There were two killers.
Based on the timing of Pardo's and Sakura deaths, only two people acting together could have killed them simultaneously. Furthermore, their methods were completely different: one strictly followed the method of the Thirteen Paths of Fate, while the other merely disguised the murder as a death from the Thirteen Paths of Fate.
Moreover, one of them was not from the villa. He had been to the storage room, where traces showed that some coffee and dried rations had been taken. That was probably the person who left the footprints outside the villa.
This person was also the killer whose method didn't comply with the Thirteen Paths of Fate. Sakura was completely calm and not the "fearful" person, yet he still chose to kill her. This meant that whoever was the first to go around the corner would have been killed.
"Can we really survive this…"
Vil-V's words spoke the minds of everyone left.
Even though Lin knew there were two killers and had uncovered the truth about Kosma's death, the fundamental question remained unsolved—who was the killer?
Aponia had been with Lin the whole time. He could determine that she had no chance to kill Pardo or Sakura and then return to his side. Even so, that only eliminated one person.
The situation had come to this. Lin had no choice but to ask the question he was reluctant to ask.
"Tell me what you were doing at the time…"
…
In the end, there was no useful information. Everyone was outside investigating. There were too many people, and they needed to spread out a bit to check the footprints. Even if one person was missing, it wouldn't be noticed immediately.
Lin had no choice but to go outside and search again himself.
But learning from Sakura mistake, this time, he stayed very close to Aponia, just to prevent the killer from reappearing, killing someone, and escaping.
Lin approached the row of footprints that were almost invisible now.
Just as they had said, the footprints were the size of a woman's foot, and they were particularly deep. Otherwise, they would have been covered by the wind and snow long ago. This trail of footprints spanned almost the entire back of the villa.
A woman… this killer was the one who killed Kosma. Logically, a woman would find it difficult to take down Kosma head-on, especially since the size of the footprints suggested a short height. The only way was a sneak attack.
But why would Kosma go up to the second floor and be ambushed? It didn't make sense…
Everything so far was missing a crucial key, a key that would connect all the clues.
"…Does it end here?"
Lin looked at the empty space at the end of the footprints and shook his head. Just then, his peripheral vision caught sight of something.
Strange…
With just a glance, Lin attention focused on that spot. He even compared the area he saw with other similar spots.
"Lin, there's something I want to tell you."
"…"
Lin glanced sideways at Aponia. She looked preoccupied, so Lin casually asked, "What is it?"
"You… must have… heard what Kalpas told you… about what I said… on your and Mobius's wedding day…"
"…Don't worry about it. Everyone has moments when they misspeak."
"No… what I want to say is… if you don't mind… please patiently listen to what I have to say…"
"Go ahead."
With Lin permission, Aponia exhaled a puff of white mist and recounted slowly, "At the time… I was drunk… but what I said… was true…"
"You mean the part where you said Mobius went too far?"
"Yes…"
"So, what did she do?"
"She broke… never mind… let's just let the past be the past…"
Aponia clasped her hands together, closing her eyes in prayer.
"Lin, what I'm about to say…"
…
"Let's all sleep in the main hall tonight."
No one objected, or rather, no one dared to object anymore.
Lin said nothing more. He leaned back on the sofa and fell asleep. Some of the others didn't dare to sleep, while others simply followed Lin example and fell asleep, letting go of all caution.
Kalpas was clearly one of the more carefree ones. He was the first to fall asleep. The others only dared to close their eyes and rest when they saw that the only two men left had fallen asleep.
If they stayed in a light sleep, they should be fine, right?
…
"Lin… Lin…"
Lin was shaken awake by Kalpas. He groggily opened his eyes and saw the anxious Kalpas.
"What is it, Kalpas?"
He felt a headache, the kind of pain only caused by oversleeping or being woken from deep sleep. This confused him. He only intended to sleep lightly; with his level of alertness at the time, he shouldn't have fallen into a deep sleep.
"Aponia, Aponia is gone."
Lin sat up with a start and realized that among all the sleeping people, only Aponia was missing.
He immediately checked the clock on the wall. It pointed to six o'clock.
"…"
"I just woke up and found Aponia missing." Kalpas started shaking the others awake, "Everyone wake up quickly and look for her! Where did Aponia go!"
"…She should be outside."
Lin suddenly spoke.
"What?"
"Six, the jealous shall freeze to death in the frost and snow." Lin turned his head and said emotionlessly, "If she is the new victim, she could only be frozen to death outside."
"Then hurry up and go outside!"
The group immediately pushed open the main door and rushed into the cold wind. After a short while, they found Aponia's body.
Her hands and feet were bound, and her mouth was gagged. She was kneeling in the snow in a posture of sacred prayer.
She hadn't struggled before she died, only silently waiting for the arrival of the Grim Reaper and offering a final prayer for her companions.
"I've had enough! Come out! Who the hell are you!"
Kalpas roared, punching the nearby barren tree. Snow fell onto his shoulders, and he shook it off with the trembling of his shoulders caused by his rage.
"I know who it is."
What caught everyone off guard was that Lin, who had been silent after seeing the body, now spoke in an indifferent tone.
He raised his head, and his sharp gaze turned toward one person in the crowd.
…
A gathering of fourteen people in a mountain villa. A disappearance occurs.
Roads are blocked, communication is cut off. Thirteen people are continuously killed. The murderer is lurking in the mansion!
The fracturing of old friendships.
The confusing truth.
The terrifying and bizarre prophecy.
Deeply hidden resentments.
The entanglement of love and hate.
A series of tragedies and mysteries revolve around the strange prophecy of the Thirteen Paths of Fate, unfolding right here!
And the one who sees through it all is Lin, a seemingly ordinary young man who is, in fact, still a young man!
"Hmm, is this too cliché?"