Chapter 70: Snow White’s Magic Mirror

Angelina, fuming, suddenly seemed more vigorous.

She shot a fierce glare at Jing Qizhen and Yun Shuanghua, then stood up, holding the large bath towel Jin Guijuan had given her earlier, and headed directly toward the bathroom with practiced familiarity.

Jin Guijuan couldn’t help but say, “Be careful! Should I come with you?”

Angelina, cautious by nature, reconsidered. After all, she had previously staged her disappearance to ensure her safety.

Although she couldn’t communicate well with Jin Guijuan due to the language barrier, when she met Jin Guijuan’s worried gaze, she hesitated. Then, grabbing her messy hair, she decided, “I’ll just wash my face in the kitchen!”

After all, skipping a bath for now wouldn’t kill her!

Si Jiayang immediately stood up. “Be careful with the knives.”

To be safe, both Si Jiayang and Jin Guijuan accompanied Angelina to the kitchen.

After all, whether it was the kitchen or the bathroom, both were high-risk areas.

Coincidentally, Si Jiayang could also check on the bread in the oven. They should be done by now.

Those left in the villa’s living room exchanged glances for a moment.

Jing Qizhen broke the silence. “Angelina has probably shared everything she knows. She seems like someone who values her life, so she’s reliable for now.”

Lu Lingxi flipped through his notebook. “The housemaid has a lot of suspicious points.”

Manman added, “McCain, Caroline, and Wilcox’s younger cousin, Joyce… I just feel like it’s impossible they don’t know anything.”

Old Xiao was stunned for a moment. “They know?”

Jing Qizhen explained, “If we outsiders could gather the clues, they must have found them earlier. It’s unlikely they know nothing. However, they might have fallen into a cognitive trap.”

Jing Qizhen’s words were straightforward. He had mentioned this line of reasoning before.

For those who had witnessed the anomalies of the erosion area, their first reaction upon seeing the vine-covered villa and experiencing the sudden fatigue was the fairy tale ‘Sleeping Beauty’.

However, for people like Joyce and Professor Jones, facing the same phenomena led to entirely different interpretations.

It couldn’t be helped, since it was their first time entering an erosion area and everything was unfamiliar to them.

Being trapped in the villa and unable to communicate with the outside world was one thing but suddenly believing the world had become magical was another.

Jing Qizhen said, “Manman probably means they’ve encountered something similar to the March Hare. However, Angelina, with her imaginative thinking, concluded that there was some special entity in the villa. Meanwhile, Professor Jones and the others, upon seeing the March Hare, likely thought it was someone in a rabbit costume pulling a prank. If the March Hare spoke, they’d just assume the person in the costume slipped up.”

Lu Lingxi understood. “So they’ve already encountered clues tied to fairy tales but they rationalized them within their own logic as the killer’s hints?”

Jing Qizhen nodded. “Exactly.”

The excellent top students and professor trapped in the villa were disadvantaged because of this.

The world logic had already shifted but they didn’t realize it.

Jing Qizhen gave an exaggerated, specific example, “Imagine if, when we entered the erosion area at Yunhai Wancheng Department Store, the supermarket was still crowded with people. Those would all be NPCs native to the erosion area. Would you even notice that the other shoppers around you had changed?”

Lu Lingxi and Gu Leshan, who hadn’t entered the first erosion area, couldn’t fully grasp the idea.

Old Xiao, however, gasped and broke into a cold sweat after hearing Jing Qizhen’s description. He muttered nervously, “If I encountered a monster in that situation, I’d just be shocked at its appearance, without realizing I was no longer in the real world…”

Jing Qizhen said, “Exactly. Even if your phone loses signal, the first reaction would be to think that the signal is blocked or there’s an issue with the carrier’s base station. You’d never immediately assume you’ve entered some special space.”

Lu Lingxi flipped back a few pages in his notebook. Before Jing Qizhen and the others entered the villa and suddenly felt drowsy, he and Jin Guijuan had a ‘friendly’ exchange with Caroline.

Compared to the imaginative and quick-thinking Angelina, Caroline was obviously like a spoiled young lady; arrogant, bossy, and proud. Of course, neither Lu Lingxi nor Jin Guijuan catered to her whims.

Still, despite her princess syndrome, Caroline was extremely observant. However, her focus was entirely different from Angelina’s.

Lu Lingxi glanced toward the kitchen instinctively before speaking softly. “According to Caroline, Sean is gay and has a crush on Williams. But Williams is a staunchly straight playboy who’s reportedly been with many women. Even during the party, he was openly flirting with Sophia.”

Jing Qizhen: “=口=?”

Gu Leshan suddenly had an epiphany. “Could it be that these people all have some kind of messy romantic entanglements, which is why they’re so convinced the killer is targeting them out of revenge?”

“Caroline probably shares your theory.” Lu Lingxi shot Gu Leshan a glance, then continued flipping through his notebook. “Professor Jones was personally invited to the party by Sophia. The villa’s owner and host of the party is named David but he’s not one of the nine people who entered the erosion area. Oh, and Caroline said she’s good friends with David, so she doesn’t want to comment too much on his romantic issues.”

Old Xiao was dumbfounded. “…It’s like all the pieces are connecting!”

Lu Lingxi added, “Caroline shared a lot but most of it is gossipy and ambiguous.”

Jing Qizhen understood. “So, it’s useful as a reference but not solid evidence, right?”

Lu Lingxi nodded. “And the gossip itself is kind of brainwashing… That’s why I’m not in a hurry to share it earlier, since I didn’t want these clues to derail everyone’s thinking.”

Old Xiao walked over to Lu Lingxi, took his notebook, and started reading it himself.

Among the group, Old Xiao was the oldest but had the best memory. After going through Lu Lingxi’s notes, he decided, “I’ll grab a large piece of paper later and sketch out their relationship chart. It’s too messy to keep straight!”

Lu Lingxi agreed, “It is messy. Caroline also mentioned that Angelina’s mentor has a bad relationship with Professor Jones. So, at one point, she suspected Professor Jones killed Angelina out of spite.”

The Earth, who had been planning to check on Tang Song, couldn’t help but pop back into the conversation. “Exciting!”

Jing Qizhen said, “Don’t wait. There should be a paper in the study, right? If not, stick two sheets together with tape and draw on that.”

Old Xiao nodded decisively. “Got it!”

While Lu Lingxi and Old Xiao went upstairs to the study to search for paper and pens, Jing Qizhen quietly spoke to Yan Hong, who was outside. “Keep an eye on the housemaid but don’t alarm her just yet.”

Even if there was an issue, they could wait until everyone was gathered in the house for dinner to catch her red-handed.

With that thought, he turned and gave Yun Shuanghua a serious look. Jing Qizhen still vividly remembered Yun Shuanghua’s admission at the Yunhai Wancheng Department Store last time that he had the strength to confront the ghost lady, Miss Li, head-on.

If the maid truly turned out to be suspicious, it would be up to Yun Shuanghua to handle it. Worst-case scenario, they’d have to rely on teamwork to overpower her.

Yan Hong’s voice came over the walkie-talkie, steady and calm, “Got it.”

In the kitchen, Si Jiayang was still busy preparing food.

After wiping her face with a damp towel, Angelina also gave her hair a quick rub. Though not entirely clean, she felt as if she had been revived.

She smiled brightly at Jin Guijuan, who had handed her the towel. “Thank you, you’re so kind! That Jing Qizhen is such a jerk!”

Jin Guijuan: “…”

She didn’t understand English but she recognized the word ‘thank you.’ Judging by Angelina’s disdainful expression when saying Jing Qizhen’s name, Jin Guijuan could guess she was probably complaining about him.

Although the thought felt a bit disloyal, Jin Guijuan secretly enjoyed seeing the difference in how Jing Qizhen treated teammates versus outsiders. As part of his team, it made her feel warm inside.

Si Jiayang placed the bread onto serving plates, paying particular attention to the baguette he was giving to Yun Shuanghua. Though it was incidental, he had prepared it with great care.

Si Jiayang said, “Let’s head to the living room.”

Having encountered no unexpected incidents in the kitchen, Angelina cherished the rare moment of peace and quickly grabbed Jin Guijuan’s hand to pull her along.

By that time, Old Xiao had returned from upstairs while carrying a freshly drawn relationship chart based on Caroline’s descriptions. Wiping sweat from his brow, he muttered under his breath, “Why are these kids’ relationships so messy?”

Sympathizing with Jing Qizhen’s current vulnerable state, Old Xiao handed him the chart. “Here, Little Jing, take a look.”

Lu Lingxi quickly added, “It’s all just Caroline’s perspective!”

The Earth, upon seeing the complicated chart, was utterly stunned. Caroline hadn’t just gossiped about the nine people trapped in the villa. She’d practically mapped out the relationships of everyone at the party.

Fortunately, Lu Lingxi was skilled at shorthand and had jotted everything down. Combined with Old Xiao’s summary, the Earth couldn’t help but exclaim, “The relationships between these people at the party are so complicated!”

“They really are!” Jing Qizhen nodded silently.

The chart before him resembled a dense spider web with lines drawn connecting who had been romantically involved with whom.

Adding academic rivalries and grudges from the previous generation made it even more chaotic.

Jing Qizhen couldn’t help but comment, “I’m genuinely curious how David, the villa’s owner, managed to gather so many people without them fighting on the spot.”

At the same time, Jing Qizhen, who had initially regarded Caroline as a fool, found himself revising his opinion.

For her to gossip so succinctly about such complex relationships while conveniently omitting her good friend David’s personal disputes, she must have mastered the art of keen observation to perfection.

A true veteran in the art of observing and analyzing juicy gossip! Caroline’s abilities in this regard were nothing short of astonishing.

Jing Qizhen even suspected that David hosted the party just to enjoy the drama with Caroline.

While drying her hair with a towel, Angelina curiously leaned over to take a look. When she saw the spiderweb-like relationship chart, she was utterly stunned. “What?! Sean had a crush on Williams? Are you kidding me?”

Jing Qizhen calmly replied, “I don’t know and I can’t confirm it. It’s just a piece of intel.”

Angelina remained in a state of shock, holding the towel motionless in her hand.

At that moment, Yan Hong’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.

“Little Jing, we’ve made a peculiar discovery! The third floor of the villa just burned and collapsed, and a mirror fell out of the window!”

Jing Qizhen froze. His first thought was of the magic mirror from ‘Snow White’.

The next second, Wilcox, who was staying by Yan Hong’s side, exclaimed in shock, “Oh my God, Little Jing! The mirror shows your face!”