When the book-traveling little detective meets the two-faced prince

In response to Lin Lezhi's question, Cheng Su's eyes showed a hint of displeasure. He snorted coldly and said, "Do you want to say that the injury on Wu Sanshan's hand was not caused by the fire on the boat?"

Because he was holding Wu Sanshan's severed hand, Lin Lezhi nodded slightly and praised: "General Cheng is wise, it is just as you said."

Facing the puzzled looks of the crowd, Lin Lezhi's eyes were calm and he spoke clearly, "Judging from the circumstances in which Wu Sanshan's body was found in the boat, Wu Sanshan was drugged and knocked unconscious, and then placed face up in the bottom cabin. When a person is face up and unconscious, the most natural and comfortable position is with the palms facing down."

As he spoke, Lin Lezhi turned the severed hand in his hand, palm facing down, and showed it to everyone.

Many people, including Liu Yunhe, were secretly trying to manipulate their tactics to see if it was as Lin Lezhi said.

"The palm is facing downward, so the back of the hand should be closest to the fire. However, there is no trace of burns on the back of this hand, but on the palm. This shows that Wu Sanshan's hand was most likely burned by the fire and fell into the water due to the rupture of the hull."

Lin Lezhi showed his palm to everyone and continued, "And the injury on his palm could only have been caused before that."

"Since Wu Sanshan is already unconscious, it is very likely that his hand was deliberately cut by the murderer."

Hearing Meng Dafeng's objection, Lin Lezhi did not show any embarrassment on his face. Instead, he was very calm and nodded in agreement, "Brother Meng is right."

Meng Dafeng was confused by Lin Lezhi's inconsistent words and asked puzzledly: "Then what's the point of inferring whether the palm of the severed hand is facing downwards?"

"Of course there is!" Lin Lezhi said firmly, then looked at everyone and said, "What if Wu Sanshan was not unconscious from the beginning?"

"what?!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces turned pale with shock.

"How is it possible? If Wu Sanshan wasn't unconscious and there were no ropes tied to his body, at this critical moment, he would have kicked the plank away and escaped. How could he allow...allow himself to be trampled to death!"

Deng Yang was very excited and said in disbelief.

The people present also talked aloud, and they were equally unable to agree, let alone put themselves in their shoes.

Lin Lezhi's eyes flashed with a sharp look, and his expression became more determined. "Yes, the murderer has laid out such a painstaking plan, and every step is calculated ingeniously. He must hope that his plan will be foolproof. Then why didn't he trap Wu Sanshan with a rope? Aren't they afraid that Wu Sanshan will wake up in the middle of the plan and fail?"

Lin Lezhi's words exploded in everyone's ears like thunder. Everyone was shocked and fell into deep thought.

"But...but you said he wasn't unconscious. How...how is this possible?"

Deng Yang's expression became more and more frustrated, unable to understand.

"At first I thought it was impossible. How could someone remain calm in the face of imminent death?"

As he spoke, Lin Lezhi looked at Guan Ziheng who was frightened and at a loss, and continued, "It was not until last night when Ziheng and I were talking by the lake that the lanterns by the lake woke me up."

"Lanterns?" Liu Yunhe asked puzzledly.

"Do you remember what happened on the lake the day the lantern boat burned?"

"Blood was spreading from the bottom of the boat, and the people were so frightened that they knocked over the lanterns on the boat, and the fire spread instantly. There were bloodstains and many burnt lanterns on the lake."

"anything else?"

Lin Lezhi asked, his expression and words making him sure that there was something else on the lake.

When asked this by Lin Lezhi, Meng Dafeng tried hard to recall everything that happened at that time, but he just couldn't remember what was left out, and his brows looked very solemn.

Jiang Lian'an frowned slightly, his expression showing a thoughtful look. After a while, a bright color flashed in his eyes, and then he looked towards the fire room with a slightly narrowed eye color, as if he had thought of something.

But he did not speak. Instead, he looked at Lin Lezhi with a hint of curiosity in his eyes. He waited quietly to see how Lin Lezhi would respond.

"Lamp...lamp oil."

Suddenly an uncertain voice was heard and everyone looked over.

The person who spoke was He Yu, who had not spoken for a long time. His eyes were a little evasive, as if he was not sure about what he said.

Lin Lezhi's eyes brightened, and he said affirmatively: "Brother He is right, it is lamp oil."

Although Lin Lezhi affirmed what He Yu said, He Yu did not look happy. Instead, he looked flustered.

However, now everyone's eyes are on Lin Lezhi, and only Meng Dafeng noticed that something is wrong with He Yu. Looking at He Yu, a hint of worry rose in Meng Dafeng's eyes.

"That day, the lantern boat was burned, and the oil from the lanterns on the boat flowed into the lake, forming large patches of oil on the lake surface. Because wax oil is insoluble in water, it turned into a pale yellow waxy substance after being cooled by the lake water."

"But think carefully, everyone. The boats moored by the lake last night were also burned by the fire. Did the lake surface have large patches of oil?"

"Well... doesn't seem to be?"

The soldiers who participated in the firefighting that day said in an uncertain tone.

Lin Lezhi turned to look at Guan Ziheng and asked, "Ziheng, you were with me by the lake last night. Did you see any oil floating on the lake?"

Guan Ziheng panicked when he was suddenly asked this question. Then he tried to recall what he had seen and quickly shook his head, "No... No, I really didn't see it."

"If it's not on the lake, where did the oil go?"

Zhou Yuanliang asked in confusion.

Lin Lezhi turned his gaze towards the direction of the fire room, his eyes deepened as he said, "It's far away in the horizon, yet it's right before our eyes."

Zhou Yuanliang suddenly thought of something, his eyes widened in disbelief, "Are you talking about the wax in the fire room?"

Lin Lezhi nodded, his eyes slightly heavy. He did not continue talking about the wax oil, but turned to look at everyone and asked, "Do you remember where you found the broken rope of the lantern boat?"

"In the middle of the lake."

Liu Yunhe, who was on the same boat with Lin Lezhi, blurted out the answer without thinking too much.

Because Liu Yunhe clearly remembered that when they stopped the boat to salvage the rope, Lin Lezhi stood on the boat and stared at the other side of the lake with deep eyes as if there was something he couldn't figure out.

"Ah."

After confirming Liu Yunhe's answer, Lin Lezhi turned to look at the panicked Deng Yang and asked, "That day, the rope was taken back to General Cheng's boat. Brother Deng, do you still remember the rope you found in the middle of the lake that day? What were the two ends of the rope like?"

Deng Yangqiang pulled himself together and calmed himself down. After trying hard to recall, he said, "Well... it seems that one side is intact, while the other side has traces of being burned."

Hearing this, Lin Lezhi did not show any surprise on his face, as if he had known this would happen.

"Thank you, Brother Deng, for telling me."

After that, Lin Lezhi looked at everyone, his eyes slightly narrowed, and said: "As I said before, if we want this plan to be carried out seamlessly, in addition to the help of Chang Feizhang, we also need someone who is extremely familiar with the changes on this lake island."

Lin Lezhi's eyes darkened, and he wavered as he said, "Maybe...even God is helping them."

The clues Lin Lezhi mentioned earlier were completely unrelated, and now he brought up the subject of God. Hong Mingxu said unhappily, "You said a bunch of nonsense, and you're talking nonsense about God. I think you can't solve this case, and you're deliberately talking nonsense here to waste everyone's time!"

Lin Lezhi was not at all flustered by Hong Mingxu's rage, and a sad smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"General Cheng, Captain Hong, please calm down. What I said is not a joke. God really helped them."

Lin Lezhi said respectfully, "Please calm down," but in Hong Mingxu's opinion, Lin Lezhi was just talking nonsense and being rude and provocative to the general.

Just as he was about to attack, Cheng Su gave him a disconcerting look, and Hong Mingxu could only suppress his anger.

Lin Lezhi's eyes became more determined as he said, "Although it sounds like nonsense and has nothing to do with it, if we want the truth to come to light, every point I just said is indispensable."

Lin Lezhi's eyes darkened, and he said with a hint of hesitation, "Because this is the path Wu Sanshan chose to die on."