There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

```

"Hmm..."

Luo Kai stared at the newspaper, lost in thought, his eyes revealing a complex stream of emotions, as if he was contemplating something.

Xu Shuo remembered that Xu Xi had shown a similar mix of emotions when she was troubled by a math problem before.

After a while, Luo Kai spoke to him in a low voice again, "Although it's not impossible, this speculation is too far-fetched. You must have found something else, right?"

Xu Shuo gave him a sidelong glance, "What are you here for?"

Luo Kai: "..."

He sheepishly smiled and then, pretending as if nothing had happened, turned his head away and lazily surveyed the carriage.

In this era, the windows of train carriages could still be opened, and the rumbling sound from the tracks filled the air, while the sunlight was dazzlingly bright.

The carriage was crowded with passengers, with items haphazardly strewn on the floor, squeezed in wherever they would fit.

Some people, too lazy to go to the smoking area, simply lit up cigarettes right there in their seats, enveloping the space in clouds of smoke. Mixed with the smells of bare feet and various types of food, the aroma in the carriage grew even more unpleasant.

Not even the wind from the windows could disperse the stench.

Xu Shuo frowned slightly and soon returned to the connection between carriages, where at least there was only the smell of smoke.

Leaning against the wall of the carriage, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket and skillfully opened Tetris.

A little girl nearby watched him curiously, seemingly wanting to move closer but also hesitating, feeling it was too far. The next moment, her view was abruptly blocked by a man with a scruffy beard.

Luo Kai squatted down, smiling with his yellowed teeth, and said ingratiatingly to her, "Little sister, brother here has some snacks too, do you want some?"

He pulled out the candy he had conveniently pocketed earlier.

However, the little girl suddenly widened her eyes, looking at him warily, and stepped back twice.

Luo Kai: "..."

He felt a blow to his pride.

That's not fair! He thought his looks weren't much worse than that guy with a pretty white face!

Fuming, Luo Kai touched his face, then felt the stubble on his chin that pricked his fingers.

The little girl, still on her guard, ran back to her own seat; even though she had been squeezed out of her place by her brother, standing next to someone she knew provided a sense of safety.

Luo Kai pursed his lips, decided not to further engage with the little girl, and, lighting a cigarette, began to stroll through the carriage.

The carriage's passengers were a mixed lot – couples with children, teenage students who appeared around eighteen or nineteen, neatly dressed office workers in suits and dress shoes, and elderly farmers with families in tow...

In the row where the little girl sat, the four-seater on the right had a woman with two kids; opposite them sat a cultured middle-aged man and another woman who seemed to be a couple.

In the six-seater on the left, four young people, three men and one woman, were playing cards. They appeared to be strangers, just getting along out of shared interest to pass the time.

In the outer seat next to the aisle, a man and a woman, bored out of their minds, had also joined the chat with the right seat's occupants and even shared in the woman's sunflower seeds.

Luo Kai's gaze swept over them casually.

Among these people, one of them could be the perpetrator of the incident.

Although extracting the script was not a game, and he wasn't tasked with finding the killer, as a "Director," he needed to understand how the events unfolded; otherwise, the production progress would be delayed.

He certainly didn't want to get crushed by a derailed train.

And he didn't want to face that 'Little Ghost' again.

Thinking of the Little Ghost, Luo Kai subconsciously looked for the little girl's figure and saw her bouncing off toward the end of the carriage to find the young man again.

The little girl didn't speak, just curiously watched Xu Shuo, and then ran back to her own seat. Whenever she felt bored, she would run back to the end of the carriage.

```

Anyway, just can't sit still.

During this time, the woman scolded her impatiently twice, and the little girl stood beside her, looking up at the ceiling of the carriage, lost in thought.

After spacing out for a while, the little girl tilted her head and suddenly turned to run towards the end of the carriage.

Seeing this, the woman cursed angrily, "She's always so restless!"

The middle-aged man she was chatting with laughed and the conversation flowed into how to educate children.

...

After running over, the little girl tugged on Xu Shuo's pant leg.

Xu Shuo pressed the pause button on his game, looked down at her, and asked with a gentle smile, "What's up?"

Previously, the little girl had just peeked from the doorway, shaking her head and running off quickly whenever he asked her something, but this time, for some reason, she had come over to him.

"Big brother..." the little girl clung to his clothes, her innocent face filled with a tangled hesitation.

"Hmm?" Xu Shuo naturally squatted down to meet her eyes.

"Just now, there was something really scary over there, staring at me..." the little girl mumbled, and seemed to want to point behind her, but Xu Shuo quickly caught her hand as she began to raise it.

The little girl was stunned.

Xu Shuo put down her raised hand and asked with a smile, "Then why didn't you tell your mom?"

"Mom is always chatting and doesn't care about us," the little girl regained her composure, muttering unhappily as she lowered her head.

"It's okay, the train will soon arrive at the station, just wait a little longer, little sister," Xu Shuo said, patting her head which felt quite nice with its soft, short hair.

"Oh..."

The little girl pouted, looking at the young man before her, and suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed, she turned and quickly ran back to the carriage.

Luo Kai was walking this way, almost getting bumped into by the little girl barreling forward; he quickly stepped aside to give the "boss" room to pass.

This place is just an Illusory Realm, and the storyline unfolding is all things that have happened before; they are merely understanding the course of events, so this little girl will inevitably become the "boss."

Watching the girl's retreating figure, Luo Kai, with a cigarette in his mouth, came over and said in a low voice, "There's a dead body in the compartment."

"You just smelled it?" Xu Shuo glanced at him with a cryptic look.

"...Tch."

Luo Kai continued, "The woman with the child is currently divorced, raising two kids alone, somewhat favoring males over females. She's returning to Xiangcheng to tend to graves and has a rather blunt and dominant personality.

"Opposite her is a couple who, it's said, already have a child but didn't bring them this time. They, too, are going back to their hometown for ancestral worship in Xiangcheng.

"In the neighboring seat, the man on the outside is a salesman, and the woman is a white-collar worker, strangers to each other.

"Those four young people inside, the girl and the boy next to her are university students, from the same hometown and university, but don't seem to be dating. Those opposite them met on the train and don't know each other either.

"So, who do you think is the murderer?"

After delivering a long spill of eavesdropped information, Luo Kai looked eagerly at Xu Shuo, finally asking the question.

Xu Shuo remained calm, and replied with a question, "Why do you limit the scope to just that row of seats?"

Luo Kai exhaled a puff of smoke: "Circling around the core, can't be wrong."

"And what if she's not the core?"

"...No way, right?"