Star Trace Gate

In the hall on the second floor, Xiao Shuai listened to Ren Ye's words and frowned, "If that's the case, then the woman was acting the next morning? She first locked Xiao Yuan in the Kan room, then went to the Dui room, and stayed up all night. In the early morning, she took the poison on her own initiative, making herself look weak and poisoned. In this way, she is not afraid of everyone using the magic to sense her breath..."

"Fuck, what a cruel woman!"

"Yes, she has been very low-key these past two days. I really didn't realize she has this kind of personality."

"...!"

Everyone was talking about what Xiao Yuan said.

"That's right." King Huai nodded slowly. "On the first day, I returned to the Lizi room very early and sorted out clues and information by myself. After sorting them out, I was just about to wash up when I heard a door close clearly. I felt a little strange at the time, because the door closed almost immediately before 8:30, and there was only one sound... Now that I think about it, it should be a woman who came in, and the door closed so loudly because she wanted to give everyone the psychological impression that only one person would return to the room very late in the end."

"Don't underestimate this psychological impression, because it will affect your thinking invisibly." Ren Ye added.

After a long silence, the old cadre looked up and asked, "I want to see the scene you mentioned."

"No problem, it's downstairs." Ren nodded: "Let's take a look together."

"it is good."

Upon hearing this, everyone stood up and followed Ren downstairs, carefully checking the rat hole and scratches on the wall.

Everyone was silent when they saw this, and whether in their hearts or on the surface, they all believed what Ren Ye had just said.

Brother Hong stared at the scratches and said softly, "It's a perfect reasoning, with solid evidence and supporting evidence. There's nothing wrong with it."

Everyone was an experienced person, and they could guess what was going on after seeing the scene. So even Fatty Tan praised him, "You are very meticulous. You are really meticulous. You can even find such a faint mark in a place like this. Were you a 'monocular telescope' observer in the past? You like to explore the depths, right?"

"Go away." Ren didn't bother to pay attention to him: "I usually look at kaleidoscopes."

"call!"

Xiao Shuai stood up from the door of "Mouse's House", let out a long breath, and praised Ren for the first time: "Brother, I didn't realize that you have such a strong reasoning ability."

"It was just luck." Ren Ye smiled and waved his hand.

"Then tell us the second story quickly, about murder according to the rules of the secret room." Xiao Shuai said urgently, "Now you are the only hope of the village, you are the pillar, you are God!"

When Ren Ye told the woman's story, everyone had doubts about Ren Ye's character, IQ, reasoning ability, etc. But after the woman's story ended, even Xiao Shuai, who was the most hard-mouthed, began to speak softly.

This is human nature, adult society, and the principle of obedience to the strong in the group.

"In fact, the solution to the murder in the secret room is right in front of us, and everyone can see it." Ren also shook his head and sighed: "This Star Gate likes to play with human nature and thinking, just as perverted as Song Mingzhe's electric freezing stick."

"Everyone can see it?" Yin Hu, who had been aloof and silent, asked incredulously, "Where is it?!"

"On the first floor?" the old cadre also asked.

"...!"

Ren Ye put his hands behind his back and shook his head, saying softly, "Let's go, everyone, follow me back to the second floor."

"it is good!"

Everyone was very anxious, so they naturally followed Ren Ye closely and returned to the second-floor hall together.

After entering, Ren Ye took out a notebook, tore off a page of paper, and said softly: "Don't worry, I'll draw a picture, it will be more convenient for you to look at it."

Everyone gathered behind him, watching him write and draw on the paper with great concentration, without saying a word.

Ren also sat on the chair and quickly drew a simple Bagua diagram and wrote a few groups of words on each door.

Sand bag—Li Gate—Wu position—Horse.

Team Tan—Kun Gate—Kun Position—Sheep and Monkey.

Xiao Yuan - Dui Gate - You Position - Zodiac Rooster.

Veteran cadre stationmaster - Qian Gate - Qian Position - Zodiac signs are Pig and Dog.

Woman - Kanmen - Ziwei - born in the Year of the Rat.

Brother Hong - Gen Gate - Gen Position - Ox and Tiger.

Xiao Shuai - Zhen Men - Mao Position - Rabbit.

Brother Tiger—Xun Gate—Xun Position—Dragon and Snake.

On the desk, Ren also marked the characters for each door and the zodiac sign on the Bagua diagram.

After reading it, Xiao Shuai was surprised and said, "You called me Xiao Shuai? I didn't expect everyone to think so highly of me... Thank you!"

"Why am I an old cadre? Why?" The stationmaster was not happy with the nickname: "You can ask me my name."

Ren ignored them and stood up, narrating with a focused expression: "I said a long time ago that if you want to understand the murder mechanism of the secret room, you must first become Song Mingzhe psychologically. Because only by becoming him can you understand his murder logic, psychological motivations, etc. This is why I have to stay and search today."

"I have made a very detailed psychological portrait of Song Mingzhe. First of all, high-level players of the craftsman system are generally very focused, calm, smart, and stubborn. Otherwise, they may not even be able to pass the most common stage tasks. Because the craftsman system is different from other players' inheritance, we cannot afford to fail, because once we fail, we are likely to die. But players of the craftsman system have to face failure almost every moment, and they have to find a way to succeed in failure, and finally refine a powerful magical weapon."

Ren Ye's tone became very excited when he said this. He stretched out his hand and pointed at the eight rooms around the second floor hall. He said with a little admiration: "As the saying goes, if you are not crazy, you can't live. People who make props and magic weapons must also have this kind of enthusiasm to rebuild their confidence after countless failures."

"Look, the rooms on the second floor of this villa are so strangely built. They are arranged according to the Eight Diagrams. The size and layout of each room are exactly the same... This shows that Song Mingzhe is a madman who is trapped in refining magic weapons and cannot extricate himself."

"He is not only crazy, but also extremely patient, calm, and neither anxious nor slow... Most importantly, he is very obsessed with the art of Yin-Yang Taoism and attaches great importance to the sense of ritual!!!"

"The sense of ritual is very important. The yellow paper, millet, portrait... the funeral hall layout, etc. This Star Gate reminds us almost all the time that he is a pervert who must satisfy his inner desires before killing."

At this point, Brother Hong asked, "I still don't understand what you mean. You keep emphasizing these two points...what's the point?"

Ren Ye turned his head to look at him, pointed at the Bagua map on the table, and suddenly asked: "What zodiac sign does Xiao Yuan's door correspond to?"

"You wrote it. His family was born in the year of the Rooster!" Brother Hong replied without hesitation.

"What's the woman's zodiac sign?!" Ren Ye asked again.

"I'm a rat!" Xiao Shuai glanced at the table before looking up and replying.

At this point, Ren Ye paused, "What was in the room when Xiao Yuan died? What was in the room when the woman died?!"

"Fuck!"

Fatty Tan suddenly realized, "After Xiao Yuan died, a chicken head was placed on the bed; when the woman died, a rat head was placed on the bed. It matches, it matches. It's... it's the zodiac sign that killed people. He killed people according to the logic related to the zodiac sign?!"

"Fuck, you're so awesome!" The usually gentle old cadre couldn't help but swear, "But...but this isn't right. Didn't you say that the answer is right in front of us? But the logic of this zodiac killing requires deduction!"

"Do not."

Ren Ye waved his hand directly: "The zodiac sign has nothing to do with the logic of killing. It only represents what kind of zodiac animal Song Mingzhe will use to load your soul."

"Load our souls?!" Yin Hu didn't quite understand: "What does this mean?"

"On the first day, I found a pet snake of the law enforcement team in a fast food restaurant. There was a blurred word on the snake. Later, when Song Mingzhe was communicating with Lu Wentian at the Changsheng Taoist Temple, he said that he had tried countless times, but in the end only a green snake was successful. In this way, the blurred word became clear, it should be a 'Song'. This was Song Mingzhe's first successful masterpiece, so he stuck his seal on the green snake as a commemoration. After all, he is a person with a strong sense of ritual." Ren Ye narrated softly: "I have been wondering why he killed people? Now I have probably guessed a little. Xiao Yuan is dead, but when he appeared in Changsheng Temple, he had no external injuries on his body. And the wanted rules of Fulai County are actually divided into strong and weak levels according to smell. To put it bluntly, it is mainly based on spirit beasts to discover suspects and law enforcement teams to arrest them. So where do these spirit beasts come from?"

Upon hearing this, Yin Hu took the initiative to answer: "... extracting human souls and imprisoning them in the bodies of animals, giving them extremely terrifying intelligence and camouflage abilities?! After all, on the battlefield, an animal without magical fluctuations and enlightenment will not attract the enemy's attention."

"You are very smart." Ren nodded. "I guess this is the work he does for the Ministry of Works of the Justice Organization. The prisoners here should all be prisoners of the Bald Law Enforcement Team. They are enemies. They were originally sentenced to death, but were captured by Song Mingzhe as test subjects for soul extraction. Therefore, after the law enforcement team occupied Fulai County, they burned Song Mingzhe to death immediately, and executed him publicly in front of everyone. They did this as a cruel revenge."

"so cool!"

Xiao Shuai agreed: "I have also thought about this speculation, but not as detailed as you."

Yin Hu listened to Ren Ye's words and gritted his teeth and said, "Damn Song Mingzhe, he really shouldn't treat animals like this!"

"If we extract the souls of the victims according to their zodiac signs, what about the dragons?" Fatty Tan pondered, "The tiger's zodiac sign is the dragon. Could it be that Song Mingzhe can really catch a dragon for scientific research? That would be pretty awesome!"

"Maybe there are other alternatives." Ren also shook his head and said, "After all, there are many spiritual creatures that call themselves dragons, such as earth dragons, flying dragons, and various bird dragons that other civilizations call themselves. They all shamelessly add the word dragon to themselves."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Fat Tan nodded slightly.

Brother Hong thought for a moment and said, "Since it's not the logic of killing based on the zodiac sign, then what is it?"

Ren Ye looked at him and said, "Before you start a big job, do you usually tell fortunes? Do you know whether it's good or bad?!"

Brother Hong was stunned and shook his head: "No, this is a useless investment."

“But Song Mingzhe will definitely calculate, because he is a person with a strong sense of ritual and is obsessed with the art of Yin-Yang and Bagua.” Ren Ye walked over and said, “The corresponding direction of the Li Gate is - due south, and so on: Kun Gate southwest - Dui Gate west - Qian Gate northwest - Kan Gate north - Gen Gate northeast - Zhen Gate east - Xun Gate southeast.”

"We have the characters for each door and the directions, but how do we tell good and bad luck?" Ren Ye paused for a moment, glanced at everyone and asked, "Does anyone know how to tell fortunes? Do you understand Yin Yang and the Eight Trigrams?"

"I know a little bit and can use some magic tools to make calculations, but I'm not very proficient in it." Fat Tan replied truthfully.

"IM about the same."

"...My family asked me to learn it, but I'm too lazy to learn." Yin Hu frowned and said, "I learned a little bit from it. But there are so many ways to use the Eight Trigrams to predict good and bad luck. How do you know which one Song Mingzhe used?!"