Chapter 040: Eating Watermelon at the Ladder Apartment (6)
More than ten minutes ago, Pavilion Master Ji and his two companions separated from Liu Tang and his four companions and went downstairs.
When they opened the door, they saw the furnishings of the old fox's house.
When the door was closed, the image in the room showed a young fox lying on the ground, with bleeding wounds all over his back and blood all over the ground.
His beret was scattered beside him, like the most indifferent witness in the whole case.
When the old fox came home and saw this scene, he screamed and shouted, startling the neighbors who were looking out the door.
It was not until the rabbit mother came over that they panicked and called the police.
When Liu Tang saw the old fox scolding the rabbit mother for being unlucky in marriage and asking her not to appear in front of him again, the old fox on this side cried about the misfortune of his second son and fell into the rabbit mother's arms, as if grasping the last straw to save his life.
In order to find out what happened, Ji Zehan quickly opened the door on the left side of the room and walked over.
Grandma Du grabbed her granddaughter's arm, obviously a little scared, and her body trembled slightly.
Du Qiuyun comforted his grandmother and followed Pavilion Master Ji.
In this room, earlier, there was a knock on the door.
The young fox who was sitting on the sofa fiddling with his camera got up and opened the door.
Standing outside the door was a sturdy otter.
The light in the corridor made him half bright and half dark, making him look particularly creepy.
Ji Zehan recognized that this was the otter who had fished the little rabbit out of the water.
The young fox turned and walked back into the house, muttering impatiently, "Didn't I say we'd meet at your house this time? Is the money ready so quickly?"
The otter took two steps into the room, closed the door, and without saying a word, raised his knife and stabbed the fox in the back several times, hard and deep.
The fox fell to the ground because he was in so much pain and fear that he couldn't even scream.
The beret on his head fell to the ground.
The otter walked to the sofa, picked up the camera, turned around and went to the door on the left, rummaging through the drawers, as if looking for something.
The image ends here.
The players watching the live broadcast were frightened again at this time:
"Ahhh, I turned on the bloody scene blocker, why am I still so scared!?"
"The look in that otter's eyes is so scary! The moment the door opened, I jumped right away from the screen!"
"Is this the legendary 'door-opening kill'?"
"The one in front made me laugh a little."
"Why do NPCs keep dying in this dungeon?! Is the dungeon mission supposed to catch the murderer?!"
In the copy, Ji Zehan immediately contacted Liu Tang.
"The otter killed the old fox's second son." Ji Zehan said.
After hearing this, Liu Tang exchanged a glance with Mo Qianhe and continued to ask, "Do you know the reason?"
Ji Zehan replied: "The fox mentioned money. It sounds like they were trying to make some kind of deal but it didn't go through. Or, the fox was blackmailing the otter but pushed him into a corner."
Liu Tang fell into deep thought.
What is the relationship between otters and foxes?
What grudge do they have?
Ji Zehan added: "By the way, the otter took the fox's camera and searched his room. Either he thought the camera was valuable, or the fox filmed something and used it to threaten the otter."
Mo Qianhe listened and said, "Then the possibility of blackmail is even higher."
"Also," Du Qiuyun's voice came from the other side of the sound transmission wall, "the fox mentioned 'I'll meet you at your house this time,' which means the last time the fox and the otter met was at the otter's house. If we can go to his house, we might find some clues."
After a few people discussed it, they decided to continue to act separately to see if they could find the otter's room.
Mo Qianhe prepared for the worst: "If you come across other clues, don't let them go. We can't be sure that the otter also lives in the apartment building."
When they heard this possibility, their hearts sank.
Liu Tang returned to his original question: "So, the purpose of this dungeon is to find the source of the fire, or to find the murderer?"
He then denied his last guess: "Oh, no, the murderer is already right in front of us. There's no need to look for him. So, what does this murder have to do with the apartment fire?"
Seeing them trying to leave the room and take the spiral staircase again, Zhou Songyang struggled and said, "Didn't they say that the old fox burning paper money for the dead might be the source of the fire? Why not continue the investigation horizontally?"
After hearing this, Mo Qianhe thought it was a good idea for investigation. He took out a pair of sound transmission wall props from the system backpack and handed them to Zhou Songyang: "It seems that the only danger in this dungeon right now is the rising temperature. If you want to use a horizontal investigation method, you can try it. Anyway, we are just relying on luck."
Zhou Songyang took the sound transmission wall and looked at his sister.
Feng Xiansu felt a little reluctant when she saw her adopted brother mention it several times.
The big brother whom she admired so much in the past now had such a humble and begging look in his eyes.
Even though she still felt some resentment towards him, he was still her brother after all. Even if she went crazy with him, he would still stick with her.
The girl sighed helplessly and waved her hand, "Okay, okay, I'll go with you."
Zhou Songyang was pardoned.
Liu Tang gave some of the remaining "Infinite Marking Stickers" to Zhou Songyang and instructed him, "There aren't many of these stickers. Remember, only use them on floors with more important information. Use them sparingly."
Zhou Songyang nodded and took the props.
He used up his item usage to activate the sound transmission wall, and left one piece of the sound transmission wall to Mo Qianhe and put one piece in his sister's hand.
Then he took his sister, said goodbye politely to Liu Tang and Mo Qianhe, and went to the door on the right side of the room.
Liu Tang waved to the two people who were leaving reluctantly:
[Oh, I'd be really sad if I couldn't watch the brother and sister fight.]
Mo Qiangan: "..."
If they knew that you were so reluctant to let them go because of this, they would probably start a fight with you on the spot.
When Ji Zehan heard that Zhou Songyang and his sister were going to conduct a horizontal investigation, he stood in the room and did not go out for the time being.
Since they are all at the old fox's house, and the time period where Ji Zehan and the other two are must be after the time period where Liu Tang and the other two are, then as long as Zhou Songyang and his sister go all the way to the right, they will definitely run into them.
After meeting them, go to the right and watch the images in each room one by one, looking for the time when the old fox finally burns paper money, so as to avoid wasting time in between.
Zhou Songyang and his sister walked all the way through eight doors and met Ji Zehan and his two companions.
Du Qiuyun was worried that it would be too difficult for his grandmother to go up and down the stairs, and thought that walking sideways might be easier, so he suggested that he and Zhou Songyang go together.
Feng Xiansu glanced at the girl and said, "Are you still obsessed with my brother?"
Du Qiuyun was speechless: "Can you please stop being so sexually suggestive? Besides, isn't he already with your dad..."
"Okay, okay, let's hurry up and go. Don't talk about useless things." Zhou Songyang interrupted quickly, and with an embarrassed look on his face, he pulled his sister towards the right door.
Ji Zehan did not force the players to come or go, and nodded to send them away.
By the way, go to the railing to make a mark.
The room where the old fox bought paper money and went home was "Old Fox Room 1". Zhou Songyang and his sister passed through eight doors from there to reach the room they were in, so the room where the beret fox was stabbed in the back by the otter was "Old Fox Room 9".
When the old fox discovered his son's body, the room where the rabbit mother called the police was "Old Fox's Room 10."
Mo Qianhe put the two sound transmission walls in his hands together and set up complete information sharing, so that the information of the three groups of people could be shared in real time.
The two walked out of the room and came to the spiral staircase, and found that they were on the upper middle part of the apartment.
"There's really no rules at all for the changing of floors." Liu Tang complained as he walked downstairs.
Entering the room, they found that the layout was still the same as Mother Rabbit's home.
The two were not too disappointed. It was all a matter of luck, and it was impossible for them to just randomly find the otter's house.
After closing the door, the otter and the rabbit mother appeared on the sofa in the middle of the room, cuddling each other.
Liu Tang's eyes widened. "Wait a minute! The otter is actually the rabbit mother's husband and the little rabbit's father?!"
Zhou Songyang heard the voice from this side and said, "That's not right. The old fox's eldest son is the rabbit mother's husband. Logically, the rabbit mother's husband should also be a fox, right?"
At this time, the alarm clock next to Mother Rabbit rang. She stood up from Otter's arms and said, "You should go. School is almost over for little Rabbit."
The otter stood up somewhat helplessly and said in a deep male voice, "Alright, alright. We always race against time."
Feng Xiansu was speechless when she heard the situation here: "From what I hear, he's having an affair with Mother Rabbit."
Mo Qianhe denied it: "It shouldn't count. The old fox scolded Mother Rabbit for being unlucky for her husband and children, and her second son also said that it wasn't easy for her to raise the children and take care of the elderly all these years alone. This means her husband died a long time ago and she is a single mother."
The otter walked to the door and turned to Mother Rabbit, reluctantly saying, "When can we confess to Little Rabbit? When can I marry you?"
Mother Rabbit said helplessly: "The child doesn't want me to remarry, let's take it slow."
The otter nodded and said, "The little rabbit will definitely be at home on the weekend. I can't come to your place. Why don't you come to my house? Just say you're going out to buy groceries."
Mother Rabbit hesitantly pushed Otter out the door and said, "We'll talk about it when the time comes."
Otter's figure disappeared behind the door, and his deliberately lowered voice came from outside the door: "Then remember to call me."
Liu Tang concluded, "It seems the mother rabbit and the otter have developed feelings for each other and want to get married, but they're worried the little rabbit won't be able to accept it, so they've been meeting in secret."
Feng Xiansu clapped her hands: "Meeting secretly, isn't that just having an affair?"
Zhou Songyang: "...If you have nothing to do, bring a dictionary with you and learn Chinese well."
Du Qiuyun mentioned: "I remember that on the day the little rabbit drowned, the mother rabbit came home carrying vegetables."
Zhou Songyang nodded. "I remember. You mean, when the little rabbit went to the reservoir, the mother rabbit was with the otter?"
Feng Xiansu seemed to suddenly understand. "No wonder the mother rabbit kept saying it was her fault after she found out her baby rabbit had drowned. I used to think she blamed herself for the saying 'unlucky for husbands and children', but now it seems she blames herself for being with the otter and not keeping an eye on her baby."
Several people fell silent.
Ji Zehan said at this time: "I found the otter's home."
Everyone's attention was quickly drawn to it.
In front of Ji Zehan was a room with very simple decoration. Compared with Rabbit Mother’s house, the decoration of this room was colder and harder.
The people talking in the room at this time are Otter and Beret Fox.
Otter sat in a chair with great style and said impatiently, "Tell me, what do you want from me?"
The fox smiled particularly cunningly and placed a photo on the table in front of the otter.
Ji Zehan quickly took two steps forward and stared at the photo, but he couldn't see anything clearly.
When the otter saw the photo, he was shocked and terrified. He picked up the photo and tore it into pieces.
Seeing this, the fox was not angry. He smiled and said, "It's no use tearing up the photo. I still have the negatives. I can develop more of the same."
The otter angrily grabbed the fox's collar and growled, "You threaten me..."
The fox tilted his head, patted the other's hand, and said, "How can this be considered a threat? I just want to ask you for 'sponsorship'."
The otter let go of his hand and stopped talking.
Fox retreated to the door and said, "You know, we camera guys are always short of money. I hope you can help me out, big brother. One thousand yuan for one film. Think about it."
After saying that, he turned and left.
After listening to Ji Zehan's retelling, Mo Qianhe said, "It seems like blackmail indeed. But what did he actually photograph?"
Feng Xiansu speculated: "Is it a photo of an otter and a rabbit mother together?"
Liu Tang frowned and asked through the sound transmission wall, "Grandma Du, you are quite familiar with that era. If the relationship was made public, would it be a serious matter?"
Grandma Du seemed to be awakened from her trance. She said hesitantly, "In those days, a woman's reputation, especially a widow's, was extremely important. If she were caught having an affair with a man, she would probably be drowned in spit."
Mo Qianhe asked, "What did a thousand yuan mean in that era?"
Grandma Du thought for a moment and replied, "One thousand yuan could probably cover the family's food and clothing expenses for several years. Back then, pork cost only a few cents."
Du Qiuyun calculated it and said to Feng Xiansu and her brother, "That's worth about a hundred thousand in our time."
When Ji Zehan heard what Grandma Du said, he realized that they might really be from the same generation.
But Grandma Du lived to the age of gray hair, while he died in his teens.
Liu Tang frowned. "If it's a matter of reputation, could it really threaten Otter to this extent? Would he be willing to spend so much money to buy a film?"
Mo Qianhe shook his head: "He just didn't want to, so he killed people, right?"
Liu Tang pondered: "So, in that era, reputation was so important that it had to be exchanged for human lives..."
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