Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Pei Chuzhi was left speechless by that reply. She could only lift her wrist to tuck the loose strands of hair behind her ear, pretending the wind had been too loud and she hadn’t heard anything.

Xing Ye slowly walked down the stairs. When he reached her, he noticed her earlobes were slightly red.

She looked pretty easy to embarrass.

Pei Chuzhi looked at him as if nothing had happened, but she was a bit flustered inside, and her words came out guarded: “What? You weren’t even scared. I’m not going to hug you.”

“It’s fine, no need.”

Xing Ye lowered his head slightly, catching the flash of surprise in her eyes, then chuckled softly. “I don’t compete with little kids for treatment.”

His tone was casual, sounding very understanding.

Full of magnanimity like, “I won’t mind if you hug girls.”

“If you even want to compete with a little sister like Tong Yang,” Pei Chuzhi turned to walk toward the living room and muttered, “then I really have to pity your future girlfriend.”

Xing Ye froze behind her. After a moment, he silently laughed.

The special effects makeup artist came out of the kitchen and asked everyone to evaluate Sister Wang’s new makeup.

The revised effect was less frightening, and everyone accepted it.

Filming resumed.

The actors returned to their positions and reenacted discovering the body.

Then, according to the plot, knocking sounded at the front door.

Ji Yingshan returned.

She complained while putting away her umbrella, “Life on this island is inconvenient. There’s only one pharmacy, and it wasn’t open in the rain.”

Xie Yiqian hurried out. “Where did you go?”

“My stomach wasn’t feeling well. I went to buy medicine.” Ji Yingshan looked confused. “It’s already 5:40. You weren’t waiting for me to eat, were you?”

Pei Chuzhi silently noted the time.

Half an hour had passed since Sister Wang was killed.

The director’s voice sounded: “The victim has been discovered. All suspects present. Now entering statements.”

·

Six artists sat in the living room.

Most were actors, easily portraying unease.

Pei Chuzhi leaned on Xing Ye’s shoulder, pretending to be shaken.

Xing Ye cooperated, lowering his shoulder and placing an arm around her.

The earlier statements matched what she knew.

The only surprise was that Xing Ye returned because Xie Yiqian wanted to use the restroom, so the three paused fixing the rack.

She frowned, briefly panicked.

If that overlapped with her killing Sister Wang…

He might have heard something.

But Xie Yiqian looked calm.

She glanced at Xing Ye.

She could only see his tight lips and jaw.

She guessed he approached the kitchen to talk about antiques, but the blackout changed his plan.

A slight sense of inconsistency appeared in her mind.

Pei Chuzhi suddenly had a jolt in her heart and realized what felt wrong.

When the villa lost power, shouldn’t Xing Ye, as a guest, have looked for Sister Wang for help? Why did he go find the breaker himself?

Thinking back carefully, Pei Chuzhi found her memory wasn’t clear.

First, she had been too nervous; second, the thunder and rain effects distracted her.

So she might have missed some detail.

Before she could think further, Ji Yingshan, who was last, finally spoke: “I think you must all find me suspicious, since I was the only one who disappeared for so long.”

Ding Yang said cheerfully, “Teacher Ji has good self-awareness. Why not just confess so we can wrap up early?”

Ji Yingshan smiled slightly. “But I didn’t kill her.”

She pointed to Xie Yiqian beside her. “After my husband went downstairs to fix the rack, I planned to rest. But my stomach hurt, and I forgot my medicine. Just after five, I asked Sister Wang, and she said to buy some on the island, so I went out.”

Ding Yang questioned, “Then where’s the medicine?”

Ji Yingshan said helplessly, “The pharmacy wasn’t open.”

Everyone fell silent, looking at her with sympathy.

Her luck was terrible—her script practically screamed “I’m suspicious.”

After statements, they entered the evidence phase.

They returned to the kitchen and analyzed the cause of death.

A fatal stab wound at the lower back. The facial wounds looked like venting hatred.

The weapon was a kitchen knife.

In reality they’d call police, but the show blocked that.

Ji Yingshan crouched and said softly, “If it was just murder, one stab would do. But the face—maybe the killer had a grudge?”

Xie Yiqian nodded. “A deep grudge.”

The real killer, Pei Chuzhi, couldn’t speak, but she knew she couldn’t stay silent.

She frowned and said, “The wound is low. The killer probably isn’t very tall.”

She secretly blinked at Xing Ye: I’m clearing suspicion for you.

Xing Ye lazily pointed at Xie Yiqian and raised his brow.

She understood: 【Helping me or your idol?】

She declared, “So the killer is likely female, or an average-height man.”

Ding Yang clutched his chest. “I feel offended.”

Everyone joked.

Pei Chuzhi noticed Tong Yang frowning and glancing at Ji Yingshan.

She nudged Xing Ye.

“She’s suspecting Ji Yingshan,” he whispered.

“Her alibi is weak,” Pei Chuzhi moved aside with him, “but we shouldn’t vote her out. At least not first round.”

Xing Ye nodded. “She’s too much like a smokescreen. Before more clues appear, whoever rushes to eliminate her looks more like the killer.”

Pei Chuzhi paused, followed Xing Ye’s gaze, and saw Tong Yang still watching Ji Yingshan.

The first round of evidence search ended.

The director announced the clue exchange segment.

This was a new feature of this season.

Just like Ji Yingshan mentioned “one fake couple,” each artist had their own clue.

They could exchange or keep silent.

The rule forbade lying during exchanges.

Pei Chuzhi’s clue was “someone knew Sister Wang before.”

She felt targeted.

Xing Ye had deduced someone knew her.

After reading the script, she guessed it was Xing Ye.

Though useless to her, she could exchange it.

Ji Yingshan sighed. “I choose secrecy.”

Ding Yang said, “Then I’ll keep secret too.”

The remaining four exchanged glances.

Xie Yiqian approached Pei Chuzhi. “Let’s talk elsewhere?”

“Okay.”

She was delighted.

But a cold gaze froze her.

She turned and met Xing Ye’s dark eyes.

She felt guilty.

After they left, Xing Ye looked at Tong Yang. “Go?”

Tong Yang nodded. “Teacher Xing, you looked like a jealous boyfriend.”

“…”

“So you and Zhizhi-jie are real?”

“Then Teacher Xie’s pair is fake?”

Xing Ye avoided it. “Do you know who Sister Wang is?”

Tong Yang: “Fugitive suspect.”

Xing Ye said, “My clue: someone escaped punishment. Yours?”

Tong Yang paused. “Mine is two words… strange.”

“Mm?”

She tilted her head. “Accidental killing.”

·

Fifteen minutes later, they returned.

Before voting, they discussed again.

After exchanges, everyone was more cautious.

Pei Chuzhi sat beside Xing Ye, her mood especially heavy.

“Someone wanted to buy Sister Wang’s antiques.”

After Xie Yiqian said his clue, her first reaction was that Xing Ye’s situation was quite dangerous.

But if she wanted to survive to the end, she naturally couldn’t let Xing Ye be exposed so early.

Just as she was thinking about how to protect Xing Ye, Ding Yang, who hadn’t exchanged clues, spoke decisively:

“Can I just state the conclusion? I think the killer is between Teacher Ji and Zhizhi.”

Author’s note: Thanks to the little angels who threw overlord tickets or irrigated nutrient solution during 2019-12-05 21:26:20~2019-12-06 22:26:17~

Thanks to the little angel who threw a landmine: Man Sha Hua Other Shore Flower 1;

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: Baobao Ye 84 bottles; Jiabao ovo 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for everyone’s support, I will continue to work hard!