Zhou Wangye’s scrutinizing gaze pierced toward her like an ice spike, making Gu Xiangwan feel her throat tighten.
She forced herself to stay calm and raised her eyes, though her voice involuntarily dropped a few degrees.
“When I came out, I really didn’t notice anything unusual. Maybe it happened later…”
“Later?” Zhou Wangye interrupted coldly, every word like ice. “From the moment you left until the young lady was in danger, it was no more than three minutes. Zombies move slowly—how could they appear out of nowhere in such a short time?”
He stepped closer, his voice laced with frost. “The restroom’s back door was locked, and the skylight was intact. These zombies clearly did not come from outside.”
Gu Xiangwan’s nails dug deeply into her palms.
She forced herself to remain calm.
She knew Zhou Wangye too well.
At this moment, President Zhou wasn’t truly suspecting her—he was simply using his usual method of eliminating every possibility.
Just like when he dealt with business crises: calm, meticulous, and leaving no room for emotion.
But when that kind of scrutinizing gaze fell on her, she still felt a fine, stinging pain.
She felt hurt that he would treat her like this, yet at the same time relieved that she understood his way of doing things.
Gu Xiangwan slowly raised her head and forced herself to meet his sharp gaze.
“At that time the power had gone out, and the entire restroom was pitch black. I was at the outermost stall, while the young lady’s stall was the innermost…”
She paused, her voice steady enough to surprise even herself.
“Perhaps it was because of that distance that I failed to notice the abnormality in time. President Zhou, I truly didn’t see any zombies.”
Her explanation was reasonable, and her tone carried just the right amount of grievance.
But only she knew that the fabric on her back was already soaked with cold sweat, clinging to her slightly trembling skin.
Lin Ran said nothing, continuing to tremble as she leaned in Zhou Wangye’s arms, playing the role of a victim.
It wasn’t convenient for her to say anything right now, nor would she lead others to suspect Gu Xiangwan.
The moment she said a single word against Gu Xiangwan, everyone would question her motives.
Only, the roles in this scene had reversed compared to the memory.
In the memory, the one silently pretending to be pitiful had been Gu Xiangwan, while the original Lin Ran had been the one pressured by Zhou Wangye to apologize.
So all she had to do was behave herself.
Walk the heroine’s path and leave the heroine with nowhere to go.
Gu Xiangwan didn’t know whether President Zhou believed her words at this moment.
His gaze hadn’t softened at all—it remained as sharp as ever.
At this moment, she truly felt that President Zhou had changed.
The next second—
Zhou Wangye suddenly lowered his head and carefully examined the zombie corpses.
“These zombies have dust on them, yet footprints suddenly appeared on the restroom floor, while there are no footprints outside.”
He raised his head and gave Gu Xiangwan a meaningful look.
“It’s as if someone suddenly placed these zombies outside the young lady’s restroom stall.”
Gu Xiangwan remained calm.
“President Zhou’s guess makes sense. A spatial ability could accomplish that.”
Once she said this, everyone immediately remembered how earlier that day, when dealing with the cloaked zombie, the young lady had stored zombies inside her spatial space.
Suspicious gazes turned toward Lin Ran.
After all, the young lady had done plenty of outrageous things before. Who knew what she was planning today?
Was she deliberately framing Secretary Gu, or getting revenge on He Sheng for pinching her hand in the car?
After all, He Sheng had already been questioned by President Zhou.
Gu Xiangwan felt satisfied. This was exactly the direction she wanted everyone to think.
Although she hadn’t succeeded in killing Lin Ran today, making everyone dislike Lin Ran even more meant her efforts weren’t wasted.
She continued, “I admit that my space can also store zombies. But today I’ve been with everyone the entire time, so I had no chance to act alone. On the contrary, the young lady disappeared for a full five minutes on the way to the restroom.”
Step by step, she guided everyone toward the conclusion she had designed.
To make collecting supplies easier, President Zhou had already cut off the entire port’s electricity using his lightning ability.
There were no surveillance cameras.
No one could prove the zombies had been stored in her space.
And with Lin Ran’s long list of past behavior, no one would believe her.
Zhou Wangye said nothing. He simply stared at Gu Xiangwan, though the way he held Lin Ran in his arms did not change in the slightest.
At that moment—
He Sheng suddenly spoke with absolute certainty.
“These zombies could never have been arranged by the young lady herself.”
His gaze was firm as he recalled what he saw when he rushed into the restroom.
“I saw it clearly. The fear in the young lady’s eyes was genuine. That kind of trembling at the brink of death is the most instinctive reaction a person can have in extreme danger. That’s exactly why she triggered her water ability at the last moment.”
In his mind appeared Lin Ran’s pale face, along with the icy fingertips clutching his arm and her uncontrollable trembling.
That kind of fear, deep into the bones, could never be acted.
For someone like the young lady—normally delicate and obsessed with looking beautiful—to deliberately release zombies just to frame someone, even risking being scratched or disfigured…
He could never believe that.
She usually even carefully maintained every strand of her hair—how could she possibly put herself in such a miserable situation?
One wrong move could even turn her into a zombie.
When Lin Ran heard He Sheng’s firm tone, she curled her lips in satisfaction.
Her performance earlier had not been wasted.
Fooling He Sheng wasn’t easy.
After all, he was a retired soldier, with observation skills far beyond ordinary people. Not a single micro-expression could escape his sharp eyes.
But honestly, she wasn’t really lying.
As a fragile university student from a peaceful era, she was genuinely afraid of zombies!
Since entering this novel’s world, this was the first time she had heard He Sheng speak such a long sentence.
Every word was defending her.
Yet Zhou Wangye still remained silent.
This unusual silence made the surrounding people exchange glances.
They all remembered the incident that happened previously in the president’s office.
At that time, while President Zhou was away, the young lady had deliberately poured a cup of scalding tea onto Secretary Gu’s hand and even insulted her.
When President Zhou returned, he immediately ordered the young lady to apologize, his cold reprimand still ringing in their ears.
But now, facing another conflict between the two women, he remained silent.
“The lie detector we found earlier in the container… it’s in the space. We can take it out now…”
A choked voice suddenly came from Zhou Wangye’s shoulder.
Lin Ran lifted her tear-blurred face. Her voice was soft, yet clear enough for everyone to hear.
“I’m willing to take the test… to prove that those zombies… were really not placed by me.”
This gentle suggestion instantly made Gu Xiangwan’s scalp go numb.
She had no idea that Lin Ran had stored a lie detector inside her space.
Her heart suddenly pounded wildly, almost breaking through her ribs.
She pressed hard against the inside of her wrist, trying to suppress her racing pulse.
Under her fingertips, the heartbeat was fast and chaotic.
Every beat sounded like the rhythm of panic.
She was finished.
She had no confidence that she could keep her secret in front of that precise machine.