Unexpected Verdict

"What's suspicious?" Tie Jingang asked.

Luo Jun laughed, "Did you notice? During our conversation with the bride, which lasted less than half an hour, she cried at least ten times. Her makeup was even a little smudged from crying..."

"Is there anything special about this?" Hou Song frowned and asked, "It would be strange if an ordinary girl could maintain a normal emotional state after experiencing something like this on her wedding night, and then having to be buried with her deceased husband in a couple of days?"

"I mean, if she's been sobbing so many times in such a short time, how long do you think she's been crying since last night?" Luo Jun asked with a smile.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Tie Jingang and Hou Song were even more confused, while Liu Si's eyes lit up. "That's right, since she's cried so many times, why was her makeup still so intact when we first came in?"

"Senior Sister Liu is so observant!" Luo Jun gave a thumbs up. "Either she had the composure to touch up her makeup after such a big incident, or the bride hasn't cried at all since last night..."

"Uh..." Hearing Luo Jun's words, the three of them were stunned for a moment. "You mean, the bride is the murderer?"

"We can't be 100% certain," Luo Jun said. "But it at least shows that she doesn't care too much about this matter. Her so-called weakness and pitifulness are all an act. Even if she's not the murderer, she's most likely connected to him."

"But even if she was involved in the assassination, she would still be buried with the Great Shaman after his death. How can she be so calm?" Hou Song shook his head. "That doesn't make sense..."

"Perhaps there is a way to escape?" Tie Jingang analyzed, "But there are many experts among the people of Southern Borderlands. Now that we are under their control, how easy is it for us to escape?"

Luo Jun nodded and said, "If the murderer that everyone saw was actually a dummy created by the Genesis Art, wouldn't that make sense?"

"Who says it isn't...?"

"This is the Martial World world. Do you think you can reason with people from the Southern Borderlands?"

"This is it!" Luo Jun smiled. "Martial Uncle, do you remember when we examined the windows at the crime scene and found no traces of the murderer's clothing?"

"A dummy?" Hou Song was taken aback, then shook his head and laughed, "You guys really have some imagination... Creating lifelike humans requires a very advanced Genesis Art. Moreover, creatures Genesis Art dissipate as soon as they suffer a fatal injury, leaving no trace, not even a corpse. Even a fool could see something was wrong..."

"Then find evidence that will force her to admit it!" Luo Jun stretched. "Don't worry, things will work themselves out. There's always a way."

Hou Song nodded. "At the time, Officer Zhang said that the murderer's clothing might have been made of a special, tough, and durable material, which is why no traces were left... Oh, you mean..."

As soon as he returned to the Hundred Rivers Sect branch, the others surrounded him. They were overjoyed to see Martial Uncle Hou return and, amidst their cheers, they all asked him about the progress of the matter.

The group briefly explained, "In short, we can now confirm that the murderer is not from our Central Plains region, but the people of Southern Borderlands do not agree. Unless we can find conclusive evidence or catch the real culprit, it will be difficult for them to let this go... and our Hundred Rivers Sect has taken on this thorny task."

Hou Song was taken aback by the question, "I said... people created by the Genesis Art disappear when they suffer a fatal wound, leaving no corpse..."

"What if even the Fifth Elder can't get an answer?" Liu Si asked worriedly.

"So tomorrow, I plan to pay close attention to this widow," Luo Jun said with a smile. "I'll call the Fifth Elder along. We can't afford to be violent in the Southern Borderlands Frontier, but surely he'll find a way to get her to talk."

"Isn't this timeline too rushed? The burial is the day after tomorrow, and all the suspects have to be given Heartbreak Gu? At least give them a few days' grace."

The crowd's discussion suddenly made Luo Jun's eyes light up. He looked at Hou Song and asked, "Wait, Martial Uncle, what did you say?"

"If you ask me, let's not worry about Yunzhou City anymore... Martial Uncle Hou is back, so whether the case is solved or not doesn't really matter."

"Indeed, it doesn't make sense..." Tie Jingang and Liu Si nodded.

"That's what I can't understand either," Luo Jun analyzed. "If this A Li had a way to escape, why would she stay here and wait to be buried with him? Wouldn't it have been better to kill someone and run away? You know, on her wedding night, no one would disturb the Great Shaman's good time. After killing someone, as long as she didn't make a fuss, she would have at least one night to escape. Why make such a scene and trap herself here?"

"How can I provide evidence for this? Isn't it always the burden of proof that comes from the person making the claim...?"

"Because it was a dummy, any things left behind would eventually dissipate; because it was a dummy, no one could find the murderer's trace, as he vanished without a trace; because it was a dummy, the Curse had no effect... And the [Martial World] is almost entirely composed of Martial Combat Faction Cultivators, with very few Creation Faction, so no one suspected that the murderer was a dummy!"

Watching the young man's confident back, Hou Song, Tie Jingang, and Liu Si felt inexplicably at ease. Although he had the lowest cultivation level and weakest strength, for some reason, he always gave off the feeling that he could solve any problem...

"That's right! We've been researching this at home, and we were even planning to use the Genesis Art to create a dummy to swap out Martial Uncle Hou! We didn't expect you to come back on your own!"

"That makes sense!" Everyone nodded in agreement. Tie Jingang said, "Then it seems the bride is even more suspicious! She was the only one who stayed in the room the whole time, making it easier for her to manipulate the dummy to commit the crime!"

Luo Jun nodded, then frowned. "But this still doesn't explain why she didn't run away... There are still some doubts..."

"That's not all." Hou Song shook his head as well. "Based on my understanding of the Curse in the Southern Borderlands, if it's a dummy created by the Genesis Art, then the Curse will still affect the caster. After all, a dummy has no thoughts. The real culprit is the master who manipulates it to commit the crime! So this still doesn't explain why the bride showed no signs of Curse."

"This is already a very important breakthrough!" Tie Jingang said excitedly, "Tell the Fifth Elder about this tomorrow, he has his own way of verifying it!"

Luo Jun nodded. "By the way, Martial Uncle Hou, could you arrange a single room for me tonight?" As he spoke, he waved the stack of lists and documents in his hand. "I might have to stay up all night analyzing these things."

"No problem!" Hou Song agreed, "There are plenty of empty rooms here, I'll go and prepare one for you right away. But don't overwork yourself, I'm already back. If we can solve the case, great; if not, it doesn't matter. Don't ruin your health for that little reward."

"Don't worry, Martial Uncle, I know what I'm doing," Luo Jun said with a grin.

On the other side, Li Xinyu called out to Tie Jingang, "By the way, Martial Uncle Tie, the sect has replied..."

"Take me to see this quickly..." Tie Jingang and Hou Song immediately followed Li Xinyu to the Main Building.

The sect's reply was divided into two parts. The first part concerned the situation in Shannan Town.

The sect has dispatched an investigation team to Shannan Town. It has been confirmed that the town is a ghost town, and the source of the virus is likely Lao Xu, the sentry previously planted in the town. Based on some clues left by Lao Xu, it is speculated that the virus was likely obtained from Gong Shiyue. It is not yet time to open the gate. On the Gate Opening Day next month, the sect will report this information to the Main World and instruct them to intensify their interrogation of Gong Shiyue.

Meanwhile, the sect has also contacted Clear Breeze Stronghold and intensified the search near Shannan Town to prevent any stray zombies from spreading the infection. But overall, the Eternal Virus is not very efficient at spreading, especially in the sparsely populated and inconveniently located [Martial World], so there is basically no need to worry about its spread. The sect told them to focus on their mission and not to worry too much about the virus.

Seeing that the sect had a solution, Tie Jingang felt relieved.

As for the second part, it concerns Hou Song's arrest. Headquarters sent two items: Invisibility Talisman and Substitute Straw Man for him.

The Invisibility Talisman goes without saying; Luo Jun had obtained one before, and its concealment effect was incredibly powerful. As for this Substitute Straw Man, it was also a Rare-level consumable item. Its effect was to create a perfect dummy image that simulated oneself after use. The dummy could last for up to three days, during which time it was completely under the control of the original body. Even if it died, it would leave behind a normal corpse until the time expired and then dissipate.

With these two items, it would be easy to bypass the Governor's Residence and secretly rescue Hou Song. The sect's intention was also clear: it would be best if Hou Song could be exonerated, but if not, he should at least be allowed to live.

However, it seemed that these two items were no longer needed, and it would be too troublesome to send them back, so Hou Song stayed behind.

Meanwhile, Luo Jun arrived at the prepared private room, took out the lists and documents, and looked through them one by one.

In the past, Luo Jun probably wouldn't have been able to read through these several large books filled with dense text. But now, with the boost from various attributes, his memory, concentration, and reading speed have all greatly improved, and he can understand these materials even if he only reads ten lines at a glance.

After reading it, he couldn't help but sigh, "This Great Shaman Wujida is definitely no good..."

The guests were one thing, since they were all his friends and there was basically no conflict between them... but the more than twenty suspects were all people with deep-seated hatred for each other.

He either seized other men's wives, or encroached on their land, and even once killed someone in the street over a trivial matter...

But most of the time, they would seize other people's daughters, torture them to death, and leave their elderly fathers with nowhere to turn for help. They were even worse than beasts!

This is only a selection of those whom the Fifth Elder believes are capable of retaliating against Wujida. If we include the poor people who are powerless to resist, the number of victims would probably increase several times over!

Luo Jun had initially thought this guy was only arrogant towards the Central Plains people, not so utterly despicable towards his own people. How could such a beast Great Shaman and leader of the people of Yunzhou's Southern Borderlands? It seems this guy has some powerful connections...

Seeing this scoundrel, Luo Jun almost didn't want to catch the real culprit!

However, for the sake of peace in the Central Plains and Southern Borderlands, for the benefit of the Hundred Rivers Sect, and also for the sake of my own little bit of experience, I still have to find them...

After reviewing the documents, it was getting late, so Luo Jun leaned against the bed for a short nap. He didn't open his eyes until after midnight.

The dice roll count has been refreshed.

We can begin verifying the identity of the culprit.

Luo Jun unfolded all the lists and spread them on the floor. There were several thousand people on hundreds of pages, almost filling the entire room.

Then he took out a copper coin, pressed it against his Thumb, and activated the Dice of Heavenly Secrets.

"Let the coin land on the real culprit's name!"

"Use Intermediate Point Correction!"

It must spin! It must spin!

Luo Jun prayed silently, and finally, two pairs of dice appeared before him, beginning to spin!

It's done! This means the real culprit is indeed among these people!

As the dice stabilized, one pair showed 84, and the other showed 37.

Luo Jun felt a little regretful, but ultimately chose 84 points.

"Ding! Event Difficulty 100 points, Final Points 84 + 15 points, Event Failed!"

Finding the real culprit from a list of thousands of people is incredibly difficult; we were so close to succeeding!

But it's okay, as long as the person is in here, things will be fine.

Luo Jun no longer plans to hold Preliminary Selection involving a thousand people. He now speculates that the most likely suspects are the more than twenty suspects identified by the Fifth Elder, as well as the bride A Li. Selecting one from twenty-three people would increase the success rate.

He took out paper and pen, copied down the names of these people, cut them into small cards, shuffled them face down, and activated the Dice of Heavenly Secrets again.

"Draw up the murderer's name!"

"Ding, this event is Mandatory Event and cannot be determined. The number of dice rolls is reduced by one."

"What?!"

Luo Jun was stunned. He wasn't among these people?

The others are one thing, but what about A Li, the bride with so many suspicious points?

This was a bit unexpected... He thought for a moment, looked at the lists spread out on the ground, and finally put away the guest list, leaving only the list of Luoyue People.

Besides the bride and the suspects, the most likely suspect, based on the toxins found on the Great Shaman, is Luoyue People. If he isn't among those twenty-odd people, then it's very likely that he is one of them.

There are nearly three thousand Luoyue People living in Southern Borderlands, the largest number of them. He took out copper coins again.

"Let the coin land on the real culprit's name!"

"Ding, this event is Mandatory Event and cannot be determined. The number of dice rolls is reduced by one."

?!!

The result of the dice roll was completely unexpected by Luo Jun!

The entire list was included in a dice roll, and the dice rolled, proving that the real culprit was indeed on the list.

However, when the dice were rolled on the list of the most suspected bride, the suspect, and Luoyue People, the result indicated Mandatory Event, suggesting that the real culprit was not among these people...

There is only one possibility: the real culprit is among the remaining guests and servants.

This list contains seven or eight hundred people; if you were to roll the dice, it would definitely be a 100-point roll!

Three dice rolls left, two Intermediate Modification left... Roughly calculated, the probability of identifying the murderer should be around 50%... But if all attempts fail, then all dice rolls for today will be used up...

Luo Jun considered it for a while, but ultimately decided against using it.

Tomorrow is the day of the Great Shaman's burial. If there's no progress in the case today, the people of Southern Borderlands will probably take the suspects, including Martial Uncle Hou, away tonight... After midnight, even if the dice rolls reset, there might not be a chance...

But there are three turns left, how should I use them?

Luo Jun sat on the bed and thought for a while. Finally, he opened the window, jumped out when no one was paying attention, and then nimbly climbed over the courtyard wall. Under the cover of night, he headed towards the settlement area of Southern Borderlands people.

(End of this chapter)