After this incident, everyone was in a bad mood and silently returned to the courtyard where they were staying.
"What does she mean by calling it a ridiculous wedding that we willingly came to attend?" Tao Jianchun couldn't help but complain. "As if we wanted to come here."
"In her eyes, we are just guests who came willingly to attend the wedding," Zhuang Xiaoxia said with a bitter smile. "NPCs don't understand what it means to enter a dungeon."
Gu Wanyin had previously asked the black-robed ghost, who said that some NPCs in the dungeon were employee ghosts with self-awareness, but were restricted by punishment mechanisms. However, some NPCs had no self-awareness and were only completing their own storylines.
"What do we do now?" Chen Sisi rubbed her temples. "We have some clues, but it feels like we're still far from the truth."
"I think the Second Young Master killed the Elder Young Master for the sake of his lover," Dong Yue said.
"Yeah, didn't they say that when the Second Young Mistress was supposed to marry the Elder Young Master, she cried every day, but after he died, she stopped crying?" Gu Han said. "She and the Second Young Master must be in love with each other."
Bai Shuwen frowned and said, "If that's the case, why did the Second Young Mistress end up like that? And why did she say this was a ridiculous wedding?"
"Moreover, this wedding is very strange."
"Wanyin, what do you think?"
Gu Wanyin was rubbing the Little Squirrel System's head when she was suddenly called upon. She said, "I think the conditions for passing this dungeon are not just finding the killer of the Elder Young Master, but also uncovering all the truths in this mansion."
"What other truths?" Tao Jianchun asked, puzzled.
"All the events that occurred between the three key figures: the Elder Young Master, the Second Young Master, and the Second Young Mistress," Gu Wanyin said. "No, actually four. There's one more..."
Just as everyone was listening intently to Gu Wanyin, a voice suddenly sounded from behind them: "Everyone, I've brought you lunch."
The sudden voice startled them. They turned around to see that it was the Butler, who had come with several servants to deliver food.
After setting down the food boxes, they left. Gu Wanyin continued, "The fourth one is the Butler."
"That doesn't seem right. The Butler is just a servant with a bit more power. How can he be considered a key figure?" Tao Jianchun asked, confused.
"I understand now," Bai Shuwen nodded. "Earlier, the maid mentioned to you that the Butler and the Second Young Master have always had a bad relationship. If the Butler was just an insignificant person, there would be no need for the NPC to mention this to you."
"That's true."
Gu Wanyin stroked the squirrel's head while recalling what the people outside had said earlier.
There was one thing that bothered her.
The Second Young Master's birth mother was a second wife, and she had been forced to marry into the family against her will...
"This afternoon, let's go ask when the Butler came to this mansion," Gu Wanyin said. "Let's eat first."
After running around all morning, she was already hungry.
The lunch was packed in several large food boxes. They took out the dishes one by one and placed them on the table.
It was a lavish meal, but thinking of Liu Zhuang's gruesome death, they felt repulsed by the meat dishes.
So they didn't touch the meat dishes at all, just ate the rice with a few vegetable dishes, and each munched on a few pieces of pastry.
The Little Squirrel System was also nibbling on a piece of mung bean cake.
"Heh..."
Suddenly, 066's voice sounded in Gu Wanyin's mind: "I don't understand what's so great about that naive fool 088. Is it just because it can give you a comfortable life and invincible buffs that you won't give it up?"
"You should understand," Gu Wanyin answered in her mind while stroking the Little Squirrel System's head. "If I was only after a comfortable life and invincible buffs, I really wouldn't need to come to this horror world to look for it. I could have stayed in the hotel, and sooner or later, the Star Alliance would have assigned me a new Apocalypse System, considering I've won first place so many times. But for me, 088 is a companion, even family. So even if it can't give me those benefits anymore, I won't abandon it."
"Family?" 066 seemed to have heard something particularly amusing. "Are you confused? We are systems, not humans. How did it become your family?"
Gu Wanyin didn't bother to argue with it, only saying, "See, you don't even understand this. That's the difference between you and 088."
066 fell silent again.
By now, the Little Squirrel System had eaten its fill and was lying contentedly on Gu Wanyin's lap, patting its little belly.
Gu Wanyin couldn't resist rubbing its round head again.
The Little Squirrel System struggled a bit and then bit her finger.
"Ouch..."
Gu Wanyin drew in a sharp breath, poked its head, and said with a smile, "You little ingrate."
Tao Jianchun couldn't understand her behavior of treating the little squirrel like a treasure and left with a gloomy face.
After a while, he came running back.
"I just happened to run into an old nanny who looks even older than the Butler, so I asked her when the Butler came to this mansion," Tao Jianchun said, panting. "Guess when he came?"
"Oh, just spit it out! Don't keep us in suspense!" Chen Sisi urged.
"He came with the Second Young Master's birth mother!" Tao Jianchun said. "Apparently, when the Second Young Master's mother married into the family, she brought dowry including not only silver and land but also several servants. The Butler was one of them! A few years after he came here, the master saw that he was capable and promoted him to Butler."
"This..."
Although it seemed like a very ordinary matter, it appeared not so ordinary in this context.
"If that's the case, then the Butler is practically family to the Second Young Master's birth mother. How could he have a bad relationship with the Second Young Master?" Dong Yue frowned in confusion.
"It's a cover-up," Gu Wanyin said calmly.
"What do you mean?" Tao Jianchun looked puzzled.
The others' expressions changed.
"Boss Gu, you don't mean to say... the Butler and the Second Young Master, they actually..."
"There's no evidence!" Gu Wanyin shook her head regretfully. "Even if it's true, the Butler and the Second Young Master would certainly never admit it."
"What connection could the relationship between them have with the Elder Young Master's murder case?" Chen Sisi frowned deeply, feeling that her brain capacity was already insufficient.
Bai Shuwen suddenly changed his expression: "Could it be that we've been wrong from the beginning? Maybe the Second Young Master isn't the one who killed the Elder Young Master."
"Perhaps... the Second Young Mistress can give us the answers to all of this," Gu Wanyin said.
However, they searched the mansion all afternoon and couldn't find the Second Young Mistress.
When they asked the servants in the mansion, they all kept their mouths shut.
By nightfall, Gu Wanyin and the others went to bed early.
It might get noisy outside again at night, so they went to bed early to get more rest.
In the middle of the night, when Gu Wanyin was in a half-asleep state, she heard laughter from outside.
However, compared to last night, the laughter seemed louder and more distinct.
The door doesn't have good soundproofing, Gu Wanyin thought.
But at that moment, a cold breeze blew in.
Gu Wanyin was about to pull the blanket tighter when she suddenly realized: where could the wind be coming from inside the room?
She abruptly opened her eyes and saw that the door to their room had somehow been opened!
