang Ye.

Raising the unfinished wine gla.s.s on the table, Gu Liang took a sip before he gazed at Yang Ye. Suddenly, he said: “As you can see, you have wasted an Amnesty Card.”

“That Liu Bo Wen was only an accomplice, so his circ.u.mstances might be different. Furthermore, even if you won’t die, I can’t bear to let you become a NPC either. You’ve seen the staff members in the resting area who had their tongues cut off, no? Who knows what you would encounter.” Yang Ye said.

Upon Yang Ye’s reply, Gu Liang abruptly stiffened. He s.h.i.+fted his gaze away momentarily, unable to face Yang Ye.

And for the same reason, his gaze turned towards the bright moon that was outside the window behind Yang Ye’s back.

“Right, now that we’re speaking of NPCs, it made me recall a person. I’ve mentioned him to you before, he’s the cla.s.smate who was extremely good at chess. Since I was quite fond of playing chess back then, his chess skills left a rather profound impression on me.”

Gazing at Yang Ye again, Gu Liang recounted the encounter he had with Ming Yue in the previous scenario to Yang Ye.

After Yang Ye internalised it, he had some doubts as well. “You’ve attended his funeral before?”

“Yes, approximately three years ago.”

Gu Liang said, “Furthermore, the feeling that he gave me was different from the other NPCs to some degree.”

“Why do you say that?” Yang Ye queried.

Gu Liang thought about it, saying: “The other NPCs were more cautious and system fearing, but he didn’t seem like it; the impression he gave me was a particular lack of restraint. It even went to the extent where I heard him call my name as I was pa.s.sing out. This means that he remembers me, and the fact that he dares to do such a thing during the script enactment without any qualms… if it was exchanged with any other NPC, this would be impossible, they only dare to follow the performance script stringently.

“Therefore, it made me feel quite strange. It was like…he was originally a.s.suming other responsibilities, and he would make an occasional guest appearance as a NPC.”

Having said that, Gu Liang yawned. He looked at the time and told Yang Ye: “Forget it, let’s not concern ourselves with these matters first. You should go back earlier to shower and rest up. The system has already stated that there won’t be any time for rest this time around, and the new plot would be commencing at 12 midnight.”

Yang Ye glanced at him, “Are you chasing me away?”

Why was he using the word ‘chase’?

Gu Liang blinked at him. “Otherwise… Is there something you’d like to discuss?”

“Gu Liang…” Yang put down his wine gla.s.s. He leaned his body forward and stared into Gu Liang’s eyes.

Gu Liang did not know why but he felt a little stifled by his sudden stare. Similarly, he placed his wine gla.s.s down and reclined backwards out of reflex.

“What do you think of me right now?” Yang Ye asked him.

Gu Liang could not understand the purpose behind his question. “I think you’re quite good, why?”

Yang Ye laughed. The corners of his lips hooked up as he looked at him. “What do you mean by ‘good’?”

As Gu Liang returned his gaze, he chucked as well. “Are you asking for compliments?”

Yang Ye moved the small armchair until he was seated right next to Gu Liang. Then, he stared into his eyes again. “Why was I the first person you called in the previous scenario?”

Gu Liang did not answer.

Yang Ye continued to ask: “Frankly speaking, you didn’t require any help back then. You were merely scared, weren’t you? And when you are afraid, am I the first person you think of?”

“I…” Since Gu Liang’s hands were resting on both sides of the armchair, he scratched at it subconsciously.

Yang Ye noticed his actions and stretched his hands out to hold down his wrists.

“Yang Ye—”

“You’re going to scratch streaks into someone’s armchair at this rate.”

“……”

Yang Ye continued to lean his body forward, and the tip of his nose was about to come in contact with Gu Liang’s.

It was like he had to be this close to Gu Liang in order to catch every trace of emotion on Gu Liang’s face.

“Gu Liang, are you feeling nervous? Did my previous question make you feel nervous?”

“……”

“Gu Liang, in this script, you were constantly helping me and defending me, right?”

Borrowing the light from the moon and lamps, Gu Liang stared at Yang Ye.

At his stalwart and sharp facial features, so distinctively contoured.

It was apparent that his expression was extremely gentle and warm as he spoke.

It was undeniable that Yang Ye was handsome and entrancing as a person.

It was no wonder that people found him likeable.

Gu Liang opened his mouth, on the verge of saying something, when the familiar broadcast sounded.

“Ding dong, it is currently 11:30. May all the players return to the guest rooms of their respective characters, and wait for the next general plot reading. Players, please take heed, do not linger in other areas of the ancient castle, this includes and is not limited to the rooms of other players.

After cursing out an expletive soundlessly, Yang Ye released Gu Liang’s hands and reclined against the armchair helplessly.

Gu Liang stood up and urged him: “Hurry up and go back. Don’t get punished again.”

Yang Ye: “…..”

Gu Liang: “We can continue talking tomorrow if need be.”

* * *

At 12 midnight, Gu Liang was lying on the bed as he listened to the system’s general plot reading.

“It is quite unfortunate but the initial magnificent wedding has ended with an unexpected tragedy.

“Magnate Rong was extremely angry that all the guests that his daughter had extended a sincere invitation to, actually harboured murderous intentions towards her.

“This night, only Actor Ming was allowed to stay in the ancient castle overnight. Sc.u.mbag Yu, Designer Mei, and Confidant Ai were requested to leave the ancient castle. Magnate Rong, who had business to attend to overseas, left the ancient castle as well. Inside this enormous ancient castle, only Actor Ming, Butler Hao, and Lady Rong remained.”

When he heard that, Gu Liang could not help but furrow his eyebrows.

— Had he guessed wrongly? Was Yang Ye going to be absent from the following story?

He remembered the question that Yang Ye had asked him just now.

— “And when you’re afraid, am I the first person you think of?”

Truthfully, Gu Liang realised that he could not deny that statement.

In reality, before that incident occurred, he had felt a certain loneliness as he was keeping vigil over the snowy lands that wintry day, gazing at the moon-illuminated snow-capped mountain. It was like he was the only person between heaven and earth then, and he had subconsciously thought of Yang Ye during that time.

Afterwards, he had encountered Ming Yue’s “spirit”.

Without hesitating, he chose to give Yang Ye a “telephone call”.

And then there was the present instance. When he heard the system state that the other characters had left the ancient castle in the dead of the night as he lied here, the first thought that filtered into Gu Liang’s head was— Where did Yang Ye go?

Was this longing?

What did this longing imply?

The broadcast continued.

“But this tragedy has yet to end.

“Following, the commercial car carrying Sc.u.mbag Yu, Designer Mei, and Confidant Ai were met with an accident, and all three of them died.

“At 12 midnight, Butler Hao and Lady Rong both died in the vegetable field. Between them, Lady Rong collapsed next to the pentagram.

“The pentagram was once used to kill the doll’s evil spirit, but now that it was stained with Lady Rong’s blood, it awakened a spirit that had been hibernating for a long time.

“Towards all these, the only surviving Actor Ming remained unaware. He only sensed an inexplicable premonition.

“At this moment, Actor Ming recalled a rumour pertaining to this ancient castle.

“When Magnate Rong bought the ancient castle, he had remodelled it slightly before declaring it complete. When a feng shui master arrived on these grounds that year, a part of the first floor, and the second to fifth floors had been sealed off under his guidance.

“The ancient castle was built 300 years ago. Allegedly, Duke Dahl had committed a felony and he ran away from his original country with his family and built this ancient castle. The Duke then used magic to bewitch the surrounding villages, making the commoners believe that they were deities heralding from the west.

“Much later, all the people in the ancient castle disappeared in one night. Some say that they became evil spirits, while others whisper that they have become vampires. However, no one knew what the truth was exactly.”

* * *

Gu Liang fell asleep without being conscious of it.

When he opened his eyes again after waking up, he discovered that there was a stranger sleeping by his side, and his back was facing him as he laid on his side.

Gu Liang reacted instinctively; his entire body leapt up as he cuffed that person’s shoulder, pressing him down viciously to make him lie on the bed on his stomach.

After crossing both of his hands behind his back, Gu Liang proceeded to kneel on it, using his knee to completely press down on that person’s wrists. Following the momentum of his action, his hands pressed against his shoulders.

Thus, Gu Liang had that person buckled against the bed, completely subduing him.

The strength that Gu Liang used was huge. When that person’s wrists were being pressured, and then twisted, it naturally jolted that person awake from the pain.

His instinctive reaction was to kick his calves up.

Simultaneously, his head and legs went up at the same time, causing his body to become a reverse bow, thus bouncing up from the bed.

Unless a person had the appropriate waist strength, they could not accomplish this movement at all.

Against his reaction, Gu Liang was very surprised as well. The person underneath him managed to break free from his suppression easily.

Before Gu Liang had the time to react, that person used the back to his head to slam into his forehead ruthlessly.

Now that stunned Gu Liang upon impact.

In the next instant, his entire body was swung into the bed violently, and as his legs were being weighed down by that person, his hands were also arrested behind his back. He was completely subdued by that person.

Furthermore, it was unknown if it was returning the abuse with equal abuse, since the position they ended up in was quite similar to what he had used to suppress that person.

Gu Liang returned to his senses, albeit dizzily. He wanted to replicate the method he used just now to break free, but just as he lifted his head up, the person probably saw through his actions as he stretched a hand to grab the back of his head, pressing it down without any mercy. “Behave yourself! Are you asking for a lesson?”

Gu Liang finally heard who the person was at that moment, and he wanted to open his mouth to speak.

However, his entire head was buried in the pillow; let alone making a sound, even breathing was difficult.

He actually hasn’t recognised who I am yet?

Gu Liang was slightly angry. He started to wriggle harder, trying to get rid of his hold.

As that person dug his knee into his wrists harder to pin his wrists, he used one hand to grip his nape to lift his head up. With his other hand, he pinched his jaw to force him to turn his head around to look at him. Coldly, he hissed, “You actually dare to attack me? Why don’t you check how much you weigh first?”

Yang Ye’s previous actions were extremely vicious, that much was certain.

This was also because he had experienced the zombie scenario.

That scenario had taught him that players could die in the middle.

Therefore, it was possible that someone would come and kill him while he was asleep.

However, it was at the moment where he realised that the person who had his wrists pressed down by his own knee, whose legs had been weighed down his own leg to prevent him from moving, and also had his head wrenched up and neck twisted, with a swell growing on his forehead— was Gu Liang.

The air quietened down instantaneously.

Gu Liang glared at him frigidly, lips pursed as he did not utter a sound.

Yang Ye released him in a hurry, cupping his head with both hands carefully as he blew at his forehead. “Liang Liang?! Are you alright? This…”

* * *

Some time later.

Gu Liang had his head raised as he leaned on the headboard, and there was a towel containing ice pressed against his forehead.

There was a miniature fridge in the guest room, which was where Yang Ye had retrieved the ice from.

Sitting there quietly, Gu Liang slanted his head and stared outside the window.

His slanted head exposed a large patch of his snow-white neck underneath his bathing robe. Faint green veins could be perceived underneath his skin, alongside some obvious red marks that were made by Yang Ye’s tight grip.

As Yang Ye situated himself at the side of the bed, he watched Gu Liang with a slightly anxious expression.

He stretched his hand out and touched Gu Liang’s neck in a cautious manner. “Does it still hurt?”

Gu Liang turned his head back, raising his eyelids to give him a glance. Then, he said, “It’s alright. My head is a little dizzy.”

After pausing momentarily, Gu Liang added: “I want to demand a refund for the taekwondo and boxing training cla.s.ses I attended prior to this. There isn’t much practical use to it despite their teachings.”

Gu Liang gave Yang Ye a full one-over.

It did not surprise him that he failed to recognise Yang Ye’s back figure at the start, because the changes to his apparel were too large.

For some unknown reason, Yang Ye’s general complexion had paled by a few shades, like he had not seen the sun for many years.

He was wearing clothes befitting an European male aristocrat from the middle ages, and his collar band was fastened together properly with a necktie.

When he studied his collar again, he noted that there were numerous strange coats of arms.

“How did you…”

Just as Yang Ye said those words, both of their cards vibrated. It seemed like a pa.s.sage of the plot had been transmitted to them.

Gu Liang raised his card to have a look, Yang Ye did the same.

After looking through their cards, the pair’s expressions were quite subtle.

Half a beat later, Gu Liang placed down his card and gazed at Yang Ye. He still spat out his script lines in the end. “Who are you? Why did you appear in my room all of a sudden?”

Yang Ye inclined his body forward, leaning closer to Gu Liang by an inch as he recited his lines. “I should be asking you those questions. Human, how dare you step into my abode? Your blood should be incredibly delectable… Since you have sent yourself to my door on your own accord, why should I abstain from tasting it?”

As he was saying those words, Gu Liang peered into his mouth— He actually possessed sharpened incisors.

With a numb expression, Gu Liang recited his lines with no emotions whatsoever. “Are you a vampire? What happened? Is there someone that can come and save me.

“Ah, I’m really afraid, someone please come and save me.”

Yang Ye was amused into laughter by Gu Liang’s nonfluctuating tone of voice.

“No one will come and save you.”

In comparison to Gu Liang’s complete lack of acting skills, Yang Ye managed to arouse a strong interest for acting. He moved forward and raised his chin, sniffing at his neck. “Mm, your blood is truly alluring… If I let you out, you’d be torn to shreds by the other vampires in this ancient castle. Not even the broken bits of your bones would remain.

“Therefore, why don’t I…. have a taste of you first.

“I’ll turn you into a vampire, made available for my use only, how about it?”

Gu Liang recalled the plot on the card. It roughly wrote how he had struggled but to no avail. In the end, he was still bitten by the vampire, thus becoming a fict.i.tious tale where he was turned into a vampire.

However, Gu Liang felt that there was no need to act out those details. He tilted his head and held his neck at an angle. “Enough of this, just bite me.”

The script mentioned that when the vampire was turning Actor Ming into a vampire, he had sucked some of his blood. Some of the blood had dripped down from his neck, staining a part of the bed sheets red.

It was unknown if there was any other significance to the bloodstains afterwards.

However, Gu Liang knew that he could not avoid this detail.

“Yang Ye, be gentler later on.”

Upon remembering the previous incident, Gu Liang decided to voice a short reminder— His strength was way too big.

How could Gu Liang possibly know that his casual one-liner would directly light up a huge fire?

Yang Ye’s head became hot, as did his body, and even his blood was boiling.

As he stared at the porcelain white skin of his neck, Yang Ye raised a hand, fingertips sliding across the red marks on his neck gently. His voice was a little hoa.r.s.e: “Do you know what you’re saying?”

Gu Liang shot him a look. “Act faster. I’ve already been maltreated enough earlier this morning. I don’t want to make another trip to the small black room. If it happens again, I’m afraid my punishment will last for 8 hours.”

“Gu Liang, let me ask you a question.” Yang Ye’s voice sounded even deeper.

When Gu Liang s.h.i.+fted his eyes, he was suddenly confronted with Yang Ye’s visage which was well within reach. It was unknown when he had moved so close.

“What do you want to ask?”

Yang Ye suddenly pinched Gu Liang’s lower jaw, while the fingers of his other hand skirted towards his ear from his bruised red neck.

Subsequently, Yang Ye leaned his body forward. Just when Gu Liang thought he was carrying out the plot contents, he heard him ask: “Is it only because you don’t want to be punished? What if it was someone else? Would you be fine with it as well?

“If another person had taken my character role today, would you allow him to bite you like this?”