Yang Mu had a moment of realization and swiftly ascended the stairs to bring Chu Hong down.

Hu Lili, still trying to ingratiate herself with Yang Mu, asked with a smile:

“Did you use to be in the military?”

“Get lost, stay away from me. I despise and detest deceit. We’re each going our separate ways; if you try any tricks, I’ll make sure you regret it!”

“Tricks? What do you mean, little brother?”

“Fang Lao Si isn’t your husband!”

Hu Lili's body trembled, as if someone had stepped on her tail, her face a mask of disbelief.

Yang Mu snorted coldly, grabbed the bag of food, and picked up the axe, resuming his search through the rooms for useful items.

Chu Hong followed Yang Mu, relieved to have calmed her fear after a quick visit to the rooftop.

Upon hearing Yang Mu’s deductions, she couldn’t help but whisper:

“How did you figure out they weren’t a couple?”

“The men's pants hanging on the balcony have waists just over two feet, but the fat man’s pants have a waist of about two feet seven or eight inches. The shoes on the rack are size forty, while the fat man’s shoes are likely size forty-two. If the fat man were the head of the household, there wouldn’t be so many ill-fitting male items in the house without anything suitable for him. Thus, the man must not be Hu Lili’s husband.”

Chu Hong's eyes lit up with understanding, recognizing the logic in Yang Mu’s observations. Yet, in such a tense situation, who would notice these details?

This once again highlighted Yang Mu’s exceptional nature, so different from the Yang Mu Chu Hong had known over the past two years.

Arriving on the first floor, Yang Mu entered the bathroom and placed the toothbrush, cup, facial cleanser, razor, and towel into a bag, adding it to his backpack.

Chu Hong seized the opportunity to put on a pair of bath shorts, concealing her fair thighs.

A small mirror was affixed to the wall, which Yang Mu quickly pried off and placed in the backpack.

“Do you see? The mirror is positioned about one meter sixty from the ground. Do you know what it’s used for?”

“The mirror is for looking into?”

“Nonsense… The bathroom lacks a large vanity mirror, only a small one. The toiletries are all for men, indicating this is the men’s bathroom. The mirror’s height of one meter sixty suggests the owner is slightly over one meter seventy tall. Fang Lao Si is about one meter eighty-five. Don’t you understand?”

“Oh, I see.”

As Yang Mu was about to leave the bathroom, he suddenly turned back and looked at the bathroom floor.

“The water isn’t dry. Judging by the accumulation, someone must have showered not long ago.”

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“Hmm, so?”

“Fang Lao Si’s hair is messy, while Hu Lili’s hair is greasy and dry. Neither of them could have just bathed.”

“Maybe it’s the real husband of the woman? He showered before going to work, and then the lover arrived.”

Chu Hong’s attention was captured, momentarily losing her other concerns.

“That’s a possibility, but there’s another scenario.”

Yang Mu exited the bathroom and approached the living room door, which led outside.

At the door, a pair of leather shoes was placed with the insoles removed and laid on top of the shoe’s surface.

“These shoes are size forty, belonging to the male head of the household, with the toes facing inward. This arrangement suggests that after entering the house and changing into slippers, the toes would point inward, and the insoles would be removed.”

Yang Mu examined the insoles, feeling and sniffing them, causing Chu Hong to frown.

“The insoles are still damp and carry a strong odor. They haven’t been dried for long, perhaps just one or two hours. Thus, these size forty shoes must belong to the male head of the household, indicating he did not leave in the morning but returned home only then!”

“Oh…”

“Now look at the living room. The floor is dry, but too clean? It must have been meticulously cleaned. This is unusual! The rest of the house isn’t particularly clean, so why is only the living room floor spotless?”

“Why?”

Chu Hong’s mind was racing, struggling to keep up.

“This is what I meant by another possibility! Hu Lili’s husband wasn’t home last night and wasn’t expected back today. Thus, Hu Lili invited Fang Lao Si over for a night of revelry. By morning, they were still in bed. Meanwhile, the real husband returned home, left his shoes here, took out the insoles to air them, changed into slippers, and entered the downstairs bathroom to shower.”

Chu Hong listened intently, holding her breath, finding the story increasingly suspenseful.

“The sound of the shower alerted the person in the second-floor bedroom. Fang Lao Si sneaked downstairs to escape, but the husband saw him as he opened the bathroom door. What followed was inevitable: a confrontation leading to the husband’s death, blood spilled on the living room floor, and Hu Lili and Fang Lao Si cleaning the floor repeatedly, making it so immaculate.”

“Your theory is too fantastical; it could be a crime movie plot.”

“Not fantastical at all. Follow me!”

Yang Mu quickly led Chu Hong into the kitchen.

He had previously thrown a piece of frost-covered meat into a pot to cook, intending to take it as stored food. Now, upon entering the kitchen, the aroma of cooking meat was evident.

Yang Mu lifted the pot, pouring the meat and broth into the sink, turning on the faucet to rinse off the grease and foam.

“Can you identify where this meat is from?”

“Pork knuckle?”

“I didn’t notice it when I took it from the fridge because it was frosted, likely washed with water before being refrigerated, thus the frost. It’s not pork knuckle. Look closely—it resembles a section cut from a human calf. This suggests that the household’s male head was killed, and after being dismembered, at least his legs were severed.”

“Ah!”

Chu Hong recoiled in fright, staring at the sink for a long time before finally acknowledging that Yang Mu’s deduction might be correct.

Suddenly, the kitchen door was shut, and the sound of a key locking it from the outside was heard.

Yang Mu moved swiftly to the door, but it was already jammed. He raised the axe and smashed the small glass panel above the door, which was less than twenty centimeters long.

On the other side, Hu Lili was locking the door, while Fang Lao Si brought nails and wooden planks to barricade it.

Hu Lili looked terrified, shaking her head vigorously, and spoke urgently:

“I didn’t want to kill my husband. He said he’d be away on a business trip and wouldn’t return, but he came back today. Fang Lao Si tried to escape while he was showering, but he came out, and they fought. Fang Lao Si killed him with a knife. We didn’t want this, we didn’t want to kill anyone! Really!”

Chu Hong was utterly astonished, marveling at Yang Mu’s brilliance. He had perfectly reconstructed a crime scene! It was as if Sherlock Holmes had possessed him!

Yang Mu coldly stared at the couple outside, sighed, and said:

“In the small study on the first floor, you’ve placed the body of the deceased, haven’t you?”

“How do you know? Are you a devil? How do you know everything?”

Hu Lili shook her head in disbelief, staring wide-eyed at Yang Mu.

Yang Mu smirked and said coldly:

“Justice is clear and unerring. Your dead husband has come back to seek vengeance!”