“How strange…” The man turned his head with a dull gaze, looking back at Yun Yao. “What are you saying again?”
Yun Yao swallowed slightly at the man’s methods. “I-I didn’t say anything…”
“You said that person is called Chen Junnan?” the man muttered to himself. “So strange… I just don’t understand… You all clearly know but refuse to tell me? Are you all planning to deceive me?”
The girls already felt a chill creeping up their spines, none daring to utter another word.
This man seemed capable of hearing their thoughts.
His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized them one by one. “You all know someone named Chen Junnan?”
Qin Dingdong realized the situation had spiraled out of control. With a desperate shout, she cried, “Run! It’s ‘Tianshe’!!”
Before anyone could react, vines sprouted from the ground, tightly binding their legs in place.
“Good… Good…” Tianshe nodded angrily. “Deceiving me, are you? I treated you with courtesy, and this is how you repay me? I… I…”
He seemed to want to say something vicious, but the words stumbled out incoherently.
“W-wait…” Lin Qin spoke up, suppressing the sharp pain in her right leg. “Y-you’re looking for Chen Junnan, right? I’ll tell you where he is… Tying us up won’t help…”
“What?” Tianshe fixed his gaze on Lin Qin for several seconds.
She felt as if her very soul was being devoured by that stare.
Slowly, Tianshe raised his brows. “What does ‘Cat’ mean? And where is this ‘Prison’?”
“I…” Lin Qin quickly shut her eyes, trying to block his view. “Let these people go… Once they’re gone, I’ll tell you…”
She suspected this overwhelming mind-reading ability had an activation condition—likely requiring eye contact.
“Is all this trouble necessary…?” Tianshe turned to Qin Dingdong, sprawled on the ground. “I’ll interrogate each of you one by one… Someone will eventually talk…”
He crouched beside her and asked calmly, “Listen carefully…”
“Listen…?” Qin Dingdong froze. “No, wait… I have an idea… Hear me out first…”
“Define ‘Peak-End Effect.'”
“W-wait a second…” Panic flashed across her face. “Even if you insist on quizzing me… shouldn’t you pick something easier…?”
“Five-second countdown,” Tianshe stated.
“You… you bastard…” Qin Dingdong immediately shut her eyes. In her flustered state, the massive bell behind her swayed as she muttered, “These vines are so pitiful… fake, after all… So where are the real ones…?”
A thin bead of sweat trickled down her forehead.
What an absurd belief—that the emerald-green vines sprouting from the earth, carrying the scent of soil, could be fake?
This was Tianshe’s doing. How could they possibly be fake?
With a sigh, Tianshe wrapped his hand around Qin Dingdong’s throat. “Without knowledge, you are destined to die.”
His pale, slender fingers tightened slowly. She felt as if her tongue might snap from the pressure.
“I-I know!” Zhang Chenze suddenly spoke up, though her voice trembled. “We’re together… Can I answer for her?”
Tianshe said nothing, merely turning his gaze toward her.
“P-peak-end effect… means humans tend to remember only the most intense emotion and the emotion at the end of an experience…” Zhang Chenze forced herself to steady her voice. “If both are positive, the overall memory is pleasant… and vice versa.”
Tianshe remained silent, his grip tightening further.
Unsure of his intent, Zhang Chenze hurriedly added, “For example, at certain restaurants… if one dish is exceptionally good, leaving a strong impression, and you see free candies at the checkout… eating that candy triggers a classic ‘peak-end effect.’ Since the peak and end emotions are both ‘good,’ the restaurant is remembered as ‘good,’ making people overlook negatives like slow service, noise, or long waits. Many businesses exploit this principle… That’s called—”
*Crack!*
With a single motion, Tianshe snapped Qin Dingdong’s neck.
Zhang Chenze choked on her words mid-sentence.
Qin Dingdong’s facial features contorted grotesquely, her mouth spewing bloodied fragments.
She had known Tianshe—but before she could reveal how to counter this ruthless man, her life was snuffed out.
Crimson blood splattered across Tianshe’s white shirt. Expressionlessly, he flicked his wrist and stood, turning his gaze to Zhang Chenze.
She swallowed hard, certain her death was imminent.
“You… are knowledgeable.” Tianshe nodded. “I like you. Will you be my assistant?”
“Assistant…?” Zhang Chenze frowned slowly. “You kill people for ‘lacking knowledge.’ Who would ever agree to work for you?”
“Should the ignorant not die?” Tianshe locked eyes with her. “Heaven grants us all the same time… I used mine to learn, yet they remain so ignorant… How pitiful. Rather than let them waste their lives, I send them on their way.”
“And that’s fair…?” Seeing no escape, Zhang Chenze steeled herself. “Just because you knew the ‘peak-end effect’ and she didn’t, she deserved to die? You claim we all have the same time—if we didn’t spend it learning your so-called knowledge, we must have used it for things you haven’t. Who gave you the right to decide life and death?”
Lin Qin and Yun Yao were stunned by Zhang Chenze’s boldness. Though she spoke truth, was provoking Tianshe now wise?
“I don’t believe you,” Tianshe sneered. “There’s no knowledge in this world I don’t possess.”
“Fine.” Zhang Chenze nodded. “Listen carefully.”
“What…?”
The others stared at her in shock.
“What’s the penalty for counterfeiting currency?” she asked.
Tianshe pondered briefly. “Article 170 of the Criminal Code. Participants face three to ten years imprisonment. For ringleaders or cases involving large sums or severe circumstances, sentences range from ten years to life.”
Zhang Chenze swallowed, scrambling for an even more obscure question. “If someone takes custody of another’s property but later tries to claim it, how is that judged?”
“Article 270. Under two years imprisonment. For large amounts, two to five years plus fines.” Tianshe answered faster this time, clearly anticipating her strategy.
“I told you…” He stepped closer to Zhang Chenze. “There’s no knowledge I lack. You can’t outmatch me—so you’re all fools. And fools must die.”
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