There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

The hotel lobby was a scene of chaos, but the front desk resting room, where the incident first occurred, was now the safest place, with only the rich smell of blood intermingling, its source indiscernible.

In the darkness, Xu Shuo opened the Player's Handbook and took out some healing medicine from his backpack to consume.

Originally, Xu Shuo had not planned to buy such items, but later Hong Rao, when choosing essential Purification items for him, probably worried that her student would recklessly get himself killed while running through the script, thus she generously funded and gifted him a batch of healing items.

Compared to these lesser-used healing items, Xu Shuo preferred weapons or skill-type items.

Unfortunately, the restrictions of this mystery were too great.

Having regained a bit of strength, Xu Shuo fumbled about in the pitch-dark rest room, found the medicine box and suitcase that had fallen into a corner, and then, using the faint light, began to tend to his wounds.

As he bit down on the bandage and tried to bind up his shoulder, a beam of light suddenly shone in from the doorway.

Flashlights in this world were scarce, and the brightness of the light was not high, so Xu Shuo was not blinded and could see clearly.

Turning his head, he looked over just as the person holding the flashlight also walked in and squat down in front of Xu Shuo with an emotionless face that revealed no hint of feeling.

"It seems Doctor Kong was quite seriously injured."

The light from below cast Capital Commandant's face in such a way that it looked ghostly, and the cold gleam in his eyes became even sharper, as piercing as the bitter wind and snow of December!

Xu Shuo frowned and said in a deep voice, "Not long after you left, Manager Zhang and his female companion suddenly launched an attack on us. The strength of those two—hiss!"

Before he could finish, the pain in his shoulder made him draw in a sharp breath and break out in cold sweat.

The freshly applied bandage was instantly soaked through with blood that welled up anew, running down the creases and dripping, causing Xu Shuo's breathing to become rapid from the pain.

After a moment, Capital Commandant released the fingertips he had been pressing down hard and impassively shook off the blood that had stained his hand.

"Doctor Kong, are you sure you weren't colluding with them in this matter? I think you would have had the ability." He spoke indifferently, his gaze sweeping over the resting room.

"..." Xu Shuo, clutching his wound, kept his head lowered and said nothing.

The rest room looked less chaotic than the lobby. A soldier lay dead at the doorway, and three near the interrogation chairs, none of the four showing any visible wounds.

They must have been killed with a single blow to avoid attracting attention from the outside.

Meanwhile, the hotel front desk worker and the old man were both killed by bullets to the chest, neither showing any signs of struggle, and the light tubes in the rest room were also shattered by bullets.

It seemed likely that after dealing with the soldiers, they pretended to calm the remaining people and then, before they could react, moved to silence them.

Finally, by smashing the lights in the rest room, they created an environment conducive to their departure amidst the darkness.

At this thought, Capital Commandant's mind suddenly paused.

Since the entire hotel was experiencing a blackout, there was no need for the unnecessary step of smashing the light tubes; therefore, these people must have acted before the power went out.

But even if they did shatter the light tubes in the rest room, what could it accomplish? There were no windows to escape through, and as soon as one opened the door, the light from outside would have sufficed to clearly reveal the interior.

—Unless someone knew that a blackout was inevitable.

So that raised the question again: Why go to the trouble of breaking the light tubes?!

Capital Commandant furrowed his brow deeply, unable to fathom this issue, and felt a growing restlessness in his thoughts.

Suddenly, Capital Commandant remembered the girl who had inexplicably vanished behind the tree.

But considering the entirety of the Empire's Thirteenth District, he had never heard of anyone with such remarkable abilities, and not even the churches of foreign tribes could perform such a strange ritual as grand transfiguration.

It must have been some sort of movement technique, similar to the blinding tricks used by the Green Mist Legion.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The Capital Commandant's thoughts settled down once again.

After scrutinizing the resting room, he looked again at the pale-faced Doctor Kong and said coldly, "Describe exactly what happened."

Xu Shuo, as if finally catching his breath, raised his head, his smile more grimace than grin as he said sarcastically, "What's the use of saying it? After all, the Capital Commandant won't believe it anyway, so why waste the time and saliva?"

The Capital Commandant remained unshaken, simply holding the military saber he had taken from the soldiers in his hand.

"Not long after you left, I noticed Manager Zhang on the ground, looking like he was about to die, so I had the officers help lift him onto a chair, hoping to treat him enough to at least keep him alive."

Xu Shuo spoke quickly, "But unexpectedly, the previously unconscious Manager Zhang suddenly attacked, and Miss Merlin, who was tied up, somehow regained her ability to move. Before I could react, she had killed all four officers.

"After that...

"They attacked the three of us, and I don't know what happened after that; I've only just come to."

The Capital Commandant looked at him expressionlessly, "It's surprising how overflowing Doctor Kong's sympathy is, although it seems now that this bit of compassion was utterly useless."

Xu Shuo's face was ashen, and he said nothing.

Blood flowed from his tightly pressed shoulder wound; he had already lost a lot of blood, and the Capital Commandant had forcibly reopened the wound just after he had tended to it; he looked like he could collapse at any moment now.

However, the instigator simply said calmly, "There is a guest outside who needs your treatment. After you're done, go to Room 304."

With that, he turned and left.

Once the light source was gone, the resting room plunged back into darkness and silence; Xu Shuo watched his figure, his gaze enigmatic.

...

The occupant of Room 304, of course, was the Special Envoy from District 10 who had tragically jumped from a building.

Her entire chest had been pierced through, a fist-sized gash oozing blood; with such a horrifying injury, it was a wonder how she managed to cling to life.

After tending to his own shoulder, Xu Shuo picked up his medical kit and headed to Room 304 under the escort of a soldier.

The hotel's power switch hadn't yet been repaired—there was no chance it would be.

So they used only a dim flashlight for illumination, walking past bloodstains and corpses on the floor to reach the equally chaotic Room 304.

After bandaging the wound, Xu Shuo stuck needles into the corresponding acupoints, then said, "I've temporarily saved her life, but with such injuries, it's best to get to a hospital soon. My treatment here is limited at best."

The Capital Commandant made no response, only asking, "When can she wake up?"

"If you want her conscious, I can do it right now, but that will affect her recovery from the injuries," Xu Shuo said.

"Wake her up," the Capital Commandant commanded, brooking no argument.

Xu Shuo looked reluctant but knew he couldn't defy the order, so he took a silver needle and pierced the Special Envoy's ten fingers.

Before long, the unconscious woman furrowed her brow and opened her eyes, a bit dazed.

The next moment, the intense pain from her chest jolted her fully awake, cold sweat streaming down her forehead as she gasped for breath like someone drowning.

"Don't panic, breathe slowly," Xu Shuo said beside her.

The gentle timbre of his voice calmed the Special Envoy a bit; she turned her head and saw a familiar, gentle and refined man.

Behind him stood the cold and merciless Capital Commandant, whose eyes, devoid of any emotion or sign of feeling, sent a chill through anyone they looked upon, no matter how many times one encountered them.

Seeing him, the Special Envoy was completely alert.