Chapter 63: The True Appearance of the Tomb
"Yes, everyone is together. At least in a relatively spacious space like the tomb, they can monitor each other's actions. But there is a period of time when no one can monitor each other."
"Are you talking about the time when everyone was stunned by the smoke? Are you trying to say the murderer is that fake Mr. Lan? But he's dead now. Doesn't that mean this case will become an unsolved mystery?"
"How can you be so sure that the fake Master Lan was the only one awake during the time everyone was knocked unconscious by the smoke? Isn't it possible that there was another person who wasn't knocked unconscious? Or, more likely, the smoke was released by the real murderer, and even Master Lan wasn't spared. After everyone fainted, the real murderer took the opportunity to kill the fake Master Lan, then faked it by making it look like he was beheaded by the mechanism in the coffin."
"Oh! This is really possible. This also explains why no bloodstains were found outside the coffin lid after everyone woke up." Linlang nodded frequently.
"But you also said that these are just your guesses. I'm afraid there is no evidence to prove what the truth is?" Luo Mei shook her head, as if she didn't believe what Yin Chuan said.
"Haha, if what you see right now is exactly the same as what was in the tomb back then, I really wouldn't have any evidence to support my guess. But everyone has seen, especially Master Fan Zhengfan, that the bloodstains on the fake Master Lan's body are gone. This is the most powerful evidence, enough to prove my guess—especially the second one, which is the most likely truth about Master Lan's murder."
As he spoke, Yin Chuan gathered all the lanterns and focused them on a three-foot square area next to the second-floor coffin. He then borrowed Luo Mei's Luoyang shovel and said, "Now I'll draw you a rough outline of the entire structure of Shen Wansan's tomb. You'll understand why I'm saying this."
He used a Luoyang shovel to concentrate on drawing a rough map of the tomb on the open ground. Everyone was shocked when they saw it.
"Is this the true structure of the entire tomb? How is it possible?" Du Yunzhang said in astonishment.
Luo Mei was also quite surprised. She had never seen such a tomb structure in her career - two identical tombs, one above and one below, and the bulge on the ground of the upper tomb was exactly the dome of the lower tomb.
"The tomb we entered at the beginning was the one above. The collapse of the top of the tomb was actually just the edge that collapsed due to the triggered mechanism. At the same time, it also collapsed the edge of the tomb below, making the situation of collapse the same above and below." Yin Chuan explained.
Linlang seemed to understand what Yin Chuan meant. "If the entire tomb structure is really as Brother Yin described, then the truth behind the fake Master Lan's death is undoubtedly that the murderer deceived everyone and knocked everyone unconscious before killing him. Imagine if, as we initially speculated, it was Master Lan who knocked everyone unconscious and died from a trap when the coffin was opened, then there's no explanation for the lack of his blood in this tomb. And if he and another person conspired to knock us unconscious, then why didn't their accomplice take the secret treasure after he died from the trap? Therefore, only the scenario that Brother Yin deduced is the real situation."
Luo Mei pondered for a moment. In such a closed environment, there was no other plausible explanation besides Yin Chuan's deduction. If he could see with his own eyes that this so-called "tomb" was indeed a double-layered structure, interconnected as he had described, then the truth of the incident would be completely confirmed.
"If the so-called tomb is like this, and things are indeed the same as you deduced, Brother Yin, then who is the murderer? Who is his accomplice?" Linlang asked immediately.
Just as he said this, Fan Zheng suddenly began to cough violently, and the coughing got worse and worse. He squatted down slowly, then curled up on the ground, scratching and kicking his hands and feet, as if in extreme pain. Everyone rushed forward to check on him. They saw him covering his mouth and nose with one hand, coughing so hard that he almost lost his voice. Soon, blood seeped from the gaps between his hands, and the amount of blood kept increasing.
"Oh no! He's been poisoned!" Linlang exclaimed.
"Could it be the smoke that just seeped out of the box?" Du Yunzhang asked nervously.
Everyone was at a loss, not knowing how to save him. Soon, Fan Zheng stopped struggling and died with a hideous look on his face. Blood oozed from his mouth, nostrils, and eyes. His death was extremely horrific.
Yin Chuan bit his lip. He had assumed the yellow smoke, like before, would simply cause unconsciousness, and that a splash of cold water would bring the person back to consciousness. But who could have imagined this time it was a deadly poison. It seemed the murderer had set this trap long ago, waiting for the person who opened the secret treasure box to inhale the poisonous gas and die.
"Oh, it's all my fault. I should have thought that since he was also one of the murderer's targets, he would not let me save him so easily." Yin Chuan said sadly as he looked at Fan Zheng's dead body.
"Now that things have come to this, don't blame yourself." Du Yunzhang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and comforted him, "Then who is the real culprit who did all this?"
"There's no doubt the murderer is among the six of us remaining. He stunned everyone with smoke in the upper tomb, then did a series of things. First, he killed the imposter, Master Lan, and cut off his head, making it look like he'd died from a mechanism inside the coffin. Then, he returned to the cave and killed the imprisoned Tan Zhuozi and Yuan Laoer one by one, leaving their bodies stuck in the cracks of the upper tunnel. When the dome collapsed, they would fall into the tomb for us to discover. Finally, he placed deadly poisonous smoke in the secret treasure box. Once everything was in place, he pretended to wake up with us, waiting for Fan Zheng to seize the box and commit suicide."
"Hey, wait a minute! If it's as you said, when Fan Zheng snatched the box, he kidnapped Linlang. It was Luo Mei who followed him into the cave and didn't allow anyone else to follow. Could it be that..." Du Yunzhang carefully pondered everything that had happened and couldn't help but look at Luo Mei.
His meaning was self-evident. Wasn't it Luo Mei who had shown Fan Zheng how to open the box and led him to this tomb? In other words, Luo Mei was the serial killer hidden in the team?
"What? Do you suspect me?" Luo Mei also guessed what Du Yunzhang was thinking.
"Looking at everything you've done, it's hard not to suspect you!" Du Yunzhang replied with a gloomy face. "Yin Chuan's reasoning makes sense, and you were the first to take the initiative and approach the Cao Gang. Aren't you the instigator of all this? You previously concealed the source of the secret treasure from me, and you haven't told me the truth about your monkey's origins. As for your helper, isn't it just this monkey? Confess yourself, how much else are you hiding from us? Perhaps you knew from the beginning that this Eunuch Lan was a fake, and the mistress who gave him the advice was you? Did you work in unison with him to arrange this entire scheme, luring us in so you could use us as pawns?"
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