Hidden Deep Enough

"Who?!"

"Who killed Little Red?!"

The White-Nosed Dwarf was clearly their leader.

He had conducted a brief examination just now and discovered a distinct knife wound on the Red-Nosed Dwarf's neck!

"This was clearly murder, not some accident!"

"And there's a ninety percent chance the killer is hiding among us!"

He pointed at the Green-Nosed Dwarf and demanded, "Was it you?!"

The Green-Nosed Dwarf decisively denied it. "It wasn't me! Although that guy owed me money for years and never paid it back, I had absolutely no reason to kill him!"

The White-Nosed Dwarf stroked his chin. "That makes sense."

"Could it have been you, then? Little Blue!"

The Blue-Nosed Dwarf craned his neck as he defended himself. "Yes! I admit that I did have an argument with him before this, but do you really think I had the guts to kill someone? You know me—I can't even bring myself to kill the mushroom monsters outside!"

The White-Nosed Dwarf stroked his chin again. "That makes sense too."

"I'm even less likely to be the killer. I have a perfect alibi!"

"A perfect alibi. That clears you of suspicion outright."

"Don't look at me. You know Little Red and I have always been the best of friends. There's no way I'd ever lay a hand on my friend!"

"You really don't seem like the kind of person who would harm a friend."

Lu Xingyuan could no longer listen to this.

Damn it, everything anyone says makes sense to you.

At this rate, when the hell are we going to find the real killer?

"I know who the killer is."

He knew this was abrupt, but he had no choice. Time was tight—his Level 3 treasure chest wasn't going to wait for him.

In an instant, everyone's eyes turned toward Lu Xingyuan.

"He is a great conductor. I believe it is necessary to hear what he has to say."

The White-Nosed Dwarf hurriedly gestured for Lu Xingyuan to continue.

"The killer is him—the Yellow-Nosed Dwarf!"

Lu Xingyuan did not even bother putting on an act. He directly named the culprit.

Everyone followed the direction of his finger and looked over.

A flash of panic clearly crossed the Yellow-Nosed Dwarf's face.

"No, why are you saying it was me? Do you have any evidence?"

The White-Nosed Dwarf frowned.

"Great Conductor, perhaps you do not fully understand our situation. Little Yellow and Little Red have never had much contact, which means they couldn't possibly have had any grievances against each other..."

Lu Xingyuan cut him off directly.

"I have evidence. I know where the murder weapon is."

The murder weapon was the key to identifying the killer.

Once they found it, they could basically determine who the murderer was.

"Where?"

"The murder weapon is..."

Lu Xingyuan hesitated, then said in a tone that even made himself doubt it, "In his... butt crack?"

???

Fuck.

Could I have remembered wrong?

Did Gu Wanqing really say that?

Or was she deliberately screwing with me?

What kind of sane person hides a murder weapon in their own butt crack?

Yet to his surprise, the White-Nosed Dwarf gave him full support.

"Take off his pants!"

"No! You can't! How can you just take someone's pants off? Don't I have any dignity?!"

The Yellow-Nosed Dwarf struggled wildly.

Even Lu Xingyuan started to feel bad for him.

Damn it.

This has to be wrong, right?

His pants were quickly stripped off.

That butt, though—it really was quite round.

"Let me spread it open myself!"

The White-Nosed Dwarf rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.

Then, a sharp bloodstained dagger was actually pulled out from his butt crack!

The dagger was a full five inches long and three centimeters thick. It was definitely a huge one!

Yet the Yellow-Nosed Dwarf had somehow hidden it snugly in his butt crack!

And he could still move around freely!

This was freaking unbelievable.

Could your butt crack open another Zhengxing Chicken Chop franchise?

Lu Xingyuan stared in stunned disbelief.

He knew he should not have tried to judge them by common sense.

The White-Nosed Dwarf clutched the dagger with trembling hands.

"It really was you?!"

The other dwarves also cried out in shock.

They never would have believed that the Yellow-Nosed Dwarf was the killer!

Now that the murder weapon had been found, even without any other evidence, it was enough to identify the culprit.

The Yellow-Nosed Dwarf gave up struggling and covered his face as he burst into tears.

"Yes, I killed him... I admit that I'm the murderer."

His gaze toward Lu Xingyuan was filled with deep terror.

"The legendary conductor really is terrifying. You saw through me as the killer right away."

The other dwarves looked at Lu Xingyuan with the same reverence.

The White-Nosed Dwarf in particular looked as if he wanted to kneel before him.

"Great Conductor, it is all thanks to you! Without you, we would never have been able to find the killer!"

Then hurry up and bring out that Level 3 treasure chest for me.

Though he grumbled inwardly, Lu Xingyuan's expression did not change much.

"I'm glad I could help."

"Little Blue, go bring that Level 3 treasure chest from the back. I think this conductor should have use for it."

Now that's more like it. Who likes empty verbal thanks?

The Level 3 treasure chest looked similar to the Level 2 one, except a thumb-sized red gemstone was embedded in its lid, making it appear more ornate.

[Level 3 Treasure Chest]

[Description: Guaranteed to yield professional-grade supplies and advanced materials; has a relatively high chance of additionally producing enhanced equipment, advanced blueprints, or precious resources.]

Lu Xingyuan took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the heat in his heart.

So, could he slip away now?

He checked the time. It was only a little past eleven.

There were still fifty minutes until the train departed.

Factoring in the twenty-minute trip back, he would still have thirty minutes left.

There was no rush.

At this moment, the Yellow-Nosed Dwarf decided to confess the grudge between himself and the Red-Nosed Dwarf. This piqued Lu Xingyuan's interest somewhat—what kind of hatred could have driven him to murder?

"...Just as I said earlier, I had an improper relationship with his wife."

Without anyone else knowing, the Yellow-Nosed Dwarf had secretly hooked up with the Red-Nosed Dwarf's wife.

He looked like such an honest man. Who could have imagined that he was actually a cuckolder?

So the Red-Nosed Dwarf had discovered their improper relationship, which was why he brought about his own death?

"No, he never found out."

The Yellow-Nosed Dwarf shook his head with a complicated expression.

The background had been laid out. It was time to get to the main point.

"Everything began with a transfer game held some time ago."