July 16th (7) Shikoku Army Chess

  The three kingdoms' balance of power turned into a four-sided chess game, and I was suspected as the culprit.

  I am innocent, but it seems that no one believes me. In an instant, I understood Hou Mingyu's feelings. He may indeed be innocent, but everyone chose to ignore this possibility.

  In the accusations against Hou Mingyu, I believe he is innocent and that's a minority report, but in the accusations against me, things won't be so simple.

  Because there are people here who absolutely believe in me.

  Xiao Ai suddenly shouted a sentence, and the originally quiet atmosphere became less cold because of this shout. Xiao Ai said, "What are you all thinking? Could Brother Ding be the murderer? You really think it's possible, don't you?"

  The little fatty touched his occipital bone and said, "Yeah, yeah, how is that possible?"

  The two donkeys burst out laughing and then said, "Impossible, we are brothers."

  The dwarf gave me a glance and said, I'm just saying one possibility, what you think is up to you. Since the curfew policy has been expanded now, everyone should disperse. Go back to your respective rooms, try not to go out. If there's something, shout in the corridor. Disperse!

  Hou Mingyu's death is now a closed case, and there's really nothing that can be done about it. Now, no one believes anyone else, and every accusation will be seen as the real culprit trying to shift the blame. Moreover, everyone saw what happened to Hou Mingyu, and now everyone is desperately trying to clear their own name. If you dare to accuse him, he'll dump the shit bowl on your head.

  Anyway, this killer is in a blind spot, and everyone may or may not be.

  What's more, there is another possibility that has emerged, which is that someone is imitating a murder. This person originally had no intention of killing, but suddenly discovered that this was a good opportunity to commit a murder. After taking action, the various clues left behind would appear to outsiders as completely lawless.

  I could also be the murderer, why can't others?

  The four of us all went back to my room, everyone looked worried, after a long time Xiaoyi said, is there really someone else killing people?

  Xiao Pang said, Teacher Zhang's words are reasonable and make sense. I think it's very possible. If this is indeed the case, then many problems can be explained.

  Xiao Ai said, but everyone forgot, there's another possibility, isn't there?

  Little fatty said, what's possible?

  Xiao Ai said there is a ghost.

  Two donkeys rubbed their hair and said, how many possibilities are there? What's the point of guessing back and forth? I'm telling you, it's those few bastards, we're going to mess with them, anyway they can't beat us, and now the girls aren't protecting them either. Without women to protect them, just watch me kill them.

  Xiao Pang said, "Are you done? Even if you've won the fight, what then? Can you tie up several people at once? If you don't tie them up, you'll still have to kill them. And if you do tie them up, who will take care of them every day? Moreover, what if innocent people die in the process?"

  The two donkeys said, never mind, anyway beat him up and vent their anger.

  Xiao Ai said, did you guys hear me or not? Another possibility is that there's a ghost.

  Little fatty waved his hand and said, "You can too, now what time is it still scaring people? Where's the ghost or not?"

  Xiao Ai said, "How come there are no ghosts? How can you explain the curse?"

  Xiao Pang said, how else can I explain? Someone must have heard us talking, right?

  Xiao Ai said, what was the name of that fat girl? The one who wanted to live a life that would shock heaven and earth. You're saying that even the mountain cave is cooperating with her death? Isn't this too absurd?

  Xiao Pang said, what's up with that? That night there was a power outage, the hotel had no one, it was just the right time to kill someone, wasn't it?

  Xiao Ai said, I'm just saying, if it's intentional to fulfill her curse at this time, isn't it a bit mysterious? And that A'Ya, who can make her eat an ear before she dies?

  Xiao Pang said, "Do you know if there's something in this world called coincidence?"

  Xiao Ai said, right, you're absolutely right, this is just a coincidence. But don't you think it's too coincidental? So this is what they call a curse, right? Taking a step back, even if someone had heard everyone's conversations and arranged a cursed way of death for each person's wish, in the end, did every single person achieve their wish? Did every single wish turn into a curse? Whether intentionally or unintentionally, curses do exist, right.

  Xiao Ai rarely spoke such a long sentence, we were all stunned for half a day, then looked at each other, and no one dared to speak.

  Curses are just like wishes, they only look at the results and not the process. For example, you make a wish saying I want 5 million, and a rich man hears it and directly gives you 5 million, do you count that as your dream coming true?

  Of course!

  So curses are the same, someone curses you to be hit by a car when you go out, then he hits you with his car, from a certain side, your curse is also fulfilled.

  Isn't it?

  Xiao Ai looked at us and didn't make a sound, facing us she said, since there's a curse, then there must be ghosts, right?

  I thought for a long time and felt that this sentence makes sense, but also doesn't make sense. When did curses become linked to ghosts? Is there some kind of ghostly thing lurking behind us, holding a notebook and recording our wishes one by one, then arranging various poses to help us achieve this wish?

  Obviously not.

  Let's not talk about those absurd things, the more we talk about it, the more afraid we become and the less we want to solve it. Now let's focus on one thing, which is how to survive this massacre.

  I used the word "massacre" because I didn't know if there was a more suitable one.

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, no one made a sound, and naturally, no one knew what solution to take.

  We just sat in the room like this, anyway curfew has been expanded, four people staying together during the day is boring, but it's safer than two people.

  After a long time, everyone stared at each other with wide eyes, and finally Er Zhu said, I think being careful not to fall behind should be fine. After all, the other party won't provoke us.

  I said, but didn't that dwarf say someone else was imitating a murderer?

  The two donkeys said, anyway I believe in each of us, I think Xiaobudian's death must be an accident, it was because Xiaobudian broke their plan that he died. Right?

  Xiao Pang nodded and said, "Do you suspect that there is a murderer among us?"

  I shook my head and said, actually you all grew up together, after growing up, you are also close to each other, everyone understands. If there is really a murderer among us, it must be me, right? I don't think there is a murderer among us.

  Xiao Ai said, so be it, what did you just mean?

  I said, Juru said that someone among us is imitating a murderer, this sentence makes sense, and also because this statement doesn't make him suspicious at all. But I think he might be interfering with us.

  The second donkey frowned and said, "You won't think it was my cousin who killed Xiaobudian, will you? Let me tell you, Xiaobudian played with me every day, and my cousin treated him like a younger brother. When we were young, whoever dared to bully Xiaobudian, my cousin would definitely beat them up."

  Every time I mention Ma Tiancheng, Er Zhu will show a lot of annoyance. I understand that the two brothers have a good relationship, so I shut up immediately.

  Xiao Ai looked at Er Zhu Zi and said, "Ding Gege didn't say that it was your cousin who killed someone, he just said that the dwarf might be misleading us and confusing our senses."

  The second donkey said, that little dwarf's body can't be hanged to death if suspected, it means my elder male cousin is the murderer.

  I waved my hand and said, I didn't mean it, do you believe your brother?

  The two donkeys said, of course.

  I said I believe you, so I also believe your cousin.

  The atmosphere was a bit heavy at this moment, everyone felt a little awkward and fell into silence again. After a while, Xiao Pang stood up and said, "Well, let's go back to the room and take a nap." Today, because of Hou Mingyu's thing, I don't think we can have lunch either, my stomach is a bit hungry, so let's just sleep for a while. Let's go, Er Duzi.

  The two donkeys got up and followed Xiaopang out of the room, leaving only me and Xiao Ai.

  The two of us locked the door, and Xiao Ai said, "Don't be like Er Duzi, he has a bad temper."

  I whispered, I really suspect the dwarf is disturbing us.

  Xiao Ai said, is it because he pointed you out?

  I nodded and then shook my head, I said that if this inn was indeed a den of poison, it couldn't be ruled out that the two of them would kill to silence someone in order to cover up this fact. Right?

  Xiao Ai said, "Then what should we do? They have no reason to kill Xiao Bu Dong, after all, he doesn't know anything."

  I thought for a moment and then shook my head. They really had no reason to kill Xiaobudian, and I wasn't even sure if this was a den of poison or not. Everything was just my own speculation and guesswork.

  So is the dwarf helping us or interfering with us?

  He suddenly pointed at me, what is his purpose?

  Or perhaps something has been discovered?

  I climbed onto the bed and fell into deep thought. This dwarf Zhang Tian Shi is really strange, you say he came to find something, but how could a local tyrant like Ma Tian Cheng accompany him in and out of this desolate mountain for one or two years? Even if what he's looking for is a cultural relic worth a city, or a mountain of gold and a sea of silver, there should be a goal, and it would require excavation.

  There is no one else here, nor any machine, so it can't be that the two of them dug it out bit by bit with an iron shovel.

  Ma Tiancheng will accompany him in this hard work?

  The most critical thing is his title, Ma Tiancheng is very respectful to him, sometimes calling him Teacher Zhang, and sometimes Professor Zhang. Moreover, it's clear that his level is higher than Ma Tiancheng, the two people don't seem to be in a cooperative relationship at all.

  What were they doing in this inn?

  I lay in bed for a long time, thinking over and over about Juru's behavior these past few days. Maybe it was really because he pointed me out that I felt hostility towards him. The more I thought about him, the more I didn't think he was a good person.

  After a long while, there was a commotion outside. I hastily turned over on the bed and saw that Little Ai had just woken up from her sleep.

  There are people arguing outside, but now the curfew has been expanded, so who is it that's outside?

  I opened the door and saw the three boys standing in the corridor. Jin San Pao made a trumpet shape with his hands and said, "The three of us are going out to find a way out. If you don't want to die, follow us." We're going out to find a way to survive. Is anyone willing to come with us? If not, we'll leave.

  Everyone who heard the sound came out, and when they saw that everyone was out, Jin Sanpang cleared his throat and said, "We can't wait to die here. The three of us discussed it, and if we go on like this, we'll end up dying here sooner or later. It's not raining now either, so we're thinking of trying to climb the mountain. There must be a direction that leads out of the mountain, right? Is anyone willing to follow me?

  Two donkeys looked at each other and said, "You with your legs still want to climb a mountain?"

  Xiao Bin said, "It's better than dying here anyway. The rain has stopped, and if we walk slowly, we can get out of here. Spending the night on the mountain is safer than being here with ghosts and murderers, even if we encounter wolves." Besides, those two just helped me find this place.

  I had seen him carrying a thick branch under his arm, with a fork on top, like a natural crutch, and I didn't know where he found it.

  Everyone else was silent, and Ma Tiancheng also came up with two people. When the three of them said this, the dwarf said, "If you really want to go out, head in a northwest direction. After passing over two hills, there's a village where you can probably find vehicles and things like that, and then you'll be out."

  Jīn Sān Pàng said thank you, then looked around and said, "Is it that no one is following us? Then we'll leave, take care of yourselves."

  The three of them walked a few steps forward when Feng Yue suddenly said, "I'm going with you!"

  This answer from Feng Yue stunned me. To think that this group of men had driven a woman as beautiful as her to death back then, and now although everyone fears death, it's hard to avoid being infatuated at times.

  Isn't that moonlit night very dangerous?

  Is she going to follow Mei Xue's footsteps?