There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Qiming Building, third floor.

Left corridor.

After sending Lily back into the Rule Space with an outburst of spiritual power, "Radiance", the female journalist once again blasted her opponent out with an explosion.

Then this process was repeated at least a dozen times.

Each time she was brought out, Lily was killed in one hit before she could even react!

After playing a few times, Xu Shuo suddenly said, "Wait, if she died that fast, did she even have time to feel the fear of being killed before she was gone? Does it still work like that?"

The female journalist fell silent: "..."

Those words sounded so terrifying.

Even though not directed at herself, just putting herself in their shoes was starting to hurt.

After all, Lily's powers were clearly related to the Abyss, a creature of the dark side, and for her to face the eroding Radiance of the Holy Side was already painful enough, as could be seen from Lily's screams each time before she was disconnected.

This guy, he actually thought it wasn't enough?

After a while, Lily's figure reappeared in the corridor.

The next few times she appeared, there were no longer the fancy running sounds, but instead she formed from a dense black mist, full of deep grudges!

Lily stood not far away, her face gloomy and terrifying, staring fiercely at them with gritted teeth.

But this time, Xu Shuo didn't attack first. After standing there bitterly for a while, Lily finally realized she hadn't died yet.

She looked at them warily: "What do you want to do?"

The female journalist sighed, taking on an earnest tone, "I told you before, if you just answer my questions, that's all we need. Why are you being so stubborn? So was it you who caused the fire at Qiming Orphanage or not?"

Lily sneered: "So what if it was!"

She finally admitted it!

The journalist's spirit lifted, but then she noticed that her main quest had still not progressed, so she continued, "That night, was it you who placed bombs around the third floor and then set them off?"

"Humph," Lily crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, snorting the answer through her nose.

"Is it or is it not?" the female journalist asked with a slight frown.

As she stressed her voice with the question, Xu Shuo very cooperatively raised his staff.

Feeling threatened, Lily glared at them with gritted teeth as her blue pupils once again became tinged with a fiery red, and the atmosphere around her turned dark and oppressive.

With a malevolent smile on her face, she said with a tone of anger, "So what if it is?! I planted the bombs, I set them off, this damned place should have disappeared long ago!"

Hearing this, the journalist pondered deeply: "Why did you want to destroy Qiming Orphanage... No, that's not the point. How could you possibly have gotten your hands on bombs, lethal weapons like that? Is someone helping you or not? Who is that person?"

Upon hearing these words, Lily's gaze flickered, and the red in her eyes darkened slightly.

She glanced behind her subtly, but in the next moment, the unassuming blind girl suddenly lunged in front of her, with the dark green staff piercing through her chest and abdomen!

"You...!"

Lily looked at her in panic, crying out in pain, but by the time she reflexively finished screaming, she realized she wasn't actually in pain.

Because Xu Shuo hadn't yet activated the power of Radiance.

Once Lily realized this, she stared closely into the blind girl's empty eyes, and for no reason, felt a twinge of anxiety and discomfort.

Those eyes were devoid of any emotion, as cold as glass eyes, and as void as the chaos of the abyss. She felt as if all her thoughts were being seen through by the person in front of her, and it was a kind of fear that had nowhere to hide.

Xu Shuo's mouth curled into a smile: "Even though you've died already, you're still trapped here dying over and over again. It hurts, doesn't it?"

Lily's body suddenly stiffened.

The girl whispered in her ear, "How does it compare to the pain of being frozen to death?"

"Ah—!"

Lily screamed out loud, pushing him away. Her eyes flared a brilliant red, and flames rose from her ponytail as a thick, pitch-black substance flowed down the corridor with her emotions.

But before Lily could ignite a great fire again, Xu Shuo activated the Radiance power in his staff.

With a thunderous explosion, Lily dissipated into smoke, radiating light. Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

The substance that had spread down the corridor arrived quickly and left just as fast.

"What did you mean by that sentence just now?"

The female journalist stood not far behind her, somewhat puzzled by the words the blind girl had just said to Lily.

Xu Shuo turned around and explained, "Didn't she refer to Qiming Orphanage as a prison earlier? She even hated it to the point of destroying the orphanage. Lily was admitted to the orphanage a year ago, which was just before the authorities took over Qiming Orphanage."

"Ah?" The female reporter still didn't understand.

"Well, this is—" Xu Shuo began.

"Got it, got it, I'm thinking!" the female reporter interrupted, a headache thwarting his impending rant.

Even though her main task had not yet been marked as complete, Lily admitted that she was the one who set the bomb; she seemed genuine about it.

But what now needed attention was the fact that Lily, a ten-year-old child trapped in the orphanage, couldn't possibly have access to something like a bomb. Moreover, notes from an unnamed investigator had once mentioned, "The orphanage was targeted by the Abyss even before the fire."

Then, a certain orphanage caregiver from that time was suspected to be Lily's accomplice.

Hmm?

Caregiver?

The female reporter, lost in thought, paused and then, as enlightenment struck, clapped her hands together and said, "I get what you mean!

"Lily entered the orphanage a year ago, but at that time, the government had not yet taken over the orphanage. And the reason for the government's takeover was —"

"A caregiver was discovered maliciously abusing children, sparking public outrage!"

"Could it be that Lily was the child abused by the caregiver back then?!"

The female reporter looked excitedly towards the blind girl beside her, but noticed that her companion's mind wasn't on the conversation; her empty eyes were fixed in a certain direction, as if staring into the void.

Curious, the female reporter followed her gaze, only to find the floor by the staircase entrance.

The female reporter asked with confusion, "What's wrong? And, was my speculation correct?"

"Shh..."

Xu Shuo raised a finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet.

His "Bright Vision" ability allowed Xu Shuo to see through layers of space, focusing on the cafeteria on the first floor.

The reason was that he had just noticed a ripple in the space he was in, located right in front of the headmaster's office.

The office had been equipped with a special magnetic field by an SOA Investigator, making its space unique. It wouldn't overlap with other Phase Spaces of the orphanage, nor would it split into multiple Phase Spaces.

Therefore, the office was considered a safe spot.

However, after prolonged exposure to the pollution of SOA-09, this magnetic field was also on its last legs.

And now, it was starting to be affected.

The source of the disturbance originated from Emily's Rule Space, situated in the cafeteria on the first floor to the left of Qiming Building, directly below the office.

Those two, were they actually twisting the folds of space?

Such amazing power!

Wouldn't such acts definitely attract the attention of Yueshu?

Xu Shuo observed with interest, but in the next instant, he noticed that the blind girl's Character Card time was almost up.

"Forget the explosion for now; call Lily out." Xu Shuo suddenly turned his head and addressed the female reporter.

"Oh." The female reporter took out a marble and tossed it on the floor.

"Boom!"

However, after a while, Lily's figure didn't appear, and there was no prelude effect in the corridor that would indicate her emergence.

The female reporter was stunned for a moment and then looked bewilderingly at the blind girl.

Xu Shuo wasn't too surprised; he simply raised an eyebrow and said, "It seems that Lily is truly no longer bound by Rule Fifteen."

Of course, it's also possible that some other power helped her leave this place.

Like SOA-09, which has been paying attention here all along.

Xu Shuo said nothing more, put away his cane, turned around, opened the door to the archive room, walked in, and closed it behind him.

The female reporter left outside the door: "???"

"Wait! Hey, what's going on now? That ghostly thing didn't show up! And, was what I just guessed true..."

The door to the archive room opened again.

The young man in a blood-stained white coat looked at her, lips curling up in a cryptic and mischievous smile: "You guessed right."

The female reporter: "(゜ロ゜)..."

...