Why Did the Top Alpha Suddenly Stop Acting Out? - Chapter 61

“Do you think they might still be hiding here?”

Cai Yunyoo raised her hand, slowly reaching for the cabinet door handle. Just as she was about to touch it, a calm voice sounded behind her: “Wait.”

Cai Yunyoo paused, turning her head. “What’s wrong?”

Huang Xin didn’t answer. She simply walked over and stood in front of her. “Aren’t you afraid something might jump out when you open it?”

Cai Yunyoo: “……”

After a brief moment of stunned silence, she quickly remembered where she was. She blinked at Huang Xin, then wisely stepped behind her, muttering, “You open it.”

Huang Xin tilted her head slightly, a faint smirk playing on her lips. “Maybe you should turn around? Whatever’s inside might suddenly dart out.”

Cai Yunyoo nodded vigorously, hastily adding, “Be careful,” before turning away. But then she seemed to remember something and immediately spun back, grabbing Huang Xin’s wrist with grave seriousness. “Wait, if you need to run, don’t forget to take me with you.”

Only after seeing her manager nod without hesitation did she finally relax, turning her back to Huang Xin.

Huang Xin strode calmly to the leftmost cabinet door and opened it without hesitation. After a quick glance, she shut it just as swiftly. The second and third doors followed the same routine. Then she slowly approached the fourth cabinet. Everyone watching the screen held their breath but unexpectedly, Huang Xin merely stood there for a moment before turning away and walking back to Cai Yunyoo. She tapped her shoulder lightly and headed for the exit. “Let’s go. There’s nothing here. No point wasting time.”

Cai Yunyoo hurried after her, puzzled. “Nothing? But we didn’t see anyone on the way here. Could they have blended in with the NPCs in the next room? Or is there a secret passage here?”

Huang Xin nodded dismissively. “Could be either.”

At the doorway, Huang Xin didn’t stop, but Cai Yunyoo hesitated, glancing back at the cabinets. She wanted to check for hidden passages but didn’t dare go alone. When she turned and saw Huang Xin already walking away, she cast one last fearful look at the dark room before sprinting after her manager.

[Director!!! What are you doing?! Why aren’t there any cameras inside the cabinets?! No footage is bad enough, but why is there no sound either?!]

[Is Manager Huang really this careless? She didn’t even check properly before leaving!]

[More than careless, I think she knew they were inside and chose to let them go.]

[I agree with the above, but why would she do that?]

[Don’t ask. Just know there’s insider info.]

Once the voices outside had finally faded, Ye Shuyi raised a hand to stop the head that had been nuzzling against her, her tone slightly stern. “Enough. Focus.”

In the darkness, Yi Qian closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then pressed a deliberate kiss to Ye Shuyi’s lips, amusement in her voice. “Alright, whatever you say.”

With that, she slowly began buttoning up Ye Shuyi’s coat, one by one.

Ye Shuyi frowned and pressed down on Yi Qian’s hand. “What are you doing?”

Yi Qian curled her lips into a faint smile and leaned close to the other’s ear, her tone casual. “That spot of yours must be wet by now. Better hide it.”

Ye Shuyi pushed her away, her voice carrying an unreadable emotion. “I’ll handle it myself.”

“Fine, as you wish.” Yi Qian then whispered into her ear again, teasing yet serious, “We’ll continue the rest when we go to bed tonight.”

With that, she opened the cabinet door and turned on her flashlight, sweeping the beam across the room to confirm there were no people or “ghosts” left inside. Turning back to the person still in the cabinet, she said, “Come on out.”

Ye Shuyi stepped out and immediately headed for the door. “Let’s go. The only clue here seems to be that phone. We should move to the next location.”

Yi Qian watched her hurried retreating figure with an amused smirk before quickening her pace to catch up.

The two arrived at the adjacent classroom.

Ye Shuyi paused at the door, hesitating to open it immediately. She had heard Cai Yunyoo mention there were NPCs inside, but the room was pitch black, seemingly empty.

She walked to the window and raised her flashlight to peer inside.

After scanning the room, she saw nothing but rows of desks and chairs. But just as she was about to lower the light, a figure suddenly appeared seated in the center of the classroom.

The person sat with their head bowed, long black hair cascading like a waterfall over their front. They wore a blue-and-white school uniform stained with blood and other grimy marks, their entire appearance disheveled.

As if sensing the light, the figure stirred slightly and slowly lifted their head.

Before Ye Shuyi could see their face, a hand covered her eyes from above.

Yi Qian said calmly, “There’s no need to look at this thing. Just know it’s meant to scare you.”

She turned Ye Shuyi around to face the empty hallway before letting go and walking to the classroom door. As she pushed it open, the lights inside flickered on abruptly, casting a glow through the windows that illuminated the hesitation on Ye Shuyi’s face.

Soon, the sound of laughter and chatter filled the classroom.

Ye Shuyi turned to look and saw that the room was now filled with students, all dressed in identical blue-and-white uniforms. Some sat, some stood, and others were playfully roughhousing.

“These must be the NPCs they mentioned,” Yi Qian said, smiling at Ye Shuyi’s slightly dazed expression. “Let’s go in and see if we can get any clues.”

Snapping out of it, Ye Shuyi followed her inside.

The moment they stepped in, a harsh static screech echoed through the room, followed by a voice from the corner loudspeaker:
“Ten minutes have passed. No prey has been caught this round. Congratulations to Ye Shuyi and Yi Qian for becoming the new hunters.”

The two exchanged glances, relief washing over them. Now they could search for clues without worry.

After making their way around the classroom, they stepped back out. As Yi Qian closed the door behind them, the lights inside instantly cut off, and the lively sounds vanished as if everything had been nothing more than an illusion.

“How’s it going?” Yi Qian initiated the conversation first. “Have you deduced who the murderer is?”

Ye Shuyi pinched her chin, quickly organizing the collected clues in her mind before nodding. “Once we figure it out, we just need to go out and explain it to the director, right?”

Yi Qian nodded in agreement.

“Then let’s go out,” Ye Shuyi said calmly.

The two exited through the escape room’s exit without delay and went straight to where the production team was located.

Director Lu picked up his small megaphone and said slowly, “You’re out so early? You need to guess the murderer and explain your reasoning for it to count as a success.”

Ye Shuyi calmly stated her answer: “The murderer is Li Xiaoxiao.”

Director Lu looked intrigued. “Go on.”

“First, let me explain why I ruled out the other two people in the story, Zhao Xiaohe and Zheng Hua.”

“The main reason is that, based on the clues collected from the NPC classmates, Zhao Xiaohe had a crush on Li Xiaoxiao, while Zheng Hua had a crush on Zhao Xiaohe. If my deduction is correct, after Li Xiaoxiao saw Zheng Hua getting close to Teacher Sun, she probably asked Zhao Xiaohe to approach Zheng Hua under the pretense of dating. I don’t know the exact details of this process, but judging from the outcome, where Zhao Xiaohe later fell out with Li Xiaoxiao and stopped flirting with Zheng Hua, it’s clear that Zhao Xiaohe wouldn’t have listened to Li Xiaoxiao’s orders to kill the ‘treacherous’ Teacher Sun. As for Zheng Hua, she had even less reason to kill Teacher Sun.”

“Following this logic, the only possible murderer is Li Xiaoxiao. If I’m not mistaken, the illness she had was erotomania, right?”

“Patients believe they are particularly attractive to the opposite sex and fantasize that the other person expresses affection through various hints. Even if the other person explicitly denies it, the patient remains convinced of their love. Erotomania doesn’t exist as a standalone condition, it often accompanies psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, and is most commonly seen in patients experiencing manic episodes.”

“If I’m correct, it was Teacher Sun’s concern when she first returned to school after recovering that gradually triggered a relapse of her condition. When she saw Teacher Sun getting along well with other students, she couldn’t suppress her anger, and then she had a manic episode, impulsively killing Teacher Sun in the heat of the moment.”

Seeing Director Lu frozen in place, Yi Qian snapped his fingers in front of him and grinned. “What are you spacing out for? Did we get it right?”

“Right,” Director Lu snapped out of it and gave Ye Shuyi a thumbs-up.

Yi Qian also raised a thumbs-up, knocking Director Lu’s thumb aside with his own, and said proudly, “As expected of my agent.”

Director Lu looked at his hand, which had been knocked away, then at Yi Qian, before lowering it with a look of disdain and muttering, “So childish.”

[Seriously, isn’t Ye Shuyi just too overpowered? I want to know if there’s anything she doesn’t know.]

[As a 100% sapiosexual, I’m completely captivated by Ye Shuyi’s charm right now. Ugh, why can’t a woman like this be mine?]

[Yi Qian, are you trying to kill me with laughter? Knocking the director’s thumbs-up away, can’t stand others praising your wife, huh?]

“Since that’s the case, we’re undoubtedly the first, right?” Yi Qian looked at Director Lu. “Can we choose our accommodation first and head back now?”

“No, you’ll need to wait for the other two teams to come out before leaving together.”

After saying this, Director Lu pressed the broadcast button leading to the escape room and spoke into the microphone: “Attention everyone, congratulations to Ye Shuyi and Yi Qian’s team for successfully solving the puzzle and escaping the room. The game will now escalate further each team’s turn as hunters will be shortened to three minutes. The first team to have a member captured will rank third in this round, while the other team will be second.”

“For the new round, He Tong and Long Xiaoqin will be the new hunters. The three-minute countdown begins now. Good luck to all.”

Unable to leave early, Yi Qian and Ye Shuyi could only sit aside to rest. Simultaneously, they both turned their gaze to the monitor screen in front of the director.

On the screen, Long Xiaoqin could be seen fearlessly charging through various parts of the escape room, but she was constantly hindered by her manager. As a result, when the three minutes ended, they hadn’t been able to search many areas.

History always repeats itself in eerily similar ways.

In contrast, the other team showed significant improvement. Cai Yunyoo, though still too scared to look around, followed closely behind her manager with complete trust, no longer resembling the burden she once was.

After two more rounds of this back-and-forth, He Tong was eventually caught by Huang Xin. He Tong’s team came in third, while Huang Xin’s team took second place.

When both teams emerged from the escape room together, He Tong didn’t even bother hiding her displeasure despite the ongoing recording. She wore a stony expression and occasionally shot Long Xiaoqin subtle, disdainful glances.

By the time the recording ended, it was already quite late. Without further delay, the production crew took the guests directly to their accommodations for the night.

As soon as the guests stepped out of the car, they were greeted by the sight of a magnificent villa, their faces filled with awe and admiration. This house was far more luxurious than the villa they’d stayed in previously.

But Director Lu’s voice abruptly shattered their admiration: “Don’t just look up, everyone. Look down too.”

There, on the grass beside the villa, stood a delicate little wooden cabin and a shabby tent. A gentle breeze blew past, causing the tent to flap noisily as if it might collapse at any moment.

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