[LP CYOA] 傳

Well shit, you make wide assumptions about the actions of people we know absolutely nothing about, snowball their reactions to an unpredictable situation and try to sell it as a work of infallible logic. 'K.
Because I can say "A and C are totes going to make the Empire look bad because rither way we implicate a Constable. No doubt about it. PICK B TO AVOID REP LOSS!"

 

And I am saying the facts of the case fit Fu Xia perfectly (he could've been at every crime scene, he had the right weapon for Du Yao, and it would make sense for Xiaofang to try to talk with him). We also have more circumstancial shit about Fu Xia being dodgy. We just don't have a smoking gun to definitively pin him. But we have to make do with what we've got, so I say naming him is our best option.

We know this:

So yes, I think that is what would happen if B succeeds.

 

Absinthe, can I convince you to vote to convinct the duck and whoever's responsible for ensuring it's cooked and served?

I mean, think about it, it's supposed to be a speciality dish, yet it just so happens to be rarely available.

Further, every time we try to eat it, it is somehow, /conveniently/ slipping from our grasp.

Think about it, maybe it's flavoured with a subtle flavour of herbs, which may be innocuous in small quantities, but a pinch more and it's poison?

THAT, is why it never reaches us, Qilin or Cao'er. At least one of us can detect the existing of such... exotic components, and that would make us suspicious of the guy who makes it, right?

So, what's a suspicious hotelier to do? Ensure that a large scale brawl always breaks out when someone who can get suspicious is about to get their hands on the duck. After all, no one would be that st00pid, right?

Gentlemen, I submit that the cook is Shulgi and he did it.

 

treave, can we name Person X in B as Shulgi/ Shul Gi?

 

That is exactly the case where you pick the theory and start fitting the facts in. If you pick certain facts and discard the others, of course they fit.

If Fu Xia is working for someone else and is the mole among the constables, it is entirely implausible and stupid for him to commit an actual murder. These two jobs and the talents required do not intersect in any way, and if he does both, it only serves to implicate him. There is a reason why moles do not involve themselves with field work.

If Fu Xia is actually a secret super-killer-agent in disguise that knows both Jinkong sect and Xueguzi techniques and hides his True Power (TM), then I see no reason not to assume that he was behind the hit on the constables as well. He had the information (the mole!), he had the means (the killer!), he is totally the one who stole the manual.

 

Okay Nevill, what facts am I discarding?

That's your theory, not a fact. Also, it's possible that Fu Xia (as the mole&killer) doesn't have fellow agents at Youxia City. Heck, this is likely considering we found Xiaofang; if there is another killer up to this in Youxia City, they would've had enough time to dispose of Xiaofang thoroughly. If it was Fu Xia, he would definitely have been rushed.

I'm not saying he's a super-killer in disguise. I'm saying he's a better fighter than he lets on. He's still shit compared to Jing. If we look at how the killer took on Du Yao and Xiaofang, he needed the Hanbing Needles technique with the stupidly lethal poison to take them out. That's not the sign of a great fighter.

 

WHY AREN'T YOU SUSPICIOUS OF THE DUCK, Absinthe?

 

Major ones.

First, the killer implicated the constables without knowing that chief Zheng will conveniently return to stay there with the bloodied sword over the corpse when the guards arrive. If Fu Xia did it, then he cast suspicion on himself without an alibi and without a prior knowledge that there would be a better suspect.

Second, the killer knows Xueguzi technique, and they are very secretive and seclusive people. If we think the idea of chief Zheng being an assassin that secretly knows such a tech is ridiculous, then we might as well extend this line of reasoning to Fu Xia.

Third, he was acting in a way that attracts way too much attention to the point we all agreed to watch him closely. If he is some kind of a super-agent, and not a one-time hire, attracting attention of that sort is something you absolutely would not do.

Fourth, if we want to, we can guard Xiaofang until the consciousness returns to him. At that point, he can point to Fu Xia. So why all this bluff? He should have fled the moment we discovered Xiaofang and he realised his plan failed - if this was his plan. But he is still here.

That, coupled with you blowing several other, much more minor facts out of proportions is why I don't bother with disproving your theory. It is founded on a few suspicions and a lot of paranoia.

For the record, I don't think Fu Xia is a murderer. He can be a mole, a distraction, an idiot - this would be consistent with his behavior so far - but it is not consistent with him being an assassin. And if he is not one, then trying to force him to confess his crimes is not going to do much to prove chief Zheng's innocence or to spare him, which is my main goal.

The only real argument you have against him is that Xiaofang knew the assailant, and that could have been another one of the eunuchs for all we know.

That would point to Fu Xia working alone. If he wasn't, his employer would have learned about this expedition from him and send the assassins there. In fact, whoever massacred the constables lead us here, so there is plenty of reasons to assume that if they had people to spare, this is the place where they would station them.

But if this isn't the case, then Fu Xia is a one-man faction, and that means he was the one behind the attack on the constables. So he must have the manual. Q.E.D.

 

That's a theory, not a fact. It was my theory that the killer did know Jiang Zheng was there and tried to frame him. He probably didn't expect Jiang Zheng to run in during the act, but it was definitely done while Jiang Zheng was in the direct vicinity.

No, we shouldn't. If Fu Xia is the killer/mole, then we can safely say he's in league with different people than Jiang Zheng. Also, this is still not a fact, just your theory.

What the hell? "Fu Xia is not suspicious because we all found him to be suspicious?" That's your logic? Furthermore, the obvious suspects were Xiaofang and Jinkong. Also, still not a fact, just your own theory.

Fu Xia doesn't even know we suspect him. Even if he knows Xiaofang will be up in a week, that gives him a whole week to disappear. If he tries to vanish before the trial, he instantly makes himself suspicious and he wants Jiang Zheng or Jinkong to be found guilty. He can vanish afterwards.

My theory is founded on the basic fact that Fu Xia matches every crime scene and that there is a plausible narrative for all of this. What you are presenting as your "facts to the contrary" are not even facts to begin with.

That and the argument that the killer was rushed when he tried to dispose of Xiaofang; anyone other than Fu Xia would've had enough free time to kill him proper and get rid of the body. These are the ones that finger him.

The fact that he happens to have absolutely no alibi while all this happened is also very interesting.

That doesn't explain how we were able to find Xiaofang. We also have reason to believe Xiaofang and Du Yao were killed by the same person. That discredits the notion of multiple assassins.

That's a false dichotomy, idiot. He can be doing the assassination work alone here while he still works for others on the whole.

 

I find this refuttal extremely hilarious, considering the person it is coming from.

Go blow yourself and come back when you are able to talk without resorting to insults.

 

I start with "Fu Xia matches all the facts of the case."
You respond "You are discarding other facts."
I ask "Which facts?"
You give me a list of things you think are wrong.

Unsurprisingly, I feel compelled to point out that this list has failed to provide any facts.

Sure, you can disagree with me about my interpretation of the facts, which you've done, but you still failed to prove your original point where you claimed I am discarding other facts of the case that don't match him. I asked "could he fit the hard evidence of the case" and you responded "here are reasons why I think it wouldn't be him." Cool, but that's not evidence to the contrary. That's just interpretations to the contrary.

The closest thing I can find to evidence that Fu Xia didn't do it is that treave mentioned the footprints at the wall were smaller and lighter than Fu Xia's. However, I asked treave if Fu Xia could have made these footprints with qinggong (and we know qinggong was used there from the investigation), and treave responded that it's possible.

Son, you've been resorting to all sorts of asinine banter as a means of discrediting me. Now you throw a fit over being called an idiot? K.

 

Huh, I was expecting someone to to do something like this.

***

Case Reconstruction:

xu hour:

- Xu Jing et al. arrive at Xinchun Restaurant.
- Jiang Zheng leaves to meet with Du Yao.
- Brawl begins.
- Fu Xia leaves restaurant (?). Xiaofang leaves restaurant (?).
- Brawl ends.
- Jiang Zheng begins discussion with Du Yao.

hai hour

- Jiang Zheng ends discussion with Du Yao.
- Jiang Zheng leaves manor, and sneaks back in shortly after when Xiaofang does not turn up.
- Jiang Zheng discovers Du Yao fighting with man-in-black. Du Yao cries out and dies at this time from poison (corroborated by autopsy), witnessed by Jiang. He wounds the assailant. Man-in-black escapes and shortly after Du Yao’s daughter arrives. Jiang Zheng is captured. Assailant is spotted escaping across the yard by a servant using qinggong, leaving behind tracks. Claimed to be wearing the Jinkong uniform.
- Homeless man sees Xiaofang arguing with a man-in-black. They get into a fight and Xiaofang is defeated. Xiaofang is left lying on the ground.
- Xu Jing et al. return to the inn. Fu Xia returns to the inn.

zi hour

- Xiaofang is no longer where the homeless man last saw him.

***

Some Questions for Speculation:

1. Both Fu Xia and Xiaofang left the restaurant. Did one leave after the other?

2. What was it that Du Yao seemed to glean from his discussion with Jiang Zheng, and could it have played a role in his death?

3. Jiang Zheng snuck back into the manor on 'instinct' when Xiaofang did not turn up, and asked him to meet him at the manor instead of discussing it back at the inn. Was there a reason?

4. Du Yao was injured with a constable's sword. If the purpose was to frame a constable, why was he not outright killed with one?

5. Did Du Yao or any of the other parties involved have any connections with the Xueguizi who invented the Hanbing Needles that took his life?

6. The poison did not seem to be part of the Hanbing Needles technique according to Xuezi. Is it something originating from her Xueguizi, or does it have another source? For that matter, could the troubles at Tianshan be connected with this somehow?

7. Xiaofang was late to meet with Jiang Zheng, yet he was seen after Du Yao's murder arguing with a man in black. Why?

8. Was the man in black who fought Xiaofang the same person?

9. Were the injuries from the Jinkong Sect techniques inflicted before or after the poisoning?

10. How did Xiaofang move from where he was in the alley to the sickhouse you found him in later?

 

Yeah and the fact that he really really wanted to infiltrate Xueguizi. Wonder if he has been undercover at Xueguizi before and earned there all that stuff. Honestly there arent any more players to tie strings to. Besides he fits the profile of the first manual robbery, hes the inside man so to speak. Best course of action poison paralyze him the truth serum.
So yeah C all the way.

 

Who? When? Where?

 

There are several explanations that come to mind.

First, Xiaofang was confronted with Jinkong Sect members who roughed him up and that was what delayed him from arriving in time. From there, he could have bumped into the man-in-black, who should have been the same as the murderer as he carried the same poison and struck him with the same technique. How he ended up in the sickhouse is anyone's guess.

Second, Xiaofang was actually the murderer who snuck inside the mansion as soon as the chief left - which is why he wasn't around. He killed Du Yao and escaped, but was confronted by a Jinkong Sect member (why would they be wearing a mask?) and beaten up. He might have moved to the sickhouse and poisoned himself in a non-lethal way to look the part of the victim. This is quite far-fetched, as he could not have known that we found him, and we were needed to stabilize him so that he didn't die.

The poison did not originate from the Central Plains, as Qilin said, yet the ones who came in search of the manual certainly did. If there is a connection between the two, it is yet unknown. Then again, Xueguzi betrayed her, they deal with all kinds of rare plants, and one of them either had to teach the technique to the assassin or be the assassin. So it is likely that the poison originated fromTianshan.

I thought he was stabbed after death, but chief's words seem to point that Du Yao was alive until he came in. There was a fight at a melee range, but why would there be if the assassin had a perfect killing weapon at his disposal? It seem to point to the relative inexperience of the assassin, maybe? Or that he did not come in with the intention to kill Du Yao? We don't even know if it was a constable's sword - we know the sword had the same characteristics as the ones issued to the constables.

Can someone make sense of it all?

 

First off, C would involve interrogating Fu Xia publicly:

Any Jack Bauer-esque fantasies of torturing a confession out of him don't seem to be on the table. As for Xueguizi, Fu Xia wanted to infiltrate the Jinkong Sect, thus far he hasn't even mentioned the Xueguizi. Maybe you misread that bit.

Anyways, let's run through the list that treave provided. We've asked some of these questions before, but we haven't organized it in this way. Kipeci Baltika9 Nevill Absinthe Tigranes ScubaV TOME Smashing Axe, maybe you guys can help me out here.

I don't know how we'd find this out. Any ideas, guys? If they left together, I suppose that would hint at some sort of collaboration between them and could point towards Fu Xia being the masked man, and therefore, Du Yao's killer.

Well, here's what Du Yao's daughter and Jiang Zheng had to say about the matter:

I'm still not sure what to make of this. I can't draw anything out of it with the scant info that we have.

How did Jing not ask Jiang Zheng about this? This is stuff that we should know from our conversation with him. What were the orders that Jiang Zheng had intended to give Xiaofang?

Poisoned ice needles that don't leave evidence behind are probably a better tool for an assassin. Furthermore, I believe that the killer was not a novice in the Hanbing Needle technique:

I don't think that a novice could have dipped the ice needles in poison, gotten into a fight with Du Yao, then pricked him with a needle before the ice melted. A few seconds simply isn't enough time for that. The killer had above average qinggong and was probably skilled at the Hanbing Needle technique.

I don't know, treave, can Xuezi tell us anything about that? The Xueguizi sell golden fox leaves to all sorts of people, did they have any dealings with Du Yao? This is information that we should have access too, no?

Well, it's not Wudu, and Qilin didn't recognize it at all, so I doubt that this originates from the Central Plains.

He'd have to have known the killer. I can't think of any other explanation right now.

Almost certainly, yes. I highly doubt that two different people would have access to a rare Xueguizi technique that people in the Central Plains wouldn't be familiar with and use it on two different people on the same day. The person who killed Du Yao and the person who attacked Xiaofang are one and the same.

Okay, what does Cao'er say about that? This should be available to us, no? However, even if I did know the answer, I wouldn't know what to make of it.

Who knows?

 

One could have simply tailed the other.

Since Xiaofang had orders from the chief, and Fu Xia did not, this would point out to Fu Xia having some kind of a plan outside of his mission as a constable... maybe.

Since Du Yao has close ties with Jinkong sect, he might have realised who could have known their techniques besides them. It could have pointed out the identity of the team that had stolen the manual.

This was the part that confused me most in the update:

What did the chief want to discuss with Xiaofang? Never mind talking with Xiaofang near the mansion, why would he turn back immediately after not finding him there?

 

How did anyone not ask more about this until I brought it up? If his explanation was not enough to attract curiosity at the time then...

His intents were hinted at in the update itself: eunuchs. Also, note a slight difference in Du Yao's testimony.

First, he said:

Then, when Jing brings up the 'orders to be given', it was:

And further on:

Xuezi isn't involved with the business aspect of things, though on her part she has never heard of this Du Yao guy. The last time she was in the Central Plains, Wang Zhengchong hadn't even been born, and the last time she kept up with what was going on here, he had just taken over leadership of Wudang.

It could be from shortly before the poisoning till up to half a day afterwards. Though this one would probably be of more interest if you succeeded in getting Yunzi's help.

 

Actually... Yunzi and Armaiti are the only people in the entire Youxia City who would carry a stranger to where he can get help.

 

I am going to say something incredibly far-fetched right now.

We are investigating the theft of the Xiaoming Jiuyang manual. In our travels, we've found Xuezi, who had met the person possessing the Xuanming Jiuyin manual. These two cases might be connected.

Why wouldn't there be an original of the Wuxiang Qiankun manual floating around to ruin our day completely? After all, the scrolls at the temple were but a copy. The skill specifically allows to copy the techniques of others. I would assume that would throw off any investigators when it comes to the method of murder.

 

Eh, if I am to go off the deep end, so be it.

I see absolutely no reason for the assassin to utilize swords when he has instant killing technique at his disposal.

Could be that the would-be assassin and Du Yao duked it out over something when Zheng entered the room? Chief moved to assist, but it was dark, so he accidentally got Du Yao instead of the man-in-black. The latter disengaged, killing Du Yao for reasons unknown (to protect his identity? to make it so that Zheng couldn't explain himself?). It would make chief Zheng claim that Du Yao was dead when he came in and that he injured the murderer - obviously he can't say that he attacked Du Yao by accident, that would be signing his own death warrant.

Lady Suien have determined that the person who escaped over the wall was wounded, but the nature of the wound was not specified. Zheng could have gotten them both, or Du Yao may have struck back.

This version would require chief Zheng to lie to us, which is ridiculous considering his own circumstances and that we are not the court, but hey. He said to trust no one.

Continuing the previous line of thought, if any of the Jinkong sect members went missing lately, that might explain how the constables were killed with the help of their techniques.

Man, now I regret not investigating them.

 

Did we ever ask what his reason was?

More things to consider.

If Xiaofang was poisoned with the same poison, why didn't he die within seconds? Because he is an eunuch? Because he didn't get hit with three poison needles?

 

Okay, treave's list of questions:

1. Fu Xia left first and Xiaofang left after. "Fu Xia stands up and tries to talk with them, but instead becomes entangled in a fight with the monks. Xiaofang, on the other hand, is just sitting and staring at the chaotic mess all around her."
2. We don't know. To find out, we'd probably need both Jiang Zheng alive and our investigation in Youxia City to continue, so we'd have to vote C. (A loses our constable, B means we all need to leave Youxia City.)
3. My guess is that as a detective his first instincts were to worry about the investigation, which would mean Du Yao.
4. He was probably trying to kill Du Yao with the sword, but when Jiang Zheng entered he had no option and used needles to finish it quick and make a run for it. We know that Du Yao must have died in seconds from the poison, so it was just about the last thing done to him.
5. We still don't know. We should investigate that next, but to do that we need to stay in Youxia City, which means we'd need to vote C.
6. We don't know. I'd guess that these Xueguizi, with their advanced knowledge of medicine, could very well have made the poison also. We do know it's not from the Central Plains. Xuezi's own knowledge of medicine seems to be lacking so I'm guessing poisons aren't her expertise.
7. If I had to guess, Xiaofang was tailing Fu Xia the whole time but lost track of him during the manor. We don't really know.
8. Most likely because the same technique and poison was used on Xiaofang that was used on Du Yao. The timeline matches up, and what else would Xiaofang have been up to during the hour when he should've met Jiang Zheng.
9. Xiaofang was fighting with this man, so he started being injured before the poison set in.
10. Someone else had to do it, obviously. The guess would be Yunzi but we don't really know.

My guess is that the perp was running low on poison after nailing Du Yao and Hanbing Needles merges the poison with ice (drawing water from the air), so Xiaofang was on the receiving end of some much-diluted poison.

The other guess would be that the poison attacks those with a yang qi dominant, and Xiaofang as a eunuch could have his yin qi dominant. That would also point to it being a Xueguizi poison because there we have a poison that would target a specific qi and have greatly diminished effect on the Xueguizi. But that's just a theory.

The last guess is that Xiaofang should've died quicker but whoever moved him to the sickhouse managed to administer enough medicine to prolong his lifespan.

If Fu Xia needs to be questioned (and I agree - he does), now is the time to do it. If he's guilty, he's going to try to escape before Xiaofang wakes up. Since B causes a ruckus, he'd have a chance to escape right there.

 

We don't know, but we'd have to vote C anyways. Will it give us +1 SWORDS as well? I try to stay relatively fair and give everyone's arguments a fair shake, but you've lost me here and I think that you're not being dispassionate about the matter at all.

I think you're putting your bias against Fu Xia before the case and you're trying to interpret these questions to suit your theory about Fu Xia. Having thought about it further, I am now less convinced that Fu Xia was the culprit; the ability to freeze poisonous liquid for a long enough time for it to remain solid (and therefore, usable as a weapon) would require more skill than a novice would possess. Someone not very proficient would only be able to have the needles for a few seconds, but the killer needed enough time to dip it in poison, get into a fight with Du Yao, then prick him with the needles. If the killer struck Du Yao with the needles after striking him with the sword, then that indicates a certain level of mastery that Fu Xia would be unlikely to possess.

So whoever did this would need (a) access to a rare technique that is difficult to find in the Central Plains, (b) a significant level of proficiency in that technique and (c) Jinkong Sect techniques as well, considering the injuries found on Xiaofang.

tl;dr If we can establish that the killer had a proficiency above that of a novice at the Hanbing Needle technique, I think that we can safely rule out Fu Xia as a suspect. The question is, can we do this?

 

Jing felt Xiaofang's qi in Tibet, and felt it was somehow strange.
There was a undercurrent of speculation that Xiaofang has chaotic neigong like Jing.
There's also a sub-undercurrent of speculation that Xiaofang and Jing are related somehow, thus the chaotic neigong.
(also I still think Xiaofang is actually a woman disguising herself as a eunuch disguising herself as a female)