TEFSCBSS Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Stories of Huai Tree Village (Part 4)

Seeing Han Yueyi’s furious expression, Wang Bokao had a sudden flash of inspiration.

“Do you know who killed your husband?”

Han Yueyi froze for a second, realizing it was a good question. Since he had to act mute now, he needed to strike first or risk being unable to defend himself later.

In a flash, he pointed at his “father,” Butcher Liu, while making urgent “ah-ah” sounds. He gestured toward Butcher Liu and then toward the outhouse, his face filled with terror.

“Hiss—are you saying your father killed your husband?”

Wang Bokao looked utterly shocked, while Han Yueyi nodded furiously. The crowd exchanged bewildered glances.

“This…”

“Look at the bride—she seems genuinely desperate, doesn’t she?”

“Shh… Don’t forget, just now Master Wuzhen said the bride might be the venomous scorpion! Can we trust what a scorpion says?”

“But why can’t the bride speak, though?”

Wang Qingmu rubbed his temples, relieved that he was acting as a detective in the crowd. Without him, this case might never be solved. He spoke up, projecting his voice toward Han Yueyi.

“The bride just indicated: a round table, two cups of wine, and one cup was drugged. She drank the poisoned wine, which is why she can’t speak now. Is that correct?”

Han Yueyi’s eyes widened. This is my Ziqi! My Zhang Liang! He nodded so vigorously that his hair nearly came undone.

Butcher Liu, seated like a warlord, slapped his thigh and roared, “Hah! You ungrateful daughter! How dare you try to frame me!”

“Everyone knows you resented your mother and envied your sister—you killed them both! Blame me! It’s my fault!”

“If only I had seen your true nature earlier and trusted those around me, my wife and daughter might still be alive… boohoohoo!”

Butcher Liu cried so pitifully that those who were starting to waver snapped back to his side.

That’s right—they couldn’t let Han Yueyi deceive them. She was a venomous, heartless woman. She killed her mother and sister out of hatred and jealousy, and now she killed her husband out of spite for her father!

Han Yueyi read the crowd’s expressions and knew things were going downhill. Curse that Butcher Liu for having such a loud voice and impeccable acting skills!

Frantically, he turned his gaze to Li Tiezhu.

“Ah-ah-ah-ah!” (Brother, help me! You’re the Fierce Tiger, remember? We grew up together! You know me, don’t you?)

Li Tiezhu’s head was spinning. The chaos of the day was too much. His master always said he lacked brains, but he refused to believe it—yet now his mental CPU was overheating. Though it was autumn, he could swear smoke was rising from his head.

Who should he believe?

Li Tiezhu reviewed his character’s backstory:

[You grew up with the bride and groom as childhood friends, bonded like siblings. But!]
[You’re the murderer. They caused the tragic death of your beloved, and you vowed revenge. You lured the groom to the outhouse and killed him!]
[Pretend to be the bride’s loyal friend to clear suspicion from yourself!]

His headache worsened. Fine, he’d start by playing the loyal friend for now.

Li Tiezhu stood up, his towering frame like a small mountain. He looked at Butcher Liu and rumbled, “Butcher Liu, since when did you have an eldest daughter? When we were kids, you only had one daughter. Where did this ‘eldest’ daughter come from?”

Butcher Liu eyed Li Tiezhu’s massive build and thought about inviting him to a duel after this was over. Those muscles, tsk tsk.

But then he snapped back to the moment and replied, “What business is it of yours? It’s my family’s matter!”

“Doesn’t matter how many daughters I have. The younger sister killing the elder one is still wrong!”

The crowd nodded in agreement. Murder was wrong, no doubt about it.

“Hold on!” Li Tiezhu countered. “Let’s not talk about murder just yet. Where did this ‘elder sister’ even come from?”

In truth, even when reading the character profiles, Li Tiezhu had been puzzled. The story claimed he had a crush on this eldest daughter, Yanran, but her sudden appearance seemed fishy.

The crowd perked up. Why would the younger sister kill her sibling only shortly after the elder sister showed up?

Encouraged by their reaction, Li Tiezhu felt smug. See, he was clever after all! His master underestimated him. Next time, he’d bring his master here to witness his brilliance!

“Exactly!” Wang Bokao shouted, egging him on. “Butcher Liu, confess already!” He was practically jumping with excitement. The more ghostly and mysterious this got, the more thrilling it became.

Butcher Liu, however, remained composed, seated where Han Yueyi had been earlier. His booming voice drowned out even Li Tiezhu’s.

“You ‘Fierce Tiger’! No wonder Wuzhen called you a notorious villain—you’re quick to accuse others of baseless crimes!”

“My beloved wife and daughter were cruelly murdered. If I knew who did it, wouldn’t I have reported it to the authorities?”

“I only have one son and one daughter left. I can’t bear to lose them too…”

Butcher Liu’s performance was so convincing that the crowd began to doubt again. Even Wang Bokao felt himself wavering.

No! He pinched himself hard, snapping back to focus.

“That doesn’t add up, Butcher Liu! If you truly believed your daughter was the murderer, aren’t you afraid she’ll turn around and kill your son—or even you? Wouldn’t she wipe out your entire family?”

“Or are you so sentimental about your daughter that you can’t even wait three years of mourning before marrying her off? Why so hasty?”

Han Yueyi nearly cried tears of gratitude, giving Wang Bokao a thumbs-up.

Wang Bokao straightened, as if to say, No big deal—we’re a team!

The crowd began to see reason. Even if someone wanted to protect their child after a murder, they’d likely lock them up—not marry them off so quickly. Something was off.

Meanwhile, Wang Qingmu regretted helping Han Yueyi earlier. If Butcher Liu was truly the culprit, he’d be under suspicion now, too. How could he split the twenty taels of silver like this?

As the commotion continued, Butcher Liu stayed calm, unfazed by the accusations.

Han Yueyi and Li Tiezhu huddled together, whispering urgently.

Master Wuzhen sat serenely, nibbling on a green bean cake and occasionally placing pieces into his wooden bowl. He had the air of someone completely uninvolved.

Finally, Su Li stepped forward gracefully.

“Everyone, it seems the suspects have no more clues to offer. How about we investigate the evidence ourselves?”

Investigate?

Wait, were they going to the village now?

Seeing the confusion, Su Li smiled and gestured toward the decrepit West Tower behind her.

“For the sake of this case, I’ve recreated the village here. You’ll find a replica of the outhouse, along with key locations: the groom’s house, the bride’s family home, and even the cemetery.”

The crowd peered inside, seeing the West Tower lit up brightly. Their initial unease gave way to relief—it was all fake.

“Detectives, you may form teams and explore the locations to gather evidence. But remember, no vandalism—or you’ll pay for it!”

The suspects were left on the high platform to await the detectives’ return, uneasy but silent.

Meanwhile, Wang Bokao was already dashing toward the West Tower, his excitement bubbling over.

“This is so much fun!”