“Is there any real need to go over my timeline?” Lu Moxing said coldly. “Work in the morning, the Botanical Garden, then stayed here all afternoon. It’s as simple as that.”
“And you didn’t enter the media room at all today?” Jiang Xiao asked, frowning slightly.
Lu Moxing: “No.”
Jiang Xiao sank into thought. “Hmm…”
At that moment, Si Mingyu spoke up: “You just happened to be the third person to vote. It would make perfect sense if you used the remote then, causing the roses on the projector to spill everywhere.”
Lu Moxing: “I never even touched the remote.”
Si Mingyu: “But no one can prove that.”
“No. When we entered the room, the remote was on the cabinet in front of the screen. If he triggered the roses first, he would have been poisoned too.” Jiang Xiao said, turning to look at Ji Yanli. He asked, “How fast does this poison take effect? If someone left the room quickly, would they still have a reaction?”
“He drank quite a bit. The moment he smelled the scent of roses, he was doomed to be poisoned. However, if he only inhaled it for a few seconds, mild symptoms include nerve numbness and slow reflexes. It would metabolize and fade on its own, taking about ten minutes.” Ji Yanli mused, “By the time we entered the scene, over ten minutes had already passed. CEO Lu seemed perfectly normal then.”
“Exactly!” Si Mingyu immediately said, “Lu Moxing was the last to arrive. What if he made an excuse to be late because the poison hadn’t fully metabolized yet?”
“I’m not that stupid.” Lu Moxing’s tone was icy.
Curious, Jiang Xiao asked, “So what were you doing at that time? Can I ask that?”
“I was lying in bed, completely paralyzed from the poison, but my heart was filled with joy because I had finally executed my plan, using roses to poison you.” Lu Moxing spoke unhurriedly, his usual sarcastic tone making it sound utterly dramatic, “It was truly an earth-shattering, god-weeping plan. So meticulous. Who would ever guess it was me? Oh, probably only a genius.”
Everyone: “…”
Jiang Xiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Lu Moxing always had an impolite edge to his words, arrogant to the extreme.
“Alright, next.” Jiang Xiao shifted the topic, otherwise things would only spiral further. He looked at Si Mingyu. “Your turn?”
Si Mingyu said incredulously, “Brother, you suspect me?”
“It’s just standard procedure,” Jiang Xiao said.
Si Mingyu was clearly annoyed. Reluctantly, he said, “I stayed in the cabin all day today, wandering around. I couldn’t do anything alone anyway. It was boring.”
“That sounds exactly like something the murderer would say,” Lu Moxing remarked. “You definitely went into the media room.”
“Of course I didn’t!” Si Mingyu immediately refuted. However, as he spoke, a flicker of guilt flashed in his eyes, which Jiang Xiao caught.
Jiang Xiao was certain—Si Mingyu had definitely done something!
But he didn’t call him out immediately. He just fixed his gaze on Si Mingyu, who avoided his eyes, looking at the coffee table instead. After a few seconds, Si Mingyu suddenly looked up. “Brother, why do you keep staring at me?”
Jiang Xiao’s mind rapidly recalled details about Si Mingyu. His relationship with Si Lin was always bad. The day before the date, the two brothers had even fought. Was Si Mingyu connected to this case?
“I just think,” Jiang Xiao said, “that you really look a lot like Si Lin.”
That was actually a lie Jiang Xiao made up on the spot.
But Si Mingyu paused upon hearing it and said quietly, “Yeah. You could never tell me and Si Lin apart.”
Si Mingyu could never quite believe Si Lin’s words. But in truth, it seemed Jiang Xiao really couldn’t tell them apart. So back then, the one Jiang Xiao had rejected was actually him.
Because of that, he started wearing clothes completely different from Si Lin’s. He hated this face. He also hated Si Lin, who was clearly more cunning than him yet always pretended not to care about anything.
Their tastes had always been similar. As kids, they fought over the same toys. As they grew up, they fought over the same person. As a child, Si Mingyu often won the fights but always ended up suffering the consequences. Growing up, Si Lin’s shadow still loomed over him.
Si Lin wasn’t just taking a blade for Jiang Xiao. He had clearly won this game in the most absolute, ruthless way.
No one can compete with the dead.
But he was the one who first met Jiang Xiao, who first became his friend. If only Si Lin weren’t here, if only Si Lin…
A trace of desolation passed through Si Mingyu’s eyes. He gritted his teeth and spat out:
“Yes. I entered the media room today.”
Jiang Xiao was quite surprised, but he didn’t hesitate and continued asking, “What did you do in there?”
“…Watched a movie.”
“What else?”
Si Mingyu didn’t speak.
His suspicions were right on the mark!
What did Si Mingyu do? Which detail was connected to him? Jiang Xiao quickly reviewed the clues. In a flash, a detail suddenly struck him—
“I asked Doctor Ji for some medicine. They’re all harmless to the body, you can drink them without worry.”
On the first night, Si Mingyu had gone to see Ji Yanli! The medicine hadn’t been stolen yet at that time. Si Mingyu likely saw the medicine bottles on the table, which is how he knew Ji Yanli carried anesthetics.
Jiang Xiao immediately looked at Ji Yanli. With perfect understanding, Ji Yanli nodded, signaling that his guess was correct.
“The one who poisoned the coffee was you, wasn’t it?” Jiang Xiao looked at Si Mingyu, speaking seriously. “You once told me you got sleeping medicine from Ji Yanli.”
“Out of the five of us, only you knew he had the medicine. And you just happened to see the ‘Rose Funeral’ bottle in his room.”
“So the next day, while everyone was out, you stole the bottle from Ji Yanli’s room, then went into the media room and filled the projector with rose petals.”
When Si Mingyu heard Jiang Xiao’s analysis, his face was filled with shock. He hadn’t expected Jiang Xiao to notice that kind of detail. He said, “I didn’t…”
“Don’t rush to deny it.” Jiang Xiao said, word by word, “You were watching my stream yesterday, so you should know one thing—”
“The viewers in my livestream were watching the whole time. If you entered Ji Yanli’s room during the day, they would have seen you.”
“Trying to lie then won’t be so easy.”
At that moment, Si Mingyu actually showed a helpless expression. “I really didn’t…”
“…intend to kill him.”
Si Mingyu said quietly, “If someone else discovered this, I wouldn’t admit it. But if it’s you, Brother, I can never lie to you.”
“I’m the one who put the drug in the coffee. I put it in the cups,” Si Mingyu said. “But I only put a bit more in Si Lin’s cup. I read the instructions; the dosage wouldn’t be lethal.”
Everyone’s coffee cups were placed on the cabinet, labeled to prevent mix-ups. If someone tampered with the cups, it was indeed possible.
Jiang Xiao had considered this possibility before. But since the cups were in a public area, anyone could have tampered with them. One only needed to pretend to hover near the cabinet. There were too many suspects to rule out.
Now he finally had a lead.
“You drugged everyone, including Jiang Xiao.” He Chen seemed somewhat unable to understand. “Why?”
“I didn’t drug Brother!” Si Mingyu said angrily. “I put a little in for the others. They wouldn’t die anyway, what’s the harm in a sip? Mild poisoning is just some numbness. Besides, none of you drank much.”
“Isn’t Si Lin your own brother?” Ji Yanli said. “Do you hate him so much that you wanted him dead?”
Lu Moxing casually commented, “Looks to me like he couldn’t wait for his brother to die. And now, lo and behold, he got his wish. He was probably laughing secretly just a moment ago.”
The corner of Jiang Xiao’s mouth twitched. “CEO Lu, isn’t that kind of joke a little inappropriate right now?”
“He dared to do it, but I can’t talk about it?” Lu Moxing said coldly. “Just now, he was doing his best to pin this on me.”
Jiang Xiao recalled how Lu Moxing had provoked Si Mingyu earlier. Though usually sharp-tongued, Lu Moxing wasn’t normally like a rabid dog, attacking others relentlessly. So he did that on purpose?
A certain thought lurked just below the surface, as if he only needed to dig a little deeper to understand. But Jiang Xiao was still missing one crucial connecting thread.
“I didn’t want to kill Si Lin!” Si Mingyu emphasized. “And I’m not the one who killed him. I didn’t even touch the roses on the ceiling.”
“Besides, Si Lin and Jiang Xiao decided to switch the order last minute. Brother was right beside me. He knows perfectly well I didn’t do anything.”
Jiang Xiao could attest to that.
At the time, he was sitting right next to Si Mingyu. Si Mingyu indeed did nothing. He couldn’t have switched the mechanism at the last moment either.
“So what if you wanted to kill Jiang Xiao and Si Lin at the same time?” He Chen suddenly spoke up. “You said you didn’t poison Jiang Xiao’s cup, but he was poisoned, and the dosage wasn’t small.”
“How would anyone else know you put roses in the media room?”
“More importantly, only you knew Ji Yanli brought medicine. How do you explain that?”
Si Mingyu suddenly laughed. But his smile wasn’t the respectful, innocent puppy-dog smile he usually wore around Jiang Xiao. Instead, it carried an evil air like a little devil’s. “I don’t know, and I can’t explain. But I didn’t do it. If you think it was me, then the murderer has succeeded.”
“He’s a ghost. He knows everything I did and continued from where I left off, easily pushing all the suspicion onto me.” Si Mingyu said eerily, “I have nothing left to say. But I know one thing: he’s going to make another move.”
“The real murderer is among you three.”
“Brother, are you still willing to believe me?” Si Mingyu looked at Jiang Xiao again. “I’ve already told you everything.”
Jiang Xiao couldn’t judge how much of Si Mingyu’s story was true or false. But Si Mingyu’s words actually conveyed a very subtle hint:
Ji Yanli was suspicious.
If Si Mingyu wasn’t lying about this, then the only person who knew the medicine was stolen was Ji Yanli. He naturally knew the conditions for ‘Rose Funeral’ to take effect and the dosage to use.
He even still had a little less than half a bottle of the sample left. If he wanted to continue poisoning, it would be easy.
If he searched around, he would also find the roses in the media room. They were fresh petals; stored in an enclosed room, they would release their fragrance.
Now, the only way to prove Ji Yanli was the murderer was to find evidence that he had been in the media room.
But when Jiang Xiao mentioned he had a way to get the audience to tell him everyone’s daytime whereabouts, Ji Yanli still hadn’t spoken up. Did he really not go there, or was he certain Jiang Xiao wouldn’t find the evidence?
“There’s one more thing you’ve forgotten.” Lu Moxing spoke up. “Who took the dart, and what poison was on it?”
Indeed.
Ji Yanli only mentioned the dart was poisoned but didn’t specify what kind of poison.
“Among us, the only person carrying a highly lethal poison seems to be Doctor Ji?” Lu Moxing smiled ambiguously, raising an eyebrow at Jiang Xiao. “This farce should end now.”
Before Ji Yanli could speak, the electronic broadcast echoed, its mechanical, indifferent voice announcing:
[In ten minutes, arrangements for tomorrow’s date will begin. Jiang Xiao, He Chen, and Lu Moxing, please proceed to the media room. The others wait in the living room.]
Jiang Xiao was utterly speechless. Even at a time like this, the production team was still thinking about making them date! It really was a bloody romance story.
The others’ expressions varied. They clearly hadn’t expected the production team to be so deranged, even sending them back to the crime scene to unwrap date gifts. This once again lowered their expectations of the show. As they were about to move, Jiang Xiao suddenly said, “Let’s start the body search now. We’re running out of time.”
The five of them were about to split up. This was a dangerous signal, meaning the murderer could destroy key evidence at any moment.
Jiang Xiao swept his gaze around, finally landing on He Chen. “You first, is that okay?”
He Chen smiled slightly and said, “Of course.”
