Super God: If I punch you, you will die

"Ugh."

“Someone handed you a letter in the Rose Garden yesterday. Who was this person?”

"Even if you say it's Beatrice, Lin Yan still doesn't believe you." Maria simply repeated what she had said before. Maria had seen the nineteenth person, had seen the witch. Was there really such a nineteenth person, or was it that one of the eighteen of us had instilled this idea in her?

The only thing we can be sure of is that Maria has been with us the whole time, has an alibi, and hasn't done anything suspicious. She was simply assigned as a messenger by Beatrice, and she firmly believes in the existence of witches; she's definitely not the nineteenth person, probably.

The letter found in Huiyu's room, I don't know what was written in it.

This letter should still be with Consort Xia of the Right Palace.

October 5th, 20:00

Sun. October 5, 1986

The servants' room.

Jia Yin ultimately failed to regain consciousness.

The treatment that Nanjo and his colleagues were desperately trying to provide was ineffective.

On this island, which lacks medicine and medical equipment, there was no way to provide any decent treatment. But Jiayin was the only one who had confronted the murderer. If only we could at least get some clues out of her, but by the time Jiayin was carried here, it was already too late.

"I'm so sorry, he was too badly injured and there was nothing we could do without the equipment."

"No, it's nobody's fault. Thank you so much for your hard work."

Nanjo's shirt was splattered with blood, a testament to his desperate efforts to treat the patient until his very last moment. In the hallway, you could see Zhu Zhixiang crouching, quietly weeping.

Perhaps she watched Jia Yin die with her own eyes.

We tried to comfort her, but Zhu Zhixiang wouldn't listen, so we stopped bothering her and let her have some peace and quiet.

"I wish I hadn't let Jiayin go alone."

Kumazawa was very annoyed, and Genji tried to persuade him from the perspective of being a servant himself.

"You don't need to blame yourself. If you had gone with him, you might have been killed too. And it was his reckless courage that led to his own downfall."

"How can you say that? Jiayin found the murderer and bravely stepped forward. If Xiong Zepo had been there too, the murderer might have hesitated and chosen to run away."

Zhu Zhixiang was usually very considerate of others; it was hard to imagine her saying something so emotional. Xiong Ze was filled with shame and could only lower his head in silence.

"Zhu Zhixiang".

"We shouldn't talk to her now. Me, and Lin Yan, you must feel the same way as her, right? Our hearts are about to break, and we can't even tell what's going on anymore."

Rang Zhi's eyes welled up with tears again, probably because he saw Zhu Zhixiang crying so hard that she broke down emotionally, and the grief of losing her parents surged into his heart once more.

"Don't worry, Zhu Zhixiang, you'll see Jiayin soon."

"Stop talking. I don't need your comfort."

"Whether it's bringing the dead back to life or reviving lost love, it won't be difficult for Beatrice, so you'll definitely see Jiayin soon, and then we can all live peacefully together."

"The person who killed Jia Yin, is that the Beaterich you said gave you the letter yesterday? Where is she? Where is she hiding? Watch me find her and tear her to pieces. Tell me. You must know who the murderer is. You must know something, and you're keeping it from everyone. Tell me."

"Young Miss, please don't do this."

“Beatrice exists. She really ‘exists’.”

"Damn it, Genji-haku, let me go. Maria knows who the murderer is. And she deliberately hid it. She must be the one inside us, telling the murderer about our situation so that the murderer could commit the crime."

"Zhu Zhixiang, be quiet."

Ignoring Ushiromiya Natsuhime's attempts to stop her, Zhu Zhixiang reached out to grab Maria. Genji tried to stop her, but Zhu Zhixiang persisted. Then, the sound of Ushiromiya Natsuhime slapping her across the face was heard.

“Maria, I know you’re definitely not the murderer. You’ve been with us the whole time and haven’t had time to inform the murderer. So, I want you to tell me, who was it that gave you the letter yesterday, Beatetrich?” Jō’s words sounded gentle, but they revealed his lingering suspicion of Maria. He didn’t pounce on her, but his feelings were exactly the same as Jō’s.

"I just asked her the same question, and she gave the same answer."

"I want to hear Maria tell me herself, who is Beatrice?"

Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me anyway, you wouldn't believe me.

"What does this mean? Does it mean that the murderer is someone we know, and you are protecting this person for some reason, which is why you are not telling us? Who gave you that letter?"

"Beatel gave it to me. I can say it as many times as I want, the letter was given to me by Beatel. The reason why Brother Rin doesn't believe Beatel is because he can't beat her up? Brother Rin wants to turn his pent-up emotions into violence, to find someone to vent on. So the other person has to be human, someone he can beat up, otherwise you can't accept it. So even if I tell you the truth, you still can't accept it. So it's pointless to say it, you still won't believe it. But Maria can say it as many times as she wants, because this is the truth, Beatel, she really is 'there'. The gate to the Golden Land is about to open, and Maria is going to the Golden Land. Beatel made a promise with Maria. She said that in that world, Mom will be very good to Maria, and so will Dad. Maria really wants to go there quickly, everyone is afraid of Beatel. But that's understandable, you can rest assured, Beatel said that before the typhoon passes, all of this will end, it hurts."

“I don’t dislike Maria for talking too much, but you should stop talking for now. You keep talking about the existence of witches, and I’m sure you’re very happy about the current situation. But if you want to be happy, be happy yourself. Don’t force it on others.”

"...".

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“I’ve always found this girl disgusting, but I never imagined she was actually mentally unstable. Lin Yan, don’t you find that strange? What about Uncle Yuanci? Granny Xiongze? What do you think, Mom? Maria knows who the murderer is but keeps it a secret. Maybe she wasn’t the one who did it directly. But she’s definitely colluding with the murderer. That’s right, she’s a spy. We can’t let her stay with us.”

"laugh."

“Maria, you need to know that sometimes you shouldn’t say things carelessly. If you keep stirring things up like this, Auntie will really get angry.”

"..."

Ushiromiya Natsuhime glared fiercely at Maria. Maria, seemingly used to the loud, shouting insults from the upper floor, seemed powerless against the silent pressure, shrugging her shoulders and remaining silent.

A somber atmosphere filled the room; it felt like whatever anyone said would only make things worse. Just how many people had died?

There were six of them.

Then there were Eiha and her husband, along with Kaon and Ushiromiya Kinzo. There should have been as many as eighteen people on the island, ten of whom had already been killed.

More than half were killed.

Moreover, no one can guarantee that the remaining eight people will be safe. "In short, now is not the time for infighting. Since we are certain that the murderer can come and go from the house unpredictably, we must focus on protecting ourselves."

"I couldn't agree more. We have plenty of time to find the murderer tonight. Let's focus on figuring out where to go into seclusion first." Lin Yan said, pointing to the clock to show everyone that it was already past eight o'clock in the evening.

I've been facing a series of challenges since early this morning, and I'm exhausted both physically and mentally.

There's still a long time until tomorrow, so I need to find a safe place to retreat in seclusion and give my body and mind a break.

"I feel the same way. Including myself, everyone has reached their physical and mental limits. It's wise to find a place to catch our breath now."

"That's exactly it. The enemy likely possesses access methods equivalent to the master key."

"Sane, Kaon, and Mr. Gota, do they all carry the Mother Key?"

When asked this question, Genji replied.

"Yes, we should carry it with us when we're on duty."

"We were told not to disturb the crime scene, so we didn't check it this thoroughly, but we can't rule out the possibility that the murderer may have already stolen their keys."

"Besides, the murderer may have already gone to the servants' room once to open the iron roller door of the Rose Garden warehouse, and probably already had the master key at that time."

The Ushiromiya family had a considerable number of servants, so they prepared more than one master key.

Furthermore, these master keys would move back and forth between the various servants whenever shifts changed, which must be said to be a lack of strict management in this area.

"Suppose the murderer took the whole bunch of keys from the murdered maid's pocket, is there any door that couldn't be opened with the keys they had?" That's what Granny Xiongze replied.

"Due to work requirements, we get keys to all the rooms, including the main house and the guesthouse."

"That means it's pointless for us to run anywhere, lock the door, and hide. Great, we don't need to lock anything. Let the murderer come if he dares. Watch how I deal with him."

"The enemy won't come openly. Putting aside the initial six people, judging from the examples of my parents, Jiayin, and my grandfather, the enemy always targets those who are alone. As long as we stay in one place, the enemy's strength shouldn't be strong enough to dare to swagger in."

"That's true, that's right. Maybe Auntie's rifle also had a deterrent effect."

"I hope so."

"..."

"Maria, I know you have something to say, but you'd better keep quiet for now."

"..."

Maria probably meant to say that witches aren't afraid of guns, but if she said it out loud, the atmosphere would become dangerous.

Lin Yan had anticipated this, so he stopped him first, "Can I say a few words? Actually, there's one place that even if you have the maid's keychain, you can't get in."

"Genji, where is that?"

"It's the master's study."

"I object. I don't want to go into Grandpa's disgusting study."

"How many keys are there to access the study?"

“There are two in total. I carry one with me, and the other is carried by the master himself. I found this one on the body in the boiler room earlier.”

Genji took out a handkerchief from his pocket and unfolded it, revealing a study key covered in coal dust. He then took out the key he had previously lent to Princess Ushiro Natsuhi and placed it next to the handkerchief.

"Originally, in order not to hinder the police investigation, the key should have been left on the body, but the master instructed that no one should be allowed to enter or leave the study at will, so I took the key back."

"I see. In other words, Mr. Ushiromiya Kinzo's study is the only safe place."

After Nanjo finished speaking, it was Ushiromiya Natsuhime's turn to speak.

"That's true. I wouldn't even want to think about spending a whole night in a room with that weird smell, but it seems I have to admit now that it's the safest place."

"Grandpa was hiding in this safe room, but the murderer took him out and killed him. It probably wasn't absolutely safe."

"Considering Lin Yan's previous assumption, that is, Grandpa might have waited until the invoice was taken away before leaving the room, I think it might still be worthwhile for him to stay in the study."

"You're too optimistic." Despite saying that, Lin Yan also found the method quite interesting. Because they could directly ask the murderer and the witch herself how they broke through the sealed door in the first place.

If we assume the murderer abducted Ushiromiya Kinzo from the study in a specific way, then to harm us, who are secluded in the study, they would have to repeat the same method they used to take Ushiromiya Kinzo. This is tantamount to forcing the murderer to demonstrate that method right in front of us.

It's like telling the murderer, "Since you're a witch, show us the magic of 'Open Sesame'," but that's impossible.

Thinking about it like flipping a chessboard, the murderer clearly deliberately made them believe their opponent was a witch. If it were truly a witch, she could simply appear before everyone and use dazzling magic to silence them. But since the other party avoided doing so, it means that the one who did all this was just a fake witch trying to make them believe that witches truly existed. Therefore, since the murderer solved the locked room using methods other than magic, there's no way they could reopen the locked room in front of us.

"Uncle Genji, is Grandpa's room big enough to fit eight people?"

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"Yes, it's fine. There's a bed and sofa, and blankets to keep warm, so it's no problem to spend the night there. There's also a kitchen counter, a toilet, a refrigerator, and a wine cabinet."

"This is incredible. But I really don't understand, why did Grandpa build another house on top of his own? Grandpa has already bought the whole island and realized all his dreams, isn't this last house a bit too small?"

“That’s true. I don’t know when it started, but my father-in-law doesn’t even feel comfortable staying in this big house anymore.”

“We used to laugh at Grandpa for always locking himself in his study, but now it’s our turn to lock ourselves in there,” Zhu Zhixiang said angrily.

"I think Zhu Zhixiang doesn't want to hide; she's more interested in finding the murderer."

"Of course, I don't think we can find her just by looking; in the end, we'll just have to wait. Since that's the case, what's the difference where we wait? Why don't we just sit in the living room and watch TV, waiting for Beatrice to leisurely appear before us?"

"If the other party doesn't show up, that's fine too, since it's not up to us to find the murderer."

“That makes sense. We shouldn’t take any risks before the police arrive.”

"Thank you, Dr. Nanjo. I think we should move to Father-in-law's study. It is indeed possible that Father-in-law was kidnapped, so the study is not absolutely safe. However, Lin Yan's reasoning, that Father-in-law left by other means and was attacked outside the study, is also a possibility that cannot be ruled out."

As Eiha said, even if this method of breaking the secret room is valid, it completely fails to explain why Ushiromiya Kinzo would rather use such a troublesome method to sneak out of the study.

Moreover, as Lin Yan instructed, one must hide under the bed and wait for the others to leave, and only leave the room after the invoice has been taken away. This method can only be used if Udai-no-miya Kinzo "knows that the invoice is stuck on the door".

Although Eyu did not explicitly point this out, Lin Yan's statement was clearly absurd.

So, as Eyu claims, the study is a locked room with the door sealed by the invoice? The murderer is Ushiromiya Natsuhime, and the fact that the study is a locked room is undeniable. If Eyu were here now, she could loudly assert this and kick away my bizarre hypothesis. But regardless, since this room has a bed and a bathroom, can accommodate eight of us overnight, and both keys that can open the door are already here, it has to be said that the study is currently the safest place in the entire house, at least it feels better than continuing to stay in the living room.

Or is it because we stayed in the living room that we were safe? Leaving here for unknown places would actually be more dangerous.

The chessboard is flipped over again, causing the two sides to alternate repeatedly, making Lin Yan unable to believe anything. Every time he thinks the murderer is among the eighteen people, he immediately wants to believe that Beatrice exists; just when he is about to believe that Beatrice exists, he starts trying to find the murderer among the eighteen people.

Lin Yan felt that this situation kept repeating itself, and in the end, his thinking was just standing still. He had forgotten how long ago Sister Wu Jiang taught him the flip chessboard thinking method. This concept of turning the whole situation around and exploring the situation from the opponent's perspective was very interesting to me. I remember that I used this idea in everything I thought about back then.

Lin Yan remembered that Wu Jiang seemed to have said something like, that flipping the chessboard to think is indeed a way of thinking, but it is by no means a panacea, and being too rigid about it is not good. He remembered that Wu Jiang once had a conversation like this: "The so-called flipping the chessboard to think is an explanation that I came up with by my own method after reading a book on game theory. This subject is very interesting. When you go to university, Lin Yan, you might as well study it."

"I must give it a try. Once I've learned this skill and honed my thinking with this flipped chessboard method, I'll be able to see through any opponent's thoughts, no matter who I'm facing. Wouldn't that be interesting?"

"However, you can't blindly believe in this way of thinking. Game theory is a very profound and complex subject. The flip-board thinking method is just my interpretation of the most basic concept. To see through the opponent's thoughts as thoroughly as you think requires quite in-depth study. Moreover, although the flip-board theory is easy to apply and convenient, it is not perfect. Precisely because it is easy to use, it also has many weaknesses."

"weakness?"

"Yes, the flipped chessboard thinking method is based on game theory. When game theory is studied to its extreme, it returns to mathematics. Do you know what the weakness of mathematics is? It's noise."

Once the mathematical equation 1+1=2 is written down, it will remain 1+1=2 no matter how many hundreds of millions of years have passed, because there is no noise involved.

However, aside from mathematics, take Chinese literature for example; there will be noise in it.

Chinese characters are a good example. There are subtle differences between the old and new Chinese characters in Japanese, showing that writing systems can change over time by incorporating noise and altering themselves.