55. Heavy rain came to the village at night.

The sun was shining brightly, and the hands of my watch landed on the number 12.

Zhou Yun and the others walked up the mountain together, with the butler, A-Shi, leading the way. There were many paths leading up the mountain, forking every few steps; they needed to follow the butler closely, otherwise they would lose him in a blink of an eye. The trees were tall, some even blocking out the sun, obscuring the clear sky. The dense, crisscrossing trees resembled a grid, and they had to report their presence at each step.

After walking for about 40 minutes, a wide-open view finally appeared before them.

The housekeeper, Ah Shi, beamed, took the remote control from his pocket, pressed a button on the door, and turned to face everyone: "Dear guests, we have arrived at the guesthouse."

The wooden door slowly opened, welcoming everyone.

Everyone else was pleasantly surprised, not expecting there to be such a large-scale guesthouse in the mountains. They all followed the butler into the guesthouse courtyard.

Zhou Yun and Fang Chengjin lagged behind the others. When they reached the main gate, they stopped. Zhou Yun looked back at the way they came, thought for a moment, and then turned to Fang Chengjin to ask him a question.

Do you remember how we got up the mountain?

Fang Cheng took off his mask to get some fresh air, his dark eyes flashing. "I can't remember."

In that brief moment of respite, Director Chen noticed the two of them lagging behind and shouted, "You two better catch up quickly!"

The two then walked into the courtyard side by side.

Zhou Yun remained suspicious and said softly, "It's really strange. How did the butler remember the way here? Could it be that the butler has been working here for several years?"

However, even the equation cannot answer this question.

**

Upon entering the courtyard, there are pebbly paths on both sides, and the space on both sides is very open. On the left is a swimming pool, which is not cleaned and there are a few wooden rocking chairs by the pool.

To the right is a large grassy area, and near the grass is a small, triangular-topped building that is cone-shaped. According to the explanations given by Director Chen and the butler, this is a warehouse left over from a former sugar factory, now used as a warehouse for storing supplies for the hotel. Its exterior has been remodeled and is now used as a decorative building.

Continuing forward is the main building of the guesthouse, about five stories high, with a modern design. In front of the main building is a large fountain pool with flowing water.

It was very empty, it felt like no one lived here for years, and I didn't even see many staff members.

Upon entering the guesthouse building, the housekeeper walked to the lobby, where a person stood in front of a computer and smiled, saying, "Everyone, please line up to register for check-in."

So the members of the tour group lined up one by one.

The lobby on the first floor is also very spacious. To the left, it looks like a cafeteria, with a long wooden table and many chairs around it. On the other side, there are three sofa seats in the waiting area, with drinks and food on the table. Behind the reception desk, there is a spiral staircase with smooth curves that winds its way up.

Director Chen was initially watching from the front desk when the butler called him over. After whispering a few words to him, Director Chen left with the words, "The butler will arrange everything. Just ask him if you need anything. I'm going to the door to meet the guy carrying the luggage." He then hurriedly left.

No one had any objections; everyone's attention was no longer on the tour guide. The others were excited and clearly satisfied with the guesthouse's environment.

Fang Chengjin and Zhou Yun were at the back of the line. Zhou Yun looked around as she waited.

It's so quiet here, and I haven't seen many staff members.

When it was Zhou Yun's turn to register, she casually asked, "How many employees does your guesthouse/hotel have?"

Upon hearing this, the housekeeper, Ah Shi, smiled and handed over a room key with both hands: "I'm the only full-time employee right now. The rest are villagers from nearby who work part-time. They only work during the day and have to go home and down the mountain at six o'clock. Here's your card, please take it, ma'am."

The room card read "Number 10, Yelaizhuang," but contained no other information.

Zhou Yun smiled and said, "Your hotel really knows how to cut costs. But since you're a high-end hotel, won't the service quality suffer if you save on staff costs?"

The butler maintained a gentle expression: "Madam, rest assured, our high-end tours focus on natural scenery, and our service standards will certainly not be lowered. However, due to the difficulty in recruiting staff, there will definitely be a slight decrease."

The butler continued to help Fang Chengjin check in. After everything was completed, the butler told everyone to go to their rooms and see if there was anyone else there, and to call him if needed.

He's going to prepare dinner.

The butler left everyone's sight, walked out the gate, and headed towards the warehouse.

Zhou Yun and Fang Chengjin lived on the third floor. When they carried their luggage to the third floor, a door at the end of the stairs opened, and a young man wearing a hoodie walked out with a smile on his face.

The man stepped forward to the top of the stairs and asked, "Are you new tourists?"

Seeing his kind appearance, Zhou Yun casually replied, "Yeah, buddy, who are you?"

The man immediately introduced himself: "My name is A-K. I work in tourism planning. I came here to experience this homestay and will consider including it in my business later."

A-K's gaze fell on Fang Chengjin, his interest piqued: "And who is this?"

Fang Cheng glanced at the man and smelled a very clean scent, as if he had been completely disinfected with disinfectant.

It's strange, why would someone disinfect their entire body? Is there some unspeakable secret behind it?

Fang Chengjin's silence was considered impolite in a social setting, so Zhou Yun immediately chimed in: "He's a professor, and I'm here on a study tour with him. I'm his student."

Ah K let out a long "oh," the meaning of which was unclear. He smiled and went downstairs without saying anything.

Zhou Yun didn't take this little incident to heart. She checked the room number against her room card, found her room, tapped the card to open the door, and before going in, she peeked into the room next door and said to Fang Chengjin, "I live next door to you. Call me if you need anything."

Fang Chengjin nodded, pushed his luggage, and went into the room.

**

The room was quite large, about 80 square meters, bigger than a typical hotel room. She went to the window, opened it, and saw a vast lawn with an unobstructed view outside, and a little further ahead were mountains on all sides.

Zhou Yun rested her chin on her hand, leaning against the window to survey the terrain. "This place isn't easy to escape from..."

She unconsciously thought of what the pretty girl on the bus had said, and felt a strong sense of agreement.

This place is very similar to the closed training grounds in the old police station. Such a spacious place would be great for practicing shooting.

She gazed out the window for a while when her phone suddenly rang. It was Director Chen calling.

After I answered the phone, the voice on the other end remained calm and composed.

Working in such a closed environment is too peaceful.

"Ms. Zhou, may you come downstairs after you've put your luggage away? I'd like to gather everyone together to play some games and promote camaraderie among our group during this trip."

There are games to play? Although Zhou Yun wasn't one to join in the fun, she was bored in her room, so she agreed.

As he opened the door to go out, Fang Chengjin also happened to come out of the room.

"It seems you also received a call from Director Chen?" Zhou Yun asked.

Fang Cheng nodded, "Go down and take a look."

**

Most of the travel agency staff had already gathered downstairs, along with Ah K, whom they had seen in the hallway before. He was sitting on the sofa, smiling as he waited for them to arrive.

Zhou Yun and Fang Cheng sat down, and Director Chen began to warm up the atmosphere.

"It's fate that brought us together from afar! It's truly a special connection that our tour group is here today! Let's introduce ourselves first, and then we'll begin our games! Who wants to introduce themselves first?"

Ah K was the first to raise his hand. "Me, I'll go first." He patted his chest and said, "I'm Ah K, and my profession is a travel planner, just like you would imagine, someone who plans travel routes all day long."

Next up were the people next to Ah K, who looked like a pair of students.

A man and a woman were both wearing red, white and blue stripes. The woman had her hair tied in a high ponytail, while the man had a buzz cut.

The girl spoke first, "Hello, my name is Tang Tiantian, you can just call me Tiantian. My boyfriend and I are here on a graduation trip." After saying that, she glanced shyly at the boy next to her.

The boy immediately replied, "My name is Ye Xiao, a senior at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. We are both graduating this year. The economy hasn't been good these past few years, and my girlfriend and I haven't found jobs, so we thought we'd come here to relax."

Liang Mei chimed in, raising an eyebrow, "Oh, little brother, looks like you come from a wealthy family."

Ye Xiao grinned foolishly, but Tang Tiantian glared at Liang Mei. Liang Mei smiled, turned to Zhou Yun, and teased, "Your boyfriend is indeed handsome. Look, this sister is staring at him intently."

Zhou Yun stared intently at Ye Xiao, her gaze not shifting even slightly.

Tang Tiantian clung tightly to Ye Xiao's arm, afraid that these older women would steal her man.

Lei Batian laughed heartily, "Young people are full of energy. It's alright, you can come work for my company. We can contact each other then. You can just call me Lao Lei. I run my own engineering company. I did too many government projects a few years ago, which was really tiring. Now that I'm older, I like to come out and see the mountains and rivers. This is my girlfriend, Xiao Mei." He patted Liang Mei's hand.

Liang Mei smiled, flicked her hair, and neither looked at anyone nor introduced herself.

A pretty girl next to her struck up a conversation, "I'm Xiaohua, I work in social media." As she spoke, she got up and picked up a water glass from the table. She was wearing black stockings, fleece shorts, a trendy white tank top, and a low-cut undershirt underneath, looking both beautiful and sexy.

Lei Batian immediately clapped and welcomed her with a smile, while Liang Mei rolled her eyes at Xiao Hua.

After everyone else had finished their introductions, it was Zhou Yun and Fang Chengjin's turn.

Zhou Yun spoke slowly, her eyes never leaving Ye Xiao, "My name is Zhou Yun, a former police officer."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiao and Tang Tiantian were taken aback and exclaimed in surprise.

Liang Mei frowned and looked at Tang Tiantian, who said awkwardly, "Such a shocking identity!"

Zhou Yun added, "Now, I'm studying."

Liang Mei smiled. "Those are just students."

Before he could finish speaking, Ah K exclaimed, "Ah, I know who you are! The expert who can solve cases by smell that caused all the commotion before?"

Lei Batian said "Oh, it's you. I remember you. I saw that report a few days ago. You're a celebrity in Hong Kong now. To be honest, do you really solve cases using your sense of smell?"

Everyone remained silent, looking at Fang Chengjin as if they wanted to reply.

Fang Cheng smiled slightly, stared at A-K, and replied, "Yes."

The crowd looked on with a mixture of surprise and admiration.

Tang Tiantian asked, "So now the police rely on you to solve cases? What happens to the police while you're on vacation?"

Zhou Yun chuckled and helped explain, "If all cases in the world were solved using only the sense of smell, what would be the point of having police?"

Director Chen stepped in to bolster the atmosphere, saying, "Alright, that concludes the self-introductions. Now let's begin our warm-up game, which is called Werewolf and Truth or Dare. The winner can choose a loser to say either Truth or Dare."

The others were immediately intrigued and all agreed to start.

Director Chen took out the Werewolf game cards from his pocket, shuffled the cards, and prepared to deal them.

In that brief moment, Fang Cheng leaned close to Zhou Yun's ear and asked, "Why are you staring at other people's boyfriends? Aren't I good enough to look at?"

These words came so suddenly that Zhou Yun was startled that she immediately looked away, turned her head to look up at the face that was close to her.

Fang Chengjin wasn't wearing a mask, and his chin almost bumped into Zhou Yun's forehead.

She seemed to possess an olfactory sense that was beyond her normal range.

The scent emanating from Fang Chengjin was bleak yet carried a hint of warmth.

Zhou Yun realized that her mind was wandering, so she immediately lowered her head, coughed a few times, and was a little flustered.

It is said that when people are flustered, they become clumsy and disorganized.

Fang Chengjin curled the corners of his mouth and said softly, "Don't you think Ye Xiao is acting strangely?"

Zhou Yun raised an eyebrow, "You...know?"

Zhou Yun had been staring at Ye Xiao for a while, and she found it strange. Having worked as a criminal investigator for many years, she had her own standards and abilities for judging people.

Ye Xiao claimed to be a college student, but he exuded a very sleazy and uncouth air, and had a small scar near his eye. He was also lean and muscular.

If no murders had occurred yet, Zhou Yun would have thought this person looked like the killer at the crime scene.

She has handled many murder cases, and this portrait looks exactly like the murderer.