To further confirm his suspicions, Jing Minghe asked, "Where are Yan Xiaoqian and Tong Zheng?"
Whether it was because Chi Hao was tired of talking or for plot progression, he spoke after a while, his tone wavering between reluctance and tenderness, "Darling, what are you talking about? Aren't Yan Xiaoqian and Tong Zheng already dead?"
"What?" Jing Minghe was puzzled.
Could there be three victims in this case? Did they become victims because they chose the wrong culprit last time?
No.
Jing Minghe immediately dismissed this thought. If they were killed for choosing the wrong culprit, then Lin Ling, who also chose incorrectly, was still alive.
That's right! There was one more person!
"What about Guan Wei?" Jing Minghe quickly asked, "Is he okay?"
Chi Hao reached out and touched Jing Minghe's forehead, asking him, "Who is Guan Wei?"
Jing Minghe opened his mouth, unsure how to explain.
In the previous case, Guan Wei was the detective, but he shouldn't be this time. Chi Hao's identity seemed unchanged; he was still the CEO of an entertainment company, and Jing Minghe was an artist in Chi Hao's company.
There was no Guan Wei in Chi Hao's storyline. Perhaps the detective from the previous case didn't need to continue in the instance after finding the culprit?
"Alright," Chi Hao directly pushed Jing Minghe down onto the bed, trying to finish his lines, "Don't overthink it, just sleep. You'll be fine when you wake up. I'll handle everything."
How could Jing Minghe sleep? He was still thinking about how to trigger the next plot point. This case had too many victims.
Before he could come up with a method, his eyelids suddenly felt heavy. He had experienced this feeling last night; it was a forced sleep.
How... could this happen?
Forced sleep in an instance couldn't be resisted by sheer willpower. Jing Minghe didn't even have time to take out his pocket watch to check the time before his vision went black, and he fell completely asleep.
·
"Minghe! Minghe, wake up!"
Jing Minghe groggily heard a voice and struggled to open his eyes. Before he could fully come to his senses, he saw Guan Wei, whom he had just speculated wouldn't be part of this instance, standing by his bed.
"Guan Wei?" Jing Minghe sat up and asked tentatively, "What do you need me for?"
Guan Wei glanced at the empty space before him, then looked down at Jing Minghe and said, "President Chi killed Doctor Youmi. Assistant Yue asked me to tell you that if President Chi comes to find you, don't go with him."
Jing Minghe took a deep breath, trying to calm his emotions.
Chi Hao killed Youmi?
Were there so many victims this time?
No.
Jing Minghe thought back. Earlier, Chi Hao had told him that Chen Mu had killed Yue Yang, but now Guan Wei said Assistant Yue had sent him.
This meant Yue Yang wasn't dead?
"But you don't need to worry," Guan Wei continued his scripted performance, "Assistant Yue and Photographer Tong have gone to find President Chi. They're worried you might be tricked by President Chi, so they asked me to warn you."
Jing Minghe felt like he was being toyed with by them. Was this scripted performance meant to mess with him?
Clearing his throat, Jing Minghe asked about the three people not mentioned in Guan Wei's lines, "Are Lin Ling, Yan Xiaoqian, and Chen Mu here?"
Guan Wei frowned. "Lin Ling and Chen Mu died before we hid here. Don't you remember? And there's no one named Yan Xiaoqian in our team."
Jing Minghe suddenly smiled and murmured to himself, "Is that so?"
In Guan Wei's scripted performance, like Chi Hao's, there were three victims and one non-existent person.
"Rest well," Guan Wei leaned forward and gently patted Jing Minghe's shoulder. "I'm going to help Tong Zheng and the others find people. Don't worry, we'll protect you."
More of the same words.
Jing Minghe wondered, was he playing a frail singer? Why did everyone want to protect him?
After speaking, Guan Wei turned and left.
Jing Minghe sat on the bed and waited for a while, realizing the instance hadn't forced him to sleep again.
Based on the current plot, Jing Minghe deduced that he was most likely the detective in this case.
Without any scripted performance, Jing Minghe wouldn't just wait. He decided to go out and explore, if he could get out.
Jing Minghe got out of bed, took a deep breath, and slowly walked to the door, trying to open it.
No surprises.
"Very good. Next..."
Jing Minghe waved his hand and stepped out.
Everything went smoothly. Jing Minghe glanced at Chen Mu's room diagonally opposite. The door was tightly shut, and he didn't know if anyone was inside.
If this was the scripted performance Guan Wei mentioned, then Chen Mu was also one of the victims, having died before entering the tower.
Therefore, Chen Mu should not have any scripted performance at this moment.
Jing Minghe thought for a moment and walked directly to Chen Mu's door, knocking softly. "Chen Mu, are you there?"
There was no response.
Was he unable to respond, or was he not there, or was it something else?
Jing Minghe pushed the door, but it didn't budge.
The rooms they stayed in had no locks, because in this place, no one could enter another person's room without their permission, unless it was for scripted performance.
Since he received no response and the door wouldn't open, Jing Minghe decided to look elsewhere.
When he reached the stairwell, Jing Minghe stopped, hesitating whether to go upstairs or downstairs, unsure who he would encounter first.
On the fifth floor, after Qi Meiyuan died, only Tong Zheng remained. In Guan Wei's script, Tong Zheng was alive and had gone with Yue Yang to find Chi Hao, so he might not be in his room.
The sixth floor was Guan Wei and Lin Ling. Jing Minghe had just seen Guan Wei. As for Lin Ling, her situation was the same as Chen Mu's.
After some thought, Jing Minghe decided to go downstairs.
Youmi, who lived on the third floor, was also a victim in Guan Wei's script, but she had just been killed by Chi Hao. Jing Minghe decided to try his luck.
As soon as he reached Youmi's door and before he could even raise his hand to knock, Yan Xiaoqian, who had somehow appeared, grabbed him.
Jing Minghe remembered that Yan Xiaoqian was the forgotten person in Guan Wei's script.
Yan Xiaoqian dragged Jing Minghe away from Youmi's room, exclaiming, "Minghe, hurry and leave here with me! Doctor Youmi killed Lin Ling and disappeared. President Chi and Brother Yue have gone to find her. They told me to bring you back to your room to hide."
Another new scripted performance! And the plot was becoming more and more like a game of cat and mouse.
"Alright."
All Jing Minghe could do now was to go along with the plot for the time being.
The two returned to the room. Jing Minghe asked Yan Xiaoqian, "President Chi and Yue Yang went to find Doctor Youmi. What about the others?"
"Are you referring to Chen Mu and Guan Wei?" Yan Xiaoqian replied, "They died protecting you earlier, don't you remember?"
This time, the non-existent person was Tong Zheng.