The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 224 Clash! Liu Shuyi: You made three major mistakes in this case!
"What!?"

"The murderer is Guan Feng!?"

"This...how is this possible!?"

Liu Shuyi's words were like an invisible stick, striking everyone's brains hard, leaving them with a buzzing sound, a blank mind, and an inability to think calmly.

"Aren't the shopkeeper and his group the murderers?"

"Yes! Isn't this inn a den of thieves? Wasn't it the innkeeper and his men who killed them? How did Guan Feng and his group become the murderers?"

"How could this be?"

Everyone looked bewildered, their eyes filled with disbelief.

After all, they found the secret room, discovered the missing corpses inside, and even found the secret passage. They saw so many victims' belongings and heads there... All of this clearly told them about the innkeeper and his gang's unspeakable evil deeds and the truth behind what happened at the inn tonight.

But then, the next moment, Qin, the county magistrate, told them that the murderer had nothing to do with the shopkeeper and the others. On the contrary, it was the county magistrate Guan Feng, who had been investigating the case and searching for the murderer, who was the real culprit... How could they accept this?

This is tantamount to directly shattering their understanding and causing their worldview to collapse!
Not only them, but also Cheng Chumo and others who had been following Liu Shuyi showed obvious surprise on their faces.

However, because they were on guard against Guan Feng and his group, they were not too surprised by Guan Feng's bad deeds. They just did not expect that the murderer was Guan Feng!

Is this a case of the thief crying "stop thief!"?

Changsun Chong squinted and muttered, "I didn't realize he was the murderer at all. I thought he was investigating so diligently because he really had the same goal as us, wanting to find the murderer so we could leave here as soon as possible. But I never expected... he was crying wolf the whole time. His disguise was truly flawless!"

Du Gou and the others nodded in agreement. Although they knew that Guan Feng and the others might not be good people, they did not expect that the murderer they had been looking for was actually Guan Feng!
"Oh? County Commandant Qin already knows?"

At this moment, Guan Feng's voice came from behind the stone door. Because the stone door was thick, it obstructed the sound, making the sound low and muffled. Everyone had to hold their breath and concentrate to hear Guan Feng's words clearly.

"I thought County Lieutenant Qin would be very surprised, even disbelieving... I was even hoping to hear the wise County Lieutenant Qin's frustrated voice, but now it seems that my wish will not be fulfilled."

Liu Shuyi calmly said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you. Do I need to apologize to you?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Guan Feng's hearty laughter rang out: "County Commandant Qin truly lives up to my expectations. Even now, he remains so calm and composed! To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that this operation cannot afford any unexpected incidents, I would really like to spare your life, and I would even like to invite you to join us."

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered slightly as he recalled what Guan Feng had told him before. He said, "Is this the opportunity you've mentioned to me many times before, the so-called chance to change my fate?"

"County Commandant Qin is indeed astute."

Guan Feng's tone became increasingly emotional: "I thought my words were just polite platitudes to County Commandant Qin, but I didn't expect him to remember them so keenly."

Liu Shuyi said, "After all, this is the first time someone has told me that I can escape the quagmire... I just didn't expect that the person who gave me hope would want me to die the next moment."

Guan Feng sighed and said, "Don't blame me. Blame your bad luck that you had to meet me at this time and in this place... If you had met me anywhere else, I would have definitely invited you and given you a chance to change your future!"

Hearing Guan Feng's deeply sorrowful tone, Changsun Chong and the others couldn't help but look at him strangely. They hadn't expected that Guan Feng would actually develop a fondness for Liu Langzhong's talent.

Guan Feng can disguise himself... and their Liu Langzhong is no less impressive!

Moreover, Guan Feng was the murderer and had to be on guard against Liu Shuyi, who was searching for him. The difference between the official and the thief made him harbor great hostility towards Liu Shuyi. In the end, however, he was still impressed by Liu Shuyi and had the idea of ​​recruiting him... Doctor Liu is truly a gem, and his brilliance cannot be hidden.

Liu Shuyi stared intently at the stone gate before him, as if his gaze pierced through it and reached Guan Feng, who was shaking his head and sighing behind it. He said, "If I were to say now that I am willing to accept your offer and seize this opportunity to change my fate and join you, would you open the gate and let me live?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

"How could you do this?"

"You are an official, how can you be so cowardly as to change your stance?"

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words of submission, the caravan members glared angrily at him.

"Shut up!"

Cheng Chumo and Lu Yangyuan instantly drew their swords, pointing them directly at them. Cheng Chumo said coldly, "Anyone who dares to utter another word will be sent on their way! I want to see who's in such a hurry to go!"

These words immediately turned the caravan members pale, made them tremble, and made them curse inwardly, but dared not utter another word.

As they fell silent, Guan Feng's voice slowly drifted in from outside: "Hearing your words, I'm quite tempted, but... I don't dare!"

"Don't dare?" The caravan members were taken aback.

He's already surrendered, what is there for him not to do?

Then they heard Guan Feng say, "After all, you are so intelligent, and you have shown a calm and kind attitude during the investigation... To be honest, I find it hard to believe that someone like you would kneel down and beg for mercy out of fear of death!"

"Therefore, I am really afraid... that you are deliberately feigning weakness to trick me into opening the stone door, and then taking the opportunity to fight us to the death."

“My plan was too rushed, I didn’t bring enough people, and the torrential rain means my people won’t be able to get here anytime soon… Under these circumstances, I simply cannot bear the consequences of fighting your people to the death.”

"Therefore, I have no choice but to refuse with a heavy heart... If you still want to rely on me in the next life, I promise I will give you a chance."

Hearing Guan Feng's words, the caravan members stared blankly at Qin County Commandant, who stood upright like a pine tree, his back never bending in the slightest and his expression unchanged.

"Is what he said true?"

"You...aren't cowards, but rather looking for an opportunity?"

Liu Shuyi ignored them and said to Guan Feng, "If you want to kill me in this life, how magnanimous must I be to rely on you in the next?"

"Hahaha!"

Guan Feng laughed again, saying confidently, "If you knew our goal, I believe someone as capable as you would definitely be willing to travel with me."

"Target?" Liu Shuyi said, "I'm curious, what is your target?"

"Although you are all doomed to die, I still prefer to tell you my secret after you are dead... So I will trouble you, Brother Qin, to wait a little longer. Without water and food, you will be almost dead in ten days at most. At that time, I will personally bury you and tell you everything at your grave."

"County Commandant Guan is indeed quite cautious!"

"If he hadn't been cautious enough, Guan might have died dozens of times over."

Guan Feng didn't reveal much about his secret to Liu Shuyi. Instead, he changed the subject, saying, "After I closed the stone door, Brother Qin immediately accused me of being the murderer. This shows that Brother Qin must have some suspicions about me... I wonder where I went wrong that made Brother Qin suspect me?"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Liu Shuyi. Although their current situation made them extremely flustered, their curiosity overcame their panic.

Liu Shuyi laughed and said, "Brother Guan, are you trying to gain experience so that you won't do the same thing again and get caught?"

Guan Feng did not hide anything: "My time is precious, but gaining experience and dealing with potential future crises are equally important... I would be very grateful if Brother Qin could make up for my shortcomings before he dies. Moreover, I will not let Brother Qin's words go to waste. I promise to come to this godforsaken place to burn paper money for Brother Qin during festivals in the future. Brother Qin does not need to worry about being short of money after he dies."

He laughed and said, "As long as I don't die, I will keep going. So Brother Qin, please don't hold back. In order to have more money to spend after we go down, you have to help me live longer."

Liu Shuyi almost laughed out of anger. When he was being hypocritical with Guan Feng, how come he didn't notice how shameless Guan Feng was?

He schemed against me, wanted to kill me, and then expected me to make up for his shortcomings... How thick-skinned must a person be to say such a thing?

"Ignore him! This guy is shameless! Helping him make up for his shortcomings? He's dreaming!" Cheng Chumo, with his fiery temper, spat and yelled when he heard Guan Feng's shameless words.

Lu Yangyuan nodded in strong agreement. But Guan Feng, behind the stone gate, laughed and said, "Aren't you curious? Don't you want to know these things before you die?"

"I—" Cheng Chumo opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment. He was indeed very curious, but he couldn't lose face before closing the cover. He sneered, "That's none of your business! Besides, even if we wanted to know, we could just whisper it so you wouldn't hear us, and that would make you furious!"

Hearing these childish words, Guan Feng shook his head and said, "Emotions are the most useless thing for people. What good are these things you say, other than making yourself feel better?"

"My peace of mind is more important than anything else!" Cheng Chumo retorted without backing down.

Guan Feng stopped arguing with Cheng Chumo and said to Liu Shuyi, "Brother Qin, don't you want to know why I killed Cao Rui and the others, and why I killed you all? If you tell me why you suspect me, I can tell you those things too."

Seeing that Guan Feng finally said something that was at least a fair exchange, Liu Shuyi said, "Didn't you say you didn't want to tell secrets to the living?"

“I do have this habit, but Brother Qin is a special case, and I am willing to make an exception for him.”

"That sounds nice, but they're only willing to make the exchange because they know we're not stupid," Cheng Chumo said, scoffing.

"All right!"

Liu Shuyi said, "I really want to know why Brother Guan and the others did all this..."

Guan Feng smiled: "Brother Qin is indeed very persistent in seeking the truth. Then please enlighten me, Brother Qin."

Cheng Chumo wanted to say why he didn't speak first, but after being glanced at by Liu Shuyi, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and muttered in a low voice, "I was just afraid he wouldn't keep his promise."

Liu Shuyi naturally understood Cheng Chumo's concerns, and he said softly, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

After saying that, he looked back at the stone gate and said, "There are three main reasons why I would doubt you, or rather, why I would ultimately focus my attention on you."

"Three aspects? So many?" Guan Feng frowned.

Liu Shuyi said, "The first aspect is the screams and exclamations that drew everyone's attention to this case."

Screams and gasps?
Everyone immediately recalled the memory of being awakened from their sleep by that shrill sound.

Liu Shuyi said, "The screams occurred twice. The first time woke me up from my sleep, and the second time allowed me to determine that the sound was coming from Cao Rui's room..."

"I think I'm not the only one who's had this experience; others probably have too."

Deng Hui and the other guests nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Liu Shuyi's words.

Liu Shuyi continued, "It was late at night, and everyone was exhausted from their journey, so they were all sleeping soundly. Therefore, without the first scream and shout, it would have been difficult to know that an accident had occurred, and without the second scream, it would have been impossible to pinpoint exactly where the accident had happened..."

"Therefore, these two screams are the necessary sounds to open this grand show."

"But……"

He then changed the subject, saying, "Don't forget, when we found Cao Rui, he was unconscious, and even when he woke up later, he was unable to make a sound."

"As for the others, they were already corpses by then, hidden in a secret room."

"How could they possibly make those two piercing sounds that woke us all up under these circumstances?"

The guests were stunned for a moment...

"Yup!"

"They're either dead or unconscious; they couldn't possibly make a sound!"

"How come I didn't think of these things?"

Changsun Chong's heart skipped a beat, and he said to Liu Shuyi, "You mean... those screams and cries of alarm were made by the murderer?"

Liu Shuyi didn't keep them in suspense and nodded directly: "That's right! Based on the clues we have, it can only have been made by the murderer. After making all the preparations, the murderer made the shout, officially opening this grand show!"

"In order for us to pinpoint the exact location of the accident, the murderer had to scream in Cao Rui's room... and after he screamed, the others quickly left their room and headed towards Cao Rui's room..."

"In other words, the time left for the murderer is very short. In fact, someone with a quick reaction might open the door to check the situation the moment the scream is heard..."

"In this situation, the murderer might not even have a chance to return to his room!"

"The murderer could not have designed such a method of killing without considering this situation... Therefore, the murderer must have been confident that even if others came out and saw him, they would not doubt him."

"Then may I ask..."

Liu Shuyi looked around at everyone and asked, "Under what circumstances would you hear screams, come out of your room, and see someone standing outside Cao Rui's room without suspecting him as the murderer?"

"This..." Everyone frowned in thought.

Changsun Chong understood Liu Shuyi's meaning and said, "The murderer should act as if he heard the screams as well as the others and came out to investigate out of curiosity... This way, the others will think that he is the same as them and will not think too much about it."

"Yes, yes, that's it!" Everyone nodded quickly.

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly: "That's right. Only by making others think that we are one of them can we avoid suspicion... So, given such a short time, which floor's resident can arrive at Cao Rui's room first without arousing suspicion?"

Zhao Feng suddenly realized, "The third floor! Only someone who lives on the same floor as Cao Rui can arrive immediately without arousing suspicion. If it's someone from the second floor, they will definitely be suspected!"

Cheng Chumo finally understood: "So that's how it is! So the murderer must live on the third floor... Guan Feng and the others live on the third floor!"

Du Gou then said, "When I questioned the guests on the third floor, they said that after hearing the second scream, they heard the door of the next room being opened quickly, and then many people rushed out... They curiously opened the door to look and found that those people were Guan Feng and others."

Changsun Chong stroked his chin: "Is that so... It seems Guan Feng and his ilk are quite cunning. To make their appearance at Cao Rui's door more believable, they not only left someone in Cao Rui's room screaming, but also had others on standby. As soon as the second scream rang out, they would immediately rush out of the room, pretending to investigate..."

"Because they have been preparing, no one can get out faster than them. In this way, when others open the door, even if they see that the person standing at the door is not with the others, they will only assume that he was faster, and will not think that this person actually came out of Cao Rui's room!"

No one expected that such a simple matter as the order in which the doors were opened would involve so much scheming and manipulation.

If it weren't for Liu Shuyi and others explaining, they would never have thought of these things.

Liu Shuyi said, "I haven't had time to ask about the results of the interrogation yet. If I knew these things, I might be even more suspicious of you... But it doesn't matter if I don't get these results. I've already determined that the murderer is definitely the resident on the third floor. So, Brother Guan, you are already on my suspect list."

Guan Feng, standing outside the stone gate, frowned as he listened to Liu Shuyi and the others' words.

He didn't care about Changsun Chong's analysis. After all, this was a result-oriented deduction after his identity had been exposed, so they could easily guess his plan.

What he cared about was that Qin Yu had determined the range of them based on the shouts.

Moreover, even though Qin Yu suspected him, he never showed any doubt about him during their interactions. In fact, when questioning the three people who had been in contact with Xiao Er, he deliberately omitted his subordinates, showing his trust in him. This made him think that he was hiding his true intentions perfectly and had Qin Yu completely fooled.

Only now did he realize that the one who had perfectly concealed his true intentions was Qin Yu, while he himself had been completely deceived!

“The shouts… I really ignored them; I didn’t think they would put me at risk of exposure…”

Guan Feng said, "Thank you, Brother Qin. In the future, when I try to attract attention, I will think carefully about whether this method will make others narrow down my scope."

"He even thanked me! How shameless!" Cheng Chumo spat.

Liu Shuyi didn't seem to mind. He smiled and said, "Next is the second aspect."

(End of this chapter)