Deep darkness fell upon the castle, stripping everyone of their vision. To his astonishment, Zhang Yuanqing discovered that a Night Wanderer's innate ability to pierce through darkness was rendered useless at this moment.
Pitch-black surrounded him; he could see nothing at all.
This "night" was not darkness in the conventional sense. It was a mandatory seal, one that locked away all skills, passives included.
By instinct, he backed against a wall and assumed a defensive stance while attempting to open his inventory... only to remember that both inventory and status screen were restricted, impossible to access.
*Then all I can do is rely on luck. Don't let it be me, don't let it be me...* he muttered silently to himself, on the verge of crying out for God or Buddha to protect him.
It wasn't that Zhang Yuanqing feared death; rather, he believed that only if he stayed alive could he guarantee solving the case. He didn't trust anyone else to pull it off.
No sound stirred in the darkness. Time crept by in silence. Two to three minutes later, night receded and light flooded back in. Vision shifted from pitch-black to dusky twilight, and finally to full daylight.
"Who died?" Zhang Yuanqing swiftly looked around.
Sun Miaomiao, Zhao Chenghuang, Zhai Cai, World Returns to Fire... The faces of his teammates entered his view one by one. Finally, his gaze fell upon the floor.
Brother Red Chicken lay stiffly on the ground, completely rigid. He had died in the night.
Brother Red Chicken was the one who died? A stroke of luck amid misfortune... The heavy stone in Zhang Yuanqing's heart dropped away. Far from feeling sorrowful, he breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Zhai Cai and the others noticed that Brother Red Chicken had fallen in the night as well. Expressions of "thank goodness" and relief spread across their faces.
With Brother Red Chicken being the sacrifice, it was virtually equivalent to nobody dying—zero casualties.
Zhai Cai hurried over and squatted down to inspect the body. He found no wounds on Brother Red Chicken; his expression was serene, looking as if he had passed with zero regrets.
"Good thing the deceased doesn't affect the big picture!" The sole-heir Knight sighed with relief before his expression turned grave. "I don't think the killer of the castle's owner is the witch. The witch's method of killing is mandatory death, whereas the castle's owner suffered two fatal wounds."
"Not necessarily!" World Returns to Fire was the first to object. "Ya Lance had her internal organs devoured while comatose or post-mortem. Wouldn't it make sense if she was first killed by the witch's vengeance?"
The two exchanged glances. Zhai Cai frowned and looked toward Zhang Yuanqing. "What do you think?"
"As things stand, there are two investigative directions. One: the witch is the killer, and our task is to find her true name. Two: the killer is among us; the witch's presence is a massive threat that complicates solving the case, but she isn't the murderer." Zhang Yuanqing laid out his thoughts clearly and pointed to the open doorway. "Sorcerer Dong's door can only be unlocked by this role, which means we will never be able to open Brother Red Chicken's room. The clues belonging to him are permanently lost.
"Right now, the most urgent matter isn't debating who the killer is, but spending our available points to gather as many clues as possible for the team."
With that, he pushed open the door to Sorcerer Dong's room. "Let's see what clues are inside first."
The team followed him inside. The tables, chairs, and bed in the room reflected the austerity typical of medieval times. After searching around, they found a black wooden box, a letter from Ya Lance to Sorcerer Dong, and a sheet of parchment inscribed with intricate incantations.
The letter's contents matched Zhang Yuanqing's character information—it was a plea for help.
Zhang Yuanqing stared at the parchment, his brows knitting slowly.
"It looks like a spirit talisman formation for refining spirit servants. Different from traditional spirit talismans, this diagram was probably devised by ancient cultivators based on spirit talismans... I think I understand why Sorcerer Dong coveted the witch sealed by the Lance family. Witches have heightened spiritual perception and an extreme Yin constitution. She's a natural top-grade spirit servant."
Zhai Cai looked him up and down. "You're not a Night Wanderer. How do you know this is a spirit talisman diagram?!"
Zhang Yuanqing didn't bat an eye. "Knowledge can be learned, and worldly experience can be accumulated."
Saying so, he handed the parchment to Sun Miaomiao, putting on the air of letting an expert give an appraisal.
"It really is a formation diagram derived from spirit talismans," Sun Miaomiao said, putting on an appraiser's act.
Zhang Yuanqing didn't want to linger on the formation diagram. He opened the wooden box. Lying inside was a pen carved from ice. Judging by the pen rests embedded at the bottom of the box, there should have been two ice pens in total.
One of them was missing without a trace.
Just then, a notification chime sounded by Zhang Yuanqing's ear:
[Ding! Your role-exclusive skill has been activated!]
[Planchette Pen: Capable of divination. Each use costs 60 points (Confidential).]
*A role-exclusive skill...* Zhang Yuanqing immediately recalled Sorcerer Dong's character background: a sorcerer adept at planchette writing.
Moreover, he had felt it odd earlier that there was a note attached to Sorcerer Dong's profile: *Disclosable!*
If there was a "Disclosable," there had to be a "Confidential." Sure enough, his suspicion was verified.
"Oh? A pen carved of ice..." Sun Miaomiao leaned closer. "Does it have item stats?"
Zhang Yuanqing picked up the pen. After waiting a few seconds, he shook his head. "No item information."
"Let me see." Sun Miaomiao took the ice pen. A few seconds later, she put it back into the box, somewhat deflated. "Indeed, nothing. Then what's the use of this pen? There are no clues in your room at all."
Beside them, Zhai Cai's gaze suddenly sharpened. "Who says there are no clues? Where is the other pen?"
World Returns to Fire had a sudden realization and spoke hurriedly, "Remember the fatal wound on the castle owner's chest? I said back then that the color of the blood looked off, like it had been diluted with water."
Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang caught on in an instant.
"The murderer is Sorcerer Dong?" Sun Miaomiao scrutinized Zhang Yuanqing, deducing, "The wound on the castle owner's chest was made by an ice pen! That pen melted, which is why the blood on her chest looked diluted."
Zhao Chenghuang grunted in agreement. "The castle owner wrote in her notes that Celestial Master Dong coveted the Lance family's taboo. He had a motive."
Everyone turned to look at Zhang Yuanqing.
*Can't argue with that...* Zhang Yuanqing thought it over carefully. Sorcerer Dong indeed had motive and capability, and now physical evidence had appeared as well.
It was difficult to claim that Ya Lance's death had nothing to do with Sorcerer Dong.
At this point, Zhai Cai spoke up: "However, the wound on the victim's chest looks more like it was caused by a broadsword or similar large bladed weapon. An ice pen couldn't make a wound like that."
World Returns to Fire's excitement dampened slightly. Recalling the body, he nodded.
"That's true. The wounds on the victim's chest were inflicted by two different weapons. Now that the ice pen has been found, and there's no greatsword in Sorcerer Dong's room, that means there is yet another suspect."
"Narrowing down the suspects is still a good thing." Zhang Yuanqing put the ice pen back in the box and said, "Monroe, who loves devouring entrails; Sorcerer Dong, who coveted the Lance family's taboo; once we find the owner of the greatsword, we'll have identified all three participants in the crime. Deducing the killer from three suspects is far easier than searching among six."
He made no mention of the planchette divination, as that was confidential information.
For details explicitly marked "Confidential," it was best to take them to the grave and tell no one—not even drop a hint. In a high-difficulty instance, one must never try to get clever, because there was zero margin for error.
Zhang Yuanqing was already treating "Castle Mystery" as a dungeon instance.
"It's a pity Brother Red Chicken died. We'll never get into his room," Sun Miaomiao frowned. "Without clues from one of the suspects, I wonder if it will affect our final deduction."
"First, let's locate the rest of your rooms and gather all the clues. We can't let another foolish Fire Specialist scenario happen," Zhai Cai urged everyone to move quickly.
Everyone rushed out of the room. Zhai Cai was the first to find his own quarters. Spending ten points to unlock the door, he called over to his teammates:
"My room is open."
Zhang Yuanqing and the others ran over in unison, entering the room of Daniel, the family doctor.
Crossing the threshold, their eyes swept the room and were instantly drawn to a cruciform broadsword leaning against the wall.
The sword was about ten centimeters wide and 1.5 meters long, with a cruciform hilt forged of pure silver.
"Uh..." Zhai Cai rubbed his nose. "So I'm that last suspect? Why would a family doctor have a greatsword in his room?"
He walked over to the wall and picked up the greatsword. Immediately afterward, Zhai Cai's expression froze, and he instinctively looked back toward Zhang Yuanqing.
Their gazes met. Neither spoke, yet a silent understanding passed between them.
Zhai Cai looked away and spoke without any trace of abnormality:
"Why doesn't this sword have any item stats?"
Sun Miaomiao, Zhao Chenghuang, and World Returns to Fire each touched the cruciform sword. Indeed, there was no item information, just like Sorcerer Dong's ice pen.
World Returns to Fire pondered aloud:
"The sword, like the pen, exists as physical evidence?
"What grievance could Daniel have with the castle owner? Why kill her?"
*I wonder what Zhai Cai's role-exclusive skill is...* Zhang Yuanqing thought quietly. His gaze fell upon the desk by the window, and he said, "There might be clues on the desk."
While Sorcerer Dong's desk had been completely bare, family doctor Daniel's desk was piled with linen-fiber papers, and among them were even a few precious sheets of parchment.
Before long, they found a letter among the papers:
"Respected Mr. Daniel, I am Pete, butler of Lance Castle. A werewolf has appeared in the vicinity of the castle. Every night of the full moon, we hear the howling of a werewolf, and the following morning, a servant in the castle is devoured.
"We locked the doors and windows tight, but still failed to stop the werewolf. I suspect the werewolf is hiding among us within the castle, as the doors and windows show no sign of damage. Hearing that you are a renowned bounty hunter in the region and once served as a knight of the Holy See, I would like to enlist your help in ridding the castle of this werewolf. The Lance family will reward you with the handsomest of bounties."
This letter revealed plenty of valuable information.
"On the surface I'm a family doctor, but in secret I'm a bounty hunter searching for the wolf..." Zhai Cai pondered for a few seconds, his eyes lighting up.
"I understand now! The one who ate the castle owner's organs wasn't the Bigfoot Fire Specialist—it was the werewolf lurking inside the castle! I checked the castle owner's bed; no wonder there were no signs of violation. It wasn't Bigfoot who killed her, but a werewolf!"
His train of thought grew increasingly clear:
"The night the castle owner died was a full moon. The werewolf set its sights on her. That very same night, Sorcerer Dong, who coveted the Lance family's taboo, also targeted her. Sorcerer Dong stabbed the castle owner to death with the ice pen first, and the scent of blood drew the werewolf, who then devoured her organs...
"Then why did I stab her with a sword? That makes no sense. An accidental injury? Did I fight the werewolf that night and accidentally wound the castle owner during combat?
"No, no, that's not right. There were no traces of a struggle at the crime scene. When the werewolf fed on her organs, it was enjoying its dinner undisturbed."
Zhai Cai's newly cleared train of thought plunged back into confusion.
World Returns to Fire and the other two also frowned deeply.
The general direction of the incident had become clearer, yet many details failed to add up.
The werewolf devoured her, the lover killed her, and the bounty hunter stabbed her—who was the true culprit?
More clues were needed to aid their deduction.
While thinking, Zhang Yuanqing spoke:
"At least Monroe's suspicion can be ruled out. Now, among the six of us: Miaomiao is my daughter, Brother Red Chicken was Bigfoot, Mr. Knight is the bounty hunter, and I am the Eastern sorcerer... Who is the werewolf?"
He looked toward Zhao Chenghuang and World Returns to Fire. "One of you is the werewolf."
Young Zhao and the Shame of Fire Specialists exchanged a glance, and the latter nodded.
"The last suspect is between the two of us. Let's keep unlocking rooms. Once we find the werewolf's room, the clues will become much clearer. Maybe we'll be able to identify the killer right then."
The group discussed for another moment, then took advantage of nightfall not having arrived yet to hurriedly leave Daniel's room and search for World Returns to Fire's and Zhao Chenghuang's rooms.
Before long, World Returns to Fire found his room at the end of the corridor.
However, his expression was exceptionally grim. Looking at his teammates rushing over, he said heavily:
"It won't open!"
"Why won't it open?" Zhang Yuanqing froze in surprise.
World Returns to Fire did not reply. He stepped aside, gesturing for Zhang Yuanqing to see for himself.
Puzzled, Zhang Yuanqing grasped the door lock to read its item information.
[Name: Ordinary Door Lock]
[Type: Metal Product]
[Function: Anti-theft]
[Description: The lock to David's room. A restriction has been placed upon it; it requires its master to personally open it.]
[Note 1: Unlocking this lock requires 10 points.]
[Note 2: Only one room door may be opened each day. The time to unlock it has not yet arrived.]
"Fuck..." Zhang Yuanqing's heart turned icy cold in an instant.
Chapter 741