Song Zang snapped the toothpick in half, quietly slipped it into his pocket, and held his breath as he carefully looked around.
Up on the second floor of the villa, the curtains inside Wang Bao Zhu’s room fluttered gently in the breeze.
Through the shifting shadows, Song Zang could only make out the murderer’s blurred silhouette.
—A woman wearing a fitted business suit.
The answer was actually obvious. The only woman in the villa who wore that kind of suit was Chang Mei Jiang.
Somehow, she had gotten hold of a miniature pellet gun. Its magazine was loaded with tiny-looking solid steel pellets that were actually extremely lethal. After confirming that Liu Ming Tao was dead, Chang Mei Jiang calmly turned and left, removed the suppressor, and packed it together with the pellet gun inside her small, elegant handbag.
Then she went downstairs to the living room, made herself a cup of coffee, opened her laptop, and leisurely sat down to rest.
Only after the two screenwriters finally recovered from their shock, ran out of the RV, and started screaming for help did Chang Mei Jiang slowly rise and lead her assistant outside to investigate.
Meanwhile, Song Zang had already climbed back over the wall into his bedroom and resumed wandering around the terrace taking selfies.
When the commotion outside began, he naturally left the terrace and opened his bedroom door with a confused expression…
Only to come face-to-face with Yin Chen, who was looking at him with an almost-smile.
Song Zang jumped backward in fright, and Yin Chen immediately stepped forward to close the distance again. Tilting his head slightly, he leaned close to Song Zang’s ear and asked in a low voice, “Did you kill Liu Ming Tao?”
“It wasn’t me.” Song Zang widened his eyes, looking utterly innocent as he answered in disbelief, “How could it possibly be me?”
Yin Chen stared at him. His almost tangible gaze traveled slowly over Song Zang from head to toe, while the corner of his lips curved meaningfully. “But I came to apologize to you just now, and you weren’t in your room.”
The space between them shrank even further. Yin Chen had not properly fastened his jacket, and his smooth silk tie swayed gently as he moved until it finally brushed against Song Zang’s thin white shirt.
“…Why are you apologizing?”
“Because I made you angry, didn’t I?” Yin Chen’s smile faded. He lowered his eyes, inexplicably giving off a trace of obedient softness. “I’m sorry.” But that misplaced obedience lasted only a moment.
“You’re allowed to be angry, and I’m willing to apologize, but you’re not allowed to threaten me that way.”
As Yin Chen spoke, he abruptly lifted his eyes and clasped the side of Song Zang’s pale neck. Applying the slightest pressure, he stroked the skin with warm fingers as though carefully touching a beloved, delicate doll, slowly tracing downward until he reached Song Zang’s collarbone…
Then he carefully fastened the buttons Song Zang had deliberately left undone, brushed several nearly invisible bits of twig and leaf from the shirt, and fell silent for a moment before warning him in a calm, gloomy voice, “Otherwise, I’ll kill you myself.”
Song Zang stood there blankly, his ears feeling strangely hot. The villa had central air-conditioning, yet even their intertwined breaths seemed to carry an irritating heat.
When he examined the feeling carefully, it was a peculiar kind of restlessness, as though someone had deliberately teased him and left him hanging.
Who threatens someone this ambiguously?
Is Yin Chen doing it on purpose? Is he deliberately trying to seduce me into falling in love with him, only to dump me afterward and make me suffer the agony of losing the person I love?
Song Zang could not analyze it. He could not understand it at all. Every single thing Yin Chen did fell outside his expectations.
Lowering his head, Song Zang gave a soft “Mm,” deliberately biting his lip in discomfort while exposing the reddened tips of his ears.
At least he knew Yin Chen seemed to enjoy seeing that.
“Come on. Everyone’s gathered.”
Sure enough, Yin Chen’s mood instantly brightened. He wrapped an arm around Song Zang’s waist and pulled him against his side without considering in the slightest whether the posture was overly intimate. By the time the two went downstairs, the fixed cameras had already been repositioned from multiple angles and normal filming had resumed.
In front of everyone, Chang Mei Jiang called the police again and put the phone on speaker. It had barely rung twice before the person on the other end heard the address and immediately hung up.
When she called again, the police station had actually blocked her number outright…
“Hello, viewers. I’m Chang Mei Jiang, Acting Chief Director of Cupid’s Kiss.”
As she spoke, she held up her phone to the camera and displayed the call history on the screen.
“On the very first morning after moving in, three deaths occurred within only a few hours. Two female guests died one after another under bizarre circumstances, with no identifiable motive. The former chief director insisted that filming continue while we searched for the murderer, only to be brutally assassinated by an unknown attacker in an equally strange manner…”
“No one knows why Liu Ming Tao met the same fate. Whose interests did continuing the show threaten? Why are the police refusing to accept the case, and why are forensic examiners refusing to conduct autopsies? What hidden reason lies behind all of this? And as our remaining guests continue living together in this villa for an entire week, what kind of romantic sparks will emerge between them?”
“Please stay tuned for Episode One of Cupid’s Kiss: Full House of Romance. Experience every twist and turn of this completely authentic recording, with an immersive thrill unlike anything else online, and join us as we uncover… the horrifying truth!”
“Cut!”
The instant the word left her mouth, Chang Mei Jiang’s slightly exaggerated expression vanished, and she returned to her usual efficient, composed demeanor.
“Director Chang, so now…” Chang Mei Jiang waved her hand, picked up the unfinished script Liu Ming Tao had left behind, and announced, “Everyone, look over here. I’ll explain the mandatory schedule in advance. All guests must gather once every day to discuss clues related to the deaths. You can do that at breakfast, lunch, dinner, or afternoon tea. Outside of that, you’re free to investigate, go on dates, or arrange other activities, and you can ask the staff to help set up locations when necessary.”
“The cameras inside your bedrooms must remain switched on. You may not cover them for more than forty percent of each day, or staff members will personally come in and uncover them. This is also for everyone’s safety.”
“Lastly, on the night before we leave the villa, everyone may choose a new preferred romantic partner and place a written love letter inside Cupid’s Mailbox. Remember to sign your name, or Cupid won’t know where to deliver your feelings~”
The rules did not sound particularly strict. For most of the day, the guests would still be free to do as they pleased.
Xiao Xiao seemed to have already reached an agreement with Xia Zhi Zhi. She did not immediately object this time and instead asked calmly, “Can we examine Director Liu’s body?”
“Of course. For this one hour only. Once the examination is finished, professionals will transfer the body to the morgue. None of you need to worry about that.”
After answering with a smile, Chang Mei Jiang quietly stepped out of the cameras’ recording range and exchanged a look with Lu Xing You, who was lazily yawning. She completely handed the remaining stage over to the guests.
Only from this moment onward did the absurd horror dating show truly begin.
Liu Ming Tao’s perfectly intact corpse lay silently in the middle of the living room, waiting to be examined.
Chi Yan found a large cardboard box of rubber gloves in the kitchen and handed them out to everyone. Yin Chen approached first, crouched down to inspect the bullet wound at Liu Ming Tao’s temple, and asked without looking up, “The shot came from the direction of the villa?”
“That’s right. Both witnesses said so.” Xiao Xiao stood off to one side with a frown, clearly unwilling to look too closely. Her face pale, she recalled, “The RV’s rear door was completely open at the time and faced the villa terraces directly, but neither of them saw anyone suspicious.”
Chi Yan became thoughtful. “So anyone whose bedroom is on the terrace side is a possible suspect, including staff staying in the service rooms.”
The instant she said that, Li Jun reacted as though he had been shocked. He raised a hand and pointed at Song Zang. “You’re the most suspicious! Your bedroom is right beside the terrace. Tell us, what were you doing when Liu Ming Tao died?!”
“I-I was taking selfies on the terrace, then I went back inside…” Song Zang took a frightened step backward and opened his phone to show him the pictures. “I really didn’t kill anyone. This is proof.”
Li Jun snatched the phone away and rapidly compared the timestamps. After hesitating for a moment, he continued interrogating him. “How do we know you didn’t deliberately take those photos and videos before killing him so you could fabricate an alibi? The moment I question you, you already have all these pictures ready. Isn’t that because you prepared in advance to commit murder?”
To be fair, Li Jun had guessed more than half of it correctly this time. Song Zang really had intended to kill Liu Ming Tao; someone else had simply beaten him to it.
“He isn’t the murderer.”
At that moment, Yin Chen spoke impatiently while digging around inside Liu Ming Tao’s temple.
“You could also be deliberately covering for him…”
“My bedroom is directly beside Song Zang’s. I can see everything he does near the window. Besides, he didn’t have a weapon.”
Yin Chen coldly cut off Li Jun’s accusation, then stood and opened his palm.
Resting on his rubber glove, which was smeared with sticky blood, was a tiny steel pellet with scorched edges.
Chi Yan moved closer to inspect it and explained with practiced familiarity, “I understand. It came from a miniature pellet gun used for shooting birds. Normally, the weapon isn’t very powerful unless you hit a particularly vulnerable point on the body with extreme precision. Whoever assassinated Liu Ming Tao managed to put a single steel pellet straight through his temple. That means the shooter has exceptional marksmanship and extensive experience. An ordinary person couldn’t do it.”
Song Zang weakly nodded and shrank away from Li Jun. “Sister Chi said it too. There wasn’t a gun anywhere in my luggage, and I can’t shoot. It really wasn’t me…”
“Hah. It really probably wasn’t you.” Li Jun fell silent for a long while, his evaluating gaze sweeping over Song Zang’s thin, seemingly frail body before he gave a mocking snort.
The stereotype of being useless really is convenient!
Song Zang lowered his head and quietly accepted Li Jun’s contempt for his ability.
“President Yin, did you find anything else?” Xia Zhi Zhi also did not dare approach the corpse. He hid behind Xiao Xiao and craned his head around her to ask.
“No. I dug through his entire head and only found one steel pellet.”
Yin Chen slowly peeled off the sticky gloves, turned to wash his hands, and then contacted the housekeeper to have the body removed.
The weather was too hot. Even with the air-conditioning, the corpse would not stay fresh for long. If they left it much longer, the entire room would start filling with the stench of decay.
Xia Zhi Zhi’s expression turned ugly. “Then… doesn’t the trail end here?”
“No! First, narrow down the suspects!” Xiao Xiao took a deep breath. “I’m having Director Chang check who has experience using firearms. We also need to inspect everyone’s luggage and personal belongings. Until that’s finished, I suggest no one wander around freely. Everyone should remain within camera range.”
That raised an obvious problem.
Who here had firearms experience?
—Every player.
Still, no one objected. With cameras recording the entire process, they each brought their luggage into the living room and opened it for mutual inspection.
Xu Ji Dong opened his backpack as well and let the neurotic Li Jun inspect it properly. It really did contain nothing but interchangeable camera lenses.
Everyone’s luggage looked normal. There were no dangerous weapons and no suspicious sorcery or curse-related objects, which eased the atmosphere slightly.
“Sister Xiao, you actually brought luxury eye cream?” Xia Zhi Zhi exclaimed. “Can I borrow some tonight?”
“Three hundred per scoop,” Xiao Xiao said mercilessly.
“That’s so expensive!”
Meanwhile, Yin Chen was staring intently at Song Zang’s luggage. For some reason, he seemed overwhelmingly curious about its contents, his gaze scrutinizing everything.
When he pulled out several small boxes of ultra-thin condoms, Yin Chen abruptly looked up at an innocent Song Zang and asked darkly, “You brought condoms?”
“…Mm,” Song Zang answered softly.
“Who do you plan to use them with?”
“That depends on what you think.” Song Zang sat leisurely on the sofa, picked up his coffee, and tilted his head as he brushed the question aside. The instant he finished speaking, there was a sharp rrrip as the small box in Yin Chen’s hand was torn cleanly in half, and the condoms inside met the same shredded fate.
Unfortunately, destroying one box did not solve the problem. There were plenty more, all secretly packed into Song Zang’s suitcase by his manager beforehand.
Yin Chen’s reaction was so intense and inexplicable that Song Zang almost wanted to laugh.
Unable to resist, he deliberately teased him. “Are you still angry about that little mistake I made in the past? Do you still want to take vicious revenge on me and expose me? Fine… In that case, I suppose you really wouldn’t need them.”
Yin Chen abruptly stood and looked down at him, biting out each word. “Little mistake?”
“You’re so fierce.” Song Zang looked aggrieved, his voice turning soft and fragile. “No matter what outsiders think of me, you’re the one who understands me best. We should try to understand each other. You can buy trending topics to smear me and let everyone curse me. I’m willing to endure it… because your opinion is the only one I care about. Can’t we just let the past stay in the past?”
“…”
If someone who knew nothing about the situation heard that emotionally charged speech, they might genuinely believe Song Zang had seduced someone years ago only to heartlessly abandon them.
Song Zang’s magnificent performance stun-locked Yin Chen for a full five seconds. Yin Chen stood there breathing heavily, clearly wanting to say something, yet somehow finding himself completely unable to argue.
According to the assigned backstory, Yin Chen was the one who had been cheated on, but the more he listened, the more Song Zang somehow sounded like the wronged party. Yin Chen even suspected that if Song Zang squeezed out a few crocodile tears right now, he would immediately hurry over and wipe them away for him. What a heartless villain, and he still loves acting out tragic melodrama!
Unable to win the argument, Yin Chen simply stopped talking. He silently confiscated every last condom inside Song Zang’s suitcase and stuffed them all into his own.
Finally, with a dark expression, he told Song Zang, “I don’t need them, and neither do you.”
“Mm. You’ve always been very possessive. I understand.”
Song Zang obediently lowered his head, looking like a pitiful little victim resigned to being bullied, which made Yin Chen’s expression darken another shade.
“Are you two finished dating yet? When exactly are you getting back together?” Chi Yan finally could not stand it anymore and rubbed her temples as she interrupted.
Song Zang bit his lip helplessly. “That depends on when President Yin is willing to forgive me.”
“Fine, fine. Clearly you haven’t reached the reconciliation stage yet. Everyone, get over here and talk about the actual problem.” Chi Yan brushed back her hair and snapped irritably, “From now on, stop fighting among yourselves. Especially you, Li Jun. When it’s time to shut up, shut the hell up.”
Li Jun was timid around every player except Song Zang. He tried to defend himself. “I’m only doing this because—”
“Doing what? Want me to break your nose again?”
Chi Yan glanced at him coldly before continuing, “All right. I think we can reasonably infer one key point from the police refusing to handle the bodies. Wang Bao Zhu’s death probably wasn’t caused by an ordinary human.”
“Not human? Then… was it a ghost?” Xia Zhi Zhi blurted. “Who knows? President Yin examined Xu Meng’s body and found several tiny details in her facial features that didn’t match. So we suspect the woman who killed Wang Bao Zhu may not have been the real Xu Meng at all.”
“That’s right. Xu Meng had already been replaced,” Yin Chen said calmly.
Xiao Xiao’s breathing quickened. “If Xu Meng could be replaced, doesn’t that mean any one of us could be replaced too? President Yin, after you killed the fake Xu Meng, did you feel anything unusual?”
Yin Chen became thoughtful. “No. She was weak. One stab killed her.”
“She was weak to you, President Yin. That doesn’t mean she was weak to the rest of us,” Chi Yan said quietly. “Wang Bao Zhu had some combat training, but there were no signs of struggle or resistance at the scene. She didn’t even have time to cry for help before Xu Meng killed her with one slash.”
“Xu Meng is dead. Liu Ming Tao is dead. More people are definitely going to die next. Lots of them!” Li Jun gnawed anxiously at his fingernails and muttered, “Our only way to prevent it is to identify the next person who gets replaced and kill them in advance.”
“Shut up,” Yin Chen said, already irritated just by looking at him.
Li Jun shrank back but continued muttering nervously as he shook his head. “Someone will die within two days. Believe me, someone really will die… I can feel it. Trust me!”
“I believe you.”
After remaining silent for a long time, Song Zang finally spoke softly. Li Jun was an experienced player. His psychological resilience should not have been this fragile. The instance had begun peacefully, yet even before anyone died, Li Jun had already become inexplicably anxious and unstable.
—He had to possess some ability or item capable of predicting danger.
The price of that advance warning was probably severe anxiety and paranoia, leaving him unable to control his extreme emotions.
Song Zang thought this through while quietly opening the game panel and posting his theory in the players’ group chat.
Li Jun glanced at the notification, immediately nodded in admission, and for once treated Song Zang with some friendliness. “Thanks.”
After that hasty thanks, Li Jun resumed biting his nails. “I still don’t think the daily password is enough. We should take one high-resolution full-body photo of everyone, plus another clear photo of each person smiling with their teeth visible. Every morning, compare them again. If anything changes, kill them immediately!”
“That works. We’ll do it now. But Mr. Li, calm down. At the moment, you’re the most abnormal person here.” Xiao Xiao turned toward Xu Ji Dong. “Could I trouble you to take the photos for us?”
“Of course.”
Xu Ji Dong smiled pleasantly. He had already prepared the camera. He did not intend to photograph only the guests either; he planned to archive images of every staff member present.
Once the photos were taken, everyone found double-sided tape and worked together to stick more than a dozen pictures onto the TV cabinet in the living room, the most conspicuous spot in the entire villa.
Yin Chen did not help. Instead, he quietly left the living room and called out to Xu Ji Dong, who was preparing to photograph the others. The front porch was brightly lit. Beside the pink Cupid’s Mailbox stood a translucent plastic figure lit from within. It was Cupid, the program’s theme mascot.
The mascot wore an exaggerated smile on its childish face, with adorable golden curls piled around its head and softly glowing cloud-shaped wings on its back. Its plump little hands held an acrylic heart marked with a kiss print, while pink light occasionally flickered inside its pupils.
Yin Chen stood beside Cupid with a cold expression on his pale face, dressed in a black shirt suitable for attending a funeral at any moment. Compared with the tiny angel beside him, he looked like a sinister vampire completely immune to sunlight.
“Big Shot, what’s up?”
Xu Ji Dong stopped nervously, the muscles in his thick arms tightening slightly.
He had heard of Yin Chen’s reputation and was terrified that this ancestor might suddenly get annoyed and cut him down for no reason.
Yin Chen lowered his gaze to Xu Ji Dong’s bag and said expressionlessly, “Do you have a spare camera? Lend me one.”
“Sure, sure. Instant camera or something high-end?”
“An instant camera is fine. Did you keep backups of all the photos you took?”
“Y-yeah.” Xu Ji Dong lowered his head and rummaged around for a camera, still unable to understand why Yin Chen had approached him. “I kept three or four sets, just in case somebody steals them during the night.”
“Give me two copies of every photo of Song Zang.”
Xu Ji Dong: …
So Yin Chen wasn’t here to pick a fight. He was just a pervert!
Xu Ji Dong complained silently, but naturally did not dare say anything aloud. He obediently handed over two sets of Song Zang’s high-resolution photographs.
“Thanks.”
Yin Chen’s expression instantly brightened. He smiled down at the photograph of Song Zang, fingers moving lightly across the pretty dimple Song Zang rarely revealed in everyday life.
“You’re much cuter when you’re quiet.”
＊
Everyone in the living room was still busy putting up photographs. Xia Zhi Zhi gathered his courage and asked Li Jun, “By the way, Mr. Li, what did you mean earlier about a password? Why didn’t Sister Xiao and I know one existed?”
Chi Yan turned around. “Oh, it’s just a daily password we set up to make sure nobody gets replaced. So much has happened that I nearly forgot to tell you.”
She repeated today’s code phrase, but Xiao Xiao did not let the subject drop.
“Sister Chi, did you all create a private group behind our backs? Is there anything else I should’ve known in advance?”
Chi Yan did not answer the first question. She merely smiled. “I don’t think there’s anything else. Does anyone have something to add?”
“I do,” Song Zang hurriedly said. “I told everyone last night that I saw a monster in the window. It was a strange human face that looked exactly like mine. Sister Chi, did you forget?”
“…”
At that, Chi Yan suddenly fell silent.
Her expression grew increasingly grave.
“I really did forget.”
“Something that strange happened, and after sleeping for one night, I completely forgot about it!”
Chi Yan immediately messaged Lu Xing You to confirm and turned toward Li Jun at the same time. “Li Jun, did you forget too?”
“I forgot too… No wonder. No wonder I’ve felt uneasy this whole time…” Li Jun stared at his thumb, which he had chewed until it was bleeding, his voice filled with panic.
“What?” Xiao Xiao did not understand, but she processed the situation quickly. “Could that monster be connected to whatever changed Xu Meng? Could it still be somewhere inside this house?!”
The instant she said that, Li Jun suddenly stood up, stumbled toward the storage room, and pulled out a gardener’s iron shovel.
“What are you doing, Li Jun?”
“Smash the windows!” Li Jun charged toward the stairs and ran for the third floor with the shovel raised.
Just then, Yin Chen returned to the living room after hiding away the photographs.
Seeing everyone’s strange expressions, he frowned. “What happened?”
Song Zang’s face turned pale, and his voice trembled. “Li Jun… Li Jun wants to smash my bedroom window…”
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