Chapter 33 - Cross-Examination

“Spouting nonsense!” Wang Wei snapped in fury, “If you’re going to say that, I could say that you killed Zhang Xiong.

There are four of you, wouldn’t it be easy to kill someone?”

“Are you out of your mind?

If we were in cahoots with the Beheading Demon, why would Brother Xu get hurt?” Yuan Yao retorted.

“Who knows if you’re just putting on an act?” Wang Wei stepped closer to Liu Yuanyuan, “Now the two of us are being ostracized.

Do you trust them or do you trust me?”

Liu Yuanyuan looked back and forth between them, then stepped back a few seconds later to distance herself from everyone, “I don’t know who’s telling the truth or lies, I just want to survive until the mission is over.”

A fierce light flashed in Wang Wei’s eyes, but when he turned around, his face was filled with outrage, “I won’t stay with you murderers!”

Just as he was about to leave, Xu Huo, who had been crouching beside Zhang Xiong’s body, stood up with a hoarse voice, “If you think you can get through this just by sitting back and profiting from the situation, then you’re sorely mistaken.”

“The two who died in the hall, that was you, wasn’t it, Liu Yuanyuan?”

Everyone present turned their gaze towards Liu Yuanyuan.

Liu Yuanyuan, with tears in her eyes, said pitifully, “What do you mean?

I don’t understand…

“While everyone else was distracted by the Beheading Demon, you and that rich second-generation Li Zheng teamed up to kill Wan Zhikang.

Fortunately, Wang Wei wasn’t there.

After Wan Zhikang died, you attacked Li Zheng, then came to us pretending the Beheading Demon was the killer.” Xu Huo walked over to her, looking down at her with an air of scrutiny, “You’ve disguised yourself well, Cannibal Player.”

Liu Yuanyuan’s tearful eyes dried up, and she flicked her hair back, smiling, “Li Zheng was right, you’re much better than Huang Junjie, that half-wit.”

“Yesterday, when Du Lanlan and Xia Guo died, Li Zheng said you suspected someone among us did it, and you didn’t just suspect player infighting but believed the Beheading Demon was among the players.

I didn’t believe it at first, but it turns out you’re pretty clever.”

“You’re the Beheading Demon?!” Seeing her approach, Wang Wei quickly retreated.

Liu Yuanyuan snorted with a scoff and, abandoning her previous petulance, twisted her waist and spun around seductively, blowing a kiss to the crowd before slowly closing the warehouse door.

To be honest, when Li Zheng told me yesterday that the Beheading Demon was a player, our plan was to kill all the other players.

After all, the Beheading Demon was among them, and we were too lazy to guess.”

“But I thought it was better to keep the dungeon rewards to myself rather than share them with someone else.”

“So you’re saying you’re not the Beheading Demon nor an accomplice?” Huang Junjie’s proud judgment failed once more, “How can you prove that?”

“What proof do I need?” Liu Yuanyuan scoffed as if she heard a joke, glancing at Xu Huo, “If you don’t believe me, ask him.”

“Wait, wait!” Yuan Yao gestured for pause, “What are you all talking about?

Didn’t we see the Beheading Demon with our own eyes?

Why are we going in circles—how has the Beheading Demon suddenly become a player?”

“There is only one Beheading Demon, and the clearest proof is that he has never been present with all of us players at the same time.” Xu Huo had just lit a cigarette, took a puff with discomfort in his throat, and casually threw it on the ground to stub it out.

“But that’s not right, he appeared when all of us were here,” Yuan Yao widened his eyes, “Could someone have been playing dead?”

Huang Junjie slapped his forehead, “There was something missing on the Beheading Demon when he appeared just now.”

Yuan Yao was clueless, while Abel realized, “The ax!”

“That’s right,” Xu Huo nodded, “there should have been someone beneath the Beheading Demon’s cloak, but after Zhang Xiong hit it and from the way it moved, it seemed more like an empty cloak.

That cloak came in with the help of a prop to turn off the lights and then left, the purpose being to disperse the players.”

“As for the prop,” he pointed to the bloodstain on his neck, “it must be something like thin steel wire or a guitar string.

It’s not very flexible and can’t mimic the actions of a real person.”

“Huang Junjie was attacked with the same prop when retrieving his axe.”

“This does prove the Beheading Demon is a player, but it doesn’t explain if the other players are not accomplices.” Huang Junjie frowned deeply.

“There’s no need to differentiate the identities of the other players,” Xu Huo said with a smile: “According to the game’s backstory, the owner of the villa has offered a reward for capturing the Beheading Demon.

Just catch the Beheading Demon, and you can finish the mission ahead of time.”

“So who exactly is the Beheading Demon?” Yuan Yao asked nervously as he swallowed.

Xu Huo’s gaze shifted, just as he was about to speak, Liu Yuanyuan suddenly cut in, “Wait a minute, first tell me, what did you mean by what you just said?”

“I’m not sure how you’ve concluded that I killed Wan Zhikang and Li Zheng, but why can’t the game be cleared by killing all the players?

If all the players are dead, that means the Beheading Demon is also dead, and I should have cleared the game.”

“The woodcutter over by the cabin is also a player,” Xu Huo remarked indifferently.

Huang Junjie reacted as if struck by lightning, “He’s a player?!”

“He’s a player who stayed behind after failing to clear the previous games,” Xu Huo summarized the information he had gathered, “He survived until the end of the game, but failed to clear it.

In subsequent games that he played, even players who survived alone till the end also failed to clear.”

“So that’s how it is,” Liu Yuanyuan’s eyes flickered, “which is why you’re sure that even by killing all the other players, it’s impossible to clear the game.”

As she spoke, she suddenly burst into loud laughter, “I thought you were some kind of good person.

If killing people could clear the game, you would have probably done it by now.”

Xu Huo looked at her coldly, “You kill people because you’re not smart enough, so all you can do is kill.”

The laughter stopped abruptly, and Liu Yuanyuan’s face turned cold, “You’re indeed clever.

Then tell me, who is the Beheading Demon?

After I kill him, I’ll come back for you!”

Xu Huo turned to Huang Junjie and the others, “See, she can attest to that herself.”

Huang Junjie looked at Liu Yuanyuan with a complex expression, who was shaking with anger.

Although she had incriminated herself, you didn’t have to be so blunt about inviting hostility.

“Ha!” Wang Wei, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly laughed, his gaze icily fixed on them, “After all this talk, you suspect me.”

“That’s right,” Xu Huo looked at him and paused before asking, “You’d already been to the villa before the other players arrived, hadn’t you?”

Huang Junjie and the others were confused, but Wang Wei narrowed his eyes, “I was indeed the first person to arrive at the villa, and the game mission changes for the first player to reach the Hot Spring Mountain Villa.

The Beheading Demon’s prop was placed at the front door.”

“To think you’d guess even this, it seems the first person I should have killed wasn’t Huang Junjie, but you.”

Huang Junjie, who was mentioned, turned ashen with a mix of old and new resentments welling up.

A bamboo sliver knife appeared in his hand, “Why bother talking more to him?

For such a homicidal maniac, just kill him and be done with it!”

Wang Wei’s expression was mocking, “Du Lanlan, Xia Guo, Jia Xuyang, Zhang Xiong, I’ve already obtained the characteristics and props of four players, do you really think you can beat me?”