“The space inside was very small, able to accommodate a child of around seven or eight years old. There were scratches and writings on the walls, but the writings had long faded into a blur. I could vaguely recognize a symbol like this one,” Bai Lixin drew a circle in the palm of his hand and then drew a regular triangle inside the circle. “It looks somewhat familiar, but I can’t recall where I’ve seen it. Do you have any impression?”
Hongyue stared at Bai Lixin’s palm and shook her head, “Sorry, I have absolutely no impression.”
Bai Lixin tapped the crow on his shoulder and asked, “By the way, little demon, why did you attack Mrs. Nick last night?”
The little demon peeked out from Bai Lixin’s neck and said, “I didn’t attack Mrs. Nick. I just heard the voice of her inner desires and wanted to come down and make a soul contract with her. But as soon as I landed on the stone, she screamed, which scared me to death. Humans are so terrifying!”
“That Mrs. Nick is just a mad dog. She even attacked me with her long nails. If it weren’t for my agility, she would have beaten me to death. BAH!”
Bai Lixin & Hongyue: “…”
With your weakness, can you fulfill someone’s wishes?
Hongyue asked, “Do you think this is the work of humans or some supernatural event?”
Bai Lixin responded, “What do you think?”
Hongyue replied, “If it’s the doing of ghosts or monsters, they wouldn’t arrange the body parts into such strange shapes, right? When ghosts or monsters attack humans, it’s usually for the purpose of eating them or simply killing. But if it’s not the work of ghosts or monsters, can ordinary humans really complete such a high volume of dismemberment work overnight?”
“Chopping off the head and limbs is simple enough. The problem lies in the deboning, and most importantly, the victims are not just one person but two.”
“If the culprit is a human, they should have extensive knowledge of the human body. But even if they have knowledge of the human body, it’s impossible for them to kill in the darkness without a trace, clean up the scene completely, and hang the head, limbs, and flesh chunks, which would take a considerable amount of time. And yet, there are two victims now.”
“Humans simply cannot achieve this level.”
As they discussed the case, they had already reached the corridor on the third floor.
In front of the golden door at the end of the third-floor corridor sat Mrs. Aisli, appearing frail. Her husband was by her side, fanning her attentively, continuously comforting his terrified wife.
Tears streamed down Mrs. Aisli’s face due to fear. She leaned against her husband’s embrace, repeatedly making the sign of the cross on her chest.
Emil was not on the corridor; he must have already gone inside.
The other three from the actor group were also absent from the corridor.
Just as Bai Lixin and Hongyue approached, Mrs. Aisli spoke up to stop them from moving forward, “Don’t go in, it’s very scary inside. Poor child, you will be frightened.”
Bai Lixin said, “Madam, we just came from the second floor, where a tragedy also occurred.”
Mrs. Aisli and her husband raised their heads instantly. Mrs. Aisli asked, “What did you say?! Who is the unfortunate person this time?”
“By the way, I think I heard screams from the second floor earlier. What happened on the second floor?”
Hongyue replied, “Mrs. Nick, with whom you had an argument yesterday, is dead. Her body was dismembered and hung on the wall.”
Mrs. Aisli turned even paler, her trembling fingers making the sign of the cross uncontrollably. Her words became incoherent.
“Oh, Lord God.”
“Oh, dear Lord, I… Mrs. Nick, justice has its origin. If you cannot find peace in your soul, seek revenge against the one who killed you.”
“I only had an argument with you, please don’t come looking for me, please, I meant no harm, truly no harm. Please don’t come looking for me, I beg you.”
I beg you?
Bai Lixin looked at Mrs. Aisli’s husband and asked, “What’s happening to Madam?”
Mr. Aisli sighed and gently patted Mrs. Aisli’s back, saying, “Lately, my wife has been plagued by nightmares for some reason. Every night, she dreams of vengeful spirits, grabbing her legs and demanding her to take lives.”
“My poor wife,” Mr. Aisli kissed Mrs. Aisli’s cheek, “You’ve suffered.”
Seemingly recalling the horrifying dream, Mrs. Aisli curled up into a ball, trembling.
Bai Lixin glanced inside and saw that, just like Mrs. Nick’s room downstairs, Mr. Oude’s room also had a pool of blood flowing from the hallway. The blood formed a meandering stream, slowly seeping into the carpet.
At the end of the hallway, Emil heard their voices and walked out from the main hall, waving at them.
After briefly comforting the philanthropist couple, Bai Lixin and Hongyue entered the crime scene once again, one after the other.
As Bai Lixin approached, Emil furrowed his brows slightly and asked, “Why is there such an ugly thing on your shoulder… what is it? A crow or a magpie?”
The little demon cleared its throat, “Caw caw caw!”
You’re all so mean! The demon realm prohibits discrimination based on beauty, don’t you understand? [○｀Д○]!
Bai Lixin coughed, “I picked it on the way.”
“Picked it?” Emil looked at Bai Lixin with confusion, “Out of curiosity for the strange?”
The little demon: “!”
Stupid humans, don’t make me curse you! You’re the ones who are ‘strange,’ your whole family is strange!
——————–
In the live broadcast room.
[Little Demon: Why am I always the one getting hurt?]
[”Curiosity”]
[To tell or not to tell, thanks to this ugly crow, I’m not scared anymore. I was watching this little crow the whole time at the crime scene on the second floor.]
[What was it doing?]
[It was mocking Mr. Nick for being bald, even more bald than itself.]
[…Indeed, confidence needs to be compared.]
————————
Bai Lixin took a quick look inside and confirmed that the crime scene was arranged exactly the same as the one downstairs, just as the attendant had described.
Mr. Oude’s already murky eyes had shrank to the size of green beans. His features were twisted together, his round eyes stared down, filled with terror.
Four leg bones hung in the four corners of the room, while strips of flesh were suspended on the walls.
The blood on the walls had dried up, forming thick and uneven bloodstains, layered and concentrated, resembling a mottled crimson forest from a distance.
Bai Lixin circled the main hall— the room was spotless. Not a single footprint or even a tiny strand of hair was left behind.
Suddenly, the sound of Mrs. Aisli sobbing came from outside.
“Wuuu, poor Mr. and Mrs. Oude. Such a loving couple. If they hadn’t come to the resort, they might still be at home enjoying a delicious breakfast.”
“But now, first, Mrs. Oude went missing, and then Mr. Oude died. Wuuu, it’s so tragic.”
Emil glanced at the door with undisguised disgust and muttered softly, “What a pretentious hypocrite, so annoying.”
Besides Emil, there were three other people in the room, the trio of actors.
They stood in the corner, their expressions showing some fear but mostly calm, as if they weren’t too shocked by the scene in front of them.
Bai Lixin discreetly glanced at the three of them, then exchanged a glance with Emil. After that, the three of them left the room.
Instead of going downstairs, they entered Emil’s room.
As the door closed behind the last person, Bai Lixin asked, “Young Master, did you notice anything last night?”
Emil appeared arrogant but still answered Bai Lixin’s question, “Last night, I intended to stay up all night.”
“I wanted to see if anyone would enter the golden room.”
“Sometime around dawn, I saw a shadow indeed appear. They walked to the end of the room and opened the golden room.”
Both Hongyue and Bai Lixin froze for a moment. Hongyue quickly asked, “Did you see who it was?!”
Emil shook his head regretfully, “No. I was excited at the time, and even the sleepiness that had been lingering in my mind disappeared. I thought I could hold on until the person walked out of the golden room so I could see their face.”
“But for some reason, after only a few minutes, I started feeling drowsy again. So, I went to the sofa to have a cup of tea to stay awake. But as soon as I drank the tea, I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already early morning of the next day. I slept on the sofa the whole night and had dreams all night long.”
Bai Lixin examined Emil’s somewhat withered golden hair ends and asked, “What did you dream about?”
Emil glanced at Bai Lixin, then at Hongyue, shrugged, and lightly coughed, “I dreamt of the glorious estate and Bai Lixin’s betrayal.”
The three of them looked at each other and smiled helplessly.
Hongyue said, “Other than that, did you see anything else? By the way, you live in room 304, so if the shadow was from the room opposite yours, you should have been able to identify them through the room. So, you’re saying that you needed to see their face after they left, meaning the shadow didn’t come from the opposite room?”
Emil replied, “That’s right. In the room opposite mine, there are Mrs. Aisli, and two men from the actor group.”
“But I didn’t hear any sounds of opening or closing doors from outside, only the sound of footsteps on the stairs.”
Bai Lixin said, “So, the black-clad person should have come from the second floor.”
“Excluding me and Hongyue, the people living on the second floor are Mr. Nick and his family, Miss Jia’er, and the female actress.”
“Miss Jia’er can be directly ruled out.”
Emil looked at Bai Lixin, “Why are you so sure? Just because she behaves well? What if she deliberately pretended to be like that to lower our guard?”
Bai Lixin replied, “Not because of that. Mainly because she wouldn’t be that bored.”
Emil had never seen Miss Jia’er’s face and wanted to continue questioning, but Hongyue stepped on his foot, bending her two thumbs to face each other in a gesture.
Bai Lixin’s calm expression slightly cracked.
Emil stared at Hongyue’s eyes, furrowing his brows. Two seconds later, his pupils suddenly contracted, an expression of disbelief on his face.
He used his face to portray a few words: Can it be also be like that?
Hongyue nodded firmly.
Only then did Emil turn to look at Bai Lixin, his eyes filled with a subtle atmosphere. He raised his thumb slowly towards Bai Lixin, “Impressive, truly impressive. You guys sure know how to play.”
This couple can really think of anything. Is it a switch from being a crossdressing uke to a crossdressing gong this time?
I have only admiration.
Bai Lixin could nolonger hold an indifferent expression.
———————–
In the live broadcast room
[The fraudster has opened the door to a new world.]
[Emil: Small eyes, big question mark.]
[Lately, Emil doesn’t seem annoying anymore. It’s quite magical. Is it because following God Xin comes with a built-in filter? Is God Xin some kind of whitewashing artifact?]
[Hahaha.]
————————
Emil corrected himself, “So we can rule out Miss Jia’er.”
Bai Lixin asked, “Was there only one person who entered the golden room?”
Emil replied, “I only saw one person. Is there a problem?”
Before Bai Lixin could say anything, their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Hongyue opened it, revealing the actors and the philanthropist couple outside. In front of them stood the tour guide, Thomas.
Thomas maintained his usual professional smile, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He stood at the door and greeted them, “Guests, please follow me to the first-floor dining hall. I have something to discuss with all of you.”
The three of them exchanged glances and nodded, stepping out of the room and following behind the tour guide.
Soon, they arrived at the first-floor dining hall.
The people from the second floor were already seated at their respective places, and Jia’er was also held in Richard’s arms.
The bluish hue under Richard’s eyelids had deepened, indicating that he hadn’t slept all night. Emil hadn’t seen Richard on the third floor earlier.
Richard sat beside Jia’er, her golden curls cascading over her shoulder and covering her flat chest. Her face still bore the dark veil.
Once everyone was seated, the tour guide waved his hand outside the dining hall. In an instant, over twenty servants dressed in golden attire filed in, expressionless and orderly, standing against the four walls of the dining hall with cold and sharp gazes.
When the last servant entered and took their position, the tour guide forcefully closed the doors of the dining hall, completely isolating it from the outside.
The tour guide walked to the front of the dining hall, cleared his throat, and began, “Respected guests, forgive me for resorting to this method, but it is the most effective way given the current circumstances. In my heart, you are still the noblest guests.”
The tour guide continued, “I assume all guests are already aware that the only road from the resort to the outside has been blocked by a mudslide. The resort has already contacted the police, but it will take at least four days for them to arrive.”
“People don’t just die for no reason. I reasonably suspect that the culprit is among us, so I need to know where each of you was last night and if there were any witnesses.”
“Until we find the culprit, I advise everyone to avoid being alone and, at the very least, be in pairs for any actions.”
“Let’s start with you, Mr. Nick, where were you last night? What were you doing?”
“I’ve been in my room,” Mr. Nick pointed to the actress in the corner, “She can testify for me, we’ve been together for two nights.”
When he said this, the actress immediately blushed and lowered her head, while the male actor beside her looked at the actress in disbelief, his eyes full of accusations after being betrayed.
The director looked anxiously at the actress in the distance: “Really?”
The actress lowered her head even lower, and under the gazes of more than a dozen gazes, she finally nodded her head slightly, and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito: “Yes.”
