Naming the Culprit

World Returns to Fire had no skill? Zhang Yuanqing's expression grew solemn. With World Returns to Fire's intelligence, it was impossible for him not to grasp the hint. That meant he truly possessed no skill! Did every role not get a skill? Did only special roles possess skills? The first two who had skills were Sorcerer Dong and Daniel, and both were suspects. The final suspect was the werewolf, yet there were no clues in World Returns to Fire's room indicating that David was the werewolf... In other words, only the three suspects had role skills. World Returns to Fire (David) wasn't the werewolf, so he had no role skill. Reasoned this way, the logic was self-consistent, but it clashed with the results of the fuji divination. Consider this: if only the three suspects had role skills, tacitly confirming that the three suspects were special, then the culprit was definitely among the three. Yet the revelation given by the fuji was the letter "d," and the names containing "d" were Daniel, David, and Sorcerer Dong. If David was the werewolf, then the logic of the three suspects held, and the fuji revelation was also right. *Could it be that the fuji revelation pointed only to Daniel and Sorcerer Dong, and had nothing to do with Lenn the werewolf?* Zhang Yuanqing wondered silently. There were actually plenty of clues now, but none formed a coherent, self-consistent loop. Instead, everything felt like a tangled mess. Zhai Cai clearly sensed something was amiss as well. Scratching his head, he leaned in and lowered his voice: "He seems to be a blank card, not the culprit. Are you sure David is definitely among the suspects?" Zhang Yuanqing choked on his words. "If only Guan Ya were alive..." This tacitly answered Zhai Cai. No matter how clever or skilled in logic a person was, they ultimately couldn't match a Scout specialized in Insight. Zhai Cai scratched his head again with a grimace. "If David isn't a suspect and isn't the werewolf, then Lenn is the werewolf, which makes him one of the three suspects." "No, the werewolf isn't the culprit. The culprit is between Sorcerer Dong and Daniel," Zhang Yuanqing said in a heavy voice. The fuji result had effectively eliminated the werewolf from the suspects. World Returns to Fire and Zhao Chenghuang exchanged a look. For a while now, they hadn't been able to keep up with the duo's train of thought, sensing that the sole-heir Knight and Yuanshi held clues they knew nothing about. Yet that was impossible; all clues had been shared. Zhai Cai nodded, exhaling a long breath. "Remember the prompt we got when entering the scroll? If the vote fails, anyone who died in the case will truly die. "If you're certain the culprit is either Daniel or Sorcerer Dong, then we can name the culprit right now. I don't see any need to wait until tomorrow, because the one dying tonight might be Lenn. If we vote now, we spare one more life. "Even if we fail and lose three teammates, the four of us can still leave." Zhao Chenghuang and World Returns to Fire turned to Zhang Yuanqing. "Let me think, let me think..." Zhang Yuanqing fell into a dilemma. What the sole-heir Knight said made sense. Based on the fuji result, the killer lay between "Daniel" and "Sorcerer Dong," so naming the culprit right now was the most logical decision. In any case, Lenn the werewolf could already be ruled out, so whether they looked at the clues in his room made little difference. Besides, Zhai Cai had prepared for the worst: if the accusation failed, the team would lose three people and four would survive. But if they waited until tomorrow, the worst-case scenario would become losing four people, with only three surviving. Yet Zhang Yuanqing faintly sensed that something wasn't right. As someone who had cleared many puzzle-oriented S-rank scenarios since becoming a Spirit Realm walker, he knew that sometimes experience and intuition mattered more than pure logic. Just like a basketball player who could tell whether a shot would score purely by feel. If the touch was off, the instant the ball left their hand, they knew the shot was a miss. That was exactly what Zhang Yuanqing felt right now. Did only the three suspects have skills? Was Sun Miaomiao's death due to the Lance bloodline? Exorcist Daniel's motive had not been found. David had no obvious motive, so what purpose did the "poison," "love letter," and "parchment" in his room serve in the case? There were still too many unanswered questions—a tangled mess. *The feel is off this time...* Zhang Yuanqing said, "I want to see the clues in Lenn's room. I'm betting that the one who dies tonight won't be Zhao Chenghuang. If he does die tonight, we'll name the culprit immediately." Zhai Cai sighed. "I'd actually prefer to accuse right now. Even if we fail, I'll still be alive. If we wait until tomorrow, what if I'm the one who dies tonight? And then if you fail the accusation, I'll return to the Spirit Realm right along with the others." He looked toward Zhao Chenghuang and World Returns to Fire. "It's a risk for both of you, too." Zhao Chenghuang and World Returns to Fire remained expressionless. "Fine!" Zhai Cai shrugged. "I respect your opinion. Majority rules." The vote required everyone to shout the culprit's name simultaneously; his word alone didn't count. *You little opportunist, you've finally shown your true colors!* Zhang Yuanqing groused inwardly. In truth, he understood Zhai Cai's worry. Daniel had a skill; if the sole-heir Knight died tonight, that skill would go completely to waste. Moreover, Zhai Cai had yet to activate his skill. Zhang Yuanqing guessed that Daniel's skill had conditions that needed to be met, unlike the fuji divination which could be used anytime. The four refrained from discussing the case any further. Some leaned against the walls, while others sat by the bed, silently sorting through clues, reviewing the entire case, and waiting quietly for night to fall. Time slipped by in the silence until, finally, the shrill, mournful screech of a cat rang out once more. Night fell! Darkness swiftly shrouded the castle, chasing away all light and swallowing the four. Zhang Yuanqing waited in the darkness for several seconds. Realizing he wasn't dead, he knew he wasn't the victim tonight. Soon, the night receded like a tide. Zhang Yuanqing, Zhai Cai, and Zhao Chenghuang immediately looked around at each other, then turned their gaze toward the floor in unison. World Returns to Fire lay stiffly on the floor, looking as peaceful as if he were asleep. "Phew..." The three exhaled at the same time. *Thank goodness, it's not me!* Zhang Yuanqing promptly urged, "Let's go. Time to find Lenn's room." Their footsteps grew noticeably lighter as they departed, leaving behind the shame of the Fire Masters lying alone on the cold, hard floor. Lenn was the Lance family's gardener, a lowly position. The three located his room on the first floor. After Zhao Chenghuang paid the points, the door opened smoothly. Accompanied by a creak, the room's layout slowly entered their view. The furnishings here were even cruder than those upstairs: just a bed and a table, nothing more. At the same time, an indescribable stench hit their nostrils. Rotting rats, maggot-infested pork, or semen fermented for days in a sweltering, enclosed room... It smelled roughly like that. All three wrinkled their brows in disgust. Zhai Cai tilted his head toward Zhao Chenghuang and snapped irritably, "Did you hoard a corpse in your room to eat for the winter?" Zhao Chenghuang kept a cold face, ignoring his ribbing, and stepped inside on his own initiative. As Saints and Dominators who had fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, they naturally wouldn't be deterred by a mere foul odor. Once inside, they quickly pinpointed the source of the stench: a puddle of blackened, hardened, rotting flesh by the head of the bed, resembling the vomit of a drunkard. "Vomit!" Zhai Cai said. "When my little secretary drinks too much, that's how she throws up. She often covers for me at drinks." "You're a Dominator, and you need someone else to block drinks for you? Shameless!" Zhang Yuanqing jabbed at him. He summoned the Mountain God Scepter and poked around in the pile of vomit. "The volume is ridiculous, too. It would take four or five adults vomiting together to produce this much..." As the blackened, hardened crust was peeled back, it revealed the vile contents within: bits of minced meat, a few sections of intestines, and heavily decomposed, barely recognizable fragments of internal organs. "The one who devoured the castle master really was Lenn. Lenn is the werewolf!" Zhao Chenghuang concluded with finality. Zhai Cai waved his hand in front of his nose and pushed open a window to let fresh air flood the room. At the same time, he pointed out, "There's wolf fur on the bed!" On the bed, covered with a thin sheepskin, lay several tufts of coarse, grayish-black hair. There was no longer any doubt about Lenn's werewolf identity. Following their usual routine, they searched around and dragged a wooden box from under the bed. Inside, they found a silver crucifix engraved with a line of words: "Between us, only one can exist!" "A crucifix?" Zhang Yuanqing picked up the crucifix to examine it. It felt slightly warm to the touch. Zhai Cai let out a surprised "Huh?": "In this era, a silver crucifix could only belong to the Holy See. Why would a werewolf have one? Let me see..." He took the crucifix from Zhang Yuanqing. "This is a blessed crucifix." "What's it for? A good luck charm?" Zhang Yuanqing asked. "A silver crucifix can only be meant for dealing with vampires. Vampires possess tremendous vitality and are said to have resurrection abilities, making them extremely difficult to kill. But a crucifix blessed by the Holy See poses a lethal threat to them. I remember my teacher mentioning during medieval history class that werewolves and vampires are mortal enemies, because both are powerful creatures of the night," Zhai Cai explained. As mortal enemies, it was hardly surprising that a werewolf would carry a silver crucifix to deal with vampires. The clues in Lenn the werewolf's room: vomit, crucifix, and wolf fur. The three stared at the puddle of vomit, falling into deep thought. "It doesn't seem to help much with identifying the culprit. We already deduced that Lenn is the werewolf," Zhai Cai said, rubbing his chin. "At least it confirms that the werewolf was the devourer, but something feels off..." Zhao Chenghuang pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Why would the internal organs be vomited up here? Just to tell us that Lenn is the werewolf who ate Ya Lance's organs?" "That possibility can't be ruled out. After all, Bigfoots also like eating humans. The vomit distinguishes who the actual devourer was," Zhai Cai said. Zhang Yuanqing suddenly spoke up: "But what's the point of that? At the scene of the castle master's death, there were no signs of fighting or struggling. She was either already dead or unconscious at the time. If she was unconscious, the cause of death would be from being devoured, but in that case, Daniel and Sorcerer Dong wouldn't have needed to deliver additional fatal blows. Therefore, the castle master didn't die from being devoured. "If that's the case, whether the one who devoured her was a Bigfoot or a werewolf doesn't really matter, does it?" Zhai Cai found this reasonable. "So this puddle of vomit seems redundant. Yet the cost of opening the room was so high; it shouldn't just yield useless clues." "Then what on earth is the vomit for?!" Zhao Chenghuang asked. "Instead of asking what the vomit is for, we should ask why the werewolf vomited in the first place. Did Ya Lance's meat not suit his taste? Did it upset his stomach?" Zhang Yuanqing furrowed his brows. *Huh? Upset stomach?!* All three froze at once. As if struck by mutual inspiration, their eyes met. "Wait, don't rush. Let me review everything..." Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath. "From the crime scene inspection, Ya Lance's fatal wounds were to her heart and her devoured internal organs. The suspects are Sorcerer Dong, Daniel, and the werewolf, with the murder weapons being the ice pen, greatsword, and sharp teeth. "However, there were no signs of struggling or fighting at the scene, and the pierced chest wound had very little bleeding. All these signs indicate that Ya Lance was very likely dead before her chest was pierced and before she was devoured. "Yet we clearly only found two fatal injuries and three methods on Ya Lance. If none of those caused her death, then how did she die? Is it possible there is a fourth method we overlooked, such as..." Zhai Cai clapped his hands together hard. "Such as poisoning!" Excitement appeared on Zhao Chenghuang's stern face, and he picked up the thread: "Ya Lance was poisoned to death, which is why the werewolf got an upset stomach! This puddle of vomit is the evidence. In the butler's commission letter to Daniel, it was mentioned that when werewolves eat humans, they consume flesh and bone together without leaving remains behind. But because Ya Lance died of poison, the werewolf got sick halfway through eating and suffered unbearable agony. It rushed back to its room and vomited violently, which is how Ya Lance's body was preserved! "If she was poisoned, there would be residues in her stomach and poison reactions in her liver, but all her internal organs were eaten by the werewolf, which is why we didn't discover the fourth method!" Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "Then who is the real culprit?" The answer was obvious! Zhai Cai gave a chuckle. "David! No wonder you insisted David had to be among the suspects." Zhao Chenghuang frowned. "But why would David poison Ya Lance?" "That love letter." Zhang Yuanqing was full of confidence. "David and Sandy were in love, but Ya Lance would never agree to their marriage. David didn't want to part with the comfortable life in the castle, so he poisoned Ya Lance. Of course, there might be other reasons as well; that piece of parchment showed David knew the Lance family's secrets and was no ordinary tutor." If David was the culprit, all the clues aligned, and the result of the fuji divination matched as well. "Let's name the culprit, wrap up this mystery, and get out of here," Zhang Yuanqing urged. The three looked at one another, nodded in unison, and called out the culprit's name: "David!" The very next second, a prompt rang in their ears: [Ding! Incorrect answer! Unfortunately, you failed to identify the true culprit!]