Chapter 47: The 1924 Train Murder Case (20)

Tang Mu had no idea how much of her words the others had actually heard. But it didn’t matter anymore.

What concerned her most now was Eli.

If Eli was truly her boyfriend, Yan Xingwen, she might abandon the victory in this game and choose to be with him.

But if Eli was not Yan Xingwen...

Then she had to win this game.

“Mr. Eli.” Tang Mu knocked on Eli’s door.

Inside, she heard a rustling sound—it sounded as if the man within was hastily putting on clothes.

However, when the door finally opened, Tang Mu was greeted by the meticulously dressed train conductor.

“Mr. Eli, did you go to bed so early?” Tang Mu blinked her eyes, feigning innocence and kindness. Her gaze was clear and moist, brimming with harmless naivety for the world.

Eli looked at her quietly, lips pressed together, pretending to be cold and distant.

“Is there something you need, Miss Tang Mu? If I’m not mistaken, it’s not voting time yet.”

“Well...” Tang Mu ignored the chill in his voice and continued on her own, “I just wanted to ask, will you participate in tomorrow’s vote, Mr. Eli? If you’re not participating tomorrow, then—”

“I’ll participate.” Eli’s voice remained cold. “To avoid a tie in votes, the number of participants must be odd.”

“Oh, then—”

“Miss Tang Mu. It’s my off-duty period. Please leave.”

The door slammed shut.

Tang Mu, “….”

Her nose nearly bled from the force of the door.

Damn…

Forget it, she needed to be civilized.

No cursing.

But the man inside could wait. Sooner or later, she’d rip that mask right off his face!

Tang Mu strode away, full of indignation.

Had she looked back, she would have seen the tightly closed door crack open ever so slightly. Only when her silhouette disappeared did the door finally shut completely.

Everyone returned to their rooms, waiting for 8:00 AM the next day.

When the first rays of morning sunlight spilled into the train carriage, the common area of the Haier Express was already crowded.

Eli was impeccably dressed.

The conductor’s uniform on him was the very picture of allure.

But it was a pity—his face was not Yan Xingwen’s.

“It’s voting time,” Eli announced, placing the ballot box before everyone. “I will give each of you a blank sheet. Please return to your rooms and write down the name of the person you suspect. I will knock on your doors; when you hear it, open your door.”

Everyone took their blank papers and filed back to their rooms.

Twenty minutes later.

Eli notified them to come out.

“These are your voting results,” he said, patting the box. “Let’s begin the count.”

“Mackey, one vote. Basaromu, one vote. James, one vote. James, two votes. James, three votes. James, four votes. James, five votes. Basaromu, two votes. Basaromu, three votes. Mackey, two votes. James, six votes. James, seven votes. James, eight votes.”

The tally left everyone stunned.

“What’s going on? How does James have eight votes? And the suspects, Mackey and Basaromu, only got two and three votes respectively?”

…

James was in utter distress.

He grabbed his hair, tugging wildly.

“What’s wrong with you all? I have nothing to do with the shooting! How can you just choose randomly?”

James refused to accept the outcome and looked imploringly at Tang Mu, hoping for her help.

But Tang Mu herself hadn’t expected it.

“James, this shows the number of NPCs far exceeds the players. And the players… are scattered, unable to concentrate their votes on a single suspect…”

At this, Tang Mu’s smile turned bitter.

“And now, with you gone… It seems the players’ chance of winning this round… sigh.”

But James, about to be executed, couldn’t accept it.

“I don’t want to die! I promised my daughter that once this game ended, and I earned enough points, I’d buy her all kinds of good food… She hasn’t had a proper meal in three years… The outside world lacks grain and water, and the arable land has been flooded by melting glaciers… My daughter is so young—I can’t leave her alone in that world, where people devour each other without mercy!”

…

“Who doesn’t want to live? Who doesn’t have family and friends?” Tang Mu sighed. “James, those who voted for you are NPCs hidden among us, not me.”

Despair overflowed in James’s eyes.

“I…”

“The time for last words is over,” Eli announced, expressionless, declaring James’s death sentence. “It’s time to go.”

As Eli finished speaking, James’s body, before everyone’s eyes, suddenly swelled and exploded.

Blood and entrails splattered everywhere.

Those with weaker nerves rushed to the restroom to vomit.

Half an hour later, when the train returned to normal, Dale, who had gone to throw up, returned, clutching her chest, trying to quell the urge to vomit each time she recalled the brutal scene.

“All right, can we start deducing the next murderer now?” Basaromu suggested.

His proposal almost made people laugh.

“What’s the point of deducing the murderer now?” Tang Mu sneered. “The number of NPCs far exceeds the players. Even if you figure out the killer, you won’t vote for them. Now that James is dead, there are even fewer players. Your odds of winning are even higher, aren’t they?”

Basaromu pretended not to hear Tang Mu’s words and continued to push the process. “The murderer who used cyanide and the one who used the dinner knife—you have to choose one to vote for. Our patience is limited. We hope you players will decide quickly.”

Basaromu wasn’t pretending anymore.

He openly revealed his identity as an NPC.

Probably influenced by what Tang Mu had said yesterday, Basaromu, to avoid elimination, secretly exposed himself to the other NPCs.

Otherwise, only three would have voted for him today.

“I suggest we first deduce the killer who used the dinner knife,” Dale said, clutching her chest, struggling against her physical discomfort. “You all saw it—I have a mild case of hemophobia. If I see too much blood, I immediately have to run to the restroom and vomit. So, the dinner knife murderer could never be me.”