The three minutes passed quickly. Guan Wei closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, his gaze sweeping over everyone.
"The real killer is," Guan Wei turned to Lin Ling, who was sitting beside him, "the murderer of Qi Meiyuan is, is Guo Wei."
Upon hearing his name, Guo Wei shot up from his seat, looking at Guan Wei in disbelief.
However, before he could utter a word, he was pulled into the air by a mysterious force.
The door to the first-floor lobby suddenly opened, and Guo Wei was thrown out. His body was torn apart bit by bit. With screams that faded from loud to weak, Guo Wei completely vanished from everyone's sight, leaving only a pool of blood on the ground.
Witnessing Guo Wei's execution, Lin Ling and Yan Xiaoqian couldn't help but scream. Even though it wasn't the first time they had seen players die tragically in a dungeon, their instinctive reactions were uncontrollable.
Jing Minghe noticed that besides the terrified Lin Ling and Yan Xiaoqian, several people wore expressions of impending doom.
After Guo Wei was executed, the waiter announced the voting results: "Mr. Chi Hao, Mr. Jing Minghe, Ms. Youmi, and Mr. Chen Mu chose correctly. Ms. Lin Ling chose Mr. Tong Zheng as the killer. Mr. Yue Yang and Ms. Youmi chose Ms. Lin Ling as the killer. Ms. Yan Xiaoqian and Mr. Tong Zheng chose Ms. Lin Ling as the killer. All chose incorrectly and will be punished."
The moment the waiter finished speaking, Lin Ling, Yue Yang, Yan Xiaoqian, and Tong Zheng were simultaneously hoisted into the air by an invisible force. Their necks and limbs felt as though they were being tightly bound by something, constricting them further. They couldn't make any sound or resist, their expressions of unbearable pain the only testament to the torment they were enduring.
The waiter looked up at the four and said, "Time starts now. You have three minutes."
Jing Minghe flicked his eyelids open and muttered, "Tsk, this punishment is pretty twisted."
Three minutes, not long, not short, but for those being punished, it felt like an eternity.
Just as Lin Ling and Yan Xiaoqian, the two girls, were about to give in, the waiter finally spoke.
"Time's up."
The four were suddenly released and fell straight down.
Youmi immediately stepped forward, first checking on Lin Ling and Yan Xiaoqian. "How are you? Don't move around for now."
After the four were released, Jing Minghe looked around. The glowing door for clearance had not appeared.
"This dungeon isn't over yet."
As soon as Jing Minghe finished speaking, the waiter added, "Until 9 PM, it is your free time. Please help yourselves."
With that, he turned and left.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Tong Zheng coughed painfully and said, "How could this happen? The dungeon isn't over? Why?"
Jing Minghe walked over and helped Tong Zheng up, guessing, "There's probably a second case. But we won't know the specifics until after 9 PM."
After helping Lin Ling and Yan Xiaoqian regain their breath, Youmi told them to lie flat on the ground and rest. "Whatever happens, let's rest first. Lin Ling and Xiaoqian won't be better anytime soon like this."
Yue Yang managed to stand up and sat on the sofa, his brows furrowed in silence.
Guan Wei slowly stood up and said, "I'm going back to my room for a bit," before heading straight upstairs.
Chen Mu hesitated, remaining seated, lost in thought.
Chi Hao stood up and walked to the round table, picking up a plate of pastries and handing it to Jing Minghe. "Here."
Jing Minghe accepted it without politeness and gave an awkward smile. "Your ears are really sharp. Thanks."
Earlier, when they were choosing, Jing Minghe's stomach had been growling.
Tong Zheng rubbed his sore limbs, looking enviously at Jing Minghe. He had always thought he was optimistic enough, but he hadn't expected someone to have a better mindset. To be in the mood to eat after such a tense experience.
"Minghe," Tong Zheng's voice was hoarse from the punishment, "I want to know, why was Guo Wei the killer? I analyzed that both Lin Ling and Guo Wei were possible, but Lin Ling's opportunity and motive seemed more sufficient, didn't they?"
Jing Minghe turned and sat beside Tong Zheng, asking him, "Why was Lin Ling's opportunity more sufficient? Wasn't it the same? As for the motive, I think you're overthinking it."
"Huh?" Tong Zheng was confused. "I'm overthinking it? Why?"
Jing Minghe replied as he ate, "Because, in this case as we understand it, the motive is a trap. First, in our individual information, we only know our own identity and relationship with the deceased, not the identities of others, right?"
Tong Zheng nodded.
"Secondly, someone who isn't the killer might tell the truth, but the killer might conceal or even lie, right?"
"Yes," Tong Zheng followed Jing Minghe's line of reasoning. "So, before determining the killer, the identity relationships we each described might be untrustworthy, especially the relationship with the deceased."
Jing Minghe raised an eyebrow. "Indeed."
"But if that's the case," Tong Zheng said with a hint of exasperation, "then finding the killer is half clue analysis, half luck."
Jing Minghe said, "Clue analysis accounts for eighty percent. This is essentially a time game. All other extraneous things are just aids, or even deliberate misdirection."
"A time game?" Tong Zheng looked at Jing Minghe with confusion.
Since it was still early before 9 PM, Jing Minghe was happy to help his comrade analyze. "Yes, because everyone's timeline overlaps with one or two people. In this regard, the possibility of outright lying or concealment is relatively small, unless two people planned to lie together beforehand. But why would someone who isn't the killer help the killer lie? Right? Unless there's a killer and an accomplice, but this case clearly has no accomplice."
"Right!"
"Therefore, other elements are only for reference, or can even be ignored. We only analyze the time."
Jing Minghe put down the plate. "First, analyze the time of death of the deceased. Everyone returned to their rooms at 11, and were forced to sleep at 1:20. This is the basic timeframe. Then, combining everyone's statements, assuming no one lied, the person who saw the deceased was Lin Ling. She went downstairs to talk to the deceased at 12:00."
Tong Zheng immediately said, "So, the deceased's time of death was between 12:00 and 1:20!"
"Don't rush," Jing Minghe smiled and continued his analysis, "Aren't you considering your own timeline?"
Seeing Tong Zheng's bewildered expression, Jing Minghe reminded him, "The door was open when you were talking to Guo Wei."
Tong Zheng gasped and said, "I know. I called Guo Wei upstairs at 12:30, and we chatted until around 1:15 when he left. So, the door was open during this period, and no one entered the deceased's room. Five minutes is not enough time to kill and hide the weapon. Therefore, the deceased's time of death can be narrowed down to between 12:00 and 12:30."