Chapter 32

Chapter 32

The secret to keeping the corpse from decaying lay within this coffin.

The answer was right before his eyes, but Qin Nan hesitated to move. He was afraid that a single wrong move would trigger a Death Setting. Given the atmospheric setup, he even worried a ghost might suddenly pop out and wipe out all the Players in one fell swoop.

While he was lost in his wild imaginings, Jian Fan had already stepped forward.

“Jian Fan!” Qin Nan shouted, trying to stop him.

Jian Fan didn’t pause for a second. He glanced at the situation inside the coffin, then reached directly in and pulled out a booklet.

Seeing that Jian Fan was unharmed and there were no abnormalities in their surroundings, Qin Nan breathed a sigh of relief and dared to approach.

“What’s that?” Qin Nan asked.

Jian Fan had already opened the booklet. Hearing Qin Nan’s question, he handed it over directly. “Identity, and the secret to resurrection.”

Qin Nan took it. Since Jian Fan was too lazy to explain, he decided to read it for himself. Mu Xin leaned in at that moment, and Qin Nan gallantly tilted the booklet toward her.

The booklet clearly stated the identity of the female corpse.

Her name was Feng Xian. Following her name were her birth dates and times, noting that she had met with an accident sixteen years ago. She had been poisoned and was near death; she passed away shortly after giving birth to the Eldest Miss. The latter part of the booklet detailed that by nourishing her with the blood of women, her soul could be kept from dissipating, remaining imprisoned within the corpse. Afterward, the practitioner would need to use their own heart’s blood to draw the soul out of the corpse and place it into another compatible body. Finally, the blood of a female direct descendant of the practitioner would be used to soothe the new body until the soul was awakened, allowing the soul and the new body to merge perfectly.

What was written in the booklet was similar to what they had guessed, but it was still horrifying to read.

Nourishing her with women’s blood to keep the soul from dissipating… So, the blood in that Taiji Diagram really belonged to the mothers of those young masters and misses? How many lives were sacrificed just to resurrect one person?

Mu Xin’s voice was full of disgust. “For a person like this, even death is too good for him.”

“I have a question,” Qin Nan suddenly said.

Jian Fan looked over at him.

“If he loved this Feng Xian so much, why was he still involved with the mothers of the Eldest Young Master and the Second Young Master? Feng Xian shouldn’t have had her accident yet when those two children were conceived, right?” Qin Nan asked.

Jian Fan didn’t answer, but Mu Xin let out a cold sneer. “Is that so hard to understand? He’s just a scumbag. Once she died, he started acting like some devoted lover by sacrificing things. It’s disgusting.”

Hearing Mu Xin’s tone, Qin Nan silently shut his mouth.

As a woman, Mu Xin clearly found this behavior even more loathsome.

“There shouldn’t be any other clues here. Let’s go.” Jian Fan’s emotions were calm; he didn’t seem to care about anything that wasn’t related to clearing the game.

Mu Xin quickly shifted her mood and said, “As terrifying as these things are, they don’t directly point to the killer yet.”

Jian Fan, who had started walking out, stopped. He turned his head and looked directly at Mu Xin. “And?”

“I can join you, but I have a condition.” Mu Xin stopped pretending. Her expression was now calm, and her timid little gestures had vanished.

“You can tell us what it is,” Jian Fan said, not agreeing immediately.

Mu Xin wasn’t surprised. “Joining you means I have to give up the social circle I previously cultivated and managed. You need to provide some compensation, or rather, you need to show some sincerity.”

“Just say what you want,” Jian Fan said, having no interest in playing games.

Mu Xin curled the corner of her mouth. “The Points from this world.”
Naturally, she wasn’t after the basic five hundred Points for clearing the stage; she wanted to be the one to break the case and earn those extra bonus Points.

At this stage of the game, both Mu Xin and Jian Fan had a clear idea of how to resolve this world. It wasn’t a difficult one. All they had to do was follow the rules to find the killer and complete this Murder Mystery Game. The Player who ultimately analyzed the clues and identified the killer would likely receive the bonus Points.

Jian Fan didn’t agree immediately. Instead, he looked at Qin Nan.

Qin Nan voiced his stance right away. “I have no objection.”

Once they became long-term teammates, they would need to balance their Points over the coming worlds. They weren’t useless like Lin Junruo; none of them would be satisfied with just five hundred Points. If one person hoarded them, the team would eventually fall apart.

If they gave it to Mu Xin this time, then the next opportunities would surely belong to him and Jian Fan.

“Fine,” Jian Fan replied.

Mu Xin smiled. “Then I hope we can have a pleasant collaboration from here on out.”

Jian Fan didn’t engage in small talk, instead pivoting to a topic unrelated to their current deal. “Are you certain Zheng Jueming is the killer?”

“You guessed it?” Mu Xin was a bit surprised. It wasn’t strange that Jian Fan could figure it out, but knowing that she held the key and still agreeing to her request made Mu Xin truly feel their sincerity.

Jian Fan gave a noncommittal grunt. “You were already wary of Zheng Jueming before, and now you’ve taken the initiative to bring up cooperation again. Aside from us being a good choice, it’s also because your original circumstances have changed significantly.”

If Zheng Jueming was the killer, it meant he was destined to be lost to this world. That would leave Mu Xin with only Lin Junruo, which would be extremely disadvantageous for her in future worlds.

Mu Xin laughed. “It seems my luck really is quite good this time.”

“Tell us about it,” Jian Fan said, focusing only on the main point.

“Let’s talk while we walk,” Mu Xin replied.

The three of them resumed their previous formation: Jian Fan leading the way, Mu Xin in the middle, and Qin Nan bringing up the rear.

“I know Zheng Jueming’s personality. He has a bit of cleverness, but it’s completely insufficient for a game like this. In the past, he only did what I told him to do. He might have had his own little schemes, but he rarely took the initiative,” Mu Xin explained.

Qin Nan understood.

So the moment Zheng Jueming acted on his own, Mu Xin had immediately sensed something was wrong.

If Zheng Jueming wasn’t the killer, why would he suddenly take the initiative now? To Mu Xin, once Zheng Jueming displayed abnormal behavior, the answer was within reach.

“At first, I couldn’t be sure, so I observed him a bit more-until the identity of the Third Young Master died.”

Mu Xin’s thought process was actually very similar to Qin Nan’s. By using the process of elimination, only four options remained: the Third Young Master, the Second Master, and her two teammates.

Mu Xin was also inclined to believe the Second Master’s statements. As for Lin Junruo-

“After time rewound to the night of the murder, Lin Junruo came to find me. The person who castrated the deceased was indeed the Eldest Miss.” Mu Xin dropped another piece of vital information.

Even though he had already guessed as much, Qin Nan was still a bit startled to have it confirmed.

“Lin Junruo is very dependent on you,” Jian Fan noted.

Mu Xin smiled. “She has no choice but to depend on me. Or rather, I deliberately fostered that dependency. Only then would she be afraid to hide anything from me when something happens.”

“Why did she castrate the victim?” Qin Nan asked. He was genuinely curious about that point.