After hearing U Amakasa's reasoning, Shiina loosened up completely. She hadn't even noticed how happy she looked.
"Maybe we can find out what happened from the younger son? You're right; there are too many things that don't add up. For now, let's rule out a third party hurting the two children. Then how did the daughter disappear?
Was the younger son lying? Or was he the one who did all of this? If so, then the white wall was fake and never existed at all?"
Shiina asked her first question.
"Was the younger son lying?"
"No."
After hearing the answer, Shiina crossed out one part of her reasoning on the paper. U Amakasa continued, "Looks like that line of reasoning was wrong."
"Taking it one step further, I still don't think there was a third party. If the younger son wasn't lying, then his existence proves that, and it also proves that the white wall really did exist at some point."
Shiina didn't agree with U Amakasa. "No, not necessarily. What if we look at it another way? Could the daughter have run off because she was playing around? And could she have made up the white wall to fool her younger brother?"
"Oh? That's possible, too." U Amakasa thought for a moment, then asked his first question.
"Did the daughter disappear because she was playing around?"
"No."
U Amakasa continued, "Did the younger son see the white wall with his own eyes?"
"Yes."
Their theories kept getting overturned. U Amakasa felt that they were still a long way from the truth.
Shiina rubbed her temples and said, "Could we have been wrong from the very beginning?"
Going back to the start and looking for the key phrase, Shiina felt that their line of questioning had been wrong from the beginning. They should have been asking about the repair site.
So what should they ask?
U Amakasa quickly picked up on what Shiina meant. If they had been wrong from the start, then they needed to think in another direction.
"What if it was an accident? The white wall was seen with their own eyes, so could it have been a shoddily built wall?"
Shiina thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No. Could the white wall have been some kind of illusion?"
Shiina asked, "Was the white wall an illusion experienced by the younger son?"
"No."
Shiina fell silent again and started scribbling on the paper, while U Amakasa agreed with what she'd said.
An illusion?
Could it be that this white wall wasn't really a wall? It did exist, but it wasn't a wall. A wall that could disappear on its own?
U Amakasa asked his third question. He seemed to have found a direction.
"Was the repair site a dangerous place?"
"Yes."
At that answer, Shiina stopped what she was doing. It seemed her initial judgment hadn't been wrong after all: the repair site was a key phrase.
"Shiina, I think this was definitely an accident."
"I agree."
"And I think the accident was closely related to the white wall—what it was and how it happened."
As U Amakasa thought it over, everything started to become clearer. Maybe they were only a few questions away from the answer.
As for Bu Xiang Quming, who had heard their entire discussion, he was about nine-tenths of the way to complaining out loud.
Is this how smart people play Turtle Soup? Unlike me—I just keep asking questions and end up with a completely wrong answer.
Shiina asked her third question.
"Did the daughter have an accident?"
"Yes."
"Looks like she did."
Shiina twirled the pen in her hand and continued, "What was the accident? Maybe we can figure it out soon. I think there are only a few possibilities."
U Amakasa pretended to be clueless, acting all nonchalant. "What kind of accident? Was she hit by a car?"
Shiina covered her mouth and giggled. "All right, stop clowning around. Being hit by a car is the least likely possibility."
Shiina asked her fourth question.
"Was the repair site beside a river?"
"No."
Then U Amakasa asked his fourth question.
"Was the repair site on a mountain?"
"Yes."
Now U Amakasa was even more certain of what he had in mind: the accident that had happened to the daughter.
Shiina wasn't about to be outdone. She continued asking questions.
"Did the daughter fall off a cliff?"
"Yes."
Part of the answer was already coming to light. All that remained was for them to uncover more of the truth.
"Was the cliff behind a tree?"
"Yes."
"Shiina, what do you think the answer is? We still haven't figured out what the white wall was, have we?"
U Amakasa looked at Shiina with a smug, triumphant expression.
U Amakasa imagined the bento Shiina had made herself. He didn't remember the original story mentioning anything about her cooking skills.
I wonder how good Shiina is at cooking. She should be pretty good, right? After all, she's Shiina.
"So it seems you know what the white wall was, Amakasa?" Shiina asked curiously.
"Of course. We just need to confirm it."
If his reasoning was correct, the answer was already obvious. He wanted to give Shiina a hint and see if she could figure it out.
U Amakasa began asking questions.
"Did the white wall contain water?"
"Yes."
That question and answer hit Shiina like a bolt of lightning. In an instant, she connected all the pieces.
"That's amazing, Amakasa. I lost."
U Amakasa hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no. I only figured it out thanks to you, Shiina."
Shiina looked surprised. "Thanks to me?"
"Of course. Didn't you say the white wall could have been an illusion? That gave me the idea. Since the white wall wasn't an illusion, could it have been something real that only looked like a wall?
"The repair site was on a mountain. The high altitude meant there was plenty of mist, which naturally formed a white wall. I only gave you a small hint, and you understood right away. You're amazing, too."
Shiina chuckled. "You don't need to be modest, Amakasa. I'll honor our bet."
U Amakasa scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Oh, it's nothing. Just let me know how much the materials cost, Shiina. I don't want you to have to pay for everything."
Bu Xiang Quming watched the two of them compliment each other and felt utterly speechless. Compliment each other all you like, but couldn't they let him go first?
If they knew the answer, they should hurry up and give it! Tell him the answer already!
For 2,000 Private Points. For 2,000 Private Points. I have to hold it in—and I don't think I can afford to mess with them.
At that moment, he thought of his little brother.
Bu Xiang Wanla.
Readers, did you figure out the answer?
The answer:
The white wall was mist. A-Qiang had been repairing something on a mountain. While playing, the elder daughter encountered thick fog. She thought there was more ground behind the tree, but fell off the cliff from the unguarded edge beside it. By the time A-Qiang arrived, the fog had cleared, so he didn't see the white wall.