Chapter 591: Chapter 590: You Just Picked Your Nose with Your Back to Me

After wandering the streets for about ten minutes, Li Yang found Cheng Zhirang and the others at the school where Guo Yin was hiding.

Cheng Zhirang was squatting under the teaching building, reaching out to flip through the books thrown on the ground. Seeing him come over, he looked surprised, closed the book, stood up, and asked:

"You came to find us?"

The others, who were neither too far nor too close, gathered around to stare at him intently upon hearing this.

Li Yang was still thinking about how to speak naturally, without being affected or flamboyant, to explain Mu Qiu’s deception and oppression towards him. But Guan Yu spoke first with schadenfreude.

"Got tricked by Mu Qiu again, didn’t you? She’s got no new tricks other than cheating you."

Although a bit shameful, this statement really resonated with him strongly. The words on his lips immediately spilled out, accompanied by vivid expressions and gestures.

"She’s a swindler!!! She even tried to bribe me into an alliance with two red bean buns! When I refused, she threatened me!"

"She tried to entice you with two buns?!" Shu Ran exclaimed with her eyes wide, emphasizing the words "two buns" heavily, looking very angry.

Li Yang almost couldn’t catch his breath: "...Am I not even worth two buns?!"

Guan Yu interjected: "Maybe indeed not quite..."

"Sister Guan Yu, you shut up!"

Guan Yu shrugged and made a face as if saying "young people these days just can’t take criticism."

But Cheng Zhirang, looking relaxed, asked him: "How did she threaten you? Tell us?"

"She said she guessed what the first card’s monster was and that the card must be in Brother Cheng’s or Brother Huai’s hands. Once she finds the third card, she’d take care of Brother Cheng first!"

Cheng Zhirang raised an eyebrow.

The others exchanged knowing glances and jeered.

Mu Qiu actually wanted to target Cheng Zhirang first, what a thrilling love-hate narrative.

However—

"Who found the second card? Wasn’t it her?"

No need to fabricate this, Li Yang shook his head and said: "It wasn’t her, when I met them, I had already eaten two buns, then the world message reminded us that the second card was activated."

Shi Yuhuai frowned: "Not her? Then who could it be? We’ve been together the whole time, it definitely wasn’t any of us, so it’s just down to the three of you, wasn’t it her, could it be you?"

Such transparent logic, indeed flawless.

Li Yang opened his mouth, said: "Not me, but probably, it shouldn’t be them either. And you guys were together the whole time, you weren’t watching each other the whole time, right?

In the time it takes to use the restroom, you could have activated the monster. Maybe someone had already found it without activating and just did it now?"

The others began scrutinizing the people around them, and Guan Yu suspiciously stared at Chu Qiu: "It can’t be you, right? You just said you wanted to pick your nose, and turned your back on me for two seconds."

"... When did this happen? Why don’t my nostrils recall this? And you almost glued your eyes to me, when did I have the chance?"

Chu Qiu, like Tota Li Heavenly King, held onto a chef’s hat with an exaggerated expression of speechlessness.

Guan Yu’s gaze lingered on him for a moment, then swiftly shifted to Han Xizheng.

"Han Xizheng, it must be you!"

Han Xizheng: "...On what basis?"

"Because you’re handsome, and your unwavering attention to Shu Ran, who can’t concentrate on the game for her screams, such touching affection can only be sustained with a purpose!"

"..."

Han Xizheng wasn’t sure if this was mocking Shu Ran or complimenting him, or both.

This made Shu Ran so angry that she gritted her teeth and went to catch Guan Yu: "Guan Yu, get over here! I see you won’t rest until you’re kicked out of this episode!"

Guan Yu wouldn’t wait to be caught and quickly ran away, darting around the others to evade Shu Ran’s clutching.

Brother Huai looked as disdainful as ever, pulling Li Yang over to "interrogate" him one-sidedly.

"Why did she say the card would be in my hands?"

This was easy to fabricate; Li Yang had thought it through in advance, telling him very innocently:

"She said because before the first round of self-introductions, only you and Brother Chen Yi and Brother Cheng were not in the group, acting alone, so the suspicion was high."

Shi Yuhuai frowned deeply, then said: "Then why not suspect Chen Yi for having it?"

Next to him, Chen Yi: "...I say, brother, do you even remember that we’re in the same group? What’s the difference between suspecting you and suspecting me?"

What’s with this guy, always stirring up disputes within the team.

"Of course, there’s a difference," Shi Yuhuai reiterated the opening game rules, then said, "In the end, only one person can survive, so we’re bound to turn against each other sooner or later."

"...So we’re starting now, right? My role is to be your scapegoat."

"If you’re willing..."

"I’m not, you can shut up now."

Shi Yuhuai sulkily closed his mouth.

Li Yang just stood aside, watching the commotion, enjoying the show of everyone bickering, feeling as refreshed as drinking a bottle of aged ice-cold Sprite from ’82.

And behind him, Cheng Zhirang was watching him, a cryptic smile lingering on the corners of his mouth.

After observing him from head to toe three times, he asked Li Yang: "You said she guessed what the first card was, did she elaborate?"

If Li Yang hadn’t publicly stated that Mu Qiu guessed what the first monster was, he would have immediately taken action against Li Yang.

But he did, and with so many people around, someone would surely ask what the first monster actually was. Mu Qiu, being so smart, might figure out his and Shen Zhousong’s arrangements, and then deepen everyone else’s suspicions of him.

Might as well pose the question himself, to have a better chance to argue his way out of it.

Li Yang’s thoughts drifted to "finally this question came," and then he pretended to scratch his head, recalling the name, and said:

"It’s letter and number coded, like SCP something, and there was a Chinese name too, called... called Doctor."

Doctor?

Cheng Zhirang froze for a moment, his frown relaxed, and he playfully repeated the name: "A Doctor?"

Upon mentioning Doctor, everyone’s gaze shifted to Shi Yuhuai and Chen Yi.

Shi Yuhuai calmly faced all the doubts: "It’s not me."

Chen Yi waved his hands emphatically: "Even more, it’s not me. We are at least game show guests, not monsters."

Fair enough.

"But you guys are doctors, keeping a monster who likes being a doctor seems plausible." Chu Qiu peeked in.

Shi Yuhuai quickly snapped back: "Then it’s normal for you chefs to like raising pigs?"

"...I can’t even argue."

This was a perfect time to muddy the waters. Shu Ran stopped harassing Guan Yu, tidied her clothes and hair, and said:

"But we can’t deny that when mentioning this monster’s name, the first people we think about are Brother Huai and Chen Yi. Even if the archive card wasn’t found by Brother Huai, it must still be related to you guys.

Maybe every monster is connected to someone among us?! The monster’s name might hint at the traitor’s identity!"