Most of the clues found so far are indirect, with no direct evidence linking the killer to the perpetrator. Xiao Lou speculates that the killer's relatives starved to death during the famine 20 years ago, leading to his revenge—a theory based on criminal psychology. As Lu Jiuchuan stated, finding the connection between the person who died 20 years ago and the killer is indeed extremely difficult.
With a 20-year time span, most of the evidence has been lost, and it's highly likely that most of the Lovers are dead, while related individuals may have been silenced by the murderer, such as the Zhao and Chen families.
Lu Jiuchuan turned to look at Yu Hanjiang and asked, "Do you have any good ideas? After all, you're the most professional at investigating cases."
Yu Hanjiang said, "We are currently just passing through this town, so it's not convenient for us to conduct extensive investigations, as that would alert the enemy."
Xiao Lou agreed, "This time it's definitely not like the Peach Eight Secret Chamber. Back then, Hanjiang was the newly appointed prefect, so investigating the murder case was perfectly reasonable. But now, we're staying at an inn. Not only will our constant comings and goings arouse suspicion, but if there are still hidden Hunters in the town, we'll have to evade their pursuit…"
He paused, then looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, "What do you think about having CEO Shao and Xiao Ye investigate?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Sure. Shao Qingge has plenty of money. Sometimes paying is a good way to get information. Today, he and Ye Qi went shopping for clothes and found out a lot of useful clues."
Lu Jiuchuan suggested, "There's also Hua Ying. She's still acting alone. Shao Qingge gathers information by buying people's hearts with money, but Hua Ying is more direct—she forces people to tell the truth with a dagger."
The person chosen to gather information has been selected; the key question is, how should we ask?
Xiao Lou thought for a moment, then pressed his earpiece and said, " CEO Shao, Xiao Ye, and Hua Ying, could you please wander around the town? You can pretend that you have relatives or friends in Qingfeng Town who went missing 20 years ago, and that you're here to find them. Try to ask the elderly people in the town for details about the famine 20 years ago; you might find something."
Chu Huaying responded and quickly sneaked into the town.
Shao Qingge asked, "When will you be back? Don't you need me to stay at the inn to teleport?"
Xiao Lou said, "We still need to investigate in Mass Grave. Give the teleportation card to Teacher Qu, and I'll contact her before I get back."
Shao Qingge said, "Okay, I'll take Ye Qi out for a stroll."
After ending the call, Xiao Lou led the three to continue searching Mass Grave. Most of the bodies there were just piled up haphazardly, but some had tombstones with the names of the deceased inscribed on them. During the day, the tombstones in Mass Grave weren't as densely packed as they had been the night before, but there were still several hundred in number, so the four of them had to check them one by one.
On their way to find the tombstone, they discovered Chen Yu's family, including the midwife they had seen the night before, all of whom were dead. However, they did not find the body of the newborn baby.
Yu Hanjiang said, "Last night when we went to the Chen family, we heard a child crying. It doesn't make sense that all the adults came to Mass Grave, and the child was left behind? Where did the child's body go?"
Xiao Lou said, "I don't know. It seems that no baby's body has been found in the entire Mass Grave."
Lu Jiuchuan couldn't help but curse, "What if the murderer has some kind of weird fetish? Like, eating babies' hearts to practice kung fu or something? Damn, that's disgusting!"
Tang Ci: "..."
This possibility cannot be ruled out; this murderer is unlike any other murderer we have encountered before.
Xiao Lou asked, "If the murderer really killed out of revenge, wouldn't they come to pay their respects at their loved ones' graves?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Hanjiang's sharp gaze quickly swept across Mass Grave. He didn't find any offerings placed in front of any of the tombstones, but he did find scraps of paper money and black ash near one of the tombstones.
Yu Hanjiang walked over quickly, squatted down, picked up some black powder with his fingers, brought it to his nose and smelled it. After a moment, he pointed to the tombstone and said with certainty, "Someone came here this morning and burned some paper money."
Tang Ci asked doubtfully, "Are you sure it was this morning?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Yes, the paper money wasn't completely burned. The bottom layer of black ash was covered in mud and water, while the top layer was dry. If the person who burned the paper money came before yesterday, the torrential rain last night should have soaked all the ash. The fact that the ash is dry proves that he must have just come to burn paper money for the deceased this morning."
No wonder Yu Hanjiang personally touched the ashes with his hands.
Last night's downpour will soak everything; the surface of the ashes is dry, clearly left this morning.
Xiao Lou speculated, "Could the person who came to burn paper money for the deceased be the murderer? Look closely at this tombstone; the deceased's name isn't engraved on it."
Most of the surrounding tombstones bear the names of the deceased, such as "Tomb of my father, Li Qingyun".
But the tombstone in front of me was just a stone, with nothing written on it. The location of the tombstone was quite auspicious, though, with a large tree behind it. In the summer, the dense foliage would cast a large shade, perfectly covering the tombstone. It was clear that the person who erected the tombstone had put a lot of thought into choosing a good place for the deceased.
Tang Ci looked up at the big tree and said, "So, the murderer was in Mass Grave this morning, and we just missed him?"
Lu Jiuchuan suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead: "Right, when I came up the mountain just now, I climbed up the cliff from the bottom along the vines. Come and see, this vine is a bit strange. I guess the murderer may have also climbed up along the vines."
Yu Hanjiang immediately stood up: "Quick, the vines are..."
It might be destroyed!
The four of them moved swiftly, and Yu Hanjiang simply used the Lightness Skill Card to take Xiao Lou back to the cliff edge at the top of the mountain.
Xiao Lou peered down—thick white fog hung below the cliff, and indeed, a vine woven from grass and wood, as thick as an adult man's arm, cascaded down the steep cliff edge. However, due to the dense fog, it was impossible to see whether the vine reached the bottom of the mountain.
Yu Hanjiang said, "I'll go down and take a look."
He grabbed the vine with one hand, used the Lightness Skill Card to leap down, and landed on the cliff face. In just a few seconds, Yu Hanjiang flew back to the top of the mountain and whispered, "The vine has been cut in half. If we hadn't had the card, we would have been smashed to pieces if we had climbed down rashly."
Xiao Lou paused, then asked, "So, the killer has already discovered us?"
Lu Jiuchuan's expression suddenly changed: "Could it be that hunter?"
Tang Ci shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be. The hunter looks very young, probably around 25 years old. He said he has lived here for 10 years. When we questioned him just now, he honestly told us what he saw and heard on the rainy night 3 years ago. He thought he saw the ghost bride and was so scared that he was trembling all over... He doesn't seem like the kind of ruthless murderer."
If he really is the murderer, then his acting skills are too superb.
Lu Jiuchuan thought for a moment and said, "What you said makes sense. There shouldn't be any locked room game where we find the murderer right at the start. So, the murderer has actually been lurking down the mountain all along. When I climbed up the vines just now, he took the opportunity to cut the vines, cutting off the path. Was he trying to trap us on the mountain?"
Xiao Lou asked doubtfully, "But these zombies don't turn into zombies during the day, so why don't we just go down the mountain along another path? Cutting the vines won't help, will it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Lou heard a strange rustling sound in his ear.
He turned around and saw a massive horde of zombies, as if awakened by something, swarming towards them. The overwhelming zombie horde made Lu Jiuchuan curse, "Damn it, zombies turning into zombies in broad daylight? Is there no reasoning with them?"
Yu Hanjiang said with a stern face, "Our thinking is too simplistic. Crises don't only occur at night."
Xiao Lou hurriedly pressed the voice headset and said to Qu Wanyue, " Teacher Qu, activate teleportation quickly!"
He quickly took out the Compass, intending to draw an invincible circle to protect everyone. However, just as he took out the Compass, a female zombie in red suddenly flung out a red ribbon from her hand!
The group of female zombies in the wedding procession were all incredibly powerful. The one who attacked was the bride, Zhao Zean. Her eyes were bloodshot, her expression was blank, but her movements were far more agile than the other zombies. Xiao Lou felt a sudden numbness in his wrist, and his Compass was unexpectedly knocked off the cliff.
Just as the red silk was about to wrap around Xiao Lou's waist, Yu Hanjiang reacted quickly, grabbing Xiao Lou and leaping into the air. He then decisively cleaved the silk in two with his military knife!
When Zhao Zean's weapon was cut off, she immediately went berserk, letting out a piercing roar as she lunged at Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang used his left leg to propel himself forward and then kicked her hard with his right foot, knocking her to the ground.
Beside them, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci were also surrounded by the zombie horde. Tang Ci was forced to retreat step by step and could only release his mechanical drone to bombard the zombie horde. Lu Jiuchuan took out his sword and waved it in front of him to block the zombies from getting closer, while shouting sharply, " Xiao Tang, quickly summon the Wolf King to buy time!"
White Wolf King was a card that Lu Jiuchuan had recently given to Tang Ci. Tang Ci remembered the card and immediately summoned White Wolf King.
The Wolf King's second skill summons dozens of wolf pups to assist in battle. As Tang Ci used the skill, dozens of ferocious wolf pups suddenly appeared around him. Following their master's will, they quickly engaged the zombies in combat!
Wolves are also extremely ferocious animals. Although their numbers are far fewer than those of a zombie horde, they can bite off a zombie's legs and slow it down.
The scene became extremely chaotic.
Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan swiftly weaved through the zombie horde, slicing any approaching zombies in half. Xiao Lou could only watch as blood and flesh flew everywhere, and the entire Mass Grave was like a living hell!
He asked, trembling with fear, "Does the murderer possess some kind of evil magic?"
Tang Ci stared at Ninth Brother in the zombie horde, his face pale. Hearing this, his hands trembled slightly as he said, "Since this is a supernatural-themed instance, it's not surprising that the killer can control the actions of the living and the dead."
Recalling what the hunter had said about what he had seen three years ago, Tang Ci became even more certain of this.
Three years ago, on a rainy night, a hunter living in the mountains saw a wedding procession. Everyone walked towards Mass Grave in perfect unison, without making a sound.
If the killer hadn't controlled these people's actions, how could so many people have acted like "puppets," collectively running to Mass Grave in the middle of the night?
Xiao Lou frowned and said, "The killer knows a kind of evil magic that can control humans to act according to his commands, and can also control the corpses of the dead? It seems that the zombies in Mass Grave were deliberately controlled by the killer to attack us?"
Hearing this from not far away, Yu Hanjiang hurriedly said, "Ninth Brother and I can't delay any longer. Tell Qu Wanyue to activate the teleportation quickly!"
Lu Jiuchuan said, " Li Qingzhao's mark will take 5 minutes to take effect. If that doesn't work, shall we go to Peach Blossom Spring first?"
Xiao Lou said, "Okay, let's get out of here!"
Lu Jiuchuan immediately activated Peach Blossom Spring, and the scenery before the four of them changed, and they all appeared under the peach blossom tree.
Xiao Lou remembers that the last scene before leaving Mass Grave was the zombie bride's blank expression.
All four of them looked very grim.
Tang Ci said softly, "The murderer has tracked our movements, this is troublesome."
Lu Jiuchuan said, "No wonder this locked room is called Battle Royale. The murderer has also targeted us. Moreover, the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. We have to be extra careful with every step from now on."
Xiao Lou took a deep breath and asked, " Teacher Qu, is it marked? Take us back to the inn."
Qu Wanyue asked, "There's still half a minute left. Are you all alright?"
Xiao Lou glanced at his teammates and said, "Thankfully, they ran fast and weren't injured."
Half a minute passed quickly, and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were pulled back to the top-class room of the inn by Li Qingzhao's mark. In the eyes of the waiter and the innkeeper, they did not seem to have gone out.
Recalling what had just happened, Xiao Lou was still terrified.
The killer encountered in this haunted escape room was too sinister; he could actually control the actions of the living, making them follow his will and run to Mass Grave in the middle of the night like puppets.
Now that the murderer has discovered they are investigating this matter, what if his teammates also become controlled?
Thinking of this, Xiao Lou immediately pressed his earpiece and said, " CEO Shao, Xiao Ye, Hua Ying, come back as soon as possible! This murderer is very dangerous, we need to discuss a countermeasure."