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

Lin Lezhi's words were so bizarre and terrifying that everyone's face showed expressions of shock and disbelief.

How is it possible for someone to choose the path to his own death?

"I know this sounds unbelievable. How could a normal person allow himself to die in such a tragic way? But... no matter how unbelievable it is, it is the truth."

Lin Lezhi glanced at Guo Yong's corpse on the ground, and then said, "Four days ago at Jianghe Inn, Guo Yong told everyone about the origin of the name Huaifeng Village. It's because Huaifeng Village is built on an island in the lake where you can hardly feel the wind. Even if there is a breeze, it's just a gentle breeze. It's so magical that it's like a blessing from the gods, holding the wind blowing from all directions in its arms, holding the wind in its arms, and that's why Huaifeng Village got its name."

"But it's the island, not the lake, that can barely feel the wind."

Lin Lezhi's eyes darkened as he asked, "Hasn't everyone ever wondered how this lantern boat with a broken rope could return to the shore in the right direction, with all the lanterns on the boat still burning, in autumn, especially at night, when the wind on the lake was strong?"

Visitors from other places may not know what the lantern festivals were like in the past, but Deng Yang and Zhou Yuanliang, the locals of Pinghai Town, know it. Especially Deng Yang, who always stands at the front and tries his best to pull the boat, knows it best.

Deng Yang's brows were solemn as he said, "It is indeed strange. In previous years, when the boats came back from the opposite direction, even in the summer when the wind was very light, most of the lanterns fixed on the boats would go out when they were pulled back. Not to mention the autumn, it was a blessing to have more than ten lights on, but this year, all the lanterns on the boat were lit."

Deng Yang was shocked as he spoke, still haunted by Wu Sanshan's death, but he continued truthfully, "Before the lantern boat accident, everyone said it was a miracle."

"It was not a miracle that made all the lanterns on the boat light up, but a human miracle, and the person who created this miracle was Wu Sanshan."

Lin Lezhi paused for a moment, and faced with the confusion of the crowd, he said calmly: "Although I don't know Wu Sanshan's origins, the fact that Wu Sanshan has lived in Pinghai Town until now is witnessed and spread by all Pinghai Town residents. Brother Deng can clearly remember the arrangements of each lantern festival and the situation of the lanterns on the boat, and Wu Sanshan is no exception."

"Under Chang Feizhang's arrangement, Wu Sanshan hid in the bottom cabin in advance with a soul-calling bell that could show his identity. This was not difficult for Wu Sanshan, who was thin. So, with everyone's combined efforts, the boat was slowly pushed away from the lake at twilight hour and arrived at the lake island at twilight hour."

"In order to find Wu Sanshan as soon as possible and solve the case earlier, General Cheng ordered Captain Hong to take off his military uniforms and put on civilian clothes to search for Wu Sanshan's boat along the lake and search the island. So, at the time of Xu, Captain Hong was still on the island."

Hong Mingxu looked unhappy and said sternly: "What happened to me on Lake Island? Now, the brothers who accompanied me to the island have unfortunately died in Shekou. Do you want to slander me and say that I deceived the general?"

Hearing this, Cheng Su looked at Lin Lezhi with a gloomy look, but said nothing.

"Captain Hong certainly didn't lie to General Cheng. I want to say that Captain Hong was very responsible. To ensure that nothing was missed, he stayed on the island for another hour before returning to Pinghai Town. During that time, he also went to the ship to check carefully and confirmed that there were no people hiding on the ship. Captain Hong and the other two dead soldiers saw with their own eyes that most of the lanterns on the ship were extinguished. Is that true?"

"So what?!"

"Yes, that's right."

"What do you mean?" Cheng Su's eyes darkened and he asked in a deep voice.

"Wu Sanshan and Chang Feizhang planned the island together. When the boat arrived at the island, the most important thing was to change the location of the abandoned objects in the weeds so that we could enter Huaifeng Village where the skull was placed according to their plan when we landed on the island the next day. It was pitch black at night and difficult to see. There were only five hours until the morning. Even if the fog was not heavy that night and we were familiar with the island, it would take half of the time just to go back and forth between the two Huaifeng villages. Time must have been very tight."

"But Wu Sanshan didn't come out of the cabin immediately when the boat reached the shore. Could it be that he had the ability to predict the future and knew that someone was investigating on the island?"

Lin Lezhi looked at Cheng Su and asked, "General, do you know why?"

Hearing this, Cheng Su's expression became solemn, as if he had understood the meaning of Lin Lezhi's words, but he still asked in a deep voice: "Why?"

"Because someone leaked the secret."

"On that day, when the general ordered Lieutenant Hong to investigate, there were only me, Liu Yunhe, Jiang Guitan, General Cheng, Lieutenant Hong, and Chang Feizhang in the military account book. He hurried over to report to the general about the investigation of Wu Sanshan's background and asked the general whether to release the lantern ceremony."

"Captain Hong has the general who is traveling with him as a witness. Captain Hong respects the general very much, which is obvious to everyone. He would never betray the general. Detective Jiang Gui stayed in the military tent with the general until the Lantern Festival."

Lin Lezhi turned to look at Liu Yunhe and continued, "Liu Yunhe and I left together and returned to the inn. We didn't go anywhere else, so..."

Lin Lezhi turned his gaze towards the crowd, his eyes darkened, and he said with certainty: "The only person who left alone and without any witnesses was Chang Feizhang."

"I think that after Chang Feizhang hurriedly left the tent, he told Wu Sanshan that General Cheng had ordered Captain Hong to investigate the lake island, and asked Wu Sanshan to be careful and not to be discovered by the search for Captain Hong."

Lin Lezhi paused for a moment, his calm eyes sharpened as he said, "This is one of the reasons why I suspect that this case was a joint conspiracy between Chang Feizhang and Wu Sanshan."

"Go on." Cheng Su ordered.

"Yes, General."

Lin Lezhi nodded slightly and continued, "After making sure there was no more noise by the lake and Captain Hong and his men had indeed left, Wu Sanshan opened the wooden planks of the bottom cabin and climbed out. He then went into the forest to change the location of the abandoned items, arranged everything he wanted us to see in the village, and then returned to the lantern boat. Then, when everyone gathered by the lake at the hour of Mao and waited, he sailed the boat to the shore."

"Before the ship sails out of the fog, light up all the lanterns, tie the soul-calling bell to the inside of the hanging lanterns, hide yourself in the bottom cabin, and wait for the lantern ship to dock."

"impossible!"

Deng Yang immediately questioned, "Your inference that Wu Sanshan returned to the lantern boat is indeed reasonable, but it is reasonable for the lantern boat to float downstream to the lake island, but Wu Sanshan would never sail the boat to the center of the lake. The lantern boat was full of lanterns, and because it would take manpower to pull it back the next day, there were no oars on the boat."

"No abandoned oars were found in the burned wreckage or on the lake surface. The boat was too far from the lake surface to row by hand, and the rope was broken. How could Wu Sanshan sail the boat to the center of the lake?"

"Could it be that Wu Sanshan jumped into the lake and pushed the boat?" Confusion rose in Deng Yang's eyes, and his brows knitted tightly. He immediately refuted it and said, "If that were the case, there would be water stains on the boat. When I jumped onto the stern and tied the rope, there was no water stain on the boat."

"possible."

Facing Deng Yang's doubts, Lin Lezhi responded calmly, then showed the severed hand in his hand to everyone, and said with a firm look in his eyes: "This severed hand is the best proof."