After bursting out of the room, bright sunlight poured in, stinging his pupils and making them ache, prompting tears to well up. His skills had returned, but the shadowy corpse was gone... He stood at the doorway of the room, gazing around in surprise, delighted to realize he now found himself on the open corridor of the teacher's dormitory, with rows of rooms behind him, blue sky ahead, and a small garden beneath. "Room 3-208," Zhang Yuanqing glanced back at the room number where he had been held. "The task prompt mentioned the crime scene was Room 404 on the fourth floor of this building." Relief washed over him—this saved him the time of searching for the dormitory building. After all, he had only a little more than a minute left; if he encountered the detective team while searching for the crime scene, he would truly have to face off against seven of them. The final battle hadn't even begun, yet the game had already entered its climax. Zhang Yuanqing began sprinting, reaching the corridor and heading toward the fourth floor. Soon, he arrived at the fourth floor and accurately located Room 404. The door was tightly shut, as if locked, yet this did not daunt Zhang Yuanqing. Using a non-invasive method, he practiced spiritual transcendence, allowing his spirit to detach and pass through the security door into the room. "Click!" The latch sprung open, and the spirit within the room turned the handle. As the spirit returned, Zhang Yuanqing pushed open the security door and entered Room 404. He summoned his glasses of insight, swiftly scanning the living room—passing over the coffee table, television, sofa, and various furnishings—arranged neatly, clearly not the initial scene of the crime. Zhang Yuanqing then hurried through the living room, opened the doors to the bedroom and study, and discovered the murder scene in the study. The study was in disarray: chairs overturned, books scattered, glass fragments scattered throughout, indicating a violent struggle, with dry streaks of blood spread across the floor. In a corner of the room stood a single bed, its bedding disheveled. The body was nowhere to be seen—likely already taken by the police. Zhang Yuanqing, wearing the Observer's glasses, his gaze steady and focused, scanned every corner of the study like a scanner, moving steadily from one spot to another, paying meticulous attention to every detail—down to the underside of the single bed. "If this is the only scene of the incident, I won't be able to prove my innocence. Time is running out..." Suddenly, his eyes brightened. He opened his briefcase and pulled out his phone. The phone was not locked; it lit up instantly with just a touch, and the screen automatically played a video without any further action. In the video, the lighting was dim—the window curtains were drawn and the lights off, creating a quiet, intimate atmosphere. The camera was aimed at the desk, where a figure in a shirt sat by the side, facing away from the lens, wearing a mask and typing on a computer. "Ah, cough, cough..." the person at the desk cleared their throat several times, speaking with a heavy nasal tone. "I've been feeling under the weather lately—seasonal change, I think." The camera angle then lowered slightly as the person seated themselves. Then came a silence that lasted several seconds. After some hesitation, the phone holder spoke up: "Professor Li, I've come to Beijing specifically to have you review my manuscript." Professor Li, seated at his desk facing away, paid no attention, as if he felt there was little to say. The phone holder grew increasingly eager: "I know the previous version of the manuscript fell short—sales were disappointing, and it has somewhat damaged your reputation. But this time, I'm coming with confidence. Please take a look at my new book; I'm certain you'll be satisfied." Professor Li, with a thick nasal tone, replied: "I no longer have any interest in your manuscript." "Professor Li..." The phone holder stood up suddenly. "Alright!" Professor Li also rose, his tone now gentle: "Since you've made the journey all the way to Beijing, I can't let you leave empty-handed. Please set the manuscript down. Let's have a cup of tea. Meanwhile, you share your creative vision with me. As for whether I'll use your manuscript, that's something I'll decide on my own." The phone holder was overjoyed. In the video, Professor Li stands up and walks toward the glass cabinet by the desk, retrieving a water-pitcher-shaped foreign wine from inside. He returns with the bottle, looks directly at the camera, and says, "What are you doing with your phone?" "Nothing, actually..." The scene ends here—presumably, the suspect stops filming and puts away the phone. Ah, so it's like this... Zhang Yuanqing holds the phone, frowning thoughtfully. Suddenly, a brisk footstep sound comes from outside the corridor, followed by the sound of a key being inserted into the lock, then the front door of the living room opens. A group of people rush in. It's clearly the detective team led by Zhao the City God and the Earth God. At this moment, Zhao and the others have donned uniforms of security officers, some even carrying file folders, looking like they're on official business. Zhang Yuanqing pulled out a high-back chair, sat down, and crossed his legs, looking at everyone with a cold, amused smile. "The struggle between good and evil, the interplay of light and shadow, the duel between murderer and detective—all will be decided today. The great door of fate has been opened. Detectives, you will each face your own endings. As for me, the villain, I shall still escape justice. Only the legendary Sherlock Holmes can overcome me." Sun Miaomiao blinked her dark, glossy eyes: "But you don't really have much charm, do you? You're quite strange, aren't you?" Zhang Yuanqing's expression stiffened; with no energy left to continue, he waved his hand around like he was driving away flies. "Alright, alright! Let's begin! I'm throwing the thunder hall mother's signal!" As soon as the words fell, the spiritual realm's announcement echoed in the ears of the eight contestants: 【All participants are present. The duel has begun. This round is—The Trial by Accusation!】 【Duel Mode: The detective must present evidence to implicate the suspect. The suspect must clear their name within the specified time frame; failure to do so results in a guilty verdict. Once the suspect clears their name, the detective must then present further evidence within the time limit; failure to do so results in an acquittal.】 【Note: No skills may be used during this round. No physical combat is allowed.】 The rules were simple: the suspect had to refute each piece of evidence presented by the detective, proving their innocence. Because of its simplicity, there were hardly any room for loopholes. Sun Miaomiao listened carefully, then turned to Tianxia Guihuo and praised, "You were absolutely right—this round truly comes down to who holds the most leverage. We have abundant evidence of misconduct from Yuanshishen, giving us a strong advantage." Tianxia Guihuo felt a touch of pride and said, "In this stage, the detective's advantage is naturally strong. But the suspect certainly has his own strengths—his leverage, I believe, lies precisely in the briefcase at your feet, Yuanshishen." Zhang Yuanqing nodded, "Indeed, there are several clues inside." "Found inside the prison cell?" "Yes." Tianxia Guihuo mused, "We received a task alert just below the floor—specifically, we were instructed to capture the suspect eight minutes after the alert. I've been timing it precisely, and you managed to escape the cell in about six minutes. Based on your level of performance, we can reasonably assess the difficulty of escaping the cell, and that difficulty level will reflect the significance of the clues inside the briefcase." You'll barely make it out in two minutes more—clearly, the clues inside the briefcase are crucial." Everyone immediately turned to Zhang Yuanqing. "Indeed, they are crucial," Zhang Yuanqing smiled and nodded in affirmation. Su Miao Miao and the others looked visibly troubled, even the usually aloof and reserved Zhao Chenguang raised an eyebrow, his gaze shifting between Yuan Shǐ Tian Zun and Tian Xia Gui Huo. During their time in the room, Tian Xia Gui Huo had boldly deduced the gameplay of this stage based on the items and information provided by the detective team, and the just-received task prompt confirmed his prediction. Precisely on target. Now, not only had Zhang Yuanqing escaped from the cell, but he had also secured key clues, further increasing the difficulty for the detective team. These points clearly demonstrate that the two are indeed more skilled at navigating the quest than the others. Zhao Chenguang returned his gaze, furrowed his brow, and said, "Enough with the small talk—let's begin." "Having said that, the man dressed in a police officer's uniform opened his carry-on briefcase, took out a document, and read aloud: 'The suspect is Yuan Shǐ Tian Zūn. He has been a key figure in Professor Li's research team, and unwilling to be laid off, visited Professor Li at 3 p.m. yesterday to persuade him to continue the collaboration. When Professor Li refused, a verbal argument ensued, which escalated into a physical confrontation. In a fit of rage, he stabbed Professor Li to death with a fruit knife placed on the table. Meanwhile, Professor Li, just before passing away, knocked him unconscious with a coffee pot to the back of his head. 'Professor Li's wife returned home after her lecture and discovered her husband dead and you unconscious beside him.' There were also spectators outside the arena who remained silent, observing quietly. At this moment, the arena was as quiet as a cinema—everyone was fully immersed in the unfolding story, having forgotten to speak. The case's sequence of events had unfolded like this… Zhang Yuanqing listened intently, grasping the details of the incident. At the same time, a task notification sounded in his ears: 【Ding! You must prove within the next ten minutes that you are not the murderer. Countdown begins…】 I need to challenge the fingerprint on the fruit knife and the bruise on the back of the head. The fingerprint on the fruit knife is a given fact; to refute it, I must present a plausible and logical explanation. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Zhang Yuanqing quickly assumed the role of the protagonist and asked, "Could I ask Officer Zhao, whether the crime scene was disturbed at all?" Officer Zhao replied calmly, "Apart from the evidence collected during the investigation, everything remained exactly as it was." Zhang Yuanqing then added, "Until I can verify my own innocence, I would like to review the official scene investigation report." He needed to confirm one specific point in order to establish his own clear innocence. However, the on-site investigation report is part of the security officer's case-handling process and falls within the workflow—thus, it is not among the evidences listed herein. Tian Xia Gui shook his head and declined: "Beyond the evidence, we have no obligation to meet your demands, including the on-site investigation reports." Zhang Yuanqing ignored him and turned to Zhao Chenghuang, mocking, "Of course, Zhao's security officer is entirely within his rights to refuse. After all, I am so powerful that any convenience you offer can be turned into a decisive advantage—your fears, I fully understand!" Zhao Chenghuang raised an eyebrow, "A rather clumsy form of persuasion, yet effective." He then tossed over the on-site investigation materials, including photographs and written records. "Ah, you—!" Tian Xia Gui exclaimed, his expression now irritated. Though the persuasion was clumsy, it had clearly worked. Zhang Yuanqing smiled, and to save time, he swiftly skimmed through the reports on the bodies and fingerprints, focusing instead on the residual materials found at the scene. Half a minute later, he returned the report and began to defend himself: "In fact, I have 500 degrees of nearsightedness. It's well known that with 500 degrees of nearsightedness, the world becomes blurry once you remove your glasses. There were no broken lens fragments left at the scene, nor were there any mentioned in the inspection report. This means I accidentally knocked over my glasses before I visited Professor Li. 'How could I have committed the murder without my glasses?' Zhang Yuanqing opened his briefcase and removed the broken glasses, presenting them to everyone. The glasses showed a completely empty left frame, while the right frame still had the lens, though it was covered with cracks. The person who had no sense of music remarked, 'Without your glasses, you were still able to fight the victim and stab him with a fruit knife. Nearsightedness doesn't mean you're blind. This cannot serve as evidence of your innocence.' 'Being unable to see clearly doesn't mean you can't kill someone,' Zhang Yuanqing nodded. 'However, the combat traces at the scene clearly prove that I did not commit the murder.' Sun Miaomiao asked, "How do you prove that?" "If I had intended to kill Professor Li at this moment, yet my glasses were damaged and my vision blurred, I would have quietly hidden my knife and waited for a chance to strike him from behind—a single, decisive blow. I would never have engaged him in a full-fledged fight, because with my vision impaired, I wouldn't have been able to compete effectively." Zhang Yuanqing spoke with confidence. "Therefore, the traces of the struggle in the study serve as proof of my innocence." The side-by-side prompt sound did not activate—his argument fell short. Tianxia Guihuo smiled and said, "You're right. But could it be that you, intending to strike secretly, made noise due to your blurred vision, and thus were discovered by Professor Li, leading to the confrontation?" "There is indeed such a possibility!" Zhang Yuanqing agreed. As Sun Miaomiao and the others smiled, he countered, "Yet why are the bloodstains found behind me?" He then stood up from the armchair, facing away from everyone. At this moment, everyone noticed the large dry streaks of blood on his back and a few deep black streaks on the back of his trousers. Zhang Yuanqing turned around and smiled, saying, "The findings from the practical report indicate that the murderer was stabbed through the heart. Yet blood splattered onto my back—how is that possible? I couldn't have been facing away from the victim when I killed him. Considering both the glasses and the bloodstains, it's reasonable to conclude that the murderer is not me." 【叮！The detective must prove the suspect is the murderer within ten minutes. Countdown begins...】 Indeed, merely raising a question and creating a paradox was enough to overturn the detective's claim—even if there were my fingerprints on the fruit knife, the principle of reasonable doubt would apply. Zhang Yuanqing exhaled gently. Tianxu, though deeply dissatisfied, accepted the outcome as expected, given that his opponent was Yuanshǐ Tianzun. It wasn't this easy to resolve. Others furrowed their brows; though among them were several who had voted for Zhao Chenguang—such as Qingsongzi and the Earth Deity—those were decisions from the previous round. In this round, everyone shared a common target: Yuan Shi Tianzun. If Yuan Shi Tianzun were eliminated, all contestants would lose ten points. "...The land god dressed in leather jacket and leather pants smiled and said, 'Young fellow, you're quite impressive—though you have little experience in investigating cases, you've managed to overturn the accusations so swiftly. That's real talent. I'll give you one more challenge.' He then pulled out a stack of documents from his briefcase and said, 'The on-site security officer collected fingerprints from three people: yours, Professor Li's, and his wife's. According to Mr. Wang next door, only you visited Professor Li between 3:00 and 3:30 that afternoon, until his wife arrived home and filed the alarm. Therefore, the murderer must be you.' [Beep! You must prove within the next ten minutes that you are not the murderer. Countdown begins...] Zhang Yuanqing received the task notification once again. This was an unfair contest—for detectives, the pressure could be eased simply by gathering evidence and presenting it systematically. In contrast, the accused had to rely entirely on the information at hand, carefully constructing their defense to clear their names." Fingerprints and testimonies point to me—how can I overturn them? No, I cannot, because these are genuine. How can one overturn something true? Zhang Yuanqing pondered deeply, remaining silent for a long time. The contestants' spirits instantly lightened, quietly counting the minutes with a sense of ease. Let's try a different approach. Given that the evidence is irrefutable, how can I prove my own intelligence? From my perspective, I must prove my innocence—therefore, the murderer must be someone else. He carefully recalled the case details, then suddenly brightened: "Indeed, no one visited the room between the time I entered and when Professor Li's wife returned. But what if the murderer was already inside the room at that time?" Fingerprints and testimonies are solid evidence—but that doesn't necessarily mean they are correct! Tian Gui's expression suddenly grew grave. The other contestants hesitated for two seconds, then their minds quickly settled, finding Yuan Shǐ Tian Zūn's sharp insight and tenacity increasingly challenging.