The twelve players quickly finished their introductions.

In this world, there were eight men and four women.

Xia Zeqin was the eldest son, Qin Nan was the second son, the third was a male player from Xia Zeqin's team, the fourth son was a middle-aged man from the other team, Lin Junru was the eldest daughter, Xia Zeqin's female companion was the second daughter, Jian Fan was the family doctor, Zheng Jueming was the accountant, Xu Tian was the eldest daughter-in-law, Mu Xin was the third daughter-in-law, the male player from the second team was a distant nephew, and the last player, also from Xia Zeqin's team, was the family’s younger brother.

"Second young master is still single?" Lin Junru teased after everyone had introduced themselves.

Qin Nan shrugged helplessly and replied, "So, my relationship with him is really not that good."

Suddenly, a scream pierced through the conversation from outside.

"Let's go check it out," Xia Zeqin said, standing up first. As he moved, his female companion also got up, and they walked to the front. The other players followed suit, rising one by one.

Jian Fan stayed at the back, and Qin Nan deliberately slowed his pace to walk alongside him.

Jian Fan seemed a bit surprised. "Aren't you worried I might be the murderer?"

"You need a long-term partner," Qin Nan replied. Getting through a level was about surviving a bit longer. He believed Jian Fan's goal aligned with his own: to survive and escape this deadly situation. They both needed a reliable and capable partner.

Perhaps in some worlds, they would temporarily become adversaries, but one shouldn't focus solely on the present. Losing a reliable partner could forfeit many advantages in future worlds. Although they were in a game and had to follow the rules, their ultimate goal was to clear the game, not to turn against each other and sacrifice their partners.

Of course, given their current relationship, complete trust was still out of reach.

Because of Qin Nan's words, Jian Fan glanced at him again.

"Do you think I'm reliable?" Qin Nan raised an eyebrow and asked.

A strong look of disdain crossed Jian Fan's face.

Qin Nan paused, made a gesture to zip his lips, realizing he shouldn't make jokes with someone so serious; it was akin to courting disaster.

The group arrived at the main courtyard of the mansion, quickly discovering the body lying in the main room.

The deceased was a middle-aged man, dressed in luxurious clothing, undoubtedly their stepfather. He lay face up on the ground, eyes wide open, seemingly unable to close them even in death. Beneath him was a pool of blood, which had coincidentally formed a pattern, blending perfectly with the ground's color to create a Taiji symbol.

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In the crime scene, there was also a middle-aged man, the housekeeper, who had let out the earlier scream.

"I came to call the master for dinner, and when I entered, I found him lying on the floor," the NPC housekeeper explained briefly. He continued, "Young masters and young ladies, you must find the murderer and avenge the master!"

According to the rules of the murder mystery game, they needed to identify the murderer, and the housekeeper's words reminded them of this.

However, this was the rule of the game, not necessarily the world they were in. They had to follow the game rules while seeking clues to clear the game.

As for Qin Nan, he had nothing to work with at the moment.

"How about we form groups of three to search for clues?" Xu Tian, a new player, suggested first. Qin Nan could even see a hint of eagerness on her face.

Was it good adaptability, or was she completely unaware of her situation?

Lin Junru nodded in agreement. "I support her idea. Three people can supervise each other to prevent the murderer from acting up."

"I have no objections," Xia Zeqin added.

Xu Tian's suggestion quickly gained unanimous approval.

With twelve players, they could form four groups of three. Xia Zeqin and his female companion formed one group, Xu Tian volunteered to join them, Qin Nan teamed up with Jian Fan, Lin Junru opted to join them, Zheng Jueming, Mu Xin, and the distant nephew formed another team, leaving the last three together.

Qin Nan chose to stay at the scene to examine the crime scene, and Jian Fan had no objections. Xia Zeqin and Zheng Jueming's teams would check the living quarters of the twelve, while the last group would conduct an initial inspection of the entire courtyard.

Once tasks were assigned, the players quickly got into action.

Qin Nan began by inspecting the corpse.

The deceased had two noticeable wounds. The first was on his forehead, likely caused by a heavy object, with blood streaming down and staining half of his face. The second wound was on his chest, where a dagger was still embedded, surrounded by significant blood.

"Need a hand?" Qin Nan half-squatted in front of the corpse and looked up at Jian Fan.

Jian Fan nodded and squatted down, asking, "What do you want to do?"

"Strip him," Qin Nan replied, then turned to Lin Junru. "If you mind, you can step away." In general gameplay, corpses were usually props, and stripping them for inspection was fine, but this was a real body—a male one at that.

Lin Junru shook her head. "No need."

Qin Nan didn't press further and signaled Jian Fan to help him remove the deceased's clothing.

Once the clothes were off, more details became evident. Besides the two visible wounds, there were various scars on the corpse—some old, some recent.

The deceased was a businessman, and these scars made Qin Nan more alert.

After checking the front, he turned the body over, and upon seeing the back, he froze for a moment.

The deceased had a large tattoo that nearly covered his entire back, depicting a stark black-and-white Taiji symbol.

The back bore a Taiji symbol, while the blood on the ground formed a similar pattern.

"This is—Taiji?" Lin Junru was taken aback.

"Yin and Yang give rise to the two forms, which give rise to the four images, and the four images give rise to the eight trigrams," Jian Fan suddenly spoke up.

Lin Junru looked confused. "What does that mean?"

Qin Nan turned to Jian Fan. "You understand the Book of Changes?"

"I've read it, but I don’t fully grasp it," Jian Fan replied, then looked at Qin Nan. "Do you?"

Qin Nan shook his head. "Few people truly understand it these days." He continued examining the deceased. "The tattoo could indicate a passion for Taiji, but it's quite a coincidence that even the blood is arranged in a Taiji pattern. There's a lot more to this."

Jian Fan didn’t respond, his gaze falling on the deceased's lower region. "Should we check there?"

Qin Nan nodded. "Of course."

Lin Junru's eyes widened, initially looking puzzled, but when she saw the two actually removing the deceased's undergarments, she quickly turned away.

"Wow!" Qin Nan couldn't help but exclaim, and Lin Junru jumped, instinctively turning back to see what was happening, only to freeze in place.

The deceased had been castrated.