Chapter 68

Murder Playground 4, Game Mode Activation

Black JK's words slightly altered Anger's expression.

Jiu Yi chuckled and raised an eyebrow, looking at Anger and Mo Fei. The situation was worse than they had imagined.

Black JK pulled out a pocket watch from his coat, glanced at it, and smiled slightly, "Hmm, your friends won't be able to come anytime soon."

Everyone looked surprised, and Black JK laughed, "I've arranged for some friends to create chaos in various places, meaning the righteous police officers will be quite busy for a while."

After a moment's thought, Anger asked, "What's in it for me if I solve this case?"

Black JK pondered the question seriously, "Well, I'm playing the role of the real culprit... I don’t know who I am, and need you to catch me, to tell me what happened back then… Of course, as the culprit, the ending is inevitably to be erased from this world. So, your reward is simple: you can completely erase me from this world."

"Oh?" Anger smiled interestedly, "Sounds quite intriguing."

"If this mystery is unraveled, meaning there's nothing left to trouble me in this world, I will disappear, go far away, and search for the next puzzle that might perplex me."

Anger nodded, "I hope you never find it."

"I think it's a possibility." After speaking, Black JK stepped back, walked to the church's entrance, and said to Angler, "So... game mode activated. For you and your loved ones, please do your best." With that, he left through the church doors, which closed behind him.

Jiu Yi let out a soft sigh, "I didn’t expect such a game mode."

Anger furrowed his brows, turning to look at Mo Fei.

Mo Fei, seemingly undisturbed or worried, simply said, "Anger, you must also be interested in the case from those years, right?"

Anger smiled, "Indeed, it’s a very intriguing case. This mode is quite novel; Black JK is quite a creative individual."

"Then playing this game with him might not be a bad idea," Mo Fei said with a smile.

"But you're taking a big risk," Jiu Yi cautioned, "If something goes wrong, you could end up buried alive."

"But if we don't participate, we can't leave," Mo Fei said. "The key point is that many more people will die. Black JK is crazier than we imagined."

"I don’t mind," Jiu Yi patted Mo Fei, "I’ll try my best to ensure your safety."

Mo Fei shook his head with a smile, pointing at Anger, "Anger is also in some danger."

"No, I won't be in danger," Anger said, "I'm just an outsider, not part of that old story."

"Didn’t you hear what Black JK just said?" Mo Fei asked, "Father Feng Ya wasn’t killed by him... but by someone else."

Jiu Yi frowned slightly, "You mean, the original murderer... is still out there?"

Mo Fei nodded gravely, "Anger, didn’t you say there were twenty-five people unaccounted for from that time? No one knows what happened to those twenty-five people in the end. It’s very possible that the murderer is among them."

Anger nodded slightly, indicating that it was indeed so.

"Oss probably can’t get away for now, but Xia Qi and Xia Fan will definitely come," Jiu Yi said, "We can’t just stay here. Should we enter the village now or wait for their support here?"

"Let's go into the village first," Anger suggested, "We need a place to settle down."

"Where will we settle?" Mo Fei asked.

Anger smiled, "Mo Fei, have you forgotten? This is your village. If I'm not mistaken, you should have a home here, along with a child and a wife."

Facing Anger's tease, Mo Fei felt a bit helpless but nodded in agreement, "That should be the case."

"Let's go," Jiu Yi said, hands in pockets, accidentally disturbing Elisa in his pocket.

Elisa rolled over with a slightly aggrieved look at Jiu Yi.

"Oh... sorry," Jiu Yi carefully lifted Elisa out, "Did I disturb your sleep?"

Elisa rolled over on Jiu Yi's palm, appearing quite lazy.

"What's wrong with Elisa?" Anger asked, puzzled as Elisa usually quickly climbed onto Jiu Yi's shoulder.

"She might be having some physical discomfort these days," Jiu Yi said thoughtfully, gently stroking Elisa's fur, "She needs some careful nurturing."

"Physical discomfort?" Anger and Mo Fei both frowned.

Elisa seemed a bit embarrassed, curling up in Jiu Yi's palm, shyly looking at Mo Fei and Anger.

"Staring at a lady like that is not polite," Jiu Yi commented as he placed Elisa back into his pocket, where Mo Fei and Anger noticed he had placed a thick sponge pad and hay, along with Elisa's favorite food.

"Uh... that doesn't look like physical discomfort; it's more like confinement," Mo Fei casually remarked.

Jiu Yi, caressing the listless Elisa, said, "Don't mind them, Elisa, they are too rude, disrespecting a lady!"

Elisa also retreated into the hay pile, clearly displeased.

"Let's go," Anger said, glancing at the priest's body in the compartment with a sigh of resignation, "Let's go to Mo Fei's house and see what Black JK was like as a child." Leading the way, he walked out of the church.

The church's main door facing the town's entrance was closed, but a side door was open, leading into the town.

They noticed a small note pinned on the wall next to the door.

Anger approached and removed the note, reading an address. He looked at Mo Fei, "This is probably your house. Let's play our roles."

Mo Fei took the note, nodding, "Understood."

As they left the church, they saw the small town before them.

Surprisingly, the town didn't have the eerie feeling they had expected, but rather a peaceful, beautiful, and tranquil atmosphere.

There were a few passersby in the town, relaxed and leisurely. Children played on swings under the trees, chubby dogs ran around, and some people were farming – a town with an exotic charm.

Mo Fei glanced at the address and led the group forward.

As there were few houses in the village, they quickly found the house number.

Strangely, the front door of Mo Fei's house, or Black JK's childhood home, was tightly shut and appeared more impoverished than the others.

Mo Fei looked surprised, while Anger chuckled and said, "It seems your character didn't fare too well in his youth, not as capable as you, Mo Fei."

Mo Fei responded with a helpless smile, and Anger lightly laughed.

Approaching the door, they knocked, and soon it opened.

Before Mo Fei could understand what was happening, a child rushed out and hugged his waist.

Mo Fei was taken aback and looked down to see a child with black hair and eyes, gazing up at him with a pitiful expression.

Mo Fei gently patted the child's head, sensing the kid was unhappy about something.

"Daddy," the child clung to Mo Fei, looking fearfully at Anger, Jiu Yi, and Elisa who were quietly accompanying them.

"Uh... they're my friends," Mo Fei told him, hesitating slightly.

"Jack," the child introduced himself to Mo Fei... so his real name was Jack.

Mo Fei felt awkward, noting how convincingly the child acted, making it hard to believe Black JK had involved a child so deeply in this play.

"Where is your mother?" Anger asked Jack, feeling a mix of curiosity and a tinge of jealousy. He was curious about what kind of woman Mo Fei's wife was, who married him and bore his child.

"Mom is upstairs; she's ill again," the child told Mo Fei.

Mo Fei nodded, recalling Black JK mentioning the mother's poor health.

Entering the house, they found it barely furnished.

Anger quietly recalled having seen this house before during an event he had attended. In his memory, it was indeed dilapidated.

However, this room didn't resemble the crime scenes he remembered; aside from being untidy, there weren't significant issues.

Anger and Jiu Yi took seats at a table, while little Jack, quite capable, hurried to serve them tea.

Angler and Jiu Yi exchanged a glance, finding it hard to imagine Black JK as a child like that; they had always thought he must have been a little devil in his youth.

"Cough, cough." At that moment, a coughing sound came from upstairs, sounding like a woman, followed by the sound of footsteps descending the stairs, indicating someone was coming down.

Angler looked up to see a frail woman slowly making her way downstairs.

She was still beautiful, with golden hair that lent her an air of elegance. Her large eyes and high nose bridge were striking, the only slight flaw being her somewhat prominent cheekbones. Of course, she was terribly thin, almost skeletal, a clear sign of severe illness.

Angler furrowed his brows slightly, observing her for a while before saying, “It seems to be a lung disease.”

“It does resemble that,” Jiu Yi agreed, nodding. In that era, diseases like tuberculosis were often fatal.

"Dear, you're back?" His wife's greeting was warm, but Mo Fei found the term 'dear' somewhat awkward. Angler's facial expression grew even more displeased, while Jiu Yi, trying to suppress his laughter, casually slipped his hand into his pocket and gently poked Elyssa's stomach.

Elyssa immediately curled up, holding Jiu Yi's finger, looking at him with a shy expression, making Jiu Yi unable to hold back his laughter.

"They are...?" his wife asked Mo Fei.

"Oh... friends," Mo Fei introduced, adding, "Don't worry about it." To protect Angler, Mo Fei refrained from introducing the two to his wife.

"Nice to meet you," his wife said with a smile. "My name is Laila."

Both Angler and Jiu Yi nodded in acknowledgment.

Angler asked instinctively, “Are you unwell?”

"Yes, I cough frequently," Laila said with a smile. "It's nothing serious."

"They'll be staying here temporarily," Mo Fei explained. "I have some matters to deal with them."

"Alright," Laila nodded. "I'll go cook!" she said, then, taking Jack, who was playing with Ace by the side, went to the kitchen to start preparing the meal.

"What do we do next?" Mo Fei asked Angler.

"Hmm..." Angrily, Anger interlaced his index fingers on the table, looking up at the calendar on the wall.

He asked, "What's the date today?"

"The 14th," Jack popped his head out and said.

Anger smiled slightly and said to Mofei, "Then, we wait."

"How long do we have to wait?" Mofei was clearly uncomfortable, hoping he wouldn't have to share a bed with that unfamiliar wife tonight.

Anger pointed to the calendar on the wall, where the 14th was circled in red.

"I remember the night the incident occurred, it was also the 14th. Seems our friend is quite impatient," Anger smiled lightly, "and I never saw such a calendar back then..."

"Evidence destroyed?" Jiu Yi asked.

"Drawing a circle on the calendar in advance suggests... they knew something was going to happen tonight," Mofei asked his wife, who was serving salad, "Layla, is today a special day?"

Layla paused, shaking her head in confusion.

Mofei pointed to the calendar and asked, "Why is there a circle on today's date?"

After looking back at the calendar, Layla still shook her head and said, "You drew that a few days ago. I'm not sure what it means. You never share these things with us."

"Is that so..." Mofei felt that the father of Black JK wasn't a very good father or husband and asked Jack, "Do you know, Jack?"

Jack also shook his head.

Mofei looked helplessly at Anger, who just smiled and said nothing, but his eyes seemed to understand something.

In the church, beside the confessional, someone sat down, "Feng Ya, are you alright?"

The dead in the confessional, naturally, could not respond.

"Why are you stationed here?" the person said somewhat nostalgically, "My life has been filled with regret because of that incident, and your fate means I can never be freed from this penance."

The dead man sat quietly, maintaining his priestly composure, listening to the confessions of penitents.

"Feng Ya, I'm back," the person reached out, gently touching the mummy's hand, "to end all this."