There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Chapter 50.1

“I found it.”

As soon as Qin Ke spoke, the gazes of all four people in the room fell on her.

July even gasped. “Found what? A ghost?”

“…” Qin Ke looked at him amusingly, “July, you need to firmly remember your atheist beliefs.”

As she spoke, her gaze returned to the dummy leaning against the wall in front of her—

“I found the killer’s method of murder.”

“?!”

This time, even Gu Yuncheng, who was examining the bathtub, immediately turned his gaze towards her.

The four pairs of eyes were now focused on the wrist of the dummy that Qin Ke was holding—including all four limbs and the neck, each had red marks from binding.

Gu Yuncheng frowned and asked. “Aren’t these marks left by the restraints on the hospital bed?”

Qin Ke nodded.

“Indeed they are.”

Before they could respond, she changed her tone, “However, beneath these marks, there seem to be other hidden marks.”

“Huh??”

Hearing that the murder method might be close to being solved, the three people at the door couldn’t help but be curious and drew closer.

July had the sharpest eyes. After staring closely for more than ten seconds, he exclaimed.

“It seems so—at first glance, it’s all a wide red mark, just like the width of the restraints—but looking deeper, there seems to be a thinner, narrower ligature mark… and the color is darker!”

Qin Ke nodded, smiling.

“Didn’t the director’s team mention before we started, about physics in daily life—look, assuming equal struggle can be considered equal pressure, the smaller the area, the greater the pressure—which means the thinner the binding material, the deeper the marks should be.”

The three suddenly realized, while Gu Yuncheng had already thought one step further.

“You mean this person was tied up with a thinner rope on their hands, feet, and neck before death—this binding just happened to make them face down and unable to move, so even if they struggled, it was useless, and they could only drown in less than ten centimeters of water without seeming to have any external force marks?”

Qin Ke nodded.

“The bathtub is limited in size, and if you add binding in a back-tied form, it’s not difficult to implement a method that prevents the victim from struggling above the water level.”

After speaking, Qin Ke turned to look at the camera crew outside the door.

“Alright, we should have cracked the method—it was man-made, not the so-called ghost crime in the rumors, right?”

The air was silent for a few seconds.

The familiar broadcast voice sounded again, but this time it seemed to carry a hint of unexpected dejection—

[Congratulations to the guests for completing the task, cracking the method of this bizarre death case at the small town’s mental hospital, and reassuring the townspeople.]

The broadcast paused, then continued.

[The guests have five minutes to prepare. The test will begin in five minutes.]

“—??”

At these words, even Qin Ke was stunned.

She instinctively glanced at the time on her phone—although they had wasted some time searching other rooms earlier, it seemed they still hadn’t used three-quarters of the recording time from the previous episode. How could the test be starting already??

Beside her, July noticed Qin Ke’s confusion.

He spoke softly. “I can deduce this—I guess they never expected us to find the answer so quickly, they must have left us many clues that we haven’t even had a chance to use yet.”

Qin Ke: “…”

The five guests waited in this last room for about five minutes. The director’s team member responsible for “invigilating” and “grading” arrived late.

Seeing that there was only one person, Qi Tian was the first to ask. “Aren’t we taking the test in separate rooms this time?”

Ling Shuang: “If you want to separate, go ahead—whoever tries to drag me to a separate room now, I’ll bite them.”

Director’s team staff B: “…”

After stepping away from Ling Shuang, staff B began to announce the exam rules. “The method for this exam is quick-answer, so all five guests can stay together in this room.”

Gu Yuncheng: “What’s the question this time?”

July asked worriedly. “It won’t be a blank sheet again, will it?”

The director’s team staff B shook his head, revealing a mysterious smile.

“Of course not.”

“The question for this exam is simple: find the…ghost hidden on this floor.”

“—!?”

The guests’ faces turned pale.

July, standing at the front closest to the staff B, was hit first, his face as white as the wall behind him.

After a few seconds, he raised his hand tremblingly. “Can I… quit the exam?”

“Of course you can.” Staff B continued to smile, “But that can only happen after one guest finds the answer~”

July: “…………”

Oh, your head. (TL: or “Oh, come on!”)

As soon as July, Ling Shuang, and Qi Tian heard the word “ghost”, their minds basically went blank. At this moment, the three of them almost simultaneously turned to look at Qin Ke instinctively.

Even Gu Yuncheng, who looked the most calm and reliable, after pondering for a while without finding any clues, also turned towards her.

Qin Ke, who was in the middle of thinking, suddenly felt the gazes on her. She looked up with a surprised expression.

“The way you’re all looking at me… do you think the ghost is on me?”

July looked at her, almost with tears in his eyes. “Qin Big Thigh, you’re our only hope to escape this misery.”

“…” Qin Ke didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

After the commotion, Qin Ke became slightly more serious, “But I think I might have thought of something.”

“??”

Qin Ke: “Actually, since we entered the building, apart from the broadcast mentioning the town residents’ rumors about ghosts, all other thoughts about ghosts were our own imagination—except for one.”

Gu Yuncheng: “The mental patients’ words.”

Qin Ke snapped her fingers lightly, “Right. That’s it.” She looked at the others, “So we might as well assume—the final answer is to find out what this ‘ghost’ hidden in their words really is.”

Qi Tian, with a pale face, argued. “But they’re all mentally ill, what if it’s just their own madness?”

“If only one person said this, it could be explained by mental illness, but if everyone says it…” Qin Ke spread her hands, “Don’t you think there must be something more to it?”

Ling Shuang raised both hands. “Alright, I give up—don’t analyze it for us anymore, just find it quickly. I just want to leave this ghostly place now.”

Qin Ke nodded. “Let’s stick to our original division of labor. You three stay in the room, Gu Yuncheng and I will go to the bathroom to search—this time, we must not miss even the slightest anomaly.”

“Okay.”

They agreed on the plan.

Qin Ke and Gu Yuncheng turned and entered the bathroom.

This time, to not miss even the slightest clue, Qin Ke simply suggested that everyone turn on their phone flashlights again.

She and Gu Yuncheng each took responsibility for half of the bathroom, searching every corner most meticulously.

However, until their waists, backs, legs, and feet began to ache from crouching, they still couldn’t find any traces. The three outside the door had several false alarms, and their startled cries could be heard from time to time.

Gu Yuncheng sighed, “I’ve got nothing on my side.”

Qin Ke helplessly supported herself on her knees as she stood up from the corner, “Me neither…”

Her voice suddenly stopped.

“?”

Not hearing the rest of the sentence, Gu Yuncheng turned his head in confusion, only to see the girl frozen in a half-standing position, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on her hand—as if she had discovered something.

Gu Yuncheng was about to speak.

Qin Ke looked up, “Quick, call them in!”

Standing by the door, Gu Yuncheng was startled, but he didn’t ask anything. He turned and gestured to the three people outside—

“Qin Ke seems to have found something.”

The three were stunned, almost reacting simultaneously, coming to their senses and running over.

The small bathroom became crowded once again.

July eagerly asked. “Qin Big Thigh, what did you find?”

Qin Ke still maintained that posture, not even moving the phone flashlight in her hand. Hearing the question, she looked up, “This mirror… seems strange.”

“??”

The four were stunned and walked over one after another.

Qin Ke: “I didn’t notice anything at first—until just now when I was getting up, the flashlight on the back of my phone happened to press against the mirror surface…”

Ling Shuang swallowed, “What are you trying to say?”

Qin Ke hesitated for a moment.

“This might be a two-way mirror.”

The four: “……”

The four looked as if they had seen a ghost.

“How, how do we verify it?” Qi Tian also stuttered, “I remember… we use our fingertips to test, right?”

Qin Ke nodded, “I just tried that. But this method can only be used to judge, not to counter-detect the situation on the other side.”

Gu Yuncheng: “Should we break it?”

The completely ignored director’s team staff B behind them: “????”

“…”

Qin Ke was also taken aback, then said amusingly. “No need, just turn off the lights.”

“Turn off the lights in this environment? Wuwuwuwu I really want to refuse…”

July said this, but still reached out to turn off the lights.

“Then what?” Gu Yuncheng asked.

Qin Ke beckoned to them, “Who has good night vision? I’m not very good at it.”

The four looked at each other.

Qin Ke sighed: “Then you all try together.”

The four guests came forward, and under Qin Ke’s guidance, they all pressed against the mirror surface.

Qin Ke placed the flashlight side of her phone directly against the mirror. To ensure this side was dark enough, she even tried hard to cover the light around the flashlight, making sure almost all the light passed through this mirror and fell to the other side.

A few seconds later—

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

Frenzied screams echoed throughout the entire building.

Tens of seconds later, the director’s team staff B, who was almost beaten to death on the spot by the four “maddened” guests, announced [Exam Ended] with a bruised and swollen face.

****

The shadow of this episode’s recording was so deep that, on the return trip, except for Qin Ke, the other four guests were exceptionally silent, with gloomy expressions.

They clearly appeared to be in a state of shock.

—

Qin Ke was very curious about what the others had seen, but her night vision was indeed poor. Before she had a chance to look, Ling Shuang, while muttering “I’m doing this for your own good,” frantically dragged her away.

The production team, who had nearly been surrounded and beaten, seemed to have deeply reflected on their actions. They sent a representative to guarantee that similar incidents would never happen again.

Then, under the gnashing teeth and seemingly bloodthirsty gazes of the guests, they cautiously suggested that the production team treat them to a somewhat famous restaurant in the city for some soul-soothing soup.

The recording time for the second episode was originally scheduled until after noon. None of the five people, including Qin Ke, had additional plans, and their flight tickets were all booked for late afternoon, close to evening. Additionally, after experiencing a “life-and-death ordeal,” they had become more familiar with each other and had no objections.

So they all agreed.