Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 119: Chapter 119: Three Choices

"Oh, about last night... did you sleep well?"

Bai Wu originally wanted to ask what happened last night, giving it a try, but he quickly felt pain.

Having no choice, he had to switch to another way of asking.

At the moment, Yin Shuang and Bai Wu both knew something, as players, they could play word games with the Manor.

Yin Shuang thought for a moment and said,

"I slept very well last night. It’s just that I’ve been thinking about you lately, worrying about you, to the point where I’m losing my hair. My blanket also misses you, as if it still holds your body warmth."

Bai Wu was stunned.

Yin Shuang wasn’t losing hair. What’s with the blanket missing me? Not losing hair, yet encountering hair loss,

and the blanket still holding my body heat...

He suddenly understood.

The cold blanket wasn’t warmed up by Yin Shuang herself, and in her room last night, there had been hair.

Was there someone in the blanket?

He recalled seeing the chainsaw man, but the chainsaw man didn’t dismember him. Adding up the looping space he saw upon opening the door, and the TV that turned on when the window was closed...

Bai Wu suddenly thought of these things. Could it be that they are horror elements?

"Is this room deliberately creating terror?"

At that moment, he saw Lin Wurou’s slightly pained expression. freewebnovel.cσ๓

In their sleep, they too would experience some kind of torture.

The dog outside began barking again.

Yin Shuang prepared to close the window, and Bai Wu said,

"Let me do it."

He carefully got out of bed, walked over to the window, and listened to the dog barking outside.

"During the day, I definitely couldn’t see the dog, and there weren’t any supernatural phenomena either, meaning that night is ’its’ time to be active."

"Horror elements might not appear randomly. The chainsaw man, the TV, the hair, and the warm blanket could all be clues."

The dog’s barking grew more intense, and Yin Shuang became afraid.

After Bai Wu closed the window, everything quieted down.

[A window with such good soundproofing that when you close it, the whole world seems to quiet down in cooperation.]

Now, thinking back on this sentence, Bai Wu suddenly felt something different.

"Maybe it really is... ’it’ wanting me to close the window, reminding us to close the window? Making the dog bark nonstop?"

The TV turned on again, still showing the programs that Bai Wu had watched the previous night.

Since it was Bai Wu’s room, the occurrences were similar to what he had seen the day before.

He patiently waited for the ghostly face to appear during the channel changing.

Yin Shuang trembled with fear, wanting to help Bai Wu analyze the content on the program, but her fear overwhelmed her consciousness.

It wasn’t until Bai Wu turned off the TV that she breathed a sigh of relief.

The time was almost up, Bai Wu opened the door again, this time it opened easily, but he didn’t see the chainsaw man that was supposed to put him physically to sleep.

This left Bai Wu slightly disappointed.

"Let’s sleep."

"I’ll... have nightmares," Yin Shuang said, knowing from Lin Wurou’s expression that sleep wouldn’t free her from fear.

"Don’t be afraid, one night is very brief. Besides, I’m here with you."

Bai Wu smiled gently, without any suggestive undertones. Since his time at the Ninth Hospital, Bai Wu had known that Yin Shuang was the most timid in the team—the one closest to a normal person.

He knew she needed some comfort.

The TV had already been turned off, the windows shut, the chainsaw man hadn’t appeared—nothing else would happen tonight.

Bai Wu wasn’t sleeping; he began to review the clues from the day.

"Assuming I’m playing the father, the one who collects liquids, who records ages with numbers, then the liquid could be inferred to be female bodily fluid. Considering the reception... this is someone who’s essentially perverse, obsessed with toying with women."

"The chainsaw man who attacked me, judging from his watch, his identity is not simple; he might very well be the man I’m playing. Hence, it can be profiled that this man scorns women, toys with them, and possesses a strong inclination for violence. Birds of a feather flock together, which is why the twenty-first floor has so many rooms filled with sin." freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"What this type of person cares about the most is himself. Marital bliss, a happy family of three—it’s all for show. When the apocalypse comes, his primary concern would likely be his business."

"His business is related to trade exports. Considering the scale of the hotel-style building, he must be one of the world’s ranking super-rich. When the apocalypse struck, his business suffered immense losses. This place is Food City, which experienced a rat plague, with mutated rats emerging continuously... and there are also those resisting because they haven’t received cruise tickets."

"All of this is the chaotic scene at the arrival of the apocalypse. At such times, order crumbles easily, and these wealthy people are the most endangered. Presumably, the servants in the Manor have all begun to flee."

Memory puzzle pieces began to gradually assemble the truth. A voice in his head urged Bai Wu to sleep, and he pretended to do so.

Even with eyes closed, he pondered seriously. Every scene he had seen, all the details.

"Right, I’ve overlooked a place... The time displayed on the chainsaw man’s watch is ten twenty-two in the morning. Something must have happened at this time."

"This is intelligence gathered from the father’s character. Then what about the mother? The mother does housework, apparently a full-time housewife, and has a good relationship with the child. This relationship should genuinely be good. If the father’s perverse persona holds true, then the mother must be a victim."

"Yin Shuang saw hair falling out. Although it was due to the terror fog, the hair loss should correspond to some clue, likely that the mother was losing hair because of certain troubles. The biggest concern for a woman married to a rich man would be love itself..."

"I see... She’d discovered the man’s true face?"

Many evil secrets lurked within the hotel-style building. Once these secrets were discovered, the faith that supported the woman in staying with this family might collapse.

"A man indulging in women and having the capital to indulge freely might find many excuses not to come home at night, so the bed wouldn’t be warm unless..."

Yin Shuang was playing the mother, and if she had not yet lain down, how could her bed be warm?

"So it’s not just the man that has issues, the woman does too... Although sequence of events does play a significant role in these moral and ethical matters."

The man’s philandering came first as the cause, the woman’s infidelity at home followed as the effect, but earthly affairs cannot always be clarified by cause and effect; parties in power or those less powerful often grant themselves the privilege of double standards.

This was never a family that loved each other truly.

Following the apocalypse, all the pretenses within the family could no longer be maintained; the disgusting and cruel truths began to emerge!

"The only thing missing is the catalyst... The family’s break-up, the complete collapse of all pretenses in the Manor, the ugliest side revealed—what’s lacking is a breaking point, something to make them tear off their masks!"

"I know the time now. It should be ten twenty-two in the morning... What’s missing is the date and the place of the event."

"The place should be within the hotel-style office building, but the exact floor is still unclear. The date... the news mentioned the Masked Strange Person, who, according to Dandelion’s journal, was most active in the year 2023. It can be inferred that several incidents happened in the same year: the public protests for boat tickets, the rat plague outbreak..."

"But the exact day and month remain unclear, along with a crucial clue."

Bai Wu furrowed his brows as if he too was having a nightmare, but he was searching for clues in his past memories.

Yet he still hadn’t found where the clue lay. Not until waking up again in the morning did he glean a clue from a sentence.

"Dad should talk about his work."

"Mommy, why haven’t you mentioned to Daddy that my birthday is coming up?"

"I want to act spoiled with Daddy."

During breakfast, these prompts surfaced in the minds of the family of three again.

Based on their conversations and actions, Bai Wu knew that Lin Wurou had received the prompt to act spoiled.

Yin Shuang then talked about the child’s birthday; she had discussed it yesterday, but she brought it up again today. The directive was likely a reminder not to forget the child’s birthday.

Bai Wu finally found the specific date that eluded him last night!

"It’s her birthday! Her birthday was her obsession, the child’s obsession. She never got to celebrate her birthday. It is very possible that something happened at ten twenty-two in the morning on her birthday!"

As the actor playing the father, once Bai Wu thought of the words "child’s birthday," he immediately thought of the specific date, September 4th.

"But what exactly happened?"

Bai Wu was fixated on the specific date for a reason. In his backpack, he had an ultimate prop that could solve the puzzle—a camera.

He originally intended to give the camera to Liu Chengzi, but when he saw Liu Chengzi improving Yan Jiu’s tea ceremony skills, he only gave Liu Chengzi his wallet, keeping the camera for himself.

Five days, three photos—the photos could reveal what had happened in the past, so Bai Wu had to get the date right.

The date code was already available—20230904102200.

"The location... now all I’m missing is the location. Once I find it, I can uncover the truth that this naughty child is desperately avoiding! I only have two chances to try and get it right, so I can’t guess; I need precise information."

"This child wants a bunch of people to be with her; her birthday is an unfulfilled long-cherished wish... It wouldn’t hurt to verify this."

As breakfast was ending, Bai Wu said:

"Darling, what do you want for your birthday present?"

Lin Wurou was planning to say something noncommittal to get it over with, "I, want... I want to eat a big cake with mom and dad."

He made three consecutive mistakes, and his memory was tampered with once again.

Yin Shuang knew that the pause in Lin Wurou’s speech meant he had made consecutive mistakes, resulting in tremendous pain.

She felt somewhat sorry for Lin Wurou, this person, despite his sharp tongue, was a true friend.

Everyone had to offer clues; the most significant clue actually came from the child. Bai Wu had no intention of letting Lin Wurou off the hook:

"Then, where do you least want... no, where do you hate to celebrate your birthday?"

Bai Wu was worried whether he could even ask this question.

Lin Wurou’s body, as if possessed, glanced toward the hotel-style office building.

It was on one of the upper floors! Bai Wu could now rule out the sixteenth and twenty-first floors.

"’Baby’ hates a certain floor of this building; Lin Wurou seemed to look at it unconsciously."

The final clue was coming together.

After breakfast, Bai Wu made a show of being affectionate with his wife and then prepared to explore the building.

Unlike yesterday, this time Wu Jiu also came to "work."

The two men were like colleagues in the workplace.

Before entering the building, Bai Wu asked:

"Didn’t sleep well last night? You’ve got dark circles."

"Don’t you look the same? Yin... how’s your lady doing?"

"She’s fine; they rested well."

Wu Jiu nodded. He trusted Bai Wu’s character anyway and wasn’t worried Bai Wu would do anything to Yin Shuang.

"And you? Are your kid and wife all well?"

Wu Jiu shook his head with an expression that spoke volumes and said:

"Hope the work goes smoothly today!"

"Yeah, hope today’s work goes smoothly!"

The captain was naturally here to help himself; Bai Wu understood this but without Prayle’s Eye and the Innate Force being suppressed, the captain, to Bai Wu’s perception... was just an anxious little father.

"Which floor to go to, the twentieth floor. A place for board members to rest and entertain."

"Why not go to where they work?"

"Because those places are too formal."

Wu Jiu didn’t quite understand, and Bai Wu didn’t explain further.

The electronic screen, which had only discussed the wolf culture halfway this time, mentioned the importance of being crisis-aware.

When they reached the twentieth floor of the building, the electronic screen malfunctioned once again.

The rest of the characters were fine, but the character for "crisis" kept shaking, becoming more and more intense.

Witnessing this scene and recalling the previous messages on the electronic screen, Bai Wu had a premonition that this was the floor.

...

...

Recreation area.

The employee recreation area actually had many facilities, but compared to the board members’ recreation area, it was like a dwarf in front of a giant.

There were many amenities on this floor.

Indoor golf course, swimming pool, karaoke TV room, and various uniquely decorated—places for sleeping.

Bai Wu could imagine how many women or men had visited this place in the past.

But he didn’t care about all of that.

What really attracted Bai Wu’s attention were three chests in the reception hall.

Wu Jiu also noticed them immediately: the oblong chest, a gift box with an area of six inches, and a gift box the size of a palm.

Seeing the strange symbols on the walls around, Bai Wu knew that Cain had truly been here.

He left Bai Wu a puzzle to solve.

And as Bai Wu approached this room, all those strange symbols he had seen around the Ninth Hospital and in the Dandelion Twisted Jungle were all distorting.

"Daddy, are you picking another gift for me?"

The little girl’s voice, which shouldn’t have appeared, suddenly emerged at this time.

After exchanging glances, Wu Jiu and Bai Wu looked again at the three items.

[The Manor’s various oddities have been revealed, and you have finally found the most crucial clue. Now let’s choose a gift for the little troublemaker together! Friendly reminder, of the three gifts, she only likes one. If you choose the wrong gift, your memory will be tampered with immediately, taking you back to before you discovered all this. You only have one chance because she is watching you!]

All three items were wrapped in exquisite gift boxes.

One was oblong.

Another was the size of a palm.

There was also one that was six inches in size.

The note gave Bai Wu no further information, just that this was another unfriendly three-way choice for a complete ending seeker.

"Can I only choose based on size?" Bai Wu wasn’t quite sure yet,

As Wu Jiu was about to touch the palm-sized box, Bai Wu forcefully stopped him:

"Don’t touch these things!"

"What are these for?"

"Tools to pass the level, or landmines."