SES Chapter 114 Part 2

To make it clear, he flipped over the notes, grabbed a pen, and sketched a map. “Ma Chao walked a few steps toward the city—that’s the left side of the bridge. Zhang Tong stopped behind him to pee on the right side.

“Then Ma Chao looked back and saw the boss’s wife pushing Zhang Tong. That means she came from the right side—the countryside side. But the restaurant’s in the city. Even if she switched personalities and went to kill him, she still had to cross the bridge first…”

Sweating, he asked desperately, “Do you get what I’m saying?”

Luo Ren said, “I get it.”

Yi Wansan had spotted a hole.

If Mu Dai had really gotten up that night and gone to the bridge to kill someone, then on her way across, Ma Chao or Zhang Tong would’ve noticed her.

But no one saw her cross. They only saw her already there, pushing someone.

Same with Wu Yuping—she didn’t see anyone while crossing, only afterward.

It was as if Mu Dai had been dropped onto the scene, appearing suddenly.

Yan Hongsha bit her lip. “That… doesn’t make sense. Totally unreasonable.”

Luo Ren smiled. “Exactly. Hongsha’s right. We’ve been trapped by the word ‘reasonable.’”

He crumpled Yi Wansan’s drawing. “From the start, we fell into the trap of assuming Mu Dai had multiple personalities. Then we kept trying to make it fit. No matter how we argued, she always ended up a murderer.

“Now, toss all that aside. Forget reality. Go wild with it. If it wasn’t Mu Dai, then what’s the most likely scenario?”

Yan Hongsha was first to speak.

“A ghost.”

She ignored Yi Wansan’s eye-roll. “Didn’t you say to think big? I say it was a ghost, taking Mu Dai’s shape. That’s who Ma Chao saw when he turned back. Who did Wu Yuping see when she got up from her fall? Who saw Song Tie at the bridge? Meanwhile, our Mu Dai was asleep in bed—with her hair tied up.”

She finished and lifted her chin at Mu Dai.

Warmth filled Mu Dai’s chest. She smiled. “Silly girl.”

Cao Yanhua let his imagination run too. “Could’ve been a disguise. Someone disguised themselves as my little master and put on a show on that bridge. Maybe they’d met her before, copied her clothes and hairstyle perfectly. But they didn’t know she tied her hair to sleep!”

He ground his teeth. “See? Even the cleverest fox can’t escape the hunter’s eyes!”

Yan Hongsha wasn’t convinced. “That ‘Mu Dai’ appeared too suddenly. Doesn’t that strike you as unnatural? A ghost makes more sense.”

Only Yi Wansan stayed quiet.

But he was clearly holding something back.

Luo Ren noticed. “Wansan, what about you?”

Yi Wansan said, “Luo Ren, it feels like we’ve all forgotten a friend.”

Clearly implying something, but Luo Ren wasn’t in the mood for guessing. “Spit it out.”

“The fourth murderous slip. We’ve been dealing with them this whole time. By now, the fourth should’ve appeared. Phoenix Luankou even dropped some hints—strange ones, but still.”

Out of everyone, only Mu Dai didn’t know. She whispered to Yan Hongsha, “What hints?”

Since there wasn’t a new topic, Yan Hongsha patiently explained what she and Cao Yanhua had seen.

To their surprise, Mu Dai’s eyes glazed over.

She furrowed her brow, trying to remember. “That night… I think I also felt a strange wind blow over me…”

Luo Ren first dropped the others off at the hotel, then went to the hospital to pick up the test results.

In just half a day, the mood had completely shifted. Mu Dai half-reclined on the sofa, feeling like everything earlier had been a dream.

Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua huddled at the computer, searching for information about the Tengma Platform.

Mu Dai overheard Yi Wansan muttering, “Plenty of reposts, but the content’s all identical. Who was the very first person to upload this?”

There’s always a first. Just like when the fortune-teller told them about the seven murderous slips—supposedly records of the earliest seven killings in the world.

Yan Hongsha walked over, looked down at Mu Dai, and pinched her cheek. “Poor thing, feeling any better now?”

Mu Dai dodged her hand, laughing. “Cut it out. Don’t call me that.”

Yan Hongsha made a face. “Hey, who was it earlier wanting to turn herself in? Good thing I threw myself in the way to stop you.”

Mu Dai said nothing. At the computer, Yi Wansan turned. “Hey, rich lady, go buy us some food.”

Yan Hongsha flared up. “Why me?!”

“Can’t you see all the men are busy?” Yi Wansan shot back.

Yan Hongsha grabbed two pillows off the bed and hurled them. Cao Yanhua yelped, “If you’re gonna throw, hit Wansan! Why me? I didn’t say a word!”

Yi Wansan yelled, “Best two out of three, rock-paper-scissors! Settle it fair! Don’t just attack me!”

The three of them scuffled, tugging at pillows like children.

Mu Dai giggled, but when she turned her head, she froze.

At some point, Luo Ren had opened the door. He didn’t step inside, just stood there watching. When their eyes met, he raised a hand and motioned her over.

Mu Dai got up and walked over. Luo Ren motioned for her to step outside, then gently pulled the door shut behind them.

The hallway was utterly quiet. The sun was almost down, and golden light streamed through the window at the far end, stretching a long bright strip across the carpet. Mu Dai walked out right into that glow.

Luo Ren handed her a rolled-up sheet of paper. As it reached her hands, she caught the faint, sterile smell unique to hospitals.

Mu Dai unrolled it.

She knew it was a test report. She skimmed through it, but most of it was incomprehensible—lines of chemical symbols, values, and reference ranges.

But Luo Ren must have read it.

Mu Dai looked up and asked, “So… what does it say?”

He lowered his gaze to her. She really had lost weight—her chin sharper now, faint bluish shadows under her eyes, her lids slightly swollen. In her eyes, there was so much evasion, so much retreat.

“You’ve gotten so thin,” Luo Ren said.

He slipped an arm around her waist and leaned down to kiss her. Mu Dai startled, instinctively pulling back. His lips missed, but he stopped just short, so close his warm breath brushed against her soft mouth.

He held her eyes with his. “Mu Dai, we never broke up. Not once.”

The sunlight fell across her face, half in brightness, half in shadow.

“Are you afraid of me now?” Luo Ren asked.

Mu Dai shook her head, her nose stinging. Slowly, she rose on her toes, trembling a little, her lips brushing toward his.

Bang! The door burst open.

Yan Hongsha’s furious voice rang out: “What kind of man are you? You’re even cheating at rock-paper-scissors!”

And then—

Both of them… no, all three of them froze.

Mu Dai’s face burned red all the way to her ears. She was still on tiptoe, her leg stiff as a wooden post, unable to bend.

It felt like a century passed before Yan Hongsha finally muttered, “I didn’t see a thing.”

She stiffly sidestepped them and started, but just as Mu Dai let out a breath of relief, Yan Hongsha spun back around, glaring at them in exasperation.

“Seriously? You two can’t be a little more discreet? What’s so hard about finding an empty room?”