Chapter 108: Adult Empire (14)
An hour after Jiang Ting left, Ji Ning received a message from him.
"I asked the doctor. Xiao Liwei had a complete stroke and is still unconscious. His wife, Jiang Wenshu, is taking care of him. Xiao Changtian hasn't arrived yet. All the company executives are here now; they should all leave soon. I can't stay long."
Ji Ning handed her phone to Sheng Churan to read and said, "It feels like we're very close to unlocking the clearance condition. With the chairman hospitalized, people who had grudges against him might seize the chance to make a move."
After reading it, Sheng Churan mused, "Once the main NPC falls ill, everyone will go to the hospital to visit him. We can't just stand by and watch. If we want to investigate clues, we have to go to the hospital too. It really is a 3-star difficulty instance."
In the current situation, neither of them had any solution. Ji Ning murmured, "What does that hint mean? 'The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.' Could it be like on the cruise ship, meaning the actual killer and the apparent killer aren't the same person?"
"That sentence has three subjects. The mantis, the cicada, and the oriole. They should correspond to three people. Setting the event aside for now, the main NPC, Xiao Liwei, could be the mantis, the cicada, or the oriole," Sheng Churan said slowly.
Ji Ning understood. He was approaching it like cracking a combination lock, first listing all possible permutations of the code without worrying about what the lock itself was.
She continued, "The cicada is a victim who takes no action. The mantis is both a victim and a perpetrator. The oriole is the pure perpetrator, and also the ultimate beneficiary."
Sheng Churan looked at Ji Ning with a smile in his eyes and nodded. "Once the event triggers and unlocks the clearance condition, we'll know."
Ji Ning sighed softly, looking at her chat interface with Jiang Ting on her phone, silently praying he could stay safe and unharmed in that tense environment and make a clean getaway.
That night became complicated and tense because of the chairman's hospitalization. Ji Ning had no mind to do anything else. By midnight, she still hadn't received any news from Jiang Ting. She sent him a message asking if he would be coming back, then hugged her phone waiting for a reply. She fell asleep waiting.
Sheng Churan was resting with his eyes closed, sorting through the instance clues.
Suddenly, he heard soft, long breaths beside him. He turned his head and saw Ji Ning had fallen asleep. Gently, he slipped the phone from her hand and placed it on the nightstand, then covered her properly with the blanket.
He had just turned off the main light and switched on the small wall lamp when a knock came at the door.
Sheng Churan walked barefoot to the door and opened it. It was Jiang Ting, back.
"Shh—" Sheng Churan pressed his index finger to his lips. "She's asleep. Keep it down."
Jiang Ting nodded, quietly took off his shoes, and slowly closed the door, making almost no sound.
The two tall, long-limbed, handsome men crept one after the other toward the bed. Ji Ning, startled awake, opened her eyes and caught them in the act.
Jiang Ting and Sheng Churan stopped abruptly, both looking a little regretful.
"Did we wake you?" they asked in unison.
Ji Ning shook her head, let out a small yawn, and sat up. In her drowsy, half-asleep haze, a soft, tender mood came over her, and she opened her arms toward the two of them.
Jiang Ting and Sheng Churan each took one of her hands and sat down on either side of her.
"How was it over there? When you didn't reply, I was afraid you might have accidentally gone OOC and been discovered," Ji Ning said to Jiang Ting.
Jiang Ting rubbed her hand reassuringly. "It was too sudden. The scene was a bit out of control. Xiao Liwei is in the intensive care unit. The other NPCs were waiting in the lounge and still managed to start arguing."
"Arguing about what?" Ji Ning had assumed these executives and wealthy people would care more about their image. Yet with Xiao Liwei still lying in a hospital room, they were arguing outside?
A sarcastic smile touched Jiang Ting's lips. "Xiao Changtian wants to 'ascend the throne.' The chairman's wife, Jiang Wenshu, wants to return to the company to take charge. The others are fighting over the company procedures going forward."
"Will something happen tonight?" Sheng Churan asked bluntly.
Jiang Ting seemed to have already considered this question and answered without hesitation. "Probably not. Even if someone wants to make a move, there isn't enough time. We'll see tomorrow or the day after. The Leyu boss you mentioned didn't come tonight, but he might visit tomorrow."
Then, Jiang Ting looked at Ji Ning and said, "I used the clues about Xiao Changtian and Xia Na to trade with another player who's also an executive for information on the personal assistant, Dong Yicheng. He left work late today and saw Dong Yicheng enter the chairman's office and come out with a document envelope. He doesn't know what was inside."
"Taking a document envelope at a time like this? Was he authorized by the chairman, or did he do it on his own? Both possibilities feel suspicious," Ji Ning said, resting her chin on her hand, lost in thought.
Jiang Ting hadn't forgotten that she had already fallen asleep earlier. He patted Ji Ning's head and coaxed her, "Alright, stop thinking about it. Go to sleep early. That way you can get up earlier tomorrow."
Ji Ning nodded. After washing up, she squeezed into her bed with the two big men.
Luckily, it was a one-meter-eight wide bed. If it had been a one-meter-five bed, one of them would have definitely had to sleep on the sofa. That scene would probably have been terrifying too.
Just before drifting off, Ji Ning thought to herself, if it really were a one-meter-five bed, rather than letting them fight over who got the bed, she might as well sleep on the sofa and let the two of them share the bed. That would certainly be very interesting.
The next morning, the three who had shared a bed the night before went their separate ways, each heading to a different place.
Ji Ning went to work at the company. The early arrivals had already spread the news of the chairman's hospitalization.
She pretended to be clueless and joined the gossip circle, discovering that some people were likely spreading rumors based on hearsay. Some were even saying Xiao Liwei had a myocardial infarction.
Coincidentally, Ji Ning didn't have much work that day. She kept a constant eye on the company's situation and found that the chairman's hospitalization had a significant impact even on the lower-level departments.
Near the end of the workday, Ji Ning received a message from Jiang Ting: Xiao Liwei was dead.
Jiang Ting had returned to the company at noon. Whatever had happened in the hospital during his absence, the three of them were completely in the dark.
Ji Ning checked the time. It was now 5:30 PM. They got off work at 6:00 PM. First, she could see which NPCs were currently at the company.
There were no key NPCs on her floor, so Ji Ning could only ask Jiang Ting.
"Xiao Changtian is here, and so is the Purchasing Department Director, Xiao Yuqing. The others aren't. I'm heading to the hospital now."
After receiving Jiang Ting's reply, Ji Ning forwarded the latest news to Sheng Churan.
Sheng Churan replied quickly: "Zhang Long returned to the company at 2 PM."
Ji Ning arranged with Jiang Ting and Sheng Churan to meet near the private hospital after work. She barely endured until quitting time, and before her colleagues, unaware that the chairman was dead, could erupt into chaos, she rushed ahead to the murder scene.
Half an hour later, the three met up in a sparsely populated small square behind the hospital and first exchanged the information they had gathered in the interim.
Still, Jiang Ting knew the most.
"When Xiao Liwei died, the people at the hospital were the chairman's wife, Jiang Wenshu, and the personal assistant, Dong Yicheng. Now, the female secretary Xia Na and Xiao Changtian have also arrived. Xiao Yuqing stayed at the company."
Sheng Churan mused, "Zhang Long left at 2 PM, and Xiao Liwei died at 5:30 PM. That's a three-and-a-half-hour gap. His suspicion should be reduced to the minimum."
Ji Ning nodded in agreement. "Xiao Liwei was already critically ill, with such a severe stroke. I don't think Zhang Long had any need to make a move against him."
"I agree," Sheng Churan said coolly. "Right now, the highest suspicion falls on the people who were at the hospital during Xiao Liwei's time of death. But Xiao Changtian can't be ignored either. He wasn't at the hospital, but Xia Na only left briefly during the exact period Xiao Liwei died. The two of them have a secret connection. Xiao Changtian might have stayed at the company precisely to establish an alibi... I should head back. You two go keep watch at the hospital's main entrance. Exchange any news immediately."
"Okay, be careful," Ji Ning agreed with a nod.
After Jiang Ting left, Ji Ning couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The system panel still hadn't refreshed the clearance condition... But during the first cruise ship instance, the prompt had been slightly delayed. Maybe it was the same this time.
Following Jiang Ting's arrangement, Ji Ning and Sheng Churan hid behind a newsstand at the hospital's main entrance to see if they could spot anything.
As it turned out, they actually saw something. After Xiao Changtian arrived, his car stopped by the roadside. Xia Na got in for a while. Both of their expressions were off, as if they had been arguing. Then, one after the other, they separated and returned to the hospital.
Ji Ning sent this discovery to Jiang Ting and also received feedback from him.
"Jiang Wenshu's mental state is collapsing. She absolutely cannot accept Xiao Liwei's death. She had previously demanded the hospital perform cardiac resuscitation on him. Now she's contacting doctors to request an autopsy to investigate the cause of death. Looks like we can eliminate another possibility."
Just as Ji Ning was about to reply, the system interface moved. The content finally updated.
【Clearance Condition: Correctly identify the murderer who killed Xiao Liwei】
【Time limit: 12 hours. Correct answer within 4 hours rewards 300 points / within 8 hours rewards 150 points / within 12 hours rewards 80 points. Countdown: 21:59:51】
【A correct answer clears the instance. An incorrect answer results in Elimination.】
It was now 6:20 PM. Nearly an hour had passed since Xiao Liwei's death at 5:30 PM. The unlock had taken quite a while this time.
Ji Ning thought to herself, and the answering time wasn't 24 hours either, but 12 hours. Was it because the non-suspects were very easy to rule out this time?
After all, only half an hour had passed, and they had already eliminated two people.
"Heartthrob, what do you think is the difficult point of this 3-star instance?" Ji Ning suddenly asked Sheng Churan.
Sheng Churan answered quickly, "The difficulty in gathering evidence, the difficulty in textual research, and... the deceptive nature."
Ji Ning felt a faint stir in her heart and pressed further, "Does the deceptive nature lie in the sequence that led to Xiao Liwei's death, and that hint?"
The look they exchanged carried a tacit understanding. Sheng Churan nodded. "Yes. Besides Jiang Wenshu and Zhang Long being ruled out, Xiao Changtian, Xia Na, Xiao Yuqing, and even that personal assistant all had the motive and opportunity to act. In reality, more than one person might have made a move. Otherwise, why would the hint have come so late?"
Ji Ning picked up the thread. "And that hint line. I think it would be far too simple if Xiao Liwei were the cicada. Also, Dong Yicheng returning to the office yesterday must have had a very important reason. If Xiao Liwei was truly critically ill, would he send his personal assistant back to the company to get a document envelope? What was inside it?"
As they were talking, Ji Ning's phone lit up. She opened it to see a message from Jiang Ting.
"Xiao Liwei's lips turned black. He should have died from poisoning. Also, his phone is missing. Now that the victim's poisoning has been discovered, Xia Na is acting extremely nervous. Jiang Wenshu is interrogating her."
Reading this message, Ji Ning felt goosebumps rise all over her body.
Xiao Liwei's phone was missing. The killer must have taken it. What was the killer trying to cover up by taking his phone?
After reading the message, Sheng Churan made a prompt decision. "Ning-Ning, I still remember Dong Yicheng's license plate. Let's go to the underground parking garage and look around. See if that document envelope is in his car."
"Okay!" Ji Ning didn't want to just wait around doing nothing either, so she went with Sheng Churan into the underground parking garage.
Luckily, their luck was good. They indeed found Dong Yicheng's car in the parking garage.
Looking through the car window, they saw the corner of a document envelope peeking out from under the back seat cushion.
Sheng Churan said quietly, "This car doesn't have an alarm. Otherwise... I'll go find a rock and smash the window."
Doing this carried some risk. While Ji Ning hesitated, Jiang Ting sent another message.
"Xia Na admitted that she was instructed by Xiao Changtian to poison Xiao Liwei. But Xiao Changtian said it would only affect Xiao Liwei's condition, making his stroke difficult to recover from, and wouldn't kill anyone. Now there are three possibilities. 1. Xia Na is lying. 2. Xiao Changtian lied and deceived Xia Na; he truly wanted to kill Xiao Liwei. 3. The poison that killed Xiao Liwei wasn't administered by Xia Na; someone else made a move."
Ji Ning replied, "We're in the parking garage. We saw that document envelope in Dong Yicheng's car. We want to smash the window to see what's inside. You said Xiao Liwei's phone was stolen. I think it would be an unnecessary move for Xia Na and Xiao Changtian to steal the phone. It seems this window must be smashed."
Sheng Churan watched Ji Ning reply to the message. After she sent it, he said firmly, "Be careful. I'm going to find a rock now."
Ji Ning looked at him with a complex expression, but ultimately nodded.
Sheng Churan found a rock and returned quickly.
Before raising his hand to act, Sheng Churan paused again. He walked over to Ji Ning, held her hand, and said seriously, "Go to the turn at the entrance and be my lookout. If anything abnormal happens on my end, don't come out."
His meaning couldn't have been clearer. "If I die, leave quickly."
Ji Ning's tears fell instantly. She shook her head, not knowing what to say.
Sheng Churan leaned down and gave her a light kiss on the lips, his tone gentle and smiling. "Based on my experience from ten instances, nothing should go wrong. Alright, we need to move a bit faster. More and more cars will be entering the parking garage soon."
He turned her around by the shoulders and nudged her toward the exit. Ji Ning looked back at him deeply, then had no choice but to do as he said.
She waited at the corner of the parking garage entrance and found that Sheng Churan's method of smashing the car window was very clever. From where she stood, she could only hear a faint sound if she listened carefully.
This put her a little more at ease. She held her phone, ready on the interface to call Sheng Churan, prepared to alert him the moment any car entered.
During this time, three cars entered. Sheng Churan was forced to stop his actions three times. In the end, it took over twenty minutes before he finally called Ji Ning with good news.
Ji Ning hurried back to where Dong Yicheng's car was parked and saw Sheng Churan taking out the documents from the envelope, his handsome brows furrowed as he read. She knew the matter was not simple.
"Come look at this, quick." Sheng Churan handed the documents to Ji Ning. "It's Xiao Liwei's notarized certificate."
Ji Ning's heart pounded wildly. She took it and quickly scanned it. Inside the document envelope was a printed copy of the Inheritance Law, and a notarized certificate of non-inheritance, drafted by a lawyer and personally signed by Xiao Liwei.
"According to our country's Inheritance Law, the following four categories of violators shall not inherit the estate. If any of the following violations exist, the will cannot be enacted even if it exists.
1. Intentionally killing the decedent;
2. Killing other heirs in order to contest the estate..."
Ji Ning's mind was buzzing. She felt they were closing in on the answer. She murmured, "Do you think... is it possible that Xiao Liwei is actually the..."
"Xiao Liwei is the mantis, and all his estate heirs are the cicadas." Sheng Churan completed her sentence. "And Dong Yicheng... is the oriole!"
"Evidence... the evidence is still insufficient..." Ji Ning pulled out her phone, wanting to photograph the contents of this document envelope and send them to Jiang Ting.
Just as she sent it successfully, Jiang Ting also sent over several photos of phone chat logs, along with a message.
"I searched Dong Yicheng's bag when no one was looking and found Xiao Liwei's phone. From their chat records, we can piece together that Xiao Liwei wanted to stage a fake death. It seems it was to manipulate his wife and children. Since it was a fake death, he would have been on guard against everyone. It's impossible he would have died at Xia Na's hands, no matter what the poison was. Also, I checked the remaining poison Xia Na provided. The victim's post-mortem reaction from that poison is foaming at the mouth, not blackened lips."
Ji Ning's fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed: "Look at what we found here too. Dong Yicheng took away the notarized certificate Xiao Liwei set up, precisely to hide this evidence of a fake death. And to conveniently frame the murder on someone else. I just don't know why Dong Yicheng wanted to kill Xiao Liwei."
Sheng Churan also added aloud, "And the most important point. The system prompt was delayed. This means Xiao Liwei's actual time of death wasn't 5:30 PM, but around 6:00 PM."
Ji Ning nodded. She had almost overlooked this point, which she had also felt was off. She added another message and sent it to Jiang Ting.
Jiang Ting replied, "All the evidence fits perfectly. Dong Yicheng is the killer. His motive for murder is to tamper with Xiao Liwei's notarized certificate and transfer the inheritance rights to himself. Dong Yicheng's wife's surname is Chu. Xiao Liwei's lawyer... is also surnamed Chu."
After reading this message, Ji Ning looked up at Sheng Churan. Bright, brilliant light shone in both their eyes.
Her phone lit up again. It was a message from Jiang Ting: "Ning-Ning, by the time you see this message, I will have already submitted the answer. I filled in Dong Yicheng's name. If the system doesn't notify me of an incorrect answer, you can confirm the answer."
Livestream comments:
"Oh my god, what a touching scene. Boss Jiang has forcefully turned a suspense drama into a moving romance drama."
"Wuwuwu, another day of being moved by the cold Boss Jiang's change of heart."
"The three of them coordinated so well, brilliant!"
"The moments when Ji Ning is protected by both Jiang Ting and Sheng Churan are so wonderful."
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