Chapter 48

Chapter 48

The director's words left Pei Chuzhi feeling utterly ashamed.

She patted her cheeks, reminding herself not to speak again, then turned her head to continue focusing on the progress of the show.

During the first round of evidence searching, both she and Xingye were concerned about the anomaly in the finance office.

Since all other office furniture had been moved and searched, why was the standing water dispenser, which hid the paper cup, still pressed neatly against the wall?

With the usual thorough search method, there was no reason for the two in the finance office to overlook the standing water dispenser.

Unless…

In the factory director’s office, Ding Yang quietly straightened his posture.

“I found the key under the sofa, but it was indeed Xingying who directed me to check the sofa and desk area.”

He paused for a moment, then recalled something more important. “Even the sealed bag on the beam—I saw it first and then reminded him he could go get a ladder to retrieve it.”

Xingying opened her mouth, her eyes revealing a hint of resistance.

Xingye didn’t give her a chance to explain. His voice carried a trace of agitation, as if he couldn’t wait to eliminate her and avenge Pei Chuzhi.

He said, “You’ve been misleading everyone all along, making us think the killer first went to the fifth floor to poison Accountant Dong, then moved her from the fifth floor to the second floor, closed the meeting room door, returned to the finance office to discard the key, and finally went to B2 to dispose of the evidence.”

Xie Yiqian reacted quickly: “That was the conflicting point before. We didn’t understand how the body was transported and were stuck in the ‘why was the killer so bold’ dilemma. Now it seems that sealed bag might just be a decoy to confuse the timeline.”

Since the killer could leave the factory after committing the murder and rejoin the main group,

he could easily discard the evidence far from the factory; there was no need to leave that sealed bag inside the building.

Xingye’s eyes swept over Xingying’s gradually drooping eyelids, sharp and cold.

“The factory has few people, and the main door wasn’t locked. You could easily fix the pulley outside, then sneak in to B2 to drop the fake evidence, go to the fifth floor to poison, and then just wait for Accountant Dong to succumb.”

“The evidence?”

Xingying suddenly spoke. “After all, all of this is just speculation. Even the so-called imitator killer was just a guess before Zizi was eliminated. After all, that old news from five years ago didn’t specify the victim’s cause of death.”

Pei Chuzhi, watching from the temporary lounge, felt a shiver. She hated that she couldn’t return to the set to tell Xingye the verified reasoning from the director.

Unexpectedly, Xingye didn’t even frown; instead, he slowly curved his lips into a small, confident smile.

“The evidence is in that old news article.”

Xie Yiqian, closest to the laptop, reached to grab it but suddenly froze mid-air. He seemed to have realized something, his gaze toward Xingying saying clearly, “Stop struggling.”

Seeing he didn’t move, Tong Yang, puzzled, turned to open the laptop. She scrolled a few times and finally cheered: “I know! It’s the hairstyle!”

Ding Yang froze for a moment, then realized: “It’s not just the hairstyle. The victim in the news was a young woman with long hair, but Accountant Dong was a middle-aged woman with short hair!”

Even serial killers have preferred victim types.

Such compulsive habits rarely change.

A serial killer might kill someone outside their preferred type, but they wouldn’t consider it part of their “work,” nor would they bother leaving unique markers near the body.

Since the red cross appeared next to Accountant Dong’s body, it shows the killer indeed carried out the serial killer’s so-called “ritual.”

However, the victim herself was not the killer’s ideal type.

A skilled serial killer who has committed multiple murders wouldn’t tolerate such a “flaw.”

Xingye leaned back. “If you still want evidence, it should be either on you or… in the equipment control room on B2. Do you want me to go get it?”

“No need.”

Xingying sighed, taking a phone out of her jacket pocket.

Xingye’s gaze fell on the phone, his lips pressing into a straight line.

“It really was me.”

Once the words were spoken, Xingying relaxed and smiled. “Sigh, I really shouldn’t have gone after you and Zizi first. You were worried when Zizi was eliminated, weren’t you?”

Xingye remained noncommittal.

The people around him, however, looked like they wanted to nod on his behalf.

Xingying: “But are you going to vote me out now?”

Ding Yang: “Why not?”

Although he had joked about taking revenge on Xingye before, with the real killer in front of them, he still felt he should fulfill his duty as the resident host and bring the killer to justice.

Xingying shrugged. “Actually, I also have some clues about the serial killer. If I’m voted out in the second round, I’ll take the secret with me back to the lounge.”

A cold wind blew through the open window, and the distant sound of the pulley striking resumed.

Tong Yang stared at her in disbelief. “Are you threatening us? How can a killer be this brazen?”

“Don’t use such harsh words like ‘threaten,’” Xingying winked at her. “It’s just a little deal—can’t I play a few more rounds?”

“This…”

Tong Yang hesitated. Her luck today was bad; she hadn’t found any clues and could only look at the others for help.

“No need,” Xingye’s deep voice sounded. “I know the clues about the serial killer. I’ll tell you later.”

He smiled softly, glancing at the camera in the corner. “Zizi must be bored in the lounge, so please, go keep her company.”

Xingying’s face darkened: “…”

In the lounge, Pei Chuzhi’s face flushed: “…”

Her cheeks felt hot, but with so many staff watching her, she couldn’t show her embarrassment too clearly. She silently thanked herself that the blush she’d applied before filming was strong enough to mask some of her shyness.

After Xingying was voted out, Pei Chuzhi’s reasoning awareness gradually returned, and she suddenly realized a question.

“Did I miss an important detail during the interview?”

She looked at the director blankly, recalling that it was just as Xingye and Xie Yiqian were exchanging clues. “Is the serial killer’s identity related to the clues Xie Yiqian holds?”

The director, caught off guard by the question, froze. He quickly flipped through the full script in his hand: “It shouldn’t be.”

The third round of evidence searching began while everyone else was still puzzled.

The production team, either to prevent Pei Chuzhi from continuing to praise Xingye or for some other reason, delayed switching to Xingye’s camera.

The screen in the lounge, frankly, was just to let eliminated artists follow the progress and pass the time. It wasn’t as comprehensive as the official broadcast.

Pei Chuzhi felt a strange sensation rising in her chest but could only clench her fingers helplessly, anxiously waiting for Xingye’s figure to appear on the screen.

The second eliminated contestant, Xingying, pushed open the door. After being interviewed by the director, she sat down and smiled warmly: “Zizi, I’m here to keep you company.”

Pei Chuzhi, like seeing a savior: “You know who the serial killer is?”

“Almost,” Xingying said.

In real life, Xingying was straightforward and didn’t beat around the bush, analyzing directly: “In my script, there’s a forensic report. It shows that the victims from five years ago were poisoned, but after death, someone had manually broken their necks.”

Pei Chuzhi was stunned: “Broken?”

Xingying: “Yes. So it’s not that I didn’t want to perfectly imitate, but the difference in strength limited my performance.”

A shiver of fear ran through Pei Chuzhi’s limbs.

She took several slow breaths and realized:

Considering the strength needed to break a neck with bare hands, Tong Yang among the remaining four definitely couldn’t do it.

—The serial killer is male.

Pei Chuzhi said nothing. Her intuition told her that Xingying still held other clues.

Some clearer clue pointing to a specific person.

Xingying looked at the lounge screen, then raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Of the remaining four, somehow Tong Yang was left alone in the production workshop to search for evidence.

After a brief silence, Xingying casually said, “By the way, my clue is related to Teacher Xie.”

“Huh?”

At the same time, Tong Yang appeared on the screen, running up to the camera holding something.

The young girl’s tone was cheerful: “Yay! I found the equipment seal from when the Innovation Machine Tool Factory closed. The time from now… um, four and a half years!”

“What a coincidence,” Xingying’s voice sounded in Pei Chuzhi’s ear, each word deliberate. “The time Teacher Xie joined the company is also exactly four and a half years ago.”

Pei Chuzhi instantly bit her lip.

Normally, the closer to the later stages, the higher the frequency of the serial killer’s crimes.

From the old news provided by the production team, it was clear that five years ago, there was a period when young women in X County were frequently murdered. After that news report, however, no related information ever surfaced again.

Had the serial killer stopped?

Pei Chuzhi immediately dismissed the thought.

No, it wasn’t like that.

The little rabbit backpack found at the waste recycling station surfaced in her mind again.

Why would the serial killer commit crimes on the same day, taking both the victims reported in the news and Xingye’s little sister?

Xingye’s sister was still in kindergarten, not fitting the young female profile at all. So the only remaining possibility—she saw something she shouldn’t have and was killed to silence her.

Yet when he took the child, Old Qiao and Accountant Dong saw him.

Even though they didn’t get a clear look at him, he still restrained his urge to kill, hiding himself carefully.

Then he waited in the shadows, handling the bodies at the right moment before leaving X County altogether.

A trace of melancholy flashed across Pei Chuzhi’s shimmering eyes. She sighed, “So the killer from five years ago was Teacher Xie. Oh no, that means…”

Before she could finish, she froze.

The shock that her idol was a murderer barely lingered before a more pressing thought dominated her mind.

If Xie Yiqian is the serial killer…

Then at this very moment, who is Xingye with?

Pei Chuzhi closed her eyes and opened them again, praying that the three men were together; only then would there still be a chance to stop Xie Yiqian from killing.

But when the camera switched again, she seemed to hear a “clang”—the sound of hope shattering in her mind.

Ding Yang was walking alone in the waste recycling station.

The surrounding cameras clearly captured both in front of and behind him.

Wherever she looked, there was no sign of Xingye or Xie Yiqian.

Author’s note: By the way, a small detail was changed in the last chapter—the method of transporting the body was changed to using a pulley and rope. Just that one thing, no need to rewatch~

Thanks to the little angels who voted or poured “nutrient” from 2019-12-28 20:37:46 to 2019-12-29 20:08:27~

Thanks for the “mine” votes: Summer Night Breeze, Ai Ya? Little One! 1 vote;

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Thank you all very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!