Chapter 122: Infinite Cannon Fodder (12)

“What do you want?” Tong Ling saw Arnold looking at her and quickly shrank behind Bai Bei, letting him shield her from view. She sternly demanded, “Arnold, tell us what you’ve done right now! Or no one here will let you off!”

Bai Bei felt his girlfriend tugging on his clothes. Her mix of fear and righteousness softened his heart with affection.

How adorable, he thought about his Lingling. The mere idea that she had defended him earlier made Bai Bei even happier.

Arnold sighed softly. “I don’t understand…”

“Stop playing dumb, Arnold!” Tong Ling poked her head out, pointing at Arnold. “Aren’t you scared by this corpse? Is your fake sorrow a sign of guilt?” She accused, “Murderer! Have you been planning something since entering the castle?”

Arnold’s handsome face was full of understanding. “Lingling, aren’t you mistaken about me?”

Miya had long been annoyed with this pretentious monk. Seeing Arnold still trying to cozy up to Tong Ling, he tightened his grip on Arnold’s arm.

With a sharp crack, Arnold’s arm went limp at his side.

The corners of Miya’s mouth curled up as he said maliciously, “Lingling already made you confess. What are you wasting your breath for here?”

Arnold’s handsome face turned slightly pale as he glanced at the red-haired youth beside him, his gaze also turning cold.

“You dark and pathetic Fallen One,” he snarled. “Your evil will ensure this curse never disappears.”

Enraged, Miya tightened his grip on Arnold’s neck. “You—!”

Medius decided to step back. In his view, it might be better if this man died.

“Miya!” Tong Ling scolded. “Are you trying to become a murderer? Just keep him still! Don’t lay a hand on him!”

The word “murderer” almost made Miya laugh. But remembering how Tong Ling had tearfully clung to corpses in the past, he finally let go. He warned Arnold, “You’d better behave yourself.”

If Tong Ling weren’t there, that single sentence from Arnold would have been enough for Miya to send him straight to God.

The players silently watched the scene, secretly gathering information about the NPCs.

Arnold had called Miya a fallen kind and cursed. So his identity was…

“Arnold, do you think I’ve misunderstood you?” Tong Ling asked with a serious expression, like a detective determined to bring the killer to justice. “Then please tell me, what were you doing from last night until this morning? Do you have anyone who can prove you didn’t commit the crime?”

“I went back to my room after dinner,” Arnold said calmly, showing neither arrogance nor humility. Despite having lost an arm, he endured the pain without complaint. His voice was slightly hoarse as he continued, “I stayed alone in my room praying to God. I didn’t leave until just now when I came downstairs and saw the body.”

“In other words…” Tong Ling concluded, “you really can’t prove you weren’t involved in the murder.”

Arnold’s gaze swept over everyone before slowly settling on…the person behind Bei Bai—Tong Ling.

“May I ask why you suspect me?” Arnold stared at Tong Ling, growing more puzzled by her actions. What was she trying to achieve? Protecting the killer or genuinely doubting him?

“It seems you won’t admit it unless I spell it out,” Tong Ling said firmly. “The victim was an adult man who suffered a brutal murder. Given how quickly he was killed between going missing and being found, the culprit must be both tall and strong enough to overpower him swiftly.”

Tong Ling looked around. “Among those present, aside from you, only Medius fits this description. Medius has me as his witness, but you…”

Tong Ling didn’t finish her sentence, but she had clearly convicted Arnold in her mind.

“I’m not the killer,” Arnold replied calmly. “I think you should investigate everyone, not just target me.”

“There is someone here more suspicious than me.” Arnold’s voice revealed little emotion. “You know who I mean.”

“Don’t try to divert attention, Arnold!” Perhaps seeing that Arnold couldn’t fight back, Tong Ling stepped out from behind Bai Bei. She lifted her chin; the fear on her face vanished, replaced by pride and confidence. “If it wasn’t you, why weren’t you angry or upset when I accused you of being the murderer?”

“You’re too calm,” Tong Ling said firmly. “How can someone accused of a crime be so composed? This alone proves you’re guilty!”

Only someone with nerves of steel could commit such brutal acts! Mu Bai nodded in agreement. She’s right, Arnold is unnaturally calm.

In a whisper, Chu Yue turned to Zhuang Wu beside him. “A-Wu-jie, Lingling actually makes a lot of sense.”

Zhuang Wu thought to himself that NPC Lingling had an IQ of 90—she wasn’t just another brainless beauty. With her abilities, it was great to have her on their side.

Yuan Ju remained silent, not saying a word.

“Calm because I know I’m innocent,” Arnold replied coolly. “The Lord watches over me; I wouldn’t do such things.”

“That’s enough.” Tong Ling declared, ending the discussion. “Arnold, you’ve really disappointed me…”

”…Will you kill me, Lingling?” Arnold asked hesitantly.

“How could I possibly do something like that!” Tong Ling denied sharply. “Don’t mix me up with murderers like you!”

Tong Ling instructed Bai Bei, “A-Bai, go look for some rope in the castle…”

Upon hearing this, Chu Yue quickly offered, “I know where there’s rope. I’ll get it.”

Tong Ling nodded and announced to everyone, “We don’t have the right to execute Arnold. So, I’ve decided to lock him up. Once the storm outside stops and we can leave, I’ll hand him over to the police.”

Lock him up? Mu Bai had hoped an NPC would kill Arnold, but Lingling was human, so her decision made sense.

Keeping a dangerous guy under control wasn’t bad either. If Arnold escaped, Lingling would definitely make other NPCs chase him down, and they as players could keep an eye on his movements too.

No one objected to Tong Ling’s plan; Mia and the others wouldn’t stop her from carrying it out.

Arnold stood quietly off to the side, not resisting at any point throughout this ordeal.

When Chu Yue brought back the rope, Mia tied Arnold tightly. Then, following Tong Ling’s instructions, they found an empty room and tossed Arnold inside.

Every room in the castle came with its own key, which were all stored in a separate storage room.

After finding the keys, Tong Ling distributed them for each person’s room. Naturally, the key to Arnold’s door ended up in her hands.

“Don’t worry everyone, I’ll keep an eye on him.” Tong Ling locked the door as she spoke, sounding determined. “I won’t let this murderer even come close to escaping!”

Miya grumbled, “There’s no point wasting energy watching over him. I say we should just kill—”

Under Tong Ling’s stern look, Miya quickly changed his tune. “Keeping him locked up is fine too. Just ignore him.”

“I’ve been running around all day, and now I’m starving,” Tong Ling said. She found a thin cord and tied it through the keys, then hung them around her neck. Taking Bai Bei’s arm, he suggested, “Let’s all go eat together.”

The group silently walked back into the hall. As soon as they saw the corpse on the floor, Tong Ling’s expression soured again.

“I was hungry before, but now I can’t stomach anything…” Tong Ling complained. “What kind of sicko does that? Can’t even make death quick and painless!”

Bai Bei covered his girlfriend’s eyes with his hand and led her away from the area. “Don’t look at that. I’ll move the body right away.”

“No need,” Mu Bai said quickly. “We can handle it.”

“I’m not hungry anymore.” Tong Ling pulled Bei Bai’s hand off her shoulder and looked around at the others. “Has Xianxian come down yet? I’ll go find her so nothing happens to her too.”

As she ran upstairs, Bei Bai walked over to the dining table. He glanced at the cold food on his plate, then picked up the plate and dumped its contents into the trash.

Zhuang Wu felt a twinge of regret. “Didn’t you spend ages making that? Why waste it?”

“If Lingling doesn’t want to eat it, there’s no point in keeping it,” Bei Bai said, lowering his eyes as he headed to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

When Zhuang Wu heard those words, she felt an inexplicable chill run through her heart.

“A-Wu-jie, what’s wrong?” Chu Yue noticed Zhuang Wu staring at Bei Bai’s back and asked, puzzled.

“Something feels off,” Zhuang Wu said. She couldn’t tell if it was just her intuition warning her, but now that Lingling had left, her thoughts were racing again. “This whole incident seems to have been resolved too easily…”

Mu Bai took the tablecloth off the dining table and was about to cover Li Yun’s unrecognizable corpse with it when he saw Yuan Ju crouched nearby, carefully examining the body on the ground.

Mu Bai couldn’t bear to see his friend in such a gruesome state. He signaled Yuan Ju to step aside. “I’ll move him to his room.”

“Hold on.” Yuan Ju’s words carried weight among the players. He waited until Bai Bei had left before taking action. Yuan Ju pulled out disposable plastic gloves and put them on.

“You want to examine the body?” Mu Bai was surprised. The corpse is already this decayed—what’s there to investigate?

Yuan Ju wasn’t going to perform an autopsy; he just wanted to confirm his suspicion.

He pried open Li Yun’s mouth and removed a bloody, mushy mass from inside.

“His hands were cut off,” Yuan Ju said, holding up the mass for inspection. “Then the killer stuffed one of his palms into his mouth.”

“Gah…” Chu Yue felt sick at Yuan Ju’s description, nearly vomiting.

“This is clearly a case of revenge,” Yuan Ju said as he tossed the piece of rotten flesh aside along with the disposable gloves. He then took out disinfectant from his backpack and washed his hands. “This murder method is different from those in other horror scenarios. It wasn’t about breaking rules but inciting hatred.”

Mu Bai’s face turned ashen. “We were all together. How could he have…?”

Yuan Ju’s voice was cold. “Surely you must be able to guess the reason.”

None of them were fools. Mu Bai immediately put two and two together. “Could it be because he treated Lingling…?”

At that time, to heal Lingling’s wrist, Li Yun had touched her with both hands. Could this simple act have made the other NPCs jealous?!

Mu Bai recalled pushing Li Yun forward, urging him to treat Lingling. His face paled further.

Li Yun’s death… was directly linked to his actions too.

Why did I let Li Yun touch Lingling?! If only I’d known, I would never have interfered…

This is it! Not only did we get close to Lingling, but we also tried to bring her into our group. Does this mean we’ve once again provoked that strange creature?

“Three NPCs witnessed Li Yun touching Lingling,” Yuan Ju said.

Chu Yue instantly remembered. “Bei Bei, Arnold, and Qiao Qian.”

Chu Yue had no idea who this Qiao Qian was and could easily ignore her if he didn’t think about it too much.

Yuan Ju asked, “Who do you think would have such a strong sense of revenge?”

Without hesitation, Zhuang Wu answered, “Bai Bei.”

“He cares too much about Lingling.” Zhuang Wu felt like he’d touched on the truth.

“Bai Bei doesn’t even mind when Lingling stays overnight with Medius…” Mu Bai leaned more towards Arnold being the killer.

Chu Yue agreed, “So many people have connections to Lingling. There’s no way someone like Bai Bei can keep track of everything.”

“Are you sure he really doesn’t care?” This time, Yuan Ju decided not to just observe from the sidelines and shared his analysis. “The other NPCs connected to Lingling—whether it’s Medius or Miyazaki—none of them should be underestimated. It’s not that Bai Bei doesn’t care; he simply can’t afford to. He couldn’t kill those two ‘people’.”

The more Zhuang Wu thought about it, the more sense Yuan Ju’s words made. “Medius and Miyazaki caught Arnold so quickly—it’s obvious they’re not ordinary folks,” he said.

Mu Bai stared at Yuan Ju, his lips trembling slightly. “When Lingling was searching for the criminal earlier, why didn’t you tell her about this?”

“You think I should’ve told Lingling to go catch Bai Bei?” Yuan Ju’s voice deepened with coldness. “You saw clearly how he acted around her. Do you really think she’d believe me over that ‘boyfriend’ of hers? You know what the answer would be.”

Mu Bai couldn’t argue with that.

“Besides, catching Arnold isn’t bad either.” Yuan Ju slipped his hands into his pockets. “No matter which NPC we capture, it’s a win for us. Being able to control an unknown NPC is always good.”

“Do you think Lingling had no idea there was something off about Bai Bei?” Zhuang Wu recalled all the careless things NPC Lingling had said in front of him—things that had angered so many people—and felt a chill run down her spine.

“Who knows?” Yuan Ju walked into the kitchen and started making a bowl of noodles. “She’s already shown us with her power that we need her if we want to survive.”

Yuan Ju was quite skilled in the kitchen, and before long, a steaming bowl of fragrant noodle soup topped with chopped scallions was ready.

He prepared clean bowls and chopsticks, then carried the noodles upstairs.

Zhuang Wu called out, “Who are you giving the noodles to?”

Yuan Ju was surprised by Zhuang Wu’s keenness. ”…For Lingling.”

“Didn’t you say we shouldn’t approach her?” Zhuang Wu frowned. “Besides, if Bai Bei finds out…”

“If he does, we’ll just have to deal with it.” Yuan Ju scoffed softly. “Waiting around for death isn’t my style. His weakness is Lingling. If she can control Medius and Miya against Arnold, why can’t she control those two monsters against Bai Bei?”

“Li Yun’s mistake was getting close but not acting on it,” Yuan Ju said. “Either stay far away or find a way to control NPCs—you have to do one or the other.”

“We can’t keep our distance anymore,” Yuan Ju continued. “We have to choose this path and follow it through.”

Zhuang Wu stood frozen in shock, as if only now realizing what kind of person Yuan Ju truly was.

This quiet young man had thoroughly grasped the relationships between the NPCs before taking decisive action.

He was a player who would stop at nothing to win.

Those who could survive an S-rank scenario were indeed no ordinary individuals.