Chapter 32: Countdown
The bracelet’s red light flashed. The mental contamination concentration had soared to 538, and the level had escalated from “Severe” to “Violent.”
The dolls were still crazily pushing You Hong towards Gate No. 3. Under the immense external pressure, the joints of her giant wooden body emitted terrifying “creak, creak” sounds. You Hong was on her back, completely suppressed, her head rhythmically striking the heavy fire door again and again. The decorative rhinestones on the door were shaken loose in large patches, fluttering down and revealing the mottled, ugly concrete wall beneath.
Although the polluted You Hong possessed a horrifyingly hard body, horrifyingly hard did not mean indestructible. At this moment, her life was clearly hanging precariously on a cliff’s edge. A black crack ran diagonally across her face, from her brow bone to the corner of her mouth, making her pale face look particularly terrifying. A large part of her forehead had caved in, and with each “thump, thump,” wood chips flew everywhere. As if treading the same path of fate as five years ago, she seemed destined to die on the night of the bar’s anniversary in an extremely unsightly and pathetic state.
Yi Ke grabbed a menacing, highly polluted, and sturdy doll in front of him, threw it horizontally into the frenzied crowd, and roared, “All of you, stop!”
The dolls did fall silent for a moment, but this silence only lasted for less than five seconds. Five seconds later, it was chaos once more.
Behind the second-floor railing, Zhuang Ningyu held Tong Yishuai. “Make them stop.”
This time, Tong Yishuai showed no objection, complying without a second’s hesitation. In fact, the first moment he saw his meticulously designed fire door being smashed to bits, he was already in a state of extreme mental collapse. The only reason he hadn’t started screaming hysterically was the overwhelming presence of Zhuang Ningyu’s hand pressed firmly on his mask—he didn’t want to take off the mask, not even in death. For the sake of the mask, he could tolerate anything.
Following Tong Yishuai’s sharp command to stop, the bar indeed quieted down. In the environment of violent mental contamination, the dolls’ ability for independent thought had completely vanished, leaving only the instinct to follow the group, and Tong Yishuai was the leader of this group. The damaged speakers continued to emit a faint, ghostly electrical hum, while the bracelets kept issuing high-frequency warnings. The current contamination concentration was 897, very close to the peak of the “Violent” level.
Zhuang Ningyu said, “Let’s go to the safe zone first.”
Yi Ke nodded. “Okay.”
The two acted separately. To avoid triggering another frenzy among the dolls and wasting more time, Zhuang Ningyu did not take Tong Yishuai to the first floor. He kicked open the door to the second-floor restroom and, ignoring the protests of the person in his hands, locked him to the sink. Yi Ke, on the other hand, dragged the dazed bartender, A’Lin, and the muddle-headed Brother Jie into the first-floor staff restroom. Tian Luxin and Wen Yue were also there. The latter was now tied up securely, like a stiff fish. Tian Luxin held her upper body, comforting her, “There, there, calm down first. You’re just too vicious when you start hitting people, I have no choice but to tie you up!”
Wen Yue, her hair disheveled, struggled and glared at her, panting heavily.
Tian Luxin: “…”
Before retreating to the first-floor safe zone, Zhuang Ningyu glanced back at the electronic timer. 11:35 PM. There were still twenty-five minutes until the fire was set to start.
Outside the rule zone.
A dozen jeeps were parked haphazardly, filled with task force members, all on high alert. Each of them had a solemn expression, staring intently at the countdown timer in front of their vehicles. The screen’s time had been perfectly synchronized with Yin Bar inside the rule zone. The blue numbers at the end were constantly ticking, from 60 to 00, and back from 00 to 60. Each tick meant another lost opportunity. If, after twenty minutes, the rule zone still hadn’t been broken—
Qiu Meng, the commander-in-chief from Zone 3 in charge of this operation, was also sitting in a car. He asked, “Have you broken Zhao Jiaxue’s silence yet?”
“No,” a vice-captain wearing a headset replied with a helpless expression. “She insists she got in with an invitation, had a drink at the bar, found out it had mango in it, and left. She says she knows nothing else. No matter how many times we ask, it’s the same answer.”
Qiu Meng cursed, almost wanting to fly to Yang City himself and slam the table. He suppressed the nameless fire in his heart and gritted his teeth. “Keep asking!”
“Zhao Jiaxue.” In Yang City, a staff member from the investigation team looked at the girl before her and handed her a piece of paper. “These are all the invited guests to the Doll Party that year. You know very well your name isn’t on it. Back then, you might have desperately wanted that invitation, but now you should be glad you weren’t invited. Otherwise, there would be one more doll trapped in the rule zone right now.”
Zhao Jiaxue kept her head down and didn’t speak. She had gone through at least five rounds of such questioning in the past few days and had long since developed a resistance, knowing how to handle it. This time, she also had no intention of speaking. As long as she didn’t speak, everything that happened that night would remain a secret. Tong Yishuai was already dead anyway, dead along with all the embarrassment and humiliation. Besides, she really hadn’t done anything. She had nothing to do with that horrific murder case, and even less to do with the fire.
Why weren’t they trying to catch the criminal instead of questioning her?
She was innocent, a victim.
“Regarding your mental state, we have already applied for special handling. All conversations with you will be kept strictly confidential,” the investigator said. “But if this operation is unsuccessful, then according to regulations, we will publicly disclose all work procedures.”
As if stimulated, Zhao Jiaxue suddenly looked up. She looked at the frosty-faced middle-aged woman in front of her, her voice filled with undisguised panic. “Publicly disclose all procedures? But that’s not… not mandatory. I can apply to have it hidden—”
“You cannot!” the investigator interrupted her loudly.
Caught off guard, Zhao Jiaxue flinched.
The intern beside them also looked at her superior in surprise, seeming to want to point out that Zhao Jiaxue was right, that she could indeed apply for non-disclosure. But before she could speak, she was kicked by the person next to her and obediently shut her mouth.
“You cannot. Even if you apply, I will not approve it.” The investigator slowed her tone, repeating herself, her gaze still devoid of warmth. “Everyone has embarrassing things they want to hide. I do too. You’re about the same age as my daughter, so I can roughly understand your thinking. As long as you keep your mouth shut, you can completely distance yourself from the whole affair. But our colleagues are trapped in the rule zone right now, Zhao Jiaxue. If your selfish concealment harms them now, do you think we’ll have any reason to help you keep your secret in the future?”
Zhao Jiaxue’s fingers tightened unconsciously. If the work procedures were made public, it meant any citizen could log onto the website and view them. But she didn’t want to appear on the internet. Even just a name could lead to her entire life being dragged out, and then… spread, ridiculed, mocked, cursed… Perhaps in the future, everyone who mentioned Yin Bar would also mention her. At this thought, she finally broke down and cried, covering her face.
The investigator stepped forward and handed her a tissue.
Zhao Jiaxue took it, her lips trembling. “I… I really don’t know much. That night, I went to the bar…”
11:42 PM, Yin Bar.
There was no mental contamination in the safe zone. Brother Jie, A’Lin, and the bartender leaned against the wall in a daze, their eyes as blank and vacant as Wen Yue’s. Although still in a state of dementia, at least they were no longer manic. When Zhuang Ningyu walked in, Tian Luxin didn’t ask about the mission’s progress; the low pressure in the air spoke volumes. She simply handed the first-aid kit beside her to Yi Ke. “Need my help?”
Yi Ke glanced at his blood-soaked hand, likely cut by shards from the crystal chandelier earlier. It wasn’t serious, just looked a bit gruesome. He grabbed a roll of bandages and wrapped it up quickly, casually asking, “Why is the medicine bottle open? Are you hurt too?”
“It’s Wen Yue, just a surface wound.” Tian Luxin sat back down and visually inspected Zhuang Ningyu. Seeing no blood on him, she silently put the first-aid kit away.
The rules stated that there were a total of six insiders currently in the venue.
Zhuang Ningyu’s mind raced. Himself, Yi Ke, Tian Luxin, Wen Yue, that made four.
The remaining two, he had previously thought were A’Lin and the bartender. But now it seemed that although they were angry and sad about their sister’s death and had suffered great mental stress because of it, they had been actively providing financial support to her family and trying to live their lives. They were more focused on planning and aspiring for the future. The reason they were willing to end their vacation early and return for the anniversary party was probably the same as Brother Jie’s—genuinely for the multiple-times-pay.
And Brother Jie had already been verified during the photo check-in segment not to be the key.
After eliminating these three, there were still You Hong and Tong Yishuai.
Tong Yishuai. Zhuang Ningyu said, “Tong Yishuai is disfigured.”
Yi Ke’s brow twitched, and Tian Luxin’s eyes widened. “…Huh?”
“I was very close to him just now.” So, through the gap in the mask, he could clearly see the deformed and swollen face. Zhuang Ningyu pulled up a conversation on his phone and handed it to Yi Ke. “The investigation team just sent this. It’s preliminarily confirmed that some of the imported drugs that replaced the ones in Tong Yishuai’s office are for anti-infection, while the rest are for treating mental illness. He needs to take a large amount of medication daily. Locking it in a cabinet is inconvenient, but leaving it out is tantamount to a public announcement, so switching them into health supplement bottles was the most convenient option. I suspect that due to his failed plastic surgery, he became mentally unstable and developed a desire for revenge against society. Yin Bar was his perfect creation, and he wanted to take it with him.”
That was why he threw away those drugs and tore up You Hong’s photo. This was his final carnival; all the unbearable, filthy things had to be discarded.
As for the fire, it also perfectly fit Tong Yishuai’s morbid aesthetic: scorching, brilliant, high above, and untouchable. Fire could turn everything to smoke and ash, and most importantly, fire could also let him keep the beautiful mask he valued more than his life on his face forever.
As for the “AIDS” You Tu mentioned, the investigation team had not yet found any corroborating evidence, so its truthfulness was still unknown.
Tian Luxin’s blood ran cold as she listened. No wonder the face of Tong Yishuai pulled from the fire that year was burned beyond recognition, his original features completely obscured. It turned out… he did it on purpose?
Zhuang Ningyu continued, “As for You Hong, I guess in the early days, she admired Tong Yishuai not just for the financial connection, but also because she was truly infatuated with his god-like beautiful appearance. Later on, You Hong’s fawning over Tong Yishuai became almost servile because she had no other choice. If his disfigured face appeared in public, her own carefully managed life would also be ruined.”
The logic made sense. Tong Yishuai also had a reason to poison You Hong—he would not let the person who ruined him live. As for why he would push the already-poisoned You Hong off the terrace to die in the alley outside the bar, it was because she was ultimately not the beauty he desired. He detested her age, her figure, her looks. The brilliant Yin Bar on its anniversary night could not tolerate a single trace of “un-beauty.” An un-beautiful person was not worthy of being consumed by his fire, so she had to die outside of Yin Bar.
So now only one last question remained. Assuming the poisoner was Tong Yishuai, and he was also the arsonist on the third floor, then who was the arsonist on the first floor?
Zhuang Ningyu’s gaze swept over everyone. He had a faint feeling that this time, the “key” was likely unrelated to the culprit. Five years ago, Yin Bar was massacred. The mastermind behind it had never intended to leave anyone a chance of “survival.”
Outside the rule zone, all the team members were still staring at the countdown timer. Four medical vehicles were parked inside the cordon, and Pei Yuan was also on site. If the mission failed, the scope of the rule zone would further expand within three days, and all “outsiders” within the rule zone had a certain probability of being thrown out by the distorted space at the moment of failure. Although countries around the world were accelerating research on various advanced protective suits, there was currently no completely effective means to protect team members from harm throughout the process. Vacuum, crushing, tearing, ultra-high-speed rotation—only a very small number of evolved individuals could achieve self-preservation in such extreme environments. Zhuang Ningyu was one of them; his constitution was special, like a cat that could squeeze through infinitely small gaps.
Inside the jeep, the vice-captain didn’t dare to breathe loudly, just kept his head down and listened to the voice in his headset. Zhao Jiaxue’s voice was soft and her speech was slow. Her memories seemed to have been completely shattered that night, scattered and in pieces, requiring a great deal of effort to pick up and piece together.
In the safe zone, apart from the faucet that wasn’t turned off completely, there was no other sound. The air was so still it seemed to have frozen, and every second was stretched infinitely long. Tian Luxin couldn’t help but feel anxious. She wanted to check the time but felt that even the small action of “picking up her phone” was too conspicuous right now, so she resisted. But Wen Yue in her arms was not cooperating with this caution. She started kicking her legs restlessly again, her heels thumping on the floor, making the atmosphere even more tense.
Yi Ke’s gaze had been locked on Wen Yue. There was a long interval between her entering the rule zone and finally appearing at the party. This was not normal, and she had also had a dispute with someone.
Could the other party in that dispute be the “key”?
Zhuang Ningyu was also staring at Wen Yue. The girl’s white dress had been dirty and soaked since she appeared, so Tian Luxin had just taken off her own apron to cover her as much as possible. And under the hem of the apron, the girl’s legs were crossed helplessly. This part of her body had not yet completely turned into a puppet; her skin was still unnaturally pale. Both of her ankles were wrapped in gauze, with faint traces of red blood seeping through. She had trodden down the heels of her leather shoes, wearing them like slippers.
Zhuang Ningyu remembered the conversation between Tian Luxin and Yi Ke earlier, about Wen Yue being injured. This must be her injury.
Noticing where Zhuang Ningyu’s gaze had landed, Tian Luxin took the initiative to explain, “I bandaged it for her. These shoes don’t fit, they’re at least a size and a half too small. By the time I noticed, they had already rubbed her feet raw like this—”
Zhuang Ningyu interrupted her, “Do you recognize these shoes?”
Tian Luxin was taken aback, then nodded. “You mean the brand? I do. It’s a local trendy brand, established just last year. They sent samples to a lot of fashion bloggers. I have a pair too.”
A brand established just last year meant these shoes were indeed brought in from outside the rule zone.
But who would buy a pair of shoes that didn’t fit?
Zhuang Ningyu asked, “And Wen Yue?”
Tian Luxin was confused by the question. “Huh? What do you mean?”
Zhuang Ningyu, however, didn’t look at her. Instead, he grabbed the hand of the girl in the white dress and pulled her in front of him. “Wen Ling, where is your sister!”
