novelraw Chapter 45 : Companion
Chapter 45 : Companion
Chapter 45: Companion
The final outcome of this short farce was that it ended on bad terms.
Because no one could prove they were not an Evil Spirit Follower, nor could they prove that the person they suspected was indeed an Evil Spirit Follower, a chain of suspicion emerged between everyone that could not be severed.
No one dared to trust anyone anymore.
In a sense, the “Dark Forest” that Lu Feng had envisioned at the very beginning had truly become a reality.
And the information that Lu Feng and the others had obtained—no one demanded they reveal it anymore.
Other than wasting everyone’s precious time, injuring a few people, and planting seeds of doubt among them, this farce was almost meaningless.
But… why had Zhang Yifeng suddenly lashed out at them?
Lu Feng could feel that, behind this incident, there might be some hand—neither too large nor too small—deliberately pushing things to happen.
Zhang Yifeng was just like a useful gun, the barrel pointed at Lu Feng and the others, with the sole purpose of forcing Lu Feng to expose the information in his hands.
But what information did Lu Feng even have in his hands?
Aside from some deductions about the rules and that notebook, there seemed to be no other truly valuable clues… right?
Thinking this, Lu Feng frowned—
Or was it that there really was something… just that he himself hadn’t discovered it?
…
Dong Ningning returned to her own room, her expression not looking very good.
Suddenly, the just-closed door was knocked on, which made Dong Ningning’s already irritable mood even worse.
“Who is it?”
The person outside did not respond, but Dong Ningning already knew who it was.
She walked over and opened the door, letting the person outside enter.
Then she frowned, staring intently at them,
“It was you who deliberately guided Zhang Yifeng, letting him go cause trouble for Lu Feng, wasn’t it?”
The other was stunned, then silently nodded and said in a low voice,
“What a pity… if Lu Feng didn’t have that gun, then we could have…”
“Don’t make assumptions there!”
Dong Ningning let out a cold snort,
“Now is already the most crucial moment that will decide victory or defeat.
Don’t try to be clever and do unnecessary things! Bai Quye nearly got us exposed already—there absolutely cannot be any more accidents after this!”
“Then how about… we use the last chance on Lu Feng?”
“No.
They have that thing in their hands.
If by chance he figures out its purpose, we risk being exposed.”
As she spoke, Dong Ningning shifted her gaze to the person across from her,
“In any case, from now on, without my permission, you are not to act on your own.
Understand?”
“…I understand.”
…
At this time, Lu Feng and Zhang Tong were helping the groggy Lin You back to his room.
Just a few minutes earlier, Lin You, whose head had suffered severe trauma, suddenly collapsed to the ground.
No matter how much Lu Feng and the others called him, he hadn’t responded.
Only after a long while did he slowly wake up,
“Damn… that blow really was heavy.
If it weren’t for my thick skin, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get up again.”
His face was pale, yet he still laughed carelessly.
But Lu Feng and the others had no mood to joke with him, and quickly helped him back to his room to rest.
Entering Lin You’s room, what had once been relatively tidy was now a complete mess, full of traces of struggle.
But given the nature of this old mansion, it likely wouldn’t take long for it to restore itself.
Together they helped Lin You onto the bed, and within just a few breaths he had already fallen asleep.
Yu Mo placed a wet towel on his forehead, looking at Lu Feng with worried eyes,
“Lin You… he won’t be in danger, will he?”
“He… shouldn’t be…”
Lu Feng replied with a dark expression.
At this moment, he could only hope Lin You hadn’t suffered a concussion from the earlier attack.
Because while a concussion wouldn’t claim one’s life, it would rob them of their ability to move.
And in this game, losing the ability to move was far more terrifying than being killed.
“Lu Feng…”
Suddenly, Lin You’s weak voice sounded.
No one knew when, but he had woken again.
Lu Feng hurriedly went to his side,
“How are you, Lin You, feeling any better?”
Lin You didn’t answer.
Instead, he gripped Lu Feng’s hand tightly, staring at him with blazing eyes,
“If… I lose my ability to move… you must kill me, understand?”
“…”
For a moment, Lu Feng was silent.
Reason told him that doing so was correct, because killing Lin You wouldn’t truly kill him—it would instead restore his ability to act.
But as a human being, Lu Feng’s humanity made it impossible for him to bring himself to kill Lin You.
No matter what, the other was still a living person.
“Promise me, Lu Feng…”
Lin You gripped his hand tightly, staring at him with a pale face.
“…Alright, I promise you.”
Lu Feng answered in a low voice,
“But it hasn’t come to that yet. For now, just rest well, alright?”
“Mm…”
Hearing Lu Feng’s promise, Lin You forced a faint smile, finally closing his eyes with relief, and within minutes fell back into a deep sleep.
The others quietly left the room.
Just as Lu Feng was about to close the door, however, he unexpectedly noticed shattered glass all over the floor.
The entire window’s glass had been smashed to pieces, yet the wooden window frame was completely intact.
Lu Feng recalled something, and frowned, carefully stepping on the shards of glass as he walked to the window.
Unlike the window Wu Fan had fallen from, this one was extremely sturdy—even if it had been struck hard a few times, it probably wouldn’t have been damaged.
Staring at the shards of glass before him, Lu Feng fell briefly into thought…
After stepping out of the room and closing the door gently, Lu Feng suddenly said to the others,
“I just thought of something…”
After sharing his thoughts with them, Zhang Tong’s eyes revealed some doubt,
“Investigating the windows of every room? Doing this… what meaning does it have?”
“Hard to say until we see the results… but right now, we don’t have any other clues…”
Lu Feng sighed, his face dark.
But just then, Yu Mo suddenly spoke words that took Lu Feng by surprise,
“Xiao Feng, actually… Liuli and I also found another clue today—”
As she spoke, she pulled out from her pocket a notebook almost identical to the one they had found earlier.
But the name on this notebook was not Mary Shaw, but Mary Jane.
“Th-this is…!”
Lu Feng exclaimed in shock as he took the notebook from Yu Mo’s hands,
“When did you two…”
It was only then that he suddenly remembered that the two of them had disappeared for an entire day earlier.
“Because at that time, everything was weighing on you, so we didn’t tell you about this.”
Liuli also said softly.
Looking at the notebook in his hands, Lu Feng suddenly found himself unable to speak.
From the beginning of this game, he had always had to think more than the others, do more than the others, and bear more pressure than the others—to the point that sometimes, he even forgot he was just an ordinary high school student.
And at this very moment, when Lu Feng realized the silent support of his companions behind him, he suddenly became aware of how incredibly fortunate he was to have such a group of companions.
“Thank you… thank you all…”
With the most sincere gaze, he expressed his gratitude to the few before him.