The cycle begins to repeat itself today.

Chapter 128 The Delayed Return Home

"Something I don't know, something related to my sister..." Lin Yin muttered to herself, her hands beginning to tidy up the test papers on the table. She had started this unfair game by following the rules, but she had no other choice.

"Anything is fine, even something that barely touches the mark. Tell me what you want, and I'll make the decision."

This is a difficult problem for anyone, because if it's something memorable, she'll subconsciously feel that she already knows it and that it doesn't fit the game rules, thus ignoring that option. Therefore, I must eliminate this possibility as much as possible to avoid losing a lot of information. I asked her to provide all the information I had, and I would filter it. Lin Yin would tell me almost everything she knew, and finding useful information from that was the most basic purpose of this task.

I moved to her side to better observe her facial expressions, and also to feign keeping an eye on her so she wouldn't stop working. It's always harder to do something half-heartedly, no matter who you are or what you're doing.

I watched as she opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She seemed to want to say something, but she suppressed it. I gently rubbed her shoulder, and she turned to look at me.

“Anything is fine. I already said that because this game doesn’t seem very fair to you, my requirements aren’t that high. Just say whatever comes to mind, and if it even touches on something, you win.” I narrowed my eyes slightly. “Don’t feel guilty. There are only the two of us here now, and no one else will hear what you say. This is just a little game we play in private.”

"...Any trivial thing will do?" she asked me, and I nodded.

"Yes, anything is fine, because you may or may not know about this, and you may just find it strange. If you tell me about it, you win this game."

Lin Yin remained silent. This wasn't enough; it wasn't enough to make her fully unleash her memories to search for any possible information. The final reward had already been determined, and adding anything extra would be strange, but I could still suggest additional details.

"How about this, you tell me everything you know, ten things. Just tell me ten things that you find strange, and tell me why you find them strange, and I'll cancel the punishment. Can you accept that?"

She nodded eagerly.

"But do you remember what I just said? To get something, you have to give something else in exchange. What are you going to give in exchange?"

“I…” I took my hand off the test paper and placed it on my thigh. She looked at me, her face slightly flushed.

“Your body is entirely mine now; this can’t be called an exchange.” I shook my head. I knew what she meant. From both my personal standpoint and from the perspective of the exchange, doing this was actually a loss. I refused Lin Yin’s money and body, offering them in exchange for information. If I easily accepted her offer now, I would simply be exchanging my own for hers. And in this exchange, Lin Xue didn’t lose anything extra, which didn’t hold true under my previous principles.

Lin Xue lowered her head slightly in disappointment, but quickly looked up at me again. She was leaning on me, which was a good thing. Even though I was the one who brought up this unfair game and unfair exchange, it was still very advantageous for me to control her.

"I don't want to make things too difficult for you, so how about this: you must obey my orders and do one thing, regardless of the consequences. I won't tell you what it is now, and I won't make any promises. You must complete the task I command. I won't put any constraints on you; whether you do it or not is entirely up to you. Lin Xue is capable of keeping her promises. If you can't, then it just means you're not all that great. If you can, I'll be very happy. Do you agree to this as a condition?"

Lin Yin nodded. I gave Lin Yin the right to back out on this additional condition. If her request was truly impossible for her to fulfill, then she could naturally back out, losing only the goodwill of someone as insignificant as me. Although we seemed to have a deep entanglement, I felt that Lin Yin didn't truly care about me. Her willingness to obey my orders was merely because, in my eyes, she was a substitute for Lin Xue, and that alone was enough to make her follow my commands. Her concern about this matter involving me was probably only because, at this stage, she could only substitute for Lin Xue within a limited scope, and she happened to be expanding that scope.

Lin Xue shouldn't have had a reason to refuse. And after I told her about this additional condition, she immediately started talking about it.

"My sister is a very good girl, with good grades and a good upbringing... But, sometimes she comes home very late. Our house isn't far from school, only a ten-minute walk if you walk fast, but sometimes she doesn't get home until after eleven, sometimes even later. She says it's because her classmates are having study sessions, and because she's so obedient, Mom and Dad believe her. However... my sister and I go to the same school, and while most students are quite hardworking, it's actually a bit unlikely that they'd be working so hard until eleven to attend a study session. You know, our school starts so early in the morning, and if you don't get enough sleep, it's hard to stay alert the next day. I think it's a bit strange that my sister would agree to attend a study session at such a late hour. Does this count?"

Study groups? Such things don't exist. Lin Xue is a day student, and most students, including Lin Xue, go home by 10 PM after evening self-study. I've never heard of any study groups in the class.

This is probably just a pretext used by Lin Xue.

I nodded and said, "Okay, but that's not what I was talking about. Next."

Chapter 129 Different Blades

The next few things Lin Yin said weren't particularly noteworthy; they were all too trivial, offering no real information beyond making my image of Lin Xue more complete. Perhaps because my subsequent reactions were relatively lukewarm, she became more cautious, and the woman who had previously been so talkative stopped. Just as I was about to reassure her and tell her not to be nervous, she immediately surprised me with something.

“I remember something, something…something very strange.” Lin Yin’s movements slowed down. Although this somewhat broke the rules of the game, I didn’t stop her in order to get more detailed information: “My parents’ work isn’t usually very busy, but they often have to work overtime on weekends. On those days, my older sister usually cooks for me. My sister has a knife, which she bought with her own savings. She only takes it out to use when she cooks for me on weekends. I asked her before why she specifically bought this knife, and she said…”

Lin Yin paused for a moment, then quickly continued, "She said she wasn't used to the knives at home, and she'd get scolded if she bought another one, so she bought her own. She usually hid it, and only took it out to cook for me on weekends. But... but that knife was exactly the same as the one we kept in the kitchen. My sister wouldn't let me touch it, so I just looked at it from a distance. Then, one time I went to the kitchen to get some water, and I secretly checked the knife in the kitchen. From that moment on, I was certain that the knife my sister bought was the same as the one in the kitchen. I was a little scared at the time, but as time went on, nothing happened, and I gradually forgot about it."

Why would Lin Xue buy an identical knife that she already had? And why would she hide it? Hiding it means she didn't want anyone to find out. Who is this "others"? It's probably her parents. If they knew she bought an identical knife, she might be scolded, and Lin Xue hid it to avoid that. But why? Why did she buy an identical knife? What's so special about this knife? Could this knife... be the one she used to kill me? I didn't have a chance to examine the knife closely at the time. I only found out later that it was coated with drugs after Lin Xue confirmed I was incapacitated. Her drugs were given to her by someone else, but what about the knife? Did she really buy it herself?

If the knife wasn't bought by her either, it means the knife and the medicine were given to her by the same person. If Lin Xue used this knife to cook, there certainly wasn't any medicine on it at the time, but that doesn't rule out the possibility that she had the medicine but didn't use it. But if it's the same knife, why did she insist on using the separately bought one? Even if she hid the knife and medicine together, it wouldn't affect her in any way. What was her purpose in doing this? If the knife was the same, she shouldn't have needed to use that one at all. Why go to the trouble of specifically using the new knife to cook? Think carefully, what did the knife Lin Xue used to stab herself look like…

What is it that is absolutely different from the others?

"That's interesting. What does the knife you keep at home look like? How can you be sure that the two knives are the same? Didn't you never see the knife your sister bought?"

“My sister and I are actually about the same size. I’ve seen how she holds her knife; I remember its outline and size. If I hold the knife I keep at home, although there are slight differences, I’m sure it’s exactly the same knife. At least… at least it’s the same shape and size.” Lin Yin wasn’t entirely confident in what she was saying, but that made me believe her even more. Her hesitation and doubt proved that she was indeed thinking, rather than having already reached a conclusion. At this point, I just needed to choose whichever side she strongly insisted on.

It was the same shape and size, meaning she hadn't examined the knife closely. So, what was different about the knife Lin Xue held? I rested my chin on my hand, trying to recall. She had used that knife to cause me intense pain, and the real reason for that pain was… the barbs on the knife. The knife had tiny, barely noticeable, but definitely present barbs—I remembered that. Was that all? I couldn't remember anything more; that was all the impression the knife left on me.

Considering this, what's the point of Lin Xue's actions? That barbed knife, with numerous hooks embedded in its blade, would inevitably pull out a lot of flesh and blood if pulled back. This isn't good for cutting vegetables; it would severely damage the ingredients. But… what if her purpose wasn't cooking in the first place?

Was she... conducting an experiment? Was she testing the knife's destructive power to better understand the weapon and practice her knife skills? Was such extensive training necessary? But if not, what was the point of Lin Xue's actions? She couldn't understand. At least, the knife wasn't something Lin Yin bought for cooking; in fact, she didn't even buy it—it came from the same person as the medicine. The barbs on the knife couldn't have been achieved with simple modifications; Li Xue couldn't have done that with her abilities, and she couldn't reveal it. Such potentially lethal modifications would inevitably leave a record.

However, if that's the case, then Lin Xue must have received the medicine and the knife at the same time. If only the knife was given and not the medicine, or vice versa, there would be a risk of exposing the other party's identity after several meetings. Since the other party provided Lin Xue with the knife and medicine but did not leave an impression on her, it is very likely that Lin Xue only met the other party once. Otherwise, given Lin Xue's personality, I suspect she would have tried to find out the true identity of that mysterious person.

If possible, I should get my hands on that knife, which I overlooked before. There might be information left on it as well. At least I could try to figure out from the state of the barbs whether the person had the professional skills to handle the blade and create the barbs.

I gently pinched Lin Yin's cheek: "Good job, you're getting close. Keep it up. Next one."

Chapter 130 Separation of Roles

“There’s one more thing,” Lin Yin’s mood improved again, perhaps the praise just now made her relax a bit: “It seems like my sister is… it seems like she’s secretly doing something. I’m not sure, but she often goes out very late.”

"Doesn't your family have a curfew? How come she can still leave the house?"

"...very late, meaning after midnight. Many times she went out after her parents had fallen asleep. I happened to see my sister leaving home with her schoolbag once when I woke up in the middle of the night. Although my sister usually goes to school very early, this time was a little too early."

Did Lin Yin get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom? That's quite possible, since Lin Yin doesn't seem to have plans that deviate from the norm like Lin Xue. So, what was Lin Xue doing at that time?

Do you know what she went there to do?

Lin Yin shook her head. That's normal. Although Lin Yin happened to see Lin Xue going out in the middle of the night, she was far less daring than Lin Xue. Moreover, Lin Xue was curious about what Lin Xue was doing, even if it meant defying her parents' curfew. But I don't think she would follow Lin Xue and challenge her. If she dared, things wouldn't be like this now.

Lin Xue must have had a purpose for going out late at night, but what was that purpose? I have some guesses, but I still need some evidence.

"Do you remember the earliest time you saw her go out? It must have been before she got that new kitchen knife, right?"

Lin Yin nodded: "Yes. But I can't remember the exact time, but my sister did go out before she bought the new kitchen knife. It was probably a month ago, not long after school started?"

Lin Xue once said that this was something she had planned for a long time. If I'm not mistaken, both of her actions should have occurred after the plan was in place. Lin Xue had been eyeing Ye Zi for a long time and had formulated various plans centered around her. Her ultimate goal was to have Ye Zi commit suicide in her place. When I saved Ye Zi, she had clearly entered the final stage of Lin Xue's plan, which meant that she had already accomplished what she wanted Ye Zi to do.

Ye Zi herself also had to complete the event of going to the roof of the old school building to fulfill her promise, and she had been preparing for it for a long time. Lin Xue used Ye Zi as her substitute after discovering Ye Zi's plan and then took action. This means that Lin Xue's actions began between the time when Ye Zi and the mysterious person made their promise and when she discovered Ye Zi's plan and tried to use it to achieve her own goals. However, Lin Xue also had an unknown person involved who provided her with a knife and medicine.

The mysterious person who persuaded Ye Zi to abandon her suicidal thoughts and instead focus her attention on an event in the future that no one knows may ever happen is not necessarily entirely benevolent, while the person who provided Lin Xue with the knife and medicine is definitely up to no good. I suspect these two people might be the same person, but there is absolutely no evidence to prove it, and forcing them together is rather far-fetched.

While the former left behind hidden dangers, his actions themselves saved Ye Zi at the time, which gave me the opportunity to successfully rescue her. As for the knife and medicine the latter provided to Lin Xue, I simply cannot imagine that he had any good intentions. Moreover, the word "given" used by Lin Xue is very vague; it's unclear whether she bought them herself or if someone else truly gave them to her. These two interpretations—one stemming from Lin Xue's own will, the other from the malice of this outsider—reflect different underlying issues and require careful consideration.

I had previously suspected that the person who saved Ye Zi and told her about the promise might have been Lin Xue, but now it seems that the possibility is not very high.

Firstly, it's highly likely that Lin Xue only began targeting Ye Zi after learning of Ye Zi's plan, meaning her actions started later than Ye Zi's plan. However, it's also possible that Lin Xue happened to encounter Ye Zi, who was contemplating suicide, while out at night, and thus completed her plan before Ye Zi, leading to the rooftop rendezvous. This possibility is less likely, but still exists. Before knowing Ye Zi's plan, Lin Xue didn't have a clear target. She's a smart person; would she really risk violating her family's curfew by going out at night to try her luck before even having a plan? If it were her, she would have had a better way to identify her target.

Moreover, the coincidence in this statement is too high. Rather than believing in something with a high degree of coincidence, I prefer statements with relatively tight logical reasoning.

Secondly, if Lin Xue truly made this promise to Ye Zi, then Lin Xue should have left an impression on Ye Zi. Similarly, it's possible that Lin Xue's elaborate disguise prevented Ye Zi from recognizing her two contrasting personas. However, this explanation is rather weak. For the same reason as before, it seems somewhat illogical. Lin Xue didn't have a specific purpose when she went out, so why would she go to such lengths to disguise herself in a way that wouldn't leave a lasting impression on Ye Zi? Generally, shouldn't one first identify the person, then gather information, and make a plan before taking action? Or does Lin Xue truly possess the exceptional personal ability to formulate a plan, even a general one, in a very short time?

Lin Xue's personal abilities are indeed outstanding, but I also vaguely remember getting information from her that she spent a long time formulating and executing the plan. It's rather unreasonable to make such a far-fetched guess that she is that mysterious person.

At least based on the information I have so far, I am not optimistic about the possibility that Lin Xue is the mysterious person.

The mysterious person who rescued Ye Zi, and the mysterious person who gave Lin Xue the knife and medicine—these are two people I've never met before. Aside from knowing they exist, I know practically nothing about them. I don't currently have enough information to investigate them. For now, it might be better to exclude them from my investigation; otherwise, constantly being limited to guessing their identities will make the investigation quite difficult.

Chapter 131 Another Route

After Lin Yin finished organizing the test papers, although she talked a lot, there was nothing that caught my attention. She failed to fulfill the conditions I set, and naturally, she couldn't receive the reward I promised her... Although I never intended to give it to her in the first place, since it wasn't her who decided whether she was right or wrong, but me, even if she had told me what I wanted to know, I could still use her failure to win the game to diminish the uncertainty of that reward.

"Although you still didn't guess what happened, you did a great job, and I had a lot of fun. As agreed, I won't do anything that might affect your position as class monitor, so you can rest assured. I'm not the kind of person who goes back on their word."

I tried to comfort her with these empty and baseless words. Although there was no basis to suggest that I would do as I said, Lin Yin seemed to have no other choice. She accepted the result calmly and did not say anything more.

I need to make some preparations in advance. I've obtained enough information from Lin Yin; now I should start thinking about how to resolve Lin Xue's situation.

"Is there anything else you need to do next?"

Lin Yin shook her head, tilted her head to look at me, and I looked back at her.

"What would you normally do at this time?"

"I should go home because I need to have lunch at home, and I will come to school for class after dinner in the afternoon."

"Really? Let's go then. I'm heading back anyway, and it's on my way back, so let's go together." I patted her on the shoulder.

Lin Yin hesitated for a moment: "At home, Dad, Mom, and my sister are still at home, so we can't let you go."

"I really need to go home for dinner, don't overthink it." The hand that was patting her shoulder then stroked her face. "But you've reminded me, even though our homes are in the same direction, what should I do if I want to find you later?"

"...I usually eat lunch on the first floor of the school cafeteria. I like the steamed buns sold on the first floor."

"Steamed buns? I remember the steamed buns on the first floor were quite small. Will they fill you up?"

"I don't eat much..."

"I see. Whatever you like. I should be able to find you on the first floor of the cafeteria around lunchtime, right?"

Although it's called a cafeteria, it's not entirely run by one company. It seems the school has rented out all three floors to different businesses. The first floor is more like a food vending area, and it's usually quite crowded. I don't know if I'll be able to find her. Perhaps I'll need to ask her about something later; she also has problems that I need to help with. Finding her would be a good thing.

"Let's go."

I took two steps back and walked out of the office, standing in the doorway waiting for Lin Yin. She seemed to be tidying up her desk a little more. I looked around; the area was still very empty, without a single person in sight. There was no sound coming from the library either; judging from the noise, it seemed no one was around. There were really few people.

Lin Yin quickly finished packing and came out of the office. I withdrew my gaze and walked towards the side door of the main building, with Lin Yin following behind me. After leaving the main building, the school, which had been deserted before, gradually showed signs of human activity; it was no longer as quiet as it had been when I first arrived.

My plan was to retrace my steps and, along the way, observe if there were any suitable places for me to work. As I walked from the main building, I saw more and more people. It was the hottest time of summer, and even in the early morning, when the sun was barely visible, the temperature was still quite high. Reaching the school gate, looking at the small shops that were already open for business, I couldn't help but recall the scene of buying things for Yezi before.

I had rushed over this morning to keep watch over Lin Xue and hadn't eaten or drunk anything, so I turned to Lin Yin and asked, "What do you want?"

"Huh?" She looked at me with some confusion, which was indeed somewhat like Ye Zi.

"Do you want something to drink? If not, I'll just buy you a bottle of water."

"You don't need to buy it for me."

She shook her head. Ignoring her wishes, I walked to the convenience store, bought two bottles of water, and casually tossed one to her. She caught it in a fluster.

"It's so hot, it's better to be careful."

I unscrewed the bottle, took a sip, and continued walking. Judging from the footsteps, Lin Yin had probably followed. I surveyed my surroundings, searching for a suitable spot, but unfortunately, apart from the alley where I had attacked Lin Xue, there seemed to be no other suitable place. Although Lin Xue had arrived quite early, I never knew when someone might suddenly appear in that alley; after all, people did live there, and if I were discovered, it would be a lot of trouble.

Do you usually come to school with your sister?

"No, my sister usually comes to school quite early, but today she seems to be sleeping in a little longer. I'm different from my sister; I only woke up especially early today... If you want to find me, you should be able to find me at school this time on the weekend."

I couldn't help but smile. I had revealed my whereabouts. Lin Yin wasn't very smart, but in a way, she was actually quite cute.

I walked all the way to the pedestrian bridge and was about to step onto it when Lin Yin, who had been walking a short distance behind me, seemed to pause for a moment before continuing to catch up. Since there were practically no pedestrians around, I could hear Lin Yin's voice clearly. I turned around and looked at her: "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." She shook her head.

"You're not allowed to hide anything from me, or I'll get angry."