The great time traveler Da Vinci once said: “I truly envy those fools—they never think about, nor want to think about, what might happen in the next second.”
Zhang Huiran perhaps had yet to realize her inevitable fate. She still believed she had grabbed onto a life-saving raft, unaware that what she held was merely a straw.
“Do you know what consequences your words could bring?” Hua Ru decided to take a risk, hoping for an unexpected gain. “You say you’re a police officer—are you really sure that No. 10 is the killer?”
The woman was already in turmoil, her rationality almost gone, unable to contemplate the underlying schemes. Even if she tried, her intelligence was limited.
Faced with Hua Ru’s questioning, she was momentarily stunned. As previously mentioned, even when she tried to think it through, she couldn’t grasp the meaning behind the young girl’s words.
“No. 10 is definitely the killer! I checked him last night. I didn’t want to reveal my identity, but… if I don’t say it now, I won’t have the chance.”
Zhang Huiran’s reply was textbook, her tone fairly calm, with a hint of reciting a script.
“Do you know? If you accuse No. 10, and he dies, you won’t survive tonight either!” Hua Ru’s words were already risky. If a schemer overheard, she’d be in trouble.
“I know. The killer will kill me.”
“And…” Wait, she knows? Lady Hua Ru almost failed to react and quickly corrected herself: “If you know that, then don’t confront the killer head-on!”
“But I have no other way out.” Zhang Huiran sat down weakly, truly crying this time. She really had no way to break through this predicament.
“That person is using you as a shield. I heard what you two said.” Hua Ru’s words were startling.
The impact was not small. It immediately frightened the woman, who didn’t realize it was a probing tactic. She pressed her lips together, caught in inner turmoil.
It seemed Hua Ru had guessed right. Judging by the success rate of her plan being over eighty percent, she pressed the advantage: “Why don’t you try threatening others in return? That guy uses you as a shield, so you can also use others as a shield!”
The two exchanged riddles, but this wasn’t complicated.
In Hua Ru’s guess, someone contacted Zhang Huiran and coached her to fake being a police officer and fight back desperately. Maybe she wasn’t faking—maybe she really was a cop.
The earlier test was for this. From Zhang Huiran’s reaction, her guess was correct: someone had contacted her and said something. In any case, that person definitely wasn’t No. 10.
Then who was it? Whoever it was, it couldn’t be one of their own. The killer quartet’s plan was clear: vote No. 2 out today, then target the most suspicious No. 10 tomorrow.
Their own people wouldn’t cause trouble by stirring up unexpected variables now. Who taught Zhang Huiran to pose as a police officer to sway votes?
They could start deducing from No. 10. Besides threatening Zhang Huiran, who else did Liu Qingzhu threaten? If Zhang Huiran was out, who would No. 10 most likely target next?
Liu Qingzhu seemed to only show aggression toward No. 2, not others. Even with No. 3 Qian Min, it was just a passing mention. They didn’t seem to have grudges.
So this deduction didn’t hold much water—too unlikely.
If the person coaching Zhang Huiran to impersonate a cop wasn’t doing it for self-preservation, could it be to kill an enemy?
Another thought surfaced in Hua Ru’s mind.
Suppose, just suppose the police’s identity verification could 100% confirm a person’s status.
Last night, they verified No. 2 Zhang Huiran and confirmed she was a civilian. Now, No. 10 was highly suspected of being the killer, so the cops wanted to protect the confirmed civilian No. 2, letting her go after the uncertain No. 10 Liu Qingzhu.
This was a blind shot. No. 2 was confirmed civilian, so they could safely protect this pawn. No. 10’s identity was unclear—either civilian or killer. If only one could remain, it made sense to keep the confirmed civilian Zhang Huiran.
If Zhang Huiran survived and all the cops were still alive, that meant they held five votes. If they verified one more civilian the next day, they’d hold six votes!
Yes, this reasoning was more convincing than the previous ones.
Now the problem was how to discreetly ask who might be the police officer. As for No. 10…
Hua Ru recalled the older man just now, who was confident he could confirm the killer the next day. She felt a tinge of fear. According to the killers’ original plan, No. 2 was out today, No. 10 tomorrow.
But it could be reversed—No. 10 out today, No. 2 tomorrow. Though No. 2 might not be easily voted out tomorrow, some dirty tricks would have to be used to divert attention.
She weighed the pros and cons of various approaches.
The more you act, the more mistakes you make. Was No. 10 Liu Qingzhu worth the risk to keep? Who posed the greater threat—him or Zhang Huiran?
If Hua Ru wanted to guarantee her own safety, it was best to keep things minimal. Don’t use words to direct attacks on anyone and try to avoid sharing opinions, so it wouldn’t be obvious she was playing a role.
This laissez-faire approach might even let Zhang Huiran turn the tables and kill No. 10 Liu Qingzhu.
This idea had just been born because she thought she might have caught the police’s tail and didn’t need to take too many risks, so she impulsively changed the killers’ plan.
“You said reverse the threat? How exactly?” Zhang Huiran seemed to see a new path, hope reigniting in her eyes.
“Anyway, no one dares to claim they’re the police…” Hua Ru showed a slightly embarrassed expression, sighed softly, and said, “Forget it.”
Zhang Huiran was about to ask more, but suddenly, the pieces connected in her mind and she exclaimed excitedly, “You mean I use this to threaten others? If they don’t vote for me, I publicly claim that person is the police? Use the killer to threaten those guys into helping me?”
“Eh?” Hua Ru was very surprised.
There was genuine surprise in her expression. She really hadn’t expected the woman to think of that. Originally, she wanted to just act a bit, not be too conspicuous.
If Zhang Huiran noticed too much scheming, that’d be trouble. So far, Hua Ru had already acted inconsistently with the role she was playing and even worried she couldn’t pull off the identity. Now that woman guessed this method, things became easier.
Zhang Huiran looked at the girl curiously. “You don’t mean that way?”
Hua Ru shook her head, speaking in an apologetic tone: “No, I just thought it might be better to try threatening others with force, no need to rely on… physical contact.”
Zhang Huiran was dumbfounded, thinking: This girl is really naive! Doesn’t she know force is useless in this world?
“Actually, that was on purpose. Otherwise, if it was just the two of us going to the big bathhouse alone, it’d be too suspicious. So we used… um… that, as a cover, to make others think we were that kind of couple. Earlier, with No. 5… I really wanted to save my life and privately persuade him.
Luckily, No. 5 believed my police identity and agreed to help me.”
Hua Ru almost laughed aloud. She had planned to spend more effort questioning her but didn’t expect the woman, upon seeing a glimmer of survival, to lower her guard and just blurt out such a crucial fact.
She never imagined that the cop who coached Zhang Huiran was actually No. 11—the high school teacher Xuanyuan Najiang.