Rebirth: Spoiling the Obsessive Film Emperor Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Four Clues  

If the word "killer" hadn't been mixed in, these letters would have been ordinary confessions and marriage proposals.  

But now, when these words are connected, they undoubtedly give off a threatening vibe.  

The letter writer is threatening the recipient, driven by love turned to hatred.  

The leverage in the threat is the recipient’s past unspeakable crimes.  

"The recipient is Xixi, and the sender is Jiao Yu. So, is the killer Xixi?" Wei Shu said, "Have the detectives already solved the case? Is the game over?"  

"It's not that simple," Xiao Xiao replied. "Don’t forget, these letters are from thirteen years ago, but the 'corpse' stuffed under the bed is still fresh. If the production team wanted us to investigate a case from years ago, they could’ve just put a skeleton there. Why bother with a fake body with skin and clothes?"  

Wei Shu: "..." That makes sense. No rebuttal.  

"So why does this woman’s manner of death match exactly how the victim in Jiao Yu’s letter to Xixi was described? Copycat crime?" Lei Miao couldn’t quite figure it out.  

Yin Chengjue had been examining the "corpse" and had just pulled an ID card from its pocket. The photo on the ID matched the dead woman’s face perfectly.  

This must be the proof of the victim’s identity.  

Rong Yu leaned over and froze when he saw the name on the ID in Yin Chengjue’s hand. "This…"  

"What? What is it? Who is she?" Wei Shu also crowded in. Yin Chengjue had already read the information on the ID and simply handed it over.  

The others gathered around and were equally stunned.  

"Xixi? The victim is actually Xixi! And her manner of death is exactly the same as the white-dressed woman described in the letter’s story—hanged in the hotel room. In the story, the white-dressed woman was discovered but, due to insufficient evidence, was ruled a suicide. The hotel then sealed off that room and used it as a storage space." Qin Ke was the first to find that letter and remembered the story vividly.  

There were seven letters in total, each with a story. Three of them involved deaths, all occurring in this hotel and remaining unsolved cases. The other four were positive—stories about love at first sight, weddings, baby banquets, and centenarian celebrations.  

The four happy stories corresponded to the password phrases: the confessions, the marriage proposal, and the line "I saw it was you." The three tragic stories matched the accusatory and threatening lines, ending with "I will kill you."  

Clearly, the content of the stories and the hidden messages’ emotions were somewhat connected, but this didn’t solve their current problem.  

"Too few clues. We need to keep searching," Yin Chengjue concluded. "Also, I think our three mission lines aren’t completely unrelated. On the contrary, they’re like the main plot and side plots of a story—inseparable."  

Yin Chengjue lifted his chin slightly, his dark eyes sweeping over each person’s face as he declared confidently, "The escape mission line requires solving puzzles to leave. Lei Miao can pick key locks but not combination locks, right?"  

Hearing this, Lei Miao sighed regretfully. "I was careless. I’ll study harder when I get back!"  

Qin Linlin behind the camera: "..." Next time, just give them electronic locks!  

Yin Chengjue wasn’t particularly interested in the young master’s side hustle and continued, "To solve the puzzles and escape, we must search for clues. But you should remember—this hotel still hides a killer. Since the killer trapped us here, they won’t let us find the escape clues easily."  

"Yikes!" Wei Shu shuddered, rubbing his goosebumps. "You’re saying there’s not just us here, but also a murderer?"  

Yin Chengjue nodded and dropped another bombshell: "If nothing unexpected happens, the killer is among us."  

A faint, almost sinister smile curled his lips. "I’ll hazard a guess—one of us not only has a mission line but also holds the killer card."  

"Right now, the clues are insufficient, so we can make two assumptions. First, the killer’s identity doesn’t conflict with their mission line—they can complete their task by helping their teammates. Second, the killer’s identity conflicts with their mission line—they must hide their identity to complete their task."  

"If that’s the case, the killer only conflicts with the detective mission line, right?" Hua Yun adjusted his glasses.  

"That’s what I thought at first, until I made two hypotheses." Yin Chengjue raised one finger. "Hypothesis one: What if the killer has the escape line, but their task as the killer is to keep everyone trapped here?"  

He raised a second finger. "Hypothesis two: What if the killer has the treasure hunt line, but their task as the killer is to steal the treasure? Does the game end the same way if the treasure is in the killer’s hands versus an ordinary player’s?"

Following Yin Chengjue’s logic, the group fell into deep thought.  

By this reasoning, they might not just have three mission line factions—there could be a fourth, with only one player in it…  

Wait, how many killers are there?  

With so little information, they could only speculate!  

"Let’s split up to search for clues, then share information later. We’ll see which team completes their mission first," Hua Yun suggested.  

No one objected. Yin Chengjue had wanted this outcome all along, so he naturally had no objections.  

In just a few sentences, he had positioned the killer—the target of the detective mission—as the enemy of the other two factions.  

Sometimes a variety show episode is only one or two hours long, but it’s actually edited down from one or two days of filming.  

Like now—after a thorough search for clues, five hours had passed, and their stomachs were growling.  

Fortunately, Qin Linlin had left food and drinks in the hotel restaurant, not daring to let the young masters starve.  

As they ate, they exchanged the clues they’d found, gradually piecing together the full backstory. The truth slowly emerged.  

There was no "thirteen years ago"—the letters had misled them.  

Just like when telling stories, people often say "once upon a time" to fill in a time element, pushing it into the past to create distance and make the story feel detached from reality.  

So the "thirteen years ago" was just a narrative trick. These events didn’t happen thirteen years ago—they happened in the last few days.  

They realized this after checking the hotel’s surveillance footage.  

Another piece of evidence: Xiao Xiao found a phone, managed to unlock it, and discovered a video of "Jiao Yu" writing a letter to "Xixi." The timestamp showed it was just three days ago.  

They’d been looking in the wrong direction. The stories in the letters weren’t set in the past—the time the letters were written was the key.  

"...So, the letters were written recently. The stories in them were death threats, warning the recipient that if they didn’t agree to marry, they’d die as described," Hua Yun summarized.  

"Wait, if the recipient saw the letters, even if they didn’t believe them, they wouldn’t come to this hotel to die, right? They’d avoid it!" Yang Ji blurted out before suddenly realizing. He exchanged a glance with Liu Qingling, and they both stomped and clapped excitedly. "Ah! It’s for the treasure!"  

Their exaggerated reactions earned them seven pairs of disdainful, "are you stupid?" looks.  

Liu Qingling coughed lightly. "Everyone, variety shows need entertainment. Cut us some slack."  

Wei Shu’s eyes filled with sympathy. "You guys have it so hard!"  

Yang Ji pretended to wipe away tears with a dramatic sigh.  

Liu Qingling elbowed him. "That’s enough. You’re overacting."  

Yang Ji immediately dropped the act. "Oh, fine. Back to business—where were we? Right, the treasure!"  

"I found a clue about the treasure," Rong Yu said, appearing like a ghost and holding up two printed photos. "These are bloody words I photographed under the bed in the last room on the third floor. There was a string of numbers—a password. I used it to open a locked box in the room. Inside was an empty golden box, but the velvet lining showed it once held a necklace."  

"Wow! So the treasure hunt line is confirmed?" Wei Shu stared at Rong Yu. "Rong Yu, are you on the treasure hunt line?"  

Rong Yu smiled faintly but didn’t answer.  

Yin Chengjue tapped the table lightly, redirecting everyone’s attention. "So, the current timeline is: Xixi did something unspeakable, Jiao Yu threatened her with letters, Xixi risked coming to the hotel described in the letters for the treasure, and Xixi was killed exactly as described. Therefore, the killer is Jiao Yu—and Jiao Yu is among us."  

He paused. "And now, the supposed treasure box has been found, but the treasure inside is missing. Since the victim didn’t have it, I’d guess the killer took it."  

"Um…" Rong Yu slowly raised his hand. "It’s also possible someone else took it, but their mission line isn’t the treasure hunt, so…"  

He left it at that, but the others understood.  

Someone from another mission line could’ve found the treasure and hidden it again to prevent the treasure hunters from completing their task first.  

"Damn! Is that how this game works?!" Wei Shu’s eyes widened as he looked around at the others in betrayal. "Where’s the basic trust between people?!"