Chapter 293 That Bowl of Broth?

Chapter 293: That Bowl of Broth?

"Wen Wen, what exactly is going on?" Huang Qi, taking advantage of his long legs, walked leisurely beside Wen Wen.

"Earlier, I mentioned that the pond in the backyard is very shallow. Even if I were thrown in, I’d at most choke on a few mouthfuls of water and could stand up immediately. In such a situation, if the three brides truly died in the pond, the only explanation is that they were in a state of helplessness when thrown into the water."

"People can lose the ability to resist under many circumstances, but I suspect those brides were in a state of deep sleep at the time."

"It must have been a coma-like sleep state, because ordinary sleep is easily disturbed. Even if the brides were just taken out of the courtyard, they would have woken up, let alone being thrown into the water. So I think when they were thrown into the pond, the brides were either knocked unconscious or had ingested some kind of drug that induced deep sleep."

Sha Linghai, who was also closely following Wen Wen, showed a look of sudden realization and said, "The brides wouldn’t have taken the drug voluntarily, so you suspect the drug was added to those bowls of broth?"

"Yes." Wen Wen nodded. "Since we entered the nightmare game, we haven’t seen many people. Butler Zhao is naturally one of the suspects we can identify, and the way he repeatedly confirmed the status of the broth just now struck me as odd."

"I originally planned to check on the West Courtyard bride first, but since she had already drunk the broth by the time we left, rushing in wouldn’t change anything. It’s better to check the East Courtyard first." Wen Wen had already crossed the winding bridge to the East Courtyard. "When we visited the East Courtyard earlier, the bride there asked us to leave the broth aside, saying she might drink it when hungry. To be safe, let’s first warn the East Courtyard bride not to drink the broth, and then check if there’s something fishy with the broth at the West Courtyard!"

As she spoke, Wen Wen pushed open the gate of the East Courtyard and saw the bride in a bright red wedding dress sitting by the stone table in the courtyard. She had lifted a corner of her bridal veil to look at the moon but lowered it again upon hearing the sound of the door opening.

"Sister Bride, have you drunk that bowl of broth?"

After the players left the East Courtyard earlier, Su Bai had also stepped out of the inner room, expanding his activity range to the entire East Courtyard. This allowed him to pick up more sounds and movements, though it was a pity that a certain "Master Wang" had not reappeared.

However, Su Bai had a strange feeling, as if "Master Wang" always knew where he was and could appear beside him at any moment, as if he himself had become a... coordinate.

Sitting in the courtyard and gazing at the surreal moonlight, Su Bai, undisturbed by "Master Wang," could hear the angry shouts from the North Courtyard and the conversations of Wen Wen and the others outside the East Courtyard. Listening to the little girl’s speculations, Su Bai felt as if he were reaping the benefits without lifting a finger.

When asked if he had drunk the broth, Su Bai lowered his voice and made his tone sound puzzled—

"That bowl of broth?"

"Yes, that bowl of broth." Wen Wen’s voice grew closer.

"The broth is still on the table." Su Bai pointed toward the room and turned to look at the little girl standing before him. "You sound out of breath. Is there something wrong with the broth?"

"No, no, what could possibly be wrong with the broth!" Wen Wen gestured for Huang Qi to go inside and retrieve the bowl while forcing a dry laugh. "That bowl of broth... it must have gone cold by now. Sister Bride, you’re delicate and shouldn’t drink cold broth."

"We’ll take the broth away first. If you get hungry later, just call for us, and we’ll prepare some food from the kitchen for you." Seeing Huang Qi bring out the untouched bowl of broth, Wen Wen breathed a sigh of relief.

Without further conversation, the group of players left the East Courtyard and headed to the North Courtyard.

However, at the North Courtyard, before the players could explain anything, the bride, who was in a terrible mood, opened the door and threw out the untouched bowl of broth. The bowl shattered on the ground, spilling the broth everywhere.

"At least the North Courtyard bride didn’t drink the broth."

Sha Linghai comforted Wen Wen, who had failed in her attempt to communicate, and then they left the North Courtyard for the final destination—the West Courtyard.

Since the West Courtyard bride had likely already drunk the broth, Wen Wen and the others entered the courtyard with some nervousness.

To everyone’s surprise, however, when they pushed open the gate of the West Courtyard, they found the inner door open. The bridal veil of the West Courtyard bride was discarded on the ground, and the youthful-looking bride, like the one in the East Courtyard, was sitting by the stone table in the courtyard.

However, the West Courtyard bride was not gazing at the moon. Instead, she was applying a small jar of red lipstick to her lips, adding a touch of vibrant color to her otherwise bare face.