Chapter 91: The Death of Guo Funing, Who Is the Murderer?

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: The Death of Guo Funing, Who Is the Murderer?

A knock echoed from Xiao Yi’s video feed, immediately followed by Wang Gang’s voice.

"Xiao Yi, weren’t you worried about the three of them being in danger? I gave them my wooden cabin, so can I squeeze in with you?"

Xiao Yi stared into the camera, a calculating glint flashing in his eyes before he abruptly ended the call.

Watching Xiao Yi’s screen go dark, Li Ran asked nervously, "Do you think he’ll be in danger?"

Shi Zhile yawned. "I don’t know. I’m going to bed."

After the call ended, the time was 7:20.

She still hadn’t opened the chests she’d salvaged today, so she took them all out and opened them.

The fourteen chests yielded: Purified Water x2, Compressed Biscuits x4, Wood x3, Iron Nails x21, and a Plastic Sheet x1.

She went on to dismantle the nine treasure chests, getting Wood x36 and Iron Nails x90.

Dismantling the five wooden chests yielded Wood x30 and Iron Nails x120.

Under the cover of darkness, she left her cabin and spread the plastic sheet over the roof. She then weighed it down with stones and reeds, completely concealing the sheet from view.

Back in her wooden cabin, Shi Zhile checked the new rules again.

"Rule 3: Wooden cabins can be upgraded. Over the seven days, the monsters’ destructive power will increase over time. When a wooden cabin is completely destroyed, its owner will become the monsters’ food."

’Monsters will destroy the wooden cabin. If I build it with extremely thick walls of wood and stone, can they still break through?’

The stones in her inventory were all large blocks. When stood on their sides, they were about twenty centimeters thick—perfect for reinforcement.

She took out several stones of uniform thickness and leaned them against the wooden wall. Then, she used wood and iron nails to secure everything in place.

As the iron nails pierced the stone, they made a faint grinding sound. She quickly finished reinforcing three of the cabin’s walls, then sat down to add thickness to the wooden door.

Once the reinforcement was complete, she summoned a pile of massive stones and used them to block the door.

The time reached eight o’clock. Faint footsteps echoed in the courtyard, followed by the sound of Wang Gang’s voice.

"Li Ran! Li Ran, open up! I let Guo Funing and the other two stay in my cabin. Let’s just squeeze in together."

Li Ran didn’t make a sound. The knocking continued.

Before Wang Gang could come to her door, Shi Zhile sent a message to Lan Lan.

"No matter who you hear talking or knocking, don’t answer. Keep your door blocked and don’t look outside."

’It’s not that she shouldn’t look, but if it turned out not to be Wang Gang, she was afraid Lan Lan would scream in terror.’

Lan Lan replied quickly: "I heard Wang Gang’s voice. I think he’s heading toward Sister Jiu Yin’s cabin now."

Shi Zhile: "Shut up, close your eyes, and go to sleep."

She closed the interface panel, lay down on her army greatcoat, and closed her eyes.

The footsteps outside grew closer, and the voice became more frantic and fearful.

"Shi Zhile! Shi Zhile, open the door, quick! I know who the monster is! He’s trying to kill me! If I die, you’ll never find out who the monster is!"

"Shi Zhile! Hurry up and open the door!"

"Open the door! Open the door!!!"

The knocking turned into frantic pounding. But her door was completely blocked by the stones; no matter how hard he slammed against it, the door didn’t suffer any damage.

Another half hour passed, and the sounds gradually faded away.

Shi Zhile opened her eyes, listening intently.

Outside, it was so quiet that even the sound of the wind had vanished.

She mentally called out to the system. ’What’s out there?’

[It’s Wang Gang.]

’Got it. A monster wearing Wang Gang’s face.’

’Has it left?’

[No!]

She squinted and peered through a crack, her gaze suddenly locking with a pair of blood-red eyes.

Bloodshot veins exploded across the eyeballs, giving them the look of someone who had been frightened to death.

This level of intimidation was nothing to Shi Zhile. She calmly closed her eyes again.

Her thoughts turned to tomorrow’s breakfast. After two straight days of beef, Shi Zhile was starting to miss vegetables.

She knew that supplies couldn’t be brought into the instance, but her two spaces were bound to her, so they likely hadn’t disappeared.

She tried to enter her Planting Space. To her surprise, her consciousness went in, but her physical body did not.

She then tried to pick a small bok choy. She plucked it easily and then focused on bringing it out of the space.

A sense of resistance entered her mind. Shi Zhile clutched the bok choy to her chest, and in the next moment, her consciousness, along with the vegetable, exited the space.

Looking at the fresh, tender vegetable in her arms, Shi Zhile let out a sigh of relief.

’Thank goodness. The space still works.’

’Even if my body can’t go inside, at least I won’t starve.’

She set the bok choy aside and closed her eyes again.

As she sank into a deep sleep, a blood-curdling scream tore through the night, echoing across the island before everything returned to darkness.

The night passed quietly. The next morning, at six-thirty, Shi Zhile left her cabin.

The first thing she did was check the new rules. As she expected, the last entry had changed: it now showed the number of players on the island as 7.

Someone had died last night. And it was a player.

Xiao Yi walked in from outside the yard, his expression grim. "Guo Funing is dead."

Lan Lan, Luo Jiuyin, and Li Ran all emerged from their cabins.

Luo Jiuyin exchanged a glance with Shi Zhile before turning to Xiao Yi. "How do you know he’s dead? Is there a body?"

Xiao Yi said, "There is. The body is right in front of Wang Gang’s wooden cabin."

The group went out into the yard together. Xiao Yi’s cabin was on the east side of the yard, and next to it was Wang Gang’s.

Their two cabins were adjacent, laid out in a simple, orderly rectangle.

Guo Funing’s body was lying by the door in an unnaturally twisted posture. Blood trickled from his mouth and nose, and his eyes were wide open, completely bloodshot.

The other three people stood outside the door, their expressions impassive.

Shi Zhile studied Wang Gang and asked, "Did you leave your cabin yesterday?"

Wang Gang shook his head. "No. I went to bed very early yesterday."

Li Ran spoke up. "You were able to sleep? You say you didn’t leave your cabin, but we all clearly heard you knocking on our doors."

Lan Lan stood by Shi Zhile’s side, perfectly displaying a mix of fear and emboldened arrogance. "All of us heard it! You knocked on Xiao Yi’s door first, then Li Ran’s, Sister Jiu Yin’s, and finally my cabin and Sister Zhile’s.

"That was after eight o’clock. You claim you were asleep, so who was knocking on our doors? And if it wasn’t you, everyone’s cabins are so close together. I refuse to believe you didn’t hear a thing."

Wang Gang took a deep breath. "Believe me or not, I really didn’t leave my cabin yesterday. Li Haohao and Hu Yaqin can vouch for me."

Shi Zhile circled the body for a moment, then turned and headed for the beach.

Lan Lan hurried after her. After a moment’s thought, Luo Jiuyin also followed them, leaving the scene.

As they walked, Lan Lan asked, "Why aren’t we staying to find the killer?"

Luo Jiuyin answered, "It’s only the third day. What would we even do if we found the killer? Just remember that you have to be wary of everyone."

Shi Zhile recalled the blood-red eyes she had seen the night before. Combining that with the appearance of the dead player, a suspect began to form in her mind.

The shore was teeming with seafood at low tide. Shi Zhile walked west from the South Sea Coast, gathering sea snails, stopping when she reached the spot she’d been to the day before.

She retraced her steps, then headed west again. After walking for half an hour, she turned back once more.

The east and west sides of the island were opposite each other, so it was normal that they wouldn’t be visible from one another. From the south, however, one could clearly see the eastern coast and the western sea.

’I was seen when I went out to sea yesterday.’