There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Chapter 47.1

“[God], it truly lives up to its name.”

The girl’s calm sarcasm made the audience watching the variety show later laugh hysterically again in the bullet screen comments:

[Hahaha oh my god, did the top student girl level up her mockery skill too?]

[I’m laughing so hard I can’t find my head hahahahaha]

[What kind of ridiculous privilege is this, I’m dying of laughter hahahahahaha]

[Bao Qing Tian: ???]

[…]

Qi Tian’s face turned ugly with anger.

Fortunately, it was now covered by a full beard, so no expression could be seen. In fact, Qi Tian’s identity was the easiest to guess. When her blindfold was removed, she found herself in a room decorated to resemble a court.

The reason she arrived so late was simply because she refused to accept being the only female guest with a cross-dressing role, and was throwing a diva tantrum with the production team.

At this point, the production team had to coax and cajole to finally bring this “ancestor” over.

Seeing that Qi Tian was about to lose her temper again after being mocked by the others, the production team immediately started to announce:

[All guests have arrived. The second round of tasks has ended. Now announcing the third set of tasks: Investigate the crime scene and uncover the truth]

As soon as the announcement ended, Qin Ke and the others were directly led by the production team members who appeared out of nowhere to a room in the mansion.

The person in front opened the door, ushering the five guests and the cameramen inside, then the door was closed from behind.

On the ground, there was clearly a white line marking the fixed boundaries of the crime scene.

The obviously distorted death pose indicated by the fixed boundary lines at the scene, combined with the eerie lighting effects deliberately created in the room to produce a horror atmosphere, made all the guests shudder in unison.

July was the first to take half a step back.

“What… what happened to the Chinese exam we were promised… Since when did Chinese exams include murder scenes?”

Ling Shuang turned her head to look at Qi Tian.

“Bao Qing Tian, oh no, Bao God, isn’t it your turn to take the stage?”

“…”

Qi Tian wasn’t scared, but she wasn’t familiar with these things at all. Previously, to maintain her character setting, she had claimed to like detective novels — in fact, she hadn’t even read half a detective novel, so at this moment she was completely at a loss.

But since Ling Shuang had spoken up, she naturally couldn’t appear to be a cowardly fool in front of the cameras. She could only put on a brave face and pretend to walk around the room.

Even if the post-production editing would forcefully save face for her, she still needed to provide some raw footage first. She was most familiar with this aspect of “cheating”.

After circling the room once, Qi Tian pretended to clear her throat and even stroked her fake beard.

“According to this Qing Tian’s preliminary investigation, this room was indeed locked — both the door and windows were tightly shut, and locked from the inside. Apart from the traces of the maid breaking in earlier when she sensed something was wrong, there are no signs of anyone else’s presence.”

At this point, she deliberately paused.

On the way here, where the cameras couldn’t capture, Qi Tian had already cheated by asking the production team about the identities of the other four guests.

So now her gaze naturally began to search for Qin Ke’s location —

“In conclusion, this murderer really couldn’t be anyone other than Qin Ke… cough, other than the first wife.”

After finishing her speech, Qi Tian still hadn’t found Qin Ke.

Her gaze swept around the room once more before she finally realized — at some point, Qin Ke had already crouched down in front of the fixed boundary line behind the table.

Qi Tian’s face showed a hint of embarrassment.

She smiled, “First wife, what do you think of this Qing Tian’s reasoning?”

“…”

Qin Ke, who was deep in thought about something, was startled when she heard her “title” being called. She looked up. “What?”

Qi Tian’s expression changed slightly.

She forced herself to smile, “I asked if you agree with what I said?”

Qin Ke: “Hmm… what did you just say?”

Qi Tian: “…”

Ling Shuang chuckled, straightening up from the window nearby and walking over.

“Bao God said this is a locked room murder case, with no possibility of any other culprit, so the person who committed the murder must be you, the first wife.”

Qin Ke: “.”

Qin Ke: “And then?”

Qi Tian, feeling pressured under her gaze, faltered, “What do you mean ‘and then’?”

Qin Ke stood up with a helpless expression.

“You don’t really think this task is just giving you a problem that looks like 1 plus 1 equals what, and you just need to fill in 2, do you?”

“…”

Qi Tian was at a loss for words.

She knew in her heart that it wouldn’t be that simple, but she really didn’t know where to start. At this point, she could only stubbornly argue with Qin Ke—

“Then… then you tell me, how did you get that title of [Sinner]?”

“That’s a good question, but it wouldn’t be interesting to say now.”

Mentioning this, Qin Ke’s eyes lit up slightly.

Then she glanced indifferently at Qi Tian, not bothering to argue further with someone of such intellectual capacity, and turned her gaze back to the white fixed boundary lines on the ground.

“The doors and windows were indeed tightly locked, but the suspect in the room is not just the first wife.”

“?”

The gazes of Ling Shuang and the others all fell on her.

Qi Tian: “Then you say, who else?”

“Her.”

Qin Ke pointed.

Everyone’s gaze followed, but they only saw the white fixed boundary lines on the ground.

Gu Yuncheng, standing by the door, had a flash in his eyes.

“You thought of it too.”

This was a statement, not a question.

The other three seemed completely confused, but only Qin Ke smiled, “If you’ve seen this before, it’s really easy to make the connection. The production team is giving away points with this question.”

Ling Shuang came back to her senses and frowned, “What are you two going on about?” She looked at Qin Ke again, “Are you saying that concubine committed suicide?”

“Yes, suicide disguised as murder and framing someone else.”

Qi Tian, unwilling to accept this, sneered, “How is that possible? That sword was thrust straight into her back, and it’s such a long sword, not a dagger — did that concubine grow a third hand to stab herself from behind?”

Qin Ke: “If we must say so, she indeed had a ‘third hand’.”

This time, before Qi Tian could argue, Qin Ke spoke up. “All it takes is a block of ice, a sword frozen in the ice, and…”

Qin Ke looked at the round table in the center of the room, directly in line with the white fixed boundary lines, and smiled faintly.

“And a table she could step on, facing away, and ‘lie’ back directly onto the sword tip.”

Qin Ke patted the round table, “This is it.”

Qi Tian’s mind whirled seven or eight times, and by now she roughly knew that Qin Ke’s guess was likely the truth. But she was still a bit unwilling to accept it. Her eyes rolled, and suddenly remembering something, she eagerly questioned Qin Ke.

“That’s just your guess — my guess is that you are the murderer — how do you explain that?”

“She doesn’t need to explain that, I’ll do it.” Ling Shuang stepped forward, “I triggered this plot. Before going to the main hall, I found something like a record book in my room. It said that the first wife of this family had accidentally injured her hand tendons years ago, and couldn’t lift heavy objects, let alone have the strength to stab a living person with a sword.”

Ling Shuang smiled a bit contemptuously.

“So, that concubine couldn’t possibly have been killed by the first wife.”

Qi Tian was dumbfounded. “Then… she really… committed suicide?”

Qin Ke: “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

After Qin Ke finished speaking, Gu Yuncheng, in a rare moment of rapport, continued.

“Sherlock Holmes, or rather his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”

Ling Shuang joked.

“Did you two rehearse your statements before coming in?”

“We’re probably just fellow detective fiction enthusiasts,” Qin Ke chuckled lightly.

Ling Shuang: “I don’t think so. I feel like you two seemed to know what was going on as soon as you entered the room.”

“…” Qin Ke looked at Gu Yuncheng, “You want to tell them or should I?”

Gu Yuncheng didn’t speak, only making a gesture of invitation.

So Qin Ke smiled and looked at Ling Shuang, “Actually, we probably figured out what was going on after seeing Qi Tian’s outfit and guessing her identity.”

Ling Shuang: “?”

Seeing that Ling Shuang still hadn’t caught on, Qin Ke could only say regretfully. “It seems you haven’t seen the ending of the first season of ‘Young Bao Qing Tian’.”

(TL: 《少年包青天》(Shàonián Bāo Qīng Tiān) is a Chinese television drama series that translates to “Young Justice Bao.” 

包青天 (Bāo Qīng Tiān): Justice Bao, a nickname for Bao Zheng, a famous and revered historical figure known for his fairness and integrity as a judge during the Song Dynasty. “Qing Tian” literally means “Blue Sky,” symbolizing his incorruptibility and fairness.

The series focuses on the younger years of Bao Zheng, depicting his early adventures and development into the legendary judge known for his wisdom and sense of justice.)

Ling Shuang: “…”

Ling Shuang: “I’ve seen a few episodes here and there. Ever since its theme song became my childhood trauma and successfully scared me into neurotically checking the back window every time I went to the bathroom at night, I swore never to touch anything related to crime-solving again.”

Qin Ke and Gu Yuncheng glanced at each other, both revealing knowing smiles.

Clearly, they both knew which episode and which scene Ling Shuang was referring to.

Qin Ke: “It is indeed quite traumatizing for a child.”

Ling Shuang: “So we’ve solved this case? Can we call the production team to submit our answer now?”

“…”

Qin Ke’s eyes flashed, “Actually, I don’t think we should rush.”

“?”

Everyone’s gaze fell on Qin Ke once again.

Qin Ke: “I have a small guess — you should all remember the lots we drew before starting the task, right?”

As she spoke, Qin Ke took out her own.

“Mine is [Sinner].”

Ling Shuang, reluctantly: “I’m [Fool].”

Qi Tian: “… [God].”

Gu Yuncheng: “[Blind Person].”

July: “[Performer].”

Qin Ke nodded. “I’ve been wondering why these terms are in quotation marks. Just recently, I finally understood — these words don’t represent their literal meanings, they should have some extended meanings.”

“For example… I’m not the real criminal.”

Gu Yuncheng nodded, “My [Blind Person] also has implications, probably referring to my failure to see the discord in the family, leading to the tragedy.”

Ling Shuang: “Hmm, then mine is… it seems the concubine didn’t want to marry into the family, it was my decision as the mother.”

Qi Tian frowned, reluctantly playing along, “I judged the case wrongly, so I’m not really [God].”

“…”

Silence fell.

Qin Ke, along with the gazes of the other three, turned to July who hadn’t spoken.

Qin Ke smiled.

“So, what about [Performer]?”

July’s eyes flickered, his expression innocent. “Is it that this maid used to be a performer, once almost got killed, and then was saved by someone in the mansion — so now she doesn’t act anymore, not a performer anymore?”

Qin Ke: “I think she’s still a performer, just a different kind, don’t you think?”

July’s expression changed slightly.

Qin Ke didn’t keep them in suspense, speaking directly. “Actually, if the concubine’s plan only included what we’ve guessed so far, it wouldn’t be very thorough. After all, the possibility of something going wrong is always infinite — and once she fell onto the sword tip, there would be no way for her to fix anything.”

Gu Yuncheng: “You mean, she needed an accomplice.”

“…”

Qin Ke nodded.

“After all, the ice block holding the sword needs time to melt. If discovered at the wrong time, the entire plan would be wasted — if she was already dead, how could she ensure her body would only be discovered after the ice had melted and the blood had covered the evidence?”

By this point, Gu Yuncheng had completely understood.

He turned to look at July, “So, this is when she needed someone she could control to be the first to ‘discover’ the crime scene.”

“Exactly,” Qin Ke said.