Chapter 14: Lewd Cruise (13)
With just over three hours left until the first-tier points quiz deadline, Ji Ning and Xing Ye split up again to search for the real cause of Young Master Hui's death—the primary crime scene.
There was no order left on the ship. The chaos actually made it easier to fish in troubled waters.
Ji Ning pretended to be looking for someone as she searched the cabins room by room.
Unfortunately, the cabins on the lower level only contained washrooms, a kitchen, a storage room, small cubicles, and changing rooms. Aside from the kitchen being slightly more complex, every other space was simple and could be taken in at a single glance.
As Ji Ning was checking room by room, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind her.
"Well? Found any clues?"
Ji Ning turned around. It was Player No. 2, Jiang Shiyu.
Arms crossed, Jiang Shiyu looked at Ji Ning with an inscrutable smile. Her leisurely, unhurried demeanor suggested she was already very confident.
Ji Ning guessed it was because they were trapped in this dangerous fantasy survival game, where people gambled with their lives in competition, that the darker aspects of human nature were amplified without limit.
So even with little prior interaction, the female players were deeply bothered by the fact that a newcomer like Ji Ning could team up with Xing Ye. This Player No. 2 was especially so.
Seeing Ji Ning stay silent, Jiang Shiyu added, "Xing Ye will regret not picking me."
Does that mean she's already found a key clue and knows who the killer is? Ji Ning's heart skipped a beat.
Not wanting to reveal too much, Ji Ning shot back, "Is Brother Xing Ye the type to have regrets?" and turned to leave.
Although it felt good to snap back at the baffling Jiang Shiyu, Ji Ning couldn't shake what she'd said.
Analyzing the words and tone, Ji Ning felt that Jiang Shiyu was not only certain her answer was correct but also conveyed a sense that "no matter how hard you try, you'll never find the right answer."
Ji Ning wondered: had Jiang Shiyu hidden or destroyed the clues she found so that no one else could ever learn of them?
After all, the circumstances around Young Master Hui's death were deeply suspicious, and not just what she and Xing Ye had uncovered. For instance, why was a dead man moved back onto the bed? How did his girlfriend not notice a thing until she woke up in the morning?
Still, Ji Ning wasn't too worried, because she had her own confidence—and it wasn't blind confidence.
Moreover, Jiang Shiyu hadn't paid attention to the NPC Yang Yi. That meant her focus was likely on the other lead mentioned earlier: the NPC He Zhifang, who had borrowed a large sum from Young Master Hui and then gone bankrupt.
Ji Ning and Xing Ye already knew the knife wounds on Young Master Hui came from a left-handed bodyguard. If the real killer was He Zhifang, the most probable relationship between the bodyguard and He Zhifang was that of client and contractor.
Something like helping dispose of a body and cover up the evidence.
But if that was the case, the bodyguard could have simply dumped the body in the sea. Why go to so much trouble to inflict so many wounds on Young Master Hui's body and then put it back for others to find?
But with Yang Yi, it was different.
Based on her observations, Ji Ning felt that Yang Yi didn't seem like someone who chose to be an escort girl willingly. It looked more like she had been coerced.
Someone with such a complicated background, who intersected with Young Master Hui and acted guilty in the face of a murder case—the probability of her being the correct answer was genuinely high.
This was the confidence Ji Ning had gained from frequently guessing the killer correctly in suspense films.
She finished checking every accessible room in the cabins and had just returned to the deck when she saw Xing Ye coming back too.
He strode quickly up to her, leaned down, and whispered in her ear, "Found it. Follow me."
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