Chapter 27

Chapter 27
“Kill, slash the face, wash the blood off the hands, leave the kitchen — these are things the killer is known to have definitely done. Even if the killer moved quickly, it would be hard to complete all the steps in a short time.”

Ding Yang spread his hands, his gaze sweeping across the other two men in the living room one by one: “The three of us were outside fixing the flower rack, and we were alone twice in the middle. Once to get tools, once when Teacher Xie suggested we take a break. I timed both times. Our time alone wouldn’t exceed five minutes.”

Xie Yiqian understood immediately: “We didn’t have enough time to commit the crime.”

He sighed, then turned to look at Ji Yingshan, signaling her not to be nervous, “But according to what you said, Tong Yang also had enough time to kill.”

Tong Yang raised her head: “Teacher Xie, don’t wrong a good person. After I finished showering, I called Ding Yang. At that time he should have been with you, right? I couldn’t possibly be killing someone while making a call. If you accidentally heard Sister Wang calling for help, wouldn’t that be the end?”

As she spoke, she took out her phone and placed it on the coffee table. The call record clearly showed that at 5:07, she had made a three-minute call to Ding Yang.

“After the call, I went to knock on the door of the room next door, but neither sister opened the door,” Tong Yang said. “Then the villa lost power, so I went back to my room, until Sister Zhizhi knocked outside.”

Ding Yang smiled smugly: “According to Teacher Ji, just after five she went downstairs to ask Sister Wang for stomach medicine, which proves Sister Wang was still alive at that time. After that we don’t know where Teacher Ji went. But first I want to ask Zhizhi — from five o’clock until before the blackout, you said you were sleeping in your room. Who can prove it? And you didn’t even hear someone knocking, that doesn’t make sense.”

“No one can prove it. After all, I didn’t expect a murder to happen. Who goes on vacation carefully preparing an alibi?”

Pei Chuzhi’s tone was calm, but her heart was somewhat flustered.

Ding Yang’s reasoning about the time of the crime was wrong. Killing and slashing the face were not done by the same person, so the time required wasn’t that long. Therefore, including the three male artists, anyone had time to commit the crime.

But only two people at the scene knew this.

One was her, the real killer. The other was the person who slashed Sister Wang’s face.

Once she revealed the truth, the other party would definitely guess she was the killer.

But if she continued debating based on the current incorrect inference, it would be hard to clear suspicion from herself and Ji Yingshan.

Should she go with the flow and let Ji Yingshan be eliminated first?

Pei Chuzhi rejected this idea in her heart. She needed to find a loophole in someone else…

While she was silently thinking, Xing Ye, who hadn’t spoken for a long time, suddenly pinched her wrist.

The force was light, but it conveyed the meaning of telling her to feel at ease.

Pei Chuzhi was stunned, then saw Xing Ye lean forward, pick up the phone on the coffee table, and slowly open the call log.

His palm was long and slender; when he held the black phone uniformly distributed by the program team, the bent joints of his fingers looked especially distinct.

Xing Ye: “I’ve been thinking since just now — why is Ding Yang so sure the killer must be Teacher Ji, or Zhizhi…”

The nickname he was already used to slipped from his lips, carrying a husky intimacy.

Yet in the moment his tone suddenly turned, it revealed sharp aggressiveness.

“Because you want to cover for Tong Yang, right?”

Ding Yang froze, then smiled: “Brother, do you really think she killed someone while making a call? Is Sister Wang mute or stupid? Getting stabbed and not calling for help? Fine, even if she didn’t scream before dying, would Tong Yang need to risk you hearing it to kill someone?”

Xing Ye also smiled, his gaze darkening slightly: “What if Tong Yang didn’t bring the phone with her?”

Tong Yang opened her mouth innocently, wanting to defend herself.

But Xing Ye didn’t seem to intend to give her the chance.

He enunciated each word clearly: “After dialing your number, she left the phone in the room and went downstairs to kill. You only needed to answer and put on a one-man show. After three minutes, hang up. That way, she could also use me and Teacher Xie to provide an alibi for her, right?”

“Wait!”

Tong Yang seized the chance to interrupt him, her tone a little urgent, “After the call I also went to find the sisters. Are you saying I went upstairs halfway through killing to act? What if either of them opened the door?”

Xing Ye glanced at her: “Who can prove you knocked?”

Pei Chuzhi’s mind stirred. She fluttered her eyelashes and pretended sudden realization: “No wonder I didn’t hear knocking. So you were lying to me?”

Tong Yang: “...?”

How did she suddenly become a lying bad child?

Pei Chuzhi couldn’t bear to see the grievance of the little sister being wronged, so she turned her gaze to Ji Yingshan: “Teacher Ji, what do you think?”

Ji Yingshan had been worrying about not being able to clear herself, so she naturally went along with it: “I’m actually still a bit confused, but just like you said, little sister Tong Yang’s call really does seem deliberately designed.”

Before she finished speaking, Tong Yang finally couldn’t bear the grievance anymore.

She raised her voice and argued crisply: “Actually, I’ve always suspected Teacher Ji. Do you remember in the kitchen? She was the first to say Sister Wang died from revenge killing. I think she was misleading us!”

Xie Yiqian spoke calmly at this time: “That was just inference. Besides, if it wasn’t revenge, who would slash Sister Wang’s face like that?”

Tong Yang lowered her eyes and muttered pitifully: “Maybe the killer wanted to frame someone?”

Pei Chuzhi and Xing Ye said in unison: “Frame who?”

“……”

Tong Yang bit her lip and didn’t speak.

Pei Chuzhi, however, felt something was wrong. Tong Yang’s firmness in saying that, and the silence afterward, meant she must know some information.

She subconsciously turned to look at Xing Ye.

Xing Ye had just exchanged clues with Tong Yang — did he also know that information?

Would he guess who the killer was because of it?

Unexpectedly, Xing Ye’s gaze was extremely calm.

Whether it was acting or genuine ignorance, in his faintly lowered eyes there was no sign of suspicion toward her.

At this moment, the director announced: “Discussion time is over. Voting starts now.”

Pei Chuzhi exchanged a glance with Xing Ye, and the two of them tacitly pointed at Tong Yang.

Ji Yingshan also voted for Tong Yang without hesitation.

Xie Yiqian hesitated for a few seconds, then chose to abstain.

Tong Yang and Ding Yang, meanwhile, voted for Ji Yingshan and Pei Chuzhi respectively.

Tong Yang received more than half the votes and became the first artist eliminated.

She curled her lips helplessly, and as she left she waved her fist at everyone: “Next episode I definitely won’t be the first out!”

“Don’t wait for next episode, I’ll avenge you this episode, okay?”

Ding Yang made the promise with a pained expression, then turned and glared at Xing Ye, “Are we still friends? I just suspected Zhizhi a bit, and you knocked my girlfriend out in one go.”

Xing Ye raised an eyebrow and smiled wildly: “Who told you to bully my fiancée?”

·

The remaining five began the second round of evidence search.

Pei Chuzhi stood up, looked around the villa, and locked her target on the basement she had never visited.

She still cared about that sudden blackout.

But when she stood at the stairway and looked inside, she actually hesitated to act.

The villa’s basement had more than one room. Without windows to bring in outside light, the pale lighting shone starkly on the walls, and the corridor seemed as deep as if it connected to hell.

Sister Wang’s previous makeup suddenly flashed in Pei Chuzhi’s mind, and a chill crawled up her spine.

She subconsciously stepped back a few steps, but unexpectedly bumped into a hard chest.

Xing Ye’s voice came from behind: “Want to go in?”

Pei Chuzhi was almost scared into a cold sweat by him. Half frightened, half annoyed, she asked: “Even if the stairs are carpeted, can’t you…”

Before she finished speaking, Xing Ye stomped his foot on the ground, expressionless: “Is this okay?”

Still not satisfied, he deliberately strode forward heavily, each step especially loud.

Pei Chuzhi laughed at him: “Forget it, just act normal.”

Only then did Xing Ye lighten his steps, asking as he walked: “Why did you think of coming to the basement to look for clues?”

Of course it was because she wanted to look at the circuit breaker.

Just as Pei Chuzhi was about to answer like that, she suddenly realized something was wrong — she shouldn’t know the villa’s circuit breaker was in the basement.

She changed her wording on the spot: “I was just curious where the antiques Sister Wang stole are. The guesthouse has guests coming and going, she definitely couldn’t hide antiques where there are many people. If she doesn’t have another residence, then the basement where ordinary guests wouldn’t come is the most likely, right? What about you? What are you looking for in the basement?”

Xing Ye didn’t speak immediately, instead lowering his eyes to gaze at her.

Pei Chuzhi’s eyes were distinctly black and white, so her gaze always appeared clean and bright, giving a clear feeling. Yet the upward curve at the corner of her eyes added a hint of sly charm to her expression.

As if trying to see straight through her, Xing Ye stayed silent longer than usual.

So long that Pei Chuzhi thought she had exposed something, before he finally spoke slowly.

“After the power outage, I found the circuit breaker in the basement.”

He stopped outside the first storage room and felt for the switch on the wall, “So I came down again to see if there are any clues.”

The fluorescent light flickered a few times before finally turning on.

Pei Chuzhi raised her hand to shield her eyes. Once she adjusted to the glaring light, she quickly understood why Xing Ye didn’t overlook the basement.

The storage room was too messy.

The shelves against the wall looked as if they had gone through a typhoon. All the boxes were left open, and the contents scattered all over the floor without anyone caring.

Pei Chuzhi tilted her neck and looked toward the top of one shelf.

A square iron box was placed crookedly at the highest spot, and directly above it was the villa’s circuit breaker.

“Someone came here to look for something.” She stepped forward and tiptoed, trying to take down the suspicious iron box, but realized that at her height she could only touch its edge.

Xing Ye leaned in from behind her.

The man’s chest pressed close to her back. Through the thin layers of fabric, she could even feel the heat of his body.

His extended arm brushed past her ear, slightly blocking the light from the ceiling and completely enveloping her in his dark shadow.

Pei Chuzhi lowered her head and protested softly: “Couldn’t you ask me to move aside?”

“Hm?” Xing Ye supported the bottom of the iron box with one hand, his jaw tightening slightly with effort, “Why should I move you aside? Aren’t you my fiancée? Physical contact is normal.”

Pei Chuzhi buried her head lower: “It’s just a variety show, there’s no need to be so serious, right?”

Xing Ye paused for a moment, lowered his head, and his breath tickled her ear: “Meaning outside the show, there’s no need to be serious?”

“……”

Pei Chuzhi’s face reddened. Outside the show she was Xing Ye’s contract girlfriend, so she probably shouldn’t resist these intimate contacts either.

Was Xing Ye reminding her to be professional?

She knew the camera on the wall was faithfully recording this scene, and she also knew that if it were released as a behind-the-scenes clip, it would definitely become good material for promoting their CP.

But for some reason, she suddenly didn’t want every move between them to exist purely for publicity.

Pei Chuzhi frowned, wondering what was wrong with her — had she taken the benefits and now didn’t want to cooperate?

She wasn’t such an ungrateful person who broke contracts.

Seeing she didn’t answer, Xing Ye smiled bitterly.

He carried the iron box down in one go and placed it a little farther from Pei Chuzhi.

The lock on the iron box had long rusted. With slight force, he directly twisted open the fragile clasp.

Pei Chuzhi turned around by the shelf, vaguely feeling that Xing Ye’s mood was a little low.

It was probably her behavior just now that made him unhappy.

She reflected in her heart, then took the initiative to ask: “Are there antiques inside?”

“All old newspapers.” Without raising his head, he took out a few yellowed papers and brushed off the dust. “What kind of hobby does Sister Wang have, putting a few newspapers in such a heavy box.”

Pei Chuzhi’s nerves tightened: “What’s written on the newspapers?”

Xing Ye didn’t speak, and his movements flipping through the papers gradually slowed.

He pressed his lips together. With each one he read, the furrow between his brows deepened, and unfortunately he didn’t seem to have any intention of sharing the clue.

Pei Chuzhi was afraid there might be evidence on the newspapers unfavorable to her.

She lowered her head and brushed the dust off the hem of her skirt: “Let me see too…”

Halfway through speaking, her voice stopped abruptly.

She crouched down, confirming she hadn’t seen wrong.

On a spot on the second shelf, there faintly remained half the shape of a footprint. The outer edge of the print was blurred and stretched, as if someone had slipped slightly.

A scene quietly formed in Pei Chuzhi’s mind.

Someone had stepped here, stretched their arm to take the iron box from the top, but their foot suddenly slipped. In a hurry to grab something to steady themselves, they accidentally pulled down the circuit breaker.

Pei Chuzhi turned back: “Come look.”

Xing Ye came over holding the newspapers. After a few glances he said softly: “This person isn’t tall, but it wouldn’t be Ding Yang — he’s not that short.” He turned his face, her figure reflected in his dark pupils, “It’s a girl.”

“Don’t look at me like that.”

Pei Chuzhi was very justified this time, “I’ve never been to the basement, and I’m not interested in antiques.”

Xing Ye glanced at her with a half-smile: “Nervous?”

“…No.”

She deliberately glared back fiercely, but analyzed seriously, “Tong Yang once mentioned she thought Teacher Ji was misleading everyone into thinking it was revenge killing. Actually I think she has a point. If this time it isn’t revenge…”

Xing Ye continued quietly: “Murder for money?”

Pei Chuzhi hurriedly nodded, wishing in her heart everyone would think it wasn’t revenge.

However Xing Ye’s next sentence shattered her hope.

He handed over the newspaper and denied it: “Not that simple. Look at the newspapers. The program team wouldn’t give useless clues.”

Pei Chuzhi lowered her gaze and read from the mottled yellowed pages a string of shocking information.

[Robbery case… one criminal escaped…]

[Antique shop suffered heavy losses…]

[Owner committed suicide at home.]

Xing Ye stood up. While Pei Chuzhi hadn’t recovered yet, he slipped one of the newspapers tucked in the middle into his pocket.

Then he spoke slowly: “Tong Yang must know about this, otherwise she wouldn’t keep trying to make us believe it wasn’t revenge. Two possibilities — either she’s a relative of the antique shop owner, or…”

“Ding Yang is a relative of the antique shop owner,” Pei Chuzhi replied softly. “She’s afraid Ding Yang will be suspected. She might even know Ding Yang is the killer, so to protect him she kept targeting Teacher Ji.”

Xing Ye pointed to the footprint on the shelf: “Then who do you think this is?”

Pei Chuzhi thought carefully.

Although Tong Yang was voted out, she probably hadn’t lied, and she also had no reason to come to the basement to look for antiques.

Xing Ye even less so — he planned to buy them with money, so why sneak around rummaging.

As for the remaining two…

Pei Chuzhi hesitated: “Teacher Ji?”

“Either it’s not her, or it’s you. But if it’s her, there’s something I don’t understand.”

Xing Ye’s crow-feather-like eyelashes lowered, covering his inscrutable gaze.

“When Tong Yang came knocking, where exactly were you?”

Author’s note: Thanks to the little angels who threw overlord tickets or irrigated nutrient solution during 2019-12-06 22:26:17~2019-12-07 21:16:32~

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

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated nutrient solution: Jiabao ovo 1 bottle;

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