Chapter 41.2

After the man in black left.

Huddled on the sofa, Gu Liang held onto his c.o.ke as he contemplated the problem at hand.

Unknowingly, one hour had already pa.s.sed.

Presently, the problem he should be worrying about had nothing to do with the system or the man in black.

What he was worrying about was— shortly after this, he would be voted out of the round, and before the system doled out his death penalty, he would be like all the other murderers, such that his curriculum vitae would be displayed on the large screen.

His last semblance would be ripped off, his past would be exposed in front of others like a rain of blood.

He was coming to realise that he hadn’t made sufficient preparations for that instance.

A moment later.

Gu Liang heard knocks on his door.

“Gu Liang, I’m Xun Feng. I want to have a chat with you.”

Standing up, Gu Liang opened the door for him and shut it after he allowed him to come in.

In the instant where the door closed, Gu Liang saw Yang Ye outside through the door seam. His eyebrows were still faintly knitted and his expression was extremely solemn.

Gu Liang closed the door expressionlessly and sat on the small sofa which placed him directly opposite of Xun Feng. “Do you need something?”

Having pushed open the door and walked in, Xun Feng positioned himself opposite of Gu Liang: “Were you staying alone here the entire time?”

“En.” Gu Liang nodded.

Xun Feng glanced in the direction of the door, as if he could see through the door panels to gaze at Yang Ye.

Soon after, he withdrew his line of sight and turned towards Gu Liang, before he acted according to the plan that he and Yang Ye had discussed. “From the looks of it, Yang Ye has really been deceived by you, he really thinks that you’re working against him. He wanted to help you initially. But right now… he managed to persuade everyone. Everyone is going to vote for you, Liu Ran was convinced into it too.”

“That’s great.” Gu Liang said.

Xun Feng scrunched his brows together tightly. “I’ve already done all I can. I’ll think of some way… At any rate, I won’t vote for you.”

Gu Liang replied, “There’s no need. You should vote for me. I still have 5 votes even if you’re excluded. Moreover, why are you making yourself lose one gold coin for no reason?”

“You’re going to vote for yourself?” That was the only question Xun Feng asked.

Gu Liang: “Of course.”

Although Gu Liang looked like an unmoving mountain as he sat upright with his c.o.ke can in hand, it was apparent to Xun Feng that Gu Liang’s nails were a little white once he examined them.

Xun Feng asked him: “If you only had one more hour to live, how would you feel?”

“If I said that I feel quite calm, would you believe it?” Gu Liang returned a question.

Xun Feng raised his eyebrows and placed his overlapped hands on his leg. He tried to make himself appear relaxed and awfully dispa.s.sionate, like how he and Gu Liang had been sitting in the psychology consultation room in the past.

Subsequently after, Xun Feng questioned him: “Towards Yang Ye’s actions, do you not blame him or resent him at all?”

Gu Liang said in an indifferent manner: “This is my own choice.”

“Of course, this is your choice. But when you see him abandon all care for you, and only consider his own well-being, do you really have no thoughts about it?”

“What thoughts should I have?”

“You’re not upset?”

“Why should I feel upset?”

“Never mind…” Xun Feng revealed a helpless smile in the end, “I only wanted to see you and have a chat with you.”

Gu Liang: “And now you’ve seen me. I would like to have some time to myself right now.”

It was a notice to leave that was issued without a single trace of politeness.

Xun Feng was aware that he had deliberately offended him by prodding at Gu Liang’s taboo; the thing he wanted to confront the least was the darker parts of human nature.

In all honesty, Xun Feng felt that everything about this was human nature— when you were preparing to sacrifice yourself for your friend’s sake, no matter how willing you were, upon seeing him accept it without feeling the slightest burden, and even go as far as to have no qualms about your imminent death, your heart will start to care about it.

For instance, the current Gu Liang. He was willing to take on the punishment that murderers had to suffer on his own accord in order to ensure that Yang Ye would not be dragged into the water.

However, once he saw that Yang Ye had actually persuaded everyone to cast a vote for him, it could not be more normal for Gu Liang to feel the smallest shred of unhappiness, if there was any.

Hence, Xun Feng originally wanted to console him when he made this trip.

But when he saw Gu Liang feigning calmness, Xun Feng could resist throwing a few questions at him like how a psychologist would.

He was deliberately provoking him and stepping on his landmines again.

What Gu Liang feared the most was his own selfish cruelty; it was alright no matter how much he criticised himself, but if people were to doubt him, he would harbour those questions in his heart.

He would remind himself again and again— As it turns out, I really am abhorrent, I am that cruel and selfish.

However, it was too late for Xun Feng to regret it; he could only heave a sigh and leave.

* * *

It was true that Xun Feng managed to make Gu Liang descend into a state of self-doubt again.

After Xun Feng departed, Gu Liang walked up to close the door but he did not shut it firmly.

Having left the door unlocked, Gu Liang could make out Yang Ye pulling a few people into the one-on-one interrogation room intermittently again through the door seam, like he was really seizing every minute and second to get everyone to trust him and vote Gu Liang as the murderer.

At the present moment.

The end of the voting segment was one hour.

Despite constantly holding the c.o.ke in his hand, Gu Liang barely drank from it.

He stared outside without blinking.

Yang Ye was chatting with the others. There was an unabating smile on his face, just like a small sun.

Honestly speaking, a person like him had always been the source of Gu Liang’s envy.

Good family background, born into a good family, capable of having an a.s.sured and wilful life, laid-back, free and at ease.

What was even rarer was that he spoke respectfully and with poise, could differentiate between work and relaxation when doing things, would not create troubles for others because of his own unrestrained and laid-back disposition.

By comparison, Gu Liang felt somewhat ashamed of his own inferiority, and he resembled a sludge that could not see the light.

Gu Liang did not know why but he felt a jolt of dull pain in his heart all of sudden as he was looking at Yang Ye.

This dull pain, was it like what Xun Feng described— because I’m unreconciled?

After witnessing Yang Ye send me to my death without any hesitation, it actually gave rise to complaints?

He’s the detective, I’m the real murderer.

It’s evident that this is the right and proper course of action for him, but why do I feel unhappy?

When I was being honest with Li Xiao Yu, I clearly felt quite gallant then…

Why am I unhappy now? Why do I find it hard to level my thoughts? Why am I unreconciled?

Is it only because of the words that Xun Feng said, or is it because I’m still a selfish and small person and nothing has changed?

En…. why did I start hating myself again?

What if I’m wrong about everything, what if I only have one hour left to live, am I really going to spend it in the dredges of self-hate?

In a short while, my past wrongdoings will be displayed on the screen of the discussion room, will Yang Ye see it?

When that time comes, what will he think of me?

In the face of an uncertain punishment which could result in death, he was tormented by the question of his own soul and being called into account, which all culminated in Gu Liang’s mind being an utter mess.

At this moment, his door was knocked.

“You still need something?” Gu Liang thought the person outside the door was Xun Feng.

After a short pause, a deep voice seeped through the door shutters.

“It’s me, Yang Ye.”

The grip on his c.o.ke tightened. “I’m tired. Let me rest on my lonesome for a while.”

Yang Ye: “Really? Then I’ll go?”

Gu Liang: “……”

The voice outside the door no longer spoke, and only the sound of footsteps gradually moving further away could be heard.

Gu Liang a.s.sumed that Yang Ye had left.

He sat up straight and raised his c.o.ke to drink a large mouthful. However, because he drank too quickly, he choked, causing him to cough twice. Then, he put the c.o.ke down and nested on the sofa again with closed eyes, planning to take a nap.

But after some time, knocking sounded at his door again.

Gu Liang’s eyebrows furrowed together slightly, and he hugged his own shoulders tighter.

Following, he heard Yang Ye’s voice again. “Are you bored? I just found a deck of poker cards. Why don’t we play the comparison of cards?”

Gu Liang: “……”

This time around, Yang Ye pushed open the door and entered without waiting for Gu Liang to reply.

Subconsciously, Gu Liang leaned back and opened his eyes, wide, and stared at him with some visible palpitations. “You… What’s the matter with you?”

Yang Ye said: “If I’m disturbing your rest, I apologise. It’s just that you didn’t make a sound the entire time so I was a little worried.”

Turning his head away, Gu Liang lowered his eyelids to avoid Yang Ye’s gaze. He did not speak.

From a higher point of elevation, Yang Ye happened to be in perfect view of his long and lowered lashes that were akin to a raven’s wing. Under the light’s illumination, the gold tea colour of his irises peeked through.

And even lower was his straight and tall nose, and his thin and faintly pursed lips.

With the poker deck in his hands, Yang Ye did not go forward or move.

A long period of time pa.s.sed before he eventually decided to walk forward and sit in front of Gu Liang. Placing the poker deck on the table, he asked: “If you don’t want to play the comparison of big and small, we’ll play Fire Train instead?

“Do you know how to play it? The poker cards will be divided into half and then each person will put down a card in alternating turns and place them in order. If two of the same cards appear, they will have to take all the cards in between and add it to their own deck. Whoever finishes all the cards in their hands first is the loser.”

Gu Liang: “……”

Yang Ye did not tack on any extraneous words, and simply asked: “Are you playing?”

Gu Liang finally smiled.

His hands that were once restrained because he was gripping on the backrest of his chair tightly, relaxed, and he reached forward to raise the poker deck.

His long lashes raised up and he met Yang Ye’s eyes. “Bring it.”

* * *

An hour later, the voting commenced.

The system broadcast announced: “There will be two rounds of voting this time around. The first round is the side task. Please select the case of《 Undying Town 》.”

When Princ.i.p.al Zha was voting, no one went to help him.

In the end, it was a man in black who appeared. He helped him take out the card he was carrying on his person and loosened his bindings to allow him to complete the voting process.

After all, the game had stipulated that appropriating and forcibly taking other people’s cards were not condoned, hence Yang Ye had no way of forcing his vote.

Once the first round of voting concluded, the six players sat in the conference room, equally divided into two sides as they waited for the broadcast notice.

A moment later, the broadcast sounded: “The first case of 《 Undying Town 》has concluded. The following is the announcement of the first round’s voting results. Who is the deceased in this case? Wah, Beggar Ding has 6 votes, all the votes were given to him. Was he the deceased in this case?

“Congratulations, everyone answered correctly! The voting reward for this round is a reward card. Players, please draw one!”

Two men in black holding the cards walked over to the six players in order, and waited for them to draw their reward card.

After every player was done drawing their reward card, the system proceeded to say: “The following is the commencement of the second round of voting. Who is the real murderer in this case? Players, please cast your votes. Whether the real murderer will be caught depends on you!”

Upon raising his card, Yang Ye did not even think about it before he tapped on the portrait of [Princ.i.p.al Zha].

As he was waiting for the others to vote, Yang Ye did a mental calculation.

Gu Liang was voting for himself, Princ.i.p.al Zha would definitely vote for him, which means that Boss Meng was bound to get 2 votes;

As for the remaining players, namely Yang Ye himself, Li Xiao Yu, Xun Feng, and Liu Ran, would all be voting for Princ.i.p.al Zha, and Princ.i.p.al Zha would gain 4 votes.

In the final conclusion, it was 4:2, Princ.i.p.al Zha would be voted out, there was no running.

“It is announced that the second round of voting has come to an end. Who is the real murderer in this case? Apart from Shroud w.a.n.g, who is the detective, there are three players with zero votes, and they are School Senior Feng, BBQ Li, and Neighbour Liu. Then, between Princ.i.p.al Zha and Boss Meng, who is the chosen murderer?

“How interesting. In this game of ours, this sort of result has not appeared a long time. Following, I will now announce that Princ.i.p.al Zha has 3 votes and Boss Meng has 3 votes, it’s a tie! Aiya, in this situation, who is the real murderer being voted out?”

In the interval where the broadcast paused, Gu Liang, who had been sitting there quietly with his eyelids lowered, suddenly jerked his head up. As he came to an abrupt realisation, he turned his body to the side to look at Yang Ye in disbelief.

System: “The right to the final decision will be given to our detective of course. Detective, if the final vote that everyone makes is not the actual murderer, you will suffer the death penalty. Hence, a second chance to vote has been opened up for you. Please make your choice again. Your choice, will decide if the real murderer gets to escape successfully, or if a good person gets persecuted to death, and whether you have to suffer the death penalty hangs in the balance oh. Detective, please make good use of this chance!”

Hearing that, Gu Liang stood up abruptly and stalked up to Yang Ye, grabbing hold of his lapels.

But Yang Ye was sharp-eyed and deft handed; before Gu Liang could even stop him, he pressed down on Princ.i.p.al Zha’s portrait again.

Gu Liang’s hand was trembling slightly as he held onto the lapels of his long gown. “You…. You lied to me? Are you insane? Do you know what this means…”

— The man in black had told him that drawing the Amnesty Card was a one in ten thousand chance, and he had not seen it for many years.

Gu Liang did not believe that Yang Ye had drawn an Amnesty Card when the previous scenario had ended, or even during the card drawing segment just now.

Moreover, the information that the man in black gave Gu Liang was not one hundred percent accurate.

What if Yang Ye accepted the death penalty later and he really made him die?

Raising one hand, Yang Ye conveniently held onto Gu Liang’s wrist and wrapped his other arm around Gu Liang’s back. He patted his shoulder comfortingly, and then leaned his body forward, bringing himself close to his ear. He asked softly, “Afraid? Worried? Feeling guilty?”

Gu Liang gripped his lapels tightly without uttering a single word.

With a deep voice, Yang Ye said: “It’s good that you’re afraid. This is a small lesson for you. In the future, you’re not allowed to lie to me like this ever again.”