Yi Mo originally had other matters to attend to, but the behavior of the Ordinary Maiden piqued his interest.
He felt compelled to confirm what she was up to, so he secretly followed her out.
However, Yi Mo did not know that as he stealthily trailed the Ordinary Maiden, someone had opened their door a crack and happened to see him.
***
Great Emperor Zhenwu rarely suffered from insomnia.
That was the benefit of manual labor; his body was sturdy, and once he got tired at night, it was easy to fall asleep.
However, last night, his eyes had remained wide open.
He could not fall asleep as he thought about what would happen if a Werewolf came to his thatched cottage.
‘If we get into a fight, could I actually win?’
Great Emperor Zhenwu was not stupid.
He had been observing everyone in secret, and aside from Old Six Du and Pikachu, there was probably no one else who could beat him in a fight.
Then he thought about how Old Six Du was such an upright, highly respected senior with a good sense of humor.
He surely was not a Werewolf.
Pikachu also seemed quite straightforward, so she did not seem like a Wolf either!
Once he rationalized this, although he was still too afraid to blow out his oil lamp, he felt a little more at ease.
He finally fell asleep at three o’clock in the morning.
A little after five o’clock, his habitual internal clock as a worker woke him up.
Usually, he could not get up on workdays, but as soon as he had a day off, he woke up incredibly early!
Compared to usual, his spirit was not great.
Logically, since he did not have to work, he should have slept a while longer.
But Great Emperor Zhenwu could not sleep!
He climbed out of bed, wanting to go out for a run.
This was a long-standing habit of his.
But then he thought…
‘At this hour, if the Werewolves haven’t returned to their rooms yet and I run into them, won’t I be finished?’
After realizing this, Great Emperor Zhenwu went back to his floor mat and lay down!
Given his physique, sleeping on that small wooden bed felt too cramped, so he had pulled the straw and bedding onto the floor.
He had slept on the floor yesterday!
He endured until seven o’clock when he saw that the sky outside the window was completely bright.
Finally unable to help himself, he put on a pair of shorts and a tight white tank top.
Though he felt some trepidation, he pushed the door open and went out.
He opened the door, spread his arms, and took a deep breath of the morning air.
The air in the deep mountains and old forests was excellent, tinged with the scent of dew.
It made Great Emperor Zhenwu feel much more refreshed.
“Hah! I’m going to run ten kilometers today!”
Putting his words into action, Great Emperor Zhenwu began his run.
But he had not run very far before he was stunned by the scene before him!
Around a thatched cottage that was missing its door, blood was everywhere.
Inside, a person was standing, looking down at a corpse in the room.
“You—you… You’re a Werewolf!!!”
Although Great Emperor Zhenwu was afraid, he could not stop himself from roaring at the top of his lungs, “Ahhh!!! A Werewolf killed someone!!!”
“Everyone, come quickly!!!”
His loud voice immediately startled the birds in the surrounding trees, causing them to take flight as if a great bell had been struck heavily in the middle of the village.
Great Emperor Zhenwu actually wanted to run, but he was afraid the Werewolf would take the opportunity to escape and deny it later.
So, he stood there, trembling, staring at the person inside the dim cottage!
Finally, that person heard Great Emperor Zhenwu’s voice and walked out of the cottage.
As it turned out, it was Baiduren, who was dressed in a tracksuit and looked quite refined!
He looked at Great Emperor Zhenwu with no extra emotion in his eyes.
He rubbed his nose and said calmly, “Someone died last night.”
It was as if he were simply stating a fact.
But Great Emperor Zhenwu was not nearly as calm.
He looked at the mangled corpse inside the cottage and suddenly shouted at him in a rage, “You’re a Werewolf! You’re dressed all properly, but I never thought you’d use such cruel methods!!!”
“I won’t be afraid of you! Don’t even think about running! When everyone arrives, we’ll restrain you together. I’ll make sure you’re out of the game today!!!”
The village was not large, and at that moment, several people began to arrive one after another after hearing the commotion.
Conan was the first to arrive, followed by Cthulhu.
After that, Pikachu arrived looking exhausted, her face full of impatience.
However, when she saw the pool of blood in the small thatched cottage and found that Qian Laoban had died a miserable death, she immediately perked up.
She looked at Baiduren with a face full of hatred and roared, “Holy crap, you Werewolf! This is just too cruel!!!”
“Don’t even think about running! Everyone, let’s catch him together!!!”
Conan rolled his eyes at Great Emperor Zhenwu and Pikachu, thinking their intelligence was lacking.
Before Baiduren could even explain, Conan spoke up for him.
“Everyone, calm down.”
“If Baiduren were the Werewolf, why would he stay here and let everyone catch him in the act?”
“I think this is a misunderstanding. Everyone should listen to what Baiduren has to say.”
Baiduren looked at Conan, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and smiled.
“It seems there are still some people who are slightly reasonable.”
“I was out for a morning run when I discovered Qian Laoban’s corpse, so I came to check it out.”
Hearing this, Great Emperor Zhenwu scratched his head.
He suddenly felt that what the two of them said seemed to make sense!
That was how it worked.
If he had killed someone, he would definitely be afraid of being seen and would have run away long ago!
Once he understood, he said with some embarrassment, “Sorry, Baiduren. I can tell you’re an educated man. Please don’t hold it against a crude guy like me.”
“You must be a good person. I misunderstood you.”
“But who did it? These methods are just too cruel!!!”
His voice was very loud, carrying obvious anger.
“The Witch too—why didn’t they save him!!!”
Indeed, from just outside the cottage, one could see Qian Laoban’s horrific corpse and the blood splattered everywhere.
Pikachu narrowed her eyes.
She had always been biased against seemingly sanctimonious people like Baiduren and subconsciously disliked him.
She could not help but say, “Maybe he intentionally didn’t leave just so everyone would think he’s a good person!”
Even though Pikachu said that, everyone stopped being so aggressive and did not continue to question Baiduren.
After all, what Pikachu said was just a guess; it was not solid evidence that could condemn him.
Baiduren maintained a managerial air, but his tone was relatively friendly as he said, “Everyone, since we’re all here, let’s call over those who haven’t arrived yet and confront them face-to-face. Maybe we’ll find something!”
Following Baiduren’s words, the warm-hearted Great Emperor Zhenwu felt bad about having wrongly accused Baiduren.
Feeling embarrassed, he quickly volunteered.
“I’ll go call the others!”
Without waiting for the others to say anything, he had already run off to fetch people.
Although Pikachu was tall and large, looking at the corpse made her feel terrified deep down, so she did not enter the room.
Cthulhu was much the same; his face was pale, and he clutched his stomach as if he were about to vomit.
Conan, however, walked into the room and looked at Qian Laoban’s corpse.
After a moment of thought, he said, “His spine is completely broken. This was far too violent. It seems the person who did this might have a rather gloomy personality.”
Baiduren did not look back and said plainly, “You’re still suspecting Shiba Daye.”
Conan adjusted his glasses and said, “He has always been the primary suspect.”
“Of course, I don’t think particularly highly of you either. I always feel like you’re trying to make yourself look exceptionally clean, when in reality, you might just be a Werewolf trying to stir up trouble.”
Baiduren replied, “Likewise. Speaking of being gloomy and arrogant—you, who haven’t received any support from others, might harbor some hidden rage. It would be normal for you to be a bit ruthless when you strike.”
“However, Shiba Daye is still the top suspect. We agree on that point.”
As Baiduren spoke, he remembered the scene from last night.
Looking at his score of less than 50 Points, a hint of playfulness appeared in his heart.
He wanted to have a real contest with Shiba Daye.
He could see that Shiba Daye was definitely not that simple!
At the very least, he was smarter than this Conan!
Conan adjusted his glasses, a flash of white light reflecting off the lenses as he said, “I hope we’re on the same team.”
At this moment, aside from Yi Mo…
Unrivaled, Taoqimao, and Dieyu arrived one after another.
Unrivaled seemed a bit listless, far from his arrogant behavior yesterday.
Taoqimao was so scared by the sight of blood from a distance that she hid in Dieyu’s arms.
Dieyu held Taoqimao and led her further away.
The only ones who had not arrived yet were the Ordinary Girl Village Chief, Yi Mo, and Old Six Du.
Conan thought to himself.
‘Surely… more than one person didn’t die last night, right?’
However, his thoughts were immediately confirmed.
Great Emperor Zhenwu’s booming voice, filled with incomparable rage, once again startled the birds that had just found a branch to settle on!
“I’ll curse their ancestors!!!”
“Who is that idiot Witch? Not only did they not save anyone, but they also poisoned someone to death!!!”
***
Baiduren led everyone to Old Six Du’s thatched cottage.
The door had not been damaged.
On the wooden table, there were several sheets of rice paper with the words “Villager,” “Wolf,” “Wolf King,” and “Hunter” written in calligraphy.
Although the writing was not at a master’s level, a layman would still think it was very impressive.
Old Six Du’s corpse was lying on the bed.
The exposed skin had been severely corroded and was riddled with holes.
Blood went drip… drip… as it occasionally fell from the wooden bed onto the floor.
After seeing this, Cthulhu finally could not take it anymore.
He ran outside the wooden hut and began to vomit.
Dieyu frowned, took one look, and led Taoqimao outside as well.
On the very first night, not only did they fail to have the Silent Night everyone had expected, but two players had died outright.
The only commonality was that they were the two oldest players, and both had seemed to be on the side of the good people.
“Who the hell is the Witch? They’re not human!!!”
“Not only did they fail to save anyone, but they also poisoned Sect Leader Du to death!!!”
“Sect Leader Du was so good. He was highly respected, yet so kind and humorous. He was always the peacemaker because he was afraid everyone would clash, and he even performed the Lightning Five Consecutive Whips for us!!!”
“Who was it!!!”
“That bastard Witch!!”
The one shouting was Great Emperor Zhenwu.
He had studied martial arts as a child and knew that Old Six Du was truly skilled, so he admired him in his heart.
Seeing him dead now, and with his corpse severely corroded, he immediately assumed the Witch had used their poison to kill Old Six Du.
His eyes were round with fury as he glared at everyone present.
Baiduren walked over and patted his shoulder.
“Great Emperor Zhenwu, my condolences.”
“The best way to honor Sect Leader Du is for us to find the Werewolves together, survive this, and remember him.”
After Baiduren comforted Great Emperor Zhenwu for a while, the big man finally could not help but cry.
A man does not shed tears easily.
But even though Great Emperor Zhenwu was a tough guy, he truly felt heartbroken!
Baiduren took this moment to look at Great Emperor Zhenwu, then addressed the people in the room.
“Does anyone here know how to perform an autopsy?”
“I suggest we examine the corpse. I feel like something is a bit fishy.”
As he spoke, he looked at Conan.
Conan shook his head.
“I’m a college student. Although I’m quite familiar with the Werewolf Kill game, I can’t do an autopsy.”
Hearing this, Baiduren frowned.
Looking at Old Six Du’s tragic state, he honestly did not want to touch the body himself.
First, he felt it was dangerous, and second, he really did not know how to perform an autopsy…
Just as he was hesitating, a somber voice came from behind.
“Heh… I actually have a bit of experience.”
Everyone turned toward the sound.
It was the Ordinary Girl Village Chief, dressed in a black tracksuit.
No one knew when she had arrived.
She was currently leaning against the wall of the cottage, her head lowered as she yawned with a look of utter boredom.
Baiduren was somewhat surprised and asked doubtfully, “It’s quite unexpected that someone your age would know how to perform an autopsy.”
“Heh, ignorant.”
The Ordinary Maiden did not even bother to look at Baiduren.
After mocking him, she said, “Don’t forget, I’m a powerful Hacker.”
“On certain websites that you people can’t access, there are many very bizarre forums hidden away.”
“Among them are various criminal methods, including very detailed descriptions of corpses.”