System, You Didn't Say the Villain Can Read Minds! - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

◎Don’t Tell Me What to Do.◎

Ye Lan stood guard all night at the staircase leading to the shelter’s energy supply facility. With Yue Xinghe restoring her status, she wasn’t very tired even by dawn.

Yue Xinghe was also an ability user; her ability was restoration. She could not only heal injuries and reduce pain but also restore mental energy and eliminate fatigue, making her the highly sought-after Priest in a game setting.

Ye Lan witnessed the meteorite fall while jogging and awakened her ability. On her way home, she rescued Yue Xinghe, who was almost killed by an anomaly, and came to the shelter upon Yue Xinghe’s suggestion.

She thought that until researchers found a way to stop humans from mutating into monsters, her job was just to kill anomalies. However.

Called into the meeting room at the break of dawn, she frowned deeply at the sight of the dark red splatter covering almost the entire wall.

A corpse lay on the floor, its throat slit, its skin as pale as a vampire’s, yet without a drop of blood inside—it was all on the wall.

She didn’t know how the blood got onto the wall. Some spots in the corner hadn’t even dried, indicating the murder happened very recently.

It must have been very recently; after all, she had a meeting here last night.

“What’s the situation?” Ye Lan asked the person who had called her into the meeting room.

The person covered their nose and mouth with their sleeve and said with a distorted expression: “I don’t know… Sister Zhang told me to take the Anomalous Crystals to the lab. When I arrived, I found the door lock had been opened by someone. I opened the door and saw this scene. It almost gave me a heart attack… After Sister Zhang found out, she told me to find you. You’re the only one she can trust now.”

“Why? I mean… why only trust me?”

“Uh… because the spot you were guarding last night was quite important and had a camera, so your suspicion can be completely ruled out.”

“Ah.” She got excited for nothing.

Ye Lan thought the Director had seen the light of justice in her.

“Where is the Director?”

“She endured her fear and searched every corner of the meeting room. She couldn’t find the Anomalous Crystals. She’s currently throwing up in the restroom.”

“The Anomalous Crystals were stolen? Why steal those?” Ye Lan didn’t understand. “Murdering someone just to steal this?”

“Read too many novels, have you?” Yue Xinghe interjected. “Thinking that crystals extracted from zombies can upgrade one’s abilities or something.”

Yue Xinghe had been with Ye Lan all night, so her suspicion could also be ruled out.

She waited for Ye Lan to step out of the room before looking inside, seeing the blood on the wall, and letting out an audible “Wow”: “That’s quite spectacular. What kind of murder aesthetics is this? Is the killer a pervert?”

In the food processing area, Mo Jiu, who had just walked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, sneezed.

Yun Wenzhou wanted her hand-made breakfast, but looking at the menu, she couldn’t make buns, steamed dumplings, or pan-fried buns. She could only make egg pancakes and cook some porridge.

Fortunately, there were chefs who knew how to make these, so the shelter residents were still provided with a sufficiently varied breakfast.

Yun Wenzhou walked directly into the kitchen to ask Mo Jiu for food. Mo Jiu took out a plate of pan-fried dumplings she had just made: “Here you go, unique to you. Your reward.”

Why isn’t there pan-fried dumplings on the menu? I can’t wrap pan-fried buns, but I can wrap dumplings!

Dishes not on the menu couldn’t be served. To serve them, they first needed internal testing.

Mo Jiu was too lazy to go through all that but still wanted to make them, so she did. Since it wasn’t a culinary disaster, she wasn’t worried about no one eating it.

Yun Wenzhou happily opened her mouth: “Ah—”

Mo Jiu: “…”

Straight into the mouth? Aren’t you afraid of getting burned if you bite right into it!

Mo Jiu first tried one herself. Finding it wasn’t too hot, she picked one up with chopsticks and put it into Yun Wenzhou’s mouth.

Yun Wenzhou bit down.

Mo Jiu’s pan-fried dumplings weren’t very juicy, but the savory flavor and saltiness of the filling were just right.

It was Yun Wenzhou’s first time eating pan-fried dumplings, so she didn’t know what they were supposed to be like, only feeling that any food made by Mo Jiu suited her taste perfectly.

Not too oily, not too greasy, and not too salty.

“Delicious, more,” Yun Wenzhou finished it and opened her mouth again.

Mo Jiu glared at her helplessly: “Eat it yourself. Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“I want more,” Yun Wenzhou whined softly, leaning closer to Mo Jiu.

Mo Jiu instinctively tried to dodge, but Yun Wenzhou whispered in her ear: “The guards are searching.”

Mo Jiu paused, and understanding her meaning, she whispered back: “Everything’s fine.”

Then, she put another pan-fried dumpling into her mouth.

Yun Wenzhou looked satisfied, taking the plate and chopsticks from Mo Jiu’s hand: “Shall I feed Sister too?”

“I’m not hungry. You eat,” Mo Jiu disliked being hand-fed food.

“Alright,” Yun Wenzhou left with a hint of helplessness and disappointment.

As she turned, a graceful arc of her long, black, straight hair swept across Mo Jiu’s still-raised arm, causing Mo Jiu to lose herself for a moment.

Yun Wenzhou seemed to have just showered. Her hair was soft and carried a pleasant, clean scent.

She was still wearing that black long dress. Her tight waistline formed a beautiful curve, and the flowing skirt was as agile as a butterfly’s wings. She wore black stockings on her legs, her entire body wrapped in deep darkness, exuding an air of restrained purity that was incredibly alluring.

You’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you… Ugh, I should take a shower too.

Mo Jiu sniffed her own scent, detecting nothing. Even though she was clean all over, she became self-conscious in comparison to Yun Wenzhou.

So, after finishing breakfast prep, she went to the communal shower.

The shelter’s showers were communal, separated only by gender, but thankfully had stalls.

While showering, Mo Jiu heard a conversation from the next stall.

One person said: “Did you know? While we were having breakfast, the guards searched all the rooms in the residential area.”

The other person exclaimed in surprise: “Huh? Why?”

“Someone was killed in the meeting room last night, they’re probably looking for the murder weapon. The thing is, the guards actually have keys to all the rooms. I heard one couple was busy doing the deed when their door was suddenly opened. It was so embarrassing.”

“Someone was killed? Really? Why? A grudge or something…”

“I don’t know, it couldn’t have been for robbery.”

Only the guards knew about the Anomalous Crystals, so ordinary people thought the extensive search was to catch the killer.

Which was partially true.

Mo Jiu quietly finished her shower, quietly changed into the clean clothes provided by the shelter, and left the bathroom.

The clothes provided by the shelter were pure white and very loose. Mo Jiu felt that if her hair were a bit longer, she could cosplay Sadako in this outfit.

She took her original clothes to the laundry room. Along the way, she kept calling the system, wanting to know the situation in the meeting room, but the system didn’t respond at all.

The last time the system was this silent was when she gave up on provoking Yun Wenzhou to kill herself.

At that time, her mission conflicted with her character setting, and the system couldn’t handle it, forced to accept the plot change and adjust her character.

This time, the system’s silence was clearly related to her bold proposal last night. Did it accept her suggestion and adjust her character again, necessitating a reboot?

Either way, enjoying a period of freedom was nice.

Mo Jiu washed and hung up her clothes, then suddenly heard someone call her: “Xiao Jiu!”

Mo Jiu turned and saw the inspector she had saved.

The inspector scurried over to her, catching her breath before speaking: “Xiao Jiu, why are you here? I’ve been looking for you for ages! The Director wants me to call you over!”

“Where to?”

“Her office.”

“What for?”

“I don’t know, but she said you have to go right away!”

“Alright.”

Mo Jiu thought the Director calling her probably wasn’t related to last night’s events.

The system had confirmed for her that there were no witnesses to last night’s event besides the deceased. She and Yun Wenzhou had virtually no contact with the deceased, leaving no evidence like DNA.

But besides that, Mo Jiu truly couldn’t think of a reason why the Director would call her now. Could it be that they were short on guards and wanted to transfer her from the kitchen? Or did they want to add a dish to the menu?

Mo Jiu followed the inspector to the Director’s office, speculating the whole way.

The Director was wearing a beige suit today, sitting behind a metallic desk, and her complexion was clearly not good.

The inspector led Mo Jiu to the office and left. The Director made a “please” gesture to Mo Jiu: “Sit.”

“Thank you,” Mo Jiu thanked her politely, sitting down in the chair opposite her.

“Yuan He, you know who this person is, right?” the Director asked.

Mo Jiu thought back.

She didn’t know many names in the shelter, and there was only one person surnamed Yuan.

“Master Yuan? The one who assessed me? What about him?” Mo Jiu asked, confused, while thinking, It’s true I haven’t seen that bald guy surnamed Yuan for a long time.

“Did you two have a conflict?” the Director asked.

“Uh… I suppose we did,” Mo Jiu didn’t know why the Director suddenly asked this, but she felt it was better to tell the truth, as there were witnesses to this matter. “During my assessment, he was giving me instructions nearby, and his tone was a bit harsh. My Sister couldn’t stand it and said a few things to him.”

“And then?”

“Then you all arrived, and he stopped talking after you came.”

“I’m asking, did you have any conflicts after that one?”

“No, I haven’t even seen him since then. It seems like…” Mo Jiu thought of the power outage that didn’t exist in her memory, “Didn’t the shelter have a power outage? After that power outage, I haven’t seen him again.”

The moment she finished speaking, the door was suddenly pushed open!

Mo Jiu was startled by the sudden movement. She turned and saw Yun Wenzhou, showing an astonished expression: “What are you doing here?”

You scared me! We’re not discussing last night’s incident. Don’t walk right into a trap!

Yun Wenzhou was neither that impulsive nor that foolish, but the inner thoughts she heard along the way were driving her crazy.

Mo Jiu was called to the Director’s office. Could it be her?

Is Mo Jiu the killer? What would she gain?

There’s no human meat in the food we’re eating, is there…

After Yun Wenzhou found out that Mo Jiu was called to the Director’s office, she rushed over immediately, worried for her safety.

Behind her, Ye Lan and Yue Xinghe followed as well, afraid she might cause trouble.

Ye Lan’s inner thought: ‘This woman is so impulsive. I hope she doesn’t just kill the Director if things don’t go her way.’

Yue Xinghe’s inner thought: ‘The bloodstains on the wall aside, the wound on the corpse’s neck was clearly caused by a sharp weapon. Yun Wenzhou just controlled a kitchen knife to deal with an anomaly yesterday. She is the biggest criminal suspect.’

Their analysis made sense, so Yun Wenzhou didn’t mind.

But she couldn’t pretend not to hear the Director’s inner thoughts.

At this moment, the Director, sitting across from Mo Jiu, was thinking this:

‘D*mn it! Who leaked the news about the dead body? Now the entire shelter is in a panic. This will definitely cause a riot. I must resolve this quickly!’

Mo Jiu is the biggest suspect. Whether she’s the killer or not, I need to make sure she takes the fall!

Thinking this, the Director continued to ask Mo Jiu with a stern face: “Did you just finish showering?”

Hair dryers were limited in the shelter. Mo Jiu was too lazy to wait in line, so her hair was only towel-dried, damp on her shoulders.

“Yes, what about it?” Mo Jiu asked suspiciously.

She had been in the shelter for over a day. Was she not allowed to take a shower?

The Director’s next sentence was: “What were you trying to wash off?”

Mo Jiu: ?

“You know a knife is missing from the kitchen, don’t you?”

Mo Jiu: “…”

Hiss—She was too naive.

She wondered why the Director only thought to ask her about Master Yuan’s disappearance after such a long time. It turned out she suspected she had killed both Master Yuan and last night’s victim?

However, Mo Jiu genuinely didn’t know why Master Yuan had disappeared. If the Director had only asked her about last night’s incident, she might have panicked for a moment, but the Director linked it with Master Yuan, making Mo Jiu certain she was only guessing. She confidently ramped up her acting.

“What do you mean? Was the person who died last night Master Yuan?” Mo Jiu widened her eyes in shock. “I only heard someone discussing it next door when I was showering, that someone died last night. Was it Master Yuan?”

“Just answer my question,” the Director avoided. “Do you know a knife is missing from the kitchen? Where is that knife now?”

As long as you can’t answer, I’ll insist that the knife is the murder weapon and that you hid it. Once I kick you out of the shelter, my word is final, isn’t it?

The Director’s objective was very clear, making her questioning tone quite aggressive.

Not just Yun Wenzhou, even Ye Lan couldn’t stand it and interjected: “You can’t be sure the murder weapon was a kitchen knife yet, can you?”

Although the possibility is very high…

Yue Xinghe remained silent, watching the situation unfold.

That knife should be with Yun Wenzhou right now. Let’s see what she plans to do. If she truly cares about her Sister…

Don’t tell me what to do.

Yun Wenzhou mentally retorted to Yue Xinghe, then raised her hand, causing the pointed boning knife to fly out of her dress pocket.

Then, in the stunned gaze of everyone present, she spoke faintly: “Are you talking about this knife? It’s with me. What’s wrong?”