Love Apartment: Yifei is my junior aunt

Chapter 525 I'm a good man, I'm Zeng Xiaoxian

Upon hearing this, "Youyou" and "Wanyu" fell into an eerie silence. Their faces and figures began to distort and change. Not only did their distinct features become blurred and hazy, as if covered by a light veil, but even their physical characteristics slowly disappeared, turning into a blurry plane.

If we say that the process of Xiao Zeyou, Mu Feng, and Mario gradually becoming blurry is like reducing the resolution, that is, from 16K all the way down to 360P, and finally disappearing completely, then the blurring and haziness of the two people in front of us are not the same concept at all.

They, or rather, their current appearance, are strikingly similar to the faceless and shapeless Black from Detective Conan. The only difference is that their bodies are not black, but rather covered in an indescribable void.

They are Zhang Wei's imaginary companions, his imagined parents.

It's a pity that Zhang Wei has never met his biological parents, so they are not anyone, yet they can be anyone.

Seeing this, Xiao Xian in the suit seemed to understand something. He sighed helplessly, "This is the trouble caused by not giving our fantasy partners a physical appearance and personality."

He had been very curious about what kind of imaginary companion could share his thoughts and come up with such a brilliant idea as disguising himself as a murderer.

That's right. If he hadn't had two troublesome burdens by his side from the beginning, and if Zeng Xiaoxian hadn't woken up from his dream, he would have done the same as the two people in front of him, sparing no effort to prolong this doomed dream.

Nanfeng is the master of the dream. If you try to control him to maintain this beautiful dream, it is likely to cause trouble. So it is better to kick out all those who may affect his continued immersion in the dream.

If it were Mario and Xiao Zeyou Mufeng, one of them would be too simple-minded to even think about it, and the other would be too kind to act on it even if he did.

He had assumed that his imaginary partner, who shared the same thoughts as him, would also have a similar personality, but he was surprised to find that Zhang Wei's parents had no personality at all.

Or perhaps Zhang Wei himself didn't know what his biological parents were like, so in his mind, his parents were just a bunch of people who had no appearance, no personality, and no other characteristics.

It's perfectly normal for these two imaginary partners, who are in a state of chaos, to do whatever they want in their dreams.

"How did you guess it was ours?"

The man who had spoken earlier, Youyou, spoke slowly. His neutral voice still retained masculine qualities. In addition, he had been in charge of both the murder and the operation plan. It seemed that he must be the father that Zhang Wei had imagined.

"Well..."

Xiao Xian in a suit was pondering whether he needed to tell his "enemy" his thoughts, feeling that doing so would be a bit foolish.

"Actually, it wasn't hard to guess it was you..."

[In his inner world, Xiao Xian, dressed in a suit, sipped his 1982 Lafite and said matter-of-factly.]

I know it's pointless to explain my thoughts to the "enemy," but I've already taken a sword strike, so I have to at least show off a little.

If I don't explain to them how I deduced their identities from the smallest details, how will they know I'm resourceful and exceptionally intelligent?

[I'm going to prove I'm the real master detective in the apartment building, and that perpetually flawed detective can't possibly get involved!]

Xiao Xian, dressed in a suit, paused for a moment, then continued, "First of all, thank you for praising my suit yesterday. You know, ever since I came to this dream world, everyone who sees us only says that we not only dress strangely, but we also look strange."

"There aren't many people like you two who not only recognize that I'm wearing a suit, but also compliment it on how good it looks."

Zhang Wei's father was taken aback: "Just because of that?"

"That's not entirely true. After all, this dream world is rather absurd, and it's not impossible for you to know someone in a suit given your status and position in the dream world."

"As for others calling Yifei 'Zhang Zhenren' or 'Yifei Zhenren,' it's understandable that you guys naturally asked me to greet Yifei, since you have different statuses."

"Even though we searched the entire Wudang Mountain and all the guests were curious about what we were doing, you two not only didn't ask anything, but you were also very cooperative. I can also consider you two to be approachable and good emperors and empresses."

"besides……"

He thought for a moment and decided that he should give the other side some face, so Xiao Xian in the suit shrugged helplessly: "In short, your disguise is indeed not a big problem, but with one small thing after another piling up, it's normal for me to have a little suspicion about you, right?"

"Moreover, the very existence of a serial killer is a problem."

"That's a problem in itself..."

Zhang Wei's mother, who had previously impersonated Wan Yu, seemed thoughtful: "Is it because of time?"

"That's right."

Xiao Xian in the suit continued to explain: "You also saw the blurry Mario and Xiao Ze and Mu Feng yesterday. The existence of the fantasy partner relies on the imagination and self-awareness of the original body."

"Xiao Zeyou Mufeng only stayed in the dream world for less than a day. Guan Gu and Mario are already the closest physical and imaginary partners. But if Guan Gu doesn't wake up, Mario will only last less than a day longer than Xiao Zeyou Mufeng."

"As I gradually became certain that the serial killer was a fantasy partner, I became curious about one thing: how could this serial killer have existed for so many days?"

"Either Zhang Wei or Nan Feng, like Zeng Xiaoxian, has a serious mental illness, and their fantasy partner, like me, is not simply a fantasy."

"Either I have to come up with a reasonable explanation to convince myself why they are both immersed in their dreams, but their fantasy partners can exist for so long."

"At this point, my previous slight doubts about you became the final piece of the puzzle for me to fill in the clues. I was thinking... is it possible that their imaginary partner is part of their dream?"

"The reason you have been able to exist for so long is because even when Zhang Wei is immersed in his dream, you are still the parents he knows and imagines."

Xiao Xian in the suit laughed and said, "Of course, what I just said is just my speculation. There is no solid evidence to prove that you have a problem. In fact, I just ruled out the possibility that the murderer is Nanfeng's fantasy partner."

"With one of the two options eliminated, even if it were Guan Gu trying to deduce the correct answer, he should be able to arrive at the correct conclusion by now."

Guan Gu, who was inexplicably called out, immediately looked embarrassed: "Teacher Xian, that's very impolite of you to say that."

Xiao Xian in a suit disagreed: "Guan Gu, I'm not trying to discourage you, but you really don't have the talent for deduction."

"You were able to deduce the wrong thing in that situation just now. Aren't you surprised that the two of them just rushed over without even shouting when they saw you?"

Guan Gu was taken aback upon hearing this, and then a hint of embarrassment quietly appeared on his face.

Yes, if Yoyo really saw me, even if she didn't rush towards me like Mario, she wouldn't be so oblivious to me, would she?

Once again, the famous detective Guan Gu felt a surge of frustration at his failed deduction.

[Damn it!]

Zhang Wei's parents smiled helplessly. They had thought they had disguised themselves quite well, but after Xiao Xian in the suit said that, they felt that they had flaws all over the place.

"Feel sorry."

Zhang Wei imagined his parents bowing slightly, but they showed no intention of letting go of the unconscious Xiao Nanfeng.

Zhang Wei's mother apologized in a low voice, "We didn't want this to happen either, but we really had no other choice."

"So you're still not planning to give up?"

Xiao Xian in a suit advised, "You two should know that you have no chance of winning."

"We know."

They understood perfectly well that the biggest threat of the serial killers was that no one knew their identities, but now that their identities had been exposed, their weaknesses were also revealed.

That's Zhang Wei.

Once Zhang Wei is kicked out of the dream, everything will be over.

There were only two of them, but the other side had three people, not counting Youyou and Wanyu.

Even if Zhang Wei's parents were the most optimistic, they didn't believe that the two of them could manage to leave with the unconscious Xiao Nanfeng and then go back to take the completely unaware Zhang Wei away, despite being outnumbered.

They can only take care of one person at most.

Taking Nanfeng away would mean leaving Zhang Wei behind, which would mean the end of their dream.

If Zhang Wei is taken away, Nanfeng will likely be woken up by everyone in the apartment, and her dream will end.

Of course, there is another possibility: they took Nanfeng away, betting that no one would kick Zhang Wei out of the dream.

But what's the point of them staying in the dream world like this?

A sense of powerlessness quietly welled up in their hearts; they felt as if they had reached a dead end.

However, Zhang Wei's parents still did not intend to give up on his fantasy. Just as they knew that the dream would end sooner or later, they still tried their best to make the dream world last longer.

Because they were engrossed in their dreams.

"No, I don't think you know."

Xiao Xian in a suit cruelly shattered their last illusions: "You think you still have a little chance of taking Xiao Nanfeng and Zhang Wei away at the same time, but let me tell you: you absolutely, absolutely cannot do it!"

"Don't you think so... Yifei?"

"Yifei?!"

Zhang Wei's parents exclaimed in shock, "She's definitely not..."

Xiao Xian in the suit shrugged: "I just said, Mario's Life-Giving Mushroom is really useful."

"The Life-Giving Mushroom plus the Shrinking Mushroom is enough to create the illusion that Yifei has been kicked out of the dream."

Meeting Guan Gu's bewildered gaze, Mario cheerfully gave him a thumbs up.

Super Mario's mushrooms are amazing! Everyone who uses them loves them!

"That's right, Mario, you've done a great job this time."

Yifei slowly walked out from around a corner, followed by her loyal but unlucky servant Zeng Xiaoxian.

"hiss……"

Zeng Xiaoxian twisted his stiff neck and immediately cried out in pain.

He grinned at Xiao Xian in the suit and said, "If you were going to replace me, you could have just told me. What's the meaning of this sneak attack?"

"And you, Mario!"

Zeng Xiaoxian said indignantly, "I knew Guan Gu was out of his mind to give you a game character with a toilet-going setting! Turns out you were just messing with me!"

Mario chuckled.

Xiao Xian in the suit rolled his eyes at him: "With your brain, how long would it take us to explain to you?"

"Besides, knowing that a serial killer can disguise himself, I'd like to gamble on whether you, with your pig brain, will think that I'm a serial killer in disguise."

"I think it'd be easier to just give you a hand chop, don't you think, Yifei?"

Yifei nodded.

In fact, long before Zhang Wei's imagined father disguised himself as Zeng Xiaoxian to find Yifei last night, Xiaoxian in a suit, who had just seen off Xiaoze and Mufeng, had already approached Yifei.

What he wanted to do was very simple: use Yifei as bait!

At the time, Xiao Xian in his suit couldn't guess who the killer was, but he believed that the large-scale search in Wudang the day before had alerted the killer.

Because in the killer's eyes, this massive search almost certainly confirmed that Yifei and Youyou had woken up from their dream, in addition to Zeng Xiaoxian, Mario, and Wanyu who had been taken away...

Regardless of who this killer is or what his motives are, he will definitely take action after that large-scale search, otherwise the forces that awaken Nanfeng will only continue to grow stronger.

In this situation, it's actually quite easy to predict who the killer will target, since in this dream world, the combined influence of everyone else might not even equal that of Yifei alone.

The reason the killer didn't target Yifei before was probably because he couldn't beat her, or even launch a sneak attack.

After all, Zhang Zhenren of Wudang is absolutely the number one in the world without any weaknesses.

However, after waking up from her dream, Yifei, even though her fighting skills were still off the charts, was no longer so difficult to deal with.

...At least that's how it is for everyone in the apartment.

As for why Yifei had to fake her death instead of directly catching the person who attacked her, it was because Xiaoxian in the suit had already begun to suspect Zhang Wei's parents in the dream world, and he even suspected that Nanfeng and Zhang Wei's imaginary partner might have conspired to kill him.

Since there's no way to determine the number of killers, and only Zeng Xiaoxian disguised as someone came to their door last night, there's no need for them to alert the enemy.

The reason they only told Mario about this plan was because Zeng Xiaoxian was sleeping too soundly at the time.

Furthermore, they also need Zeng Xiaoxian, Wanyu, and Youyou's panicked reactions to prove to the murderer that Yifei was indeed kicked out of the dream.

This is how the killers, or rather the killers themselves, become complacent, and the situation instantly changes from the enemy being in the dark and me being in the light to the enemy being in the light and me being in the dark.

As for Zeng Xiaoxian... Suit Xiaoxian really didn't expect that this guy would actually be reliable one day.

In order to prevent this incompetent teammate from causing trouble, after he had finished performing, Xiao Xian in a suit decisively replaced him.

In this way, they would operate openly, searching for more clues to confirm the killer's true identity, while Yifei would retreat behind the scenes, becoming their most deeply hidden trump card.

Now, through other clues, he has fully confirmed the identity of the murderer. The murderers have also relaxed their vigilance because of Yifei's disappearance, and for the first time, the two of them work together.

The appearance of Yifei completely shattered their last desperate attempt.

This hunt hidden behind an absurd dream world, this hunter game in which the opponent gained the upper hand, was ultimately reversed by them.

"It seems we've truly suffered a crushing defeat."

Zhang Wei's imagined father sighed, and looked up at Xiao Xian in the suit: "I thought we were on the same side. Even if you don't help us, you don't need to help them."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Xian in his suit slowly exhaled a breath of stale air: "It's hard to imagine that one day I would say this, but..."

"I'm a good man, I'm... Zeng Xiaoxian~"

"what?"

Zeng Xiaoxian, who was standing to the side, was dumbfounded.

You stole my identity, and you even stole my lines!

Here it comes!

As Pigeon mentioned earlier, the original idea behind this piece was to extract clues from absurd and hilarious events to uncover the truth.

However, due to the need to speed up the pacing, many plot points and storylines were cut. For example, the scene where the investigation leads to Zhang Wei should have been described in more detail so that the murderer wouldn't seem like he suddenly appeared.

All other absurd and humorous scenes that weren't part of the main plot were also cut, making this chapter seem... well, let's not put too much effort into this chapter. It's just that the idea behind the Pigeon chapter is problematic.

By the way, Pigeon went to the hospital today to check her leg. Nothing was done except for an MRI. Big hospitals really do require appointments and long queues everywhere.

I have to wait until Thursday night to get an MRI, and then I have to wait until next Monday to schedule another appointment with the doctor to find out what's wrong with the pigeon's leg. It's been a week full of waiting and agonizing anticipation.

(End of this chapter)