Death Statement

The upheaval came too suddenly. Jiang Qian immediately lost his balance and staggered several steps into the room.

The woman holding him followed him inside. It was none other than the hot-bodied Liu Xiao!

"I told you, 'We'd see each other again soon.' I didn't expect... ha, you'd come looking for me this quickly!" Liu Xiao's voice was full of excitement, and even her breathing had become ragged.

She impatiently stripped off her coat, revealing a cropped camisole underneath.

"Calm down. There may be some misunderstanding here!"

Jiang Qian steadied himself against the wall. Even he found his explanation feeble.

Besides, Liu Xiao had an incredible figure...

No, that wasn't right... Jiang Qian pressed a hand to his forehead, suppressing the lust surging through him as he fixed Liu Xiao with a cold stare. "You drugged me, didn't you?"

He had not touched a drop of alcohol, and he had been especially careful while eating at the buffet table. His only oversight might have been... the intense fragrance on her body?

"So smart, handsome. But don't worry, it's just a little something to spice things up!" Reeking of alcohol, Liu Xiao pounced on him, nearly naked.

She really was Vivid and Fragrant... His guess had been confirmed, but the biggest question remained unclear:

What exactly was the crisis this time?

It couldn't be as simple as losing his virginity, could it? Damn, this Lust Woman was hard to deal with!

Jiang Qian struggled inwardly.

He was only twenty, after all. He was still far from reaching the level where a seasoned veteran could handle this with ease.

Faced with this kind of forced-advance speed, his first instinct was to slam on the gas—retreat!

The process was somewhat embarrassing.

He had even been sideswiped by that speeding female driver until his clothes were disheveled...

But Jiang Qian still bravely escaped from Room 8003.

Facing the furious, seductive beauty inside, Jiang Qian apologized politely while making a strategic retreat, until the door slammed shut with a bang.

Sob, sob, sob...

Crying came from inside, mixed with classic lines like, "You're not a man," and, "Get as far away as you can."

Jiang Qian raised a hand to press his temples, then turned unsteadily toward Room 8001.

[Hint: You have completed the storyline selection.]

After smoothly swiping open the door lock, Jiang Qian did not hesitate in the slightest. He pushed the door open and immediately fixed his gaze on the stack of scripts atop the cabinet.

"Finally..."

Jiang Qian vaguely felt that he had sacrificed a little too much just to get a script. His brain felt like it had been crushed in a door.

As the sedative continued taking effect, he leaned against the wall and pushed past the tightly shut bathroom door, making his way inside with difficulty.

As he neared the cabinet, Jiang Qian extended his right hand toward the scripts—and successfully collapsed onto the floor.

His consciousness began to blur.

Before darkness swallowed his vision, he seemed to hear a door opening.

Pitch-black darkness.

It was like the confusion he had felt when he first arrived in this world, the underlying tone of this instance.

Then Jiang Qian awoke amid a burst of noise.

He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the massive, cheering crowd below the stage, as well as the staff operating camera equipment around him.

He seemed to be at the recording site of some program.

"What's going on?"

He looked around and finally spotted familiar faces—Yu Xuan, Li Tian'er, and Liu Xiao! The three women stood side by side at the edge of the stage, each with a podium-like desk in front of her.

Jiang Qian could not help thinking: Are we about to hold a debate?

The host beside him was a famous talker in the entertainment industry and thoughtfully reminded Jiang Qian, "Student Jiang, welcome back to your senses and to the program Dead Man's Hearing!"

Dead Man's Hearing... Wait, welcome back to his senses?

The corner of Jiang Qian's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

Then he heard the man's well-meaning explanation. "It's like this, Student Jiang. It may sound a little unbelievable, but actually—you're already dead."

"Yes, your corpse is right over there. It's very fresh and well-preserved, just as it was when you died last night!"

If you can't speak like a human being, you can sew your mouth shut... Jiang Qian resisted the urge to retort and followed the host's pointing finger toward a male corpse lying face-down at the center of the stage.

A dinner knife was embedded in the corpse's back, three inches below the left shoulder. The small portion of blade left outside gleamed sharply. Blood had seeped from where the blade met the body, staining the shirt and spreading into a shocking pattern.

"Regrettably, you died last night in Room 8001 of the Junxi Hotel, where your Sister Yu Xuan was staying."

Jiang Qian coldly examined "his own" corpse and the host. "Just say it. What do you need me to do?"

"Uh, you're remarkably calm and straightforward..." The enthusiastic host was clearly choked up by Jiang Qian's reaction. "It's like this. Following an investigation into your murder, we have identified three suspects, all of whom are currently present. You should remember these three... right?"

He pointed at Li Tian'er, Yu Xuan, and Liu Xiao.

Without even looking, Jiang Qian replied, "Very clearly."

"That's wonderful!"

The host looked relieved and said solemnly:

"Your task is to use your memories from before your death, the current investigation results, and the three suspects' testimony to deduce the true killer and seek justice for yourself."

Jiang Qian slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

So that's what this is! Good thing it's brainwork. If it involved physical action, I'd be at a disadvantage in terms of experience... Jiang Qian secretly rejoiced.

He had already made it through most of this Whispers of the Inner Demon instance. At this final hurdle, he absolutely could not let all his previous efforts go to waste.

"So the killer must be among those three?" To be safe, Jiang Qian still took the initiative to confirm the "rules of the game" with the host.

Because in most detective novels, the killer was often the person least likely to be suspected.

If the murderer this time was a hotel attendant, or some celebrity fan hiding in the shadows and jealous of all the women surrounding him, then this challenge would be a little unfair.

He quickly received an answer.

"Yes, Student Jiang. This is a known condition. The true culprit is among those three!" The host seemed intent on stirring up the atmosphere and deliberately stressed his words.

Jiang Qian once again looked toward the three beauties in the suspects' seats.

Li Tian'er, whose face was full of delight even in the presence of a corpse; Liu Xiao, whose expression was conflicted, as though she both loved and hated the deceased; and Yu Xuan, the Sister heartbroken beyond measure over her younger brother's murder.

Joy Woman, Lust Woman, True Love Woman—those were the roles Jiang Qian had assigned to the three of them.

Vivid and Fragrant, indeed.

He had always known what trials and temptations he would have to face.

But when Jiang Qian's gaze met Yu Xuan's, he still instinctively looked away.

It was difficult for him to admit what exactly he felt for Yu Xuan. Though they were not related by blood, true love? Probably not.

Damn instance. Giving someone with emotional barriers emotional blackmail—wasn't that bullying a vulnerable group?

But now was not the time to dwell on that.

"Student Jiang, are you ready?" Having suitably pleased the audience, the host turned toward Jiang Qian, the "deceased."

"Bring it on."

"Very well. I must remind you that you have to identify the killer in this case within thirty minutes! If you exceed the time limit or reason incorrectly, it will be considered a 'failure.' I assume you understand the consequences of failure?"

"Very clearly."

At worst, failure meant death... To die beneath peony blossoms.

Jiang Qian had already undergone two trials between life and death and had a sense of this instance's style. He was therefore calmer and more clear-headed now than he had been in the previous two stages.

Running around in a panic would not solve the crisis before him. Here, absolute calm was the shortcut to survival.

The next moment, Jiang Qian heard the host's exaggerated voice. "Good~ In that case, let's go over the investigation findings. At the same time, the thirty-minute countdown begins!"

As the host's words fell, an instance notification sounded in Jiang Qian's mind.

[Mission: Based on the existing clues, identify the true culprit. Countdown: 30:00]

Another wave of commotion and heckling erupted from the audience.

Many spectators threw their personal belongings onto the stage to add to the excitement.

Jiang Qian frowned to himself. There were too many people here, and it was too noisy. It would be easy to lose focus, which was detrimental to deduction. On top of that, so many bright lights shining on his face would make anyone nervous and limit their performance.

Thirty minutes—after subtracting the time spent exchanging information, the actual time left for deduction was extremely tight!

On the absurd stage.

The host methodically reviewed the investigation findings, while the large screen displayed footage of the first crime scene.

"Surveillance footage shows that Student Jiang left the top floor at 7:45 p.m. and was discovered dead in Room 8001 at 8:05 p.m. The first witness at the scene was your Sister, Yu Xuan."

"According to Miss Yu, she left the nightclub at around seven and went to a café, where she met with a director. Since she did not receive the script, the meeting ended around eight. When she returned to her room, she discovered her younger brother with no signs of life."

"According to the autopsy results, the deceased died from a stab wound in the back. The knife pierced the heart and proved fatal. There were no signs of struggle before death, indicating that the deceased may have been killed while unconscious."

"Of course, no complete fingerprints were detected on the weapon. In the entire room, no suspicious fingerprint evidence was found apart from those belonging to the deceased, Yu Xuan herself, and hotel staff."

"Worth noting is that Liu Xiao was staying in Room 8003, opposite Room 8001, and surveillance footage from the nightclub shows that she interacted with the deceased. Li Tian'er was staying next door in Room 8002 and had likewise interacted frequently with the deceased beforehand. At the time of the crime, both claimed to have remained in their own rooms. However, no one can provide them with alibis."

After learning the basic details of the case, Jiang Qian asked, "There were twenty minutes between the time I left the elevator and the time I was found dead. Did the surveillance footage on the guest floor capture anyone suspicious entering or leaving?"

"Unfortunately, the surveillance equipment on the guest floor was damaged, so we currently have no way of knowing what happened in the corridor after the deceased returned."

"That's a shame. After I collapsed, I really did vaguely hear a door opening. If someone took advantage of my weakness and attacked me, it should have been captured in the corridor footage." Jiang Qian sighed softly.

But he had anticipated this kind of plot long ago.

The most likely possibility at present was that after he entered Yu Xuan's room, the killer followed close behind and stabbed him in the back.

As for the killer's identity, there was still too little usable information to make a judgment.

Joy Woman, Lust Woman, True Love Woman—he knew nothing about the motives or emotional journeys of the three women. Jiang Qian needed more perspectives to trigger and substantiate his judgment.

The host promptly reminded him, "Would you like to hear the testimony of the three ladies first?"

"That was exactly my intention." Jiang Qian did not hesitate.

"Very well. It should be noted that the true criminal among the three may lie, so please be wary of deception."

Do not trust too easily...

But that also meant that at least two of the three had to be telling the complete truth.

At this moment, the spotlight was already shining on the three women.

"According to the case requirements, to prevent them from coordinating their stories, the three suspects may only speak with you individually. So, Student Jiang, who would you like to begin with?"

Jiang Qian pointed at the beaming Li Tian'er. "Her. She looks so happy that I'm starting to wonder whether she inherited my estate."