Rotten God Kingdom

As it turns out, Yuan Xi is a very talented musician.

Genius cannot be measured by age.

Jiang Wang dared to face monsters with a knife when he was eight or nine years old, and he remained calm when he killed for the first time. This was his talent as a hunter.

Yuan Xi's talent manifests in a completely different area. She has large hands; at only ten years old, her fingers are almost as long as an adult's. This allows her to handle many difficult pieces without being affected by her innate factors.

At the same time, Yuan Xi is also a very patient and strict teacher.

Every time Jiang Wang pressed the wrong key, Yuan Xi would write down the problem on a piece of paper.

"Uh, my hand is cramping."

The music in the room sounded slightly out of tune, and Yuan Xi angrily added a stroke to the paper.

Learning to read sheet music, practicing the piano, and practicing vocalization were all done almost simultaneously.

Jiang Wang was initially very uncomfortable, especially with Yuan Xi's teaching style.

If possible, Jiang Wang would prefer that Yuan Xi interrupt him on the spot when he played a wrong note and point out the problem.

The truth is, by the time Yuan Xi wrote down the problem, Jiang Wang had completely forgotten what he had just played. Even if Yuan Xi played it again, or even played the correct and incorrect versions for Jiang Wang to compare, Jiang Wang still couldn't tell the difference.

After two days of getting to know each other, the two, one big and one small, gradually developed a tacit understanding.

When Yuan Xi holds up one finger, it means she's playing fast; two fingers means she's playing slowly; three fingers means she's playing lightly; and four fingers means she's playing heavily.

Jiang Wang has been going back and forth between lighter, slower, faster, and heavier movements for the past two days, which has completely confused him.

Yuan Xi really enjoys this kind of life. Usually, she's locked in this small house, and even to get some sun, she has to go to the storage room on the top floor and open the window to enjoy that tiny bit of sunlight. These past two days, at least someone has been talking to her, playing with her, and she's even getting candy.

This kind of life is already very good for her.

Although she had never seen such a stupid person in all her life.

This peaceful life officially ended on the second day of Jiang Wang's piano lessons.

It's right next to the Golden Concert Hall, and right next to Yuan Xue's residence.

The killer struck again.

The deceased was a middle-aged man, overweight, with a protruding belly.

There was a knife cut on the side of his abdomen. The murderer had pulled out all his internal organs from that wound and hung them on the ceiling. The normally shriveled abdominal cavity was supported by several metal supports, and the wound was stitched up with black thread.

The killer placed an old grandfather clock next to the body. Every hour, a wooden mechanism inside the clock would pop out and hit the victim's stomach with a dull thud.

"To be honest, I really don't want to doubt you, but you were the first one to appear at the scene twice in a row. Don't you think that's a bit suspicious?" Qiu Lin stared at Jiang Wang, as if trying to read something from his face.

The city of music doesn't have a large population to begin with, and the case two days ago could be contained, but today's case can't be contained no matter what.

The killer showed no signs of stopping.

This won't be the last one.

As for the killer's motive, it was obviously for music.

"I think this was an accident," Jiang Wang said seriously.

He only noticed a faint smell of blood when he left in the afternoon, which prompted him to come and check. He never expected it to be a crime scene.

The deceased also had varying degrees of bruising, indicating that a struggle had taken place between the perpetrator and the victim.

Strangely, there were no signs of disturbance at the scene, nor were any tools used in the crime left behind.

Qiu Lin stared at Jiang Wang without blinking.

Jiang Wang had nothing to hide, and he didn't blink either.

The two remained deadlocked for several minutes.

Tong Yao interrupted the two of them and asked, "Aren't you two childish? Aren't your eyes dry?"

Qiu Lin withdrew his gaze, looked at the corpse, and said, "You are indeed highly suspicious. What I said two days ago was just a joke, but now I'm serious."

It makes perfect sense that someone with no talent who unexpectedly enters the City of Music, lacking the ability to stay there, chooses a crooked path.

The assessment in the City of Music isn't too strict, but it's effective at weeding out those who want to blend in.

You can cheat on a written test, but you can't fake singing and playing instruments during the interview.

Coincidentally, on the day Jiang Wang entered the city, the person who conducted the final review was Tong Yao.

These two people have known each other for a long time and are very close.

Did Tong Yao give Jiang Wang special treatment?

After Jiang Wang realized he didn't have the ability to stay, it was Tong Yao who came up with the idea for him.

Qiu Lin felt that his guess was very reasonable, and he did a lot of research in order to find out the truth about the case.

Although it's impossible to explain why Jiang Wang acted so hastily, at least we've gained some insight.

Jiang Wang never expected that Qiu Lin would think so much in such a short time. He simply wanted to distance himself from this matter.

"I was at Yuan Xue's house yesterday and today, and she can testify for me."

As soon as he said those words, Jiang Wang regretted it.

It's true that he's at Yuan Xue's house; he's been sleeping on Yuan Xue's sofa for the past two days, while Tong Yao is sleeping in the same room as Yuan Xue.

During the day, Tong Yao would go to the Rock Pier to perform or enjoy music as usual, and mobilize the power of the Rock Cult to investigate the case.

Jiang Wang stayed inside to study.

Tong Yao and Yuan Xue can both testify for him.

But the biggest problem now is that Yuan Xi's existence must not be exposed!

"Really? Why are you two staying at Yuan Xue's house?"

"Yuan Xue will teach me to play the piano."

"We've always had a good relationship, and we whisper to each other at night."

The two spoke almost simultaneously.

Clearly, Tong Yao also noticed something was wrong.

Seeing the two's reactions, Qiu Lin's lips curled up, becoming even more certain that he had discovered something.

Even if Jiang Wang wasn't the murderer, he at least discovered other secrets.

This secret is most likely hidden in Yuan Xue's home.

Later, we can use the pretext of searching for the murderer to personally uncover this secret.

Just thinking about it is delightful.

"Tong Yao is the leader of the rock cult and her musical talent is quite high. Why did you go to such lengths to study at Yuan Xue's house? Could you tell me the reason?" Qiu Lin took the documents handed to him by his subordinate, glanced at them, closed them, and tossed them aside.

He turned his head slightly to look at Tong Yao: "Just now, my men conducted a brief investigation of the nearby residents. Yuan Xue is a reclusive person. Her only friends on the surface are you and An He. An He died two days ago, and you are a friend she met two years ago. Her neighbors said that she never lets friends stay overnight at her house. You are the only exception in the past two years."

Could you please tell me why she suddenly allowed people to stay overnight at her house? Why did she suddenly change her principles, and why did it happen to happen in the last two days?

Qiu Lin simultaneously attacked Jiang Wang and Tong Yao, seemingly wanting to take them down in one fell swoop.

Jiang Wang sorted out his thoughts. No matter what, he couldn't be easily intimidated by Qiu Lin. He could tell the truth, only needing to modify the language at key points.

"Tong Yao's musical skills are indeed very high, but she doesn't know how to teach. I'm just a beginner. She taught me for a day and beat me up several times. Yuan Xue's skills are also quite good, and she has a gentle personality, making her more suitable to be a teacher than Tong Yao."

Everyone in the city knew Tong Yao's personality, so Jiang Wang wasn't lying.

Yuan Xue's personality is indeed gentle, and she is indeed more suitable to be a teacher than Tong Yao; there's no fault to be found in that.

The only thing Jiang Wang concealed was that he didn't directly mention that his real teacher was Yuan Xi, not Yuan Xue.

Tong Yao also responded, "An He is my friend, and so is Yuan Xue. I was worried that the killer was actually targeting me, or rather, the people around me, so I suggested that I stay with Yuan Xue tonight to prevent her from encountering any accidents."

This is the truth. If it were just to teach Jiang Wang to play the piano, Tong Yao would never have let Jiang Wang live in Yuan Xue's house.

In fact, they brought Jiangxin over yesterday as well.

Living together makes it more lively and safer.

"It's flawless, a perfectly reasonable answer." Qiu Lin clapped his hands.

"What if you were in cahoots?" Qiu Lin walked to the body and carefully examined the wounds on it. "The deceased was injured before he died, which means he was not assassinated without his knowledge. He and the murderer must have fought at least once."

Interestingly, none of the neighbors heard any fighting.

To complete such a "work," it would be too time-consuming for one person alone. It would require simultaneous actions: murder, crime scene cleanup, and body disposal. How long do you think it would take one person to finish? An hour? Perhaps too rushed. Two hours? I don't think that's enough.

But what if it's a case of multiple people committing the crime?

With someone in charge of the materials, someone in charge of the killing, and someone in charge of disposing of the body, things might be much simpler, which is a reasonable guess.

The City of Music's superpowers do indeed have some of the ability to produce a "silencing" effect, which explains why no one heard the sounds of fighting or the cries of the dead.

"You mean you suspect that we were the ones who did these two cases?" Tong Yao frowned and retorted, "Yesterday and today, I was either at Rock 'n' Roll Pier or investigating a case, and there are people who can testify to that."

The radio station's music started on time today, and Yuan Xue's colleagues can attest to her presence.

The piano music never stopped playing in Yuan Xue's house, which proved that Jiang Wang hadn't left.

All three individuals have alibis. How can it be proven that they are the murderer?

"What about at night? We don't have a professional forensic doctor, so we can't determine the exact time of death. Due to the temperature, it's even more difficult to make an accurate judgment based solely on our common sense. If you're in cahoots, who can provide proof that you didn't go out at night?"

Qiu Lin's offensive was so fierce that Jiang Wang was speechless.

Actually, proving their innocence is quite simple.

Lock them up, and when the killer commits another crime, their suspicion will be cleared.

However, this approach has two drawbacks.

Firstly, Jiang Wang and the others can be left to their own devices, even if it means spending a few days in the most conspicuous place on the street, but what about Yuan Xi?

Secondly, if the perpetrator doesn't commit any more crimes during this period, wouldn't they become the scapegoats?

Jiang Wang fell silent for a moment.

He currently doesn't know how to save himself.

This was unlike anything he had ever encountered before.