Live Action Murder Mystery

Chapter 104.1

In the midst of a heavy downpour, was the figure of Gu Liang running.

He tried to flag down one taxi after another, but they refused to take him as a passenger each and every time, and he could only watch with wide eyes as they left.

He was despaired, and anxious, but he did not dare to collapse, because his mother was still waiting for him to help her.

But who could come and help him?

All of the vehicles and the passers-by stayed far away from him as he sank to his knees, helpless in the rain, so alone that it seemed like he was the only person between heaven and earth. His complexion was ghastly white, and he could bring a blade towards his wrist in the end.

In the instant where the blade slashed across his wrist, the whole world became red…

That crimson was far too vibrant, and it pierced into Yang Ye’s eyes.

Yang Ye jolted awake, realising that his back was already drenched with cold sweat.

He subconsciously tightened his arms— thankfully, even though he was clueless as to what kind of world they came after their deaths, at least Gu Liang’s current body had temperature, and he was safely ensconced in his embrace.

Yang Ye released a breath, unable to restrain his emotions as he lowered his head to kiss Gu Liang’s forehead.

He could not sleep, but he did not feel like getting up for a morning run; he just wanted to laze in bed with Gu Liang, looking at Gu Liang like this the whole time.

Gu Liang yawned, opening his eyes blurrily before he blinked twice. He asked Yang Ye: “What time is it?”

“It’s still early, you can sleep. Did I wake you up?” Yang Ye questioned.

Gu Liang shook his head, which made Yang Ye ask him: “Do your hands still hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt, it’s just itching. Makes me want to scratch it.” Gu Liang replied.

“Don’t scratch it.” Yang Ye held his hands. “Go back to sleep, I’ll blow it for you.”

Gu Liang chuckled, and then he closed his eyes, placing his forehead in the crook of Yang Ye’s shoulder in a natural manner.

After sleeping for another hour, Gu Liang woke up.

Yang Ye carried him into the washroom. Arms stretching over from his back, he helped him squeeze out the toothpaste, offering to help brush his teeth. “Liang Liang, open your mouth.”

When he leaned backwards gently, he could feel Yang Ye’s broad and wide shoulders and his firm chest and waist. The warmth of his body seemed to bring Gu Liang some strength, but Gu Liang could not resist reclining his head and putting it on Yang Ye’s shoulder.

After some time, he slanted his head to gaze at Yang Ye: “It’s just a small superficial injury, it’s nothing, you don’t actually need to go so far with the gauze and bandaging anymore.”

“It’s fine, I can help you,” said Yang Ye.

Gu Liang straightened his body, but he still listened to him and opened his mouth, allowing Yang Ye to help him brush his teeth.

As he was brushing his teeth, Gu Liang smiled. He was in front of Yang Ye but he did mind the fact that his oral cavity was full of toothpaste foam as he opened his mouth to say: “I didn’t even allow my mother to help me brush my teeth when I was young, you’re making me feel like I haven’t grown up.”

“I’m willing to treat you like a child and take care of you.” Yang Ye said gently, “C’mere, spit out the toothpaste, drink the water and rinse your mouth.”

Gu Liang hooked up the back of his foot to nudge Yang Ye’s calf. “Yang Ye, I can still take care of myself right now, really. It’s not as bad as you think.”

Yang Ye merely kissed his face. “Call me gege?”

Gu Liang: “……”

Yang Ye: “How could you only address me by my name? I should have a term of endearment at least, right?”

In the end, Gu Liang still went along with Yang Ye: “Fine. Gege, I can still take care of myself on a day-to-day basis.”

Yang Ye: “Be good, open your mouth.”

“Fine, fine, fine. “Gu Liang spat out the toothpaste foam in his mouth, before he opened his mouth to drink the mouth-rinsing water that Yang Ye was offering. After gurgling audibly for a few seconds, he spat out the water again.

Since he was done brushing his teeth, Gu Liang tried to push Yang Ye away. “I’m going to use the toilet and take a simple shower, you can leave.”

“Liang Liang, it’s unacceptable for you to keep being so shy—”

“But it’s not like you can keep watching over me when I’m using the toilet ah.”

“You can’t lift your hands right? How are you going to use the toilet then? I can help you support that—”

Yang Ye’s mouth was silenced by Gu Liang before he shoved outside. “Who told you I can’t lift my hands?”

Yang Ye: “Oh, this means that a certain person was being coquettish that day when he really wanted me to hug him.”

Gu Liang gave him a sidelong glance, to which Yang Ye quickly pecked him on the lips. “Go ahead. Tilt the showerhead and take a simple shower, pay attention to your arms so it doesn’t touch water. I’ll help you apply the medication once you’re done showering, and then I’ll go and make breakfast.”

Once he was done showering, Yang Ye also went to take a quick shower before he helped Gu Liang re-apply the ointment.

Inside the bathroom, Gu Liang sat there in an exceedingly obedient and serene manner, raising his arms like a good student to quietly allow Yang Ye to help him apply the medication.

The sunlight trickling in shone on Gu Liang’s visage, turning his long eyelashes and the fine hairs on the tip of his nose into a gold colour.

While the ointment was being applied on him with the utmost caution, Gu Liang could sense Yang Ye looking at him from time to time.

That was because Yang Ye was using Gu Liang’s expression to judge if he was using too much force, or if he was hurting Gu Liang.

Every time it happened, Gu Liang would meet Yang Ye’s eyes, the corners of his lips curling into a faint smile.

Gu Liang felt that he was quite blissful right now.

He had seen too much darkness, and encountered numerous bitter difficulties, but the light he had been waiting for finally arrived.

After Yang Ye helped him apply the ointment and wrapped his arms with new gauze, he asked: “Do you want to go back to sleep? I’ll be making breakfast for you.”

Seeing that Yang Ye was changing his clothes and walking towards the door, Gu Liang stood up. “I’ll go with you.”

Turning his head back, Yang Ye stared at Gu Liang with a grin, “Huh, you can’t even bear to take half a step away from me?”

Gu Liang: “……”

Gu Liang sat back down. “I’m not going then. I’ll rest.”

Yang Ye went up to pull his hands. “Don’t, help me&#k2026; be my helper or something, the breakfast I’m making today is very complicated.”

“Mn&#k2026; Fine.” Gu Liang looked like he was agreeing to it reluctantly, “What do you want me to help you with?”

Yang Ye: “Your hands are hurt, and you can’t hold a kitchen knife. Mn, you just need to stand at the side?”

Gu Liang: “And how is this helping?”

Yang Ye: “Ever heard of programme cheerleaders? That kind of logic.”

Gu Liang gritted his teeth, “……Yang Ye…….”

— You mean to make me a flower vase then?

Yang Ye pinched his face, “Have I ever told you that you look particularly amusing when you’re angry?”

Gu Liang did not want to acknowledge him.

Yang Ye pulled on him as he walked downstairs. “I’ll teach you how to cook. You can watch first.”

Gu Liang thought about it, “Mn. I’ll make it for you once I learn it. I ought to find an electronic weighing scale and measuring cup, how much ingredients you used, you have to strictly tell me.”

For a moment, Yang Ye could not stop himself from conjuring the image of Gu Liang cooking— He would probably be in a white lab coat, precisely measuring the salt in grams, and the proportion of the saltiness and sweetness in a dish, before he used a dissecting scalpel to split the chicken and beef into pieces.

Once Yang Ye’s imaginings concluded, he felt that they could forget about it; it was better to leave the cooking to him in the future.

Meanwhile, Gu Liang was observing Yang Ye’s expression and he felt compelled to ask: “What’s the matter? It seems like you’re not very keen on that idea. I think cooking shouldn’t be too difficult. I can learn it.”

Yang Ye: “Mn, I’ll teach you later.”

“When is your birthday?” Gu Liang was suddenly a little eager to give it a try, “I can make a huge meal for you that day.”

Yang Ye said the date, and then ruffled his hair. “The days in the game are all messed-up. We can celebrate our birthdays properly when we get out.”

“Mn, okay.” Gu Liang looked at him suspiciously before he said: “You should be trusting me.”

“I trust you.” Yang Ye replied with absolute sincerity.

Gu Liang pondered briefly before he spoke with an affirmative tone: “My hands will stop hurting completely tomorrow, I might as well start trying from tomorrow. What do you want to eat?”

Yang Ye: “… No matter what Liang Liang makes, I will love it.”

Gu Liang: “How about west lake fish with vinegar gravy?”

Yang Ye: “… You just started learning, let’s start from something simple, shall we? Fried eggs with tomatoes?”

Gu Liang: “Mn, that works, let’s make fried eggs with tomatoes tomorrow. We’ll make a west lake fish with vinegar gravy the day after.”

Yang Ye: “……”

— No matter what Liang Liang said, Yang Ye would always be very trusting of it, but he did not really believe in Gu Liang Liang’s culinary skills.

As they were walking down the stairs, Gu Liang came to a halt before he faced Yang Ye. In a solemn and formal manner, he said: “Yang Ye, in order to thank you for taking care of me for the past two days, you can hand over the cooking for all three meals the day after tomorrow to me. I’ve decided that I’m going to wake up early in the morning to fish, and then I’ll cook the fish.”

Yang Ye: “Sure thing, Liang Liang. I’ll be your helper then.”

Gu Liang ordered him, “You’re only allowed to help, not intervene.”

Yang Ye: “Mn…. mn! Okay.”

* * *

Hence, the pair went fishing the day after tomorrow.

The system was still considered kind in the sense that it did not lock the players within the inn during their downtime, and it had opened a part of the area. For instance, they had access to the plain water lake at the foot mountain, but the opposite bank of the lake was still shrouded with a thick fog and they could not go into that area.

In two hours, Gu Liang managed to catch five fishes, and he decided to use all of them in one shot.

Upon returning to the kitchen, Gu Liang was confronted with his problem, which was cleaning the innards of the fish.

He had never tried it before, and he could not Baidu anything, so he could only hold onto the knife, not knowing what he should start with.

With the fish placed on the chopping board, Gu Liang continued to hold the kitchen knife as he raised his eyes to look at Yang Ye.

Having received the signal, Yang Ye stepped forward and took over, washing and cleaning the fish quickly and easily.

The inn did not have any ginger or garlic that could get rid of smells, hence Yang Ye brought a jar of plum wine over, using the alcohol to clean the fish inside and out.

“What should I do next?” Gu Liang asked Yang Ye.

Yang Ye proceeded to find some seasonings to wash and cut them, then he sliced the fish body a few times before he smeared the seasonings on the fish evenly to ensure that marinade would be absorbed.

Noticing that Yang Ye was on the verge of starting a fire to heat the wok and pour the oil, Gu Liang quickly pressed down his hand. “You can’t do this. We already agreed that I would do it. You just need to tell me the steps.”

Yang Ye: “There’s something called Litsea here, that is quite fragrant. When the oil is more or less bubbling and heated up, put the Litsea and the rest of the ingredients inside the wok to saute it, then add a certain amount of sugar, vinegar, starch, soy sauce, and a bit of wine. Allow it to fry and moisten, wait for the sugar to caramelise, and when it starts bubbling a lot, the sauce should be done simmering. Then pour in water, boil it, and finally put the fish in.”

Gu Liang frowned as he asked: “A certain amount… How much is that? Be more exact.”

Yang Ye: “Chinese dishes aren’t that exact. Maybe I should do the seasoning?”

Gu Liang rejected him firmly. “Maybe you should go outside and wait. You can’t stay in the kitchen, or else I’ll be too reliant on you, and you’ll be the one making the dish in the end.”

Gu Liang proceeded to close the door before he stared at the heap of seasonings. He decided that after he was done seasoning, he would taste it before adding water; that way, problems were unlikely to occur, and he would not be wasting the fish at least.

Furthermore, he did learn how to make fried eggs with tomatoes yesterday, and he felt like it should not be too difficult. The most important thing about cooking was the seasoning, after the degree of saltiness was adjusted, it should not be too terrible in terms of taste.

Inside the courtyard, the four ladies were playing Fight The Landlord.

Li Xiao Yu was shuffling the card deck when she saw Yang Ye actually come out of the kitchen, and her eyes widened. “No way, Boss Gu is cooking today?”

During times like these, Yang Ye had to protect Gu Liang “The food that Liang Liang makes tastes quite good.”

Li Xiao Yu responded with an expression that conveyed her slight disbelief. “Really? Do you want us to help? The four of us were just debating that we should be doing the cooking. For the deduction in this instance, both of you did way too much, and you were punished, we should be doing this.”

Yang Ye: “It’s fine, let him do it today. You just need to praise him later.”

Once Yang Ye uttered those words, the others immediately understood.

Li Xiao Yu said in a small voice: “Rest assured! I’m good at blowing rainbow farts! No matter how it turns out, I’ll still swallow it!”

In reality, Gu Liang was despairing slightly in the kitchen.

He felt that as he was making this dish, he was already permanently stuck on the first stage— simmering the sauce.

He had already scorched the sugar twice.

Later on, he still had to ask Yang Ye to help him adjust the fire before he managed to get through that stage.

Yang Ye glanced at Gu Liang’s expression before he picked up a chopstick to dip into the sauce he had seasoned. The taste was slightly above his expectations. “Liang Liang, it tastes really good?”

Gu Liang could not really muster any faith by then. “Really?”

“For real, you can try it!” Yang Ye dipped the chopstick again for Gu Liang.

Gu Liang used his tongue to try it before he mused a moment later: “Mn… It does seem alright?”

Yang Ye quickly encouraged him, “It’s good. Add water, boil it, put the fish in, and it’ll be done.”

The dejected expression that Gu Liang was wearing went away. “Oh, okay, go out and wait for me.”

Given the circumstances, Gu Liang received unanimous praise for his first attempt at making fish.

While it could not be said that it was incredibly delicious, under the circumstances where their expectations had already been lowered, it tasted good overall.

Moreover, for a person who cooked fish for the first time, being able to make such a flavour, was certainly worthy of praise and encouragement.

When they were more or less done with their meal, Yang Ye went to the kitchen to boil water.

When he eventually returned to the dining hall entrance, he saw Gu Liang being surrounded by the girls as they fired a multitude of questions.

A refined-looking man with elegant gestures, was being surrounded by several young ladies. Everyone was talking and laughing, and this image was rather pleasant to the eye.

Gu Liang was still a little reserved, but he was polite and smiling as he answered their questions, which made him look incredibly gentleman-like.

In that instant, Yang Ye was basically short of being jealous.

But Yang Ye could not bear to step and disrupt them either.

Because he felt that, in that moment, Gu Liang was extremely dazzling, and his current state of being was just perfect.

It was probably because the retelling from that day was actually a form of venting for Gu Liang as well.

When he finally declared the long-repressed past to his lover, Gu Liang had unloaded some of his burdens to a certain degree.

However, this small bit of peace and harmony was shattered very quickly.

The actor of Recluse Wang stared at Gu Liang for a long moment before she abruptly remarked: “Have you acted in any micro-movies, or been in an advertisement?”

Gu Liang asked her: “Why are you asking this?”

Recluse Wang replied, “I felt that you looked very familiar when I first met. I get the sense that I must have seen somewhere. Was it Weibo or something? Or were you caught in a video on Douyin (Tiktok)? No… That’s not right, it wasn’t recent, it was probably a few years ago. That means it isn’t Douyin, I probably saw you on Weibo. In any case, you looked absurdly familiar.”

Yang Ye clearly saw the smile on Gu Liang’s receding as his complexion went pale.

Yang Ye became strict and he immediately walked into the dining room.

After settling down beside Gu Liang, Yang Ye stretched out his hand and held onto Gu Liang’s hand.

Gu Liang’s hand trembled, then he tried to retract it back in a subconscious manner.

Frankly speaking, this was completely a subconscious and defensive reaction.

Gu Liang had done it unwittingly.

It was only when he came to his senses that he realised that he had actually avoided Yang Ye’s touch.

Gu Liang tried to explain, but when he opened his mouth, he could produce a single sound from his throat.

Yang Ye knew that he had to bring Gu Liang away now.

His Gu Liang Liang needed to be away from people from the time being, and had to be protected properly by him alone.

Since they were in front of other people, Yang Ye did not want to say too much. Hence, he pushed everything to himself.

Yang Ye told Gu Liang: “I feel slightly unwell, I think I’ve caught a cold from being blown by the electric fan last night. Can you go back with me to rest for a while?”

Gu Liang nodded his head.

Yang Ye glanced at Li Xiao Yu: “I’ll be troubling all of you to clean up.”

Intuitively, Li Xiao Yu felt that there was something wrong with their expressions, but she did not probe any further. “Rest assured, you can leave the rest to us. Both of you should rest up.”

Yang Ye did not respond any further. Instead, he merely held Gu Liang’s hand again and brought him towards the stilted building next door.

Gu Liang did not speak on the entire journey.

It has already been a number of years since that event occurred. There was a large volume of information and hotspots on social media and the internet; there were countless small hotspots everyday, one major hotspot every two to three days, and it was highly likely that most people have already forgotten that particular story.

Gu Liang did not expect that someone would actually remember him.

The feelings he experienced when he was facing the cyber violence that could cover the skies and blot out the earth, they started to seep into Gu Liang’s mind again.

Upon returning to their room, Yang Ye helped Gu Liang skin an apple. “Are you full?”

“Mn.” Gu Liang sat near the head of the bed quietly as he nodded his head. Then, he asked Yang Ye, “What about you?”

Yang Ye: “I’m full.”

However, Gu Liang shook his head in response. His eyes were quite dim. “You didn’t finish the rice inside your bowl. If it weren’t for me, you would have been able to finish your meal properly, and you wouldn’t need to find an excuse to leave—”

Weakness and self-blame coloured Gu Liang’s gaze, and all of it made Yang Ye’s heart ache.

After remaining silent for a long moment, Gu Liang raised his eyes again to look towards Yang Ye. “Just now… I didn’t do it intentionally.”

Yang Ye put down the fruit knife and apple immediately, striding over to hold Gu Liang’s hands, gripping tight. “You don’t need to apologise to me. I’m a matured adult who has the ability to take care of himself, and if I haven’t eaten my fill, I will find a way to find something to eat. If you’re not going to hold my hand, I’ll hold yours. With regards to all these things, you don’t need to take it to heart.”

“But I find myself absurdly troublesome. Trying to get along with someone like me is very difficult.”

Gu Liang was slightly dispirited, “I don’t know if it’s because of the previous punishment, but right now I’m a little…

“Yang Ye, I’m scared that my illness will relapse at any given time.

“My emotions are easily susceptible to change, are downcast, and there are times where I’m anxious and prone to anger, my temper is particularly bad—

“I will try my best to control myself. But I can’t be certain. What if I…”

Yang Ye stared into his eyes, asking: “And so?”

Gu Liang said: “So you have to think this through.”

Yang Ye: “I’ve thought this through a long time ago.”

Gu Liang: “… I’m really afraid of becoming a burden.”

Yang Ye: “Why would you become a burden? You don’t even know how good you are. Just based on this game alone, if it weren’t for your brain holes in many instances, would we be able to find the truth so smoothly? Including Xiao Yu, doesn’t she feel incredibly grateful towards you?”

Gu Liang lowered his eyelids and stayed silent for a long while, then he looked at Yang Ye again. “I know, I understand the reasons. But there are times where the pessimism surfaces, and I can’t control myself; I become liable to doubts, and I feel uncomfortable no matter what or who I look at. I’m scared that when you’re together with a person like me, you’ll be suffering immensely.

“Perhaps in this game… When I’m focused on solving the mystery and I don’t have the time or headspace to think of other problems, my state of being is manageable.

“For the same reasons, Yang Ye, maybe you’ve only been seeing the best side of me up until now.”

At this moment, the line from Ming Yue, “Do you know about the suspension bridge effect”, started to echo in Gu Liang’s mind.

Gu Liang was extremely unsettled.

Furthermore, he discovered a truth in Recluse Wang’s offhanded comment.

— Regardless of whether it was the process of solving the mystery in the game, when he was under high and intense pressure, or when it was during their downtime where they could completely relax and not think about anything, he did not have to face reality.

Hence, no matter how many dangers were present in the game, he was still situated within its premise, so his state of being was actually better by contrast.

But once Recluse Wang made that offhanded comment, Gu Liang could not help but think: if he returned back to reality in the future, and the current state of his whole being also returned to reality, would he start having problems, and will problems crop up between him and Yang Ye?

He could restrain himself from telling Yang Ye, “I’m just worried that as we crash through the barriers in this kind of special environment, it is making you misconstrue something. What if we leave the game, return to reality, and I keep having mental associations with the past? If I become sensitive and paranoid on a daily basis, or if I become awfully discouraged, what’s going to happen to you?”

Yang Ye: “Nothing is going to happen. If your illness relapses, then I’ll accompany you to the doctor’s.”

Gu Liang: “But you’ll be suffering a lot.”

“When I’m together with you, I’m happy all the time. How could you call that suffering?”

“I……”

Yang Ye: “Gu Liang, I like you, not because we’re crashing the barriers together. The feelings that are established from crashing the barriers together are called revolutionary sentiments or camaraderie. What I have for you is love.

“I have had good feelings for you ever since the first time I laid my eyes on you. From head to toe, you matched my sense of aesthetics. I liked you the moment I met you.”

Since Gu Liang did not speak, Yang Ye continued to say: “I didn’t say this in the past because I was afraid that you would think that I was superficial, and was pursuing you for your looks.”

Gu Liang could not help but ask: “What are you pursuing me for then?”

Yang Ye stated: “Your kindness, tenacity, and intellect. What I told you back in the Undying Town script hasn’t changed, you are my hero. On that morning, when I heard the system’s report and saw you walking over like you were stepping on sovereign red clouds, I understood your choice, and I felt like I could understand you too. In my eyes, your moral integrity was extraordinary and absolutely worthy of admiration.

“That’s how it happened. When I met you for the first time, I only felt that you looked attractive, and I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to get closer to you, and I couldn’t help but wonder in my mind, if a person like you could be together with me, what would it be like, but it merely stayed as a thought back then.

“When I got to know you better, and understood you, I proceeded to fall headfirst without stopping. I started liking you, and I genuinely fell in love with you.

“Truth to be told, I didn’t wish for that to happen in the very beginning. I knew you were straight, and insistently wanting to bend you or something along those lines, wasn’t right.

“But when I received your ‘telephone call’ later, I slowly felt that, maybe, you were starting to like me too…

“Therefore, you’re not mistaken about this feeling, and I’m not misconstruing it either.

“Of course I know that once we return to our real lives, we have to confront some of the issues present in reality. The way we get along will definitely be quite different from the game. We just need to adapt to it when the time comes around. When it comes to romantic relationships, when has it ever been smooth-sailing from start to end? Everything needs polishing. Fortunately for us, we have an entire lifetime to slowly break it in.”

After Gu Liang heard that long speech, he went silent again for a long time.

Subsequently, his fingers dug into the mattress as he opened his mouth to say, “I’m sorry, Yang Ye—”

But before he could finish his words, Gu Liang was kissed by Yang Ye.

Gu Liang stiffened momentarily. Still pressed against his lips, Yang Ye murmured, “If you say such words again, just one sentence, and I’ll kiss you for an hour.”

The warm and humid air blew past, scattering Gu Liang’s fringe, as if it was allowing Gu Liang to see Yang Ye in clearer definition.

After a long, drawn-out moment, the corners of Gu Liang’s lips finally raised a little. “Kiss me then.”

Yang Ye could no longer hold himself back; he pressed against the back of his neck and kissed him.

……

Yang Ye: To avoid being locked in a small black room.

Gu Liang: Does it start with an A?

Yang Ye: Mn, yes. It ends with a three.

The translator declares that she has no idea what this inside joke is, but she’s guessing that they are referring to the idiom ‘ 观遇反三’ (pinyin: guan yu fan san), which means that you can infer a lot of development from one thing.

However, yuuki will assure you that she saved the old chapters of (not really explicit) smut, though it will be posted on Thursday 😀