章 24: Chapter 24 Sin
The next moment, the detective who had been crouching in front of Tan Xiaohe to take pictures suddenly stood up, pulling her to safety almost instantly, while simultaneously pulling something out of his pocket and pointing it at the person across from him.
"The butler?" Tan Xiaohe looked at the newcomer with some surprise and then noticed the gun the detective had drawn, raising an eyebrow, "People in your world can carry guns around?"
[Because you revealed non-game content in front of the theater's characters, 100 deduction points have been taken from your performance score. Current performance score: 250. If performance score falls below 100 at the end of the game, the penalty mechanism will be activated.]
The instant she finished her thought, the system's voice echoed in her mind.
Tan Xiaohe: "..."
What else about this game did she not know?
The good thing was, at the moment, the detective's attention was fixated on the butler with the gun opposite him, and he hadn't pondered her words deeply. The butler, too, focused only on the detective, and neither paid any mind to her.
The detective's lips curled into a cold smirk, "Butler, you really shouldn't be doing this, should you?"
The butler, who usually was the epitome of a polite gentleman, now exuded a gloomy, ominous aura, saying with an expressionless face, "Mr. Gu, I've told you to stick to your role and not to do anything superfluous."
"Your master is already dead, yet you keep hiding this filth, you really are a good dog." the detective taunted sarcastically.
"Mr. Gu, you are only here to investigate the master's death; these matters do not concern you." the butler, unmoved, tightened his finger slightly on the trigger.
Although the two of them were locked in a standoff, Tan Xiaohe's mind inexplicably drifted to a Sherlockian plot where the detectives never killed anyone.
In fact, the increasingly pale complexion of the detective standing in front of her seemed to support that notion.
Just then, a dark shadow suddenly darted out in the wine cellar, followed by a loud crash of something being smashed down—
"Crash!"
A wine jar exploded right on the butler's head, the rich aroma of the grape wine immediately pervading the air, mixing with the man's blood on the floor, but also dissipating much of the bloodstench that lingered in the secret room.
The detective was momentarily stunned, then quickly went forward to check the butler's pulse and breathing after he collapsed in front of him.
"Thank goodness he's okay." The detective breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you guys alright then?" Xu Shuo cocked his head to look at them and took the chance to survey the prison cell.
Although he knew there was a secret room below, he had not yet come down to see it himself because the only place in the villa with surveillance cameras wasn't just the secret room; pinhole cameras were also installed in the wine cellar.
How could they not be wary at the entrance?
"We hadn't started fighting yet—you're the chef, right? How did you end up here?" The detective asked the first part, then quickly switched his thoughts to the young man's identity, eyeing him meaningfully.
"When I went to the bathroom, I saw the butler heading this way, and he didn't look very good, so I followed him to check it out."
"Everyone in the manor is very afraid of the butler, no one dares to approach him, but you seem not afraid at all."
"It's okay, I haven't been here long, and the butler is usually quite nice." Xu Shuo replied amicably.
Listening to his praise for the butler, Tan Xiaohe glanced at the old butler he had knocked to the ground, now bleeding profusely and in an uncertain state between life and death.
The detective also drew his mouth into a speechless line, then helped the butler up, preparing to take him out for treatment to prevent the man from bleeding out.
Otherwise, if the chef initially had no guilt, he would now indeed be guilty.
"Oh right, don't mess with anything in this secret room, especially that computer." The detective instructed as he carried the butler out, his concern evident.
"What's there to mess with here? Everything is covered in blood, even touching it feels dirty." Xu Shuo followed him out, patting the damp stains on his hands. He had gotten drenched when he smashed the wine jar.
Seeing this, the detective didn't elaborate further, and Tan Xiaohe, not wanting to linger in that suffocating space any longer, followed them out, walking beside the young man.
"Hey, did you already know there was something beneath that spot?" Tan Xiaohe asked quietly.
"I didn't know." Xu Shuo said lazily.
"Do you think I believe that?"
"If you refuse to believe, what can I do?"
The young man looked innocently at her. Tan Xiaohe clicked her tongue and didn't pursue further. Although she felt slightly annoyed at being used, on second thought, she saw it as no loss and even got to watch half a show.
More importantly, the game would end in two hours, and any extra time would be for her enjoyment.
Tan Xiaohe consoled herself.
...
After the three returned to the mansion, the three people in the living room were seated on the sofa watching something, while the maid next to them looked utterly dispirited, not responding despite being called several times by the detective.
"Pretty girl, don't space out, go get the first aid kit; your paycheck giver is about to kick the bucket." The detective walked over, placed the butler on the sofa, and waved his hand in front of her face.
Hearing about her paycheck, the maid snapped back to reality just enough.
But then, seeing the butler lying beside her, she stepped back two paces in shock, fear creeping over her face which was even more fearful than usual. If previously it was the deference of an inferior to a superior, it was now genuine terror.
After all, the butler had also appeared in those videos.
This meant they were all in it together!
"What's the matter?" The detective keenly noticed her strange behavior.
"I... I'll go get the first aid kit..." The maid, trembling, glanced at the blood on the butler's head and hastily made her exit.
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