Chapter 51: Underground Parking Lot

Chapter 51 The Underground Parking Lot

Designate the murderer, obliterate... Listening to the prompt ringing in his ear, Zhang Yuanqing kept his face expressionless, while sudden enlightenment dawned in his heart.

He had found it strange before; the dungeon had assigned him the role of captain, yet required it to be kept strictly secret, forbidding him from voting out the traitor, so what was the meaning of such a captain identity?

Now he understood, the captain's authority lay right here.

“My role has the power of obliteration, so the evil villain must possess a similar method, which is why He Bo died without rhyme or reason. But my power can only be put into trial after completing a task, so if the murderer wants to use their ability, there should be conditions as well, what are their conditions? It's impossible to give away an obliteration quota for nothing.” Zhang Yuanqing's mind spun rapidly.

“I have already traced back the scenes after entering the dungeon and found no abnormalities, the conditions for the murderer to trigger the obliteration power should be inconspicuous, a method known only to themselves.”

Whom should he knife?

Zhang Yuanqing's mental activity exploded with vitality, and he quickly locked onto three characters: Xie Lingxi, Fire Demon, Xi Shi.

And among these three people, he most wanted to knife the girl with long, straight black hair.

Even though she was an exquisite little beauty who evoked pity in all who saw her, after hearing that the upcoming experience included a haunted house, Zhang Yuanqing had indeed been unable to resist wanting to target and kill her just now.

But that was just an impulse of the moment.

“The old version of the strategy guide didn't have the concept of a series, at least it wasn't written down, this should be a change triggered after the difficulty of Jinshui Amusement Park altered. Xie Lingxi most likely didn't know either... Given the difficulty of an S-rank spirit realm, perhaps no matter what entertainment facilities we choose to experience, the result will always lead to the haunted house, unavoidable, at most the order of the haunted house would be different...”

“Currently there is too little information, catching the evil villain is almost impossible, half relying on deduction and half on guessing, with no great certainty. In case I point to the wrong person, a team member will be lost for nothing. Instead, it would put myself in an unfavorable position.

“But if I do nothing, the next one to die will absolutely be me, maybe luck will be on my side and I'll point out the murderer.”

For a moment he fell into a dilemma, not knowing whether to take a risk based on feeling, or to play it safe and observe a bit more.

Both choices carried corresponding risks.

Since I, as the captain, cannot make a decision, then as the traitorous evil villain, what is he thinking at this very moment? Zhang Yuanqing intended to think about the problem from another perspective:

“His hidden task should be killing people, but it's uncertain whether he knows of the captain's existence, let's not consider this aspect for now... Just now I said I didn't observe any abnormalities and that the strategy guide for closing one's eyes hadn't changed, which is a very obvious hint.

“The murderer isn't stupid, he should know that I 'suspect' a traitor has appeared in the team, so next he will choose to be cautious, and then look for a suitable opportunity to kill me, when is the suitable opportunity, this point is very important.

“The character identity is a hidden task, not the main storyline task, the murderer must also consider that killing people too quickly would increase his own risk in the subsequent tasks.”

Jinshui Amusement Park was of S-rank difficulty, Zhang Yuanqing did not believe that the evil villain's task was merely to reduce the number of team members.

If it were that simple, it wouldn't be an S-rank.

Continuing to think along this line of thought: “After discovering that the terrifying supernatural tasks cannot be avoided by any means, the murderer is unlikely to kill people with high frequency, because he needs companions, he needs cannon fodder, and I, having shown a certain amount of ability, am a very good candidate.”

“Therefore, the timing to kill me should be after clearing the haunted house, or during the process...

“Well, these are all my deductions and have yet to be verified, I'll just use 'The Underground Parking Lot' to test him. There is still half an hour before the next task, taking this opportunity to do another background check...”

After figuring things out, Zhang Yuanqing decided to give up the captain's authority this time.

...

“Fuck, in the end we still can't avoid the haunted house!”

On the square, having received the prompt from the spirit realm, Fire Demon's mentality broke down a little, and he glared at the pure and beautiful young girl: “Damn it, you're going to be the death of us.”

Xie Lingxi pursed her small mouth, saying aggrievedly:

“I, I didn't want this either.

“I also didn't know the S-rank spirit realm would become like this, I haven't been here before either...”

Fire Demon irritably scratched and pulled his fiery red hair, cursing and muttering:

“If I knew earlier I shouldn't have listened to you and your wild ideas, what do we do now, the haunted house will definitely be extremely dangerous, what is the old version of the strategy guide? I think everyone should discuss it.”

Xie Lingxi shook her head: “I, I don't know, there are too many amusement park facilities, I only remembered a part of them...”

“Don't know? Do you think I'll believe that? Treating me like a three-year-old child!” Fire Demon raged.

“Why are you being so fierce...” Xie Lingxi was on the verge of tears.

She looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old, likely still a high school student, and being roared at by Fire Demon made her feel both wronged and innocent, looking as if she was about to cry.

“Enough!”

The middle-aged man with an honest and simple appearance rarely took the initiative, shouting to stop the argument between the two.

He looked calmly at Fire Demon: “No one could possibly understand the amusement park after the difficulty change, this matter is not her fault, besides, choosing the roller coaster earlier was the result of everyone's collective vote.”

What the middle-aged man said made sense, but Fire Demon's temper was up, and he simply wouldn't listen to advice, staring back furiously:

“When I am speaking, what does it have to do with you, who asked you to pretend to be a good person here?”

“I'm not pretending to be a good person, I just want you to shut your mouth! If you don't want to shut your mouth, I can help you!”

In the eyes of this honest and simple-looking middle-aged man, a flash of ferocity appeared and vanished in an instant.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing knew it was time for him to step forward, so he hurriedly walked up and interposed himself between the two, smiling:

“Calm down, calm down, if you keep arguing, the half hour will pass. Uncle, give me some face, once we clear Jinshui Amusement Park, I'll treat you to a drink. Brother Fire, once we leave the spirit realm, feel free to look for me, I'm from Yangcheng, Yangcheng's white cut chicken tastes the best, thin skin and tender meat, and very juicy...”

His bit of banter and playful smiling diluted the tense atmosphere of drawing swords and bending bows.

Fire Demon and the middle-aged man took the offered way out, letting the matter drop.

The party of six followed the signboards, leaving the square and walking through the brilliantly lit amusement park.

A cool breeze blew gently, and the pitch-black sky was like an boundless black swan curtain, with no stars and no moon.

The dreamlike and dazzling lights of the amusement park were the only source of light in this world.

An unridden roller coaster rumbled and sped along its tracks; the giant pendulum and pirate ship swung back and forth non-stop; the carousel turned slowly amidst cheerful music...

Driverless bumper cars rampaged across the arena, colliding into one another.

The style of the scene instantly shifted from a fairy-tale-like dream into something of the underworld...

Along the way, no one spoke, and the atmosphere among the team members was incredibly silent and stiff, with everyone maintaining a certain distance from one another, neither staying far away nor drawing close.

Obviously, they have already understood my hint and started to suspect He Bo's death, next I need to test them one by one, sigh, it's really troublesome not being able to expose my identity... Zhang Yuanqing actually no longer cared whether his identity as captain would be guessed.

Because it didn't matter.

Once the evil villain had a suitable opportunity, the first person he would kill would be him, without any hesitation.

He walked quickly toward Xie Lingxi, saying:

“Sister Lingxi, are you a high school student, where are you from?”

“I am from Jiangnan Province, Brother Wang Tai, I am in my senior year of high school this year.”

“What a coincidence, I am a student at Jiangnan University, let's exchange phone numbers, once we clear Jinshui Amusement Park, I can tutor you with your homework and give you one-on-one private lessons.”

“Great, great.”

“Then do you have a boyfriend?”

“Why do you ask that.”

“If you have a boyfriend, it won't be convenient to give you private lessons.”

“Ah? Why.”

...

“Sister Xi Shi, what kind of work do you do?”

"I'm a nurse, you know."

A nurse? The kind that wears a uniform and gives injections...? Zhang Yuanqing put on an admiring expression:

"I respect the angels in white the most."

Xishi's eyes sparkled, her face alluring, and she said in a suggestive, sweet voice:

"Actually, you don't have to respect them that much. I prefer men who are wild, a bit rude, and dominate me as they please."

Zhang Yuanqing paused for a moment, then broke into a smile: "Let's sleep together sometime."

...

Zhang Yuanqing then walked over to "Kuiweirenfu" and said casually:

"Uncle, do you have a daughter?"

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and grunted in affirmation.

Zhang Yuanqing asked curiously, "Your relationship with your daughter must be very bad, right?"

The middle-aged man's honest face instantly darkened, and he said coldly, "None of your business."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

...

After distancing himself from the middle-aged man, he quickly caught up with the red-haired youth ahead. This man was skinny as a rail, with small, sharp eyes and sloping eyebrows, giving an impression of impatience and roughness.

After a few flattering words from Zhang Yuanqing, Huo Mo smiled, finding the young man pleasant-spoken and willing to talk.

When Zhang Yuanqing asked for his opinions on the teammates, Huo Mo said boisterously:

"These teammates are all a bit off. The little girl plays the victim the whole time, the big-titted woman seems easy, but I just asked her on the roller coaster platform if she wanted to go down for a quickie, and she ignored me completely. That uncle looks the most suspicious."

As he spoke, Huo Mo turned to look at the energetic young man Qitian Dasheng, who was fawning over Xie Lingxi, and said disdainfully:

"This one's just a useless prick. Brother Wang Tai, you're the only one in this team I can stand."

"You flatter me, Brother Fire. I think you're the most reliable too."

...

Finally, Zhang Yuanqing approached the energetic young man wearing bean shoes and tight pants, and said, "Dasheng, can I have a word?"

Qitian Dasheng reluctantly glanced at Xie Lingxi, then followed Zhang Yuanqing to the side.

"What is it?" He shot a questioning look at the young man who seemed very good at socializing.

"What do you think of these two girls?" Zhang Yuanqing chuckled.

Qitian Dasheng glanced at Xie Lingxi: "Pretty, with a pert little ass, but small tits."

Then he looked at Xishi: "Big tits, round ass, but doesn't pay attention to anyone."

As for Huo Mo and the middle-aged man, Qitian Dasheng felt the former was hot-tempered and hard to get along with, so he kept his distance. The latter was taciturn but occasionally gave good advice.

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly said in a low voice:

"If I die, do whatever you can to take out that uncle. He's an evil profession."

Qitian Dasheng was taken aback. His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth instinctively, then quickly closed it, his face becoming cautious and wary.

...

Ten minutes later, the group arrived at the underground parking garage on the west side of the amusement park and stopped at the ramp entrance.

Through the downward slope, they could see the garage lit by glaring lights, with faint outlines of dusty cars arranged in an orderly manner.

The garage was deathly still.

Zhang Yuanqing looked at Xie Lingxi and asked on behalf of the group:

"What's the strategy for this stage?"

...