Super God: If I punch you, you will die

“Grandpa is not afraid of death at all. Look, look at the second and third of the four treasures.”

Let Zhi Zhao read the inscription aloud again, as Maria had said.

“‘First, all the gold of the Golden Land. Second, the resurrection of the souls of all the dead.’ In other words, my grandfather believed that even if he died during the ritual, he would be resurrected soon.”

"Ridiculous, utter nonsense. What's the point of being dead? People can't come back to life. Humanity has spent thousands of years pursuing the miracle of resurrection, and in the end, we still can't achieve it? Isn't that the gist of it? Talking about reuniting in the afterlife or being resurrected, isn't it all just wishful thinking?"

According to Zhu Zhixiang, the whole incident happened because her grandfather knew he didn't have much time left and missed her so much that he went crazy and committed suicide. No, it should be said that he forced his family to die with him.

"..."

"Genji, is that possible?"

“I don’t understand. The master is very wise, sometimes even able to see into the future a thousand years from now. But such wisdom sometimes seems like madness to a mortal like me.”

"Doesn't that confirm this statement? And what did Granny Xiongze say?"

"I don't know anything. Of course I don't know anything. If I did, I wouldn't be on this island today. I would have pretended to be sick and made up an excuse not to come."

"What does Dr. Nanjo, my grandfather's longtime friend, think?"

“Like Genji, I am a man whose knowledge far surpasses that of ordinary people. Sometimes I even feel that his abilities exceed what humans can do. I don’t understand what Mr. Ushiromiya Kinzo intended to leave behind this inscription.”

"There is only one thing that is certain: even if the script was arranged by my father-in-law, it was executed by someone else."

“Indeed, at least the murderer who attacked Grandpa and Jiayin was someone else. And this person even planned to continue committing crimes according to this inscription.”

"We didn't think too much about the first letter. What did it say?" Lin Yan recalled the letter Maria read aloud last night.

In her letter, Beatrice declared that, in accordance with her contract with Kinzo Ushiromiya, she would reclaim everything belonging to the Ushiromiya family as interest. However, she also stated that this included a special clause: she would relinquish all rights if anyone could find the gold hidden by Kinzo Ushiromiya.

When this letter was published, Ushiromiya Kinzo was still alive.

But by this time the letter had already been sealed with wax using the words "the head of the family's ring".

In other words, the ring was given to Beatrice while Kinzo Ushiromiya was still alive. Logically, this should be interpreted as Kinzo Ushiromiya guaranteeing Beatrice's right to execute this strange contract. That is to say, this is tantamount to Kinzo Ushiromiya knowing the contents of the letter and agreeing to it.

So this is essentially a joint letter from Beatrice and Kinzo Ushiromiya, saying that if we can't solve the mystery, Beatrice will start charging interest.

In other words, Ushiromiya Kinzo and Beaterich told us to either solve the mystery of the inscription if we were capable, or to kill us all as written on the inscription.

What's the point of all this? What do they want?

Lin Yan was completely baffled.

At that moment, Maria suddenly spoke up and announced.

“Look, there’s another letter from Beaterich.”

"What did you say?"

Maria pointed to a table with cans of food that everyone had just eaten on it.

There was indeed a European-style envelope used by Beatrice on the table. What's wrong with that?

"Ah..." Princess Natsumi exclaimed, looking at her hand and then at the table, because she was still holding the newly opened envelope in her hand, but there were other envelopes on the table.

"What's going on, Maria? What happened? Where did this letter come from?"

"When I saw it, it was already on the table."

Standing next to Maria, Kumazawa looked flustered.

"I don't know, I don't know anything."

"What a joke, there are only eight of us here. How could a ninth person have sneaked in? We only squeezed in front of the portrait for a short while before leaving."

"Everyone, step back. Retreat to the wall."

Ushiro-no-miya Natsuhime grabbed a rifle, pointed it at Genjiro and his group, and roared. Standing in the direction the gun was pointed were Genjiro, Kumazawa, Dr. Nanjo, and Maria.

Genji looked bewildered, stunned by the sight of the gun barrel.

Lin Yan was the same, but a few steps later, he also came to the same conclusion as Udai-no-miya Natsumi.

Until just now, there was no such envelope on this table. And no one came into the study. Doesn't that mean that one of them put the letter on the table while everyone else's attention was focused on the portrait?

"Lin Yan, open the envelope and read the contents of the letter."

"it is good."

Lin Yan picked up the envelope; the wax seal was still on. Even without seeing the contents, they knew it was a letter they hadn't opened or read yet.

He didn't even use a letter opener; he roughly tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

The letter read: "I wonder if you all find the mystery of Lord Ushiromiya Kinzo's epitaph interesting? I think you all know that you don't have much time left, so please don't naively think that you can escape this island just by waiting for the storm to pass. This game will only have two outcomes: either I win, or you all win. If time runs out, I win; there is no tie. Please don't misunderstand."

"That's what it says in the letter."

“We’re not sure who put the letter there, but we’ve narrowed it down to the most suspicious people, and that’s you guys.” Among the group of people with guns pointed at them, Xiong Ze answered with a distressed expression.

"Madam, this is going too far."

“When I went to see the portrait, I put the can of food I was holding on this table first, so I’m pretty sure there wasn’t this strange letter on the table at that time. And Zhu Zhixiang, Rang Zhi and Lin Yan were already standing in front of the portrait. They hadn’t left the portrait before this letter appeared. That is to say, the person who put down this letter was one of the four of you, and Beate Liqi was one of you.”

“Maria and the others are not Beatrice. Beatrice is really ‘present’.”

“Shut up. I don’t know if one of you is suspicious, or if you are all suspicious, but the murderer is definitely among you.”

"That's right, there couldn't possibly be a nineteenth person. There couldn't possibly be a witch. The one who killed Jia Yin, that's right, if it was Xiong Ze Po who killed Jia Yin, then it makes sense. Xiong Ze Po actually went into the boiler room with Jia Yin and then killed him. She lied to us and said that you came later and found Jia Yin already lying on the ground."

"Young Miss, you've misunderstood. Why would I do such a thing?"

"I have no idea how the murderer killed my parents in that locked room. But when my parents were killed, everyone except the maid had an alibi. But can we really just suspect them like that?"

"Indeed, that means they have no alibi in any of the incidents." Can Lin Yan so easily conclude that the murderer is among them?

But now, in this room, in this place, at this moment, in this smallest unit, one thing is very clear.

Only the four of them could have placed the letter in a blind spot where we couldn't see it. Although it's impossible to determine exactly who placed it, it's obvious that one of the four of them did.

"Madam Xia, please calm down. So much has happened today. I know you must be under a lot of mental stress."

“I am also very reluctant to question Dr. Nanjo. But you are my father-in-law’s attending physician and his one and only friend. You have been in contact with him for many years, and you may even know about the Beatetrich affair. Perhaps you know about some old grudges, but you keep them from us, don’t you?”

"Impossible. Calm down."

Nanjo's desperate insistence on her innocence was almost unbearable to watch. It's understandable that anyone would react this way when suspected.

Xiongze was in the same boat. Ever since Zhu Zhixiang suspected her of being Jiayin's killer, she had been in a sorry state, which made Yuanci, who had been acting as if nothing had happened, seem particularly suspicious.

"Genji, you are the most trusted subordinate of the eunuch. Perhaps Beatetrich is just a fantasy you created by brainwashing the eunuch, and you are actually the mastermind behind it all?"

"The fact that you, Madam, have such doubts means that you are truly certain that I am the master's most trusted subordinate. Even in this situation, I still feel extremely honored. But I did not place this letter."

"You think I'll believe you just because you say that? You must be the mastermind. Kumazawa and Dr. Nanjo might be accomplices too. Maria too." Suspecting an adult was one thing, but Ushiromiya Natsuhi's gun was equally merciless, pointed at Maria. But Maria didn't seem to care; or was she trying to emphasize that she didn't care if she got shot?

“Maria, the days when you could be absolved of suspicion just because you're young are long gone. So I'm going to ask everyone the questions that have been nagging at them since last night. Who exactly is Beatrice, the one who gave you the letter in the rose garden yesterday?”

"..."

“Maria, don’t try to fool me. What time is it? I need you to explain yourself. Who gave you the letter?”

"I can say it as many times as you want, it's Beatrice, the golden witch who has lived for a thousand years. If you want to know what she looks like, just turn around and look. Look, Beatrice is standing right behind you."

Are you kidding us?

"Zhu Zhixiang, stop talking. Maria too, don't you understand the situation? What's the point of saying such things? Don't give me this kind of pointless provocation."

Zhu Zhixiang was emotional, while Maria spoke in a stark contrast, in a calm tone.

“Maria doesn’t understand. Lin Yan, who do you want to be the murderer? You only believe in Beatrice’s existence when you don’t want to believe that the murderer is among you. You only deny Beatrice’s existence when someone close to you is killed and you want to believe that you can use violence to find the murderer to vent your anger. That’s why you can’t see that Beatrice is ‘there,’ but you can’t see her.”

“Shut up. I don’t want to assume you’re the murderer, but you’re making things unpleasant for your own amusement, which is an act of benefiting the enemy, and there’s no doubt about that.”

"Then what are you going to do? Shoot Maria? Fine, the gates of the Golden City are about to open, and all the dead will be resurrected. Death is no longer scary now."

"Mom, she's too suspicious. We can't be with her."

“But Aunt Natsuhime Ushiromiya, please calm down. We have no reason to shoot Maria. Please calm down. Although the contents of the letter are provocative, there is nothing to be afraid of. The murderer is also afraid of dragging it out until tomorrow, afraid of the police coming. Although this island is in a state of disorder right now, it is only like this when it is isolated by a typhoon. Once the typhoon passes, order will be restored. So Aunt, please don’t shoot.”

"Why are you so calm, Zhi-ge? The murderer is among those four. No, maybe all four of them conspired together. The person who killed Aunt Huiyu and her husband might be among them. Why are you still so calm?"

“I also want to find the killer and kill him. But that would only be a momentary gratification. I want to leave the judgment to the authorities. So no matter how suspicious it is, I cannot pull the trigger.”

“I agree with letting Zhi do it, Aunt Xiafei. Let’s calm down first. Anyway, firing a gun now would be troublesome, hehe. I heard that in situations like this, all you have to do is tilt your head back and shout ‘calm down’ three times.”

“I want to make this clear. There are no witches in this world. This is Rokkenjima, the main house of the Ushiromiya family. I, Ushiromiya Natsuhi, on behalf of the Ushiromiya family, declare that there are no witches here. I do not acknowledge the existence of any Beatrice. No matter what the murderers are up to, I will never let them touch a hair on my daughter’s head. This is my duty as a mother and as the acting head of the main family.”

These few words became a final farewell, a clean break from everything.

To protect her daughter, Ju Ji-hyang, Princess Ushiro Natsumi treats all suspicious individuals as enemies.

The reason why she categorized Rangzhi as being on the same side was simply because we happened to have an alibi when this letter appeared.

If Lin Yan hadn't gone toward the portrait, he might be facing a gun and being berated by Udai-no-miya Natsumi right now. But as he had this thought, he also realized that if they could get rid of all the suspicious people from the study, they could finally ensure their safety.

0104 Disorder [Please Subscribe]

Genji, Kumazawa, and Nanjo are all on Ushiromiya Kinzo's side. As for Maria, considering her blind faith in Beaterich, she could also be considered on Ushiromiya Kinzo's side. Yes, they are all very suspicious.

But is it really okay to doubt them like this?

Banishing all suspicious individuals is a chaotic approach. Can such a chaotic method truly combat the witch's chaos?

Princess Natsumi Ushiro didn't explicitly tell them to leave. But she exerted silent pressure, forcing them to say they wanted to leave on their own. So as long as Dr. Nanjo didn't say it, this cold silence would surely continue indefinitely.

"Lady Udai-no-miya Natsuhime, please calm down. I understand how you feel. So many unusual things have happened since this morning, and I feel like I'm going crazy too. So I understand why you would suspect us."

"If Dr. Nanjo really has nothing to do with this matter, then I think what I did was extremely rude. However, I can only ask for your understanding now."

"I understand. Let's leave this study. Genji-nii, what do you think? Should we go back to the living room and continue our game of Go?"

"If you wish to go down, please allow me to accompany you."

"I don't want to. Madam knew perfectly well that the wolf was among us, yet she still drove us out. Madam, I don't want this, please spare me."

Xiong Ze makes a lot of sense.

If she is innocent, doing this is tantamount to banishing her to a dangerous area along with the murderer. In the current situation, asking someone to leave with a suspect is almost tantamount to abandoning them to their death, but when Jia Yin was murdered, Xiong Zepo, who was the first to discover the body, did indeed have suspicious circumstances.

At the time, everyone except Xiong Zepo had an alibi. Unless it can be proven that there was some kind of conspiracy or that a nineteenth person existed, Xiong Zepo was the most suspicious person.

Lin Yan didn't want to believe it was like this, but both Udai-no-miya Natsumi and the rest of us were so tense that we couldn't help but suspect these people, including her.

So when we saw Princess Natsumi using such a forceful approach to expel them from the study, we remained silent. Although we stopped her from firing, we expressed passive approval of her decision to expel them. At that moment, Maria spoke to Kumazawa, who was still grumbling.

“Nothing will happen. Beatrice is very kind to those who respect her. Grandma Kumazawa believes Beatrice is ‘alive,’ so nothing will happen. Maria is going to the living room to watch TV. Let’s watch together. It’s so boring here because there’s no TV.”

From Kumazawa's perspective now, Maria's sly smile must seem quite terrifying.

But the other three people besides himself had already agreed to leave the study.

Unable to stand against the majority, Xiong Ze could only reluctantly agree.

"Then, Madam Consort Xia, we'll have to take our leave for tonight. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Please forgive me for tonight. I will apologize to each and every one of you for my rudeness tomorrow. It's fine if you want to play chess, but it's best to play in a safe place. Genji, I'm counting on you."

"As ordered."

"Heh, there's no way around it. No wonder the old saying goes that bears with cubs are the most dangerous."

"Genji and Kumazawa, I feel very bad for you two. See you tomorrow. Maria, please forgive this cold-hearted aunt."

"Maria forgives you."

"Madam, here are the keys to this place. We are returning both to you."

Genji took out two golden keys from his pocket and handed them to Princess Ushiromiya Natsuhi, saying, "I'll also return the keychain for the main house that I'm carrying."

As she spoke, she took out a keychain containing about ten different keys and handed it to Princess Natsuhime as well. For servants, perhaps the key was the true symbol of their master's trust. When a master handed a key to a servant, it meant that they were giving the servant their trust and authorization.

Having to return the key means a loss of trust.

Thinking about it this way, it seemed like the most severe humiliation imaginable for someone who had served this family for so many years. But Genji's expression remained as calm as ever.

“Yuanci, I originally planned to reward you for your years of hard work and allow you to retire after your father-in-law passed away, but now I have to treat you like this, and I feel ashamed.”

“I have already received a great favor from you, sir, and all I have done so far is repay that kindness. Please do not take it to heart.”

"Let's go, everyone. Good night."

Goodnight. Goodnight, Lin Yan too.

"Maria, wait a minute." Feeling guilty, Lin Yan called out to Maria. He rummaged in his pocket for a while and took out the scorpion keychain.