Chapter 40.1
(I’ve prepared a little surprise for the men in black)
Inside the one-on-one interrogation room, the hands of the clock ticked and stopped at 11.
As Li Xiao Yu seated herself in front of Yang Ye quietly, she kept her head lowered throughout.
A moment later, Yang Ye poured her cup of water.
Li Xiao Yu took a glimpse at him before she lowered her head again swiftly. Then, she opened her notebook and held her pen.
However, she did not look at Yang Ye or the notebook. Instead, she twirled the pen that was in her grasp, causing her eyes to zone out as if she was an absentminded youth in her cla.s.s.
Yang Ye found her actions a little strange. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Li Xiao Yu sat up straight. “You can say whatever you want to say, I’ll listen.”
Yang Ye asked her: “Who do you think is the murderer?”
The grip Li Xiao Yu had on her pen tightened and she bit on her lower lip. It took her a long moment to speak: “I had a chat with Gu Liang just now, and I felt that his deductions were quite on point.”
“Oh? What did he say?” Yang Ye questioned.
Li Xiao Yu: “How about… I keep what he thought to myself first? You can voice your opinions first. I’ll corroborate them together. In all honesty, I’m still quite confused. Just a.s.sume that I don’t know anything.”
“Sure.” Yang Ye said, “You don’t have any objections against the closed loop ma.s.sacre, right?”
Li Xiao Yu: “None at all. A killed B, B killed C, C killed A, I get that. Everyone was trapped.”
“How do you think the circle was broken then?” Yang Ye asked.
Li Xiao Yu mulled over it and said: “Just now, Gu Liang said that there were two methods.”
Still holding onto his pen, Yang Ye’s movements paused for a moment. His eyes narrowed slightly. “Oh, what are the two?”
“The first method was for someone to commit suicide; the second method was that someone killed two people.”
Having said that, Li Xiao Yu picked up the cup of water to take a large gulp. “Gu Liang said, he saw the clue concerning the witchcraft, and that was what it stated. Therefore… Therefore…”
Li Xiao Yu did not know why but, when she reached this point, she felt like she could not continue speaking.
Yang Ye continued for her, “But from the post-mortem of the corpses, it doesn’t seem like someone committed suicide. Do you agree?”
Li Xiao Yu: “Agreed…”
Yang Ye said: “Okay. We will directly eliminate the first possibility then. Presently, only one method of breaking the cycle remains— someone killed two people.”
Li Xiao Yu: “Mn, I understand.”
“I’ll ask you another question then. Under the given settings, the corpses will not disappear. Think about it, if you were to walk past the small alley and discover your own corpse, you’ll definitely realise that something is amiss. Or perhaps you saw two people concurrently: one being himself, and the other his corpse. Slowly, perhaps through a process of logical reasoning, you’ll realise that everyone had been drawn into a cycle of death. At that time, what would you do?”
Li Xiao Yu said: “I would kill the person that killed me. If I were to do that, I won’t be killed again. Or maybe, I’ll kill someone at random to check if the cycle could be broken by killing him.”
Yang Ye nodded: “Yes. Just like that. Then, we can a.s.sume that the real murderer was actually aware of these facts, so he killed two people and broke the cycle.”
“Mn.” Li Xiao Yu nodded her head.
“Thus, although Gu Liang possesses the clues regarding witchcraft, it doesn’t mean that he’s the murderer,” said Yang Ye.
“Yeahk2026;” Li Xiao took a small sip, and almost spat it on herself again.
Yang Ye offered her some tissues and she wiped her mouth hastily.
“You’re acting a little strange. Are you really okay?”
Li Xiao Yu shook her head rapidly. “I’m fine. Your a.n.a.lysisk2026; is quite good. Continue.”
Yang Ye said: “Therefore, in order for the murderer to become the murderer, they have to fulfill two conditions. One, he is aware of the loop; two, he killed two people. Right?”
Li Xiao Yu: “Yes.”
Yang Ye: “Great, let’s do a process of elimination. First and foremost, I can eliminate you. You didn’t know who you were killed by, you don’t have the motivation to counter kill Beggar Ding. Furthermore, in the two instances where you saw Neighbour Liu’s corpse, they occurred after you were killed. You don’t have the opportunity to see his corpse and person simultaneously. From my general understanding of your entire timeline, there’s no indication that you noticed the existence of the loop.”
Li Xiao Yu bopped her head.
Yang Ye went on to say: “Presently, we’ve confirmed that the deceased is Beggar Ding. The person who killed Beggar Ding the second time definitely differs from the first, or else the loop wouldn’t have been broken. Therefore, the person who killed his second time is most certainly not BBQ Li. Hence, we can eliminate BBQ Li as well. Is that correct?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“Also, do you know why Beggar Ding killed you now?”
“I do. Gu Liang explained it to me prior to this. It’s because of One Dream.”
“Therefore, the second time you were killed still occurred around 10 o’ clock as you were walking past the small alleyway. At that time, Beggar Ding started having the poison-induced hallucinations and ended up killing you. This indicates that the time of his poisoning was still 9:30, right?”
“Yeah. That makes sense.”
Yang Ye: “Since that’s the case, we can eliminate Gu Liang.”
Li Xiao Yu: “……”
Yang Ye said: “Last night, which is also the night of the second cycle, your scripted character was keeping constant watch of Gu Liang from the backyard of the coffin shop, and you noticed that he never exited the coffin shop, right? In reality, you were in my backyard and we witnessed it together. And even after you left, I clearly saw that he remained in his coffin shop the entire time. Therefore, he doesn’t have the chance to poison Beggar Ding again.”
“Yes… we can eliminate Gu Liang.”
Li Xiao Yu put down her pen and placed her hands under the table, wringing them together in a place that Yang Ye had no vision of.
Her heart was surging at a great momentum; in fact, she wanted to acclaim that the tale Yang Ye was spinning was nearing peak perfection, but she did not dare to utter a word.
“After all the eliminations we have done, we are left with Neighbour Liu and Princ.i.p.al Zha.”
Yang Ye continued to state: “Let’s further our a.n.a.lysis. The two instances where Beggar Ding was killed was done by different people, but the two corpses of Beggar Ding remain the same. Why is that? This can only signify that between Neighbour Liu and Princ.i.p.al Zha, one of them knew how to imitate the modus operandi. That would in turn, mislead everyone into believing that Beggar Ding was killed by BBQ Li in both instances.
“In order to imitate the modus operandi, a condition needs to be fulfilled, wherein he knows about the poison [One Dream].
“Between the two, who knows about the poison?”
Li Xiao Yu exhaled audibly and said: “Princ.i.p.al Zha. He knew I used One Dream to kill Neighbour Liu. He helped me get rid of the corpse.”
“Yes. Which means to say, the real murderer can only be Princ.i.p.al Zha.”
Yang Ye said that line resolutely before he added, “The sequence of events should be like this: during the second cycle, Princ.i.p.al Zha helped you get rid of the corpse and secretly took away some poisoned barbeque from the barbeque stall. Later, after you left the residential building to head for the coffin shop, he also left the residential building, and gave Beggar Ding the barbeque one step ahead of BBQ Li.
“That way, even if Beggar Ding were to beg BBQ Li for food later without any changes in his trajectory, and ate the barbeque that BBQ Li gave to him, the poison that Princ.i.p.al Zha fed him would still be slightly earlier. Hence, he would die because of Princ.i.p.al Zha’s actions first.”
Once he was done speaking, Yang Ye breathed out of his mouth as he observed Li Xiao Yu’s reaction.
He was waiting to see if Li Xiao Yu would notice any gaps in his argument.
In this scenario, Yang Ye had already sensed that Liu Ran was becoming increasingly shrewd.
Therefore, if he could not even persuade Li Xiao Yu with this lie, it would consequently mean that he could not persuade Liu Ran with it.
Yang Ye had to wait for a long moment before Li Xiao Yu finally opened her mouth to speak: “Yeah. I don’t think there’s any problems with it. The murderer must be Princ.i.p.al Zha.”
Something’s wrong.
In accordance with Li Xiao Yu’s energetic personality, she was usually br.i.m.m.i.n.g with exultant smiles and radiant with delight whenever she discovered a clue, to say nothing of finding the murderer. Why was her reaction so calm now?
No, it was not only now; her reactions had been out of the norm from beginning to the end.
Having thought of something, Yang Ye’s eyebrows knitted together. He stood up and slapped the table with his palms as he scrutinised Li Xiao Yu from a higher elevation. “Do you really think that there’s no issues with it?”
“There aren’t… aren’t any issues.”
Gooseb.u.mps rising in the face of Yang Ye’s stare, Li Xiao Yu leaned backwards completely, pupils s.h.i.+fting at an erratic rate. “When you were talking to Xun Feng, Gu… Gu Liang was conversing with me too. His deductions were almost the same as yours. Since the two experts have spoken, there’s no way the murderer isn’t Princ.i.p.al Zha.”
Yang Ye recalled the a.n.a.lysis that Xun Feng made just now, before he promptly decided to apply what he had just learnt. He gave Li Xiao Yu a cold scowl. “You’re lying.”
Yang Ye’s facial features had always been sharp; when he was pulling a long face, unsmiling, and also glaring at someone, it essentially gave the impression that he was the incarnate of the King of h.e.l.l Yama or Asura.
It contrasted heavily with the usual impression he gave where he had a good temper and was easy to talk to, and Li Xiao Yu had never been confronted by this facet of him.
Taken aback, Li Xiao Yu attempted to stand up but her hand swung, toppling the water once again.
“Your eyes are constantly s.h.i.+fting, and when you were saying that just now, the direction you pointed your fingers at and gaze were not consistent. You were lying. What for?”
“But my fingers didn’t move?”
It was true that Li Xiao Yu did not move her fingers.
However, that did not stop Yang Ye from wanting to scare and cheat her. He shouted in a fierce and tough manner: “It moved!”
Li Xiao Yu was a little befuddled: “You… you’re bulls.h.i.+ting…”
Yang Ye: “Why did you lie, are you concealing something for the real murderer?”
Li Xiao Yu: “I’m not… I didn’t…”
Yang Ye: “Are you sure? Why do I feel that you’re lying because of his urgings? Did Gu Liang say something? What did the real murderer ask you to help him do?”
Li Xiao Yu: “Nothing, Gu Liang did nothing, why should I lie for him? Why would I help the real murderer…”
Yang Ye: “Real murderer? Isn’t the real murderer Princ.i.p.al Zha? Why did you bring up Gu Liang? Your words slipped.”
“… I… Did I let something slip… No, wait a minute…”
Li Xiao Yu froze for ten seconds, staring at Yang Ye in a daze. “I didn’t let anything slip. Real murderer, Gu Liang, those were phrases you used. You… You were manipulating my words! You you you—!”
Yang Ye patted her shoulders and softened his voice. “It’s fine. Sit down. Tell me, what did Gu Liang say to you exactly.”
After being toyed to the point where she was a little despondent, Li Xiao Yu looked like she had nothing to live for. “I’m starting to suspect that both of you are cooperating together to screw with me.”
* * *
Approximately half an hour ago.
Inside Gu Liang’s resting lounge.
Li Xiao Yu blurted out her apologies as she tried to clean up the water with tissue papers frantically.
Then she sat down, and looked at Gu Liang with much uncertainty. “You… What did you say?”
“I said I am the murderer.”
Gu Liang explained the intricacies of the witchcraft to Li Xiao Yu once, “Do you understand?”
Half a beat later, Li Xiao Yu nodded her head. “I get it. Once you die, the spell will take effect, and you’re the starting trigger of the loop.”
“Yes, when I died for the first time, it was 7 August, 9 at night. I was the one who triggered the curse and I immediately resurrected after dying for the first time. After climbing out of the w.a.n.g Shroud Shop’s backyard, I returned to my coffin shop. Back then, I had yet to realise that I had died but my body was aching slightly, so I merely a.s.sumed that I had suffered a beating at the hands of Neighbour Liu.
“The spell took effect that night, and it turned everyone into violent murderers. Upon recalling how Princ.i.p.al Zha ruined my matters, I felt irritated in my heart and I took to the streets to calm down. At that time, I didn’t see BBQ Li poisoning Beggar Ding, because on that night, the preceding homicide where you poisoned Neighbour Liu to death had yet to occur. The subsequent string of murders all happened on the 8th of August.
“Despite going out to calm down, it did not diminish the vexations in my heart. Thus, under the influence of the spell, I decided to kill Princ.i.p.al Zha in the end.
“On 8 August, the morning of the second day, I went to kill Princ.i.p.al Zha, and slowly, all of you started killing as well.
“That day, the usually timid and kind School Senior Feng used poison on Neighbour Liu, and caused his death at 8 o’ clock when the poison inevitably flared up.
“His corpse was hidden in the coffin shop by your machinations, but his person revived at home. By that point in time, his memories had already reversed by 24 hours, so he set out the wine and peanuts at home and waited for me to come to his door. He had already planned to kill me, but owing to the effects of the spell, it give rise to a burning impulse to murder me, so he even called me by the phone to urge me to go over.
“At that time, I found it strange; because he had invited me over yesterday for a business talk, but that had ended in a thras.h.i.+ng and I was thrown into the backyard. Why was he inviting me again?
“Head filled with thoughts about what had occurred last night, I decided to go over to settle the account with him, incredibly angry. In the end, I died again at his hands.
“That was my second death. This time around, I was the same as the rest of you, where I had lost 24 hours of my memory. And that time, it was the first time Detective Yang Ye walked onto the scenario premises.
“At 10:30 on the night of August 8, I went to the small alley and saw the corpses of you and Beggar Ding.
“On the morning of August 9, I went to kill Princ.i.p.al Zha for the second time.
“After killing him and returning, I b.u.mped into you because you wanted to buy a coffin, and this was the first time where I felt that something was wrong with the situation.
“I saw your corpse last night, why are you alive again, and here to buy a coffin?
“This is actually an exceedingly crucial point in this script. I saw your corpse and saw you alive and searching for me, and in the time span where both incidents occurred, I wasn’t murdered, which meant that I kept my memories. And because I saw your dead body and your living person simultaneously, I realised what was wrong.
“Similarly, later in the afternoon, I met Beggar Ding who was returning from outside the town. I clearly saw his corpse last night, so how did he manage to return from outside the town?
“The incidents that were distinctively wrong occurred in succession. At this moment, I remembered that my father had personally left me a letter, and the words he previously told me. I came to an epiphany; I wasn’t beaten up by Neighbour Liu on 7th August, I was killed, and I was the starting point of the loop.
“Logically speaking, I ought to be killing Neighbour Liu. But the spell said that someone had to commit suicide, and I couldn’t think of a way to make Neighbour Liu commit suicide. Just then, Beggar Ding happened to come knocking on my door, so I tried to see if I could sway him with some words… To make him willingly commit suicide.”
Li Xiao Yu took a long time to digest all the given information, but she eventually came around.
She asked Gu Liang: “How did you make him commit suicide?”
Gu Liang s.h.i.+fted his gaze and looked at Li Xiao Yu calmly: “Truth to be told, I don’t know how I did it either as of right now, because the plot on my card has disappeared, and my journal doesn’t possess any details about it.”
“Then the things you said just now were…?”
“I inferred it from a combination of factors like my journal, the information found during the free exploration, and doing a detailed comparison between my and Xun Feng’s timeline.”
“What have you deduced with regards to Beggar Ding’s suicide then?”
A moment later, Gu Liang replied, “I deduced that… I used you.”