The head and body of the "corpse" were not far apart, almost only a few centimeters apart.
The ground was covered in splattered blood, though the area affected was not large.
After inspecting the area for a moment, Conan ran into the woodshed.
"Let's each search one room!" Lü Shouyi said.
"I'll search Conan's room," Ling Yi said.
"Then I'll go search Brother Ling Yi's room." Huang Rong still looked annoyed as she turned and walked towards the last room.
Lü Shouyi went to search Huang Rong's room, Conan, after running out of the woodshed, went to search Lü Shouyi's room.
Fifteen minutes isn't a long time.
The group was quickly Teleport back.
Conan held a letter in his hand, with the words "Secret Letter" written on it.
Upon seeing the secret letter, Lü Shouyi curled his lip, thinking to himself that he was in trouble.
The prop that Lü Shouyi took out was a simple broadsword, but there was no blood on it; it was very clean.
Ling Yi was holding a medicine box with the words " Rose Fragrance " written on it.
Huang Rong, on the other hand, was holding a token.
The four sat down at the table, looking at each other somewhat bewildered. Among them, apart from Ling Yi, none of them had ever played a murder mystery game before.
[Attention all players, the second round of evidence collection will begin in ten minutes!]
"Do you all understand the rules now?" Ling Yi asked.
"There are a total of four rounds of evidence gathering. After all four rounds, players vote for the murderer. If the vote is successful, the other players win; if the vote fails, the murderer wins." Conan summarized succinctly.
"Let's all briefly introduce ourselves first!" Ling Yi said.
"My name is Hong Jiangshui, and I'm a waiter at the Jianghu Inn. I came to this inn two years ago."
At this point, Ling Yi glanced at Conan and smiled, "It was the landlady, Zhang Hongsheng, who took me in because she thought I was fairly quick and knew some Kung Fu Hustle, and I've been here ever since."
Conan nodded and said, "I am Zhang Hongsheng, the innkeeper's wife, and the wife of the deceased Meng Sanchun."
"Pfft, you're a woman?" Lü Shouyi laughed.
Conan rolled his dead fish eyes. "Plot-driven, no personal attacks allowed."
"Excuse me, well, I'm Zhang Jinyin, and I'm brothers with the deceased Meng Sanchun. This inn is one that Meng Sanchun and I opened together."
"I am Cai Siniang, and I also work at the inn. I came to the inn a year ago." Huang Rong pouted, seemingly very dissatisfied with this role.
"Sister Huang Rong, why have you had this expression ever since you got your identity?" Conan asked.
"I don't want to say," Huang Rong said, blushing.
"Sister Huang Rong, please respect the game!" Conan said earnestly.
"I'll only tell you once you find the relevant items; that doesn't violate the game rules," Huang Rong retorted.
"Miss Huang, what about this broadsword? You can at least tell me that, this thing is most likely the murder weapon." Lü Shouyi asked, pointing to the broadsword in front of him.
"I am Cai Siniang. I have loved martial arts since I was a child, especially Saber Technique. My parents, Zhang Hongsheng, kept me at the inn because of my Saber Technique."
"This knife is what I use for practicing my skills."
Conan nodded. " Cai Siniang's Saber Technique is indeed very impressive. Our inn is called the Jianghu Inn, mainly serving people from the Jianghu arts world)."
"If any members of the Jianghu cause trouble, Cai Siniang will step in to resolve it," Conan added.
At this point, Conan looked at Lü Shouyi again.
He then pushed the secret letter toward Lü Shouyi and said, "Third Master, I think you should explain the origin and contents of this letter."
Lü Shouyi shrugged and said, "Alright, I'll come clean. Meng Second Brother and I are actually bandits from Mang Mountain Stronghold."
" Second Brother Meng is the second-in-command, and I'm the third-in-command."
About five years ago, the eldest brother, Hong Zhentian, received news that a shrewd merchant had acquired a treasure and happened to be passing through Mang Mountain with it.
"But this unscrupulous merchant Hire many skilled Jianghu artists, which our Mang Mountain Stronghold probably can't handle. So we've decided to cooperate with the Cai Family to jointly seize the treasure."
" The Cai Family is a powerful family of thieves in the area."
"The boss's plan was to take action against the Cai Family after obtaining the treasure. We all opposed it at the time, but the boss told us a huge secret."
"The renowned strategist of the Cai Family, Young Master Hong, is his biological son, whose real name is Hong San."
With Hong San in charge, this matter will surely succeed.
"We did succeed in the Sneak Attack with Hong San's inside help, but the Cai Family's desperate counterattack was completely unexpected."
In the end, the brothers of Mang Mountain Stronghold and the Cai Family almost perished together.
"My Second Brother and I are the last survivors of Mang Mountain Stronghold. After many twists and turns, we arrived in Liang City and opened this Jianghu Inn."
"As for this letter, I obtained it from my Second Brother by chance."
"It turns out that he had been secretly in contact with the head of the Cai Family Cai Family all along, and this letter is evidence of that contact."
Conan took the letter out of the envelope and continued, "According to this letter, he tricked everyone in the stronghold into drinking wine laced with Muscle-Softening Powder before the Combat."
"However, Meng Sanchun probably controlled the dosage of the Muscle-Softening Powder, which is why he ultimately succeeded in becoming the fisherman."
"Back then, my Second Brother did stop me from drinking, but I didn't understand why until I found this letter."
Conan asked, "Why did Meng Sanchun stop you from drinking? Logically speaking, only when everyone is dead can his secret of betraying his brothers be completely buried."
"My Second Brother and I are good friends!" Lü Shouyi said, shrugging.
"Don't you want to avenge the brothers who died in the stronghold?" Huang Rong suddenly asked.
"We're mountain bandits, we band together to make a living by beheading, all we want is a fortune. None of them were good people, they're dead, so what's the point of revenge?"
Lü Shouyi said dismissively.
Many people looked at him with suspicion, clearly not believing what Lü Shouyi.
At this moment, Lü Shouyi looked at Huang Rong.
" Cai Siniang, your surname is Cai, you wouldn't happen to be a Cai Family, would you?"
"Let's find the evidence first!" Cai Siniang's identity is key, and Huang Rong can refuse to answer this question until evidence of her identity is found.
" Cai Siniang, your excuses are useless. If you don't answer, the suspicion will only grow stronger," Ling Yi said.
" The Cai Family was framed by Meng Sanchun. You are seeking revenge for your family; there is no more perfect reason for revenge."
"Didn't you say you'd only speak up if you found evidence?"
"So, you are the murderer who killed Meng Sanchun, and this broadsword is the murder weapon!" Lü Shouyi said.
"I am indeed Cai Family, but I didn't know that Meng Sanchun was the murderer back then. Before coming to Liang City, I didn't even know about Jianghu Inn!"
Conan suddenly chuckled, leaving everyone bewildered.
Only Huang Rong cried out in frustration, "Oh dear, who wrote this script? How could it be like this?"
Ling Yi and Lü Shouyi exchanged a glance. Was there more to this story?
"Ahem, about two weeks ago, Cai Siniang confessed her feelings to me," Conan said with a smile.
"Pfft, Cai Siniang, you... confessed your feelings to the landlady?"
"Hmm!" Huang Rong nodded in annoyance. What kind of lousy plot is this?
"This is outrageous!"
" Cai Siniang was raised as a boy by her parents since she was a child, so she has always considered herself a boy, so..." Huang Rong shrugged.
This is part of her script.
Ling Yi never expected Cai Siniang Cai Siniang be like this.
However, in murder mystery games, the background, experiences, and other settings of each character are not arbitrary; they all have a reason.
Ling Yi pointed to the wooden box in front of him that was labeled " Rose Fragrance " and said, " Rose Fragrance is a poisonous powder. When taken alone, it can easily cause dizziness and hallucinations."
"Long-term and excessive use can lead to addiction; once you stop taking it, you will experience severe pain and discomfort throughout your body."
"However, everyone in Mang Mountain Stronghold must consume Rose Fragrance regularly and in fixed quantities!"
Lü Shouyi Ling Yi in surprise and asked, "How did you know?"
"Because I was just a lowly henchman in Mang Mountain Stronghold, I didn't participate in that Combat due to my low cultivation level and status. I was left behind in Mang Mountain Stronghold."
"So, you're also a survivor of Mang Mountain Stronghold back then?" Lü Shouyi asked.
"Yes, Third Master!"
Huang Rong showed a token. On both sides of the token were the characters "mang" and "bandit" written on them.
This was found by Huang Rong in Hong Jiangshui's room.
However, now that Ling Yi Self-Destruct his identity, this thing is useless.
" Mang Mountain is shrouded in miasma year-round, so the people of Mang Mountain Stronghold need to take Rose Fragrance in fixed quantities and at fixed times to expel the poison of the miasma," Ling Yi explained.
"So, ma'am, what's your relationship with Mang Mountain Stronghold?" Ling Yi asked Conan.
This thing was found in the landlady's room, so Conan naturally needs to explain.
" Meng Sanchun needs to take Rose Fragrance year-round, Zhang Hongsheng's room is Meng Sanchun's room, so it's not surprising that there's Rose Fragrance there!" Conan said.
"Then, where does Meng Sanchun's Rose Fragrance come from?"
"It was provided by the third leader!" Conan said.
"Third Master, only the First Master knows the origin of this Rose Fragrance. How do you know Rose Fragrance origin?"
Lü Shouyi said, "Once, the chief got drunk and blurted it out himself, which I happened to overhear."
"So, back then, Meng Sanchun became addicted to Rose Fragrance and needed you to provide Rose Fragrance, which is why your life was spared, right?"
"Yes!" Lü Shouyi couldn't refute this.
Furthermore, in murder mystery games, players can conceal or guide the conversation if relevant evidence is presented, but they cannot lie.
Otherwise, if everyone starts talking nonsense, the game will be difficult to continue.
However, before evidence emerges, you can say whatever you want; there are no restrictions.
" Meng Sanchun was the one who slew the oriole; the treasure from back then must have fallen into his hands. You killed Meng Sanchun for the treasure Meng Sanchun possessed?"
"That treasure isn't very valuable. The money my Jianghu Inn has made over the years is enough to buy several of those. Why should I take the risk and do something so meaningless?" Lü Shouyi retorted.
Ling Yi nodded.
"Boss lady, why did you kill Meng Sanchun?" Huang Rong suddenly asked at this moment.
" Cai Siniang, dragging me into this won't do either of us any good," Conan said, shaking his head.
"The landlady wants to kill Meng Sanchun? That's interesting," Lü Shouyi said with a smile.
Conan glanced at Huang Rong but didn't explain. Instead, he asked, " Cai Siniang, you burned incense to pay respects to your family yesterday afternoon, so you're a survivor of the Cai Family from that incident?"
"Yes, but at that time I didn't know that Meng Sanchun was my enemy, nor did I know the details of what happened back then."
After a pause, Huang Rong continued, "I did intend to kill Meng Sanchun, and last night was indeed a good opportunity, but unfortunately, I didn't succeed."
"Why did you kill Meng Sanchun?" Ling Yi asked.
"Because of the landlady," Huang Rong said helplessly. Every time she thought about her character's role in the script, Huang Rong felt extremely ashamed.
"Tell me about this, I love to hear it!" Lü Shouyi said with a smile.
" Cai Siniang felt that Meng Sanchun and Zhang Hongsheng were too far apart in age, and she didn't believe that the two were truly in love. By chance, Cai Siniang witnessed the landlady holding a dagger and about to kill Meng Sanchun."