TEFSCBSS Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Clues in Motion (Part 2)

Han Yueyi didn’t stand on ceremony—he took Wang Bokao’s notes and began summarizing.

“First off, based on their reports, the biggest question we need to investigate is this: was the deceased the scholar Lang?”

“In everyone’s account, the scholar Lang admired Chun Ya and was planning to propose today. But Chun Ya denies even knowing him, and she says she doesn’t recognize the man lying dead.”

“From what we know, Chun Ya has face blindness.”

“Putting this all together, we can make the following deductions.”

“One: Either the scholar Lang never spoke to Chun Ya, maybe even came here to buy wontons. Otherwise, since she makes a living off this stall, she should at least recognize his voice.”

“Two: The scholar Lang didn’t get the chance to speak to Chun Ya that night and never even got close to her. That would explain why she didn’t recognize his voice or clothes—and, by extension, didn’t recognize the dead man.”

“Three: Chun Ya is lying. Honestly, she’s a food vendor. Are you telling me she identifies people by voice and outfit only? I don’t buy it. Most likely, she’s lying—after all, no one’s ever asked her something like this before. Plus, she’s an orphan, and her background is murky. That gives her a lot of room to maneuver.”

Wang Bokao took a sip of wine and mused, “That does make Chun Ya seem pretty suspicious. And she’s acting really off today. She usually gives free food to the homeless, but today, she didn’t. Maybe she was distracted, or maybe… something else?”

He then pointed at Butcher Liu, clearly not letting him off the hook either. “Who waits around just because they heard someone’s coming to propose? That’s shady as hell. And he’s a bodyguard—hasn’t left town in a month. That’s odd. Maybe he’s got no work, sure, but to sit around with this kind of free time? I suspect he’s got beef with the scholar Lang and is here to get revenge.”

“Could be he just wanted to mess up the proposal with some words… or maybe he was waiting for a chance to kill him in the chaos.”

Han Yueyi nodded. “True, Butcher Liu is suspicious. His behavior is strange, and there’s a period where no one can verify what he was doing.”

“But…” Han Yueyi pointed at the scholar Lang’s name, looking puzzled. “He was a scholar. Even if this happened ten years ago, he should’ve known that formal proposals begin with a matchmaker sounding out the girl’s family. If they agree, then you go with proper gifts and birth dates and follow all the rituals.”

“Even though Chun Ya’s just an orphan now, he still went by himself and chose the busiest time during the day, when she’s working. That’s just strange.”

Wang Bokao clicked his tongue. “You’re telling me. That’s not a proposal—that’s practically starting a feud. He didn’t respect her.”

Han Yueyi didn’t disagree, just frowned. “But according to his classmates, he was very serious about her. This doesn’t add up. If this wasn’t a botched elopement, then it had to be intentional.”

Han Yueyi and Wang Bokao exchanged a glance. “He meant to die in front of everyone?”

Wang Bokao was baffled. “What if he didn’t like Chun Ya at all? What if he hated her?”

Han Yueyi leaned back, gazing darkly at the other candidates presenting their clue summaries. He wondered—back when Su Li staged that whole fake-death drama about the false and true daughters, making it big and public… was she trying to warn him of danger?

Now, this first high-profile case in their murder mystery game—could there be deeper meaning here too?

Dying in front of a crowd… was it for show or a cry for attention?

…

Let’s leave the two classmates in their private second-floor booth and shift our focus to the high platform at the entrance of the script store.

This time, the rest of Group One finally got the hang of it. After several rounds of Candidate One trying to speak first and getting cut off, everyone ended up just taking turns, each grabbing the floor with one line after another.

No breaks, no gaps—the moment one person ended their sentence, the next one jumped right in. It was like a verbal relay race.

As for the [Environment Investigation], the key info was limited, but here’s what they got:

• [1. In the back alley, there is a single set of deep footprints leading toward the wonton stall, belonging to the deceased.]

• [2. None of the key eyewitnesses present had any bloodstains or injuries on them.]

• [3. There is space beneath the flower lantern cart base—enough to hide a person. Shallow footprints found inside match the deceased.]

• [4. No signs of a struggle or fight anywhere nearby.]

And… that’s it.

Han Yueyi stared at the summary on paper, brows tightly furrowed.

Wang Bokao chewed his pen. “Hey, Han—do you know what happened with that case ten years ago? There are barely any clues here. How are we supposed to deduce anything?”

Han Yueyi rolled his eyes. “You remember it?”

“Cough, of course not. Back then, I was playing mental chess with my grandpa every day. I just remember he wouldn’t let me out, said things were dangerous in the city. Never said why.”

Han Yueyi tapped the table with two fingers. “Same here. But once, I snuck into the Wende Hall to play and overheard some ministers reporting to the emperor. Sounded like they were talking about this case.”

“They said a lot of people died, mentioned injustice and revenge… said the ringleader had already died, but praised his integrity and courage. Uh… can’t remember the rest.”

Wang Bokao groaned. “Wait, I don’t even know who the victim is yet, and now we’ve got integrity in the mix? From what we’ve seen, he’s a total idiot. What’s there to admire?”

Han Yueyi shook his head. “Who knows. But this case might not be as simple as we thought.”

“I never thought it was simple!” Wang Bokao immediately distanced himself. “One dead body and now a bunch of missing girls? This is already too complex!”

He pointed at Summaries One and Three. “Look at these two. It’s like the victim crawled into the lantern cart himself, dug out his own heart, slashed his face, and then strolled over to the wonton stall. Like… seriously? What is he, a zombie?!”

“Honestly, if he didn’t actually go there to propose and was just using it as an excuse to sneak into the area and hide in the cart—it’s not impossible.”

“We can set motive aside for now. Point is, it’s plausible he did it all himself.”

“But…” He stared at Summary One, falling deep into thought. “No one ever said he died at the wonton stall. When he was found, he was already dead. So what, a corpse just walked over there?”

Wang Bokao’s hair stood on end. He shot up and took a step back. “Okay, stop talking. I’m getting creeped out.”

Han Yueyi was about to roll his eyes at his ever-timid friend, but suddenly—a lightbulb went off in his mind. He froze mid-eye-roll.

Maintaining his weird expression, he murmured, “I got it.”

Wang Bokao: ????