Live Action Murder Mystery-Chapter 44
Chapter 44
(The Snow-Capped Mountain’s Horror Story; Three Corpses)
“Have you ever heard of this story? A female university student and her boyfriend joined an expedition team, and set off with everyone for an adventure. One day, the female university student sprained her leg, which made it impossible for her to continue the journey with the rest of her team, so she remained at the camping grounds. The main team originally planned to return back to the camping grounds in three days. However, the female university waited for five days and yet no one made their belated return.
“It was only until the sixth day where the female university student’s wait was rewarded with the return of her team. But her boyfriend was missing from their midst. Her teammates regretfully told her that they had encountered an avalanche, and her boyfriend had died an unfortunate death. The female university student was extremely heartbroken, but it was at this moment where her boyfriend suddenly appeared.
“The boyfriend held onto the female university student’s hand, trying to bring her away as he told her, ‘It is true that we encountered an avalanche, but the one who survived is me, not them! You have been deceived, apart from me, everyone in front of you are ghosts, you have to flee with me quickly!’
“Therein lies the problem: if you were that female university student, would you choose to believe your boyfriend, or your other teammates?
“This is the ghost story concerning [Huilong Snow Mountain] which has been circulating around in recent years. According to the myth, people who climb the mountain will encounter a snow-white ghost, and this ghost would constantly ask them these questions, ‘Why did you believe them? Why didn’t you believe me? I’m the person you love the most!’
“Welcome to the scenario《 The Fifth Person 》. You are called [Inspector Liu]. With [Doctor Xu], [Professor Wang] and [Scientist Li], the four of you are journeying towards [Huilong Snow Mountain] for an inspection. Legend says that there is a treasure called the [Rainbow Crystal] here, and the people who find it will receive a blessing. All of you did not come here for the crystal, but you hope that you can get a chance to see this legendary treasure.
“The date today is the 9th of March. Due to the snowfall last night, the four of you are staying in your camping grounds for the time being, and you plan to observe the weather conditions before deciding on your next course of action.
“Script difficulty: two stars. The current scenario has no friendly reminders, hope everyone enjoys the game!”
After doing a meticulous read through of the contents on the first two pages of the card, Gu Liang heaved out a sigh and rubbed his hands before he tightened the down jacket around his person.
He was extremely afraid of the cold. After he selected this script, he was directly brought to the tent on the snow-capped mountain via the sedan carried by the men in black. The immediate sensation he had received upon stepping off was that his brain and body were being frozen stiff, and it was to the extent where he could feel his thoughts slowing down.
The ghost story that was being narrated at the start of this scenario was something Gu Liang had heard before.
When he was attending university, there were occasions where the boys in his dormitory would lie in bed and tell ghost stories after there was a power outage and the lights went out.
And that was when Gu Liang had heard his dorm mate recount a similar story.
However, the peculiarity of his current script was that, apart from the ghost story which acted as a primer to explain the background in simple terms, there were no other details.
The good part about the previous script was that it elaborated on the time reversal setting at least. This instance was the opposite; the script made no mention of whether this story went the realism or abstruse route, and it was unknown if there were actually ghosts.
Speaking of ghosts…
Gu Liang tightened the down jacket on his person even further.
Owing to a certain childhood psychological shadow, he actually held some fear for ghosts.
If Yang Ye knew about it, he had no doubts that jokes would be made at his expense for the sake of his own entertainment again.
Thankfully, he was not around.
Gu Liang kept his plot card and pulled out the other reward card instead.
— The four words written at the topmost of the card: “Request for Help Card”.
This was the reward Gu Liang had earned from completing the side task.
Using his left hand to raise the card, Gu Liang used his right finger to swipe across the surface, causing the screen to brighten instantaneously.
The first two lines were: How to use the [Request for Help Card], after selecting the player you want to request help from, press the ‘confirm’ button; you can only be bound to one partner for that scenario, after your first confirmation, it cannot be changed; the current card can be used thrice; the request for help is done via verbal communication. After selecting and confirming your help-requesting partner, you can start the call with the telephone button.”
His line of sight roved downwards. Below the introduction were the portraits of the players that Gu Liang had encountered in the past three scripts he had participated in.
Yang Ye was in the third position on the first row.
His eyes stopped at his portrait momentarily before he stashed away the reward card.
The cold was truly unbearable; unable to hold back his physiological reaction, Gu Liang sneezed, causing the person beside him to offer him some tissues.
Gu Liang mumbled out a word of thanks and accepted the tissue to wipe his nose. When he lifted his eyes to take a look, he saw that the person sitting beside him was a lady who was roughly twenty-five or twenty-six years old.
Noticing that Gu Liang had looked over, the lady took the initiative to speak: “Hello, I’m [Doctor Xu] in this script, who is responsible for the health conditions of every member on the inspection team. The two people at the side are [Professor Wang] and [Scientist Li] respectively. Hence, you must be [Inspector Liu]?”
Gu Liang nodded his head. Looking diagonally past her seat, he noted that Professor Wang was a man around the ages of fifty-six or seven. Although his face looked quite young, his hair was completely white and he looked like he was easy to get along with.
At his side was Scientist Li who appeared to be younger than Doctor Xu by a fair bit. His high cheekbones were paired with a stern expression, which made him look aloof and cold.
After he scrutinised the other two players in a discreet manner, Gu Liang turned his sights back to Doctor Xu again.
He only heard her say: “The three of us are familiar with each other since we were grouped together for the past few scenarios. We previously came to the consensus that we should go out and survey our surroundings, do you want to join us?”
Having spoken to that point, she probably felt that Gu Liang was far too indifferent, so Doctor Xu added a few lines: “Look, this scenario only has four players. If there is a detective and a deceased among the four of us, the real murderer will be one out of two of the remaining players, which lends itself to a fifty-fifty probability where blind guessing might actually hit the right mark. But the difficulty for this script is two stars which makes it quite strange. In any case, I feel that since this is just the beginning, there’s no need for everyone to raise their guards against each other; if we can cooperate together and explore, it’ll be more effective.”
“Mn, don’t mind, I just think that it’s too cold. Let’s go outside and have a look.”
Just as Gu Liang replied with those words, the broadcast reverberated: “Everyone, welcome to the scenario《 The Fifth Person 》. In consideration of the fact that every player was directly brought to the tent in the middle of a snowy camping ground, the system will grant a period of rest to allow the players to adjust and acclimate themselves to the wintry atmosphere. Once the resting period ends, the script enactment will officially begin.
“10 October 2X19, the four members of the inspection team proceeded towards a mountain cave outside at 10:00 in the early afternoon. The time now is 9:30AM. There is 30 minutes left, which the system has specifically allotted for a question and answer segment. Players are allowed to issue their question, and each person only has one chance. After 30 minutes, may all the players follow the directions indicated on the map and make their way towards the mountain cave.”
Doctor Xu was the first to stand up.
With her hair pulled into a ponytail, it gave the impression that she was young, capable, and experienced.
Because the system’s broadcasted voice came from all directions, Doctor Xu did not know where she should direct her question towards, so she changed where she was facing several times. Hence, as she was voicing her question, her ponytail would move slightly in accordance with the turns of her head, making her entire person appear bright and beautiful.
Doctor Xu asked: “Are there only four players this time in truth? Apart from the deceased and detective, only two normal players would remain.”
After keeping its silence for three seconds, the system answered: “That exceeds the parameters that the system can answer. Next.”
Scientist Li, who did not seem to speak or laugh frequently, followed closely with his own question: “How long will this scenario take then? This concerns how long we’ll be staying in the snow mountain, and it’s honestly too cold.”
System: “That exceeds the parameters that the system can answer. Next.”
At the side, the fifty year old Professor Wang could not help but snort coldly when he heard the system’s words. “What questions can you answer then?”
System: “That exceeds the parameters that the system can answer. Next.”
That fucking counted as a question too?
Doctor Xu: “……”
Scientist Li: “……”
Professor Wang: “……”
Hence, the three people shifted their eyes towards Gu Liang’s person.
Every person only had one chance to ask a question; since they had used their chances, they could only place their hopes on Gu Liang to see if he could obtain anything from his question.
Under the earnest stares, Gu Liang calmly opened his mouth and asked placidly, “Can I ask for more energy bars? I feel that there isn’t enough to eat here, you couldn’t possibly want to starve the players to death, right?”
What kind of fucking question was that?
Doctor Xu: “……”
Scientist Li: “……”
Professor Wang: “……”
A moment later, the system responded: “Upon analysis, the system has judged that the provision of food will not affect the plot developments, thus it will be allowed. However, the budget for each scenario is limited, and only one extra box will be provided.”
Accompanying the sound of the system’s voice, the tent flaps were pushed open and two men in black holding a box of energy bars stepped inside.
After putting down the energy bars, the men in black drew back the tent flaps again and walked out in an orderly fashion.
System: “The time for questions and answers has concluded, please begin acting in accordance with your individual scripts.”
Gu Liang took out his card and scrolled down. The map page had been marked clearly with direction indicators, which conveyed that there was a mountain cave 800 meters north of their camping grounds. Hence, the group kept their cards and checked their equipment before they trekked outwards in a neat file.
The system’s preparations were very comprehensive: anything they needed was accounted for, from helmets, head lamps, UV protection goggles, sunscreen to chapsticks. The clothes that the players were wearing was very professional too: from their inner wear to outer layers, they had breathable and sweat-proof clothes, a down jacket and a synthetic jacket with an insulated hood which was more than sufficient in keeping out the cold.
Despite the comprehensive provisions, however, the journey was still extremely arduous, especially for people who were mountain climbing for the first time.
Although Doctor Xu was holding onto a mountain climbing pole, she almost fell down just as she stepped out the tent due to her foot sinking right into the snow.
At the side, the aloof and young Scientist Li held onto her in a hurry to prevent her from falling.
Gu Liang did not have any mountain climbing experience either. In addition to the fact that he was freezing cold, his movements were considerably slower.
On the other hand, it was the oldest Professor Wang who walked the greatest ease.
He turned back to look at the entire group, like he was holding all the living creatures beneath him with extreme scorn, and faint disdain could be perceived in his gaze as well. “Tch, all you young people, aren’t you fond of staying up late? Look, you can’t even compare to an old person like me!”
Scientist Li was probably the sort who was thin-skinned despite his aloof appearance, considering how he seemed to be a little embarrassed after hearing those words, which caused his expression to chill even further.
As the only female in their midst, Doctor Xu was not quarrelsome either; without relying on Scientist Li’s help, she took a few effortful steps to slowly adapt to the weather, and she eventually managed to keep pace with the rest of the group.
She smiled at Professor Wang and said: “Did you frequently participate in such activities back in reality, old man? You look rather proficient at a glance.”
Professor Wang replied, “That much is true. No matter how busy life was in the past, I would always find the time within the year to take a vacation to mountain climb. With one look I shall see the mountains below… This sort of scenery isn’t something you’ll get to experience all the time.”
Having said that, Professor Wang observed both sides.
He discovered that Gu Liang was the first to adapt to trudging in the snow, and he was about to catch up with him.
Scientist Li was slower on the uptake. Furthermore, since he would intermittently look back and wait for Doctor Xu, the distance between him and Gu Liang gradually pulled open.
It was unknown what Professor Wang was thinking, but it made him shake his head. He remarked, “I must say, the current young men are not as generous or optimistic as women; why are all of you akin to closed gourds?”
Closed Gourd Number One Scientist Li did not make a sound as he continued to climb the mountain silently.
Closed Gourd Number Two Gu Liang did not speak either, merely choosing to turn his head back to look down the mountain.
At the juncture, he took out his card and compared the geography with the map.
According to the landmarks on the map, their camping site was close to the midway point of the mountain. If they were to follow the camping ground and descend by 1000 meters, they would reach the base camp of the snowy mountain which had an ample amount of supplies, and it was also where their inspection team vehicle was parked.
There were no roads heading upwards from the base camp so the car could not be driven further. Hence, the inspection team had carried their travelling packs, arrived at the half-way point of the mountain and pitched a camp nearby, and then explored the place on foot.
Although the base camp was relatively large on the map, Gu Liang could not see it in reality.
Below their camping ground was a toilet-like construct, and even further down was that familiar and all-encompassing thick fog.
It seems like this scenario map was not big, and the aforementioned big base camp was not part of their parameters for exploration.
Now well-aware of the circumstances, Gu Liang withdrew his gaze and continued to climb up the mountain.
The distance was not far; from their current position, they could faintly discern the outline of the cave they had to go to.
The mountain cave that they were instructed to go to happened to be at the precise midpoint of the mountain. The mountain cave opening was a sheet of white and it was directly facing the sheer cliffs and precipitous rock faces, which made for a spectacular and rather thrilling sight.
Without any rhyme or reason, just a simple glance was enough to send Gu Liang’s heart into an abrupt plunge, causing his entire person to halt in its steps as his breathing became a little jerky.
A moment later, Doctor Xu walked to his side and asked him in concern: “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Gu Liang shook his head, narrowing his eyes at the midway point of the mountain once more, and that suffocating feeling emerged in his heart again.
However, he could not explain what his sixth sense was telling him, and he could only say, “Maybe I’m a little oxygen-deficient.”
Anxiously, Doctor Yu asked: “Do you need an oxygen bottle? Should we rest for a while before continuing? The script only dictated the time we had to set out, and it did not state what time we have to reach.”
Scientist Li, who had just caught up to them, finally deigned to speak: “Didn’t he say he was fine? Let’s continue climbing.”
Doctor Xu stared at Scientist Li with a frown. “Can you quit being so harsh? At the very least, I think all the players can afford to be teammates at the start of the script enactment portion, and we’re all friends. If everyone starts opposing each other heavily from the get-go, it’ll be even harder to make the appropriate deductions later.”
Scientist Li shot Gu Liang a look of disdain: “Even if you’re looking for teammates, you ought to look for reliable ones. Did you see what he asked just now? Wanting something to eat? What a joke.”
Tch, it was quite rare to meet someone who was more sarcastic than he was.
Gu Liang raised his eyebrow slightly, but he declined to comment for the time being.
“I’m guessing that Inspector Liu had some special considerations in mind when he asked that question?” Doctor Yu was attempting to smooth over the dispute.
Gu Liang gave the pair an indifferent, sweeping gaze before he replied: “There weren’t any special considerations.”
His words contradicted her good intentions slightly, and Doctor Xu stiffened in response.
Scientist Li gave her a look that conveyed ‘see what I mean’.
Gu Liang disregarded the pair, turning around as he continued to climb up the mountain with the aid of his pole. “Let’s continue, I’m alright.”
In the short duration where the three of them were held up, Professor Wang, who was the oldest among the group, had already reached the mountain opening.
However, they immediately witnessed him turn around with a pale face, like he had suffered a huge scare.
Realising that something was awry, Doctor Xu trekked closer to Professor Wang with the largest strides she could manage. “What’s wrong? What’s inside?”
“Corpses… Frozen corpses…” Professor Wang released the mountain climbing pole in his hands and allowed it to fall to the ground. Then, he raised his hands to sign a number, “Three… There are three complete corpses inside!”
* * *
Following the small path leading into the mountain cave, the remaining trio stuck close to the rock walls and ventured towards the cave entrance.
Not far from the mountain opening was the precipice.
It goes without saying that the reason for their caution was to ensure that they would not fall off the edge due to a misstep.
Upon reaching the mountain opening, Gu Liang looked back. Beyond the mountain precipice, and from what the eye could perceive, everything was snow-white; the skies and earth were one concordant colour. It was impossible to distinguish what was snow and what was the killer miasma that enveloped the scenario premises to prevent the players from escaping.
Retracting his gaze, Gu Liang entered the mountain cave and immediately saw the three frozen corpses that Professor Wang was talking about.
There were two corpses embracing each other on the left.
These two corpses were the closest to Gu Liang, so he strode up to the two corpses first and knelt down to start inspecting them.
It was unknown when these three people had died, but owing to the fact that they had frozen to death, their corpses were completely intact, thus preserving their original appearances.
Between the two corpses, one of the dead bodies was petite in figure, gendered female, and her countenance was quiet and exquisite by virtue of her gentle and beautiful features. It was a gorgeous face that conformed to the highest standards.
The other male corpse by her side was roughly the same age, he had a relatively normal appearance with his buzz cut and wide face. He was hugging the girl in his arms tightly, as if he was very reluctant to part with her like this.
After viewing the two corpses, Gu Liang casted his sights on the third male corpse.
The third male corpse was approximately five meters away. His back was leaning against the rock wall and he was facing the pair as he died. What he was thinking about as he looked at them was a mystery.
Before Gu Liang had the chance to look over his appearance, Professor Wang was already one step ahead of him and sighing: “My goodness, this boy is incredibly good looking, if I had to give my opinion, a lot of female celebrities can’t compare to him.”
“This… Yeah, this person is way too attractive.”
That was the emotional sigh Doctor Xu blurted out after she walked over and carefully scrutinised the corpse. Then, she stretched her hand out as if she wanted to touch the corpse.
However, perhaps due to some rising concerns, she retracted her hand the next instant. Instead, she lowered her voice and said: “These corpses, were they found by the NPC? Were they living people in the past? If they really died in such a manner… that would be a genuine pity.”
Brimming with curiosity, Gu Liang also moved closer to examine the corpse at close proximity.
He had to admit, his appearance was exceptionally stunning.
The male and female corpses at the side had their eyes closed, this person was the same.
With his quiet demeanour, back against the rock wall and lightly closed eyes, it looked like he had fallen asleep.
His obsidian black lashes had been frozen into snow whites, his fair and tall nose, alongside the rest of skin, seemed to be translucent from the cold. His facial features were extremely delicate, and now that he was being preserved in ice, it had the slight airs of a painting.
It was like he would walk out of the painting if the ice were to break one day.
At this moment, even Gu Liang was stock-still.
But it was not because of how attractive this person looked. It was because Gu Liang recognised him.
He was Gu Liang’s senior high school classmate, whose name was quite unusual, called Ming Yue.
In those days, whenever the poetic lines “Likened to the bright moon, when can it be garnered”, or “But when will the bright moon shine upon me home” were being read in the language classes, the girls would always look at him.
And in the midst of the rowdy jeering, Ming Yue would raise his book to hide his face, only revealing the slightly red tips of his ears as he blamed his parents for giving him an awfully poetic name that possessed a touch of Chūnibyō.
Ming Yue was two years younger than Gu Liang from the start; having jumped two grades because of his intelligence, he became classmates with Gu Liang.
However, Gu Liang was not familiar with him. After they graduated, they never met up, and they were merely normal ex-classmates who occasionally sent each other messages.
Ming Yue had gone overseas after graduating from senior high, and he had met with an accident later as he was snorkelling at some island.
Hence, the next time Gu Liang saw him again after numerous years of parting, was at his funeral.
When he was participating in his funeral, Gu Liang had followed the friends and relatives group, and placed a flower beside his corpse.
The appearance of his corpse was quite similar to the one before him now.
This, bizarrely enough, made Gu Liang feel like he was out of his mind.
— Why did a person who died in reality become a NPC in this game?
The scene that occurred in reality, was it some kind of meticulously forged conspiracy or imitation?
Gu Liang did not have the time to ponder deeply.
At this moment, their four cards started vibrating.
The system issued a piece of general plot: “Upon discovering the three corpses in the mountain cave, the inspection team did a thorough search and managed to find their remaining personal belongings. Under the consideration that the cave posed a risk of collapsing at any given time, the inspection team discussed amongst themselves and decided to bring the remains of the three university students and their items to keep them safely before they went down the mountain to call the police and allow the police to investigate the cause of their death.”
Once the four players finished reading through their cards, they could not help but exchange glances, and neither of their expressions were particularly good to look at.
Even though they had been through a lot of scenarios, and had trained themselves to look at corpses without visible flinching, it did not mean that they could accept having intimate contact with the corpses via hugging or carrying until they reached their location of their camping grounds.
After quite some time, all of them still did as instructed. Gu Liang was responsible for one corpse, Scientist Li was responsible for another, and the aged Professor Wang and the only female Doctor Xu shared the burden of carrying one corpse.
Under their mutual cooperation, the four of them carried the corpses out of the cave first.
The following task was more difficult to accomplish. After all, the frozen corpses were too heavy, and a short distance away from the cave was the precipice. If they were to carry the corpse on their back and walk, they might slip off if there was the slightest instability.
Stretching his own waist, Professor Wang looked towards the camping ground below the mountain with a twisted body. “If I recall correctly, there are snow chains back at the camp? If we go down and grab it as a precautionary measure, and slowly carry the corpses…”
“You don’t have to go through all that trouble.” Gu Liang stooped over and adjusted the corpse he was responsible for— his senior high classmate Ming Yue.
Gu Liang adjusted the direction the corpse was facing by pointing his head downwards and towards the camp. Then, he held onto the corpse’s legs and gave a shove, thus pushing the corpse towards the camping grounds.
Their camping grounds was only 800 meters away. Furthermore, the slope they were on was rather steep, and with the corpse sliding down the snow, it actually slid into the camping grounds at a steady pace.
After completing his task, Gu Liang made his way back to the cave and inspected the bags that were half-buried in the snow.
These were bags scattered near the corpses, and there were four in total.
These were the items belonging to the corpses that the general plot mentioned. When they were searching the area previously, they did not find anything else apart from these four bags.
Gu Liang slung two bags over his shoulders and checked over his equipment which included his shoes and protective goggles, ignoring his dumbstruck teammates throughout the entire process. Then, he picked up his mountain climbing pole to make his way back to their camp.
Before leaving, Gu Liang only said a few parting words: “I’ll be leaving the remaining two bags to you. Also, if you want to use my method to move the corpses, just pay more attention— don’t hit me with it.”
Doctor Xu: “……”
Scientist Li: “……”
Professor Wang: “……”
The author has something to say:
Don’t be anxious, he will call Ye Ye in the next chapter.Ha ha.This arc won’t be long.
* * *
Important Translator’s Note: The location this arc takes place at is called Huilong Mountain, 回龙雪山 (hui long xue shan), and I have chosen to keep its original pronunciation because translating it to ‘returning dragon’ would be an odd choice.
However, there is subtle wordplay here: ‘回龙’ shares the exact pronunciation and intonation as ‘回笼’ (pinyin: hui long) which means ‘to reheat’ or ‘steam again’. It is incredibly similar in the way it is written too, if you ignore the radical for the second character. Keep that in mind!
P.S. The doctor in ‘Doctor Xu’ (许医生: xu yi sheng) is different from Doctor Yu (玉大夫: yu dai fu) from the Painted Exteriors arc, wherein the latter name uses the ancient equivalent.
P.S.S. I was planning to elaborate on the poems, but reading the analysis of said poems made me realise there was too much cultural context and nuances for me to rationally and meaningfully summarise in a few sentences (or paragraphs) so I gave up x:
