Chapter 36

Chapter 36

They had found a very strange Account Book in the deceased man’s room.

On the surface, it appeared to record household expenses and purchases, but the prices were utterly preposterous. Previously, Qin Nan hadn’t been able to figure out what purpose this book served. Now, considering the problem currently plaguing them, was it possible the Account Book held the answer?

The Account Book was currently in Jian Fan’s hands.

Qin Nan gave Jian Fan’s sleeve a gentle tug.

Jian Fan turned his head, looking somewhat puzzled.

“Account Book,” Qin Nan mouthed silently.

Jian Fan paused. Clearly, the succession of clues had caused him to overlook the item they had found at the very beginning. The Account Book had seemed so unremarkable that it had gradually slipped his mind.

He pulled out the Account Book and passed it to Qin Nan beneath the table.

For the time being, neither Jian Fan nor Qin Nan wanted to reveal this information to the others.

Qin Nan flipped through the entire book rapidly.

The entries all detailed household expenses. Starting from ten years ago, most of the content-aside from a strange first entry-seemed plausible. Although the prices appeared higher than the historical market rates Qin Nan was familiar with, he considered that the person in charge of purchasing for a wealthy family would likely pad the costs to pocket a little extra. Most of the entries could be explained away that way.

However, in addition to that first entry, Qin Nan found several other strange items after scanning more than half the book.

For instance, seven years ago: Rice, expenditure of seven hundred taels. Six years ago, there were two entries for rice at eight hundred taels each. Then five years ago, another purchase of rice for one thousand taels. After that, the timeline moved to four years ago, but the item changed to Abacus.

In October, four years ago: one Abacus, expenditure of five hundred taels. In December: one Abacus, three hundred taels. Three years ago: one Abacus…

Rice was one thing, but an Abacus? What was the deal with the Abacus?

Hundreds of taels-was it made of solid gold? Even if one were buying an Abacus, there was no reason to do so so frequently. Qin Nan thought back to the mystery novels and shows he had consumed in the past. An Account Book like this definitely hid a secret-bribery or something similar. But in this setting, it was unlikely the deceased was bribing high-ranking officials, so…

He suspected the murderer was Zheng Jueming, whose role was the Accountant. Accountant… Abacus.

Abacus equals Accountant.

This equation suddenly flashed through Qin Nan’s mind.

This wasn’t money for buying an Abacus at all. “Abacus” was just a code name, much like “Rice” was likely a code name. These expenditures were money the deceased had given to these people. Qin Nan didn’t care who “Rice” was; he was curious why the deceased was giving them this money.

Why did the Accountant know the deceased’s secret? How did he find out? And why did the deceased give him this money? Had the Accountant discovered the secret and then blackmailed him?

Given that the deceased was willing to sacrifice his own descendants to resurrect someone and take the lives of so many innocent women to nourish a dead soul, Qin Nan figured that if someone tried to blackmail such a man, the deceased would likely have just killed the Accountant outright.

Therefore…

The answer seemed to be staring him in the face.

Qin Nan snapped the Account Book shut.

“Mu Xin, how long have you been married to the Third Young Master?” Qin Nan asked out of the blue.

The sound of the group’s discussion died down as they looked over in confusion.

Though puzzled, Mu Xin answered honestly, “Six years.”

She had already learned these timelines during the time loops.

“And when did the Accountant arrive here?” Qin Nan continued.

Mu Xin sat up a bit straighter. She vaguely sensed the significance of Qin Nan’s line of questioning, and her tone turned serious. “Six months after the wedding. That would be five years ago.”

“Then…” Qin Nan took a deep breath and pressed on. “When did you and the Third Young Master have your falling out?”

Although she didn’t know the reason for the fallout, Mu Xin knew the timeline. She thought for a moment and said, “It should have been two years ago.”
That was it.

In the Account Book, the first expenditure listed for ‘Abacus’ was from four years ago.

It was impossible for the Accountant to have formed a connection with the deceased immediately upon arriving. It took a year for them to establish an initial link, but even then, the deceased wouldn’t have trusted him completely until another two years had passed.

Qin Nan stood up. “Mu Xin, come here for a moment,” he said, walking off to the side.

Mu Xin stood up immediately.

She already had a premonition.

Everyone’s eyes fell on them. Some people realized what was happening after running through the facts in their minds, while others remained more cautious. Qin Weiyi relaxed instantly and said with a smile, “It looks like we’ll have to keep dealing with you two.”

Zheng Jueming, on the other hand, was on edge.

Qin Nan handed the Account Book to Mu Xin and shared all of his deductions with her.

Finally, he smiled at her. “This time, it truly was a pleasure collaborating with you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Mu Xin said, laughing without her usual pretense. “My new Partner.”

When the two sat back down, Xia Zeqin spoke up. “Can we vote now?”

Mu Xin straightened her posture slightly.

“Father-in-law had a total of three wounds. The first was a stab wound from the Eldest Young Lady. The second was a blunt force injury from the Second Young Master using an inkstone. The third was caused by the Eldest Miss. She used the same dagger that had stabbed Father-in-law to castrate him. After doing so, she took his undergarments. The dagger was left at the scene, but it was not embedded in Father-in-law’s chest at that time. Qin Nan and Xu Tian already covered the first two points, and Lin Junruo can verify the third,” Mu Xin stated.

Lin Junruo didn’t understand why Mu Xin was bringing this up now, but looking at the atmosphere, it seemed they had reached the point of identifying the killer.

She nodded. “Yes, the castration… I did that.”

“The one who killed Father-in-law wasn’t the Eldest Young Lady, the Second Young Master, or the Eldest Miss. It was the person who finally plunged the dagger back into Father-in-law’s chest-the same person who staged the final crime scene. The Taiji Diagram at the scene can be linked to the Resurrection Technique. At the place where Feng Xian’s body was kept, there were Taiji Diagrams on both the ceiling and the floor. Therefore, I reasonably speculate that the killer must have known about the Resurrection Technique.”

“My falling out with the Third Young Master was an act. The child I’m carrying is his. Regarding the Resurrection Technique-yes, the Third Young Master and I were aware of it. However, the Third Young Master is dead, and I have an alibi. Therefore, the killer cannot be either of us.”

“The Eldest Young Master, the Nephew Young Master, and the Fourth Young Master all have alibis. Excluding them, there are only three suspects left: the Doctor, the Accountant, and the Second Master.”

“And among these three…” Mu Xin held up the Account Book.

“There are several strange entries in this Account Book. ‘Abacus’ likely refers to a person, and the Accountant is the most logical fit. Why would Father-in-law give him money? Then there are the Accountant’s gambling debts,” Mu Xin said.

“Furthermore, I need to clarify one thing: the child in my womb belongs to the Third Young Master, but the Accountant and I were childhood sweethearts.”

Finally, Mu Xin suddenly smiled and said, “The situation is quite clear. Father-in-law had the Accountant handle his affairs, but he didn’t trust him. So, he intentionally set a trap to get the Accountant addicted to gambling, causing him to rack up massive debts so that he would remain a puppet for money. After the Accountant gained Father-in-law’s complete trust, he learned about the Resurrection Technique from him. He originally came here for me; once he knew about the ritual, he told me immediately, which is why the Third Young Master and I faked our falling out. He wanted to take me away, and when I refused, he murdered Father-in-law. Afterward, he took gold from the Vault and tried to flee with me, but he was stopped by the Third Young Master, whom he then killed.”

“The killer is the Accountant,” she concluded.