724 Ten Minutes
Two people swapping votes were safe because there was an implicit trust. However, if it were three people swapping votes, it would be harder on the mind.
“You say you’re the officer, and he’s the fugitive; he said you’re the fugitive, and he’s the officer. Only you two know the truth. So the surviving one will be the officer.” Mad Laughter appeared to talk to himself.
“I don’t know you. Why would you vote for me?” The officer didn’t trust Mad Laughter.
“I voted for you because I already have a vote from someone else. My survival is ensured. You better think about it before making your choice.” Mad Laughter returned to his seat. “If you vote for the scriptwriter, then there will be trust between the three of us, and you can shake off the fugitive.”
If the magician was a cunning person who liked to see humanity being destroyed, Mad Laughter was the devil that reveled in chaos. The magician told the fugitive that the vote that mattered was the one inside the heart. Mad Laughter forced the choice between the officer and the fugitive.
The black rain became heavier. Everyone could hear the old hotel creaking.
“Quickly make your choice.” The magician urged. He looked at the roof as if worried that it might fall.
“No! I still think we need to find the killer! We’ve been led by the killer. Do you want to be his accomplices?” The officer poured out in a sweat. He walked towards the magician. “What were you doing when the victim died? Why is there a poker card in his sleeve?”
“Are you starting to blame people now? Remember, you’re supposed to be a police officer, not a fugitive.” The magician glanced at the officer.
“Do you dare to let me search you? If you have something similar to the victim like other poker cards, then you’re the biggest suspect!” The officer was dragging the time out. He wanted to shatter the balance even if he had to ‘accidentally’ kill someone.
“Do you want to search me?” The magician didn’t agree or disagree. The officer dragged him up by his collar.
“I hope you can cooperate. I’m only doing this for everyone!” The officer reached his hand into the magician’s pocket. Instantly, he screamed. When he pulled his hand out, there were two small wounds on his middle finger. “You’re hiding something in your pocket!” The officer said with fear as he held his finger.
“It’s just my pet.” The magician raised both his arms in surrender. An ugly worm crawled out of his pocket. “Don’t worry. It’s not poisonous. It’s normally very gentle, but you’ve frightened it.”
At that moment, something shattered on the rooftop. Everyone looked up. A clear crack appeared on the roof. The rain was leaking through.
“Make a choice. We need to hurry.” The hotel owner said. He looked at everyone with a deep frown.
“We need to finish this round of voting first.” The scriptwriter echoed.
“You make it sound so easy. That’s because you already have the votes! Don’t forget that the killer said only one person would survive. Eventually, you’ll be in the same state as I do!” The officer’s emotions frayed. He walked back to the table and glared at the fugitive. “Give me your vote. We’ll vote for each other. I can guarantee you that we can survive until the end!”
The fugitive was very familiar with the officer. His stump kept bleeding. His face was pale as paper. He didn’t look like he was going to survive. “I can’t believe you’d have to beg me.” The fugitive fell to the ground. He looked at the officer with disdain. “You’ve done so much to turn me into this state. But now that your true nature is revealed, it shows how stupid and cruel you are. How are you different from an animal?”
“What’s wrong with both of us surviving until the end?”
“Sure.” The fugitive climbed up from the ground. He used his blood to write down the name of the officer and dropped it into the black box. Throughout the whole process, he didn’t even glance at the officer. After the fugitive cast his vote, the officer walked to the black box. He held the white paper, but he didn’t make any vote. “I understand it now. The 10 minutes for each voting phase is not for finding the truth but for killing!”
Death was silently approaching. Those without any vote would die. If they wanted to live, they had to turn to the other answer—kill everyone else. Since they were isolated and doomed, why not drag everyone down?
Time ticked away. However, the officer still didn’t vote. Han Fei saw through his plan. He was buying time. When the saferoom was disrupted, he would kill and form a new balance. The officer slowly moved toward the wife. He seemed to have made the kind woman his target.
“How much longer do you need to think?” The magician played with the worm. The officer had become the one isolated. When the officer hesitated earlier, he was already labeled as a dangerous factor. Everyone was guessing his thoughts. They believed he was already prepared to kill.
“There should be other ways to solve this game. The killer is only using the rules to create this problem…” The officer tried to persuade others, but he only managed to convince himself. When the other guests were about to lose their patience, the rooftop shattered again. Wood chips and stones fell. Then, the lights went out, and everyone heard a loud thud!
The chandelier in the lobby fell down with the wall!
The black rain flowed through the gap. The wires were pulled off. The blue sparks crackled in the dark.
“Be careful of your surroundings!”
When the light dimmed, there were two screams followed by flustered footsteps and things being turned over.
“Stay where you are! Don’t move!”
About a minute later, the worker took out the spare flashlight from behind the counter. We could see again.
The dim light shone on a few faces. The scriptwriter beside the dining table had collapsed to the ground. A glass shard poked through his rib. The killer aimed for the heart, but the scriptwriter probably evaded it at the last moment. The pain was so intense that he couldn’t speak.
The other injured member was the hotel boss. A wound stretched from his shoulder to his chest. The killer probably wanted to slice the boss’ neck, but he missed his aim too. The hotel boss was old and frail. Technically, he was no threat, but someone made him a target. The light went out for only one minute, but two people were injured. The atmosphere tensed.
“Is there more than one killer?” The officer was still standing beside the black box. The shock on his face was genuine.
“Is that strange? Did you not expect another person to do the same thing as you did?” The magician stared at the officer’s hand.
“Vote now! If you don’t, the hotel will collapse!” The heavily-injured hotel boss held the worker’s hand. His wrinkles were squeezed together.
“Don’t try to buy more time. If you don’t vote, we’ll vote for you.” The magician smiled at the officer. “Don’t you regret not coming after me but went after an old man now?” Every sentence was a test. The magician knew the officer was the strongest among them, so he needed to be eliminated first. The others looked at the officer with hostility. He had no choice. He had to take a risk and see if the fugitive really voted for him. The paper with the fugitive’s name fell into the black box. The officer was anxious.
The clock ticked. Ten minutes later, the officer suddenly grabbed his chest. He started to vomit, and black mist oozed out of his mouth.
“You didn’t write my name!” His blood vessels turned black. The mist exploded on his skin. The officer struggled to charge the fugitive, but the mist worked faster. His body was soon engulfed. The black mist flowed into the black box. When the mist disappeared, so did the officer.
The fugitive sighed in relief. He took off the bonds with difficulty. He walked to Mad Laughter. “Thank you. If not for your hint, I wouldn’t have escaped so easily.”
“Hint?”
“You told the officer to write the scriptwriter’s name. Isn’t that a hint for me?” The fugitive said. “I wrote the scriptwriter’s name.”
“But we didn’t write your name. It should be the officer who voted for you.” The scriptwriter’s face was pale. He didn’t dare to pull the glass shard out. “He trusted you, but you killed him.”
“Is it not you?” The fugitive was stunned. He stared at Mad Laughter and suddenly asked. “You promised to help me once I gave you the hidden butcher’s knife, right?”
Mad Laughter’s expression didn’t change as he nodded. “Of course.”
The black mist lightened after the officer died. However, 10 minutes later, the rain returned with a vengeance. The despair thickened with each person’s death. The atmosphere was heavy. There were two killers who made their moves in the dark. Assuming the officer was one of them, there was still another killer.
“This is bad! The water is rising!” The masked worker stood beside the window. The water level outside the hotel was rising. It had flooded the steps. It would enter the lobby soon.
“We should go to the second floor and return to our room.” The hotel boss tried to stand up, but he failed. He knew that he was going to die, so he had something to tell the worker. However, he didn’t want the others to hear it.
The group went up the stairs. Han Fei noticed that everyone had purposely avoided the black box. In the end, it was the mute girl who carried it and followed behind everyone.
“She… has changed a lot.”
Han Fei slowed down when he reached the second floor. When the fugitive passed by him, he whispered, “Isn’t the butcher’s knife still inside your heart?”
