Braving the wind and rain, he walked straight toward the wrecked police car.
Only after observing the bodies on the ground for a while and finding no signs of them turning into zombies did Ye Qiyan begin searching.
He finally found a voice recorder beside a police officer's body.
["We received a report from Gloomrain Manor on Mount Darville. Lavi, a local tycoon, died up there. Sigh, I really don't understand these rich people. How many people have died at that manor over the years? Why would anyone still want to live there? It takes two or three days to drive to that dump from our town. The distance is just infuriating."]
["Still, this tycoon was one of our police station's investors. No matter how reluctant we are, we have to find whoever killed him. As long as we find the killer, his daughter will definitely give our station more funding."]
["As for the real killer, it was probably Lavi's maid. Who knows? If we can't find the real culprit, we can just pin it on her. It's not like this would be our first time doing that. Heh."]
"So this is the mission? No, or rather, this is the mission on the surface..."
Ye Qiyan searched for a while longer, eventually finding two pistols, four magazines loaded with Low-level Bullets, and a police stun baton in the car.
Anyone else would have been thrilled to find these things. Unfortunately, they were of little use to him. After tossing them back onto the train and taking the badge and the sheriff's identification, Ye Qiyan headed up the winding mountain road.
Gloomrain Manor was not far from where the train had stopped.
In less than fifteen minutes, Ye Qiyan stood before the iron gates of a huge black estate.
The security guard at the entrance hurried over nervously.
"Y-you, who are you?"
Ye Qiyan showed his identification and badge. In the darkness of this thunderstorm, that was enough to convince the man of his false identity.
"Oh, it's you, Sheriff. Please, come in!"
The guard hastily opened the gates and welcomed Ye Qiyan inside.
"You're finally here, Sheriff. Please, you must find the real culprit who killed the master!"
The guard looked close to weeping, giving the impression that he was utterly loyal.
"How did Mr. Lavi die?"
"The master died four nights ago. Apart from me, the only people in the manor were his son and daughter, the butler, and a maid. Sheriff, I think that maid killed the master! Please, you must arrest her!"
Ye Qiyan stopped and looked at the guard beside him.
"Four days ago? In other words, you waited a full day after Mr. Lavi's death before reporting it. Why?"
The guard hurriedly explained:
"It's been raining all week, and the manor's phone lines and internet were affected. We only barely managed to get a call through three days ago to summon you. Since then, we've been waiting in the manor. No one has dared to leave."
All right, wasn't this just a stormbound manor scenario?
Many of the murder mystery games Ye Qiyan had played before had similar setups.
But if it really was that simple, why had this place been rated a level 3 mission platform?
Even a level 2 mission platform had monsters like zombies. Could level 3... really be this ordinary?
Ye Qiyan did not believe it would be so simple.
The more things looked like this, the more likely some unseen danger was lurking beneath the surface.
Just as the two were about to enter the manor's castle,
a piercing scream suddenly rang out overhead.
"Aah!"
He looked toward the sound.
A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.
A woman's body plummeted from above and slammed into the lawn beside them.
Blood mingled with the rainwater and flowed outward, gathering into a bloodred stream on the ground.
But Ye Qiyan's gaze remained fixed on the spot from which the body had fallen.
He had seen a shadow, one that clearly did not belong to a human.
And...
"Did you sense it?"
The Holy Church Mithril Cross on his chest was giving off heat.
"Sure enough, it's not that simple."
"Ah! The maid! The maid's dead!"
The guard beside him cried out in terror.
An old man with a graying beard immediately ran out of the castle.
The instant he saw the old man, the guard screamed and ran away.
"It was you! You killed her!"
The old man's face was ashen. Watching the guard vanish into the darkness, he finally sighed.
"I'm sorry you had to see that... I'm the butler here. Are you the sheriff from outside? You're certainly young. Sigh... another death... What on earth is going on?"
"Another? Has someone else died besides Master Lavi and this lady just now?"
Ye Qiyan forced himself not to look at the bloody corpse on the ground.
The butler, however, seemed accustomed to it. He picked up the body and carried it to one side of the lawn, where several pits looked as though they had been prepared long ago.
He tossed the body into one of them.
There were five pits, three of which contained bodies.
"?"
The butler gave a bitter smile.
"Please come inside first, Sheriff."
After entering the castle, the chill did not fade. Ye Qiyan even seemed to feel something watching him, sending shivers down his spine.
"Would you like coffee? Or tea?"
"Just hot water."
"Please wait a moment."
Soon, a cup of coffee was placed before Ye Qiyan. He did not drink it, instead asking the butler directly:
"What exactly is going on here? Wasn't Master Lavi supposed to be the only victim? But just now...?"
The butler sighed. In the dim candlelight, his bloodshot eyes were rather unnerving.
"Four days ago, the master really was the only one who had died. The young lady and the young master had a fierce argument. The young lady believed the maid had killed the master, while the young master was having an affair with the maid, so naturally he defended her. The two had a huge fight. The next morning, I found the young lady's body in the attic. The guard was in love with her, and he went mad that very day. On the third day, the young master died too... Today is the fourth day..."
"I felt that sooner or later I would die too, so yesterday I dug graves for all five of us. That way, when I die, there will at least be somewhere to bury me. Heh... Sheriff, this manor is cursed. Everyone who lives here will die... Back then, I should have talked the master out of it. I shouldn't have let him buy this place just because it was cheap... Sigh... It's all too late. It's all over... You should leave as soon as possible."
Sure enough, the mystery had turned supernatural.
Ye Qiyan tightened his grip on the cross.
Without this Holy Church Cross, he really would have wanted to get out of there immediately.
He took a deep breath and continued questioning him:
"Since things have already come to this, why are you still here?"
The butler raised his head and forced a desolate smile.
"I tried, but I can no longer leave this manor. I can't get out through its gates. I already told the guard not to let you in if you came, but... I'm sorry. If you can't leave either, I'll dig a grave for you."
Before you continue