Day of Imprisonment

In a living room of no more than ten square meters, Luo Xi, Wu Rui, Liu Mao, Song Yan, and Fan Yong sat facing each other.

Near the entrance, several pairs of slippers were casually placed, with dismantled express delivery boxes beside them. The room was dim and somewhat stuffy. On the old coffee table sat tea, still steaming.

But Luo Xi didn't touch it. If he didn't touch it, Wu Rui and Liu Mao wouldn't dare to drink it either.

The situation was interesting. Even without specific emphasis, Wu Rui and Liu Mao now needed to follow Luo Xi's instructions. This subtle master-servant dynamic might have formed during the previous encounter at the company.

Luo Xi's posture was very casual. He leaned back on the sofa, arms spread open, head tilted back, looking down at Fan Yong and Song Yan, who were sitting on small stools.

The posture of these two was the complete opposite of Luo Xi's. They tried to keep their limbs close to their bodies, hunching their backs, heads slightly lowered, looking at Luo Xi with their eyes raised.

“First, let’s be clear: you are different from us. The biggest difference is that your conditions for clearing the game are different. So, strictly speaking, the difference in demands means there won't be too many conflicts of interest. This is the premise of our cooperation.”

“…”

“Uh, to put it bluntly, we are not enemies. So, do you know the conditions for clearing the game?”

Luo Xi asked.

Fan Yong looked at Song Yan, who shook her head. Then, Fan Yong also shook his head.

“If we knew, we would have escaped long ago. We suddenly became Memory Retrievers. This is too incredible, too crazy… I… I… I don’t even know how to describe it… It’s like a dream…” Song Yan gestured, and one could see the red nail polish on her fingers.

“More like a nightmare!” Fan Yong said in a low voice, not intentionally, but simply because of his low mood.

This man was not strong; on the contrary, he was a bit thin, in his thirties, with a face full of vicissitudes and bloodshot eyes, looking somewhat frightening.

But there were no cigarettes in the house. Perhaps his wife didn't allow smoking at home.

Henpecked?

“Everything has its reason for existence, and so does the Day of Confinement,” Luo Xi said, moving his fingers.

“What do you mean?” Song Yan asked.

Luo Xi didn't answer, but instead asked, “In the previous rounds, what killed you?”

“Zhou Ya!” the two said almost in unison.

Wu Rui thought the name sounded familiar, but couldn't immediately recall it. Liu Mao stared, wanting to say something but stopping, because Luo Xi had told him not to speak.

“The girl whose birthday is today?” Luo Xi asked.

Immediately, Wu Rui remembered. When they were in the corridor earlier, the children playing had indeed said, ‘It’s Zhou Ya’s birthday at noon,’ and discussed what gifts to give.

“So, the cleaner in this scenario is a little girl…” Luo Xi quickly calculated, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

Then, he asked, “Is she strong?”

One could clearly see the extreme fear on Song Yan and Fan Yong's faces. Even when they heard the name ‘Zhou Ya,’ their fingers were trembling.

“So, she changed at the birthday party, or before that?” Luo Xi already had some preliminary judgments. Combining the ‘conditions for clearing the game’ given by the Song Yan couple and the previous scenario manager, he could roughly judge that there would be a birthday party in the apartment at noon, and that one of the conditions for clearing the game was ‘surviving past one o'clock noon.’ In other words, the noon birthday party was a killing field, a critical point.

“Before the birthday party, around twelve o’clock, she was too terrifying. In that instant, the entire building changed. There was hair everywhere, nowhere to hide, nowhere to hide…” Song Yan said tremulously.

“What did she do before she changed? Or, what happened?”

“Nothing, I don’t know.”

“Nothing?”

“Right, we hadn't seen her before that.”

“Okay!”

Luo Xi looked at the time. It was now 9:11 AM, less than three hours away from noon.

Time was already tight.

“Who do you think is a Memory Retriever in the apartment besides you two?” Luo Xi asked.

“Wang Tao definitely is!” Fan Yong said at this moment.

Then, he described Wang Tao's situation. The other party lived on the sixth floor.

“It should be Room 603. He's a homebody. I heard he's been playing games at home all the time, with no proper job. Last round, I saw him kill Zhao Man… Uh, Zhao Man is a neighbor living downstairs, but I'm not familiar with her. I don't know what she does for a living,” Fan Yong explained.

“Old Zhou might be one too.” Song Yan suddenly said, gritting her teeth.

“Old Zhou? Impossible, how could he…” Fan Yong looked surprised.

“Tch, he definitely has a problem. I can tell. Maybe he's even a veteran.” Song Yan squinted, not knowing what was going through her mind at that moment. Her eyes were a little erratic.

“By the way, Old Zhou's name is Zhou Xinpeng, and he's Zhou Ya's father,” Fan Yong said, looking at Luo Xi.

“Are there any other confirmed or suspected individuals?” Luo Xi asked.

Song Yan and Fan Yong shook their heads together: “No, the others look like newbies. They don't know anything. People like that can't get memory cards. When they die, they'll become Amnesiacs.”

Presumably, many of these people were killed by this couple. Of course, they wouldn't say such things.

However, this couple didn't actually know much. For example, they didn't know how many ‘Memory Retrievers’ there would be in each scenario.

Their strategy was actually very simple: find at least two Memory Retrievers by any means, and then kill them. That way, they could each get a memory card to ensure they wouldn't become Amnesiacs after being killed by Zhou Ya.

As for the rest, they didn't know.

“Have you seen the apartment building's manager, Carrot? Or do you know who he is?” Luo Xi asked.

“Carrot? Seems a little familiar, but…”

This time, Song Yan and Fan Yong thought for a while before saying, “I can't remember.”

"Can't remember?" Luo Xi was taken aback.

"Right, it's like I know, but I just can't remember who he is."

Luo Xi stared at the couple for a long time before nodding: "Next question, have you been killed by anyone?"

"No, someone tried to, but we killed them instead." As she said this, Song Yan licked her lips, leaned forward, and a hint of probing appeared in her eyes as she looked at Luo Xi.

"Then, where did you get the information you know about the Rememberers and the Day of Confinement?" There was no reaction in Luo Xi's eyes, which made Song Yan, on the other side, fall into self-doubt. She looked down at the career line revealed by her deliberately unbuttoned pajamas, and her eyes unconsciously turned cold, without answering the question.

Fan Yong next to her hesitated, looking over, seemingly afraid to act without authorization.

"Is it inconvenient to answer?" Luo Xi asked.

"Yes, it's inconvenient to answer." Song Yan's tone was a little cold: "You've asked us so many questions, for the sake of fairness, we also want to ask you some questions."

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Luo Xi shook his head, interrupting directly: "No, you have to understand that the relationship between us is not equal. You are asking me, not me asking you. Also, here with me, there are no questions that are inconvenient to answer. If you don't cooperate or deliberately conceal information, or even lie, I can interrupt our cooperation at any time."

His attitude was very strong.

Song Yan immediately put on a smiling face: "Don't be angry, I didn't mean that, okay, I'll tell you, a friend told us about the Day of Confinement."

"What's his name?"

"Song Lian!"

"From room 102?"

"You know him? But he's already lost his memory now." Song Yan was very surprised. The other party seemed to be very familiar with the situation here. It seemed that most of the people she mentioned were known to this man. This was indeed a bit unfathomable. The key point was that perhaps the other party could really take them out.

This was the most crucial thing. For Song Yan, nothing was more important than escaping right now.

"You just mentioned Old Zhou, Zhou Xinpeng, he..." Luo Xi paused at this moment, appearing hesitant, and didn't continue.

"Uh? What's wrong with him?" Song Yan and Fan Yong looked at Luo Xi, not knowing what he was going to say.

"Forget it!" Luo Xi waved his hand.

"No, what's wrong with Old Zhou?" Song Yan was a little angry. What she hated most was this kind of speaking and stopping.

Luo Xi glanced at her: "You said Old Zhou is a Rememberer, then he must know that his daughter Zhou Ya is a cleaner. They live together, isn't he afraid? Or rather, as a father, he should be the person who knows Zhou Ya best. You said, how could he not know how Zhou Ya became a monster? So I think you're wrong. That Zhou Xinpeng is definitely not a Rememberer, he must be an Amnesiac. Otherwise, it can only mean that he must have a big secret on him."

"..." Song Yan's expression was wonderful. She was obviously caught in some kind of thought, and even thought of something, a little excited, but deliberately suppressed it and didn't reveal it.

"Forget it, let's not talk about him, I'll think about what to do next!" Luo Xi didn't continue asking questions, but his eyes drifted, and his fingers seemed to be unconsciously tapping the sofa armrest.

No one spoke in the room, falling into a strange silence.

A few minutes later, a sudden knock on the door startled everyone in the room.

"Mom, open the door."

The children are back.

Luo Xi stood up, and Wu Rui also hurriedly helped Liu Mao up. At this time, Liu Mao had recovered almost completely, just some skin trauma, that is, his head had been hit hard, and he had a slight concussion.

Fan Yong went to open the door, and several children ran back happily, and the room became lively all of a sudden.

"Dad, why are you at Brother Yan Zhe's house? I thought you went to work." It was Liu Sixin who spoke, Liu Mao's seven-year-old son.

"Dad is resting today." Liu Mao made up a sentence.

"Dad, what's wrong with your head?" Liu Sixin noticed the blood on Liu Mao's head.

"It's okay, I accidentally bumped into the wall." Liu Mao walked over and hugged his son in his arms, his eyes full of love.

"Brother Mao, let's go sit at your house, but I came in a hurry today and didn't bring anything." After Luo Xi finished speaking, he walked out, thought for a while, and turned back to Song Yan and Fan Yong in the room: "Wait for my call, before that, don't do anything, otherwise the cooperation will be cancelled."

The scheming couple closed the door.

"Husband, what do you think?" Song Yan asked in a low voice.

Fan Yong immediately said: "I'll listen to you."

"I can't trust that person, he has problems, and he didn't tell us the truth. Perhaps, he's just acting, pretending to be calm, in order to rescue Liu Mao, and by the way, get information from us." Song Yan held a knife in her hand, and her eyes revealed a fierce look.

"But, what if what that person said is true?" Fan Yong hesitated for a moment.

"Heh, husband, you are really adorably stupid. In this world, where are the good people? But this matter is not a bad thing for us. Whether what that person said is true or false, at least at this stage, he will try to break the situation. We only need to observe the situation. If the situation is not right, we will kill them. They have at least three Rememberers, which means they have three memory cards, and maybe they have other cards on them. In short, we won't suffer this time."

After speaking, Song Yan lay on the bed, her hair scattered, and the neckline of her chest was wide open, revealing a soft white expanse, a little dazzling.

Afterwards, she seemed to think of something, and suddenly sat up, thought for a moment, and began to change her clothes, then hid the knife in her clothes.

"Wife, where are you going?" Fan Yong saw the clue.

"I'm going out for a while, you stay at home."

"Where to?"

"Oh, don't ask, stay at home and watch the children, don't let them run around."