Chapter 31: The Dog (6/9)

The rain continued to fall. A black umbrella, like a plague, drifted slowly across the campus.

Old Snake held the umbrella with one hand while linking arms with Zhen Qianting, walking toward Tao Yunchuan’s direction.

Old Snake walked slowly, occasionally turning his head to converse with Zhen Qianting.

“What do you think about the information on the deceased?”

“What do you think, Teacher Zhang?” Zhen Qianting replied softly with a smile.

“Characters involved…”

“Hm?”

“None of them should be the deceased.”

Old Snake smiled faintly, sharing his thoughts, or rather stating what he already knew as fact.

“I think the same,” Zhen Qianting said, her gaze sharpening. “From the start, we were played by that recluse. No, more precisely, we were tricked by Liu Mengchao, the veteran.”

“Oh?”

“Do you think the same?” Zhen Qianting stopped beneath a tree, and the two stood there as she spoke slowly. “I spent the whole day thinking carefully about what Liu Mengchao said, and then…”

“And then what?” Old Snake raised his eyebrows, curiosity lighting his expression. As a professional con artist, Old Snake was well-versed in deception.

“Then I discovered a big secret. Liu Mengchao had ill intentions from the very beginning.”

“Really?” Old Snake smiled slightly. His years of scamming had taught him that a smile at this moment often encouraged the other person to continue.

“Liu Mengchao said from the start he didn’t want to kill that woman called San Shen Lianzi. But do you remember his reason?”

“The reason…” Old Snake pondered for a moment before speaking slowly. “He had two guns pointed at our heads, but I still remember clearly what he said. His guns don’t like to kill women.”

“That has to be a lie. A veteran in this cycle world who supposedly doesn’t like killing women, and that woman is just a plot character—who would believe that?”

“But we believed it then.”

“That’s because, in the cycle world, we all want side storylines,” Zhen Qianting smiled. “With side stories, we can survive better in this world. He exploited that. Think about it—if we had just killed San Shen Lianzi from the start, what would have happened?”

“Erased,” Old Snake’s face tightened as he forced an expression full of resentment.

“Exactly! Erased. That’s Liu Mengchao’s goal—he wants us all dead. Think about his later analysis.”

“His analysis about the identity of the surplus person?”

Zhen Qianting paused, as if Liu Mengchao stood right before her. “He said the surplus person is among us cycle players.”

“Exactly,” Old Snake nodded vigorously, his face full of agreement. Because he knew—the surplus person really was among the cycle players.

Because that person was himself.

“Zhao Weijie immediately refuted it, right?” Zhen Qianting’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Why didn’t he say it earlier? Why wait until after San Shen Lianzi died to tell us?”

“Because…”

Old Snake had just furrowed his brow when Zhen Qianting eagerly shared her thoughts. She was never reluctant to speculate on others’ motives in the darkest way.

“Because San Shen Lianzi was the first to die, his plan was interrupted. To prevent us from suspecting that the deceased is among the cycle players, he deliberately told us this, then expected us to disprove the conclusion ourselves!”

“Exactly!”

Old Snake nodded firmly. He almost wanted to laugh with excitement—how could there be such a cycle player who acted exactly according to his own design?

“You think so too, right?” Zhen Qianting grew excited, her full chest rising and falling with her breath.

“All his actions lead to only one conclusion…”

“Liu Mengchao is the surplus person!” Old Snake nodded in agreement. If he hadn’t known he was the surplus person himself, Old Snake might have been convinced by this woman.

Women, women.

Old Snake turned around, his eyes shining brightly.

“So what’s your plan? How do we kill Liu Mengchao? He’s a veteran.”

“Yes, he’s a veteran,” Zhen Qianting scoffed. “But he’s no different from us—just a dog of the Supreme God, a plaything for his amusement.”

“So…”

“He’s no different from the other two men, or even from us.”

“You mean…”

Old Snake nodded slowly, and they spoke their thoughts in unison.

“A plot character!”

Zhen Qianting and Old Snake exchanged a smile.

“This is an order from the Supreme God: no killing or harming any plot characters,” Zhen Qianting said with a smile.

“Anyone who violates it will be erased!”

Old Snake took over the last three words in a deep, solemn tone.

“But… what if he’s not?”

Old Snake suddenly asked, knowing he couldn’t appear too easily convinced. Otherwise, the deception would fail. When scamming, only when the other party eagerly jumps into the trap can the con succeed—making them willingly stretch out their necks to be bound.

“If not, it’s no loss. He’s a veteran, we’re rookies. If he’s gone from the team and we survive…”

“Then we become veterans!”

“Exactly!” Zhen Qianting nodded joyfully, wholeheartedly agreeing.

“Only one last question,” Old Snake said helplessly, looking at Zhen Qianting. “Who are we going to send to kill Liu Mengchao?”

“Who…?” Zhen Qianting’s eyes drifted into the distance as she whispered the name of her target.

“Aka Izumi.”

“Good choice!”

Old Snake laughed as well. He spotted a figure running toward the library—a silhouette holding a fiery red umbrella in the rain, two ponytails fluttering behind.

Aka Izumi!

“Need any help?”

“Yes,” Zhen Qianting’s slender fingers danced lightly on Old Snake’s body like playing piano, eventually landing on his chest before suddenly withdrawing and pointing ahead.

“We first have to make them believe that Aka Izumi is the surplus person.”

“How do we convince them?”

“Of course,” Zhen Qianting rested her head on Old Snake’s shoulder, smiling, “we deceive them.”

“Deceive them?” Old Snake laughed, watching the distant figures.

Tao Yunchuan and Long Xiang, two men, now seemed like timid women, hiding under an eave, helplessly watching the pouring rain.

“And then?”

“Then, we naturally deceive the little girl again,” Zhen Qianting’s tone turned solemn, but before she finished, she herself began to laugh. “After I rescue Aka Izumi, I’ll ask you to tell her the proof that Liu Mengchao is the surplus person.”

“Just me?”

“No, both of us.”

Ha, ha.

Two quiet laughs tumbled from their lips like the absurdity of this world—absurd, absurd enough to kill.

When someone plays a farce, naturally there are spectators.

The spectator was Liu Mengchao.

Standing by the fourth-floor window, everything in the school was within Liu Mengchao’s sight. No telescope was needed—this was a gift from Assassin’s Creed.

Eagle Eye.

“What are you looking at?”

“Two people dressed in red,” Liu Mengchao replied without turning, responding slowly to Liu Ling.

“People in red?” Liu Ling didn’t catch the implication in Liu Mengchao’s words, instead chuckling and having her doll speak softly, “If you don’t mind, I think we should move to the next location.”

“The next location?”

“Another place to verify my guess.”

Upon hearing Liu Ling’s words, Liu Mengchao laughed. “Is that really necessary?”

“Yes.” The doll in Liu Ling’s arms spoke softly. “I really want to know if Aka Izumi’s brother is really as kind-hearted as you said.”

“Oh?”

“Because your grasp of human nature directly affects our survival in the next cycle world. Understanding teammates’ abilities is what smart people always do.”

“You’re a smart person?”

“No, just trying hard to appear smarter,” Liu Ling smiled as she stepped out first, leaving Liu Mengchao alone at the fourth-floor teachers’ office window.

“Verification, huh?” Liu Mengchao shook his head, watching Aka Izumi running toward the library, finally unable to hold back a laugh.

He felt he was a little crazy today…

How many chapters has it been now…? Next update at 10 p.m. tonight…

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