Funerals (10) - Revenge

Yu Xing was merely refining a plausible theory in his mind based on existing clues, but the way he uttered these speculations gave people a strange sense of conviction.

It's probably because when he speaks, it's as if he's calmly stating facts.

Zhao Ruru counted on her fingers. "Hmm, so Liu Xue was the first to die."

"No, the young master who's getting married at the ancestral grave is the first one." Yu Xing gave him a look, as if to say, "Are you really not going to think about it?"

Although things most likely started to spiral out of control after Liu Xue's death, we must never forget what the root cause of everything was.

Even if Liu Xue did something unjust, there was still a feudal custom standing in her way, and that was the real culprit, the thing that truly needed to be discarded.

Zhao Ruru: "Oh."

She counted on one finger. "Now there are two."

Yu Xing sighed almost imperceptibly, "Before Liu Xue committed suicide, she must have had some kind of connection with the steward of the ancestral grave. It could have been a conflict, or it could have been mutual assistance; we don't know at this stage. In any case, after her suicide, she probably became the first evil ghost. If you commit suicide with immense resentment, who will be the first person you seek out as a ghost?"

The little girl was very emotionally involved. "Get revenge on the person who harmed you!"

"That's right, Liu Xue's enemies are nothing more than the people at the Yin House and her father who sold her for money. Of the two, Liu Xue Liu Bingxian... Don't ask why Liu Bingxian; I can tell from your eyes that you're about to ask!" Yu Xing shut Zhao Ruru up before she could ask the stupid question. "The reason is simple: the wedding at the Yin House is still going ahead as planned."

"It was an absurd wedding to begin with. Liu Xue's death won't have any impact. It saves us the trouble of finding a way to kill her after the wedding so she can join her husband in the afterlife."

"The butler, following the master's instructions, invited the guests, which at least indicates that the ancestral graves did not suffer any retribution from Liu Xue some time after her death."

"So what did she go to do? She Liu Bingxian, of course."

Zhao Yijiu nodded. "That makes sense."

Yu Xing laughed, "Of course. Actually, there's another detail. If Liu Bingxian only sold his daughter, the neighbors would only dislike him, not be afraid of him. But in my previous tests, those ghost shop owners were clearly terrified of the person represented by the name 'Boss Liu.' Some shop owners said he was 'eerie' and 'he can't be heard by him.'"

His remarkable memory for minute details was on full display once again. "These conversations should have taken place after Liu Xue bought the paper cutter and before Liu Bingxian bought the second portrait frame. Because in the ledger, between these two records, someone bought two bundles of paper ingots on credit, which happened to occur during this conversation."

I'm speechless.

[The person is in a daze.]

[I'm blown away by Nariyuki's observation skills. What kind of keen observation is that?]

[I'm tired of blowing]

I can no longer say that he's inferior to Luo Liang; even Luo Liang can't match his intelligence.

[It feels like I've gone back to the time before I became a deducer, back when I was a terrible student, listening to my math teacher explain problems and watching top students solve them.]

[He seems a little disgusted with my gentle, goddess-like appearance...]

[Really? I didn't notice.]

[No offense intended, but I think Zhao Ruru has done enough. If I were to go, I might be rejected and sent out to my death.]

Indeed, he shows no respect for his seniors. Zhao Ruru has been promoted for a year now, hasn't she?

[I hope there's no disrespect involved.]

[What are you doing? Xing's abilities give him the right to look down on others. If Zhao Ruru didn't know a bit about fortune-telling, wouldn't she just be a burden?]

[That can't be serious, how could it be dragging everyone down?]

[And Cold Wine, although her skills are good, her thinking seems to be lagging behind Xing's. I think if it weren't for the two of them, Xing would find it much easier to find more compatible teammates.]

[Yeah, the more I look at it, the more I feel that Zhao Ruru and Cold Wine are not a good match. Isn't this just someone who's in the deduction simulation to get points?]

The viewers listened to the analysis and engaged in heated discussions in the live chat, but as the discussion progressed, the topic seemed to veer off course.

There were already people in the live stream who liked watching Zhao Ruru's live streams, as well as people who joined from Zhao Yijiu's live stream and really liked this newcomer Zhao Yijiu.

Immediately, the comments section became filled with hostility.

Interestingly, before the argument could even get going, the big shots started speaking up.

[Zhao Mou: That's quite interesting. Trying to stir up trouble right under my nose. Very confident, huh?]

[Yan Ming: Oh, what's going on? Which force is planning to nip the threat in the bud?]

[Xu Shu: Not a person late at night]

[Zeng Lai: Not a member of the Research Institute]

The chat fell silent.

Many people who lowered their guard because they were just watching the live stream have now come to their senses.

Many of the comments just now seemed to be criticizing Zhao Ruru and Zhao Yijiu for being incompetent, but if you look closely, you'll find that these extreme and exaggerated words give people the feeling that "Xing is strong, but he's not that awesome. He's already looking down on his seniors and teammates, so his temper is probably just so-so."

Furthermore, if those people continue arguing, Yu Xing might be forced to make enemies without even realizing it.

Public opinion is so terrifying. Too many people don't know how to think independently. They believe whatever they are told, living in the rumors of others every day, and being completely fooled by the lies some people make up to deceive fools.

At the same time, they became accomplices in maliciously harming others.

Simple misinterpretations and rumors can easily ruin a person. Although the strategist's IQ is higher than the average in the real world, they are also more adept at this.

The deducer can even use sacrificial abilities to enhance the persuasiveness of their speech.

Many promising newcomers have been ruined by this conspiracy, mostly because they refused an invitation from a certain power or offended someone.

They are more likely to be matched with people who are prejudiced against them, or even jealous or fearful, and therefore, when someone has to die in the simulation, they will be pushed out.

Now, it's clear that Xing has also been noticed.

However, the presence of these influential figures interrupted the process before it even began, because most celebrity commentators only watched the live stream out of interest.

It is extremely rare for someone to take a clear stance and side.

It seems that the person who started the drama entered the live stream on a mission and didn't know that many celebrity strategists were actually waiting in Xing's live stream. Now, being exposed by four big shots isn't the end of it; two truly terrifying comments have appeared.

Qu Xuanqing's first comment was a string of mentions.

The second one is--

[Qu Xuanqing: These guys from Single Prism, they're doomed.]

In an instant, some of the commenters who were just actively posting comments stopped saying a word and seemed to have vanished in a flash.

The female demon Qu Xuanqing, when she said she was waiting to die, she really meant waiting to die!

She really will come after us!

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[The Fallen Path of the Single Prism has arrived??]

Everyone knows that Single Prism and Boss Qu have a grudge, and now they've walked right into the line of fire.

[Who exactly is Xing backing? Late at night, the Research Institute, the investigation team, the Zhao family, Qu Xuanqing —it's impossible that they're all connected, right?]

I think Xing is the type with exceptionally high intelligence, and he could easily become a star predictor. If he has made enemies before, they will definitely destroy him before he grows up.

[Case solved! Luckily, we killed the Ghoul, a prospective member of the Single Prism!]

As the barrage of comments went through a flurry of activity, Yu Xing, having seen nothing, continued explaining his reasoning.

"In other words, at this point, Liu Bingxian revealed something frightening. I tend to think that he had already been pushed into the well and drowned by Liu Xue at this time, and after his death, in that pale, dripping state, he returned to the portrait frame shop and bought himself a frame on credit."

"And the other shop owners, upon seeing this, naturally felt an instinctive fear of him."

Yu Xing saw the look of shock mixed with a hint of admiration in Zhao Ruru's eyes. It was clear that this was an almost instinctive performance by the Zhao family —in their smooth dealings, appropriately showing admiration could instantly close the distance with their target.

It's not that everyone enjoys being worshipped, but rather that this feeling has a suggestive effect on everyone: that the person who worships you won't harm you, and that you can trust them.

This is much more effective than simply saying "You can trust me".

It's not that Zhao Ruru wants anything from him now; it's just that she's used to doing it this way and it's natural for her to use it to express a flattering sentiment.

However, taking the Zhao family seriously is a losing proposition. They will soon scatter their admiration, making it easier for them to conduct transactions and schemes without any burden next time.

Unfortunately Yu Xing was already all too familiar with this kind of thing. Just like in the abandoned factory at the beginning, when he showed fear and hid behind Zhao Yijiu, it was also a way to quickly gain Zhao Yijiu's trust...

Sigh, his heart is indeed very dirty.

He smiled and said to Zhao Ruru, "Of course, this is pure speculation, without any basis. But Liu Bingxian's time of death should be around that time, with not too much error."

Therefore, Liu Bingxian, the cause of death being Liu Xue's revenge.

Zhao Ruru, "Three."

"What happens next, barring any unforeseen circumstances, is that Liu Xue takes revenge on those in charge of the Yin House, such as the master and the butler. None of the clues you've gathered seem to point to the Yin House Madam?"

"There's no trace of Madam yet," Zhao Yijiu confirmed.

Many parts of the burial site are now blank, perhaps the traces of the lady's existence are in those blank spaces. In other words, in the mind of the ghost that created this haunted space, the lady was erased.

He could only think of two reasons. One was that the lady had treated the ghost well, so she didn't want to desecrate her existence in the distorted space. The second was that the lady herself had a more powerful backer, such as knowing someone who knew evil magic. In that case, perhaps the lady was the culprit behind all this, and she had a way to make the ghost forget its revenge against her.

If it's the latter...

Zhao Yijiu planned to talk to Yu Xing about it when she had some free time, as it might be helpful for the second phase of the mission.

"If it's not the Madam, then it's basically confirmed to be the Master and the Butler. Liu Xue hid in the Butler's wardrobe, which proves she had the opportunity to attack him, and I believe she wouldn't have let it pass," Yu Xing said. "The same goes for the Master; he was probably killed by Liu Xue, who was lurking in the haunted house. The cause of death is unknown."

"As for the more complicated grudges and entanglements, I'm afraid we can't reconstruct them now. Only one thing is certain: after killing these people, for reasons that are now completely unexplained, all the neighbors on the funeral street where Liu Bingxian and Liu Xue used to be active were also killed. This may not necessarily have been done by Liu Xue. Furthermore, she was even expelled from the 'ghost house,' and can no longer enter it."

This is inferred from the current state of the space.

"Ah, so that means a total of five people died?" Zhao Ruru felt something was off. "It feels like some details have been overlooked, like the truth has been revealed more than halfway, but a piece is missing, it's a bit unsettling."

"The paper figure, and the stance," Zhao Yijiu reminded him.

She touched the tip of her nose. "That's right, Xing. According to you, what exactly does that paper figure mean? What does it symbolize?"

Yu Xing thought for a moment, then said under Yu Xing's gaze, "I think... it's a puppet."