Huh? Isn't This A Galgame?

Xiao Huang was slightly taken aback, then she nervously raised her hand and gently tucked the short hair beside her cheeks behind her ear, "What do you want to ask?"

"Who do you think, regarding the matter with the Xiao Xue Butler, did this?" Wen Nan asked directly.

Xiao Huang was stunned for a moment, surprised at Wen Nan's straightforwardness. Her eyes widened slightly, and she quickly shook her head, "I don't know."

In Wen Nan's mind, the Mind Reading Technique skill was still activated, its countdown ticking second by second.

However, he didn't hear any thoughts.

There was only a very faint sound of breathing, so faint that Wen Nan wasn't sure if it was his own breath or that of Maid Xiao Huang across from him. Regardless of whose it was, it wasn't the thoughts Wen Nan was seeking.

Seeing Wen Nan not speaking, Xiao Huang tentatively opened her mouth to ask, "What do you think, Mr. Ye? Who could it be?"

Wen Nan shook his head, "I don't know either."

Xiao Huang let out a light sigh, "Tonight's events happened so suddenly."

Despite speaking as if surprised, her face didn't show much surprise, fear, or sadness, and, as before, she seemed very calm.

As they spoke, the two walked to the back kitchen door. Xiao Huang stepped forward, gently pushed the door open, and then turned to look at Wen Nan, "We're here, shall we go in?"

In Wen Nan's mind, a faint sound echoed: 'Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.'

What is... this sound?

The two stepped into the back kitchen, a familiar stench greeted them, but where once was a noisy and crowded space, there was now only silence and emptiness.

Sweeping his gaze over the rows of kitchen counters, Xiao Huang asked, "Shall we search every cabinet first?"

'Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.'

Wen Nan glanced at the countdowns in his mind; three jumping timers floated before him, with the second one being the side task countdown, leaving only 29 minutes remaining.

In such a short amount of time, searching through all the cluttered kitchen tools and seasoning bottles to find a possible murder weapon was harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

So Wen Nan shook his head and instead asked, "Do you know where Chef Xiao Ji's room is?"

Xiao Huang immediately nodded, "Yes, it's just next door, in that row of restrooms, in the innermost single room."

'Whoosh~ whoosh~ gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.'

The two walked into Xiao Ji's room, where the air was completely different from the stench in the adjacent back kitchen — the room was filled with the scents of shower gel and laundry detergent.

However, like Xiao Ji's kitchen, it was also quite messy.

Various plush toys were spread all over the floor, while outerwear, coats, underwear, and bras were casually scattered on the sofa and chairs.

Searching such a room in such a short time was truly rushed.

Wen Nan dared not waste a second, maneuvering around two plush capybara toys on the floor, he went straight to the sofa, pinching a lace thong with his left hand and two polka-dot bras with his right hand, clearing the sofa cushions.

In the crevice between the cushion and backrest, a corner of a square paper box was exposed.

Wen Nan raised his hand, took out the paper box, and found it was the packaging box for Xiao Ji's sugary cigarettes.

His gaze fell downward, to the wide sofa seam that could fit two fingers into, and a sudden idea sparked in Wen Nan's mind. He raised his hand and forcefully pried open the thick cushion.

Click!

A crisp sound of a mechanism latch echoed, and immediately, the cushion sprung open to one side, revealing a hidden compartment inside.

Opening the compartment, inside lay quietly a bronze sculpture.

The sculpture depicted a young Female War God, sitting cross-legged with armor draped over her lower body and her upper body bare. It was only as long as a finger, at first glance resembling a lighter.

Looking closer...

It seemed, it really was a lighter?

Turning the Female War God's body upside down, at an indescribable position, there was a small round hole. Wen Nan's five fingers gripped the Female War God's upper half, and his fingertips pressed down on a particular point.

Snap.

A small flame instantly leapt from the round hole.

Just as he was amazed by the bizarre design of this lighter, the Female War God's body started to twist in Wen Nan's hand.

Wen Nan was startled and almost dropped the lighter.

With the twisting, the interior of the lighter began emitting soft musical sounds.

This was surprisingly... a lighter with a music box function?

Wen Nan couldn't help but let out a laugh, thinking the designer of this lighter must have had some considerable creativity to invent such an eccentric piece.

But immediately, as the music box's prelude ended and a female voice started singing, Wen Nan could no longer laugh —

'Allow me to settle into dust,'

'Bury the past in silence,'

'I come from the sea full of storms,'

'I only seek seclusion in this desert.'

...

The familiar lyrics, the familiar tune...

The myriad of strange characters and incidents in this manor, originally tangled like a ball of yarn in Wen Nan's mind, suddenly gave him a lead to untangle it all.

Cautiously wrapping up the lighter, Wen Nan suddenly stood and dashed out.

Xiao Huang, who had been diligently recording him, was startled, hurriedly lifting the camera and quickly pursuing him.

Wen Nan ran out of the back kitchen, down the corridor, and straight towards the dining room.

Pausing at the dining room door, Wen Nan glanced first to the left; the shards of the long-necked vase that had been shattered into many pieces had been cleaned up at some point, leaving only the right-side vase standing alone.

Wen Nan crouched beside the only remaining vase, reached out, grasped the vase's slender neck, and cautiously tilted it to reveal its bottom.

On the snowflake porcelain bottom, in the center, was engraved a character —[Jing].

Exactly as he had expected.

The corners of Wen Nan's lips curled up as he immediately messaged Xu Dongsheng, asking where he was, to which Xu Dongsheng replied that he was at the end of the corridor on the second floor.

Wen Nan rushed there instantly and saw Xu Dongsheng crouching, nervously watching straight ahead.

In front of him lay a large orange cat, belly up in slumber, snoring away.

Feeling Wen Nan's arrival, Xu Dongsheng turned quickly, panicked, placing his fingers to his lips for silence.

Wen Nan made no noise and tiptoed up to crouch beside Xu Dongsheng.

Xu Dongsheng, in a soft voice, asked, "President? Why come at this time?"

After speaking, he glanced at the countdown in front of him and added, a touch despondent, "There's just one minute left for the side task, looks like it won't be completed."

"It's not too late."

Wen Nan said, taking Xu Dongsheng's hand, flipping his palm upwards in front of his own eyes, then activated the system:

"9527, initiate side task weapon scan detection."