The weapon by the pillow

Chapter 27 The Truth About Interference

"Only by going out can we find a way out; we can't just sit here and wait to die!"

Lin Qian agreed with Cheng Tan's statement, repeating it firmly as her gaze swept over every bewildered face in the room.

"Trapped here, we are just pieces on a chessboard, every move we make is calculated."

Cheng Tan nodded vigorously, cold sweat glistening on his forehead in the dim light: "Yes! From my nightmares, to the old newspapers, to the online lottery, to being trapped here... we're all being led by the nose by an invisible force! Whatever it wants us to see, that's all we can see; what it doesn't want us to know, we'll always be kept in the dark!"

He pointed to the half-eaten lipstick on the ground, his voice filled with mocking anger, "Just like this lipstick! Suddenly thrown in, with a note saying 'She's dead too,' and all our attention is drawn to another dead person! But we don't even know who 'she' is, how she died, or why she died! We're like a donkey chasing a carrot, forever going in circles!"

Shadow's eyes sharpened. He slowly stood up, his gaze fixed on the camera: "Think about it from the opposite perspective. If they want us to focus on the lipstick and Liu Li, then it means... Liu Li might not be the key, or at least not the most urgent key right now. They want to divert our attention."

Li Kai suddenly realized: "Just now... just now we were clearly discussing Jin Dafu! The gold ring! The person wearing the gold ring could very well be Jin Dafu! Then there was a knock on the door, and the lipstick was thrown in! That was an interruption!"

"Yes!" Lin Qian continued, "The other party doesn't want us to investigate Jin Dafu thoroughly! Or rather, they don't want us to investigate Jin Dafu right now, here! Why?"

Wu Wenbin adjusted his glasses, his voice still trembling slightly, but his thoughts were gradually becoming clearer: "Because... Jin Dafu might be the core of this scheme? Or perhaps, the real target the mastermind is after? And if we focus our attention on him now, it might... disrupt the mastermind's plans?"

This conclusion gave everyone a boost of spirits.

Having been led by the nose for so long, for the first time, they seemed to have touched one end of that invisible thread.

"Jin Dafu..." Lynx scratched his head. "If he really is the boss of the demolition company, ruthless, rich, and powerful, who can deal with him? Besides, it's been thirteen years. If he wanted revenge, he should have done it long ago. Why wait until now?"

"Unless," Shadow calmly analyzed, "that Jin Dafu wasn't the only mastermind behind what happened back then, or perhaps he wasn't the deepest mastermind. Or perhaps... the 'ritual' from back then wasn't completed, leaving behind hidden dangers. Now, someone wants to 'finish' it."

"A completion ritual?" Cheng Tan felt a chill run down his spine. "Using... a method to eliminate the participants?"

"Possibly." Shadow nodded. "Zhao Jianguo and Wang Bin are dead, and Liu Li is dead too. If this is a purge list, then there must be others on it. Jin Dafu is very likely on the list, and ranked very low, perhaps even last. The mastermind doesn't want us 'pawns' to alert the 'King' too early, so they're using lipstick to distract us."

Li Kai clenched his fists: "What about my sister? What role did she play in this 'ritual'? A sacrifice?"

No one can answer.

In an enclosed space, despair is the easiest thing to permeate.

If Li Wan's death was indeed a premeditated ritual involving multiple people, or a ritualistic murder, then what she endured in the final moments of her life was far darker and more cruel than an ordinary murder.

"We still have to get out," Lin Qian emphasized again. She walked to the door and carefully inspected the door frame and walls. "We have to find a way to save ourselves; we can't just wait around."

How do we get out?

Now, it was Lynx's turn to desperately pound on the iron gate, crying, "The door's jammed! The windows're sealed! That hole was only big enough for a lipstick to fit through! We..."

Before he could finish speaking, a buzzing sound of electricity suddenly filled the room.

For the first time, an electrical sound was heard in the room. Everyone was startled and looked in the direction of the sound.

In the small space, the sound was not hard to find; it came from a hidden camera in the corner of the room, under a broken table.

Immediately afterwards, a mechanical voice, processed by a voice changer, came from the camera's built-in miniature speaker, echoing in every corner of the room.

"very good."

"We've found almost all the clues."

"Zhao Jianguo, Wang Bin, Liu Li... and Wu Guodong."

"Those who participated or knew about it back then are disappearing one by one."

"But do you know what's the most interesting thing?"

The voice paused for a moment, as if enjoying the feeling of being in control and creating suspense.

"The most interesting thing is that the murderer... is right among you."

These words, like a spark thrown into boiling oil, instantly ignited the already precarious trust and rationality in the room.

"What?!"

"Nonsense!"

An angry shouts and curses erupted from the crowd.

Lynx glanced sharply at the shadow, then at Wu Wenbin, his eyes filled with suspicion. A-Zhe and Xiao Fei gripped each other's arms tightly, their eyes scanning the others with fear. Lin Qian instinctively took a step back, distancing herself from everyone. Li Kai's gaze turned extremely dangerous, like that of a wounded beast, sweeping across every face in the room.

"Who are you? Why are you trying to sow discord between us! Come out!" Cheng Tan asked sharply.

At this time, doubt is the most deadly thing!

But those words were incredibly hurtful.

Cheng Tan couldn't help but think back: The murderer... is among us? Of the seven? Li Kai? Wu Wenbin? Mountain Cat? A Zhe? Xiao Fei? Lin Qian? Shadow? Or... myself?

The voice continued, as if it could read everyone's thoughts, and revealed a mocking tone:

"Don't believe me? That's fine."

"Let me help you recall what happened in this room that night thirteen years ago."

"That wasn't a simple home invasion robbery, nor was it a crime of passion."

"That was a... ceremony."

"A meticulously planned 'sacrifice' to cover up an even greater evil."

A ritual? A sacrifice?

These words sent a chill down everyone's spine.

"Li Wan, poor girl. She was just unfortunate enough to live above 'that place'."

"And 'that place' holds secrets that some people don't want anyone to know."

"Demolition? That's just a pretext."

"The real reason lies in the secret chamber beneath your feet, where something else is hidden."

"Wu Guodong only discovered the first level of the secret room back then, the level where the boxes were placed."

"But he didn't realize that there was a second layer below."

"What's inside is what Jin Dafu and Zhang Zhiqiang really want to cover up."

"That's also why Li Wan had to die."

The voice suddenly emitted a twisted laugh.

"Now, make your choices, tools trapped in the room."

"It's about continuing to distrust each other and waiting for the police to rescue you—by the way, they've arrived downstairs, but they won't be coming up yet because I've buried some 'little gifts' in the building, and they need to defuse the bombs first."

"Or...should I take matters into my own hands and uncover the final truth?"

"Friendly reminder: The switch on the second floor is hidden in the bottom layer of that camphor wood box."