Chapter 27 Are You Playing with the NPCs' Emotions?

“You guys…”

Ai Qisi, holding a boxed lunch, came out after hearing the commotion and happened to see Mu Chen staring intently at the merchant lady, whose ears were already red enough to bleed.

Ming媚 and Mu Chen's ambiguous atmosphere was interrupted by Ai Qisi's sudden appearance.

The two turned back to face Ai Qisi, who was holding a boxed lunch with a dumbfounded expression. Ming媚 felt a little embarrassed and angry, so she immediately abandoned Mu Chen and rushed back into the carriage like an ostrich, leaving Ai Qisi and Mu Chen standing where they were.

Mu Chen watched Ming媚 leave, then turned to look at Ai Qisi, his face immediately devoid of all expression. His eyes were full of displeasure as he looked at Ai Qisi.

Disturbing someone's love life would be struck by lightning!

However, Ai Qisi looked at Mu Chen, and finally gritted her teeth and said, "How can you be so unprincipled, toying with even the emotions of NPCs for the sake of the game?"

Mu Chen: ???

Why did this sound so familiar?

“Senior.”

“What is it?”

“Are you really from the Imperial Central Military Academy?”

Mu Chen's sudden question made Ai Qisi clench her boxed lunch tightly.

“Of course!”

Ai Qisi's decisive and affirmative answer did not receive any further response from Mu Chen. She watched him turn and leave, leaving her standing there in a daze. Ai Qisi's heart couldn't help but feel uneasy again.

So, had he already discovered some flaw?

Impossible, right?

…

No sooner had Ming媚 returned to the dining car than Julian followed, asking about the boxed lunches and also discovering that Ming媚 was the mysterious merchant.

“I wonder how many players have bought boxed lunches here?”

“Not many, maybe two or three.”

“Could you tell me who they are?”

“I’ll consider it if you buy my boxed lunch.” Ming媚 crossed her arms and looked at the man in front of her, unwilling to speak to him because he only asked questions and didn't buy anything.

Asking this and that without buying a boxed lunch, could this guy be one of the murderers?

“Ah, right, I should buy some. Please give me one of each.”

Seeing that the merchant NPC seemed unhappy, Julian immediately spoke up and ordered two of each as well.

Sure enough, with the purchase of the boxed lunch, Ming媚's mood visibly improved. Ming媚 quickly handed the boxed lunches to him, and Julian continued to ask. Then he heard Ming媚 seriously reply: “So far, you are the fourth person to buy a boxed lunch. You all bought the same thing. As for the specific list, I won't say~”

Ming媚 ultimately chose not to tell Julian exactly who had bought the boxed lunches, only giving him a number.

“Thank you.”

He wasn't annoyed by Ming媚's reply. After a slight smile, he left with the boxed lunches, and the soft mutterings he made as he left floated into Ming媚's ears: “Alas, if I let other players come over to buy them and find out that others have already bought them, wouldn't I be searching in vain?”

Ming媚: “…”

He didn't seem like a bad person.

Afterward, to Ming媚's great bewilderment, everyone except Lu Xiong, A Yao, and Madison came to buy boxed lunches, two boxes per person.

This… no way?

Were the murderers hiding so deeply?

With the boxed lunches selling like this, Ming媚 couldn't help but suspect that the only two people on the train who hadn't bought boxed lunches were the murderers, right?

By the time it got dark, all the players returned to the train again, bringing with them news that shocked everyone—the news of Wang Wenfei's death and elimination!

“No way? What happened to Fei Fei?!”

When the group of people returned to the train and shared the news, Lu Xiaoyao was the first to explode.

“What are you guys doing? Why is Fei Fei suddenly gone? Did you vote Fei Fei out?”

“No, the one who killed Wang Wenfei was the murderer hidden among us.”

Mu Chen shared the information from the boxed lunch he had eaten, which stated that the murderer would also kill players who were alone.

At the same time, the devastated looks on Lu Xiaoyao and Madison's faces, who had previously refused the boxed lunches, instantly dispelled the heavy atmosphere from before.

[Look at my崽 (zǎi, endearing term for child/young one), and that big guy. These two… sigh~]

[My 崽 (zǎi) who missed the boxed lunch again is heartbroken.]

[Is Lu Xiaoyao a moron?]

[Get lost, you in front. Isn't the moderator going to do anything?]

…

Ming媚 also didn't expect that the first to die would be Wang Wenfei.

She clearly knew that she would be killed by the murderer when she was alone, so she shouldn't have been careless enough to be alone…

Thinking this, Ming媚 remembered that she and Mu Chen had gone out together earlier, and after Mu Chen came back to take a look at Ai Qisi, he was indeed alone.

Was Wang Wenfei alone at that time?

However, Mu Chen didn't say that he had been with Wang Wenfei earlier, only that they had exchanged information in the dining car and then left separately.

“I want to know which of you here have already eaten the boxed lunch.” Ai Qisi stood up and said, “Now that the matter of the boxed lunch has been brought up, why don't we all discuss the characteristics of the murderer together first?”

So, except for Lu Xiaoyao, everyone shared the characteristics they had randomly received.

There were some that were repeated.

For example, Mu Chen, Julian, and Mu Ning all had reminders about not being alone, that the murderer would kill lone victims.

And Qi Hai Kui and the deceased Wang Wenfei shared a characteristic: that there was more than one murderer, and they were of different genders.

Only Ai Qisi had information that was different from everyone else's. The information she received was that one of the murderers was very timid.

“Very timid?”

As soon as she said this, everyone present looked at Qi Hai Kui, who was sitting in the corner and hadn't spoken since just now.

Qi Hai Kui didn't expect that everyone would be looking at him after being in a daze for only a moment.

“You suspect me… wait! Where am I timid?!”

Qi Hai Kui was both angry and anxious at this moment, and the alarm bells throughout his body were ringing like crazy.

He really didn't want to lose his temper, but these people were actually saying he was timid!

That wasn't timidity, that was wisdom, okay?!

“When I was collecting spirit stones this afternoon, I first acted with Julian. Then he went to buy a boxed lunch and came back and told me to buy one too. After I bought the boxed lunch, I immediately came back to find Julian. I didn't even have time to find out where Wang Wenfei was. How could I have killed her?”

Qi Hai Kui quickly brought out his alibi.

As soon as he finished speaking, Julian nodded in confirmation. Then Qi Hai Kui pointed to the idle salted fish Mu Ning, who was sitting to the side, and said, "Compared to me, she's even more timid, okay?"

Mu Ning, who had been minding her own business, suddenly found herself in the middle of the drama and wasn't happy.

“What do you mean? Where am I timid?!”

Mu Ning shouted with her hands on her hips, “Do you think you're the only one with evidence? This afternoon, I met Mu Chen and Wang Wenfei at the beginning. Later, I found the spirit stones, and they both saw them too. Wang Wenfei even suggested that I go back to the carriage to rest for a while and eat some boxed lunch!

After that, I came back, but I didn't eat the boxed lunch right away. I went to find Ba She and fed him the spirit stones. Then I chatted with Ba She and lazed around! You can ask Ba She.”

Everyone: “…”

So, you're not timid, you're a salted fish?

In the end, after Mu Ning finished speaking, the pressure naturally shifted to Lu Xiaoyao, who was also recognized as a coward by everyone.

Lu Xiaoyao: ???