Although Jiang Xiao knew Jiang Mu was no simple man, he hadn’t expected him to be so utterly unflappable. Hearing his accusation, Jiang Mu showed not a trace of panic. Instead, his voice deepened slightly:
“When did I ever lie to you? Xiaoxiao, you still haven’t answered my question.”
He was even pulling the big brother act, questioning him.
Jiang Xiao paused, his tone harder than Jiang Mu’s. “You weren’t on a business trip. Wasn’t that a lie?”
The person on the other end of the phone chuckled. “And who told you that? Wen Xu?”
“So what if it was…”
“Xiaoxiao, I’ve told you before. Wen Xu isn’t who you think he is. Don’t trust him so much. You should keep your distance, or you’ll be sold off for cash without even knowing it.”
Jiang Mu’s voice wasn’t heavy, but every word painted a picture of Wen Xu that was completely different from the one Jiang Xiao knew. But why would Jiang Mu slander Wen Xu?
“I’ve known him for so long. If I don’t trust him, should I trust you?” Jiang Xiao tossed the question back, only to hear Ying Weizhu say from the other side, “Who are you chatting with? It’s been ages.”
Shit, Jiang Mu is leading me around by the nose!
Jiang Xiao jolted to awareness, hastily pulling the topic back. He was just about to press further: “Where the hell are you right now—”
Beep, beep, beep…
Click!
Then came the busy signal. Jiang Mu had actually hung up on him!
Jiang Xiao was utterly dumbfounded. He had never met such an impossible person! Could it be that because of the inheritance dispute, they were already sick of each other? And now that the company was his, Jiang Xiao had no further use, so Jiang Mu couldn’t even be bothered to maintain a facade of politeness and had just torn off the mask entirely?
Then, did Jiang Mu want to kill him? Without a doubt! It was even more likely that Jiang Mu had come to this hotel early to make another attempt, to murder Jiang Xiao.
It was just that something had gone wrong midway, a bizarre twist of fate leading to Qin Guan’s death instead.
“What are you thinking about? You’re about to crush your phone.” Ying Weizhu took a sip of his drink, his tone laced with a hint of teasing. “Looks like even the ever-triumphant Young Master Jiang has hit a wall this time.”
Unlike the others, upon learning about the murder, Ying Weizhu showed absolutely no surprise, shock, or panic. On the contrary, his mockery seemed to double, sporadically disrupting the atmosphere as if watching a boring, third-rate film. Even his tone perpetually held a hint of teasing.
Even when asking for clues, Ying Weizhu didn’t seem to actually want to find them; he just found it amusing, so he joined the game.
Cold enough to send a chill through the heart.
Bo Xiting thought he was the murderer. Ying Weizhu thrived on chaos. Add to that an unfathomable, mature, and experienced Jiang Mu who excelled at controlling the situation… There wasn’t a single normal person among these boyfriends!
Jiang Xiao had initially thought, how hard could a 4v1 be? Who knew it would turn into a difficult 2:3 situation. Besides Wen Xu, no one else seemed to have any intention of helping him find the real culprit.
“You know, someone died in this hotel. It seems it was this very room. Blood was everywhere. The killer was clearly prepared…”
Qin Guan’s words still echoed in his ears. When he said those things, could he have ever imagined they would come true for him tonight?
Ying Weizhu had mentioned the murder game after dinner. Had he done it on purpose? To mask his true motives?
No. If he wanted to kill someone, why make such a grand display? Everyone would suspect him first and foremost.
Bo Xiting was also suspicious. He wasn’t the one who forcibly kissed him in the dark, yet he directly pinned the murderer’s label on him. Was it to frame him?
“If no one talks, dawn will break. If you don’t want to sleep, I still do.” Ying Weizhu’s tone was languid. He actually made a move as if to leave the room. Seeing Jiang Xiao still motionless, he looked back. “Jiang Xiao, who are you sleeping with tonight? Think carefully. Other than me, the other two could both be the murderer. Make the wrong choice, and be careful you don’t get killed in the night.”
“How do you clear your own suspicion?” Bo Xiting said coldly. “Are you going to imitate Jiang Xiao and pretend you can’t see either?”
The corner of Ying Weizhu’s mouth quirked up. “In Werewolf Kill, villagers don’t need to prove themselves. Only werewolves want them to. The more you say, the more holes appear. Furthermore, I have no motive to commit the crime. On this point, Jiang Xiao can fully vouch for me.”
“Clearing suspicion just by flapping your lips.” Bo Xiting said. “That’s far too easy. Besides, Jiang Xiao himself can’t even prove he isn’t the murderer.”
“Of course, I can.”
Ying Weizhu raised an eyebrow. An undisguisable sense of superiority radiated from his entire being. Coupled with the deep red jacket he wore tonight, his notably more striking and handsome features, and those dazzling golden pupils, the man was like a peacock in full courtship display.
He smiled slightly and opened his mouth—
“In those few minutes during the blackout tonight…”
In that instant, Jiang Xiao realized what Ying Weizhu was about to say. His face changed drastically. A sense of self-preservation made him want to stop Ying Weizhu from uttering the next words, but it was already too late.
“…I was kissing Jiang Xiao.”
“It must have lasted two minutes, I lost track, because he was so passionate. That kiss is enough for me to savor for a long time.”
Ying Weizhu’s words were full of poorly concealed boasting:
“Is that proof enough to clear both Jiang Xiao and myself?”
Dead silence.
So quiet you could hear the sound of sanity gradually crumbling.
Jiang Xiao now truly felt “a darkness before his eyes.”
It was over…
Jiang Xiao had indeed suspected Ying Weizhu was that person, because the guy had pinched his cheek before leaving. Bo Xiting would absolutely never do such a thing, but it fit Ying Weizhu perfectly.
But Jiang Xiao hadn’t planned on verifying it immediately, because he had more important things to do.
He never expected Ying Weizhu to voluntarily blurt it out!
If he’d only told him in private, it would be one thing, but now, besides them, there was Bo Xiting, the attendant, and Jiang Xiao’s official boyfriend, Wen Xu.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he couldn’t even come up with an excuse to deny it.
“Is that true, Xiaoxiao.”
Wen Xu’s voice sounded like a summon from hell. Even though his emotions were stable, his voice calm, without a trace of anger.
Jiang Xiao didn’t know if he should say “Yes,” or yell, “Ying Weizhu is lying to you all!”
As someone with a boyfriend, he naturally should state the facts, like “He forcibly kissed me,” but Jiang Xiao…
He really couldn’t say it out loud.
It was utterly humiliating.
Could he say that he, a grown man, had been pinned onto a sofa and kissed by another man? He’d lose all face for the rest of his life.
The attendant at the side clearly hadn’t expected such juicy gossip either. He looked at the varied expressions on the faces of the people present—each seemingly jealous in their own right—and a dramatic tale of love, hatred, and tangled passions immediately spun up in his mind.
“…” Jiang Xiao agonized for a long time, but didn’t see the red notification bar for an increase in his Mortality Rate appear again.
“So, you see, I’m the only reliable one right now.” Ying Weizhu lifted his eyelids to glance at the other two and drawled, “Now there are only two suspects, which should be easy to sort out, right?”
Wen Xu’s expression was so calm it was almost strange. As for Bo Xiting, ever since Ying Weizhu said those words, his cold shell seemed to have been shattered by something, revealing a faintly mocking expression.
The relationship these two had with Jiang Xiao wasn’t as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Jiang Xiao had been in a daze for a while. Hearing Ying Weizhu say that, he reflexively opened his mouth and refuted him:
“No, there’s one more suspect.”
Ying Weizhu was stunned for a moment. “This attendant?”
The attendant hastily shook his head. “Not me, it really wasn’t me!”
“Take me to 415,” Jiang Xiao said. “He’s staying there.”
Ying Weizhu asked, “The person lurking outside the door, you know him?”
“His name is Jiang Mu. I have nothing to do with him.” Jiang Xiao didn’t answer directly, nor did he let Ying Weizhu support him. He said to the attendant, “Please take me up there. I’ll take responsibility for any issues.”
As the attendant was about to step forward, someone had already moved before him to support Jiang Xiao.
But it wasn’t the kind of support between ordinary friends. One hand was placed on Jiang Xiao’s waist, as if silently asserting possessiveness. Then, he lowered his head and whispered in Jiang Xiao’s ear. That intimate, ambiguous gesture could never be within the bounds of friendship.
And considering they were both guys, it was even stranger.
The attendant turned his head to look at Ying Weizhu, but Ying Weizhu seemed completely unbothered. Seeing him look over, he even smiled and said, “What are you looking at? Keep looking and I’ll kill you.”
The attendant shivered and hastily scrambled out of the room, yet couldn’t suppress his curiosity:
Just what was the relationship between these people in the room? Their love lives were way too messy!
Wen Xu left first with Jiang Xiao. Bo Xiting remained where he was, picked up Jiang Xiao’s phone from the side, tapped it a few times, and the sarcasm in his brow deepened, as if he wasn’t surprised at all. He pocketed the phone and also walked out the door.
Left alone, Ying Weizhu leaned against the corner of the table, let out a scoff, raised a hand to unbutton a few buttons of his shirt, and lowered his head. He lit a cigarette with a lighter but didn’t smoke it, merely watching the wisp of white smoke drift upwards, forming a thin, eerie ghostly shadow that reached the ceiling painted with dark patterns.
The strange smile that had been at the corner of his lips had long since frozen. His golden pupils gradually turned into a deeper, more profound, and sinister coldness.
“Jiang Mu, is it…”
“There are always so many people in the way. I really want to kill them all.”
