Super God: If I punch you, you will die

Maria was questioned by her aunt and other relatives, but no matter what she said, the adults just wouldn't believe her, which made her very upset. She wouldn't even talk to us.

Ushiromiya and his group were greatly excited by the news of the gold and discussed how to divide the property, completely forgetting that these juniors were still present.

Although Lin Yan knew that they mostly talked about these things behind his back, the other juniors really didn't expect them to be so explicit, which greatly shocked Ushinomiya Zhu Zhixiang and the others.

His ugly appearance was so grotesque that even the younger generation present couldn't bear to look at him.

“I see. Now I understand why Grandpa wouldn’t even show his face during mealtimes. My parents have really disillusioned me. All they talk about is money and inheritance. How can they be so shameless in dividing up the spoils like this?”

"I've already completely lost faith in my dad, there's no point in deducting points from him anymore."

"I'm the same way. But I really couldn't bear to watch what happened tonight, I just couldn't bear to watch it from the bottom of my heart,"

Princess Ushiro lowered her head resentfully. It seemed that although she usually pretended to be bad and disliked her parents, she didn't actually hate them sincerely. This was evident from the fact that Princess Ushiro was so deeply hurt.

“You are all minors and are raised by your parents, so most of you don’t know that making money is not as simple or clean as it seems. I don’t expect you minors to understand this, but your parents are working hard, and I hope you can at least acknowledge that.”

"I can't stand it, Zhi is really mature."

“You’ve already entered the workforce, but when it comes to money and property, do you think you can become a greedy vulture like my dad?”

“If it only involves myself, of course I don’t want it to be like this. But when I have to take on the responsibility of supporting my family, company employees, subordinates and their families, sometimes I have to stand up and fight.”

“I don’t want to fight this kind of war. When I hear them talking about how they’re going to divide Grandpa’s property, I just feel like throwing up.”

Princess Ushiro made a rough gesture imitating spitting, and her resentful expression revealed her deep sadness.

"Let's stop talking about this. You keep bringing up things like the gold that Grandpa hid, and all you talk about is property and inheritance. These are Dad's problems, not ours."

“I feel the same way. I think it’s our responsibility as the younger generation to at least be smart and not interrupt their discussion.”

"I always feel it's very boring,"

Ushiromiya Joji is already a mature adult, and Lin Yan doesn't care, but Ushiromiya Zhu Zhixiang seems to be different.

The blow she suffered was far deeper than she had imagined. It seemed that although the girl deliberately pretended to speak in a rude manner, she was no different from before at heart.

She remains the same as ever, a pure and sensitive girl who doesn't doubt others. I believe she also has the respect she deserves for her parents.

However, seeing her parents openly arguing about money and inheritance in front of their younger siblings must have been a huge blow to Miyako Ushiromiya.

"Zhu Zhixiang, please don't hate your parents. I won't ask you to be understanding of them, but at least don't hate them."

"I know that. Let me be alone for a while."

If it were Lin Yan, who hadn't experienced a mysterious journey to another world, he would probably continue to complain about Zhu Zhixiang's depression. But I've made so much progress through my travels to other worlds, and I know it's best to let her calm down now. Reasoning with her at this time is absolutely pointless.

Ushiromiya Akiko turned her face away and walked out of the living room, probably meaning that we should leave her alone. I could only silently watch her usually listless figure leave.

"By the way, where did Maria go?"

"They're probably still arguing in front of the portrait."

Maria aspires to be a witch, so for her, being able to contact Beatrice and obtain a letter from her that can serve as evidence is definitely something that she hopes will surprise and delight everyone.

However, the adults doubted the truth of the matter, refused to accept Maria's explanation, and interrogated her thoroughly.

Whether it was Maria or Zhu Zhixiang, no one dared to talk to them. In the end, Lin Yan could only stay with Rang Zhi in the dark night amidst the incessant sound of rain.

"I wonder how strong this typhoon is. Let's see if it's on the TV news."

Ushiromiya Joji walked towards the television set in the corner of the living room. He didn't ask Lin Yan to come with him, and Lin Yan didn't care where the typhoon was at all, so he didn't watch TV either, and stayed by the window in a daze.

"The wind doesn't look very strong, but the waves at sea could be huge. The weather forecast says a storm warning has been issued."

"It's Sister Kirie. It's been so long since they last met. Did they have a good chat?" Lin Yan's tone was quite sarcastic. Sister Kirie shrugged.

"This kind of stomach-churning topic will probably go on until dawn. I hate it just thinking about it."

"Forget it, let them fight over Grandpa's property. Let them have their fun being vultures. This feels terrible."

“I feel the same way. If I could leave like you, I would love to do the same, but I can’t, not even if I don’t have a say. You know, being a partner is hard work too.”

Ushiromiya Kirie sighed with a wry smile. That's true; Kirie, having married into the family, mostly has no say in the household.

However, she still had to play the role of a partner and support Rufus Ushiromiya.

"How's their conversation going? Are they still talking about the mysterious witch Beatrice?"

"I suppose so. The four siblings have been secretly negotiating and trying to decide how to distribute their father-in-law's estate for years. But then a fifth person of unknown origin appeared and tried to complicate things. Of course, they couldn't stay calm. They started hurling insults at each other, and soon after, they wanted to join forces. Even if it wasn't Sister-in-law Xia Fei, it would still give them a headache."

From the perspective that each person wants a larger share than their siblings, they are in a competitive relationship; but from the perspective that they don't want anyone other than their siblings to take a dollar, they are on the same side.

Although Ushiromiya Kirie refused to tell Lin Yan the details, Lin Yan could already tell that they were tirelessly trying to come up with a ceasefire agreement, rules to prevent anyone from sneaking away, how to protect their share in various situations, and how to take legal action in the worst-case scenario, etc.

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Lin Yan, watching this farce from the perspective of a "spectator," was somewhat sarcastic. The fact that they had gone this far made it more than just unbearable to watch; one could even admire their ruthlessness.

"So, could it be that Beate Lizzie is actually a henchman sent by Grandpa? He probably wants to teach these children who are trying to hide the distribution of his inheritance from him a lesson."

"I really don't know who this Beatrice is. If what she said is true, and she even knows where the father-in-law hides the gold, and even entrusted the head of the family's ring to her for safekeeping, the father-in-law must trust her very much."

"No matter what, I don't think she'd be a witch riding a broom, but she must be a very strange person, so strange that calling her a witch wouldn't be an exaggeration."

“If only Truth Akane could tell us about this in detail, but everyone was so agitated with such a young child that they frightened her. We couldn’t get any information out of her. Have they never even heard the story of ‘The North Wind and the Sun’?”

"One thing is certain: Maria obtained this letter from someone who called herself Beatrice. She could have just shown up and told everyone herself, but instead she had someone deliver the letter and continued to hide. This weirdo is quite introverted, hahahahaha,"

"Lin Yan, let me ask you, do you think this person named Beatrice really exists?"

"Who knows? I guess it's just an alias after all. For example, her father-in-law might have allowed her to act as his agent, impersonating the witch he imagined."

"No, that's not what I'm asking. There are eighteen people on Rokkenjima right now. Do you think there's a nineteenth person?"

Lin Yan understood immediately; there were indeed eighteen people on this island. A quick calculation confirmed it.

"What do you mean by asking if there is a nineteenth person?"

"It means exactly what it says. It seems that the person who lent the umbrella to Maria is not one of our eighteen. So the more reasonable deduction is that there must be a nineteenth person on the island, and that's the person who lent the umbrella to Maria, right?"

"That's true."

"So where is this person now? At least for the moment when it started raining, we can be sure that this person is on the island. Then the weather got worse and worse, and under these circumstances, the ship can't go out to sea at all. So this person is still on the island and needs to find a place to take shelter from the rain, and can't be seen by any of us."

“Indeed, we wandered around the main house and the guesthouse, but none of us encountered the nineteenth person. However, this island is so big, there might be other places to take shelter from the rain besides the main house and the guesthouse.” Lin Yan vaguely sensed that Ushiromiya Kirie’s words were implied.

Kirie Ushiromiya denies the possibility of a nineteenth person. She believes that Beatrice is among the eighteen, meaning that she thinks a person we all know is using that name.

“If what Beate Lizzie said is true, then this person is undoubtedly the most honored guest, the most trusted confidante of the father-in-law. The father-in-law would not fail to treat such a person well, and would not fail to invite her into the main house. But none of us have seen such a person.”

"Wait a minute, isn't this reasoning jumping too fast? This character certainly hasn't been seen by any of us, but we can't just deny the existence of the nineteenth person like that, can we? Maybe she has her reasons for secretly logging in and hiding all the time. That's the so-called proposition of proving whether the demon exists or not. Proving her existence is simple; all it takes is for this guy named Beatrice to show up in front of us and say hello. But proving that the nineteenth person doesn't exist is simply impossible."

"Hmm, your reasoning is quite good. As things stand, we don't have enough information to confirm or deny the existence of the nineteenth person. However, if we turn the chessboard over, we can almost certainly conclude that there is no nineteenth person."

"Flip the chessboard over" is Ushiromiya Kirie's catchphrase. Sure enough, one is influenced by one's surroundings, and even Lin Yan has been led astray.

When you're stuck in a game of chess or shogi and don't know where to go next, just turn the board around and look at the whole board from your opponent's perspective. You'll often find a way to survive.

The extended meaning is to think from the perspective of the enemy.

“Listen carefully, let’s assume that Beatrice is the nineteenth person who actually exists. This person secretly ran ashore and hid without letting anyone know. There must be a reason for doing this, right? So why would she specifically show herself and deliver the letter to Maria?”

This is indeed a contradiction.

She should have had a reason for hiding from people, yet she openly appeared in front of Maria.

"Didn't Maria also say that Beatrice sent her as a messenger? It's probably because Maria is the youngest and most obedient, right?"

"Do we need to find someone to act as a messenger? If we want to deliver the letter to the family meeting, we can just send a copy to each of our four siblings, and we won't have to worry about it being kept from us. There's absolutely no reason to secretly hand the letter over to someone else."

"Indeed, it's quite strange."

"Furthermore, if Beatrice truly existed and wanted to emphasize her existence to everyone, she could simply appear openly before us. But instead, she doesn't appear. Instead, she's described through a child like Maria, as if she were only a vague outline. How ambiguous and contradictory is that? Think about it carefully. This person appears before Maria, giving us the impression that a nineteenth person exists, yet she's been hiding until this very moment, not showing herself to us. Think about the contradiction between these two things, remember these contradictions, and then turn the chessboard over to look at it again. In other words, think about what this character's purpose is in wanting us to believe that Beatrice, this nineteenth person, exists."

"If this character wants to hide, there's no reason for them to emphasize their existence. If they want to show themselves, there's no reason for them to use such a roundabout method as delivering a letter. What does that mean?"

"Simply put, it means that Beatrice is actually among the eighteen of us, which is why she created the illusion of a nineteenth person. By blatantly emphasizing the existence of the nineteenth person, the one who benefits is not the nineteenth person who is hiding, but the eighteen who already exist. Of course, my reasoning is full of loopholes and the basis is very weak. It will be immediately disproven if any of the premises are overturned. But I think it is almost certainly correct."

"The whole thing has suddenly become very unsettling. Who took the umbrella and the letter to Maria? The results of our previous inquiries were that none of the eighteen people were that person. But now we've deduced that Beatrice is one of the eighteen of us. What is this person's intention in concealing their true identity and impersonating Beatrice?" Akiko Ushiromiya continued, feeling like her head was about to explode, but she couldn't figure out what was going on. The only possibility was that the person was hiding among them.

That's right, there is definitely no nineteenth person.

However, Lin Yan was fully aware of this: there must be a nineteenth person, and that person was the witch.

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“I also suspected that Maria orchestrated it herself, but the content of the article is very sophisticated, and it is hard to imagine that Maria would have prepared it on her own. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that Maria conspired with others.”

"Maria is only nine years old! Who do you think she would conspire with to do something? And she's such a serious and honest person!"

“Yes, I know Maria’s personality very well, but that’s precisely why I think it’s more likely. Maria is a dreamy girl who longs for witches and blindly believes in their existence. If this person who calls himself Beatrice told her that he was a witch, she would probably happily believe him completely.”

"You mean that as long as I wear the elaborate dress like the one in that portrait, it wouldn't be difficult to fool Maria?"

"Following this line of reasoning, all of us women are suspects. In short, to solve this mystery, the best and closest key to us should be to find out who Maria met. However, this key is locked deep inside the girl's heart. Everyone immediately denies the existence of the witch and questions her about who this person is. I think Maria won't open her heart to the adults anytime soon."

In front of the portrait.

In the dimly lit hall, Maria sobbed uncontrollably in front of Beatrice's portrait.

"Waaah... Nobody... believes Maria met Beatrice. Waaah... They even brought out the letter Beatrice gave them, but nobody believes it. Waaah..."

living room.

Ushiromiya Kirie continued speaking.

"In short, the key is in Maria's hands. With this key, we can find out whether Beatrice is one of the eighteen of us or the nineteenth."

“Maria is very stubborn. Once she gets upset, she doesn’t recover easily.”

"Lin Yan, you're still a child. You should have a better chance of cheering her up than I am, an adult. Once she's in a better mood, go and ask her. Although I'm not interested in topics like inheritance distribution, don't you find this kind of classic mansion mystery drama exciting? Who exactly is the person who gave the letter to Maria? My curiosity is itching to find out."

"Being called in to discuss something as annoying as splitting the money, and you still feel excited? You're too tough. The adults are truly amazing."

Lin Yan shrugged helplessly.

"So you little devils have come here? Kirie, you've been touching up your makeup for way too long. From next time, I'll have to touch up my makeup too."

"Sorry, it just takes a lot of time for women to put on makeup. But have you brothers and sisters been enjoying your family time?"

"I'm sure you had a very pleasant chat."

Ushiromiya Kirie immediately nudged Lin Yan's armpit with her elbow.

"I said I needed to calm down, so I'm pausing for now. This will probably take until dawn, and just thinking about it makes me want to cry."

As usual, Ushiromiya Ryufu was still unable to say anything nice, but he could no longer hide his exhaustion. Lin Yan did not intend to pity him, but compared to his usual energetic appearance, he did look much more haggard now.

"But this rain is really excessive; it's so heavy I don't even want to go back to the guesthouse. I heard that Sister-in-law Xia Fei has prepared a guest room for us to stay overnight in the main house. What are you planning to do?"

"We can think about this after the meeting, right? If you're too tired to go back to your room by then, just stay here for the night."

"We'll think about it when the time comes. Lin Yan, what are your plans?"

“I’ll only be a hindrance to you if I stay here. I’ll be smart and obediently go back to the guesthouse.”

"Is that so? Are you going back right away?"

"I haven't decided yet. It would be too lonely to go back alone. I'll wait until all the younger generation is here before I go back."

"That's right, that's good. Lin Yan, I don't think you'll be able to fall asleep so easily tonight, will you?"

"I'll probably chat with them, it looks like it'll go on until dawn. What's wrong with that?"

"If we adults have finished our meeting and you're still awake, there are some things I'd like to say while the whole family is here."

"What are you doing? This is so unlike you."

Ushiromiya Kirie seemed to have noticed this situation as well, and whispered to Ushiromiya Ryufov what was going on. It seemed that Ushiromiya Kirie also couldn't guess what Ushiromiya Ryufov wanted to say.

"I hope Kirie can hear these words too. I'll say them later. Please don't ask me now. I'm begging you."

"Don't look scared. You're the one who's afraid of me, okay? After all..." Ryufu Ushiromiya suddenly paused, seemingly wanting to whet everyone's appetite, which was his usual style.

"Dad, you're making me very uncomfortable. Aren't we all here now? Stop keeping me in suspense and just tell me."

"I'll probably be killed tonight."

A loud clap of thunder sounded, seemingly striking quite nearby. The lightning illuminated Ushiromiya Ryūfū's face, leaving it deathly pale, an image etched deeply into everyone's mind.

Ushiromiya, usually so confident and with an air of arrogance, now looked utterly timid. He was so haggard that one might mistake him for someone who looked remarkably like Ushiromiya Ryūfū.

"What nonsense are you talking about? This isn't like you." Lin Yan replaced Ushiromiya Zhanren. If it were Ushiromiya Zhanren, he certainly wouldn't know what was about to happen.