Chapter 1 Designate the Murderer, Erase...

Zhang Yuanqing listened to the prompt in his ear, his expression unchanged, but he suddenly understood.

He had been wondering why the instance had assigned him the role of captain, yet kept it a secret, preventing him from voting out the traitor. What was the point of such a captain's role?

Now he understood. The captain's power lay here.

"My role has the power to erase. The evil-doer must also have similar means. That's why the River God died inexplicably. But my power can only be used after completing the task. The murderer must also have conditions to use his ability. What are his conditions? It's impossible to give away an erasure quota for nothing." Zhang Yuanqing's brain worked quickly.

"I've already rewound the scene after entering the instance and found nothing unusual. The condition for the murderer to trigger the power of erasure should be inconspicuous, a method only he knows."

Who to knife?

Zhang Yuanqing's thinking exploded. He quickly locked onto three people: Xie Lingxi, Fire Demon, and Xi Shi.

Among these three, he most wanted to knife the black-haired, straight-haired girl.

Although she was a delicate little beauty that inspired pity, Zhang Yuanqing really couldn't help but want to kill her after hearing that the subsequent experience included a haunted house.

But that was just a momentary impulse.

"The old strategy guide doesn't mention a series, at least not in writing. This should be a change triggered by the difficulty adjustment of Jinshui Amusement Park. Xie Lingxi probably doesn't know either... Given the difficulty of an S-level spirit realm, maybe no matter what entertainment facility we choose, we'll end up in the haunted house. There's no way around it. At most, the order of the haunted houses will be different..."

"There's too little information at the moment. It's almost impossible to ferret out the evil-doer. It's half deduction, half guess, with little certainty. If I point the wrong finger, I'll lose a teammate for nothing, and put myself at a disadvantage instead."

"But if I do nothing, I'll definitely be the next to die, right? Maybe I'll get lucky and point out the murderer."

He was caught in a dilemma, not knowing whether to take a risk based on his gut feeling or play it safe and observe more.

Both choices carried corresponding risks.

Since I, as the captain, can't make a decision, what is the evil-doer, the traitor, thinking at this moment? Zhang Yuanqing decided to think from a different perspective:

"His hidden mission should be to kill, but it's uncertain whether he knows about the captain's existence. Let's not consider that for now... I said just now that I didn't observe anything unusual, and the blindfolded strategy hasn't changed. This is a very obvious hint."

"The murderer isn't stupid. He should know that I 'suspect' there's a traitor in the team. So, next, he'll choose to be cautious and then look for a suitable opportunity to kill me. When is the suitable opportunity? That's very important."

"The role identity is a hidden mission, not the main mission. The murderer also has to consider that killing too quickly will increase his own risk in the subsequent tasks."

Jinshui Amusement Park was S-level difficulty. Zhang Yuanqing didn't believe that the evil-doer's task was just to reduce the number of team members.

If it were that simple, it wouldn't be S-level.

Continuing to think along this line of thought: "After discovering that there's no way to avoid the terrifying spiritual tasks, the murderer is unlikely to kill people frequently, because he needs companions, he needs cannon fodder. And I, who have shown some ability, am a very good candidate."

"So, the time to kill me should be after passing through the haunted house, or during the process..."

"Well, these are all my speculations, and they remain to be verified. I'll use the 'Underground Parking Lot' to test him. There's still half an hour until the next task. I'll take this opportunity to make another round of probing..."

After figuring this out, Zhang Yuanqing decided to give up this time's captain's power.

........

"Damn it, in the end, there's no avoiding the haunted house!"

In the square, after receiving the spirit realm's prompt, Fire Demon's mentality somewhat collapsed. He glared at the pretty little girl: "Damn it, I'm going to be killed by you."

Xie Lingxi pouted, feeling wronged:

"I, I didn't want this either.

"I didn't know that the S-level spirit realm would become like this. I've never been here before..."

Fire Demon irritably scratched his fiery red hair and cursed:

"I knew I shouldn't have listened to you and made random suggestions. What to do now? The haunted house must be very dangerous. What was the old strategy guide? I think everyone should discuss it."

Xie Lingxi shook her head: "I, I don't know. There are too many amusement park facilities. I only remember a part..."

"Don't know? Do you think I'll believe that? Are you treating me like a three-year-old!" Fire Demon was furious.

"Why are you so fierce..." Xie Lingxi was on the verge of tears.

She looked seventeen or eighteen years old and should still be a high school student. Being yelled at by Fire Demon, she felt wronged and innocent, looking like she was about to cry.

"Enough!"

The simple and honest middle-aged man rarely took the initiative and stopped the two from arguing.

He looked at Fire Demon calmly: "No one can possibly understand the amusement park after the difficulty change. It's not her fault. Besides, the previous choice of the roller coaster was the result of everyone's vote."

The middle-aged man's words were reasonable, but Fire Demon was in a fit of temper and wouldn't listen to advice. He glared at him:

"When I'm talking, what's it to you? Are you trying to play the good guy here?"

"I'm not playing the good guy, I just want you to shut up! If you're not willing to shut up, I can help you!"

A fierce glint flashed in the eyes of this seemingly honest middle-aged man.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing knew he should step forward. He hurried forward, standing between the two, and laughed:

"Calm down, calm down. If you keep arguing, half an hour will pass. Uncle, give me some face. After clearing Jinshui Amusement Park, I'll treat you to a drink. Brother Fire, you can find me after leaving the spirit realm. I'm from Yangcheng. The white cut chicken in Yangcheng is the best, with tender skin and meat, and very moist..."

His clowning and joking diluted the tense atmosphere.

Fire Demon and the middle-aged man took the opportunity to drop the matter.

The group of six followed the signs, left the square, and walked through the brightly lit amusement park.

A slightly cool breeze blew slowly. The dark sky was like a boundless black swan velvet curtain, with no stars and no moon.

The dreamy and dazzling lights of the amusement park were the only source of light in this world.

The unmanned roller coaster roared on the tracks; the pendulum and pirate ship swayed non-stop; the merry-go-round slowly rotated to cheerful music...

Unmanned bumper cars crashed and collided with each other on the grounds.

The style of painting suddenly changed from fairy-tale-like dreams to a spooky atmosphere...

No one spoke along the way. The atmosphere between the team members was extremely silent and stiff. Everyone maintained a certain distance from each other, neither too far nor too close.

Obviously, they had understood my hints and began to suspect the death of the River God. Next, I have to test them one by one. Alas, it's really troublesome not to expose my identity... Zhang Yuanqing didn't actually care if his identity as the captain would be guessed.

Because it wasn't important.

Once the evil-doer had a suitable opportunity, the first person he would kill would be him, without any hesitation.

He quickly walked towards Xie Lingxi and said:

"Lingxi, are you a high school student? Where are you from?"

"I'm from Jiangnan Province, Brother Wang Tai. I'm a senior this year."

"What a coincidence, I'm a student at Jiangnan University. How about we exchange phone numbers? After clearing Jinshui Amusement Park, I can tutor you with your homework, give you one-on-one private lessons."

"Okay, okay."

"Then do you have a boyfriend?"

"Why do you ask?"

"If you have a boyfriend, it won't be convenient to give you private lessons."

"Ah? Why?"

.......

"Sister Xi Shi, what do you do for a living?"

"Sister is a nurse."

A nurse? The kind of nurse who wears a uniform and gives injections... Zhang Yuanqing put on an admiring expression:

"I have the utmost respect for angels in white."

Xi Shi's eyes sparkled, her face full of charm, and she said in a suggestive, greasy voice:

"Actually, you don't need to respect me so much. I prefer men to be wild and rough, to dominate me as much as they want."

Zhang Yuanqing was silent for a moment, then smiled: "Let's sleep together sometime."

........

Zhang Yuanqing then walked towards "Ashamed to be a Father" and said in a chatty manner:

"Uncle, do you have a daughter?"

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and grunted.

Zhang Yuanqing asked curiously: "Your relationship with your daughter must be very bad."

The middle-aged man's honest face instantly darkened, and he said coldly: "None of your business."

"Sorry, sorry..."

.......

After distancing himself from the middle-aged man, he quickly caught up with the red-haired youth ahead. This person was as thin as a stick, with small and sharp eyes, and slanted eyebrows, giving people a feeling of impatience and rudeness.

After a few compliments from Zhang Yuanqing, Fire Demon smiled, thinking that this kid spoke very nicely and was willing to talk to him.

When Zhang Yuanqing asked him about his opinion of his teammates, Fire Demon said casually:

"These teammates are all abnormal. The little girl is acting pitiful the whole time, the big-breasted woman looks very easygoing, but when I asked her on the roller coaster platform if she wanted to come down and have a quickie, she didn't even acknowledge me. That uncle looks like the least likely to be a good person."

As he spoke, Fire Demon looked back at the energetic young man, Qi Tian Dasheng, who was flattering Xie Lingxi, with a look of disdain:

"That's just a useless piece of trash. Brother Wang Tai, I think you're the most pleasing to the eye in this team."

"You flatter me, you flatter me, Brother Fire. I also think you're the most reliable."

........

Zhang Yuanqing finally approached the energetic young man in his bean shoes and tight pants and said, "Dasheng, can I have a word with you?"

Qi Tian Dasheng looked at Xie Lingxi reluctantly and followed Zhang Yuanqing to the side.

"What's the matter?" He cast an inquiring gaze at this very sociable young man.

"What do you think of these two girls?" Zhang Yuanqing chuckled.

Qi Tian Dasheng looked at Xie Lingxi: "Pretty, her little butt is perky, but her breasts are small."

Then he looked at Xi Shi: "Big breasts, round butt, but she doesn't like to pay attention to people."

As for Fire Demon and the middle-aged man, Qi Tian Dasheng believed that the former had a bad temper and was difficult to get along with, so he kept his distance. The latter was silent, but could occasionally give good advice.

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly said in a low voice:

"If I die, try everything you can to kill that uncle. He's an evil profession."

Qi Tian Dasheng was shocked, his eyes widened slightly, and he subconsciously opened his mouth, then immediately closed it, his face becoming alert and cautious.

........

Ten minutes later, the group arrived at the underground parking garage on the west side of the amusement park and stopped at the slope entrance.

Through the downward slope, everyone could see that the garage was lit with bright lights, and rows of dusty cars were neatly arranged.

The garage was silent.

Zhang Yuanqing looked at Xie Lingxi and asked on behalf of everyone:

"What's the strategy for this level?"

........

ps: These chapters are more brain-burning to write, and this kind of plot obviously cannot be produced quickly, so the number of words was a little less yesterday. Also, it has suddenly turned cold recently, and I have a cold and cough, so I'm not in very good condition.