In Douluo Continent, I am the mastermind behind the scenes.

Chapter 105. The murderer was actually...

Sure enough, the murderer still managed to get Tang Ya to open the door. Up until now, the most suspicious person among the eight is... Cai Meier.

Everyone here is a Soul Master, and they all have the logical thinking they should have. Tang Ya's heart wound is from bottom to top. In Chen Yu's understanding, only when using a close-combat weapon like a spear will the spear body be tilted. Among the eight people, only Cai Meier's martial soul is a spear.

Perhaps... Cai Meier realized the problem the moment she saw the autopsy report. Her hasty departure from the room was probably an attempt to destroy clues.

Suspicion alone is not enough. Without solid evidence, Cai Meier could easily turn the tables and claim that Chen Yu was the real culprit, in order to shift all the blame onto her.

However… Chen Yu wasn't in a hurry. She could only silently follow behind Cai Meier, not giving the other party a chance to destroy evidence or clues. She trusted the wisdom of others and believed they could uncover the truth of the matter.

Meanwhile, after investigating Tang Ya's room, Huo Yuhao and his group split into two groups: Dai Yueheng, Xu Sanshi, and Huo Yuhao in one group, and Mo Lian, Xu Fengxian, and Bei Bei in the other. They began to investigate the entire dormitory area to see if any clues had been left behind.

Tang Ya's student handbook was in Mo Lian's hands, but Mo Lian never left the bathhouse from beginning to end. The handbook was locked in a cabinet, and there was no sign that the cabinet had been pried open.

The focus of everyone's investigation is to solve this mystery: how did the murderer manage to get Tang Ya to open the door so obediently?

The first stop for the Mo Lian trio was the cafeteria's kitchen.

"Aunt Cai really has a sweet tooth. She used so much sugar just to cook one meal." Looking at the white and brown sugar scattered on the stove in the kitchen, Beibei couldn't help but sigh.

Upon hearing this, Mo Lian and Xu Fengxian followed Bei Bei's gaze and looked at the brown sugar packaging. Their expressions froze instantly.

The mystery... has been solved!

"The class trial is about to begin. Please enter through the red gate of the campus area."

As the somewhat cute voice of Monokuma rang out, the three groups, each with their own thoughts, left the dormitory area and entered the red gate of the campus.

The elevator slowly descended, and the eight people entered the courtroom that would determine their fate, standing in their designated places before the round table.

Before Monokuma could speak, Chen Yu said first, "Without further ado, this series of events isn't complicated. The only mystery is how the murderer got Tang Ya to open the door willingly. What are your thoughts on this?"

Before she could finish speaking, Mo Lian suddenly raised her small hand and slowly said, "While eating, I had some questions. What kind of person would love sweets so much that they would even add brown sugar to their rice?"

"Brown sugar?" Chen Yu suddenly realized, "You mean...brown sugar water?"

"That's right, it's brown sugar water." Xu Fengxian said quietly, "Whether it's a Soul Master or an ordinary person, as long as the family can afford it, girls will drink some brown sugar water when they have their period. Although we don't know what its purpose is, or even when this custom started, we can use this method to get in the way of Tang Ya's door."

As she spoke, Xu Fengxian glanced in Cai Meier's direction.

Cai Meier retorted, "What did you see? Do you suspect that I killed Tang Ya? After my soul power was sealed, I was just an ordinary, weak woman. I only had ten minutes, not even enough time to move the heavy object at the door and bring it back."

"Is that really...?" Chen Yu said thoughtfully, "Aunt Cai... oh no, Cai Meier, are you really just an ordinary, weak woman? Even if your cultivation is sealed, as a Title Douluo, your physique is far stronger than many burly men. As the only elder in the team, the only female elder, it's unlikely that Tang Ya would be wary of you."

Cai Meier said calmly, "This is just your guess. Is there any concrete evidence to prove that I did it? Anyone can do something similar. You don't need to actually boil a pot of brown sugar water. Just knock on Tang Ya's dormitory door and say you're bringing her some brown sugar water."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yu, Xu Fengxian, and Mo Lian fell silent. Cai Meier was right; as long as they were confident they could trick Tang Ya into opening the door, it didn't matter whether they had brown sugar water or not.

In this way, the problem returns to square one: although Cai Meier is very suspicious, at this critical juncture, without sufficient evidence to definitively prove her innocence, it is difficult to gain the approval of others.

"Let me say something," Huo Yuhao raised his small hand and slowly began to speak, "I don't think Aunt Cai is the murderer. On the contrary, Chen Yu's behavior makes me a little suspicious. Um... when I came out of the bathhouse to relieve myself, I saw Chen Yu standing at the bathroom door, looking around nervously."

"Even if I looked around in a panic, that doesn't mean I'm the murderer, right?" Chen Yu pondered. "For some reason, I think I saw two Xu Sanshi walking towards the dormitory area. One was wrapped in a bath towel, and the other was wearing Xu Sanshi's clothes. For a moment... I even doubted whether I was seeing things."

Upon hearing this, everyone turned their attention to Xu Sanshi.

Xu Sanshi scratched his head, looking puzzled, and said, "I've never left the bathhouse. Beibei, Junior Brother, and Senior Dai can all vouch for me."

"Wait, Third Senior Brother, have you forgotten? You clearly left the bathhouse, and I even reminded you to be careful of the slippery floor," Huo Yuhao said with a serious expression.

"That's Beibei! Beibei! You're reminding me of Beibei!" Xu Sanshi said irritably, "Junior brother, are you still asleep? How come you can't even recognize people?"

……

Seeing this scene before her, Cai Meier's lips curled into a slight smile, as if she were mocking the Tang Clan members' foolishness.

Just then, Mo Lian appeared beside Cai Meier, sat on the table, looked directly into her eyes, and slowly said, "Aunt Cai, what are you laughing at? Do you really think... your approach is so clever?"

As she spoke, Mo Lian gave Huo Yuhao a wink.

Huo Yuhao understood and quickly took out a small bag from his pocket. Inside the bag was some pure white powder.

"This powder has hallucinogenic effects. You added a large amount of the powder to Xiaoya's food. Under the influence of the hallucinogenic effect, you pretended to be Xiaoya's mother and made her open the door. There was a little bit of thread under her fingernail that was the same color as the dress you were wearing."

Huo Yuhao said with a solemn expression, "You don't need to deny it. All six of us have already tasted Sister Xiaoya's food, and we don't need to say more about its effects. Moreover, you also added hallucinogens to our food, just to make us doubt ourselves so that you could extricate yourself from this situation."

(P.S.: It's the author's birthday today, I'm going out to have fun, so I'll only be posting two chapters for now.)

(End of this chapter)