Live Action Murder Mystery

Chapter 88.2

When he stepped into the corridor, he happened to see Waitress Jing in the courtyard, rummaging for evidence.

Gu Liang called her to a stop: “Can you come over for a talk?”

Waitress Jing looked left and right, but she walked over in the end. “We just found a number of things. Each guest room isn’t as simple as it seems to be. Do you want to go over to take a look?”

Gu Liang guessed that Waitress Jing had found items that were related to the players’ various motivations to kill on her end.

Hence, he placed the room checking on his agenda, because he wanted to verify the brain hole that he and Yang Ye had first.

Gu Liang asked Waitress Jing: “Today at 2:30 in the afternoon, I saw you crossing the stone bridge to get to the opposite bank of lake, but I didn’t see you return. How did you come back?”

Waitress Jing replied: “I know another path, it’s just that it’s longer.”

“Did you use the longer route, or is it because… you’re a ghost?” Gu Liang asked.

Waitress Jing’s complexion went through an obvious change.

Gu Liang stated: “When you were inside the inn, you were fumigated with enough incense, which is why you manifested. It is possible that you actually took the same way back, but because you stayed on the other mountain for some time, you were no longer fumigated by the rhinoceros horn incense so you failed to manifest, and you returned to the inn in your ghost form. This is the reason why I didn’t see you.”

Waitress Jing looked extremely disheartened.

Gu Liang continued by asking: “Your side task failed?”

Waitress Jing frowned, “Fine, I admit to it. I’m a ghost. Both Chef Huang and I are ghosts. Our Yellow Springs Inn is run by ghosts. But I can tell you that we’re not the only ones with problems. Girlfriend Jia and Recluse Wang are quite strange too; they’re not necessarily humans.

“And the Zhao Meili who followed you here, her luggage is full of poisons and weapons. We can’t inspect the corpse anymore, and we can’t confirm whether Proprietress Ling was poisoned to death or not. Everyone is suspicious.”

After uttering those words, Waitress Jing turned around to walk downstairs. “I’m going to continue searching the courtyard for evidence.”

Gu Liang and Yang Ye looked at each other before they went to the room beside the kitchen— Chef Huang’s room.

The pair flipped through the entire room, and starting from the closet to the bottom of the bed and inside the dustbin, they found a great deal of paper fragments.

Once they pieced the paper fragments together, it formed a letter.

The first reaction Gu Liang had upon seeing the letter was— the handwriting was way too ugly; it was crooked and slanted, and it was even worse than a child’s handwriting.

However, he could not be bothered with how ugly the handwriting was right now; it was more important to read the contents first.

“I know you have always wanted to get rid of Proprietress Ling. You just need to cooperate with my plan, and I will help you.

“Today, the tourists will be going to various scenic spots to play. School Senior Hua and Zhao Meili are going fishing, Tourist Jia and President Gao are climbing the mountain, Recluse Wang and Girlfriend Jia are going to Beilin. Hence, they will not be in their rooms at all during the day.

“Between 2:30 to 4:00, check in advance to confirm if the rooms are really empty. If they are, find a chance to ask Proprietress Ling to go to one of the empty rooms among Room 301 to 304, and open the room window. Leave the rest to me.”

This letter certainly confirmed the deductions that he and Yang Ye previously made.

After reading the letter, Gu Liang could not help but remember Ming Yue’s words again.

“Brother Liang, I’m one of the murderers this time around.”

“This case is special, I’m not the only murderer. Who the other murderer is, I can’t say for certain.”

If Ming Yue was not lying, and the situation was what he dictated, then this piece of evidence could corroborate with his confession.

Which meant that after he received this letter, he actually met Proprietress Ling in one of the guest rooms during the given time frame.

But he did not know who was the perpetrator that killed Proprietress Ling in the end.

Gu Liang could not help but think— If so, did Ming Yue feel like there wasn’t any need for him to hide because the evidence pointing towards Chef Huang was extremely obvious, which is why he chose to be candid with me?

Yang Ye kept the paper fragments before he told Gu Liang: “Therefore, it’s highly likely that Chef Huang was the one who opened the window and deceived Proprietress Ling into going into one of the guest rooms. Who brought Proprietress Ling’s body to the forest after she was shot then? If this isn’t a homicide carried out by three people, it’s probably Chef Huang still.”

With furrowed brows, Gu Liang took the letter from Yang Ye’s hands to peruse the letter, and he could not restrain himself from sighing about how ugly the handwriting was.

Gu Liang asked Yang Ye: “What do you think about the handwriting?”

Yang Ye said: “They might have written it with their left hand because they were afraid that their handwriting would expose them.”

Gu Liang reviewed the entire sequence of events. He could not help but remark: “Therefore, based on our current inferences, there are two culprits. Chef Huang is one of them. From between 2:30 to 4 in the afternoon, he asked Proprietress Ling to go to one of the empty guest rooms, and it was at this moment where the other murderer at the thatched hut on the opposite side of the lake shot Proprietress Ling to death, and they probably killed the vagrant beforehand. After Proprietress Ling died, the person who removed the possible blood splatters in the room and brought her corpse to the forest, should be Chef Huang.”

Gu Liang remarked, “From 2:30 to 4, the only person I saw going to the opposite bank of the lake was Waitress Jing.

“Furthermore, judging from the contents written in the letter, the person who wrote the letter clearly knows where all the guests are going. And the person who kept recommending that we should go and explore the area starting from last night… is still Waitress Jing.”

Yang Ye thought back about Waitress Jing’s behaviour last night. Indeed, her reaction was quite unusual.

“Waitress Jing also said that she wanted to introduce the guests to the various scenic spots around the inn. Everyone can listen to her speak if you wish.”

These were the words that Proprietress Ling said before she brought Tourist Jia away.

“If you don’t go out and explore, you would honestly be wasting this trip altogether. It is truly unfortunate that you can’t meet your deceased loved ones, but it would be even more unfortunate if you missed out on the great scenery.”

This was what Waitress Jing said after she recommended the various scenic spots enthusiastically.

Back then, Yang Ye actually mused about how these scenic spots could not generate any revenue, and he had questioned why she was recommending these places so enthusiastically, especially since she was not receiving any commissions for her service.

Now that it was being viewed with this letter in mind, all of her actions did seem to have some deliberateness to them.

— She specifically asked the tourists to explore the scenic spots so she could make it feasible for Chef Huang to meet Proprietress Ling in an empty guest room, and then she could go over to the opposite side of the lake to accomplish the shooting.

Gu Liang’s voice deepened slightly as he murmured, “Finally, if that person used their left hand to write that letter because they were afraid of exposing themselves, they should be familiar with Chef Huang. It isn’t really logical for Chef Huang to be familiar with the handwriting of the guests. Only Waitress Jing, who interacts with him daily, would be afraid of being exposed.”

Yang Ye frowned: “Is the shooter really Waitress Jing? From every angle, she possesses the heaviest suspicion.”

Gu Liang replied, “Unsure. She didn’t admit to the fact that she was inside the vagrant’s hut. Furthermore, we still don’t know how Vagrant Qian’s locked room murder was accomplished.”

Yang Ye: “Perhaps the ghosts can go through walls? The lock on the door wouldn’t matter then.”

Gu Liang: “We can only confirm that after we know the script settings. We still need to look for more evidence.”

Then, Yang Ye took out his card to look at the time: “The case has never been solved this quickly.”

“I find it incredibly strange too.” Gu Liang mulled over it, but he still told Yang Ye what Ming Yue said to him in the end.

Once Yang Ye heard his account, the knit of his eyebrows became even tighter. “What was his relationship with you like back then?”

Gu Liang responded, “We were just ordinary classmates. We would occasionally bump into each other in the library, or we would come across each other during various competitions. During the first year of Senior High, we would frequently discuss various methods to solve some difficult questions. But after I went to an arts class in my second year, our interactions lessened. By the time we went to university, it was reduced to occasional emails back and forth.”

Yang Ye questioned him: “And what was the exact frequency of said emails?”

Gu Liang pondered, “During my birthdays or large-scale holidays, I will usually receive his emails. And then I would reply.”

Yang Ye felt that something was wrong and he looked at Gu Liang strictly: “He even remembers your birthday? Between most men, they wouldn’t be that meticulous. I think that he might—”

Gu Liang understood what Yang Ye was implying so he shook his head immediately as he said: “That’s impossible. Do you think everyone is gay like you?”

“It has nothing to do with whether he’s gay or not. You don’t know how appealing you are to people.”

Yang Ye’s unconscious praise of Gu Liang made Gu Liang feel a little embarrassed.

Raising his eyes, Gu Liang focused on Yang Ye for a moment before he said affirmatively, “Really, it’s impossible.”

Yang Ye said: “How can you be so certain? You’re not sensitive to these type of things.”

“Because…” Gu Liang stared at Yang Ye, unable to stop the corners of mouth from rising as he uttered, “Because you were right about what you said previously. For instance, when I went to that script on my own, I… I did miss you a little.

“Then there was the ancient castle script next. When I thought something happened to you, I—

“In any case, he’s most certainly not what you think he is. After our first year in Senior High, we barely met up. After I graduated from Senior High, and for the next ten years, I didn’t even meet him once. The last time I met him was during his funeral.

“If I didn’t remember incorrectly, Ming Yue has always been well-received because he’s very thorough when he’s doing things. Which means that it isn’t strange for him to remember the birthdays of his classmates and inquire after someone courteously. Quite a few of his classmates attended his funeral; it’s quite apparant that he had a good affinity with people.”

The meaning that Gu Liang was trying to imply was actually very obscure.

But Yang Ye comprehended it.

Beaming with joy, Yang Ye pulled Gu Liang into his embrace by his waist. “I get it. What you’re trying to say is, if he liked you, he wouldn’t have gone ten years without meeting you. And you, since you like me, you want to be with me at each and every moment, and you can’t even bear to take half a step away from me.”

Gu Liang swatted his hands away. “Going back to the case. Let’s continue searching the room, I still want to know what motivations Chef Huang had. After we leave his room, we can investigate Waitress Jing’s room too, since it’s nearby.”

Having said that, Gu Liang continued to rummage through the room to look for evidence.

In the midst of his scouring, he asked Yang Ye: “Right, there was something I forgot to ask you about. So your character in this scenario has murderous intentions towards Tourist Jia?”

“Yes. My target is Tourist Jia, it has nothing to do with Proprietress Ling.” Yang Ye said, “Honestly speaking, I went to look for Proprietress Ling near the early hours of the morning last night. From the first time I saw her upon coming to the inn, I felt that she was very familiar, and I don’t know if it counts as falling in love at sight… At any rate, I fell in love with her swiftly.

“When I went to look for her last night, I said that I wanted to be together with her. She rejected me, saying that she liked Tourist Jia.

“Hence, I invited Tourist Jia to climb the mountain this morning and pushed him off the mountain precipice for the sake of eliminating him.

“The character setting for this character of mine, is the type of person who would use any means, whether fair or foul, to achieve his goals. When you go to my room later, you’ll find some of the clues, like how I dealt with my business rivals prior to this.”

After listening to Yang Ye’s words, Gu Liang scrunched his eyebrows, “How strange.”

“What is strange?” Yang Ye asked him.

Gu Liang said: “My character fell in love with Proprietress Ling upon first sight. Most notably, the tattoo on her waist is exactly the same as the one on my previous girlfriend.”

Yang Ye could not help but ask: “What kind of tattoo was it? There was a tattoo on my wife’s lower back as well.”

Gu Liang was initially kneeling down as he was sifting through the cabinet at the head of Chef Huang’s bed, but he could not stop himself from standing up to look at Yang Ye when he heard that. “The tattoo on your wife’s body, did she always have it, or did she get it later?”

Yang Ye replied: “We were married for seven years. Roughly a year and a half ago, she suddenly gained a tattoo on her back.”