Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

Hearing this, Lin Qingfeng stroked his chin, struck the pose of a deep thinker, and said slowly, "Hmm... What’s my take on it? I’m taking it sitting down, of course. Something is definitely fishy about this!"

She pulled Lin Qingfeng into a corner and lowered her voice. "Senior Brother, of course I know something’s fishy. I’m asking if you have any... constructive suggestions?!"

"’Constructive suggestions?’" Lin Qingfeng muttered to himself. ’Where would I get something like that...’ Then again, ’how could I, the Senior Brother, *not* have any constructive suggestions? That’s impossible!’

While pretending to continue stroking his chin, he silently activated the [Mind Engine].

[Mind Engine]—[Search Bar]. Then, he input his current situation to see what he should do.

A moment later, he cleared his throat and began his analysis in a confident tone. "AHEM. According to the government’s preliminary case file, the doors and windows were intact and locked from the inside. There were no signs of a forced entry. This points to two possibilities."

He held up two fingers.

"First, and the one I’m personally leaning toward, is that it was an ’inside job.’ In other words, the killer was someone the deceased willingly let into the room, perhaps even someone they trusted deeply."

"Second, the killer is a top-tier master with exceptionally sophisticated methods, capable of arriving and leaving without a trace."

"However, if it’s the second possibility, I have no idea what to do. The trail would go cold, and we’d be running around like headless chickens. Where would we even start looking? Therefore, to improve the efficiency of our investigation, we should prioritize the first possibility and proceed from the ’inside job’ angle!"

’Sigh, as I thought, I’m really not cut out for this detective work.’

Although Su Ling’er found her senior brother’s reasoning a bit strange, she didn’t have any ideas of her own. She had no choice but to follow his lead. Besides... it seemed... he actually had a point.

So, Su Ling’er turned and asked Mu Ling, "Mr. Mu, I need you to think carefully. Who were the people Miss An was closest to and interacted with most often before her death?"

Mu Ling heard this and agreed it made sense. Suppressing his grief, he thought carefully for a moment before slowly listing a few names.

"Besides... besides myself, the person closest to Yao’er was, first and foremost, her father, Mr. An."

"Then there were the old servants in the mansion who watched her grow up, especially her personal maid."

"After that, her closest friend, Liu Yue."

"And... and also Mr. Wang from Wang’s Cloth Shop in the west of the city. Yao’er often went there to have clothes custom-made, and their relationship was quite good."

"And these people," Su Ling’er pressed, "what do they do for a living? And what was their connection to Miss An?"

Mu Ling nodded and began to explain one by one.

"Mr. An... he is Yao’er’s biological father. He runs the largest silk and satin shop in the south of the city and doted on Yao’er. But... he wasn’t actually... very supportive of our marriage. He only agreed reluctantly because he couldn’t win an argument with Yao’er."

"Those old servants, although they were born into service for the An Family, you can never know what’s in a person’s heart. Yao’er was kind-hearted and always generous with them, often giving them rewards. But I heard one of the stewards recently racked up a huge gambling debt..."

"Mr. Wang from Wang’s Cloth Shop in the west of the city is an honest and dutiful businessman. Yao’er was his biggest client; the cost of her fabrics and clothes each season alone was a considerable sum. However... I overheard Yao’er mention a while ago that Mr. Wang had apparently wanted to borrow a large sum from Mr. An to buy out a new shop in the south, but Mr. An turned him down."

At this point, he paused, seemingly trying hard to recall something, before finally mentioning the last person.

"As for Liu Yue..."

Mu Ling’s expression grew complicated. "She and Yao’er were the closest. She runs a small private bank and spends her days going from street to street, dealing with the various merchants in the city. She’s a very smooth operator, and everyone says she’s a capable and good young woman."

"Liu Yue would often bring Yao’er little trinkets. Oh, right, I remember... right after I gave Yao’er that jade bracelet, Liu Yue bought herself one in the exact same style the very next day. She said... it was good for sisters to have matching things."

After he finished speaking, he fell into silence.

Su Ling’er listened carefully. But based on what Mu Ling said... all of these people seemed... to have at least a small bit of suspicion on them.

The steward, possibly to pay off his gambling debts; Mr. Wang, possibly holding a grudge after being refused a loan; and even her best friend, Liu Yue... She couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something inexplicably strange about it all.

...

Meanwhile, within the An Mansion, the atmosphere was solemn, the halls draped in white mourning cloth.

Inside the ancestral hall, a fine nanmu wood coffin was prepared, waiting only for the auspicious hour to lay their daughter to rest.

Mr. An, dressed in mourning clothes, was stooped over. In just a few short days, he seemed to have aged a dozen years. He stood before the coffin, his eyes red, swollen, and shot with blood.

"...All of you, leave us," he said hoarsely, waving a hand at the servants beside him. "I want... to be alone with Yao’er one last time."

"Yes, Master." The servants bowed and withdrew, leaving him alone in the ancestral hall.

He reached out a trembling hand and, with great reverence, pushed open the heavy coffin lid. He wanted to see his daughter’s face one last time, to commit her features to memory.

But—the coffin was completely empty!

’What the hell?!’

"..."

Mr. An’s body suddenly went rigid.

The grief on his face froze in an instant, then morphed into horror. He instinctively rubbed his eyes and peered inside again—but it was still empty!

"Where is she?!" A roar suddenly erupted from Mr. An’s throat!

"Where’s my daughter?!" He lunged at the coffin like a madman, his hands scrabbling wildly inside. "Someone! Get in here, all of you!!"

The servants outside were startled by the furious shout and scrambled inside. The moment they saw their master’s crazed state, they all fell to their knees with a series of THUDS.

"M-Master, spare us! Master, calm yourself!"

"Calm myself?!" Mr. An spun around, his eyes crimson, and pointed at the empty coffin, roaring hysterically. "My daughter’s body is gone!! You useless bunch! What the hell do I feed all of you for?! Huh?!"

The terrified servants kowtowed so rapidly their heads were like garlic being pounded, but they couldn’t even form a complete sentence. They, too, were filled with horror and confusion.

’Who?! Who could be so utterly depraved as to steal a corpse that hasn’t even been buried yet?! What a goddamn monster!’