Chapter 7: Lewd Cruise (6)
"Sis, what's wrong?" Ji Ning stood in the doorway, and considering their escort identities, she put on a casual air of concern for this NPC.
She wanted to see if she could fish out any key information from her.
The woman crying in the corner wore a pink, cut-out one-piece swimsuit, considerably more conservative than the others.
Hearing someone ask, the woman looked up, her red-rimmed eyes glistening with tears in a way that evoked pity.
She was a delicate, fragile beauty.
She wiped her tears haphazardly and shook her head at Ji Ning. "I'm fine, just in a bad mood. I'll go up soon. You go ahead, so you don't get scolded."
Ji Ning thought to herself, crying this hard, something is clearly wrong.
But most people wouldn't press further after being refused like that, so Ji Ning nodded and said, "Alright then, I'll head up first." She turned and left, closing the door behind her.
Before leaving, Ji Ning cast another discreet glance at her, memorizing her face.
With this unexpected discovery, Ji Ning returned to the cruise ship's first floor. She saw Xing Ye leaning against the railing, still waiting for her where they had parted, and she jogged over to him.
Xing Ye's eyes lit up at Ji Ning's new look. He pulled her into his arms by the waist and said, half-jokingly, "Beautiful. For this trip, you belong only to me."
Ji Ning tilted her head with a smile. "Yes, Boss."
Xing Ye was amused by her. He leaned down and kissed Ji Ning's fragrant cheek, then took the opportunity to leave a sentence by her ear: "I have a new discovery."
With tacit understanding, Ji Ning moved closer and looked at the phone Xing Ye handed her.
On the phone was a post from a local relationship forum. The original poster said his good brother, Wei Yong, had been killed by a playboy from the Zhao Group in a street racing accident, and the news was suppressed with money, with no reports whatsoever.
Perhaps because the title was ordinary and the main post was only a few words, there weren't many replies; it was an unpopular, cold post.
"I saw the staff notice posted on the ship. The captain's surname is also Wei. That's a rare surname. The captain and the deceased might be father and son." Xing Ye held Ji Ning, lowering his head to ambiguously nuzzle her neck, masking their real conversation.
Ji Ning slipped the phone back into the outer pocket of Xing Ye's trench coat and hugged him, saying, "I also made a small discovery. When I was changing just now, I heard a female NPC crying in the fitting room. I asked her what was wrong, but she wouldn't say. I feel like she has a story."
"We can focus our observation on her." Xing Ye was somewhat surprised by Ji Ning's sharpness. It was rare to see a newcomer integrate into the game so quickly and proactively seek out clues. He praised her, "You're adapting very fast."
Ji Ning explained, a little embarrassed, "Not really, it just feels like playing a game. When an NPC shows abnormal behavior, it means a quest is about to be given."
In his previous life, Xing Ye had lived a life on the edge in gray areas and hadn't played many games, so he didn't quite understand what Ji Ning meant.
But that didn't stop him from liking her vitality and quick-wittedness.
He patiently taught her: "Judging from the relationship given with the captain, this is very likely a deduction world. I've encountered one before. After a key NPC is murdered, multiple suspects with motives to kill are uncovered. The mission objective is—to find the real murderer."
Ji Ning probed, "So, the captain might only have a motive, but isn't necessarily the real murderer, right?"
Xing Ye gave her an appreciative look and nodded.
"Then now that we know in advance that the birthday NPC might be killed, can we secretly follow him and witness the scene? That way we'd know the answer," Ji Ning asked again.
"No." Xing Ye explained, "You cannot change or interfere with the occurrence of events. If you are unfortunately discovered, it's a rule violation."
Ji Ning sighed. It seemed the rules in the game were truly strict, leaving no loopholes for players to exploit.
Now, thanks to Xing Ye, she already knew a lot of information in advance. But according to the game rules, they still had to wait until after the event occurred to act.
Although it was passive, compared to players who knew nothing, Ji Ning felt she was already very fortunate.
"Let's go take a look inside." Xing Ye pulled back slightly, then wrapped his arm around Ji Ning and walked towards the inner room on the cruise ship's first floor.
The inner room of the cruise ship was set up as a private bar. Noisy music was playing, and men and women were drinking and dancing with abandon.
There was even a central stage where two women were performing a sexy pole dance.
The birthday star, Young Master Hui, was surrounded by a crowd fawning over him.
But unlike most men with a girl on each arm, he still only had that one exceptionally dressed, gorgeous beauty by his side.
Xing Ye led Ji Ning to a sofa booth and sat down, explaining, "The one next to Young Master Hui is his girlfriend. Her family is also rich and powerful, so he doesn't dare mess around."
"No wonder." Ji Ning shifted her gaze, scanning the room, and actually spotted the delicate beauty who had been crying downstairs earlier.
Right now, she was huddled in a corner, completely out of place with her surroundings.
Just as Ji Ning was about to point her out to Xing Ye, a familiar voice sounded beside them.
"Brother Xing, is this seat taken?"
Ji Ning looked towards the voice and saw four familiar players. They were No. 2, No. 4, No. 8, and No. 9.
The one who spoke was the male player No. 8, the partner paired with No. 4.
Out of the 12 players, those assigned the "escort" identity were No. 2, No. 4, No. 7, and Ji Ning herself. The four corresponding male players were No. 3, No. 8, No. 9, and No. 12, Xing Ye.
The other four players—two women were assigned as waitresses, and two men as bodyguards.
This was the personnel identity situation Xing Ye had told Ji Ning about.
Although there was a competitive relationship between players, appropriate cooperation was also necessary.
Faced with the olive branch extended by No. 8, Xing Ye did not refuse and nodded, "Sit."
The three pairs of players gathered together. On the surface, they looked like friends and escorts sitting together, but underneath, undercurrents surged.
Listening to their conversation, Ji Ning learned that the female player No. 2 was named Jiang Shiyu.
Perhaps because Jiang Shiyu had wanted to team up with Xing Ye, and Ji Ning had replaced her as Xing Ye's female companion, Jiang Shiyu harbored considerable hostility towards Ji Ning.
The look she cast over was not friendly.
Similarly, No. 9, Ye Jiaming, was also not particularly warm towards Xing Ye.
But regardless, everyone was now in the same boat.
No. 8 sat beside Xing Ye, using his wine glass as cover, and said, "No. 10 has also been eliminated. Now there are only ten of us players left. Brother Xing, have you discovered anything?"
Xing Ye swirled the wine in his goblet, his deep eyes revealing no emotion. "Where's the sincerity?"
No. 8 was about to answer when Jiang Shiyu stood up and walked over to Xing Ye. She leaned over, hooking her arm around his neck, her deep cleavage fully exposed. "Brother Xing, I found out about an NPC named He Zhifang. He borrowed ten million from Young Master Hui, but his company recently went bankrupt."
Hearing this piece of information, Ji Ning felt even more certain that Xing Ye's guess was correct.
Multiple special clues pointed to the birthday star, Young Master Hui, proving that he was definitely a key figure involved in the event.
The murderer who killed the captain's son, the creditor of a huge loan… these were all reasons why Young Master Hui might be killed.
"Search 'Zhao Group' 'street racing'." Xing Ye succinctly stated the information in exchange, pushed away Jiang Shiyu's hand, stood up, and walked towards the bar counter serving drinks.
Jiang Shiyu glanced at Ji Ning and returned to her original seat beside Ye Jiaming.
Ji Ning didn't like her.
When Xing Ye returned with a new cocktail, Ji Ning stood up and went to meet him.
Xing Ye stopped and looked down at her.
Ji Ning took the wine glass from his hand, brought it to her lips, and took a large gulp. She drank a bit hastily, and the liquid trickled down from the corner of her mouth.
Thinking that just drinking Xing Ye's wine wasn't enough, Ji Ning grabbed his lapel, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him.
Xing Ye's Adam's apple bobbed. He was very interested in the delicious treat that had taken the initiative.
His palm pressed against Ji Ning's back, making her waist press against him. Then he extended his tongue to sweep away the wine on Ji Ning's lips, and followed the trail of spilled liquid downwards, licking her slender neck, her chest…
He even buried his face between Ji Ning's breasts, inhaling deeply the scent of her skin, then sucked hard on her chest, leaving a deep red strawberry mark.
Ji Ning felt her soul being sucked away, letting out a soft, shallow moan.
Just at that moment, the music changed, and a sexy jazz song started playing.
Someone took the microphone and announced, "Three minutes of erotic dancing, girls, get moving!"
Immediately, the escorts stood up one after another and came to the center of the floor, touching their chests and twisting their hips, performing for the rich young masters.
Xing Ye had no choice but to follow the other men to the lounge area and sit down, crossing his long legs and watching his little companion "cooperate with the performance" with leisurely interest.
Post a Comment