HP - Chapter 10

Typhoon Night Murder Files 05

"The house is shaking... Did you feel that?"

Xu Hangjia looked terrified, her voice trembling slightly.

Her brother Xu Hangquan quickly held her and comforted her softly: "Don't be afraid. Super typhoons are like this. It feels scary, but the house won't collapse easily."

"There's nothing else left, right? Should we go?"

"Wait a moment." Zhong Xu turned slightly to block Liang Qing, smiling faintly at him: "Luo Fang's phone is with you, isn't it?"

Liang Qing was frustrated.

While the others were searching, she was idly slacking off nearby—but still managed to catch his sneaky move.

He said reluctantly: "We're in the room-searching phase. Luo Fang's phone was on his body—I found it, so why should I share it?"

"It's fine if you don't want to share." Zhong Xu nodded, her smile deepening. "Compared to you sharing voluntarily, I prefer taking it by force. It feels more rewarding that way."

"You?" Liang Qing glanced at her disdainfully. "If you weren't a woman, I would have already..."

His words cut off halfway because Zhong Xu had already stepped forward, pressing her elbow against his neck and pushing him against the wall—he instinctively struggled, but she didn’t follow through with force, and simply let go.

In that brief moment of distraction, she had already succeeded.

She passed the phone behind her between her fingers, as if silently showing off.

Xu Shuangyuan quickly stepped forward and took the phone Zhong Xu handed over.

Liang Qing, furious and embarrassed, shouted with a red face: "You really are a violent player! No one plays like this. If you were the killer, wouldn’t you just use force to destroy the evidence?"

"You're the one trying to hide the clue," Zhong Xu reminded him. "Compared to me, your behavior fits the killer’s profile better."

Liang Qing didn’t respond, but his eyes turned dark, glaring at Zhong Xu.

The others grew tense at the scene, worried that a cornered Liang Qing might do something rash.

Some hesitated, wondering if they should try to ease the tension.

Suddenly, Zhong Xu said in a lazy tone: "You have sleep in your eyes."

"…"

Liang Qing rushed into the bathroom.

Xu Shuangyuan held up the phone and said: "It’s locked with a password. I can’t open it."

Xu Hangquan suggested: "Then let’s go back to Luo Fang and try fingerprint or face unlock?"

"No, he only set a password."

"Why? Was he afraid someone would check his phone after he died?"

The room immediately fell into an inescapably heavy silence.

Zhong Xu patted Ji Zhou’s shoulder: "Snap out of it for now, young man."

Since confirming Luo Fang’s death, Ji Zhou had fallen into a slump. The once sunny, cheerful guy had become quiet and withdrawn.

He just followed whatever others were doing, but his heart wasn’t in it at all.

He felt weightless, like he was dreaming.

Until now—someone had patted his shoulder.

He turned and instinctively replied: "We’re probably around the same age."

"That’s not the point." Zhong Xu gestured toward the poster on the wall. "Do you follow American comics?"

Ji Zhou nodded. "That’s the Penguin."

"If someone used him as a password hint, what number might they pick?"

Ji Zhou thought for a moment and said, "194112—that’s the date the Penguin first appeared."

Xu Shuangyuan quickly entered the number sequence. "The password is correct..."

Everyone looked at Zhong Xu in amazement.

Zhong Xu had to explain, "This is a customized room. The Penguin poster in his room must reflect his preferences."

After successfully unlocking Luo Fang’s phone, Xu Shuangyuan placed it on the table, and everyone gathered around.

Luo Fang seemed to have a habit of regularly deleting chat records. The chat list had very few conversations, and the earliest date was only last week.

"There's nothing on WeChat. Should we check the photo album?"

When the photo album was opened, the screen was filled with the same face.

With black-framed glasses and without; shots in the mirror or against glass doors; but mostly close-ups pressed against the camera, filling the entire screen.

In the photos, Luo Fang maintained similar angles, rarely smiling, but with a deliberate attempt to appear cool.

"So Luo Fang liked taking photos this much..." Cui Shuying reached out to scroll through the phone. "But he never posted photos on Moments."

"This should be a form of self-appreciation..."

Finding nothing in the photo album besides Luo Fang’s selfies, Xu Shuangyuan proceeded to check the contacts, message inbox, and some apps, but found nothing.

Just as everyone was feeling disappointed, Zhou Zhi suddenly said, "Open WeChat again and check... the favorites."

Luo Fang's favorites were clearly carefully arranged. The thumbnails appeared to be photos of diary entries, each labeled with a category or date.

"Is this the diary mentioned in the earlier clues? So Luo Fang took photos of it," Cui Shuying marveled. "The doctor is so observant. None of us thought to check here."

"The boss reminded me. Since this is a deduction game, everything should have clues, and all stories revolve around the characters' personalities." Zhou Zhi looked at Zhong Xu and smiled slightly.

"From the fact that he only used password unlock and regularly deleted chat records, it seems he was cautious and afraid someone might discover his secrets. So if he had anything important, he would likely keep it in favorites—safe from loss, easy to access, and few people would notice WeChat favorites."

As guessed, Luo Fang must have frequently checked his favorites, so the content opened without loading.

The favorites contained photos of Luo Fang’s diary entries, spanning several years.

[ Diary entries:

Never thought Liang Qing would have such a day.

His family used to be well-off, and I was one of those who envied him. But now his mom is disabled, and he's become like me—no, even worse off than me.

I genuinely sympathized with him and kindly advised him to quit studying. He actually got angry at me. Hehe, people really do change after facing adversity.

I wanted to help him, so before the exam, I secretly took his pen refill. He was so anxious his face turned red. Hahaha.

Lin Trash is just a middle school graduate. I don’t know where he gets the nerve to boast all day and even mock me for being short and needing to drink more milk.

I made a fake account and copied a rich, beautiful girl’s Moments. Lin Huaiping thought his luck had arrived and acted like a simp every day. It’s hilarious.

I kept stringing him along. He willingly transferred money to me and even proudly told everyone that a rich, beautiful girl was into him. I was laughing hysterically inside.

I heard Zhou Zhi got a job at Hanfang Hospital. I’m so jealous. My childhood dream was to become a doctor at Hanfang Hospital.

Actually, if I worked harder, I could achieve my dream too. Sigh.

I heard a surgeon’s hands are very important, yet Zhou Zhi still dares to play basketball. I decided to give him a sense of crisis, so I replaced the cold water in his glass with boiling water. He got scalded and still doesn’t know who did it.

Sigh, too bad he only rested for a few days before bouncing back to work at the hospital.

A few days ago, Manager Li told me to learn from my colleague Xiao Cai...

This Xiao Cai is younger than me and has less work experience. Asking me to learn from him is an insult, right?

So it’s not my fault that Xiao Cai’s client data got destroyed, right? I was just being cautious.

"Besides, Xiao Cai has no sense of caution. It’s only natural he got fired."

"Mu Dog is ordering me around again."

"But since his family supported me a few times, he’s felt entitled to boss me around since middle school."

"Unfortunately, he’s too lucky. Not only does he have a rich dad, but he’s also gained fame from photography. A partner even gave him a luxury gift. His smug face makes me furious."

"While he sent me to pick up the gift, I swapped it for flowers and kept the luxury item for myself."

"That day, Mu Dog was crying and sneezing from pollen allergies. It was so ridiculous."

"I’m sick of Cui Shuying’s princess attitude. Does she really think she’s some rich, beautiful girl?"

"Her mom was a mistress who climbed up. She’ll rely on men in the future too. I’ve followed her social media—it’s all her dance videos. Clearly, she’s trying to attract male attention. I look down on people like her the most."

"I decided to give her a little punishment. During today’s gathering, I spat in her wine glass when no one was looking and watched her drink it all."

"My diary was discovered by Jiang Zhi. I was too careless."

"I spent a week’s nights finally photographing all my diary entries. I’ll never write a diary again."

"But destroying the diary that’s been with me for years breaks my heart."

"I hate Jiang Zhi so much. She doesn’t seem to have leaked it yet. How can I make her shut up forever?"

"If the diary content gets out, I’m finished." ]

The room fell into silence; everyone was speechless, shocked by Luo Fang's true psyche, and felt somewhat nauseated.

Mu Xingchao quickly rushed into the bathroom, his voice echoing: "I just ate the strawberry pie he made—he wouldn’t have spit in it, would he?"

"Really? But didn’t he eat it himself?"

"Why would he mind his own saliva?"

Cui Shuying cursed as she headed to the bathroom: "He even spat in my water glass before! No way, I need to throw up too!"

Mu Xingchao, squeezed into the same bathroom, comforted her: "That happened years ago, and it’s not like you actually experienced it."

Cui Shuying, deeply immersed in her role, hugged the toilet and vomited loudly.

"Luo Fang said he wanted to make Jiang Zhi shut up forever," Xu Shuangyuan reread the last diary entry and hesitantly said. "Could it be that Luo Fang killed Jiang Zhi?"

"Disgusting scumbag!" Xu Hangquan said emotionally. "Given his twisted mindset of retaliating over every little thing, he definitely wouldn’t let Jiang Zhi off easily."

No one had expected that Luo Fang, whom everyone remembered as gentle and humble, harbored such deep darkness within.

These words completely tore apart his facade, revealing his true nature.

"Huh, what’s this?" Mu Xingchao wiped his hands clean and took something from the towel rack.

Cui Shuying, pale after vomiting, stood up and voiced her confusion upon seeing what Mu Xingchao held: "Isn’t this a thermal lunchbox? Why would he keep it in the bathroom? He couldn’t have actually added something to the strawberry pie, could he?"

"...That probably isn’t the case..."

[Discovered: Thermal lunchbox that contained strawberry pie]:

How strange—why would a thermal lunchbox be in the bathroom? Surely no one would eat strawberry pie in the bathroom.

1. 白富美 (bái fù měi): A modern Chinese internet slang term literally meaning "white, rich, beautiful"; it describes an idealized, high-status woman who is fair-skinned, wealthy, and attractive.

2. 舔狗 (tiǎn gǒu): A derogatory internet slang term literally meaning "licking dog"; it describes someone who debases themselves to curry favor or affection from someone else, similar to a "simp" or "doormat" in English.

3. 翰方医院 (Hànfāng Yīyuàn): The name "Hanfang Hospital"; in context, it represents a prestigious, top-tier hospital, and getting a job there is a significant achievement and a marker of high status.

4. 牧狗 (Mù gǒu): A derogatory nickname created by Luo Fang, combining the surname 牧 (Mù) with 狗 (gǒu - dog); it translates to "Mu Dog".

5. 小三 (xiǎo sān): A common and derogatory term for "the other woman" in an affair; literally "little three," it implies someone who disrupts a marriage or relationship.

6. 角色代入得很沉浸 (juésè dàirù dé hěn chénjìn): A phrase describing how a player is "deeply immersed in their role"; this is a key concept in live-action role-playing games, where players act out their characters' emotions and actions as if they were real.

7. 暴虐型玩家 (bàonüè xíng wánjiā): A gaming term meaning "violent-type player" or "aggressive player"; it describes a player whose primary strategy is to use force or intimidation against other players rather than pure deduction.

Characters (Players)

• 终栩 (Zhōng Xǔ)

  • Role: Protagonist 

  • Game Role: Later assumes the identity of 宋慕思 (Sòng Mùsī), the idealistic guesthouse owner with a hidden agenda tied to her friend’s death.

• 季舟 (Jì Zhōu)

  • Role: Self-proclaimed "萌新" (newbie)

• 老玩家 (Lǎo Wánjiā, Veteran Player)

  • Role: Experienced survivor

• 瘦弱男人 (Shòuruò Nánrén, Thin Man)

  • Role: Terrified newbie

• 眼镜男 (Yǎnjìng Nán, Glasses Man)

  • Role: Silent observer

~~~~~~

• 宋慕思 (Sòng Mùsī) – The protagonist; a quiet, introspective young woman who organized the friends' gathering and owns the 民宿 (guesthouse). Hides complicated past relationships.

• 江栀 (Jiāng Zhī) – Outgoing and sociable; Song Musi’s close friend (闺蜜) but also entangled in a love triangle involving Sang Long.

• 崔书颖 (Cuī Shūyǐng) – Another extroverted friend in the trio; makes Song Musi feel like a third wheel at times.

• 桑隆 (Sāng Lóng) – Jiang Zhi’s current boyfriend and Song Musi’s ex; their past relationship is a hidden source of tension.

• 骆方 (Luò Fāng) – A timid, cowardly classmate whom Song Musi dislikes. Later revealed to have a peanut allergy. [Dead]

• 徐杭泉 (Xú Hángquán) & 徐杭佳 (Xú Hángjiā) – Self-centered siblings; both are classmates disliked by Song Musi.

• 周至 (Zhōu Zhì) – A smooth-talking, socially adept classmate (possibly a surgeon); Song Musi finds him insincere.

• 梁青 (Liáng Qīng) – An insecure and overly sensitive classmate; another person Song Musi dislikes.

• 牧星朝 (Mù Xīngcháo) – A hypocritical rich kid (富二代) with a photography hobby; Xu Shuangyuan’s boyfriend.

• 许双园 (Xǔ Shuāngyuán) – Proud and arrogant; Mu Xingchao’s girlfriend, whom Song Musi resents.

Sevyn here ~~~

No additional death for now...