absurd deduction game.

The night was as dark as ink, staining every brick and stone of Yolikof Town University.

The West Building stands in the northwest corner of the campus. It is an old three-story building with peeling paint on the walls, revealing the dark red bricks underneath. Few people come here on weekdays, and it is even more eerily quiet after nightfall, with only the sound of the wind passing through the dilapidated window frames, making a low, mournful sound.

Two figures quietly appeared at the entrance of the west building.

"Looks like there's no one else here," a tall, thin man said in a low voice, glancing around warily. "Let's try our luck here tonight, hoping to catch that monster."

The young man behind him yawned and rubbed his sleepy eyes: "Brother Zhao, do we really have to come at this time? We came to guard the area around nine o'clock yesterday and didn't see a single ghost. We almost ended up at the bottom of the leaderboard. Luckily, we killed a couple of small monsters on the way here and earned some points, otherwise this mission would have killed us."

The man called Brother Zhao coughed awkwardly twice: "I didn't know this school was so weird. Cang Nong, if you trust me one more time, I won't believe in ghosts anymore! If we still can't find that monster, I'll start to suspect that these three students were killed and framed by the monster."

Cang Nong looked to be in his early twenties, one of the younger ones among the deducers. He had messy black hair and eyes that always seemed to be smiling. He stretched and loosened his limbs: "Alright, alright, what's done is done. But honestly, I don't think it's worth spending all this time in this school."

Brother Zhao nodded, his expression grave: "I know, I know. If we don't find anything today, we won't come back tomorrow." Anyway, there are plenty of strange things in town, one more won't make a difference.

The two pushed open the heavy wooden door of the west building, the creaking sound particularly jarring in the quiet night. A musty, dusty smell wafted out, and Cang Nong couldn't help but sneeze.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, scratching his head sheepishly, "I'm a little allergic to dust."

Brother Zhao shook his head helplessly and lit the lantern in his hand. The dim light flickered in the corridor, reflecting the mottled marks on the walls and the thick layer of dust on the floor.

[Contribution rankings have been updated]

Suddenly, a cold system notification sounded in their minds, and they realized that it was already midnight the next day.

The 49th ranked "Dark Raven" has been eliminated.

Cang Nong clicked his tongue twice: "Another one less. Luckily, I'm not weak. I've already racked up my contribution points."

Brother Zhao's expression was not good. Cang Nong had reached the middle of the rankings, but he was too weak. He could only team up with Cang Nong because of his experience in the first stage. At present, his contribution value was still hovering at the bottom of the rankings. If anyone was anxious, it was definitely him.

The two walked along the corridor, their footsteps echoing in the empty building.

Cang Nong's fingers unconsciously traced a line on the wall, leaving a clear watermark that quickly evaporated and disappeared, carrying the information from the air to him.

The door to the old archives was ajar. Brother Zhao carefully pushed it open, and even more dust rushed out.

Cang Nong waved his hand to disperse the dust in front of him and looked around the room once again.

The old archive room was small, about 20 square meters, with all four walls occupied by tall filing cabinets piled high with yellowed folders and files.

In the center of the room were several worn-out tables and chairs, and some papers were scattered on the floor.

Most striking were the three distinct drag marks on the ground, stretching from the center of the room all the way to the doorway—the last traces of the three unfortunate students. However, both the church and the investigators had practically worn the marks down to a fine layer, yet they still couldn't find the monster's whereabouts.

They weren't there to investigate the crime scene. After confirming that the monster wasn't in the old archives, they both took out the offerings for detection.

"Let's begin the search." Brother Zhao took out a compass, infused it with his mental energy, and the pointer on the compass began to rotate slowly.

Cang Nong looked at the compass for a while and felt that it was unreliable. It must be spinning because it was affected by the blessing of the Goddess of Harvest. So he put his hands together and then slowly opened them.

With the help of a teardrop-sized drop of water, a wisp of moisture spread from his palm, extending to every corner of the room like invisible tendrils.

This is one of the abilities of [Mermaid Tears], "Detection," which allows her to sense the most subtle energy fluctuations through the moisture in the air.

Time passed by, but their search yielded nothing.

“Still the same,” Brother Zhao frowned, looking at the unmoving compass needle. “Even the faintest dark energy should be detectable by my ‘Tracing Compass’.”

Cang Nong withdrew the water vapor, equally puzzled: "I haven't found anything here either. But this school was blessed by the Mother Goddess, and the monster's aura was purified, so I'm even more confused. Where did the monster that killed those three students sneak in from?"

They even inspected the school's water pipes during the day.

Undeterred, the two carefully examined every corner of the room and even looked through some files, but still couldn't find any clues.

"Looks like we've made another wasted trip." Cang Nong slumped into a chair in frustration, kicking up a cloud of dust. "The monster was probably just passing by on the day of the murder and didn't stay in the school for long, which is why there's still no trace of it."

Brother Zhao sighed and put away the compass: "It seems that's really how it is. What a pity, I thought I could earn some contribution points with this mission, I've been following it for two days..."

Cang Nong stood up and patted the dust off his pants: "Let's go, we can't waste time here. This place is full of dust, and my nose is still bothering me."

Brother Zhao nodded helplessly, and the two walked out of the old archives room one after the other.

As soon as they stepped out of the room, the two froze on the spot.

A figure leaned against the doorway, wearing a pure white mask and a wide hood that completely covered his face, but judging from his build, he should be male. He leaned leisurely against the wall, as if he had been waiting there for a long time.

"Good evening, gentlemen." The masked man's voice was deliberately low, with an unnatural hoarseness. "Did you find anything interesting in the old archives? Be a good girl and share the clues."

Cang Nong's expression changed drastically. He subconsciously took a half step back, his fingers trembling slightly. A damp smell immediately filled the air: "A person from the Fallen Line? I can smell your nauseating stench from a distance."

The masked man chuckled and straightened up: "Oh? Looks like I've run into a little dog with a keen sense of smell."

Brother Zhao stood still nervously, his hand tightening around a sacrificial offering: "What are you trying to do? We haven't found any clues."

"No clues?" The masked man tilted his head, his tone mocking. "Then what are you doing in this godforsaken place in the middle of the night? Sightseeing?"

Cang Nong snorted coldly: "What's it to you?"

The masked man suddenly burst into laughter, the sound echoing jarringly in the empty corridor: "Since you refuse to cooperate..." Before he could finish speaking, he had already pounced on the two men like a ghost, a dark dagger appearing in his hand, aimed straight at Brother Zhao's throat.

"Watch out!" Cang Nong shouted, pushing his hands forward with all his might.

The mermaid's tears subtly transformed, and a wall of water instantly materialized in front of Brother Zhao, blocking the fatal blow. However, the masked man's strength was beyond imagination; his short blade easily pierced through the water wall, and although the direction was off, it still carved a deep, bone-revealing wound on Brother Zhao's shoulder.

Brother Zhao cried out in pain and hurriedly retreated, activating the offering in his hand at the same time—an ordinary-looking little bell. The clear sound of the bell rang out, and the masked man's movements visibly froze, as if bound by an invisible force.

"Help!" Brother Zhao shouted to Cang Nong, while pulling out a handful of powder from his pocket and throwing it forward.

Cang Nong clasped his hands together, a bright blue light flashing in his eyes. The moisture in the air instantly condensed, forming a water cage around the masked man.

But the masked man merely chuckled, and with a flick of his short blade, the water cage turned pitch black as if it had been polluted, and then dissipated.

"Is that all you've got?" the masked man sneered, easily breaking through Cang Nong's defenses and approaching the two step by step. "I was originally planning to play with you a little longer, but now I've changed my mind—even without any clues, killing you will still give me a thrill!"

Brother Zhao gritted his teeth and shook the bell again, but this time the masked man seemed to be prepared, and only shook his head slightly before returning to normal.

"It's no use, the same tricks don't work on me." The masked man struck with lightning speed, his short blade aimed straight for Brother Zhao's heart.

Cang Nong hurriedly spun the Mermaid's Tear, shooting a water arrow at the masked man's face, forcing him to defend himself. At the same time, he pulled the injured Brother Zhao back, saying, "Brother Zhao, let's retreat quickly!"

The masked man easily deflected the water arrow, his tone playful and teasing, like a cat toying with a mouse: "Trying to run? Too late."

He pulled a small black statue from his pocket and muttered something. Instantly, the shadows in the corridor seemed to come alive, wrapping around Cang Nong and Brother Zhao like tentacles.

Brother Zhao screamed as he was tightly bound by the shadow tentacles and unable to move. Cang Nong hurriedly used his water blade to cut off several tentacles, but more shadows kept pouring in.

"Cang Nong, save me..." Brother Zhao shouted with difficulty, his face turning purple from lack of oxygen.

Cang Nong gritted his teeth and slammed his hands on the ground, instantly flooding the entire corridor up to ankle-deep.

"Water area!" Cangnong shouted, his voice amplifying the mermaid's tears to some extent. All the water instantly boiled and surged, forming countless water blades that slashed at the shadowy tentacles.

The masked man raised an eyebrow in slight surprise: "Oh? That's interesting."

The black dagger in his hand suddenly extended, transforming into a twisted, shadowy longsword, easily cleaving through Cang Nong's water attack. In a flash, he was before Cang Nong, the longsword aimed straight for his heart: "But that's not enough!"

Cang Nong hastily retreated, but the shadowy longsword seemed capable of corroding everything, turning the surrounding moisture black, and the tip of the sword was about to pierce his chest—

At the critical moment, a thick branch suddenly shot out from the ground, accurately deflecting the direction of the shadowy longsword.

The masked man reacted quickly and immediately retreated, but he was still a step too slow. Another branch pierced through his thigh from an unexpected angle, dragging him along and slamming him hard against the corridor wall.

"Ah!" The masked man screamed, his chest heaving, and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. He struggled to get up, but found that the branch was tightly wrapped around him like a living thing, making him unable to move.

Yu Xing and Carlos strolled leisurely out from around the corner of the corridor.

"I just arrived and I've already witnessed such a good show," Yu Xing said jokingly, but there was no smile in his eyes. His pupils seemed to shimmer with a ghostly blue light in the dim light, and tentacles surged beneath his feet.

He walked slowly to the masked man, extended his pale fingers, and gently lifted the mask.

Beneath the mask was an unfamiliar face, around thirty years old, contorted with pain, but with eyes filled with malice and hatred.

Yu Xing looked at it and realized that she really didn't recognize it.

His branch pierced the man's abdomen, ignoring his cries of pain, and lifted him high, facing Carlos: "Do you know who this man is?"

Carlos looked him over, tilted his head and thought for a moment: "I have a vague impression. It seems to be one of the actors' subordinates, a dog with not much strength, codenamed 'Shadowhound'."

As he spoke, the impression became clearer and clearer. He added with a hint of disdain, "He especially enjoys torturing and killing the weak. He's quite a well-known pervert in the system."

Carlos's gaze fell on the dead Zhao Ge beside him, and he curled his lips into a smile: "Since this kind of person has fallen into our hands, let's just kill him while we're at it."

Despite being severely injured and impaled by branches, the Shadow Dog still maintained its sinister, deathly appearance. Suddenly, it laughed, its gaze fixed on Yu Xing: "Cough cough... As expected of the captain of the Broken Mirror faction, no wonder the vice president took a liking to you, you are indeed very strong..." Its voice suddenly turned sharp and shrill, "Hahaha, but I didn't expect you to be so 'kind,' even willing to do good deeds? Offering help to strangers? Isn't that the kind of stupid thing only a saintly figure on the righteous path would do?"

Cang Nong's face was burning with anger. He selectively ignored Carlos's words and clenched his fists: "Not everyone is as shameless as you degenerates! Killing people for fun at will, you are not worthy of being human!"

Yu Xing merely glanced at the Shadow Dog indifferently, her tone chillingly calm: "I just saw some trash blocking the way, so I cleaned it up. Does killing you count as an act of heroism?"

As the sarcastic yet sincere words fell, the branch piercing the shadow dog suddenly began to writhe, greedily sucking its blood.

The shadow hound's eyes widened suddenly, its body shriveled up at a visible speed, and a hint of fear finally flashed in its eyes.

Just as he was about to be drained dry, a complex ink symbol suddenly lit up on his forehead, emitting a strong spatial fluctuation. The next moment, he let out a scream, and his body suddenly disappeared from the branches, leaving only a palm-sized pottery doll that fell to the ground with a "thud".

The clay figurine was strangely shaped, resembling a weeping actor with a pained and distorted expression on its face.

Yu Xing squinted, and gently rolled the twig up the pottery figurine, presenting it to him.

“The aura of an entertainer…” he murmured to himself, his tone devoid of emotion, “He still likes to ‘plant’ things in his subordinates.”

Carlos walked over, took the clay figurine, and examined it closely: "What is this thing? Is it some kind of merchandise worn by actors?"

Yu Xing: "...I don't know, but see if you can use this to cause him some trouble." (End of Chapter)