TEFSCBSS Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Let’s Play a Game of Turtle Soup (Part 2)

“Did your senior brother recommend this place?” Su Li touched her chin and asked. “Wu Zhen?”

Wu Fei continued to smile, answering, “Yes, Wu Zhen is my senior brother! I’m Wu Fei, and this is my junior brother Wu Ming. My senior brother told me about the fun games here yesterday, so he recommended I come to check it out.”

Su Li smiled, thinking, “Looks like the players have arrived.”

She waved her hand and signaled Zhao Si to bring over two more chairs. “Come, come, sit down, have some water. It’s infused with chrysanthemum—it’s great for your health!”

Wu Fei shyly sat down and casually took out half a steamed bun from his pocket, giving it to Wu Ming to eat with the warm water.

Watching the little Wu Ming, soft and squishy as he ate the bun, Su Li’s heart melted. She quickly grabbed the leftover pickled vegetables from the morning and said, “Here, kid, don’t be shy. Eat some pickled vegetables, it’ll go well with the bun, don’t choke on it.”

Wu Fei thought to himself: “Oh no, is my usual trick not working today? Normally, when I see my junior brothers looking so cute, I’d offer them some snacks, porridge, or noodles…”

Zhao Si thought, “This monk seems a bit more refined than I imagined…”

“Ahem,” Wu Fei cleared his throat. “Boss, how do we play the game here?”

Su Li smiled, “Ah, you’ve come a bit early. Unfortunately, the game ‘The Past of Huai Tree Village’ needs four players. Since everyone else here has already played it, we can’t start that one just yet.”

“However, if you don’t have anything urgent to do, you can join us for a round of Turtle Soup. We’ll play the murder mystery later when more players come.”

Wu Fei nodded. “Alright, we’ll follow your lead. But how do we play this Turtle Soup?”

Su Li repeated the rules for everyone, then turned to Zhao Si and the others. “You guys play first. Your entry is free, but if you answer correctly, you won’t get the reward, though you’ll get a stamp.”

Zhao Si and Chun Ya exchanged looks and agreed. They were already accustomed to Su Li’s quirky ideas, and the chances of winning at Turtle Soup were pretty high.

Liu Tuhu also eagerly agreed, slapping the table. “Let’s do it!”

Su Li grinned and drew a card from the Bronze Treasure Chest, reading out the riddle on it: “I played hide-and-seek with my mother. When my mother found me, I didn’t dare to move. Why?”

The four of them stared at each other, trying to figure out the scenario. When did playing hide-and-seek involve not daring to move after being found by your mother?

“I was caught stealing my red envelope money?” Zhao Si frowned and asked.

“No.”

“I did something wrong and was afraid of being scolded by my mother?” Chun Ya, inspired by Zhao Si, suggested.

“No.”

Liu Tuhu thought for a moment, recalling the dark nature of the last question, and carefully asked, “Did my mother want to kill me?”

“No.”

Everyone scratched their heads, getting more confused.

After several rounds of questioning and recalling the answer to the first question Wu Zhen had explained to him, Wu Fei twirled the beads in his hand and finally asked, “Is it that my mother is already dead?”

“Yes!” Su Li gave him a thumbs up. “Great job.”

Su Li couldn’t help but admire these monks—they were sharp.

“Wow, Senior Brother, you’re so good!” Wu Ming clapped his small hands, his big eyes sparkling.

Looking at the little monk, Su Li felt the urge to pat his shiny bald head. Plus, this kid fit the NPC role perfectly for a new script she was working on. She wondered if she could recruit him later, or maybe have him do a guest appearance.

The others, prompted by Wu Fei’s insight, began to consider other possibilities.

“But how could my mother see me if she’s dead?” Chun Ya scratched her head, confused.

Zhao Si, too, was puzzled. “Could it be related to where I was hiding?”

Wu Fei had an epiphany. “Was I hiding in the rice bin?”

When bandits attacked his hometown, his parents hid him in a rice bin to protect him, though he later became an orphan, saved by his senior brother.

Unfortunately, Su Li shook her head. “No.”

“Was I hiding behind the door?”

“No.”

“Was I hiding under the bed?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, everyone realized who had guessed it correctly—it was Chun Ya.

“Wow, what are you all staring at me for? Didn’t you play hide-and-seek when you were young? I used to hide under the bed all the time.”

“…I only hid once and then got dragged out by my dad for a beating. Never thought this would be the spot.”

Now everyone had gathered some useful clues: I played hide-and-seek with my mother, hid under the bed, my mother died, and after she saw me, I couldn’t move.

“This is strange. We should make two assumptions. First, if my mother died before the game began, I should’ve witnessed her death. Then the killer wouldn’t have spared me or let me continue playing hide-and-seek, so the first assumption is wrong.”

“Second, how did my mother die? Why did she suddenly die?”

“The other assumption is that I hid under the bed first, and then my mother died. The killer brought her body into the house, searching for other victims. As I was under the bed, our eyes met, and that’s when she saw me. I froze because of what I saw!”

Wu Fei composed his thoughts and seriously addressed the group. “Everyone, this story is missing one person.”

Liu Tuhu widened his eyes. “What? Who’s missing?”

“That person is the killer!”

“Who killed my mother? How did they do it?”

Wu Fei shook his head, dismissing his thought. “No, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we know someone is missing, and this missing person will help us resolve the two previous assumptions.”

“Assumption one: If my mother died before the game, I should have seen everything. The killer wouldn’t have let me live, so that assumption is wrong.”

“Assumption two: If my mother died after I hid under the bed, the killer killed her outside and then dragged her body inside. When I saw my mother’s body, I froze, and that’s why I didn’t dare to move.”

“Boss, did I get the reasoning right?” Wu Fei asked with a smile.

Su Li wiped the sweat from her forehead. This little monk was sharp, and the scariest part was that he could smile while explaining the whole story. He wasn’t just a cute face—he might be a fox in sheep’s clothing. It was a little intimidating.

Su Li nodded in approval, refunded his ticket, and gave him a coin along with a detective’s handbook.

After they played for a bit longer, Su Li noticed everyone was getting the hang of the rules, and since Wu Fei had earned quite a bit, her little heart couldn’t take it anymore. She decided to switch to a different game.

“Everyone, let’s play a different game next.”

“This one is going to test your wits and courage. It’s called Werewolf!”