DF Chapter 56
by VolareSheng Jia was awakened by a scream. The room was still lit by the amber light overhead. She could clearly hear people running and screaming on the second floor, one scream after another, especially eerie.
In the luxurious room, only a sliver of light filtered through the curtains, a gift from the moon. Sheng Jia subconsciously reached for the light switch on the bedside table.
It wouldn’t turn on.
Her mind already clear, Sheng Jia immediately got out of bed. She looked around, but Song Ji’an wasn’t in her room. Judging by the sky, she had slept for at least an entire afternoon.
The door connecting her room to Song Ji’an’s showed no signs of being opened, and when Sheng Jia tried to push it, it wouldn’t budge.
How could this be?
Unless Song Ji’an had locked the door from the other side.
But why?
Sheng Jia sat back on the bed. The screaming downstairs had stopped, and the entire manor was plunged into a terrifying silence.
The game had already begun, and Sheng Jia’s situation was far from optimistic, because she was completely clueless about what was happening.
She picked up her phone. As expected, there was no signal.
Darkness and being cut off from communication, this was a stimulating start?
Since she and Meng Yeran had already formed an alliance, then Dong Zhen and Julia and the other four could also form an alliance. Whether the current environment was designed by Selena or whether Dong Zhen, Julia and the others had seized the initiative and set a trap, the other side’s purpose was probably only one thing—to lure Sheng Jia out of her room.
Whether to go out or not was the choice she had to make now, but in fact, she didn’t have much of a choice.
A camouflage vest and a pure black paintball gun were placed in front of the door, along with a note.
1. Please put on the vest and take the gun; this will be your weapon to protect yourself.
2. There is a red heart on the front and back of the vest. Being hit means you’re out of the game.
3. Please feel free to explore the island for two days. The mutual elimination mechanism will begin on the morning of the second day.
4. There are a total of seven guns, each with two bullets. No refills.
The note calmed Sheng Jia’s wavering heart a bit. So today was safe, and the possibility of being eliminated wouldn’t start until tomorrow morning.
She put on the vest, picked up her gun, and immediately opened the door.
She didn’t want someone else to steal her protective gear and weapon before she could even do anything.
Outside the door was also pitch black.
The soft carpet on the ground was now the perfect tool for easily concealing movements. Sheng Jia leaned against the wall, directly rejecting the idea of knocking on Meng Yeran’s door again.
If Meng Yeran and Song Ji’an were still around, they couldn’t have remained silent just now.
The windows in the corridor on the third floor of the castle were close together, offering a distant view of the island’s coastline and the waves crashing against the rocks. But there were more shadows of trees, and Sheng Jia didn’t know where Selena had transplanted so many trees that weren’t suitable for living in the tropics. They were yellowing, almost withered, with only tattered leaves and jagged branches remaining.
The world was so quiet that it felt like she was the only one left.
There were ten rooms on the third floor. Ignoring the three rooms where Sheng Jia and the others had slept, the other seven were within the scope of exploration.
Sheng Jia walked to the room closest to her, and just as she was about to reach out and try to push the door, it creaked open on its own. The heavy wooden door made a teeth-grinding friction sound. She subconsciously turned her head to run, but the person inside moved faster than her, grabbing her wrist and dragging her into the room.
With her back against the wall, Sheng Jia was restrained from behind in the pitch black, and the other person covered her mouth.
It was a very familiar scent.
“Don’t move.”
Also a very familiar voice.
Sheng Jia’s tense body instantly relaxed.
Song Ji’an on the other side noticed this, turned her head in surprise, and paused slightly.
“Sheng Jia? You’re awake?”
Sheng Jia blinked under her hand, and Song Ji’an belatedly released her. They were standing too close, and she subconsciously took two steps back, but remembering something, she leaned in again.
“Don’t talk yet,” she whispered, “When you were sleeping this afternoon, Dong Zhen and Julia arrived, so our game has begun.”
“You should have seen it too, you can’t kill anyone on the first day. This is clearly the best opportunity for us to search for clues, but we need to overcome some obstacles. They obviously think so too.” Song Ji’an was next to her ear, seemingly afraid of being heard outside, her voice even lower, “So when we came up, they directly cut off the power to the entire castle. Aunt Selena and the others have given the entire island to us. Now there are only the seven of us on the island, apart from the regular support staff.”
“The plan between me and Meng Yeran is to lure them over. The third floor is our territory; they haven’t come up yet. We originally planned to use you as bait, but they didn’t take the bait, so we just switched to a new bait, the latest relevant clue we found. Since we can’t hurt anyone on the first day, all we can do is delay their time, so we want to take them down one by one first.”
Too close, Sheng Jia frowned slightly. When Song Ji’an spoke next to her, her lips almost touched her earlobe.
Her ears are very sensitive; they’re probably bright red right now.
Sheng Jia pursed her lips, suppressing the urge to push her away, and seriously asked, “How were you originally going to use me as bait?”
“Meng Yeran and I wanted to create the illusion that we weren’t on the third floor, and you were Sleeping Beauty. If they were sure we weren’t there, they would definitely take the opportunity to break into your room and steal the props. But unfortunately, Dong Zhen saw through this, so we started on the second bait.”
Sheng Jia ignored the term Sleeping Beauty and continued to ask, “Do you think you won’t be seen through this time?”
“Probably not, because this time it’s a counter-plot. Dong Zhen and the others are also attacking us, trying to lure us down. With you still in the room, it’s two against four. Before the lights went out, they almost tied the two of us up.”
“The second floor is their base. They have to stop me from stealing their base while also chasing Meng Yeran. They’ll either send two people to chase Meng Yeran or send one person to chase; they can’t send more.” Song Ji’an’s eyes flashed slightly, her eyes full of determination, “Now that you’re awake, whether it’s one or two people, we have a numerical advantage. After we solve them, we can try to fight them head-on.”
“Sheng Jia, don’t move yet. The soundproofing in these rooms is terrible; any noise will be noticed.”
Sheng Jia had nowhere to retreat; the back of her head was against the wall. She said helplessly, “Then how many clues have you found?”
“We found two on the third floor before the lights went out,” Song Ji’an said quickly, “We’ve searched the entire third floor; there probably won’t be many more. The rest are probably outside the castle, in the corners of the island, but the premise is that we can get down there. The second floor is blocked by them; we can’t get down at all.”
As she spoke, the screaming started again on the second floor, so sudden that it startled both of them.
Song Ji’an gritted her teeth. “Dong Zhen and the others are deliberately playing horror movies, probably to cover up the sound of them talking downstairs. The soundproofing in the castle might have been removed by Aunt Selena; it’s really bad. We can clearly hear them talking downstairs and us talking upstairs, as long as the sound is a little louder.”
In this short time, Sheng Jia had basically figured out the current situation.
She stopped talking, and Song Ji’an didn’t care about talking either. The two of them were leaning against the wall, their breaths mingling, but no one cared, because soon, hurried footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.
The screaming downstairs continued, but the gasping in the third-floor corridor was too obvious, followed by a loud bang outside their door, as if something heavy had hit it.
“I’m here, can you guess where Song Ji’an went?”
This was Meng Yeran’s voice.
“Don’t try to deceive us, Meng. Unless Song Ji’an used Rapunzel’s hair to climb out of the window, it’s impossible for her to leave right under our noses. And even if she left on her own, she’s just a lone wolf; we have four people.”
This person’s tone was very arrogant, and their Chinese sounded a little strange. Song Ji’an made a mouth shape in the dark: Julia.
“Julia, don’t get too excited. Isn’t there still a Sleeping Beauty in their team? Let’s wipe them out this time. Taking the evidence from Meng’s hands and the evidence we have ourselves will give us a big lead.”
Still a strange Chinese accent. Sheng Jia didn’t need to be reminded this time; this must be Julia’s teacher.
The two of them were discussing in front of the door. Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an exchanged a look and opened the door in perfect coordination without any discussion.
Julia and her teacher had obviously prepared, but they were still a little surprised to see that there were two people in the room.
The four of them instantly started fighting.
The screaming downstairs hadn’t stopped yet. Meng Yeran shouted, “Grab the communicators first, to prevent them from sending messages!”
Sheng Jia was quick-witted and knocked the walkie-talkie off Julia’s waist.
Song Ji’an and Sheng Jia were clearly stronger than Julia and the other person, and they were quickly pinned to the ground. Meng Yeran was tied up on the ground. Song Ji’an didn’t know when she had brought a small knife with her, and she cut the rope. Meng Yeran quickly joined the battle.
Three against two; Julia and the other person were quickly subdued.
Sheng Jia finally had the opportunity to glance at Julia, who had the obvious appearance of a Northern European mixed-race girl, with deep-set eyes and a high nose bridge. She had a very heroic appearance. Her golden curly hair was neatly tied behind her head, and even though she was bound by the three of them, she was still calm.
Her height was similar to Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an’s, at least 1.72 meters, but her teacher, Ms. Martha, was clearly much shorter, which was one of the reasons why they were able to subdue them so quickly. Height advantage was not to be ignored.
“Sheng Jia.” Julia also looked at Sheng Jia and smiled. “Dong Zhen guessed right. You should have woken up long ago.”
Sheng Jia met her deep black eyes, “Ms. Julia, are you saying that Dong Zhen had already guessed that we would ambush you here?”
“More or less,” Julia nodded, “We’re too familiar with both Ji’an and Meng, the annoying ghost. Even though we haven’t spent much time together, the projects we’ve participated in are all reference cases on each other’s desks. Our behavior patterns are put into Dong Zhen’s mind, and it’s no different from a big data search. We can guess what tricks might come up with each other. The breakthrough point is on Sheng Jia.”
“You’re the only one in your team that we’re unfamiliar with, so how could we not pay more attention? A friend that Ji’an brings must be as smart as her. We have high expectations for you.”
“So what? What do you want to tell us?” Sheng Jia asked slowly.
“We’re here now, so can you guess where Dong Zhen and the others have gone?” Julia smiled. “Don’t you think the screaming has been going on for too long?”
Song Ji’an narrowed her eyes and interrupted her, “That’s not something you need to consider for us.”
“Ji’an, you’re not gentle at all right now,” Julia smiled, “What’s the rush? Anyway, we’re already in your pocket, aren’t we? Aren’t we allowed to make a few remarks as prisoners of war?”
Song Ji’an didn’t want to discuss martial ethics with her at the moment, so she also smiled and nodded, “Right, you’re not allowed. Any problem?”
After saying that, she and Meng Yeran taped Julia and Martha’s mouths with the tape they had prepared, and very skillfully locked them in the room they had just been in, even locking it.
“You can’t listen to Julia’s words,” Meng Yeran analyzed what she had just said to Sheng Jia, “We’re all too familiar with each other. Even if we haven’t spent much time together, the projects we’ve participated in are all reference cases on each other’s desks. Our behavior patterns are put into Dong Zhen’s mind, and it’s no different from a big data search. We can guess what tricks might come up with each other. Their breakthrough point is on Sheng Jia.”
“I just touched her and only found the clues that were taken from me,” she continued, “That means the clues they found are all on Dong Zhen.”
“It’s a delaying tactic.” Sheng Jia said slowly, “No one will be eliminated on the first day. Their goal wasn’t as simple and crude as tying us up and making it difficult to escape from the beginning, but like now, having Julia and the others attract our attention. She probably wasn’t lying just now. Now that Julia and Martha are here, Dong Zhen and the others have probably discovered some other important clues and have already left.”
“But if we’re not sure, we’ll definitely have to go to the second floor to check, which will waste more time. That’s the result they want.”
“The four-on-three subjugation is indeed not the means Dong Zhen would choose,” Song Ji’an nodded, agreeing with her analysis, “Because in this situation, even if they subdue us, they will lose physical strength, and they won’t be able to trap us for long. It’s better to abandon the car to protect the marshal, and let Julia and the others come up as bait to cover their departure first.”
Just like before they implemented the seduction plan, they also arranged fake clues in the rooms on the third floor, trying to slow down Julia and Martha’s steps after they broke free later.
Song Ji’an and Meng Yeran knew Julia very well. These ropes couldn’t trap her for long. Julia’s motor skills had been very developed since she was a child, and she was good at untying ropes. Even if this was a reinforced version, it would only take a little more effort.
Of course, for Song Ji’an and Meng Yeran, this was also a compulsory course for heirs of wealthy families.
“Are we still going to the second floor?” Meng Yeran asked.
“No,” Song Ji’an replied, “According to Dong Zhen’s character, she’s either ambushing us downstairs or she’s already left, but as long as she leaves, she must have enough confidence that the clues on the second floor have been completely searched, and maybe even the clues on the first floor have been searched during the time they delayed us. Then we might as well go outside to look for other clues.”
Just like before they implemented the seduction plan, they also arranged fake clues in the rooms on the third floor, trying to slow down Julia and Martha’s steps after they broke free later.
Song Ji’an and Meng Yeran knew Julia very well. These ropes couldn’t trap her for long. Julia’s motor skills had been very developed since she was a child, and she was good at untying ropes. Even if this was a reinforced version, it would only take a little more effort.
Of course, for Song Ji’an and Meng Yeran, this was also a compulsory course for heirs of wealthy families.
“Look for other clues,” Sheng Jia carefully pondered these five words, “That’s not right.”
Song Ji’an: “What’s wrong?”
“What we should be looking for is not clues. This island is so big. Are you sure we can find those scattered notes after we leave the manor?” Sheng Jia replied, “There must be a specific location.”
Song Ji’an’s eyes flashed slightly, and she understood what she meant.
To know the specific location, either Selena left a drawing related to the clues as part of the game, or they could only find the person who arranged everything.
And before Sheng Jia went to sleep, Song Ji’an and Sheng Jia had just talked about this matter—Tawana.
The object they had long decided to try to win over.
Selena and others had already withdrawn from the island, but she had to leave someone to do logistics.
The two butlers were essential for the operation of the island, even if they were hiding now.
Compared to aimless searching, this shortcut was naturally more time-saving and labor-saving.
And this might also be Dong Zhen and the others’ goal.