Yang Chaoyu coldly turned her eyes away.
“Aside from these two points, there are two even more fatal ones,” she said.
Ke Xingyun said, “How could that be? I’m so innocent!”
Yang Chaoyu ignored him completely. “Third, after Qi Yang’s leg was broken, you said, ‘I don’t even know what evidence MN wants us to find, or what will happen if we can’t find it.’ That was when I noticed you used the word ‘evidence.’ MN’s company asked us to find ‘clues’; it never mentioned evidence. Later, after we found all the clues, Wen Shaoqiao’s death remained bewildering and unclear. That made me wonder whether this hidden clue might be the evidence proving the cause of her death.”
“In the end, we did find the hidden clue—the direct evidence showing that Wen Shaoqiao had been victimized.” She looked at Wen Shaoqiao’s phone. “And you, who supposedly knew nothing at the beginning, how did you foresee that what we were looking for was ‘evidence’?”
Ke Xingyun’s expression relaxed.
He was a very fair-featured boy. When he smiled, he looked somewhat foolish, making him seem more childish and approachable. But when his face was expressionless, his lips appeared somewhat cold and thin.
“Then what’s the last point?”
“The last point is the numbers. The old man, who was also the monster, had the lowest number, 520. Sandao was 662, I was 744, Zou Qing was 742, and you were 702. We know that the monster and Sandao are seniors, so their numbers are relatively low. If you were a newcomer like us, and assuming the two people who didn’t come were also newcomers, then the numbers of you, Qi Yang, and the other two, four people in total, would be unknown. Taking my and Zou Qing’s numbers as the lowest or highest, your number should be between 743 and 739 or between 747 and 743. It absolutely could not be 702.”
Ke Xingyun asked unwillingly, “What if everyone’s numbers were even, and some numbers had been skipped?”
“Then ask Qi Yang for his number.” Yang Chaoyu looked at Qi Yang.
Qi Yang had started the livestream from the beginning, so he had always known his number.
“I’m 743.”
Ke Xingyun was finally unable to refute her.
He lowered his head and said, “I wanted to be eliminated from the start. I didn’t want to search for clues, but my curiosity ended up harming me.”
Sandao cut in, “It wasn’t because of your curiosity. It was because you haven’t graduated.”
“What does not graduating have to do with this?” he asked unhappily.
“You haven’t been beaten down by society, so you aren’t slippery enough. Your flaws are everywhere.” Sandao showed no mercy.
Ke Xingyun laughed angrily and pointed at Zou Qing. “If being beaten down by society means eventually becoming someone like Zou Qing, who snatches the big shot’s clues three times in a row, then I’d rather never graduate.”
Sandao clicked his tongue, unwilling to bother with such childish remarks.
Zou Qing remained calm. “They were things she didn’t want.”
“They weren’t for you either! Both clues were originally meant for Qi Yang!” he shouted.
Qi Yang, suddenly mentioned, asked, “For me?”
Ke Xingyun went over and told him what had happened while he was unconscious. Qi Yang’s gaze at Zou Qing slowly changed. Zou Qing felt uncomfortable under his stare and moved closer to Sandao.
Qi Yang had probably harbored some feelings for Zou Qing at first, but now his eyes were filled with the dead gray of despair.
Yang Chaoyu could not help saying, “Ke Xingyun, since you would rather be eliminated than stay here, does that mean that even if you don’t earn any points, you won’t be kept here and your life won’t be in danger?”
Qi Yang abruptly looked at Ke Xingyun.
Ke Xingyun faced the gazes of the three others. Under immense pressure, he cast a furtive glance at Sandao.
“Why are you looking at him?” Yang Chaoyu asked unhappily. “I’m guessing he said those things to me before because he wanted to urge us to find all the clues. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been so anxious that I exchanged Wen Shaoqiao’s ultimate move, allowing him to reap the benefits as a third party.”
Sandao quietly took all the credit without saying a word.
Ke Xingyun stammered for a long while before saying, “Well… that depends on what HR thinks.”
Yang Chaoyu glanced at Sandao and asked, “Isn’t he HR?”
Sandao slowly opened his eyes and gave a cold laugh. “Why does this involve me again? Didn’t you say earlier that I wasn’t suspicious?”
“But you completely denied my deduction, so your suspicion hasn’t been cleared. Besides, you said yourself that if this were an assessment, you would compete with us for the clues. You were clearly the most aggressive one searching for them. Compared with Ke Xingyun, you’re the most suspicious. Of course, it’s also possible that there’s more than one HR.”
Yang Chaoyu’s gaze swept toward Ke Xingyun.
Ke Xingyun raised both hands and shook his head frantically.
“Good. After being tricked so many times, you’ve finally gotten a little smarter.” Sandao sounded quite pleased.
“It’s all thanks to teacher Sandao’s excellent instruction.” Yang Chaoyu’s remark was sarcastic.
“I hardly deserve to be called teacher, but since you insist, I can only accept the honor. Hahaha…”
Yang Chaoyu, who had not expected him to be so shameless: …
“Since you’re being so sincere, I’ll tell you.” Sandao spoke slowly. “Good disciple, do you remember MN’s second message? It said: ‘Aside from the HR assessment, we will begin the livestream.’ Here, besides us, who can start a livestream?”
Ke Xingyun swallowed and announced the answer directly:
“Wen Shaoqiao.”
“It was her!” Zou Qing was the first to lose her composure.
Everyone had witnessed her hatred of Wen Shaoqiao. Now she had become an interviewee, while the person she hated had become the interviewer. She was unquestionably the first one to be eliminated.
She could not help retreating. Only when her back touched the wall did she come to her senses.
“When you said it depended on HR’s opinion, did you mean that HR can decide whether everyone lives or dies?”
Ke Xingyun was startled by her bloodshot eyes and hurriedly shook his head. “No, no, no. Those who earn no points will have HR decide whether they stay or leave, but those who earn points can generally survive.”
“Generally?” She wanted a sufficient guarantee.
“They all can.” Sandao spoke.
With Sandao’s guarantee, Zou Qing suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared me to death.”
Sandao, however, said with a beaming smile, “Miss Zou, you’re so nervous. It seems your relationship with Wen Shaoqiao is more than merely ‘riding her popularity,’ isn’t it?”
Zou Qing swallowed and said, “How could there be anything…”
Sandao interrupted her. “You probably don’t know MN’s characteristics, do you? Do you think anyone can see MN’s official website and submit an application?”
Zou Qing asked, “What do you mean?”
“Those selected fall into only two categories. One consists of people possessing exceptional skills or carrying extremely heavy yin energy. The other consists of people with an extremely high connection to the mission. Generally, the ratio between these two categories is about half and half.”
His gaze shifted from Zou Qing to Qi Yang, and he said in a judgmental tone, “Which category do each of you four people belong to?”
Qi Yang’s heart rose even higher in his chest.
He said, “I hadn’t graduated when I insulted Wen Shaoqiao. I was very angry at society back then, and regretted it a little after posting the insult. But many people liked that comment, so I felt that what I said was right and became smug instead. If—if I had known she was living such a life, I…”
Sandao interrupted him. “Enough. Don’t try to cram at the last minute.”
Qi Yang still wanted to explain. “But I…”
Sandao impatiently waved his hand. “Stop wasting your breath. Whether you stick your head out or pull it back, the blade falls all the same. Act like a man; don’t cower. If you’re going to die, die standing.”
Qi Yang glanced at his own leg. He wanted very much to argue, but after seeing Sandao’s expression, he held it in.
“Let’s take sides. I still believe Wen Shaoqiao committed suicide,” he said. “Those who agree with me, stand over here.”
Qi Yang, who was nearby: I don’t agree, but I can’t move.
Zou Qing stood firmly beside him, though her fists were clenched rather tightly, and her whole body had begun to tremble.
Ke Xingyun hesitated for a moment before asking Yang Chaoyu, “big shot, do you still think it was murder?”
The overall chain of events had basically become clear.
Wen Shaoqiao became famous as a teenager. Her parents treated her as a cash cow, injecting her and restricting her development in order to exploit her completely. Later, when her career as a child star reached its end, her body also stopped growing. She could only accept jobs that tested the boundaries of the law.
Comparing this with the information Zou Qing had provided earlier, Yang Chaoyu guessed that Wen Shaoqiao’s parents had forced her to livestream on a certain type of website. Such websites would not be subject to prosecution under domestic law and could also bring in enormous returns.
By then, Wen Shaoqiao was already on the verge of collapse, and she happened to encounter the lecherous boy next door…
But all of this was indirect evidence…
She still felt that something was wrong.
She began to think back.
The telescoping main gate that had not completely closed, the pitch-black property management lobby, the rows of upscale apartments with only the first floor lit, the descending elevator…
That was right. She had hurried into the elevator at the time because she was afraid the residents would see her. But all the windows in the residential complex had been dark. Where had this resident come from?
Or rather, what was it that had come down?