Human dimension reduction

Qiao Zhou stood motionless.

Of course he wasn't afraid of the dead, but was startled by a sudden voice.

"...There are five players in this playground, and the game lasts for 24 hours. The rules of the game are as follows: Players need to find a way to cover up their crimes, and at the same time reveal the criminal facts of other players. Players can get certain rewards."

This voice seemed to ring out in the brain, it came and disappeared abruptly.

But the moment the sound disappeared, Qiao Zhou moved.

He stepped back quickly, cautiously kept away from the corpse on the ground, tiptoed to avoid stepping on blood and anything, spent five or six seconds to quickly check several rooms and all wardrobes and tables that could hide people, and made sure that this set He was the only living person in the three-bedroom room, so he went back to the living room and lay down on the peephole to observe for a few seconds. There was an empty corridor outside, and the door on the opposite side was ajar. Inside was still a blank room, and all kinds of decoration tools were thrown away. On the ground and in the corridors, there was a dead silence of no one.

Qiao Zhou raised his hand to screw on the insurance, took off all his clothes and put them in the bedroom, then returned to the living room to face the flying corpse.

The young man who fell on the ground was about 25 or [-] years old, wearing a loose white shirt and slacks that didn’t fit well. The edges of the shirt were yellowed. Qiao Zhou knelt down and sniffed the collar with two fingers. There is a strong smell of smoke, and the smell of spices that have been soaked in the instant noodles for a long time.

He moved his gaze down and saw that the dead man's fingers were clean. Although there were calluses, they were not yellowed. They were not the hands of an old smoker. Open his mouth to see that the teeth were not clean, but they were not the smelly and black hands of a smoker. Tobacco teeth.

There are many folds on the trousers, judging from the traces, it is the appearance of sitting for a long time.

He cautiously probed the pocket of the deceased with his fingers, and took out a small ticket from it.

得利网吧包夜x3，老顾客优惠，周年庆福利送可乐x1、泡面x1……打票日期是2021年5月8号。

It turned out that he was a social youth who went to Internet cafes every day and had nothing to do.

Judging by his age, he has already passed the student stage with empty pockets, and he has not bought a computer until he is running fast, and he insists on going to an Internet cafe for a night out, so he has become a regular customer who can get a discount. The situation is not very good, and there is a high possibility that they have not yet married.

Qiao Zhou touched the other pocket and took out an ID card. The photo looked younger than the person at the scene.

Zhang Dinghe, male, home address 502, Unit 19920403, Tianshui Community, ID number xxxxxx[-]xxxx.

Qiao Zhou put the ID card and receipt on the coffee table, went to the kitchen to search, found three tubes of plastic wrap, and frantically sprayed hand sanitizer in the sink to wash his fingers.

There is only one wound on Zhang Dinghe's body, which is a knife stabbed in his chest. The "murderer" possessed by him is obviously enraged and murdered. When he pulled out the knife, the blood spurted out was splashed everywhere. This made Qiao Zhou, who had just arrived, feel that It's very difficult, because there are too many places to clean up, and the time is limited. Now other players must also have a headache how to cover up their crime scenes. At present, they will not knock on the door to gather, but if it takes too long, yes He is no good at all.

Both those who go out first and those who go out last are easy to be noticed, and the best ones are the second and third to go out to find people to gather.

Qiao Zhou wiped away every trace of blood between his fingers to make sure there was nothing abnormal, then took out paper to dry his hands, and then wrapped his hands and feet tightly with plastic wrap.

After wrapping it with a thick layer of plastic wrap, he walked barefoot to the living room and wiped off all the blood on the floor with a rag and mop. Fortunately, this is a wooden floor, otherwise he would have to find a way to wipe it out from the cracks in the bricks. If there are bloodstains, no matter how powerful he is, he will be helpless against it.

The blood on the wall is not easy to deal with, the amount is not large, but it happens to be in a very eye-catching place, and it is a splatter-like liquid that cannot be ignored, and it is a dark red color that evokes daydreams. Qiao Zhou leaned on a mop after finishing the floor Standing in front of the wall, I thought for a few seconds before turning around and going to the room to rummage through the boxes.

This suite is about 120 square meters and has three bedrooms. Looking at the style of the bedrooms, the master bedroom is for the elderly. The color is calm and old-fashioned. There are several bottles of vitamins beside the bed.

The bedroom in the middle is connected to the balcony and has the largest area. The person living here should be a young man. You can tell by the clothes and pants thrown around. There are a lot of messy magazines on the bed. Band posters, nothing in the room except wardrobe and bed.

Qiao Zhou opened the last room. This room was a little smaller, and there were not many things in it. They were all neatly arranged. There was a bed, a wardrobe, and a table. There was a photo frame on the table. Qiao Zhou went over and picked it up. Look, there is a couple and two teenagers inside, and the shorter one is the young Zhang Dinghe.

that other...

Only this time, Qiao Zhou raised his head to look at the glass with a little hesitation. The figure vaguely reflected on it...was not his own face.

The corners of the eyes are depressed, the eyebrows are sparse, the complexion is dark, and the facial features are not perfect. It looks like a numb social animal whose back has been bent by the grind of life.

——But it looks very similar to the boy next to Zhang Dinghe in the photo.

Qiao Zhou opened the drawer, rummaged through a pile of useless things, and finally found an ID card, which belonged to "him".

Zhang Dinghai, male, home address 502, Unit 19901116, Tianshui Community, ID number xxxxxx[-]xxxx.

Ah... So what he got this time is actually a script of evil brother killing brother?

He removed the photos from the frame, and casually pressed the frame into a drawer. He searched the room again and found half a box of paint that was about to dry out.

Thanks to Zhang Dinghai for his good storage habits, this seemingly useless garbage is still stuffed under the closet.

time is limited.

Qiao Zhou hurried back to the living room with his photo ID card and paints, spread out a beauty magazine from the second bedroom, and began to scribble according to the background picture on it.

Unable to find a brush, he simply painted with his own hands. The blood stains on the wall were soon painted off by colorful traces. The style of this wall painting was incompatible with the whole home. Start scribbling.

This time he paid attention to the style. The paints he used were all dark colors. After painting, the whole room gave off the smell of rebellious teenagers who worship cults and yearn for freedom.

After dealing with the bloody scene, there is still a corpse waiting for him.

The cause of Zhang Dinghe's death was too clear, the knife on the chest was extremely eye-catching, no matter who came, just by looking at him, he could be sure that he was stabbed to death.

A little troublesome.

Qiao Zhou tied his hands and lowered his eyes to think for a while. In fact, dismembering the corpse is the best choice, but there is not so much time now, and there is also a lack of tools...

He didn't hesitate for a long time, his eyes skipped over the bunch of keys thrown in the hallway, and he paused for a moment on the entrance door, an idea came to his mind.

------

This building is an old building with only six floors in total. There are two families on the first floor. When you go up the stairs, there is room 01 on the left and room 02 on the right. There is a light bulb hanging on the stairs with an orange light. Steadily shining on the gray cement surface where the wall skin has peeled off, it looks like ugly mottled psoriasis crawling on the wall one by one.

A thin woman climbed up the stairs little by little holding the handrails. In fact, she lived on the fourth floor, and it was more convenient to go downstairs, but the sensor lights from the fourth floor to the third floor were not on. She didn't dare to go down, so she had to turn around go up.

Anyway... find someone, find someone to be with... this place is terrible...

Trembling, Chen Yin walked upstairs, looked left and right, and saw that the doors of the two houses on the fifth floor were tightly closed.

She stood at the stairs, and the courage she had just accumulated was like a punctured rubber ball, and it drained away after a swipe.

Or... She should go back and stay, there will always be... that other player will come to her, and she will come out at that time...

But she couldn't help shivering at the thought of going back to that house.

No, no, it's still... let's see again...

She poked her head around the stairs for a while. The stairwell was silent and empty. The third floor without lights was like a huge mouth of an abyss, so dark that it could swallow all life. Trembling, he asked, "Is there... anyone?"

The sound from the exit was not much louder than that of a cat, and it was swallowed up by the space in front of it after a little distance.

Or, should we go back?

Chen Yin couldn't help thinking this way, she shrank her toes on the stairs, and heard a crisp sound of the latch being drawn in, with a click, like a thunderclap in the overly silent corridor.

The door of the house on the left side of the fifth floor opened, and a man in his thirties stood behind the door, pressing the door lock with one hand, opened the door a crack, and looked out vigilantly.

Seeing that it was a harmless woman, the guard on his expression subsided a little: "You are..."

It was as if Chen Yin had grasped a life-saving straw. The sense of security of seeing a living person dispelled the gloomy atmosphere around her, and her reason came back in an instant: "I, I came to see if there is anyone, I think... we should Shall we gather first?"

The man froze for a moment, nodded, and pushed the door open a little: "Which floor do you live on?——Do you want to come in?"

Zhao Yin didn't expect him to let people in so generously. The woman couldn't help being stunned for a moment. Fortunately, she was not stupid enough to ask any questions that shouldn't be asked. She hesitated for a moment: "I won't go in, I Live on the fourth floor, can you come with me to find other people?"

That being said, she glanced over the man's shoulder and glanced back. From this angle, she could only see a little thing. The window behind the man was wide open, and she couldn't see anything else, except that there seemed to be no paint on the wall. The paint and rough gray cement are all exposed, and even the furniture such as chandeliers seem to be gone.

What's going on, is the house that this player is assigned so simple?Or the legendary industrial style decoration?

The man didn't seem to notice Chen Yin's scrutiny. He nodded and raised his foot to come out. After thinking for a while, he simply opened the door and explained to Chen Yin who was puzzled: "This house is a bit special, there is no key at all. You can come to me and concentrate."

When Chen Yin heard what he said, she looked away. After the man came out, she realized that he was holding a hammer in the hand behind his back.

Seeing this iron guy, Chen Yin involuntarily took a step back, and the man stopped awkwardly: "Uh this... Actually, I'm a little scared too..."

He probably felt that it was unmanly for a man to say such a thing, and his face turned red after he finished speaking. This behavior made Chen Yin feel strangely relaxed, so she stepped aside: "It's nothing, I wanted to find him too. Some self-defense weapons, but I have nothing to use there, so I just..."

She smiled wryly, and showed the man the fruit knife in her hand. It was still a plastic safety knife with a blunt edge.

The man laughed and walked up to Chen Yin, and the two walked downstairs together, probably because there was someone by her side, so Chen Yin's fear eased a lot, she took the initiative to introduce: "My name is Zhao Yin, I live in 401 , is a migrant worker, how about you?"

When she said this, she had a nonchalant expression on her face, obviously she was memorizing the setting given by this "playground".

The man also introduced himself cooperatively: "My name is Zhang Dinghai, I live in 501, and I work in construction."

"Building," Chen Yin repeated, thinking of the empty rough room she saw just now, she seemed to understand something, nodded, "I'm the second game, what about you?"

Zhang Dinghai paused, and the two of them just walked into the dark staircase from the fourth floor to the third floor. Chen Yin turned her eyes, only to see the other party blink, and replied gently without any abnormality: "I am actually the first one game."

Chen Yin relaxed a little.

The rookie in the first game seems to be safe at least for now. If there are veterans around, she will choose her as a teammate who is more experienced-ah, although this game doesn't need teammates, but the rookie in the first game, Usually, she waits for the first to be kicked out. With Zhang Dinghai in front, she will have more time to be safe.

"Don't be afraid, as long as you are brave and careful, you won't die soon even in the first match." Chen Yin said comforting words that she didn't even believe herself.

"...Thank you, I don't feel so scared now." The man turned his face and smiled gently at Chen Yin, his smile was full of gratitude.

He looks like a very good person, Chen Yin thought subconsciously.