The male supporting character was actually myself.

Today's battle was short but extremely taxing; he needs a good night's sleep to recover.

The little white cat thoughtfully pulled a blanket over him, trying its best to make its host as comfortable as possible to fall asleep.

That night, it barely rested, and every now and then it would touch its host's forehead with its little paws, afraid that he might get a fever due to infection from the wound.

Fortunately, Jiang Chen's condition remained stable until dawn.

When Duan Chengze and the others woke up from their forced sleep, it was already broad daylight.

The little white cat had already tidied everything up.

"Fortunately, it's just a superficial wound." Duan Chengze, who had just woken up, immediately went to check the wound on his body and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that it was just a shallow cut.

Song Gang, who had been sitting still, got up and looked at the blood on the ground and dripping on Duan Chengze. He said with a suspicious look, "Your blood loss is quite frightening. If I hadn't seen that the wound wasn't very deep, I would have thought you wouldn't make it."

Duan Chengze glared at him upon hearing this.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Song Gang remained silent and walked out of the messy room, looking around for clues.

"Hey, the guy who used to catch dogs is awake now?" Lin Yuan came out of the ladies' room, followed by Liang Rumeng with a long face and Zhi Meng with a pale face.

"Are you alright?" Zhimeng rushed into the messy room, nervously wringing her hands, her eyes carefully examining the two of them.

The commotion last night was terrifying, and she felt ashamed that she didn't have the courage to rush over and help.

Seeing the two people covered in blood and a large pool of blood on the ground, Zhimeng's voice trembled as she spoke, "Who's injured? Whose blood is that? I... I'll go find Granny Martha and get some medicine!"

"No need, no need, it's just a superficial wound." Jiang Chen waved his hand and lifted his clothes to let her see. "The bleeding was a bit heavy, but the injury isn't that serious."

The little white cat perched on his shoulder, holding a small white handkerchief and whimpering, "My dear host, you've suffered so much! You took such a serious injury while protecting the protagonist. You must eat plenty of liver today to replenish your strength!"

"No problem." Lin Yuan also leaned over for a glance, then gave him a thumbs up. "You reacted quickly enough. I'm definitely not an ordinary college student. You didn't graduate from a military academy, did you? A special forces soldier? A top soldier?"

Jiang Chen smiled but didn't reply.

Lin Yuan tossed over the prop he had been playing with, saying, "Your thing doesn't last long enough."

Duan Chengze: ...

I took the prop and glanced at it; it needed to cool down for eight hours before it could be used again.

"Once the item's cooldown is over, we can gather the suspects together and use the item to identify the murderer." He put the Eternal Light into his backpack and breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, this can be over."

Chapter Thirty-Five: When It Gets Dark, Please Close Your Eyes (12)

"We can't put all our hopes on the props." Jiang Chen carefully observed the remaining materials after the fire on the ground and frowned slightly. "The murderer really did cover himself in black oil. There must be some special meaning behind doing that."

Liang Rumeng stood at the door and glanced into the house, her finger resting on the tip of her nose as if she was somewhat disgusted by the mess and dirt everywhere. "Didn't you follow a guy who smeared black oil on himself yesterday?"

If it were him, then it would be perfectly normal.

Should we go check on him?

“Last night I threw a match and burned the murderer, which may have caused some damage to his body.” Lin Yuan glanced at Song Gang with a provocative smile. “The man who catches dogs is not very honest. You were sleeping soundly while we were fighting for our lives.”

Song Gang snorted and crossed his arms, mockingly saying, "Please, we're all adults, stop with this nonsense."

Although I'm not entirely clear on what happened or who started it.

However, according to the rules, the killer will not hunt players as long as they do not make a sound!

In other words, one of you actively broke the rules, either by speaking up or by taking action. If you want to be heroes, why should I also be asked to die?

Isn't the final result still the same?

Fortunately, Kane died in time, allowing us to enter a safe period.

Otherwise, none of you would have been so lucky to escape unscathed, and you might even have implicated me, who didn't break any rules!

"Oh! So you're the victim here, and we have to apologize to you?" Lin Yuan laughed so hard his whole body was shaking. His forced smile looked somewhat sinister. "You make being a coward sound so righteous and self-assured. It's truly an eye-opener for me!"

Song Gang ignored him and went straight out of the house.

Lin Yuan, still sporting a nonchalant smile, raised his chin and asked Jiang Chen, "You sparred with that guy, how did it feel?"

“It felt strange, it had no warmth and no elasticity.” Jiang Chen recalled the brief physical contact and explained, “I grabbed its wrist, but I was injured and couldn’t exert any force for about two or three seconds. If the thing the killer summoned was basically similar to the real body, I am more inclined to believe that he was an elderly man.”

Lin Yuan looked surprised. "You touched his genitals?"

Liang Rumeng immediately glanced at Lin Yuan with a look of disgust;

Dreamweaver blushed instantly;

Duan Chengze also waited curiously for an explanation.

Jiang Chen twitched his lips and gestured according to the position and movements from last night, "When I first covered myself with the blanket and kicked it, it hit my chest right there. I felt it was super flat."

"Hmm, there are plenty of women with flat chests, aren't there?" Lin Yuan said, glancing at the two women present.

Liang Rumeng glared at him fiercely;

With a blush, Zhimeng subconsciously tugged at the neckline of her slightly low-cut dress.

“But none of the women in the village who fit the criteria have flat chests.” Duan Chengze carefully reviewed the suspects and decided, “Let’s split into two groups: one to find Kane’s body; the other to find the old man in the basement!”

Kane was injured in the fight last night, and then jumped out of the window to escape. No one knows where he died.

According to the rules, the murderer should dispose of the body after the player enters the safe time.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for players to find corresponding clues on the corpse to make inferences.

The little white cat was so focused on taking care of its injured host that it couldn't track down the culprit. At this moment, it looked at its host, who was hiding in the corner disinfecting, applying medicine, and bandaging, and wiped away its tears with heartache. "Host, please don't do such dangerous things in the future."

Since the protagonist has a halo and can't die anyway, let him suffer the injuries he's supposed to suffer.

"To take a knife for him, how painful that must have been!"

"Did you know that in this type of story, if the protagonist gets injured, it can trigger a chain reaction, and it might be necessary to sacrifice teammates to break the deadlock?"

Jiang Chen finished bandaging himself and shook his head, saying, "We're trapped in the Demon Dungeon and can't escape. We can only play it safe. Try our best to keep the protagonist out of any danger; maybe that will make the dungeon a little easier."

The little white cat looked resentful.

"Oh, by the way, I went to see those suspects last night." It quickly reported, "Except for the carpenter's grandmother, who kept pacing around in her room, everyone else was sleeping."

I checked under their beds, but I didn't see any strange formations or anything like that.

There was no strange smell in the room.

The carpenter's grandmother paced absently, as if something was troubling her. Aside from the strange symbols under the bed, nothing else was found in her room.

I'm puzzled. Have we been following the wrong clues and going in the wrong direction?

After straightening his clothes, Jiang Chen walked out from a secluded spot and said softly, "Let's look for clues first. Maybe we can find the real culprit when the protagonist's item cooldown time is over."

The old man living in the basement is sick.

She was burning up, her cheeks flushed, curled up on the bed, trembling.

"He's my uncle." The owner of the house was an honest farmer who was called over from the mine where he extracts black oil. He looked helpless and said, "He's over sixty years old, unmarried and naturally has no children."

Two years ago, his dilapidated wooden house was blown down by a strong wind, leaving him nowhere to live, so I let him move in.

But my uncle... well, how should I put it, he's always believed in strange things since he was young. The church doesn't welcome such strange beliefs, so to avoid being discovered, he insisted on living in a dark, damp basement, muttering to himself every day, I don't know what he was thinking.

I usually just provide him with three meals a day.

Other attempts at persuasion were useless, and he was rarely seen.

If you hadn't come looking for me, I wouldn't have known my uncle was sick.

"Please wait here, esteemed inspectors. I need to fetch Granny Martha."

The farmer trotted towards the witch's dwelling. Duan Chengze stepped forward, glanced at her, and shook his head, saying, "She has a high fever. I don't know if it's from an infection or something else."

"Heh, I think it was that fire that caused it." Lin Yuan toyed with a wooden stick he had picked up from the basement, looking around the slightly dirty and messy basement.

There were some strange symbols drawn on the wall, and I had no idea what they meant.

In the corner, among a pile of junk, lay strips of cloth stained with black oil, emitting a pungent odor.

The basement was dark, damp, and poorly ventilated, making it difficult to say whether the old man fell ill in such a harsh environment or for some other reason. However, the fact that he suddenly developed a high fever at this critical juncture inevitably raised suspicions.

"Why did he suddenly get so sick?" Grandma Martha was also startled when she came over. She then instructed, "The patient cannot stay in such a polluted environment. He needs fresh air and clear well water."

Good boy, quickly carry your uncle out.

Then I'll go to the well and fetch some clean, refreshing water; I need to brew some herbal medicine for him.

"Get out of my way!" The old man, his face flushed red from the fever and his whole body delirious, could barely push away his nephew's hand. He managed to squeeze out a roar from his throat, "This is God's test for me. I don't need that soup made from herbs!"

Good child, if you want me to get better quickly, bring me some black oil.

That's the essence of the mountains!

Just one bucket is enough; I'll slowly absorb the essence and get better.

"Go quickly! That's what I need. With the black oil, I can live forever and stay young forever!"

Chapter Thirty-Six: When It Gets Dark, Please Close Your Eyes (13)

“He’s terminally ill.” Granny Martha frowned as she looked at the uncooperative patient and instructed the young man, “Find a way to get him to a more comfortable place; he needs to rest.”

I'll go brew some herbal medicine first; hopefully, he'll get better.

Good boy, whatever you do, keep him away from that black oil. I'm worried he's been tempted by the devil; could it be that he secretly drank that stuff and that's why he suddenly developed a high fever?

In short, don't give him any more chances to touch the black oil.

The witch's face was full of worry, and her eyes looked at Jiang Chen with slight anxiety.

"Please hurry up and catch that demon, or the village will be in chaos!" she said softly, secretly relieved to see that the other person was still wearing the little flower she had given him.

Then Grandma Martha took her gray-blue long dress and went out to prepare the herbal medicine.

Duan Chengze lent a hand and helped the farmer carry the feverish old man out of the basement.

“His condition is very bad; he might not make it through today,” Duan Chengze said to Jiang Chen in a low voice. “He’s currently the prime suspect, but he doesn’t seem to pose much of a threat.”

I wonder if Zhimeng and the others have had a successful search.

Zhimeng, Liang Rumeng, and Song Gang went to search for Kane's body, but they only found some bloodstains and drag marks in the grass at the entrance of the village.

"When I jumped out of the room, the arrow on the prop was pointing to the left." Lin Yuan stood at the spot he had reached the night before and pointed in the direction the prop was pointing.