Chapter 28 - Suspicion

“What do you mean by that?” the rich second generation frowned and looked at him, “During the blackout, everyone was at the electrical box, and you came over after hearing the noise, too.

Who could have possibly killed someone else?”

“I’ve checked,” Xu Huo said, “The shelf that fell just now must be the one next to the hot spring pool.

Du Lanlan and Xia Guo, neither of them even cried for help before they were killed.

It’s very likely that the killer was much stronger than they were, and there aren’t many signs of struggle around.”

“Are you saying the shelf could have fallen by itself?” Wan Zhikang gave him a look that read, don’t take us for fools.

“It might have been knocked over by accident, or it could have been the wind.

With so many uncertain factors, how can you be sure that someone was here when the shelf fell?” Xu Huo said meaningfully, “Game props can also be used to create an alibi.”

Everyone paused, then caught on.

That’s right, from the time the power went out to the discovery of Du and Xia’s deaths, there were several minutes.

Since both were killed without calling for help or any sound of fighting, the sudden toppling of the shelf was very unreasonable.

It was as if it were done deliberately for the players to see.

“Maybe it’s just a coincidence,” Abel said.

“The equipment here is old, and standing in such a moist environment, it’s not surprising that it would be unstable.”

“Coincidences are another matter,” Huang Junjie said.

“We need to confirm that none of the players are murder suspects; otherwise, how can we work together to confront the Beheading Demon?”

“That’s the truth,” the rich second generation was the first to start, “Before the power outage, I was with Liu Yuanyuan the whole time, and then when I came out to check the fuse box, I ran into Zhang Xiong.”

Zhang Xiong nodded, “When I passed through the corridor, he had just come out, and I saw Liu Yuanyuan smoking.”

Liu Yuanyuan also testified, “Zhang Xiong did pass by the door.”

“When Zhang Xiong came out, Yuan Yao and I heard the noise,” Huang Junjie added.

Before this, Zhang Xiong, Wan Zhikang, and Abel were in one room, so the three could vouch for each other.

Wang Wei had arrived at the storage room with the college student, but he hesitated a bit before saying, “But before the blackout, he went out for a while.”

The college student’s expression visibly turned to panic.

“It wasn’t me, I didn’t kill anyone!

Before the blackout, I had already returned to my room!

At the time of the blackout, I even called for you, you were still in the bathroom then!”

“The victims could have died before the blackout!” Huang Junjie eyed him warily, “You could have killed them beforehand, cut the power to lure everyone out, then pretended to come out with Wang Wei.”

“It wasn’t me!” the college student suddenly shouted, and before he could continue explaining, Zhang Xiong punched him in the stomach.

He doubled over and knelt on the ground, his eyes filled with tears and hate.

“I told you it wasn’t me.

If Du Lanlan and the others were killed before the blackout, then all of you were in your own rooms at the time, and no one can prove their innocence!”

Zhang Xiong yanked him up, “Are you saying we conspired to commit murder?”

“If it wasn’t the Beheading Demon, who could kill so quietly, unless it was a group effort!” The college student struggled, and suddenly a fruit knife fell out from behind him.

Wan Zhikang grabbed it, angrily demanding, “What is this?”

Before the college student could respond, he received two more punches, Zhang Xiong looking ready to beat him to death.

Xu Huo intervened, “The murder weapon isn’t a fruit knife.”

The necks of Du and Xia both showed marks of violent hacking, definitely not something a fruit knife could do.

“So what?” Wan Zhikang said, “As long as he can’t explain what he was doing before the blackout, he’s the prime suspect!”

The college student’s face was now bruised and swollen, as he glared through the slits of his eyes at Zhang and Wan, “Only you two have axes in the villa.”

“I hid the fruit knife for self-defense; I found the fruit knife at the restaurant during the day and was afraid of being seen by others, so I didn’t take it.

I only went out at night to fetch the knife!”

“How could a fruit knife possibly behead someone!”

Almost all players arrived empty-handed; to commit murder, one would need tools.

Among those present, only Wan Zhikang possessed an axe he had snatched.

“How dare you frame me!” Wan Zhikang lunged to hit someone but was restrained by the rich second generation and Wang Wei, the former saying, “You’ve had it in for those two from the start, haven’t you?”

Color drained from Wan Zhikang’s chubby face.

“You suspect me?”

Everyone silently gazed at him, clearly believing what the college student said; he, his roommate Zhang Xiong, and Abel were all suspects.

“Bullshit!” Zhang Xiong erupted in anger: “I never lay a hand on women!”

“Absolutely not!” Abel also hastily added, “I am a Buddhist; I do not kill!”

The rich second generation sneered, “What does a foreign devil like you know about Buddhism?

You’re the only ones with an axe, and the victim was killed with an axe.

If not you, then who?”

Wan Zhikang was covered in sweat, his eyeballs darting around wildly.

In a panic, he suddenly pointed at Xu Huo, “What about him?

And him too, he was the only person not at the villa just now, and he came back from outside; he is the one with the biggest suspicion!”

“Zhang Xiong, Abel, and I met through the game,” said Wan Zhikang.

“Even if I have a conflict with those two women, how could I convince them to murder with me?

What good would it do me if all the players died?

I can’t defeat the Beheading Demon!”

“That’s right, after the first power outage you were nowhere to be seen; only you were outside!” Zhang Xiong immediately deflected the blame.

The others turned their attention to Xu Huo; Huang Junjie looked at him with suspicion, “Why did you stay alone in the cabin?”

Under normal circumstances, no one would want to be alone in such a dangerous place, but Xu Huo chose to stay even when he had the chance to return to the villa with the others, which was very odd.

“I’ve explained my reason before, I was just curious if that person would come back to life again,” Xu Huo replied calmly and deliberately, “After all, I’ve been through a life-and-death struggle, and even had to dig a hole to bury the body.

In just that short amount of time, even if I moved quickly, it would be impossible for me to travel between two places and kill three people, right?”

“Oh, and the plums I brought back were plucked from the woods; not bad, this place has quite a few fruit trees.”

The players were confused.

The college student was excessively weak; Zhang Xiong couldn’t even take a punch from him.

It seemed far-fetched to claim that he could silently kill and behead someone on his own.

And convincing others to join forces with him would not be easy; just having an axe proved nothing, as, by that logic, other room players could also be suspects.

It was impossible to determine if players from other rooms had already teamed up.

As for Xu Huo, he clearly did not have enough time; he did not return with Huang Junjie and Yuan Yao after the first power outage, and he was also killing and burying a body at the cabin.

There wasn’t much time between the two power outages.

For a time, it seemed every player was a suspect, yet all players seemed innocent.

“Aren’t you thinking too much?” Liu Yuanyuan, who was sitting on the side, finally spoke up, “There’s a Beheading Demon in the villa, and instead of suspecting them, you’re looking for the murderer among yourselves?”