Why would Li Hui kill Tang Yu?
Li Hui didn't even know about Tang Yu's feelings for her, and she had no interaction with him outside of work.
The idea of her killing Tang Yu simply didn't hold up.
Their train of thought had hit a dead end.
They could only set it aside for now and turn to the supernatural phenomena they had seen that night.
Compared to Nan Yue's blood-stained clothes, the sight Zhu Xi Ning had witnessed was even more terrifying.
"I don't know if it was just my imagination," Zhu Xi Ning hesitated for a moment. "That female ghost last night... something was off about her."
Nan Yue felt a bit helpless; how "right" could a female ghost be?
"No, I mean, her... her face... her expression wasn't right."
Zhu Xi Ning was exceptionally brave; if she hadn't been afraid of tipping off the culprit, she would have gone closer to look yesterday.
"Even though I was far away, there was something wrong with her expression, especially her eyes and mouth."
"It looked like they were painted on."
Nan Yue paused, frowning. "Painted on?"
Zhu Xi Ning nodded. "Yes. Having seen so many corpses and ghosts, that female ghost last night looked a bit unnatural."
"Her complexion wasn't the pale blue of someone who had been dead for a long time; it looked more like it had been powdered white."
"And the corners of her mouth reached all the way up to her eyes. The visual impact was strong, but there was no texture to it. Her eyes also looked like they had been drawn larger."
Zhu Xi Ning also had the boost of her intuition, so Nan Yue didn't doubt her judgment.
"You think someone is posing as a ghost?"
Zhu Xi Ning nodded with certainty. "Yes. I don't know about the others, but what Zhao Mingming encountered felt very much like someone was intentionally acting it out."
"Compared to the hauntings you all encountered, what Zhao Mingming saw was a standard ghost scare. Plus, I kept feeling like that woman last night looked a bit familiar..."
Zhu Xi Ning racked her brain but couldn't come up with anything. Her black hair had covered most of her face, leaving only her eyes and mouth visible.
She couldn't match her to anyone in the factory.
If what Zhao Mingming encountered was a person in disguise, it didn't mean Zhu Xi Ning was safe; rather, it was a clue belonging to Zhao Mingming.
At the very least, she now knew that only Zhao Mingming's encounter was staged.
Nan Yue was now certain that the supernatural phenomena all scavengers encountered were related to the original hosts' life paths.
Therefore, the person pretending to be a ghost to scare Zhao Mingming definitely had some connection to her.
Was Zhao Mingming scared to death by this woman?
Nan Yue felt like something was still off. She didn't quite believe the logic they had deduced.
"Focus on seeing if you can find that person in the factory."
Zhu Xi Ning nodded, her expression also heavy.
They all knew that while it might be a person in disguise now, as the mission progressed, the danger would certainly be no less than that of a real haunting.
Missions were fair.
Well... except for the special preference shown to Nan Yue, they were fair to everyone else.
"What about you? It must have been Xiang Guang who killed Li Hui, right?"
Nan Yue twirled her hair around her finger. "I don't know. If Xiang Guang killed her, then I'm at a total dead end."
Xiang Guang was away on a business trip and wouldn't be back. Even if he really was the killer, what could she do?
And wasn't that a bit too simple? Would Xiang Guang really need to go through so much trouble to kill Li Hui?
Given the cage Xiang Guang had built for her, it would be all too easy for him to kill her. Even a crime of passion was possible.
More importantly, all the original hosts they were currently portraying should be dead. The pollution of this world was likely caused by these original hosts still being trapped here, going so far as to alter the memories and timelines of others to keep them ensnared in these webs of relationships.
The polluted worlds Nan Yue had encountered so far were all born from resentment.
The children eaten in Multi-fortune Town, the employees who sacrificed themselves for Blooming Media Company, the resentment of the villagers in Antswamp Village who could never be reincarnated...
Why did it turn into fear of death and the person who killed them in Dawn Rubber Factory?
Nan Yue finally realized what felt off: the source of pollution in this world was different from the others.
Zhu Xi Ning glanced at Nan Yue. She didn't say it, but she wondered if Nan Yue had noticed that her way of thinking about purification missions was already different from other scavengers.
While others were still thinking about how to pass and how to get more clues, Nan Yue was thinking about the source of the pollution and the reason the polluted world had formed.
Different ways of thinking led to different paths.
Everyone was growing, but Nan Yue was undoubtedly the one growing the fastest.
At lunch in the cafeteria, Huang Ya Nan had returned to normal. She smiled and asked Nan Yue to eat with her, picking the lean meat from her own lunch box and putting it into Nan Yue's.
Nan Yue ate quietly. She had originally wanted to ask Huang Ya Nan if she had trouble sleeping.
Knowing exactly what her friend was going through, yet turning a blind eye for her own benefit.
But then she thought, what was the point in asking?
Li Hui was already dead. Huang Ya Nan had made her choice long ago.
So, nothing more could be gleaned from Huang Ya Nan's side; in fact, she had been the one misleading Nan Yue all along.
But Xiao Tian could.
Xiao Tian was young, but he knew quite a bit.
After eating, Huang Ya Nan hurried back to take care of things at home. Nan Yue walked around the factory and finally found Xiao Tian by the playground.
She took out the candy she had prepared earlier. Back then, candy was a rare luxury; all children loved it, but few parents could afford to buy it.
Nan Yue had exchanged a whole day's worth of food money for it. As for how she would eat that day?
If a scavenger actually stayed in a polluted world until their last day, their body would likely already be cold.
Xiao Tian had just been beaten that morning, and the red mark on his face hadn't faded yet. However, he couldn't resist the temptation of the candy. He swallowed hard and sat down next to Nan Yue.
Nan Yue had exchanged her food money for five milk candies. She held them in her palm, and Xiao Tian's eyes were fixed on her hand.
"Xiao Tian, your mother shouldn't have hit you this morning. Don't be afraid. This candy is Auntie's way of making it up to you."
Xiao Tian grabbed the candy Nan Yue handed him, hurried to tear open the wrapper, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Nan Yue saw a bright light flash in his eyes and continued her questioning.
"Since Uncle Xiang isn't home right now, Auntie wants to ask you what you've seen. If you answer well, I'll give you all the candy."
Xiao Tian glanced at the milk candies, his mouth filled with the creamy scent.
"You used to cry a lot. Sometimes when you came to our house for dinner, there would be colors on your arms and legs. I asked my mom about it, but she told me not to look and not to say anything."
"Uncle Xiang came to see my mom. He told her to spend more time with you and not to let you wander around the factory alone."
"He said if my mom took good care of you, my dad could get a different job."
Nan Yue listened quietly. The truth of the matter overlapped with her suspicions.
"Did we never argue?"
Xiao Tian took the milk candy Nan Yue handed him. This time, he didn't rush to eat it, but tucked it into his pocket.
"Yes, we did. I was playing in the hallway and heard it. I heard the sound of things being torn."
"Uncle Xiang tore up a lot of books and gave away the pretty clothes."
"And one time, it seemed like it was because of a cat."
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