“I told you…” Staring at the incredulous expressions of others, Zhou Wu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. “I discovered him after entering the script; he was locked in a room, and it was only when my ‘wife’ asked me to bring him food that I found out about him.”
He sighed and added, “Do I have the guts to ignore the NPC’s orders? She would definitely kill me!”
Shan Qi smirked and coldly said, “So you planned to keep this a secret until we left, huh?”
Zhou Wu was interrupted, his mouth closing with a stammer.
That was indeed what he had planned. It’s better not to stir up trouble, especially when the identity he received only required him to honestly keep his secrets to be saved and leave this script unscathed.
Moreover, Zhou Wu thought of his “wife” in the script, whose cold gaze didn’t match his cowardly demeanor, and wondered why she had faltered now.
Originally, Chen Sheng and the others were just peering in the doorway, intending to leave, but the two NPCs who had been in Room Five had vanished. Otherwise, how could they have come in and discovered that someone was hidden in the apartment he lived in?
“Oh!” Lost in thought, Zhou Wu felt a sharp kick to his knee. Shan Qi had struck with skill, causing him to tremble in pain. He had no choice but to say, “I say! Don’t hit me!”
Tang Zhen squatted down in front of him. “What’s your identity? Is it related to Liang Xin?”
Zhou Wu’s expression turned even more bewildered.
His lips trembled, worse than when he was hit.
“Speak up,” Tang Zhen was far from being forgiving. His gentle facade seemed cold and distant now, and his handsome features looked exceptionally ruthless.
“And what’s the real identity of the person in Room Five? How are you connected to Liang Xin?”
Tang Zhen’s words struck like thunder, awakening a realization in the other contestants.
At this point, Zhou Wu had no choice but to confess.
“The identity I received in the script…” Zhou Wu slumped in defeat, “is Liang Xin’s superior.”
“He’s responsible for abducting children and young women from other places,” he revealed all at once amid the astonished gazes of the others, “and my ‘wife’ and I are in charge of coordinating human trafficking. He would bring his girlfriend here pretending to elope… just for this.”
Anwen gasped in shock and stepped back a few paces.
“How could this happen?” She found it hard to believe, her eyes reddening.
Yan Chuan nodded in agreement.
His guesses had been mostly correct.
Such cases always needed a contact person, and Liang Xin, taking his girlfriend on a ‘runaway’, was only trying to reach his collaborator.
His collaborator was Zhou Wu, who had taken the identity of a human trafficker.
Once Anwen spoke, Chen Sheng and Zhang Nan began discussing in hushed tones, exchanging glances, not knowing what to think.
Zhou Wu attempted to explain, his expression exaggeratedly comical, “Yes, but this is Liang Xin’s mission! I ended up with this unfortunate identity! I really don’t have any harmful intentions!”
“I didn’t even dare to leave that room!”
However, his explanation did not win over the others; even Tang Zhen frowned and urged, “What about that person locked in your apartment?”
Yan Chuan also fixed his gaze on Zhou Wu.
He recalled that what he saw through the vent wasn’t what Zhou Wu claimed.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Wu shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Before Tang Zhen could say anything, Zhou Wu explained helplessly, “I didn’t cut out his tongue. He was like this as soon as he entered the script; how could I ask him anything?”
Zhou Wu’s voice grew quieter, “I wouldn’t dare…”
This reason was reasonable, and Yan Chuan asked, “Then why did you hide his existence?”
Zhou Wu’s expression shrank even further.
“I’m asking you,” Shan Qi growled, “Don’t just close up.”
Under his threat, Zhou Wu had to lay out his thoughts, “I don’t know why he was locked here. He probably was also trafficked into this script and was kept here temporarily because he didn’t obey and couldn’t be sold.”
“And,” he looked pale, “if you all know my identity in the script, you’ll be more wary of me. Why should I spill everything and make you all suspicious?”
“Wouldn’t I just be looking for trouble?”
This response fell into the acceptable range.
Having uncovered Zhou Wu’s hidden identity, remembering the person they saw in the room, the others wore serious expressions.
“How about this,” Tang Zhen proposed, “Zhou Wu should find someone to keep an eye on, we can’t let our guard down.”
As for the individual locked in Room Five, whether they were an NPC or a contestant, he pondered briefly, “Let’s not act for now and see what reaction he gives.”
And so the matter was settled.
Chen Sheng volunteered to keep an eye on Zhou Wu, and Tang Zhen agreed, reminding him to be careful and not to let the NPC discover them.
Anwen’s face darkened even more; the fact that her boyfriend, who had entered the escape variety show with her, unexpectedly turned violent left her confused. The news of Liang Xin hiding things related to her hurt her even more.
Zhang Nan and Chen Sheng went off to handle matters together, and Yan Chuan fell behind Anwen, thinking for a moment, he added, “Don’t dwell on it too much; the most important thing is still to leave here.”
“Mm,” Anwen nodded. Although her eyes were still red, her gaze had already hardened, “I know.”
She thanked Yan Chuan before speaking again.
“Anyway, he’s dead now,” Anwen said flatly, cracking an ill-timed cold joke, “He can’t come back to life. Who knows what he was thinking?”
Yan Chuan:…
That was true enough.