Chapter 57.2

It was a manual handbook, and it was called [The Ancient Castle’s Safety Handbook For Staff Personnel].

Gu Liang roughly skimmed through the table of contents: there were pages explaining the fire safety in the kitchen, and others that talked about the layout of the electrical circuitry and water pipe installations in the entire ancient castle.

Having thought of something, Gu Liang flipped open the handbook, and his gaze landed on the page concerning fires.

“The Ancient Castle’s Fire Safety Introduction: Every room has been fitted with a smoke detector and an automatic sprinkler system.

“Once the smoke detector senses smoke, it will transmit an order to the automatic sprinkler system. Upon receiving the transmitted order, the sprinkler system will automatically spray water to put out the fire.

“Three minutes later, the smoke detector will conduct a second judgement. If the smoke in the room has dispersed, it will order the sprinkler system to stop spraying water; if the smoke is still present, the sprinkler system will continue issuing water. Simultaneously, the smoke detector will transmit a message to the fire alarm centre, thus broadcasting a report to the entire ancient castle, asking everyone to escape for their lives and wait for the firefighters to arrive.

“P.S., if there are guests staying in the ancient castle, please remind them not to smoke inside their room oh, or else they will become completely drenched!”

After reading through the safety notebook with Gu Liang, Yang Ye remarked: “No matter if it was last night or this morning, not a single report was heard. This means that once the fire started in the room, it immediately triggered the smoke detector, causing the sprinkler system to spray the water and put out the fire.”

“Yes, what the clue indicates, is actually consistent with the marks we discovered at the crime scene. It points towards the fact that the fire wasn’t large, and it’s possible that it was extinguished shortly after it started. When I was looking at the crime scene, I roughly inferred that Boyfriend Feng had only burned for a short period of time because there weren’t a lot of burnt traces in the room.”

Gu Liang’s eyebrows furrowed unconsciously: “And this information explicitly demonstrates that he had burned to death within three short minutes.”

Yang Ye thought about it for a moment before he amended his words: “The more accurate explanation should be that, in the instant where Boyfriend Feng caught fire, his body was immediately burnt into its curled state, which is also what forensic doctors often call the ‘boxing pose’. Whereas those three minutes were specifically dedicated to extinguis.h.i.+ng the fire.

“Because if he were to burn to death under normal circ.u.mstances, then from the time where he catches fire to the point of his death, all of it would require time. It’s not possible for him to burn to that state in three minutes alone, or perhaps it’s better to say, if the fire was severe enough to burn him into that state in under three minutes, then the three minutes wouldn’t be sufficient for the sprinkler system to put out the fire, and the smoke detector should have issued a report.”

“Agreed. Which also means to say, Boyfriend Feng had caught fire instantaneously, died instantaneously, and even became scorched in that instant.”

Gu Liang said: “Since that’s the case, the fire is absolutely related to witchcraft.”

“Furthermore, there is the matter of Sc.u.mbag Yu killing Lady Rong.”

Yang Ye said, “Sc.u.mbag Yu had poured alcohol on her body. Once her body started burning, it would immediately trigger the smoke detector system, which would result in the sprinkler system spraying water.”

“Logically speaking, if materials were lit on fire by means of alcohol, it can’t be extinguished by water because it’s ineffective. The alcohol will dissolve in the water, the water movement will bring the burning alcohol along with it, thereby causing a greater surface area to burn. However…”

“If we’re working under the conditions where the alcohol concentration is very low, it goes without saying that water can be used to extinguish the fire. With the large volumes of water being sprayed by the sprinkler system, the amount of water will be several times greater than the alcohol, which will dilute the alcohol concentration to the point where it can no longer be burnt, hence preventing the fire from spreading even further.”

“En, relatively speaking, the concentration of alcohol has to be 50% before it can burn. Anything lower than that will not continue burning. Under extreme conditions, the alcohol concentration has to be 28.4% at least.”

Gu Liang nodded before he followed up with another question: “When your character went to pour the alcohol last night, how much did he bring with him?”

“A very small bottle. Sc.u.mbag Yu had seized the opportunity to pour most of the alcohol down her windpipe when she had opened her mouth to scream.”

Yang Ye said, “However, the situation when burning a body with alcohol is different. When a person is lit on fire with alcohol, the water actually provides some aid. When a body starts burning up, it needs an immediate drop of temperature, and with the large volume of water issued by the sprinkler system, it can wash away the heat generated by the flames burning on her body, which gives her a chance to save herself.

“Owing to the fact that her body was drenched with water, not only will it ensure that she wasn’t harmed by the burning hot temperatures, it would also allow her to adopt self-saving measures, like pulling some wet fabrics over the parts of her that were burning. Furthermore, if the alcohol was diluted by the water and stops the burning, in addition to the rush of large volumes of water, the fire will naturally be extinguished.”

Gu Liang nodded his head: “Agreed.”

Yang Ye propped up his gla.s.ses, continuing to state: “Therefore, if Sc.u.mbag Yu didn’t pour the alcohol into her windpipe, she stands a chance of not dying. Her death only becomes doubtless if the fire and alcohol flows into her windpipe.”

“Truth to be told, this detail is extremely crucial.”

Gu Liang looked at Yang Ye, “This can justify the fact that Boyfriend Feng’s death has nothing to do with you at all.”

From a rational perspective, the scene of Sc.u.mbag Yu killing Lady Rong should have proceeded like thisk2014; the alcohol was poured into her windpipe, and only a small portion of it would come in contact with her body, and lastly, the remnants and sporadic drops of alcohol would land on the bed sheets.

Under the circ.u.mstances where the smoke detector and sprinkler system took effect once the fire started, the sporadic drops of alcohol on the bed sheets would come in contact with the water, its concentration would then be diluted below the burning point, and the fire would be extinguished.

Similarly, although some of the alcohol on Lady Rong’s body had burned up, the large volume of water falling from the ceiling would wash away heat on her exterior and give her a chance to save herself. Furthermore, with the alcohol concentration on her skin consistently lowering, the fire would be put out as well.

Therefore, it was quite difficult for the burning alcohol on her skin to cause her any deadly harm.

The main cause of Lady Rong’s death would be the burning alcohol that had flowed into her windpipe when she opened her mouth to scream.

Hence, Lady Rong’s possible reason for death should be the suffocation caused by the damage done to her throat. But because of the sprinkler system, and the fact that there was a small volume of alcohol, her person would not be scorched, nor would it be scorched into a “boxing pose”.

Which also signified that if the fire that Sc.u.mbag Yu placed on Lady Rong were to be transferred to Boyfriend Feng’s body, then Boyfriend Feng’s corpse should not be scorched to that extent.

The reason being that, the fire that Yang Ye started on Lady Rong to burn to her, and the fire that claimed Boyfriend Feng’s life, were two completely different scenarios in actuality. All in all, the possibility of the so-called “disaster diversion” did not exist.

Gu Liang verified the details with Yang Ye again, and said: “There are no issues here. Su Lan previously mentioned that Lady Rong’s bedsheets were only scorched slightly, and she was awoken by the sprinkler system’s water.

“The easily deduced sequence of events should be— the remnants of the alcohol your poured on the bed sheets burnt up, which then triggered the sprinkler system to put out the fire. It’s just that for some unknown reason, Lady Rong’s body, windpipe included, did not suffer from any harm, and from Su Lan’s dialogue, she blacked out and was completely unaware of what had occurred.”

Gu Liang picked up the handbook, “Let’s go and check somewhere else. Additionally, I have a hunch.”

“What hunch?”

“Since you burned Lady Rong, and someone else used another unknown witchcraft to burn Boyfriend Feng, both of your methods are related to fire. Therefore…”

Gu Liang gave him a sidelong glance, “I think the real murderer will definitely find a way to s.h.i.+ft the blame on you.

“Take Su Lan for instance, if it’s anything like your forthright explanation, where there’s no particular sentiments between you and her prior to this, and she doesn’t have any special affections for you either…”

Yang Ye interrupted him: “Truly, I was honest about everything.”

“Mn.” Gu Liang nodded faintly, “Since that’s the case, she was trying to inveigle for information. After her attempt failed, the small trick she played later on, which made her appear like a girl rivalling for affection… she was merely trying to mislead us through prevarication and deliberate falsehoods. Mn, it can’t be denied that she is quite shrewd. You should be more careful. Don’t get deceived by accident.”

Yang Ye said smilingly: “I don’t have to worry, I only need to be happy.”

Gu Liang: “?”

Yang Ye gazed at him: “Since Liang Liang is so worried about me, of course I’m happy.”

Gu Liang: “……”

— The person was really…

* * *

After leaving the back kitchen and walking through the northern side door, they returned to the main hall and turned towards the western side door.

Upon leaving through the west side door and walking 100 metres north, they would reach the open-air garden dining room that was backed against a wall. Correspondingly, it meant that the dining room and the place hosting the wedding was part.i.tioned off by one wall.

This time around, Gu Liang did not go to the dining room but continued west, heading in the direction of the peach forest directly.

The large patch of peach forest at the end was approximately 800 metres ahead, and there was a two-way forked road going in either the north or south direction.

Gu Liang inquired Yang Ye: “Which direction did you take in the morning?”

“Come, follow me in that direction first.” Yang Ye brought Gu Liang towards the small path leading north to arrive at the side of a lake. The familiar thick fog was floating on the lake surface, it seemed like this was one of the perimeter limits in this game map.

“What did you bring me here for?” Gu Liang asked him.

Yang Ye said: “Didn’t you want me to explain my timeline in detail?”

Gu Liang lifted his chin slightly to look at him. “Sure, you may explain.”

Yang Ye said: “After eating my breakfast at 8:30 in the morning, I went to Confidant Ai’s room. Ah, that’s not right, it wasn’t me, it was Sc.u.mbag Yu.”

Gu Liang: “……”

Yang Ye: “Sc.u.mbag Yu and Confidant Ai also have a leg together. In the débutante circles, Confidant Ai was constantly being suppressed by Lady Rong, so it led Confidant Ai to this thought— Lady Rong had been dumped by Sc.u.mbag Yu. However, if she managed to hook up with Sc.u.mbag Yu, she could win Lady Rong once.”

Nodding his head, Gu Liang asked quietly: “And then?”

Yang Ye: “Afterwards, the pair met up and flirted. The script only gave a general one-liner, it didn’t mention any specifics. I didn’t do anything. Look, back when you were acting as Beauty Yi, and you were also requested to have a rendezvous with me, you didn’t—”

Gu Liang: “Cut to the main point.”

Yang Ye touched his nose: “I’m trying to explain it to you clearly, no? To prevent you from allowing your imagination to run wild, and have a misunderstanding about me again.”

Gu Liang: “……”

Yang Ye laughed. Then, he continued to recount: “At 9 o’ clock, Sc.u.mbag Yu came to the lakeside. He came here because Designer Mei had asked to meet up with him as he was returning back to the resting area after eating breakfast.

“Not long after Sc.u.mbag Yu reached the location, Designer Mei arrived as well. Designer Mei met up with him here because she wanted to ask him why Lady Rong wasn’t dead. Sc.u.mbag Yu proceeded to say that he didn’t know why either. Designer Mei asked him what his modus operandi was, but he didn’t offer the specifics. This is why Su Lan only suspected that I used fire, but she wasn’t absolutely certain.”

“Why did Confidant Ai come here later then? To catch the couple in the act?” Gu Liang asked.

Yang Ye touched his nose again. For the sake of making the narration simpler, he decided to address Sc.u.mbag Yu as “me” again.

He told Gu Liang: “Upon seeing me leave in the middle of our date without any rhyme or reason, Confidant Ai naturally followed me out as well. She was in the main hall when she saw me going to the peach forest, and later saw Designer Mei following in my footsteps. Then, when she saw that neither of us had yet to come out after waiting for a period of time, she a.s.sumed that I had betrayed that quickly. Hence, she came over to throw a fuss, saying that I had derailed, and even got into an argument with Designer Mei.”

“Understood, the car overturned.” Gu Liang commented apathetically.

“In any case, after the two of them were done with their argument, they broke up with me in a fit of anger, and they both left. My head was hurting from their argument, so I didn’t coax any of them before I allowed them to leave. Afterwards, I sat near the lake alone.

“I wasn’t seated for long before someone attacked the back of my neck, and knocked me out.”

Once Yang Ye reached that point, he noticed that Gu Liang had moved behind him.

“Hm? What are you doing?”

“Bend down a little, let me take a look.”

Yang Ye turned around and held onto Gu Liang’s shoulders. Smiling, he said: “It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt.”

Gu Liang stared at him for a short beat, and then said: “Upon closer scrutiny, this script is rather strange. The person that you, Confidant Ai, and Designer Mei wanted to kill was Lady Rong. And presently, it can’t be discerned if Lady Rong and Butler Hao harbour any murderous intentions towards any specific person. However, I can’t use those grounds as a reason to suspect both of them either, because my own character is akin to a soy sauce buyer as well. I don’t have any motivation to kill.”

“Wah, both of you are talking secretly again!”

The person who spoke was Li Xiao Yu. She ran over and asked Gu Liang: “Did you discover anything?”

“We’ve made some discoveries. It’s hard to talk about them in detail for the time being.” Gu Liang asked her, “What are you doing here for?”

Li Xiao Yu said: “All of us are here, it’s just that they went to the southern road first. I came over here to take a look, and I didn’t expect that I would b.u.mp into you here.”

Without beating around the bush, Gu Liang asked her: “Did you try to kill Lady Rong before? Did you cut her arm off?”

Li Xiao Yu: “I did kill her, but I didn’t cut off her arm. Why would I cut off her arm? I’m trying to kill her. I poisoned her.”

Gu Liang asked: “Can you describe your modus operandi?”

“Of course I can. I’m most definitely not the murderer anyway.”

Li Xiao Yu explained, “The poison I gave her is called [Plastic Confidant Sends You On Your Way]. When I was supporting her back to her room to rest, I gave her a tube of lipstick. The poison is inside the lipstick, and I wanted to make her use it when she was doing her wedding makeup today. En… after everyone was done with their breakfast at 8:30, she went back to her room to get made up. The poison causes death within 5 minutes. I don’t know when she used the lipstick either, let’s just a.s.sume that it’s before 9 o’ clock. In any case, she didn’t die.”

“Are there any effects after the poison flares up?”

Li Xiao Yu replied: “If the deceased dies from the poison, a pink heart symbol will appear on her right wrist.”

“Her right wrist?” Gu Liang’s heart sank. Brows furrowed, he asked her: “Are you certain it’s the right hand?”

Li Xiao Yu said: “I’m certain. When both of you were absent just now, they found the evidence in my room. All of us saw it together.”

At this moment, Meng Qian Cheng’s voice travelled over. “Xiao Yu, come to our side! We made a huge discovery! We found a burnt doll, the butler had a doll register, stating who had received what kind of doll from Lady Rong, and it’s all been recorded. After a process of comparison, we’ve essentially confirmed that this burnt doll belongs to Yang Ye! I know you have a good relations.h.i.+p with them, but don’t tell Yang Ye first, and don’t tell Gu Liang either!”

Meng Qian Cheng happened to be walking towards the lake then, and he immediately saw Li Xiao Yu walking over with Gu Liang and Yang Ye.

Meng Qian Cheng: “…………”

Bowing slightly, Yang Ye spoke with utmost sincerity: “Apologies, I accidentally heard everything.”

The translator has something to say:

Being the resident ‘I only know how to spell geography not navigate actual terrain’ person… I have made a rough map for better visualisation, and I hope it helps? x’D