Ch8 - Little Sister Carries A Doll (6)

Chang Ze: “Bystanders are also murderers, understand?”

Sheng Canyang was taken aback. Turning around, he asked, “What?” 

Chang Ze: “You already knew yesterday that he would die, right?”

There was a momentary silence.

Chang Ze: “I got to know my boyfriend in the hospital. He has late-stage brain cancer; death is only a matter of time. If he wasn’t at the end of his tether without any hope of living, who would choose to commit suicide at such a young age? Never-ending ailments and treatments are what awaits him back there. And then, he’ll die on the hospital bed.”

Chang Ze looked up, pinning her gaze to Sheng Canyang. “You knew yesterday night that he would die, right? You saved your friend.” 

Hai Ri: …

Sheng Canyang gazed at her silently for a short while. Thinking that he wasn’t going to speak, Hai Ri was going to stand up and leave together with him when Sheng Canyang asked, “Isn’t this a game?”

Raising his head, Hai Ri was momentarily stunned. Sheng Canyang’s voice sounded icy-cold, completely bereft of human warmth.

Sheng Canyang: “Play if you can. If you can’t, then die. The rules in this world are like that, what does it have to do with me?”

Chang Ze responded incredulously, “What kind of speech is this?”

“Human speech,” Sheng Canyang uttered. “Which part did you not understand?”

The rims of Chang Ze’s eyes reddened as she spoke. Fat teardrops landed on the ground one after the other. “I don’t want to blame you. Okay, sure, my boyfriend died because we don’t know how to play. But we didn’t offend you, would it kill you to give us a warning? You just looked on with wide eyes as he died? Each and every one of us are ordinary people…”

Hai Ri suddenly cut in, “If we were all ordinary people, we wouldn’t be here.” 

Hai Ri stood up. “This is a survival game, lady, not volunteer work.”

There was a flash of surprise in Sheng Canyang’s originally cold expression, and he cast a glance at Hai Ri upon hearing his words.

Hai Ri: “There’s no point in saying all this now.”

Sheng Canyang didn’t say anything more. Hai Ri gave him a push and the both of them made their way further into the house. They heard the door opening behind them. Seeing Chang Ze, Xue Chuan remarked, “Aiya, still crying? Over such a small matter? Everyone living in this world will eventually return to the same destination, you’ll meet again sooner or later.” 

Hai Ri said in a low voice, “What are you butting heads with her for? If she votes you to death tonight, whose fault is it going to be?”

“Yours of course,” Sheng Canyang replied as if it was obvious. “No, I was targeted because I saved you, whose fault can it possibly be?”

Hai Ri’s heart was stricken with fatigue. “Okay, it’s mine.”

He thought about it and still decided to ask, “You don’t want to go back at all?” 

He hurriedly added, “I’m just asking, I don’t have any other intentions.”

Sheng Canyang pushed open a door, peering inside. It was Xue Chuan’s room. The two of them entered and Sheng Canyang swept his gaze across the room. His reply was casual, as if he was a rebellious kid. “No.”

Hai Ri: “Okay.”

Sheng Canyang: “What do you mean ‘okay’?” 

Hai Ri had no way of explaining his fervent mother-son emotions, nor did he know whether this youth understood just how many people were waiting for him to go back. He had never had any additional expectations of Sheng Canyang; he liked Sheng Canyang, but never projected his own hopes and desires on him. He sincerely, wholeheartedly liked Sheng Canyang. Sheng Canyang sitting on the steps in a down-filled garment and singing <Hope Betrayed>, Sheng Canyang playing the Erhu, Sheng Canyang’s raised brows and beads of sweat on stage – Hai Ri had no way of putting his love for them all into words. He hoped Sheng Canyang would be happy and hoped that he would be able to live the life he desired.

Misery bubbled up, but Hai Ri pressed it back down, saying serenely, “It’s all okay no matter what you want.”

Sheng Canyang stared blankly. A period of contemplation later, he seemed to have something he wanted to say, but never gave voice to it.

He stooped over and stroked the wooden dressing table. His brows furrowed slightly, and then, he sat in front of the dressing table just like how Hai Ri had done the first day he entered the room. 

Hai Ri opened the window, gazing at the enormous cherry blossom tree outside the window.

Sheng Canyang looked at the mirror. “There’s something wrong with this mirror?”

“I brought it up yesterday,”  Hai Ri looked back and was met with the image of Sheng Canyang propping his hands against the mirror. “It’s slanted… F*ck, what’s that?”

Sheng Canyang pushed away the mirror with brute force, revealing a dark recess in the wall. 

Both of them blanked out for an instant. Hai Ri walked over and asked, “What is it? I thought this mirror was for looking at the tree outside the window.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“Two birds with one stone,” Sheng Canyang examined the red cloth in the dark recess. “You were quite sloppy with your evidence-searching.”

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“Does your room also have…” Hai Ri’s voice trailed off.

Sheng Canyang: “There’s also one, though it’s a bit bigger than this one.”

“What is it for?” Hai Ri asked.

Sheng Canyang didn’t conceal it and directly offered the answer. “The deceased made it for me, but I always had nightmares after receiving the doll. There might be a link between them.” 

Hai Ri: “Your mom wants to harm you?”

“Not sure,” Sheng Canyang said. “Let’s take it.”

He stuffed it into his pockets.

It had to be said that Sheng Canyang was far better at playing this game compared to Hai Ri. Just seeing the many trivial details in the house once was enough for him to know what was important and what wasn’t. 

Sheng Canyang picked up the wooden comb on the dressing table and gave it a once-over. “What texture is this?”

Hai Ri couldn’t tell. He’d seen this comb yesterday; the comb was painted a faint shade of red, but he hadn’t thought it was anything significant. “There’s something wrong with it?”

Sheng Canyang held it up till it was level with Hai Ri’s eyes. Subtle rays of sunlight illuminated the edges of the comb. Sheng Canyang stated, “It’s bone.”

Hai Ri: ! 

Sheng Canyang was helpless. “It’s very obvious.”

Hai Ri’s thoughts had never even veered in that direction. Sheng Canyang said, “There’s a possibility it’s made from the eldest daughter’s bones. Still remember the story? After Yu Shang’s death, her hair grew so long that it reached the floor. The deceased’s hair also grew longer this morning.”

Hai Ri: “You realized it too.”

Sheng Canyang: “If even you realized it, I don’t think anyone hasn’t realized it.” 

Hai Ri: …

Okay then.

There was a smile that also didn’t seem like a smile on Sheng Canyang’s face. “So there’s definitely something wrong with the comb.”

Hai Ri picked it up. Feeling that it was very ordinary, he moved to test it out on his own hair. Sheng Canyang’s brows creased and he grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Don’t move.” 

He snatched the comb and stuffed it into the pocket of his pants. “The things in this place aren’t auspicious.”

Hai Ri: “Is this place located in the real world or a stage set up for the game?”

Sheng Canyang: “This residence can be found on the map of this world, it’s just that no one can reach it without a bus. They coexist with us, so in this world, they can be considered real.”

“You’ll understand after participating in a few more games,” Sheng Canyang stated. “This world is revolting.” 

Hai Ri’s mouth opened, but he couldn’t say anything. The main issue was that he didn’t know whether he ought to console Sheng Canyang or agree with him.

If it were someone else, Hai Ri might say, “I don’t care whether this world is revolting or not, because just living is already revolting.”

But if it was Sheng Canyang, Hai Ri only wanted to comfort him and tell him that he couldn’t view this world in this way. Yet, he didn’t have sufficient grounds to say such a thing.

Hai Ri: “Can we continue searching?” 

Sheng Canyang stood up. “This is yesterday’s clue, so there will definitely be new clues today. Let’s continue searching.”

The entire room could be seen in one glance. It was a small twenty square meters room; everything could be seen in great clarity.

Hai Ri opened the windows, the wind buffeting him directly in the face. He hadn’t found any incense in the room, the inexplicable scent of cherry blossoms was the only smell present in the room.

Hai Ri gazed at the tree outside. He asked abruptly, “Why must the tree be looked at through the mirror?” 

He turned back and continued to study the mirror, carefully taking in the details. His reflection was a blurry image in the mirror.

Somewhat suspicious, Hai Ri made his way over and then suddenly thought of something. He suddenly turned around again. The tree in all its glory was swaying calmly in the wind. Sheng Canyang asked, “What’s wrong?”

Hai Ri looked at him. “The eldest daughter was buried underneath the cherry blossom tree?”

Sheng Canyang: “Yes.” 

“Then this mirror…” Hai Ri said. “Is it to reflect the ghost or to suppress the ghost?”

Sheng Canyang: “What do you mean?”

“In the story, the general gave the doll a cat’s face but not a mouth because he didn’t want to listen to the deceased’s howling,” Hai Ri recounted. “This doll doesn’t have a mouth either… When placed behind the mirror, it just so happens to face the cherry blossom tree. This should be Xue Chuan wanting to suppress the departed spirit beneath the tree.”

Hai Ri came to an abrupt stop while Sheng Canyang was listening very diligently. “Continue.” 

Hai Ri: “I don’t have anything else to say, what else can I know? I can’t even do a clean sweep of the clues.”

Sheng Canyang: …

“Let’s go,” Hai Ri said. “I’m scared, so I’ll go try another room. You continue.”

Sheng Canyang stared at him speechlessly. 

Hai Ri said half-jokingly, “I won’t tie myself to you lest someone sees us later and finds us suspicious.”

The closer they were, the less credible their words when voting – only now did Hai Ri comprehend this reasoning.

It was easiest for sentiments to change in a game; it was very difficult to objectively make a choice. If two people played the role of lovers in a game, then it was very likely that emotions would bud during the game, causing them to subconsciously side with their lover. This was also why lovers often became accomplices to the murderer.

Hai Ri walked out and randomly picked a room to search. Only after entering did he discover that it was Chang Ze’s room. 

During the search for evidence yesterday, rope and knockout drugs were found in Chang Ze’s room.

Hai Ri had left the door open and was standing in the center. Ping Jie happened to pass by at this moment and glanced in. “Oh, my son-in-law’s room?”

Hai Ri: “Your daughter hasn’t even come of age, why so anxious to marry her out?”

Ping Jie: “Who knows? It wasn’t stated in the script. All it said was that I have a future son-in-law and that he treats my daughter very well.” 

Hai Ri didn’t express an opinion.

Ping Jie enquired, “Found anything?”

Hai Ri casually drew out a woman’s undergarment from the wardrobe and stretched forward, waving it in front of him. “Seems like your daughter’s head was green.”

Ping Jie walked in and took the garment from Hai Ri with considerable embarrassment. Spreading it over his hands, he then scrutinized it. “Youngsters are truly vigorous.” 

Hai Ri took another glance at the wardrobe, a more detailed one this time, in case he left out any clues. He examined the front and back twice, confirmed that there wasn’t anything else, and then turned back around. This room was essentially identical to Xue Chuan’s room, apart from the fact that the curtains at the windows were open. The only thing visible was a small patch of cherry blossom branches. As he pushed the curtains apart, a tiny strip of paper fell down.

Hai Ri caught it with a hand and Ping Jie stated, “The hint’s here.”

If the two members eliminated yesterday night were in possession of crucial pieces of evidence, it would be furnished to them in the form of hints. Written on the paper strip was: “Shan Xing’s script: At 10.05pm, you see Chang Ze hurriedly walking out from the master bedroom. You wanted to greet him, but he left extremely hastily.”

Hai Ri: ? 

Hai Ri saw the deceased for the last time at 10pm, which was also to say that Chang Ze had gone in search of the deceased at 10.05pm?

Chang Ze had not spoken of this matter yesterday night when Sheng Canyang asked about it.

In fact, if she had brought it up at that time, Hai Ri might have been the one to die yesterday night and not her boyfriend.

Hai Ri found this very ironic. Her boyfriend was gone now, but did Sheng Canyang have anything remotely to do with it? 

Hai Ri did not find anything else in Chang Ze’s room. Ping Jie left after reading the paper strip, after which Hai Ri straightened out his thoughts and then left the room. 

It was 10.30am at the moment.

There was still ten hours to go before the sky turned dark.

Hai Ri made his way into the living room, where Sheng Canyang was currently seated cross-legged, playing with his phone. He’d already changed back into his own clothes; it seemed there was no need to continue wearing that eyesore of a dress after cooperating with the body-search. 

Hai Ri sat down. “Who searched you?”

“Xue Chuan,” Sheng Canyang said in passing. “Nobody’s searched you?”

Hai Ri: “Nope, I’ll just get someone to search me later. Whatcha playing?”

Sheng Canyang was scrolling through Weibo. Apps could still be used as per usual in this place, just that they were now using the local area network and could only read the messages posted by the people in this world. Stiff with boredom, Sheng Canyang tapped on the hot search and was currently skimming them one by one. 

Hai Ri: “Opening the page and looking at it for fifteen seconds can increase the page’s traffic.”

Sheng Canyang: ?

“Why does the page’s traffic need to be increased?” He asked casually.

Hai Ri muttered inwardly: “Because it’s the hot search, son. You’re really far removed from the common populace. Companies don’t buy the hot search only to let it disappear from that spot, they want fans to click on it.” 

Sheng Canyang had clearly been here for a very long time, his phone was only left with twenty percent battery. Furrowing his brows, he kept his phone. Hai Ri unlocked his own phone using the facial scanner before tossing it to him.

Sheng Canyang was stunned for a moment and hesitated over whether he should use it. “You’re not watching livestreams?”

Hai Ri: “Go ahead and play, I’m not in the mood for that.”

Naturally, that was a lie. Even a ghost knocking on the door outside and demanding for his life couldn’t stop Hai Ri from tapping out little hearts for his ole brother from under his blanket. He just didn’t want to see Sheng Canyang lacking entertainment, nothing else. 

If he really had kids, he would probably also be the type of doting parent who spoiled their child to the heavens.

Sheng Canyang seemed to also think it would be bad to refuse. Accepting it, he looked through the various apps with embarrassment and then decided to open up Weibo, intending to continue concerning himself with everything under the sun.

There weren’t many hot searches recently either. An earth-shattering video of a sperm whale in Northwest Hua, District 1 falling to the ground and vanishing had flooded the internet. 

A female Taiwanese singer had made a successful application for death and was officially due to depart this Sunday. 

A boy had engaged in sexual acts with a ghost during a game…

What was all this?

Sheng Canyang couldn’t bear to look directly at them. His finger swiped left, and he withdrew, entering the main page. All of a sudden, he was greeted with a ‘99+’ on his notifications tab.

He didn’t think too much. He assumed they were all trashy advertisements, but when he went in, all of them were @ comments. 

He tapped on the last thread. Hai Ri had left a reply using his private account: “F*cking pretending to be a bystander?”

Sheng Canyang: …

He clicked open the Weibo thread. The blogger’s original text: “ANEW’s Sheng Canyang, who committed suicide due to love, has a new flame?”

The accompanying picture was of Sheng Canyang and Yellow Hair. 

The comments below didn’t reach one hundred. Amongst them was someone professing to be a bystander, not recognizing which trash of category Sheng Canyang belonged to.

Hai Ri commented at the bottom: “F*cking pretending to be a bystander?”

He cursed out a whole forty comments.

Sheng Canyang looked at the time – past ten yesterday night. He probably wasn’t aware yet that he had been cursed. 

He scrolled down the comments. Hai Ri’s comments could roughly be split into two types, as if he had multiple personalities.

“I’m very practical, I’ve bookmarked it.”

“And what thing are you? Hiding behind the internet and scolding my son? If you can’t accept it, let’s meet up in real life?”

“Ahh so cute, handsome men ought to be looked at.” 

“Whichever idiot dares to trample on Sheng Canyang will crawl for this laozi.”

“Hahahahahaha it’s me.”

“F*ck, go die anti-fans. Your son isn’t even worthy of carrying my son’s shoes.”