The Truth

As his health points continued to decrease under the flames, Yu Xing became increasingly leisurely.

Since the wizard had asked so earnestly, he wouldn't mind answering, even if it was difficult, in order to deduce the integral.

Masha was on edge the whole time, covered in cold sweat. Not wanting to get close to the fire, she stayed far away, pressed herself against the door, and pricked up her ears.

She no longer needed to wind up the clockwork, and after letting out a sigh of relief, she also wanted to know how much Roy had foreseen and how many plans he had secretly made.

York idly played with his fruit knife, appearing equally attentive to the conversation.

Yu Xing took a few steps back, using his silver-inlaid cane for support, and stood there nonchalantly. "Based on your flawed description in the study, if I couldn't guess your identity, I might as well smash a block of frozen tofu over your head and kill you."

Masha:?

Who should be hit?

The wizard couldn't understand Chinese proverbs, so he didn't know what the saying meant; he only felt that the logic was a bit off.

York chuckled.

He inexplicably felt that Roy was somewhat similar to some of his friends; they were all the type to have a sharp tongue.

Yu Xing didn't care what others thought. Anyway, he couldn't kill himself by throwing frozen tofu at himself, so he decided to solve the problem once and for all by not trying to kill the source of the problem.

"First of all, the witchcraft that York discovered was kept in the villa's study, but when you described it as Alex, you said that the wizard taught Angel the magic of soul-absorbing, which is contradictory. Does the wizard carry the book with him and leave it behind when he leaves?"

"Secondly, a series of misfortunes occurred after the Brown family moved into the villa, and you shouldn't have been here yet. So, how do you explain the villa's unusual behavior before your arrival?"

"Third, the Brown family all have varying degrees of madness, except for 'Alex,' who is perfectly normal. Tell me, how big of a heart does it take to repeatedly look down on Susan, treat Mrs. Brown coldly, and even call Mr. Brown a troublemaker without any special abilities?"

Yu Xing caught a glimpse of Masha's dazed expression out of the corner of her eye, and silently lit a candle for the Luo family in her heart.

This child is a bit silly.

He sighed inwardly with a mixture of relief and schadenfreude, then said to the wizard, "I originally thought it was Angel's presence that kept others from touching 'Alex,' until just before going up to the attic, when you said Angel was so withdrawn that he wouldn't even talk to you anymore. Ha, if he doesn't talk to you anymore, how could he have the energy to protect you? You should at least be in a miserable state, let alone missing an arm or a leg."

The wizard laughed sinisterly; by then, his scalp was already cracking.

"As expected of a detective, you're definitely different from the idiots I lured in before. So, how do you think all of this should be explained?"

"It's that simple. All you've been after from beginning to end is the special ability that extends from Angel's genes. That's the origin of everything." York suddenly interjected, his elegant hairstyle perfectly styled. He had been listening for a while and was getting a little bored. This wizard was far less intelligent than he had imagined.

He put his arm around Yu Xing's shoulder, leaned in casually, and looked at the wizard, saying, "It wasn't your passing by the villa that caused everything that happened afterward; it was you who, in order to make all of this happen, guided the Brown family to move into this old villa from out of town. Isn't that right, little detective?"

Clearly, although York has always kept a low profile and claimed to be "too lazy to think," he is actually a very sharp thinker.

His last sentence was directed at Yu Xing, and his tone was teasing. After he finished speaking, he let go of Yu Xing and walked towards Masha.

Yu Xing dusted off imaginary dust from his shoulders and scoffed. He found the term "little detective" amusing; he could easily be the ancestor of all detectives.

However, this time he didn't complain. Instead, he picked up where York left off, addressing the wizard whose face was growing increasingly gloomy and whose skin was melting away more and more rapidly. "Is there a curse array in this villa? Perhaps in the garden, or perhaps in any of the rooms. You deliberately set it up."

"I think you must have sensed Angel's special physical constitution by chance and wanted to use her compatibility with the doll to collect souls for other evil purposes."

"For this, you've been planning for over a year, maybe even longer. You prepared this villa long ago, luring the Brown family to move in, which is why they were affected by your curse, unable to control their inner madness. After Mrs. Brown became a ghost, you activated an even stronger curse, imprisoning them all."

"At this point, because Mrs. Brown's ghost and the imprisonment happened so coincidentally, they naturally connected the two events and concluded that Mrs. Brown was responsible for their imprisonment. Thus, Angel and Alex began to oppose Mrs. Brown, laying the foundation for your next plan."

"After suffocating her to the point of exhaustion, you, the wizard, just appeared. All the conflicts you stirred up were to trigger Angel's pathological genes and make her willingly accept the witchcraft you taught her."

"Controlling the puppets is her own ability, just like Susan's hallucinations and Mr. Brown's voice changes. You only taught her how to extract souls; she combined this witchcraft with the puppets."

"After that, Angel couldn't bear the inner torment any longer, and it was you who urged her to go to the attic to atone for her sins. Thus, you controlled her with the white silk, killed Alex, and achieved a very balanced cycle— Mrs. Brown actively attracted guests in order to leave the villa, Susan helped Mrs. Brown kill people in order to leave the villa, and Angel only needed to control the dolls in the attic and steal souls from Mrs. Brown's guests."

Having said all he could say, the wizard couldn't help but sneer and clap his hands, "Very well, I'd really like to know which meddlesome person summoned you and your companions to investigate the Brown family. If it hadn't been you, but just some random person, my plan would have succeeded by now!"

Masha huddled behind York, curious. "What exactly is your plan? What can you do with forty-four souls?"

The wizard was burned by the flames, but he seemed unfazed by the pain. Instead, he raised his hands with fanatical fervor. "I will offer these souls to my master, so that he may return from hell!"

Yu Xing was not in high spirits.

Oh, so he's a fanatic.

Considering the wizard's earlier question about his cult affiliation, it's clear that this deduction is related to some evil cult.

However, this is not something he needs to concern himself with in this simulation.

[Side Quest: Complete the data for three types of monsters, now complete]

[Goblin 1: Mrs. Brown]

[Category: Figure in a Painting]

[Solution: Doll]

Goblin 2: Angel

[Category: Doll]

[Solution: Music, White Silk, Fire, Kill Angel]

[Goblin 3: The Witcher]

[Type: Fanatic]

[Solution: None available]

Yu Xing has already received the notification that the Side Quest has been completed. Since the wizard has no solution, it further proves that the wizard will not actually confront them head-on.

The Main Quest can also be completed when they hand over the investigation results to Lucia after they leave.

Well, fanatics and such are involved in a much larger scheme; it's more of Yugi of deduction at the Differentiation Tier, so let others play that game.

"To be honest, I can't do anything to you." The wizard spoke again, reaching out to tear open his scalp... or rather, the scalp of Alex's skin, and a black thing emerged from it.

It was a short figure shrouded in a black robe, not human-shaped, but a skeletal monster, yet without a physical form.

Alex's skin was peeled off bit by bit, finally piling up on the ground, Masha could no longer bear to watch.

Having shed its physical form, the black wizard drifted through the air like gas for a while, flames shooting up wherever it passed. It hissed, "This is merely a fragmented soul. I cannot crush you ants. When we meet again, I will make you pay for ruining my plans today!"

Then, it flew through the ceiling and away from the villa.

It was gone, but the fire in the attic was raging fiercely. Yu Xing frowned as she watched her health plummet, and decided to leave immediately.

Moreover, the attic itself was not very stable, and it was already showing signs of collapsing.

The fire and the collapse triggered a scene deep in his memory. A flash of coldness crossed his eyes, and he swiftly grabbed Angel's doll from the ground, saying to York and Masha, "Get out of here first!"

Masha was closest to the door, so without a word she turned around and pushed it open. Sure enough, without the wizard's control, the door opened easily.

The three of them went down to the second floor via the attic stairs. Yu Xing quickly went to his room to get his handbag, then ran all the way down to the first floor. After Masha put on her huge backpack that looked like a bomb, the three of them rushed out of the villa.

They stood in the center of the garden and looked back; the upper part of the villa was already engulfed in flames.

As more and more townspeople came to watch the spectacle, the three of them opened the gate and escaped the crowd to head to the police station.