Chapter 140: Grand Performance (III) “No Exit” (Revised)

“How to kill him, and how to dispose of his body?”

Qi Si chewed over the question in his mind a few times and fell into deep thought.

This question was undoubtedly asking about the murder method. Given the peculiar way the corpse before them had died, once he truthfully described the details of how he handled the body, the other players would easily be able to identify him.

Unless… “Shouldn’t this question be answered starting from Number 5?” Hansen suddenly shouted. “I don’t think Zhou Ke looks like the killer. If the killer is among Number 4 or Number 5 and makes up a lie while we’re answering, that would be trouble.”

Qi Si raised an eyebrow and looked at Hansen.

It was obvious that this man’s help was a facade; his true intention was to avoid speaking too early.

As long as the answers started from Number 5, Hansen would be the fourth to speak, giving him plenty of time to think.

What exactly was he afraid of?

“You should know that your request is unreasonable.” Cynthia clasped her hands and placed them on the table. “The question about age is simple and leaves almost no room for slips, whereas the murder method is more likely to reveal useful information. Allow me to say, perhaps rudely and arbitrarily, that I find you very suspicious.”

Cynthia exuded the kind and dignified air unique to educated elderly people, and a benevolent smile always lingered at the corners of her lips. Even when she spoke such sharp words of accusation, she seemed like an old grandmother giving advice to the younger generation.

“Hansen, you are the only one among the five of us who didn’t use a pen to take notes. Although the first question was simple, all of us recorded the information of others to some extent. Only you not only recorded nothing but even seemed absent-minded while others were speaking, like a squirrel startled at the entrance of its burrow.

“Normally, someone who truly wants to find the killer would pay attention to the words and expressions of all suspicious people, but you didn’t do that. You’ve been leading us to suspect others and have twice proposed starting the speeches from Number 5. I’m sorry, but I have to suspect that you know you are the killer and have been thinking of ways to exonerate yourself.”

Hansen’s face turned ugly, and he pointed at Cynthia and roared, “Old woman, I think you’re the one with the problem! We were just answering about age, and you went off on a long tangent. Who knows if you’re trying to cover up useful information! So what if I didn’t take notes? Age is such simple information; can’t you remember it after hearing it once?”

Knowing his behavior was inexplicable, he could only resort to counter-accusations.

Qi Si watched this and chimed in nonchalantly, “So, Ms. Cynthia, can your current behavior be interpreted as: first, you want us to suspect Hansen; and second, you don’t want to be the second to speak?”

Cynthia’s smile stiffened for a moment; she truly hadn’t expected Qi Si to speak up for Hansen.

However, she quickly regained her composure. “Even though this does indeed make me look suspicious, I still maintain my suspicion of Hansen.

“The order of speaking makes no difference to me. I am very happy to cooperate with the questioning and investigation, only hoping to eventually gain your trust. You should know that the feeling of an innocent person being treated as the culprit is not pleasant.”

Hansen sneered, “You know that too!”

Cynthia shook her head. “Sir, I do not believe you are innocent.”

Dong Xiwen looked at the players and then at Charlie, who was as immovable as a mountain, and sighed. “Then let the answers for this round start with me.”

He wore a casual suit, had an ordinary appearance, and his gaze held a clear sincerity.

“Security near my university was very poor, and many prohibited items weren’t hard to get. Since I was a chemistry major, I used to synthesize some chemical products in my spare time. After deciding to kill that person, I made some hallucinogenic and sedative drugs and induced him to jump off the roof.”

He Hui asked, “Why did you kill him?”

“He killed my brother,” Dong Xiwen said. “They knocked my brother unconscious and threw him off the building. They waited an entire night before sending him to the hospital… By the time I rushed there, he was already dead, his body covered in injuries, but they insisted it was suicide.

“I went to my brother’s school and asked to see the surveillance footage, but they said the cameras were broken. I contacted a friend who knows information technology and got the surveillance video, and only then did I find out what my brother had endured… And do you know the result? I took the footage to the Security Bureau, and they said the source of the evidence was illegal and refused to accept it.”

Dong Xiwen took two deep breaths and calmed down. “So, I had to take revenge myself. It’s just a pity I was discovered after killing only the first person. The Security Bureau put me on the wanted list and put the remaining scumbags under protection. I can only look for another opportunity.”

He Hui lowered her head again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect to hear something like that. Please accept my condolences.”

Dong Xiwen smiled bitterly. “It’s fine, it’s all in the past. I’ll kill those scumbags sooner or later.”

Hansen interrupted their conversation and shouted at Cynthia, “Old woman, it’s your turn!”

Cynthia let out a soft breath and said, “Some of you may have heard of that incident. The year The Federation was established, terrorist organizations committed atrocities in various places. I was ordered to lead a team to handle it, and many people died then.”

After two seconds of silence, she said with a smile, “My statement is over; there’s nothing much to say. At that time, I didn’t personally go to the front lines; I was just making decisions in the rear, so I can’t accurately describe the details.”

Hansen asked suspiciously, “How do I know you’re not intentionally hiding key information? Tell us, where were you sent, and who were you dealing with?”

Cynthia said calmly, “I went to Silesia. Those people were well-disguised, and we couldn’t tell which faction they belonged to. But whoever they were, they shouldn’t have harmed the welfare of all mankind.”

Qi Si, listening to the official jargon of this woman who clearly had deep ties to The Federation authorities, had a half-smile on his face. “Asking us about our murder methods and how we disposed of the bodies is nothing more than to match them with the victim’s cause and appearance of death to help us make a judgment. Yet you clearly omitted the most critical information—how did those people die? In other words, what orders did you give at the time?”

Cynthia did not answer immediately, acting as if she hadn’t heard, and picked up her pen to write and draw on the paper.

In the stagnant atmosphere, Charlie, standing to the side, timely turned his masked face toward her. “My lady, please answer this gentleman’s question.”

“Very well.” Cynthia looked up and cast an imperceptible glance at the deceased hanging in front of her. “To ensure safety, I authorized them to directly crush the people into meat paste.”

Qi Si observed Cynthia’s unpleasant expression, lost in thought.

It turned out that not only Charlie’s questions, but also questions asked by others had to be answered.

Perhaps he could ask some more private questions, such as about items, skills, and trump cards?

Qi Si curled his lips into a smile and was about to ask a few more questions when he heard Charlie say with great passion, “Alright, now let us look forward to the answer from the lady at Number 3!”

Cynthia’s segment was over.

He Hui looked around at everyone somewhat uncomfortably before saying softly, “That year, my mother took me with her when she remarried. My stepfather would always grope me after getting drunk. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I pretended to agree to him, and after he relaxed, I stabbed him to death with a fruit knife.”

Hansen asked, “Specifically, how did you do it? Did you go to bed? And how did he relax?”

He Hui’s face turned pale, and her voice took on a hint of fear. “I really don’t want to remember, but if I must say…”

“My lady, your segment can end now.” Charlie gave a couple of “he-he” laughs and said, “The questions asked by the gentleman at Number 2 are useless for the plot’s development. Too much information will distract the audience, and they don’t like listening to that boring nonsense!”

At this point, Qi Si understood that there was a limit to the questions; they had to be directly related to the goal of “finding the killer,” and… they also had to consider censorship issues.

Wait, after it was his turn, could the things he answered really pass censorship?

Qi Si fell into deep thought.

Charlie looked at Hansen. “Gentleman at Number 2, it’s your turn to answer.”

Hansen said reluctantly, “It was an accident. At the time, I just wanted to ask him for some money so I could go out and have fun with my friends—anyway, his money was going to be left to me eventually. I didn’t expect him to be unwilling, and he even tried to stop me from hanging out with my friends, saying that otherwise, he’d donate the money to charity after he died. I was really angry, so I gave him a push. Who knew his head would hit the corner of the table?”

Qi Si asked, “Who was ‘he’?”

Hansen said, “My dad.”

The expressions of the others all changed.

Dong Xiwen was seeking revenge for his brother, Cynthia was acting under orders, and He Hui was acting in self-defense; all were somewhat excusable.

Hansen, however, had killed his own father because he couldn’t get money.

In most people’s eyes, attacking one’s own kin was an incomprehensible act.

And in the Eerie Game, such a person was clearly a dangerous “slaughter-style player.”

Qi Si’s expression remained unchanged as he continued to ask, “What about your mother?”

Hansen didn’t speak immediately, and Charlie urged, “Gentleman at Number 2, please answer the question from the gentleman at Number 1!”

“I killed her later too,” Hansen said fiercely. “When she came back and saw my dad’s body, she made a big fuss and wanted to call the police, so I had to kill her.”

Upon hearing this, Dong Xiwen’s gaze sharpened slightly.

A piece of scum who murdered his father and mother was bound to be loathed; a sinner with no remorse was a scourge to be left in the world.

“Gentleman at Number 1, it’s your turn,” Charlie said.

“It’s my turn, then.” Qi Si returned to his senses, the corners of his lips curling up slightly. “Three days before I decided to kill him, I practiced on the neighbor’s dog and learned how to precisely puncture the carotid artery.

“At that time, surveillance coverage wasn’t high yet, and I happened to know a place where no cameras would definitely exist. So, I placed some knives needed for disposing of the body there in advance and invited him over.”

Qi Si’s tone was very calm, as if he weren’t talking about the process of murder, but about small matters like eating or drinking water—commonplace things that happened every day.

For a moment, the players’ breathing hitched, and the looks they gave him were even more wary than those they gave Hansen.

If Hansen’s behavior was still within the range of their understanding, Qi Si perfectly fit their usual imagination of a psychopathic serial killer.

Disregarding human life, clear-headed in his goals, executing them methodically, and maintaining a completely nonchalant attitude while telling the story—the way he savored his words made one suspect he wanted to try killing someone else.

Dong Xiwen silently muttered, “The Decisive Moments of Apes,” and was the first to speak to Qi Si. “No, man, you were so young back then. What could have happened that was so bad you had to kill him?”

Qi Si asked back, “Is that question important?”

Charlie said, “Gentleman at Number 1, please answer truthfully.”

“I think I might have had an experience similar to your brother’s, except I survived.” Qi Si looked at Dong Xiwen, his voice calm.

He paused for a breath and then looked at Charlie. “Mr. Charlie, I have a small question. To judge who the killer is, one only needs to combine the murder method with the victim’s cause of death. Is it necessary to consider the motive?”

Charlie nodded stiffly. “It is very necessary; it’s very important for the plot’s development!”

So that was it?

Qi Si seemed to realize something and split his lips into a strange, hyena-like smile. “By the way, at that time, I didn’t actually have a very good method for disposing of the body. To avoid being discovered, I could only use a small spoon to scoop the meat out piece by piece.

“That was truly a painful memory. They really tasted terrible.”

…【Note】 “No Exit” (Huis Clos) is a play written by French writer Jean-Paul Sartre in 1944. It primarily describes three sinners cast into hell after death—Inès, a post office clerk; Estelle, a Parisian socialite; and Garcin, a newspaper editor. After meeting in a private room in hell, they are guarded against each other and hide their past misdeeds. Not only do they close themselves off, but they also “interrogate” one another; everyone constantly exists, is scrutinized, and is supervised under “the gaze of others.”