Chapter 37: Bald Man’s Confession

The movie theater grew colder and gloomier as they walked. Surprisingly, they didn't encounter any other players along the way. They walked forward for about ten minutes, and suddenly made a startling discovery. They had returned to their starting point.

Those three new players who had run out with Xie De seemed to have vanished into thin air. Along the way, they hadn't seen any trace of living human activity.

They hadn't encountered the players from the so-called fourth screening room either. Maybe they were all new players, or maybe they all died in that screening room. This meant they had no news at all about that screening room, and it was impossible to know what was actually playing in it.

They stopped walking and stayed where they were.

Hu Wei, Wei Yanchi, and Yue Xiamo fell into deep thought.

Wei Yanchi frowned.

"It's very strange. This place isn't big, but up until now, we haven't encountered any deadly traps in the corridor, nor has the scenario system told us our mission. This current period should be for us to observe, so it can issue the mission better later. The fatal traps this time might be a bit unpredictable." He said in a low voice.

Hu Wei's perception of Wei Yanchi had always remained at him being a genius madman. Hearing this, she couldn't help but smile.

"Even you feel this time is a bit difficult. Then it seems the players we haven't encountered are mostly dead. I don't know if there were any veteran players among them. It's just a pity we didn't get any news about the fourth screening room. Of course, it's also possible there is no fourth screening room at all."

Yue Xiamo, however, coldly snorted.

"I actually think there must be a fourth screening room. The Lion King is an animated film, Pearl is a horror and slasher film, Inception is a sci-fi and adventure film. What genre of film would you say hasn't been mentioned yet?"

Wei Yanchi replied softly.

"Art house films and romance films."

.........

Xie De actually wanted to join their discussion too, but forgive him for having an empty head. Along the way, he had really tried hard to figure things out, but in the end, he couldn't associate anything with any clues at all.

The more he observed the surrounding environment, the more suppressed and depressed he felt, making him feel suffocated.

He tried to memorize some of the movie posters hanging on the theater walls. He did memorize them.

But besides the horror movies Gibberish had forced him to watch recently, he hadn't watched any movies. During college, he had taken an elective course in film appreciation, but it was just an elective, and he hadn't listened carefully back then. After so long, he had long forgotten it all.

He didn't want to disturb the big shots' discussion.

Feeling irritable and depressed, he walked to the side, looked up at the poster on the wall, and tried again to see if he could figure something out.

Coincidentally, this poster was Pearl, specifically the first part. It had bold red text on it: A farm girl's desperate self-rescue.

What did this sentence mean?

On the poster was a very sweet-looking girl with black hair wearing a red dress. Her hands were stained with fresh blood as she cupped her face, smiling obediently. It gave off a weird, eerie vibe. The colors were rich and bright, the red glaring, possessing a certain retro aesthetic. But in such an eerie atmosphere, it truly became more uncomfortable the more one looked at it.

The lighter flipped between his fingers, making a click sound. The flame engulfed the slender woman's cigarette, creating a mist-like smoke that made his eyes and eyebrows, half-hidden by silver hair, appear even more mysterious and obscure.

"H-hello."

It was that balding man, wiping the sweat from his head, timidly walking up to him.

Xie De remembered his name was Yu Youzong. He heard him say he was divorced and had a son who was already in college.

Actually, this kind of statement couldn't help but remind Xie De of the middle-aged auntie among the three new players. That auntie also had a son who was currently in college, a single-parent family.

Could there be some relationship between them?

Xie De's probing gaze made the bald man even more nervous. He revealed a fawning smile.

"I hear them all call you Mr. 39. Are you their leader?"

"No."

"Ah, I've never experienced anything like this before. Before coming here, I was still working overtime at the company. I even suspected I fell asleep while working overtime and this is just a hallucination, haha, uh..."

The bald man placed his hands in front of him helplessly. After talking for a long time, he finally stated his purpose.

"I know this place is very dangerous, so can I hire you to protect me?"

A smoke ring was blown out carelessly.

Xie De looked at the bald man expressionlessly.

"I... I can offer 2 million, no, 5 million."

Oh ho, a guy as rich as Lao You. But this time, Xie De turned around and walked away. The reason was very simple: hadn't he heard the protagonist say this scenario was very difficult? He couldn't even protect himself, how could he protect someone else?

The bald man watched him leave anxiously and spoke up again.

"Six million, is six million okay? What about 7 million? That's all the assets I have..."

"Do you know Zhang Qiuyue?"

Xie De had already made up his mind not to be moved by money, but before leaving, he still wanted to ask this question clearly.

It was just that his tone of voice was quite cold, making an ordinary questioning sentence sound like a declarative one.

As a result, the bald man visibly trembled like a leaf, his eyes revealing terror.

"You... you know everything?"

What did he know?

Just at this moment, the three veteran players had finished their discussion and were walking towards Xie De. Hearing this, they were also taken aback, their gazes instantly filling with inquiry.

With four pairs of eyes staring straight at him, the bald man could no longer bear the pressure and cried bitterly.

"I didn't mean to hide it! Forgive me! I was just too scared."

Crying, the bald man backed away from Xie De in extreme fear. He spilled everything.

He did indeed know Zhang Qiuyue. The two of them were previously husband and wife. They divorced after their son got into college. Moreover, he and Zhang Qiuyue used to organize family movie outings and came to this very movie theater. Later, he heard this movie theater went out of business. However, since their divorce, he had never come back to watch a movie.

The cigarette in Xie De's hand stopped mid-air. He thought to himself, Good heavens, triggered a hidden plotline, did I? But these two are both players, not NPCs. What is the scenario doing? Could these two players actually be NPCs?

The others also had the same doubts.

Just as Wei Yanchi was about to ask something, he heard Xie De let out a cold snort. Xie De threw the cigarette in his hand directly onto the ground and crushed it out. The movement was somewhat impatient and strongly threatening, as if the bald man's answer did not satisfy him.

The bald man trembled in fear again, "No! Don't hit me, don't hit me, I'll talk, I'll talk."

Ah? There are more surprises?

Well, Xie De was just lost in thought and didn't notice the cigarette had burned down to the butt. It accidentally burned him a little, so he hurriedly threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. But looking at it now, it seemed he had been misunderstood.

The bald man said cowardly, "Actually, Zhang Qiuyue and I divorced when our child was seven years old. After that, I didn't pay attention to any news about Zhang Qiuyue. Then I heard she died in this movie theater."

This time, there was no need for Xie De to act. Hu Wei immediately pulled off the ring on her hand. The ring had a sharp spike on it, gleaming with a cold light. She said coldly, "Why did you divorce? If you don't tell the truth, I'll kill you."

It could be seen that the bald man wanted to cry again.

"Because... because I domestically abused her. She sued me in court and won. After the divorce, custody of the child was given to her."

Wei Yanchi crossed his arms and continued interrogating.

"Did you pay child support afterwards?"

"I pa... no."

"So she raised the child all by herself?"

"Yes."

Wei Yanchi slightly lowered his head, then raised it again, the questions he asked becoming sharper each time.

"Do you know their address?"

"Yes."

"Do you know they had a hard life?"

"Yes."

"Did you know Zhang Qiuyue is already dead?"

"Yes."

The bald man couldn't bear the psychological pressure and cried directly.

"I know, she died right here in this movie theater. She worked as a cleaner in this movie theater. Her body suffocated to death in the elevator shaft, and was only discovered three months later."

What?!

Xie De froze completely. No way, bro, you mean Zhang Qiuyue is already dead? Then what did he see? A ghost?