Suspicion

Suspicion

"What do you mean?" The rich second-generation frowned at him. "When the power went out, everyone was by the electric switch. You came over after hearing the noise, too. How could anyone have been in two places at once to kill them?"

"I looked around," Xu Huo said. "The thing that fell just now was probably the rack beside the hot spring pool. Du Lanlan and Xia Guo were killed without even a chance to call for help. Their killer was probably much stronger than they were, and there weren't many signs of a struggle."

"You think that rack could've fallen by itself?" Wan Zhikang said, looking at him as if he thought everyone else was an idiot.

"Someone could've knocked it over by accident. Or the wind could've blown it over. There are so many unknowns. How can you be sure someone was here when it fell?" Xu Huo said meaningfully. "Game items can also be used to create an alibi."

Everyone was taken aback, then quickly caught on. Right—several minutes had passed between the power outage and their discovery of Du Lanlan and Xia Guo's bodies. Since the two women had been killed without calling for help or making any sounds of a struggle, the rack falling right then seemed too unlikely. It was as if someone had made it happen specifically for the players to see.

"Maybe it was a coincidence," Abel said. "The equipment here is old and has been sitting in all this steam. It's not strange that it wasn't stable."

"Coincidence is a separate matter," Huang Junjie said. "First, we need to confirm that none of the players are suspects. Otherwise, how can we work together to deal with the Head Chopper Demon?"

"That's fair." The rich second-generation started. "I was with Liu Yuanyuan the whole time before the power went out. Afterward, when I went to check the electric switch, I ran into Zhang Xiong."

Zhang Xiong nodded. "He'd just come out when I passed through the corridor. I also saw Liu Yuanyuan smoking."

Liu Yuanyuan confirmed it as well. "Zhang Xiong did pass by the door."

"When Zhang Xiong came out, Yuan Yao and I heard him," Huang Junjie added.

Before that, Zhang Xiong had been in the same room as Wan Zhikang and Abel, so the three of them could vouch for one another.

Wang Wei had gone to the storage room with the college student, but he hesitated before saying, "But before the power went out, he went out for a while."

The college student's face visibly filled with panic. "It wasn't me! I didn't kill anyone! I'd already gone back to my room before the power went out! When it first went out, I called out to you. You were still in the bathroom then!"

"They might not have been killed after the power went out!" Huang Junjie eyed him warily. "You could've killed them first, then cut the power to lure everyone out, and pretended to come out with Wang Wei."

"It wasn't me!" The college student suddenly shouted. Before he could explain further, Zhang Xiong punched him in the stomach. He doubled over and dropped to his knees, his eyes filled with tears and resentment. "I told you it wasn't me! If Du Lanlan and the others were killed before the power went out, then all of you were in your rooms. None of you can prove where you were!"

Zhang Xiong grabbed him and hauled him up. "Are you saying we all teamed up to kill them?"

"If it wasn't the Head Chopper Demon, who could've killed them without making a sound? It would've taken several people working together!" The college student struggled, and a fruit knife suddenly fell from his back.

Wan Zhikang picked it up and demanded angrily, "What's this?"

The college student was hit twice more before he could answer. Zhang Xiong looked ready to beat him to death, but Xu Huo stopped him. "The murder weapon wasn't a fruit knife."

Both Du Lanlan and Xia Guo had signs of brutal blows to their necks. A fruit knife couldn't possibly have done that.

"So what?" Wan Zhikang said. "If he can't explain what he was doing before the power went out, he's the prime suspect!"

The college student's face was already bruised and swollen. He glared through narrowed eyes at Zhang Xiong and Wan Zhikang. "You're the only ones at the villa who have an axe."

Wan Zhikang's face drained of color. "You suspect me?"

Everyone stared at him in silence. They clearly believed what the college student had said. He, Zhang Xiong, who shared his room, and Abel were all suspects.

"Bullshit!" Zhang Xiong roared. "I'd never lay a hand on a woman!"

"Absolutely not!" Abel hurriedly said. "I'm Buddhist. I don't kill living things!"

The rich second-generation sneered. "You foreigner, what do you know about Buddhism? You're the only ones with an axe, and they were killed with an axe. If it wasn't you, who was it?"

Wan Zhikang was sweating profusely, his eyes darting around. In his panic, he suddenly pointed at Xu Huo. "What about him? He was the only one who wasn't at the villa just now, and he came back from outside. He's the biggest suspect!"

"Zhang Xiong, Abel, and I only met after entering the game. Even if I had a grudge against those two women, how could I convince them to help me kill someone? What would I gain from killing players? I can't even beat the Head Chopper Demon!"

"He's right. You didn't show up after the first power outage. You were the only one outside!" Zhang Xiong immediately redirected their suspicion.

The others turned to Xu Huo. Huang Junjie eyed him doubtfully. "Why did you stay behind in the wooden cabin by yourself?"

Normally, no one would want to be alone in such a dangerous place. But Xu Huo had chosen to stay behind even though he'd had the chance to return to the villa with them. That alone was suspicious.

"I already told you why. I was curious whether that person would come back to life again," Xu Huo said calmly, unruffled. "I'd just been through a life-or-death struggle, and I still had to dig a pit and bury the body. Even if I moved as fast as I could, there's no way I could've made the trip back and forth and killed three people in that little time."

"Oh, and that plum branch was something I broke off in the woods. I have to say, there are a lot of fruit trees around here."

The players were confused.

The college student was ridiculously weak. He couldn't even take one punch from Zhang Xiong. It was hard to believe he could've killed someone and taken their head without making a sound, all by himself.

And it wouldn't have been easy to persuade the others to work with him, either. Having an axe alone didn't prove anything. By that logic, players in the other rooms would also be suspects. No one could know whether the players in those rooms had already teamed up.

As for Xu Huo, he clearly hadn't had enough time. He hadn't returned with Huang Junjie and Yuan Yao after the first power outage. He'd also killed someone and buried the body by the wooden cabin, and there hadn't been much time between the two outages.

For a while, it seemed as if every player was a suspect—and as if every player was innocent.

"You're overthinking it," Liu Yuanyuan said from where she sat off to the side. "There's a Head Chopper Demon in the villa, and instead of suspecting him, you're looking for the killer among your own people?"