Volume 1: Breaking the Cage
Escape 18
Legal Hunting
Shen Shuiyan was serious; Little Tiger’s attitude was something she couldn’t ignore.
If they only beat up Zou Yunfei, it still felt too lenient for him.
Things that weren’t of much concern before now became particularly important.
Although Little Tiger might not be the original Xin Lan, there was no doubt that she definitely wanted to avenge that ‘Xin Lan’, otherwise she wouldn’t have gone to beat up Zou Yunfei.
Since Little Tiger wanted to do it, she naturally wanted to help.
She didn’t feel wronged at all. To put it nicely, she was good at dealing with people; to put it bluntly, she was worldly-wise. Anyway, she was used to this kind of thing.
Xin Lan was stunned, and her first reaction was that Shen Shuiyan’s hand was very cool.
“Your hand is so cold.”
“It’s like this in winter, after all, my hands were just outside.”
“Hey, don’t change the subject.”
“I’m not changing the subject.”
“Anyway, it’s just going to discuss for a while, I’ll be a spy among spies.”
An “undercover” (无间道, a reference to the Hong Kong movie “Infernal Affairs”) within an “undercover”.
“Okay.”
Shen Shuiyan, of course, couldn’t ‘defect’ now. She sat in her seat, listening to the class while multitasking, her mind working out her plan.
Xu Deng sat beside them, listening in confusion, not knowing what kind of riddle Xin Lan and Shen Shuiyan were playing, but she was also tactful enough not to inquire.
At lunchtime, there were much fewer people in the cafeteria.
Everyone was in a hurry, and although it wasn’t hunting hours, the air seemed to be filled with a tense atmosphere.
Xin Lan and Xu Deng went back together. Xu Deng saw no expression on Xin Lan’s face about why Shen Shuiyan wasn’t there, so she didn’t ask much.
In the small woods not far from the cafeteria, Zou Yunfei leaned against a tree trunk.
“Yunfei, what are we waiting for here?” Chu Lu asked in confusion, and Zhou Zhou also looked bewildered.
“Shen Shuiyan asked me to wait for her here.”
Zou Yunfei’s expression was complex, unable to describe what he felt.
When he was about to leave the classroom, he and Shen Shuiyan exchanged a glance, and Shen Shuiyan mouthed something to him.
“Didn’t that woman go to that person’s team? She’s still meeting you?” Chu Lu glared, with an expression like he wanted to curse.
“Watch your mouth!” Zou Yunfei glared at him, and Chu Lu moved his lips but fell silent.
Zou Yunfei’s feelings towards Shen Shuiyan were still very complicated. Shen Shuiyan was the goddess he couldn’t have. When they were on the same team, he treated her as one of his own, willing to cherish and protect her. He never expected Shen Shuiyan to leave without a word, and even let him be taught a lesson by Xin Lan.
Being betrayed and losing face, the wounds on his body still showed the brutality of that day.
But when Shen Shuiyan said she wanted to see him, he still came.
One reason was to know why Shen Shuiyan wanted to meet him, and the other was to know why Shen Shuiyan wanted to change teams without a word.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
Shen Shuiyan walked over, quickening her pace as she approached.
Before Zou Yunfei could speak, she started talking.
“I remembered a few of Xin Lan’s, this is one I drew when she wasn’t paying attention. There are others, but I was afraid of being discovered so I only drew one. Keep it safe.”
Shen Shuiyan took out a piece of paper from her pocket and stuffed it into Zou Yunfei’s hand.
Zou Yunfei’s words were blocked, and he was somewhat stunned.
“Shuiyan, you…?”
“This is a long story, so I’ll make it short. I told Xin Lan I was going back to the teaching building to get something. That night, Xin Lan originally wanted to rob me of my things. I couldn’t beat her at all, who knew she would be so strong. Then she asked if I wanted to be her teammate, but I said I already had teammates, you guys are my teammates. But Zou Yunfei, you and her… She left saying she was going to find you, and then left. I didn’t have a chance to contact you guys yesterday. Today during the discussion, I deliberately memorized two pieces and drew one for you guys.”
Shen Shuiyan spoke quickly, occasionally glancing towards the direction outside the small woods, looking a bit panicked.
She carefully avoided saying the word ‘fragment’ to prevent being muted.
The three of Zou Yunfei were stunned. After a few seconds, Zou Yunfei understood and smiled.
The smile was too big, pulling at the wound at the corner of his mouth, making him wince in pain.
“I knew you wouldn’t inexplicably run to another team. So it turns out she threatened you. But why did she ask if you wanted to be her teammate?”
Zou Yunfei felt the weight lift from his heart, feeling very sorry for wrongly accusing Shen Shuiyan before. He knew Shen Shuiyan couldn’t be the type to suddenly betray.
“I have some friendship with her, our relationship isn’t bad.”
“So that’s how it is.”
“By the way, how did you get those wounds on your face? Are you boys fighting that fiercely? Yesterday, the girls on our side were also grabbing from each other, it was terrifying. Xin Lan told me she beat you up, but how is that possible? Even if a girl is strong, she couldn’t possibly beat someone up like this, right?”
Shen Shuiyan forced out a few tears, making her already pale face look even more pitiful and moving.
Zou Yunfei’s expression twisted for a moment, and he agreed darkly.
He couldn’t admit in front of the girl he liked that his wounds were indeed inflicted by a girl, and his ex-girlfriend at that. Where would his face be?
“I can’t say anymore, I have to go now, in case she becomes suspicious of me. If we have a chance, let’s meet during hunting time tonight.”
“Wait, since you’re already here, why don’t you just stay with us?”
“I’m a girl, you can’t expect me to live in the boys’ dormitory, right? And now that I’m on her side, I can still help you guys a bit, find a chance to get that thing.”
Shen Shuiyan said helplessly, warming Zou Yunfei’s heart.
“You’re always so thoughtful.”
“Only one team can survive, it must be us!”
Shen Shuiyan said encouragingly, then quickly turned and left.
As she turned, a strange smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
Indeed, only one team could survive, but it must be her and Little Tiger’s team.
“Yunfei, could there be something fishy?” Zhou Zhou was a bit worried. Could there really be such a good thing, going to another team but still thinking of their team?
“You’re just being paranoid, don’t believe it if you don’t want to.” The smile on Zou Yunfei’s face diminished slightly. Calling himself a brother, but when Xin Lan attacked that day, he didn’t help at all. Now Shen Shuiyan came to help him, and he actually suspected her.
Xin Lan was just a freak, how could a gentle and weak girl like Shen Shuiyan be her match? It’s good that they had some friendship, otherwise, who knows what would have happened to Shen Shuiyan now.
Thinking of the way Shen Shuiyan looked at him before she left, he knew she had some feelings for him, so even though she was in another team, she was still reluctant.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
Girls, in this kind of environment, always need to rely on boys.
Xin Lan, let’s see how long she can be smug!
“Oh no, I forgot to ask Shen Shuiyan how many things Xin Lan’s side has.” Chu Lu felt a bit frustrated. Like Zou Yunfei, he believed her too.
He had long known that Zou Yunfei liked Shen Shuiyan, and what benefit would she get from lying to them?
“In the current situation, we can only fight. Xin Lan is so powerful, if Shen Shuiyan was willingly following her, she would be eager to grab their good stuff and get out. What need would there be to come here and act? It’s just that she can’t forget Zou Yunfei.”
Zhou Zhou was pulled by Chu Lu and given a series of reasons, dispelling the doubts in his heart.
Zou Yunfei listened on the side, feeling comfortable in his heart, thinking that’s exactly how it is.
After Shen Shuiyan returned, she briefly summarized the situation in two sentences.
“They believed it?”
Xin Lan wasn’t too surprised. No matter how clever a person is, they are easily misled by preconceptions, and people always tend to add a filter to those they like. If Shen Shuiyan played weak in front of Zou Yunfei, he would probably immediately become full of male chauvinism, wanting to protect her well.
“I told you it wouldn’t be troublesome. See how short a time I was gone, and what I gave them was fake anyway. Let them be happy for now.”
Shen Shuiyan nodded, showing no guilt at all for scheming against others.
Xu Deng remained silent on the side, feeling like she had heard some kind of conspiracy.
Well, she’d just pretend she didn’t hear anything.
There were only three people in the dormitory for now, Xiao Chun hadn’t returned, who knows where she went.
The three people in the dormitory didn’t care, after all, they weren’t on the same team.
“That thing should have been dealt with, right?”
Shen Shuiyan thought of the corpse in the wardrobe, always feeling that there was still that unpleasant smell, and it was very strong. She didn’t know if it was the lingering smell that hadn’t dissipated plus her psychological effect, or if the corpse was really still there.
“Let’s take a look and we’ll know.”
Xin Lan opened the wardrobe, inside there was only a pile of blood-stained clothes.
“Has it been dealt with? But where could it be thrown?”
Shen Shuiyan thought of what Xin Lan and Xiao Chun said in the morning, but the whereabouts of the corpse was also confusing.
So many people were missing from the class, where were the corpses?
“Maybe they disappeared.”
“Just like the rules process, as long as it’s a corpse, it will be recycled by it?”
Shen Shuiyan thought again of the two strange ghosts singing nursery rhymes before, maybe after death, the corpses still needed to be recycled and reused?
Xu Deng listened on the side, her heart creeping. According to what they meant, there was a corpse in this room last night. She was originally heading towards the bed above this wardrobe, no wonder Xin Lan stopped her.
She didn’t observe that carefully, but thinking back, someone did jump off the building last night, and that corpse seemed to have disappeared by this morning.
“What we saw that day, was what that person said true or false?”
They were talking about things unrelated to clue fragments and the way out, so they wouldn’t be muted. Now that they were all on the same team, Shen Shuiyan didn’t mind Xu Deng. She believed Xu Deng was a person with good judgment, and in this situation, it was unlikely she would betray them.
“Who knows, maybe it’s true, maybe it’s false.”
In that punishment game, the human skin ghost initially said that there were many people participating in the 400-person game, not just them.
Whether it was true or false didn’t matter much. Xin Lan was certain that there was a way out of here, after all, in the subsequent plot, Zou Yunfei did take Shen Shuiyan out.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
The atmosphere quieted down, and no one spoke.
Suddenly, Shen Shuiyan felt warmth on her hand, looking at the slender white hand placed on hers.
“Look at you, your hands are so cold, don’t you know to put them in your pockets?”
Xin Lan scolded, and suddenly her hand was gripped tightly.
The author has something to say:
Scholar: My fingers are cold.
Sister Lan: Let me warm them for you.
Scholar: Then can I put two fingers in today?
Sister Lan: ???
Today’s scholar is also riding high, Sister Lan can’t keep up with the speed every day hahahaha
Sending love to the darlings who give rewards and comments >3
LP: Re-translated on November 17, 2024