That afternoon, Lu Xing You went into battle despite his injuries, wheeling himself in front of the cameras.
He wore a lazy smile, casually revealing the Rolex worth more than five hundred thousand yuan on his wrist as he greeted the guests in an easygoing manner.
Then Lu Xing You calmly introduced himself and announced that he would be joining the next episode as a surprise guest.
The arrogant young master from a wealthy family looked straight into the camera and, in front of the entire nation, gave a provocative chuckle. “Big Brother, hope you eat and drink well in detention.”
“Cut! That one’s good. That had the right flavor. All right, one last group photo. We need it for the ads.”
Chang Mei Jiang immediately sprang into action, pulling Chi Yan over and seating her between Xiao Xiao and Xia Zhi Zhi to create an intriguingly ambiguous love triangle.
Lu Xing You sat alone on the right side of the sofa in his wheelchair, while Li Jun stood behind it with one hand resting on Xia Zhi Zhi’s shoulder and the other positioned beside Chi Yan… Half his face disappeared into darkness, the makeup artist having deliberately laid on heavier shadow.
Xia Zhi Zhi was still traumatized and did not dare glance back at Li Jun even once. His lips were tightly pressed together, his body unconsciously leaning toward Chi Yan, a faint trace of fear showing on his face. Chang Mei Jiang was extremely satisfied. “Great, great. Now it really has that pervert vibe!”
As for Yin Chen, he sat at the exact center of the sofa with one arm wrapped around Song Zang, his face largely expressionless.
Chang Mei Jiang had never told him to hold Song Zang. He was the one who insisted on doing it. Song Zang looked toward the camera, tilted his head, and gave a slightly bashful smile.
A cardboard standee of an innocent golden-haired Cupid stood beside the sponsor’s products, its pale, chubby little hands clutching a heart-shaped bow and arrow pointed directly at the players.
After one shouted “Cheese,” the flash went off, officially bringing the first episode of the dating show to an end.
The two biggest segments—rematching CPs and reading the love letters—would not be revealed until that night, leaving the first episode on a note of suspense.
At that time, children dressed in Cupid mascot costumes would be responsible for delivering the letters, placing the pink envelopes into the guests’ mailboxes.
Besides Lu Xing You, the surprise guest, Chang Mei Jiang also revealed that three other “mysterious” newcomers would be joining the filming.
—Every one of them knew someone had died in the villa, but the teaser had exploded in popularity the moment it aired and remained at the top of the trending charts for several days in a row. The attention was simply too enormous. None of them cared.
Fresh blood joining midway through the show was exactly what they needed to disrupt the relatively fixed relationships inside the villa. As the director, Chang Mei Jiang had considered everything very thoroughly.
Not to mention that they still had the main mission to complete. Perhaps one of the new guests would be an Aberrant quietly hiding among them, waiting for the right opportunity to strike… No matter how they looked at it, this was beneficial in several ways.
Riding the pink “Love Express,” the group arrived at the filming location for the second episode.
—A private beach resort owned by the Lu family.
Several Mediterranean-style cottages stood along the beach, where the guests would be living for the following week. Their blue-and-white walls blended into the turquoise sea and clear sky, giving the entire area a fresh, natural feel.
The cottages were spaced neither too close nor too far apart, linked by wooden walkways made from ship timber. Raised roughly ten centimeters above the sand, they effectively prevented the awkward situation of carrying half the beach back home every time someone stepped outside.
The broad walkway eventually extended directly into the shallows, suspended above the water to serve as a temporary pier.
Two sleek white speedboats were moored beside it, along with jet skis and surfboards, all bobbing gently with the shallow waves.
By the time everyone arrived at the filming location, dusty and travel-worn, all three new guests were already there.
Two women and one man sat together beneath a beach umbrella in a relatively harmonious atmosphere, leisurely chatting while drinking ice-cold cocktails.
As expected, one of the female guests was Wang Ming Yue—the true daughter who had been switched at birth years ago with Wang Bao Zhu.
The male guest was a muscular fitness blogger named Lu Ren Jia. His physique really was excellent, with long, powerful arms, a narrow waist, and sharply defined abdominal muscles.
He was shirtless and chatting animatedly with Wang Ming Yue, whose face was full of bashful smiles.
As for the last, quieter woman… A glittering 【Player】 marker hovered above her head. She was actually someone Song Zang had not seen in two months!
“Sister Lin?! Long time no see!” Song Zang happily dropped his luggage and waved at Lin Wen Jing.
Lin Wen Jing turned at the sound of his voice and was equally surprised. Holding her wineglass, she stood with a smile. “Xiao Song, long time no see.”
“Oh? You two actually know each other?” Xiao Xiao could not help exclaiming in surprise.
After some performative catching up, Song Zang quickly understood why Xiao Xiao had been so shocked.
It turned out that Lin Wen Jing had also been assigned an impressive role this time.
She was an extraordinarily renowned genius pianist who, despite her young age, had swept the gold medals at every major domestic and international competition. She had already successfully held several solo piano recitals, every one sold out to a full house…
According to the setting, Lin Wen Jing had only flown back from overseas two days earlier. She had agreed to join the dating show solely because she and Chang Mei Jiang were close friends.
She was practically the classic white-moonlight archetype from a novel—someone who should have existed on an entirely different plane from a washed-up minor celebrity like Song Zang, who spent most of his time unemployed at home with no acting jobs.
Fortunately, Song Zang still had Yin Chen, his ex-husband from a wealthy family, whom he could drag out at any moment as evidence that Song Zang had “plenty of connections.”
Everyone politely introduced themselves and exchanged several rounds of professional flattery. Then they saw Chang Mei Jiang make an OK gesture from behind the cameras.
Yin Chen immediately took Song Zang’s hand and gripped it tightly, as though publicly declaring ownership. “Come on. Let’s put our luggage away first.”
Song Zang almost laughed. He did not quite understand what Yin Chen was feeling so tense about. There was really no need for him to be this guarded.
After all, no normal person participating in a dating show could possibly fall for some eighteenth-tier nobody who was hated across the entire internet.
Still, Song Zang did not resist. He smiled at Lin Wen Jing, then obediently let Yin Chen lead him away by the hand.
According to the program rules, each beach cottage was supposed to house one person, but Yin Chen insisted on continuing to live together with Song Zang, which conveniently avoided any disputes over room assignments.
For safety reasons, even Chang Mei Jiang could not find a reason to refuse, so she simply let the “young couple” remain permanently locked together.
After resting inside for a while, Song Zang sprawled lazily across the sofa and asked, “What else is on the schedule tonight?”
“Autopsy,” Yin Chen answered calmly.
“Huh??” Song Zang abruptly sat up. “When did this happen?”
“They found the body of an intern on the beach around noon. The police refused to open a case.” Yin Chen paused as he spoke, apparently observing Song Zang’s expression. “Chang Mei Jiang temporarily suppressed the news so the second episode wouldn’t collapse before filming even started, but you should know her.”
Song Zang stared blankly for a long moment, an ominous feeling rising inside him. “What do you mean? Who is she? Why would I know her?”
Yin Chen fell silent for a moment, then gently wrapped an arm around Song Zang’s waist. “Her name is Qiu Shuang.”
“…What?”
Song Zang shuddered all over, his face suddenly turning pale. “It’s really her? Does Lin Wen Jing know?”
“It’s her.” Yin Chen lowered his voice and tightened his arm slightly. “Lin Wen Jing doesn’t know yet.”
The corners of Song Zang’s eyes turned red. His mind went blank, and he did not know what to say. He bit his lip and quietly began to cry.
Yin Chen awkwardly held him, equally unsure how to comfort him. All he could do was advise in a low voice, “Don’t bite yourself. The wound on your lip still hasn’t healed.”
“…Mm.” Song Zang buried his head against Yin Chen’s neck. Hot tears quickly soaked through the fabric of his shirt, leaving a cold, damp patch behind. “Let me cry by myself for a little while. I’m very strong. I’ll be fine soon.”
She had been the first person to show him kindness after he entered the Infinite Game.
Song Zang had deliberately avoided becoming too close to her precisely because reality had already taught him enough painful lessons.
Weak people died easily. Their lives were like spiderwebs that shattered apart with the slightest tug.
He could barely look after himself. He had no ability to protect anyone else every minute of every day, so before he broke down, all he could do was protect his own heart first.
Yet when the news of Qiu Shuang’s death arrived without warning, Song Zang discovered that he was still saddened by it.
That deep helplessness was like a rip current that suddenly swallowed him beneath an apparently calm sea, silently dragging him toward the abyss.
Then an inexplicable pain suddenly pinched into his side.
Song Zang jolted awake from his downward spiral and immediately heard Yin Chen’s resentful voice, icy and sinister. “If I died, would you be this sad too?”
“Huh?”
“If I died—”
Song Zang slapped a hand over his mouth and glared at him angrily. “You can’t say things like that so casually!”
This time Yin Chen did not indulge him. He grabbed Song Zang’s wrist and forcibly pulled his hand away, his expression dark as he continued asking, “Between me and her, who matters more to you?”
“You, you, you! Happy now?” Song Zang was so furious at the way Yin Chen’s mind worked that he started crying again despite himself. Wiping his tears, he cursed through a sobbing voice, “Yin Chen, there’s something wrong with you!”
“There is something wrong with me. Is today your first day knowing me?” Yin Chen immediately snapped back without giving an inch. He even sneered, then reached out and pinched Song Zang’s tear-streaked face. “Crying too much will make you sick too. Stop crying. If you keep crying, I’ll chop everyone you like to death so you’ll end up just as sick as I am.”
Song Zang: …
He was actually so angry that he laughed.
Damn it. He should never have tried arguing with Yin Chen in the first place. The man feared neither heaven nor earth, and once he became stubborn, Song Zang felt like he would never win an argument against him in this lifetime.
He took a deep breath and lifted his chin. “Yin Chen, this isn’t your first day knowing me either, right? Then tell me. Who exactly have I ever liked?”
Yin Chen’s hand paused. He answered coldly, “You like everyone who treats you well. I know that perfectly clearly.”
“Then why are you threatening me?” Song Zang stared at him. “The person who treats me best is you. So what, is your way of threatening me to treat me incredibly, incredibly well and then slit your own throat in front of me? Is that supposed to be funny? How old are you?”
“…”
Yin Chen abruptly fell silent.
Song Zang waited for him to continue saying something impulsive and childish, but Yin Chen said nothing at all.
He released Song Zang’s hand and stood on his own, unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, poured it into the electric kettle, and silently waited until the water warmed. Then he poured the warm water into a mug and tossed in a small packet of butterfly-pea flower tea.
The hot water churned inside the mug and soon turned a beautiful, dreamlike blue-violet.
Yin Chen touched the warm side of the cup. It was not hot enough to burn. Then he handed it to Song Zang. “Drink this. Butterfly-pea flowers are good for your eyes.”
Song Zang accepted the mug in confusion. “What do you mean…?”
“I don’t know why, but I suddenly stopped being angry. What you said when you scolded me made sense. I’m a three-year-old.”
“Mm… huh?”
Yin Chen was completely calm now. His gaze settled on the pitiful redness around Song Zang’s eyes as he urged, “Drink quickly. I’m going to find you an ice pack. Your eyes are too swollen to appear on camera.”
With that, Yin Chen turned and left without giving Song Zang any chance to continue talking.
“…But the cameras were never turned off.”
Watching Yin Chen disappear into the distance, Song Zang could only mutter under his breath.
The two of them had made complete fools of themselves during that argument. Chang Mei Jiang was definitely laughing herself senseless behind the scenes.
But Song Zang also had to admit that all the grief that had been dragging him rapidly downward earlier had long since been infuriated completely out of existence by Yin Chen.
He could not even tell whether Yin Chen had genuinely gone crazy or had deliberately found some bizarre alternative way to comfort him.
Maybe both?
“What a lunatic.” Song Zang sniffled and obediently drank every last drop of the warm tea.
Fortunately Yin Chen was extraordinarily strong.
Thank goodness Yin Chen was extraordinarily strong.
It allowed Song Zang to let the warmth in his heart continue to grow without fear.
He could not help secretly thinking that.
Qiu Shuang’s body had been temporarily preserved inside an extended freezer at the resort.
Night had fallen. The sky was as dark and dense as spilled ink. Everyone stood silently around the freezer, the faint sound of rolling waves audible nearby.
Song Zang’s emotions had already stabilized. Right now, all he wanted was to determine Qiu Shuang’s cause of death and uncover the truth as quickly as possible.
But Lin Wen Jing’s condition…
Was very bad.
She held an enormous chainsaw in her hands, its fuel tank filled with gasoline.
It was a sharp tool used by renovation workers for cutting down trees. Once switched on, it could effortlessly sever a person’s head or grind through bone.
Lin Wen Jing stood silently in front of the freezer and refused to let anyone approach. Her satin-black hair fluttered in the sea breeze, her pale face utterly devoid of emotion, like an exquisite, frozen statue.
Song Zang completely understood her anger.
He also understood her grief.
He knew perfectly well that Lin Wen Jing wanted to kill every person in the resort, as many as she could manage.
Because eventually, one of the heads that fell beneath the chainsaw would belong to the true murderer who had killed Qiu Shuang.
“Sister Lin.” Song Zang did not try to comfort her. He merely stated one cruel fact in a soft voice. “You can’t do it.”
Even without Yin Chen, any one of veteran players such as Chi Yan possessed enough combat ability to crush a newly arrived rookie.
Lin Wen Jing knew that perfectly well herself.
She simply could not control the murderous intent boiling violently inside her.
She raised her indifferent eyes and said quietly, “Do you know? I’ve loved her for ten years. I planned to confess to her during this dating show, but I’ll never get the chance now.”
“I know. Back in Tianhai City, all of us could tell. She didn’t distance herself from you, which meant you had a chance… Actually, you always had a chance.”
Song Zang was not saying this simply to console her.
He meant every word sincerely.
After all, anyone with eyes could tell that Lin Wen Jing liked Qiu Shuang.
And even now, everything before them was not necessarily the final dead end.
Thinking of this, Song Zang paused before continuing with unusual seriousness. “As long as you stay alive, as long as you keep getting stronger, you’ll still have another chance in the future. Sister Lin, you know what I mean.”
Lin Wen Jing listened in silence.
Her gaze shifted slightly, and the chainsaw raised in her hands lowered by a fraction.
Of course she knew exactly what Song Zang meant.
—If she earned enough points, she could bring Qiu Shuang back from the dead.
Even if the amount required was astronomical, that did not mean all hope was gone forever.
Chi Yan took a step forward, her voice gentle. “Wen Jing, you’re a tough and capable woman. You’re smart, and you have ability. You need to use that in the right place. That chainsaw shouldn’t be aimed at us. What we need to do now is find the murderer and avenge her. Once we do, if you want to cut off the murderer’s head yourself, absolutely no one will stop you.”
Just then, however, a sugary female voice sounded. “Oh my, killing people is illegal. Sister Chi, how can you say something like that?”
The players turned around blankly.
Wang Ming Yue stood there covering her mouth, her face full of shock and disapproval.
Lu Ren Jia, standing beside her, immediately chimed in. “Exactly. It’s bad enough that you aren’t calling the police, but now you’re talking about personally executing the criminal? We live under the rule of law.”
Everyone: …
Chi Yan immediately turned toward the camera with a speechless expression and unleashed a stream of profanity. “Chang Mei Jiang, why the fuck did you invite two idiots who don’t understand anything?”
“Sister Chi, if you don’t like me, I’m willing to apologize, but how can you talk about Brother Lu like that?” Wang Ming Yue looked utterly incredulous.
Song Zang stared in amazement.
He suddenly felt that his position as the group’s 【green tea】 was once again under threat.
He really needed to study harder in the future.
This talent for saying things that made people furious enough to die on the spot was impressive.
Lin Wen Jing, however, had no intention of being polite with either of them.
She pulled the starter cord.
The chainsaw erupted with a piercing mechanical roar.
Expressionless, she strode toward the pair.
“Aah—Brother Lu, save me—!”
“Ming Yue!! AAAAAH—!”
Blood rushed straight to Lu Ren Jia’s head. Without caring about anything else, he threw himself around Wang Ming Yue protectively.
Then he let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered, his head lolling sideways as he fainted.
Because Lin Wen Jing had directly cut off one of his hands.
The severed hand hit the ground and rolled twice, blood splashing everywhere.
Wang Ming Yue finally understood fear. Her face turned white as paper. “How dare you… you…”
Lin Wen Jing stared at her coldly. “Call the police now. See if anyone dares come deal with this idiot.”
Wang Ming Yue obediently called the police.
The moment she reported the address, the call was terminated, leaving only a long stream of busy tones.
Her face pale, Wang Ming Yue put away her phone and very sensibly bowed ninety degrees toward Lin Wen Jing. Suppressing a sob, she cried loudly, “I’m sorry! I really was wrong! Earlier I was only acting according to my assigned character. Please don’t kill me! I know private investigators and people from the underworld. I can call them here to help you find the murderer!”
As expected of a woman who had been brought back into a wealthy family midway through life and still managed to win both her parents’ affection and her status as a true heiress.
Her reactions were extremely fast.
Even after witnessing such a bloody scene, she had not completely broken down and still knew to immediately bargain for a chance to stay alive.
But Lin Wen Jing understood perfectly well that Qiu Shuang’s death was not something a private investigator could solve.
After venting some of the grief in her chest, Lin Wen Jing gradually calmed down.
Ignoring Wang Ming Yue, she switched off the chainsaw and walked toward Song Zang and Chi Yan.
“I’ll listen to you. I won’t act impulsively anymore. Does anyone here know how to perform an autopsy?”
“My ex-husband does.” Song Zang immediately pushed Yin Chen forward. “He’s the best.”
Yin Chen was visibly pleased by the praise, a trace of satisfaction appearing in his eyes.
He gave Lin Wen Jing a faint nod, then put on the rubber gloves prepared in advance and opened the freezer.
Qiu Shuang looked almost exactly as she had two months earlier.
Only now she was paler, with a faint dusting of frost along her lips.
Yin Chen carefully examined her, then told Lin Wen Jing, “Her lungs inhaled a large amount of seawater. There are no obvious external injuries. There’s blood and skin tissue under her fingernails. Someone held her head down and drowned her.”
Lin Wen Jing listened intently, almost anxiously. “Then if we run a DNA comparison, we can identify the murderer, right? But the police won’t investigate…”
“My laboratory can do it. I’ll send the samples out tonight. We’ll have results within two days.” Yin Chen removed his gloves and took out a disinfecting wipe to clean his hands.
Lin Wen Jing’s expression was taut, her grip tightening hard around the chainsaw. “Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
“Thank Song Zang. I only listen to him.” Yin Chen answered calmly. “I hope you can stay calm over the next two days. Don’t give the Aberrants an opening while you’re vulnerable.”
After all…
If something happened to Lin Wen Jing too, Yin Chen did not even dare imagine how hard Song Zang would cry this time.
“Okay. I understand. I’ll rest properly.”
Lin Wen Jing turned and gave Qiu Shuang one final, deep look before slowly pulling the freezer lid closed.
She could not look a second time.
She would lose her mind.
Chi Yan and Song Zang were right. The only thing she could do now was stay strong, conserve her energy, avenge Qiu Shuang, and kill the person responsible.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t very rational tonight. I caused everyone trouble.”
Lin Wen Jing spoke softly, walked past the trembling Wang Ming Yue, and carried the chainsaw back to her room to pack her things.
She also asked the staff for a sleeping bag.
Tonight she intended to sleep beside the freezer and guard Qiu Shuang’s body.
Lu Ren Jia had already been hurriedly carried away by the staff.
At that moment, he was inside the resort’s basic operating room.
Chang Mei Jiang personally took over and quickly stitched his hand back on.
Over the years, she had reattached more severed limbs inside the Infinite Game than she could count.
Emergency surgery had long since become one of her basic skills.
It was not difficult at all.
As long as the wound did not become infected and Lu Ren Jia wore a brace and rested properly for several months, the hand should still be salvageable.
As for Wang Ming Yue, she did not manage to escape back to her beach cottage either.
Chi Yan and Xiao Xiao intercepted her halfway.
Under the pretext of a girls’ gathering, they simply took her away.
They intended to question her carefully about whether she had played any role behind the scenes in Wang Bao Zhu’s death.
At the same time, the remaining men also had things to do.
Everyone tacitly gathered inside one cottage.
Xia Zhi Zhi wore an apron and handled dinner, while Yin Chen sat beside the computer monitor with Lu Xing You, watching the resort surveillance footage Lu Xing You had copied over.
More than a dozen small video windows played simultaneously at half speed.
Starting from that morning, they went frame by frame, tracking Qiu Shuang’s movements.
Not a single camera could be ignored.
“Let me see… Found her. Ten-thirty, she came out of the kitchen carrying ice cream. Ten-forty, she went back into the kitchen to eat freshly fried onion rings. This girl spent the entire morning secretly slacking off and eating.”
“Fast-forward. Stop looking at irrelevant things.”
“Okay, one sec.”
Lu Xing You tapped the keyboard.
The two of them had something to keep busy with.
That left Song Zang and Li Jun as the two idlest people in the room, sitting on the sofa staring awkwardly at each other with absolutely nothing pleasant to say.
Li Jun’s complexion looked slightly greenish as he silently picked at his ruined fingernails.
Song Zang felt uncomfortable all over as well.
He simply could not sit too close to Li Jun.
There was always a guilty sense that the man might somehow see through his future.
Finally, Song Zang hardened his heart, stood without warning, walked over, and sat directly on Yin Chen’s lap. “Hold me. I want to watch too.”
“Okay.”
Yin Chen had clearly been waiting for precisely those words.
Delighted, he hooked an arm beneath Song Zang’s knees and adjusted him into a more comfortable position.
Lu Xing You shook his head with an indescribable expression and continued watching the upper-right screen.
Soon, he found something.
“I see Lin Wen Jing. Eleven forty-nine, at the resort entrance. She shouldn’t have arrived at the filming location yet at that time.”
“An Aberrant?”
“Definitely.”
While the two of them were discussing it, Song Zang’s face suddenly went completely white.
“Wait. Pause!”
“What is it?”
“Look at the kitchen window,” Song Zang said, his voice trembling. “There are two Qiu Shuangs. One in the glass and one outside. Their expressions are different.”
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