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Now then...

Thanks to Basketball Qiao for the friendly reminder.

Once he learned that the secret room really existed, Zhen Liu was no longer in such a hurry to find it, because he had already thought of the fastest way to do so. So, he began asking Basketball Qiao about something else he was curious about. "Why? Why do you suddenly hate Lawyer Jin so much?"

If Zhen Liu remembered correctly, when the game had first begun, Basketball Qiao, Second-generation Zhao, and Lawyer Jin had been so close they might as well have worn the same pair of pants.

Looks like boys' friendships could be pretty flimsy too.

"Because my bro—I mean, Second-generation Zhao—wants Lawyer Jin dead." Basketball Qiao exposed himself again. There was really nothing to hide about his relationship with Second-generation Zhao, but seeing him admit it so directly still made Zhen Liu want to light a candle for Second-generation Zhao. Having such a useless teammate must have been hard on him.

Zhen Liu raised an eyebrow. "Second-generation Zhao doesn't want the murderer dead? He wants Lawyer Jin dead?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with that?" Basketball Qiao's face was full of disgust. "Why do we have to avenge Ying De?" Compared to the murderer, shouldn't the person they hated be the one who died?

In a flash, Zhen Liu finally understood. The difficulty of this game was not just finding the murderer, but whether everyone would use it to settle personal grudges. Since everyone hated Ying De, why would they work so hard to find the person who had killed him? Even if it was just to deal with Brother Hao, who would burn down the villa if they failed to hand someone over, the person they should hand over most was someone they hated. That way, they could kill two birds with one stone.

Never underestimate the evil of human nature.

There was no absolute truth or right and wrong, only likes and dislikes. There was nothing necessarily wrong with that, but Zhen Liu was not as immersed in the story as the others were. He wanted the prize money more.

So Zhen Liu said to Basketball Qiao, "You understand, right? Even if I agree to hand Lawyer Jin over to Brother Hao with you, Lawyer Jin might not actually die."

"If we don't take the gamble, how will we know?" Basketball Qiao had inexplicable faith in Brother Hao's lack of humanity. It seemed that either he or Second-generation Zhao had another plan. They would make sure to use Brother Hao as a blade to successfully kill Lawyer Jin. "My mother's death must be avenged. The second-in-command was the chief culprit, and he's already gone in, but Lawyer Jin, who kept justice from being served back then, should pay the price too!"

To be honest, Zhen Liu could understand why Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao wanted to avenge their mother.

It was just...

Zhen Liu still said the same thing. "I think the truth is more important." At that moment, Zhen Liu became a little serious too. Not for the prize money—he simply wanted the truth.

Basketball Qiao was a little dazed. The conversation felt strangely familiar, and he could not help asking an unnecessary extra question. "Do you have some special obsession with finding the truth?"

Zhen Liu merely replied in surprise, "Isn't this a game about finding the truth?"

Whether the victim deserved what happened to him or not, the law should have punished him. It was not as though their country lacked the death penalty, so why resort to vigilante justice? If there had been no evidence and no way to convict the other party, that would have been another matter. But as things stood, everyone could openly send Ying De to trial. Yet no—they insisted on doing it themselves.

Zhen Liu asked what he had wanted to ask ever since reading Doctor Zhen's character profile. "Is it really worth sacrificing your own life for a piece of trash?"

Basketball Qiao was stunned speechless.

Zhen Liu patted the big boy on the shoulder, brushed past him, and left the room. He then headed straight for the villa's firefighting equipment, smashed the glass, and took out the iron hammer and axe inside. With a weapon in each hand, he looked particularly suited to starring in a horror movie.

Love God's Chosen in the livestream were nearly scared to death by this sudden shift in tone too.

[!!!]

[Someone tell me what just happened.]

[Don't do anything rashhhh!]

[Beauty, we can talk this out QAQ If something's really wrong, let Professor Lu handle it! Have you forgotten your love?]

[??? Excuse me, is this Zhen Liu's livestream? Did I enter the wrong one?]

Zhen Liu...

Naturally was not about to do anything strange.

Well, it was admittedly something rather strange, but it definitely had nothing to do with hurting anyone. He walked to the spot where Basketball Qiao had stopped him earlier and summoned 333.

Zhen Liu asked, "It's not against the rules if I smash a few holes in the villa walls, right?"

333 was so frightened it went pale. [W-what are you doing?! Calm down, Xiao Liu, calm down!]

Zhen Liu sighed. "I'm just asking whether it breaks the rules. It's not like I'm going to kill someone or set anything on fire. I just want to find the secret room as quickly as possible."

The most brainless way to solve a Rubik's Cube was to take it apart and reassemble it. That was something Zhen Liu had understood at the age of seven. Now, when it came to finding the secret room, he thought the solution was the same. What mechanisms, what passwords—so long as he did not have to pay for damages and did not break the rules, one big hammer could solve everything.

[...It's not exactly forbidden, but, uh,] 333 was dumbfounded. This was probably the first time it had encountered a player like Zhen Liu—he looked mature and steady, yet he wanted to smash walls at the slightest disagreement. After struggling for a long while, it finally found a reason to persuade him. [Ah, right, don't you enjoy the thrill of using your own intelligence to solve the secret room?]

"I don't," Zhen Liu answered decisively.

333: [???]

"First, this is a murder mystery game, not an escape room or some locksmithing exam.

"Second, I'm not smashing walls at random. I've thought it through carefully and made a deliberate choice. How does that mean I can't enjoy the result of using my intelligence?

"Third, we really don't have much time."

Then, before the other players could rush over and stop him, Zhen Liu smashed a hole with perfect accuracy into the wall right beside the stairway entrance, right in front of them, and successfully discovered the cramped secret room hidden inside.

Second-generation Zhao felt like his whole world had fallen apart.