Chapter 83: Murder Motive

Su Mian didn't answer or move. She subconsciously held her breath to think of a strategy, but then saw the firelight in the distance growing larger.

Liang Chuchu slowly turned her head, got off her bed, and knelt devoutly in the center of the balcony again, as if nothing had just happened.

Su Mian let out a sigh of relief. She waited on the bed for half an hour, but Liang Chuchu made no other moves. She felt a bit sleepy, so she simply fell asleep.

Between waking and sleeping, she heard someone talking.

"Why can he be with you?"

"What is so good about you... Damn it, since I can't have it, I'll destroy everything."

【Ding-dong – Murder motive updated.】

She was woken up by an alarm in the morning. Passionate, rousing music blared through the entire corridor, giving Su Mian a headache.

The people in the dorm got out of bed like zombies and started brushing their teeth and washing up without a word of conversation.

Su Mian sat on the bed in a daze for a long while; she only got out of bed slowly after everyone else had packed up and left.

My head hurts...

The thought of being woken up by this alarm every day made her face fall even further; her resentment was greater than that of a ghost.

Rubbing her throbbing temples, Su Mian washed up and packed her things to leave. There was no one left in the corridor.

Not far from the dorm building stood a tall boy. Su Mian walked over and realized it was Zhou Ye.

"Morning, Luo Yi."

Su Mian finally woke up. The person's pitch-black pupils were looking at her intently before he handed over the breakfast in his hand.

It was a sandwich and black rice bread, accompanied by a carton of milk.

"I didn't know if you liked sweet or savory, so I bought both."

Su Mian opened her mouth, not knowing what to say. Finally, she just whispered a thank you and then returned the milk to him.

"I'm lactose intolerant."

Zhou Ye paused and said sorry. Those deep eyes were full of guilt, staring at Su Mian until she felt uneasy. The two walked toward the teaching building in silence.

Through the system's prompt yesterday, Su Mian knew her target to kill was Liang Chuchu.

Chi Luoyi would grow increasingly fond of Zhou Ye over the remaining few days, and the accident of the confession that day would also be thrown to the back of her mind.

She knew Liang Chuchu was using Takanna to curse her. If she didn't kill Liang Chuchu, Chi Luoyi would die.

But how could Chi Luoyi, who was about to end her painful high school days, welcome a beautiful life, and even possess perfect love, be willing to give it up?

A dark thought appeared in her mind, and it became unstoppable.

The next few days were calm, and just as in the script, Zhou Ye was as devoted to her as ever, bringing her breakfast every morning and accompanying her to and from school.

He even figured out her tastes, buying only brown sugar buns and vegetable porridge. No matter how late she went out, the breakfast was always hot.

Zhou Ye was just as the rumors said: gentle, considerate, and impeccable, never again showing that "male ghost" aura from the first day.

But this wasn't very conducive to Su Mian hiding her identity; too many people had been paying attention to them lately.

If players entered this game later, they would know she and Zhou Ye had dated with just a little digging.

This wasn't a good thing. Although she was a "little transparent," most people only knew Zhou Ye was dating, not who it was with.

So Su Mian began to drop hints, trying to reduce the number and frequency of her meetings with Zhou Ye.

But to Su Mian's dismay, this seemed to have the opposite effect.

"Is there something I'm not doing well enough? Luo Yi."

After school, he trapped Su Mian in the empty classroom, placing the girl between the desks, asking over and over:

"Do you like me?"

"…Mm."

"Then say you need me."

"I need you."

"Say you love me."

"I love you."

Zhou Ye's solemn expression eased slightly. He revealed his usual smile, the shadow falling from top to bottom. His large hand stroked the girl's head, moving from the back of her head to her ears, rubbing slowly.

"Good girl."

A tingling itch spread over her head and earlobes, so comfortable it made her want to rub against that hand. This technique reminded her of when Si Shi touched her like this during the first instance, but could she run into the same person so many times?

Su Mian felt it was unlikely. Besides, Si Shi knew she was lactose intolerant.

So she shook her head. Suddenly remembering something, Su Mian took out the red hair tie.

"What is this?"

"A talisman."

Zhou Ye explained with a smile, pointing to the silver ring on the red rope. Su Mian only then realized it wasn't an ordinary silver ring, but a snake ring.

The patterns on it resembled snake scales, and the green gemstone eyes were hidden on the inside, which was why people subconsciously thought it was just an ordinary silver ring.

Su Mian stared at it for a moment before withdrawing her gaze, quickly stuffing it into her pocket.

Damn it, had she offended the heavens lately or what? She was always dealing with "snakes."

【This talisman can ward off ghosts, Mian Mian.】

4399 explained, its tone filled with shock and joy.

【It's worth a full 2,000 points! This NPC is actually quite generous.】

"2,000 points? Does that mean it can be exchanged?"

Su Mian grasped the main point.

【Yes, but it can ward off ghosts and monsters, it's quite useful. Are you sure you want to exchange it for points?】

"I'm not afraid of ghosts and monsters anyway," Su Mian said indifferently. "Take it and exchange it for points."

Don't let her see anything related to snakes again; she shivered.

But she didn't see that the moment 4399 took the red rope, Zhou Ye's smile vanished without a trace, his eyelids drooping, suppressing those suddenly darkened eyes.

––

The day before the game started.

Su Mian had to inspect the crime scene. Her modus operandi was relatively simple: when the six people in the dorm played Truth or Dare, she would make Liang Chuchu draw a "Go to the Gongming Restroom and stay for ten seconds" dare card.

She wrote down the names of the remaining players on her paper and began a long layout.

Stab her to death directly with a knife?

Su Mian chuckled. This script was really trying to kill her. A game with only four players—not only was the hit probability high, but the modus operandi was so brainless, and there wasn't even an alibi.

She wouldn't force herself into a dead end. Since Liang Chuchu liked her doll god so much, it was only right that she ended up dying at the hands of the doll.

Looking at the meticulous notes filling the pages, she was suddenly struck by a strange emotion.

It turned out that, unknowingly, she had already come this far.

The feeling of weaving a script with her own hands wasn't bad either.

Everything was ready. That night, she closed her notebook and turned off the lights.

That night was abnormally quiet. Liang Chuchu unexpectedly didn't fuss with her ghost doll, and there was no unpleasant burning smell.

But not long after Su Mian lay down, her eyelids felt heavy, yet her consciousness remained in a state between waking and sleeping.

She couldn't move.

It was just like sleep paralysis.

She tried to lift her hand, but her fingertips felt as if they had been pressed into the bed board, unable to struggle.

Her breathing was forced to become shallow, and her chest was squeezed bit by bit by some force, as if a weight had covered her. ===== CHAPTER 84 =====