Infinite Murder Mystery Game: The Beauty with a Delicate Palm

The snake was black, as black as a pool of water at night, yet it shimmered with iridescent colors under natural light.

Old Mao grabbed the fire tongs and rushed out, viciously poking at the snake. The snake's skin was scalded by the fire tongs, and it curled up, flicking its tongue, before crawling out of the Mao family's gate.

……

Outside the courtyard gate, the alley was quiet.

The black snake didn't go far; it rested coiled up beside the bulging roots of the old locust tree outside the Mao family's gate, occasionally raising its head to look at the house, unwilling to leave.

As darkness fell, a figure staggered from the other end of the alley. It was an old man with an uneven back, as if he had something inside his clothes or something he carried with him.

He was carrying an old cloth bag.

If you look closely, you can see his rat tail.

Zi Shi sighed.

"You were so sure I'd come to save you, weren't you, you brat?"

The snake didn't understand Zi Shi's words. It flicked its tongue and tried to shrink back, but the seemingly frail old man moved so fast that he was just a blur. He grabbed the snake's head and put it in his pocket.

"The twelve symbols combine to form a ring, serving as both blade and shield to each other, supporting each other through the torrent of time, inseparable in life and death."

"Even if you don't beg me, I will still come."

He looked up at the sky and muttered to himself, then sighed and turned to walk towards Yashan Village.

Yuan Jing had just finished washing the clothes when she saw the old man approaching with a smile on his face.

"Dad, where have you been wandering off to again?"

The old man snorted, "Go see your future son-in-law."

*

"Xu Shengsheng has fainted!!!"

"Oh my god, call the counselor right now!"

"Call an ambulance first...you two hurry over and help her up."

The dormitory corridor was in chaos. Qiao Yinuo picked up her phone, her eyes glazed over. It took her a while to remember what had happened before she entered the Infinite Murder Mystery game.

Xu Shengsheng fainted. Before she could figure out what was going on, several of her usual friends dragged her out and put her against a chair by the door.

One of the girls was already sobbing uncontrollably. The dormitory supervisor hurriedly went upstairs and shouted to scare away all the onlookers.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

Qiao Yinuo silently watched from inside the door, picked up her phone without paying attention to the content of the short video, put it in her pocket, and went out to check on Xu Shengsheng's situation.

A few minutes later, she was carried downstairs. The counselor, a young woman with short hair, watched the ambulance take her away and immediately called her parents before coming to Qiao Yinuo and Su Mian's dormitory to find out what was going on.

"I'm sorry, Teacher Gong. Actually, Xu Shengsheng's health hasn't been quite right for a while, but I was too busy with my own things and forgot to tell you."

Gong Wenlu waved her hand, "It's nothing. What symptoms does she usually have?"

Qiao Yinuo thought for a moment, "Well, my eyes don't feel very comfortable, I often can't open them, and I only eat one meal a day, and I sometimes vomit in the middle of the night, but I don't know anything else."

She stated calmly, but noticed that Gong Wenlu's expression was becoming increasingly strange, even bordering on terrified. She pursed her lips and turned to look at the two of them.

"How are you feeling...?"

Qiao Yinuo blinked. "Me? I'm fine."

"What about your sleep schedule?"

Gong Wenlu looked over and saw that Su Mian had her head down and was not saying a word, as if she hadn't heard what they were saying at all. Qiao Yinuo nudged Su Mian with her elbow, and the girl slowly raised her head.

"What's wrong?"

"Um... Su Mian, are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Su Mian shook her head without saying anything. Gong Wenlu's phone rang again, and she answered it and left in a hurry.

"Su Mian, are you alright?"

"fine."

Qiao Yinuo looked at her and saw that she was not at all alright. She was dizzy and listless, with no life in her eyes. It felt like she was about to die at any moment.

Her gaze slowly descended, and she paused slightly as she watched the girl's fingertips caress the necklace pendant on her chest.

Qiao Yinuo hesitated, then remained silent.

The ambulance siren outside the window had faded into the distance, replaced by the faint sound of crying from the next dormitory room.

She then noticed that, for some time now, the entire floor had become eerily quiet.

At this time of day, the hallway would usually be filled with the clattering of slippers as people run around trying to borrow hot water.

She walked to the door and peeked outside.

The door to the dormitory room diagonally opposite was open, and three girls were crammed into the lower bunk. One of them was hugging her knees, her face buried in her arms, and her shoulders were shrugging.

Further away, near the dormitory entrance, someone was squatting on the ground making a phone call, their voice very low, but the corridor was too empty, and the sound drifted over intermittently.

"Yeah, still waiting for the results... I don't know yet, the counselor said to isolate first..."

The girl was Xu Shengsheng's friend; the two often went to class together and ate in the cafeteria together.

Qiao Yinuo looked away and took out her phone.

The moment the screen lit up, the notification bar nearly burst open.

The class group has 99+ members.

She clicked on it and scrolled up a few screens.

15:32

Does anyone know anything about Xu Shengsheng's situation?

I don't know, she said her eyes felt uncomfortable a few days ago, I thought it was from staying up late...

[Holy crap, she ate with me yesterday, am I okay??]

15:47

I just heard from a friend at the medical school that the university hospital saw over thirty patients this afternoon, all with symptoms including blurred vision, nausea, and some even had fever.

【? ? ? 】

My roommate was the same; she vomited all night and went to the school clinic this morning, only to be transferred there.

16:02

Have you seen the news?

No one replied to this message.

Qiao Yinuo switched to another app and opened Weibo.

The top trending topic was a hashtag she'd never seen before. Clicking on it revealed a news flash posted half an hour earlier.

[#Unexplained Eye Infections Found in Multiple Cities# Health authorities have launched an investigation; experts say there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission]

She scrolled down.

Article 2, Article 3, Article 4.

The first comment in the comment section received over 10,000 likes: If it's not human-to-human transmission, then what is it?

She didn't look any further. Her phone vibrated; it was a new notification in the grade-level group chat.

[Urgent Notice: Following instructions from the school's epidemic prevention and control office, starting at 7 PM tonight, all students in each dormitory building will undergo a full health check. Please remain in your dorm rooms and avoid leaving unless absolutely necessary.]

Sent at: 16:27.

Qiao Yinuo looked up at the end of the corridor, where there was a window. The sky outside was gray, and she couldn't tell what time it was.

She suddenly felt cold.

At 6:30, there was some noise downstairs.

Qiao Yinuo stood by the window and looked down.

Three white vans were parked in front of the first-phase cafeteria. The words "CDC" were printed in blue on the vans. The doors were open, and several people in protective suits were unloading things.

Plastic crates, cardboard boxes, and several silver insulated boxes.

Su Mian also found herself standing by the window at some point.

The two looked at each other in silence.

The people below worked quickly and finished moving it in just a few minutes.

Suddenly, an announcement rang out in the corridor; it was the dormitory supervisor's voice: "Students from the first to the third floor, please bring your ID cards and student IDs and come downstairs in dormitory order."