57. Heavy rain came to the village on the night.

Zhou Yun stayed in room number one, while Fang Chengjin stayed in room number two next door.

On the first night, Zhou Yun took a hot shower, intending to relax and have a good rest. She found that the walls were indeed not very soundproof, just as Fang Chengjin had said. Occasionally, there was a thud from the ceiling above her head, and she didn't know what was happening up there. On the other hand, Fang Chengjin next door was much quieter.

After taking a bath for a while, there were two more thumps from the ceiling.

Zhou Yun blew bubbles and began to recall the residents upstairs. During the day at the front desk, she had occasionally noticed the room cards the housekeeper gave to everyone. If it was in order, then it should be that Ah K? What was he doing so late at night? Was he working out? But during the day he looked tall and thin, not very muscular.

Two more thuds.

Zhou Yun couldn't stand the noise, so she quickly rinsed herself off and came out of the bathroom.

The room here is quite spacious. The bathroom and sleeping area are separated by a partition. Back on the big bed, it's quieter around, and there are no more thumping sounds.

Directly opposite the bed is a wooden screen with a landscape painting of spring rivers and mountains in red, green and blue oil paint colors.

Zhou Yun changed into some sportswear, then lifted the covers and lay down. She looked around the bedside table, found the remote control, beeped the central air conditioner, turned on the heater, and then picked up her phone to check. There were no new messages, and the time showed 10 p.m., which was still early. Zhou Yun decided to read an e-book for a while.

Although the thesis has been postponed until next month, it is not easy to write, and Fang Chengjin has high expectations for her.

She opened a criminal illustrator's guide that Fang Chengjin had published before and looked at it for a while, intending to extract some classic quotes from it.

In the quiet room, the only sound was the tapping of fingers on the screen.

The central air conditioning blew out warm air, instantly enveloping the entire room. The air was colorless and odorless, and the amount of warm air it emitted increased.

After reading only a few pages, Zhou Yun felt incredibly warm all over and also felt drowsy. Within minutes, she looked up from her phone screen, but it seemed like only a few minutes later, she suddenly became extremely sleepy.

Looking up, the Spring River Landscape painting opposite her was extremely blurry. She could only vaguely notice the large red paint, which looked like a fire that had set her on fire.

With a thud, Zhou Yun's phone slipped from her hand, and she closed her eyes and lay down on the bed.

Outside the window, the moonlight was like a hook, and the guesthouse was surrounded by mountains, so that no wind could get in from any side.

Time passed second by second, and in the lobby on the first floor, the longer hand of the wall clock pointed to the number 2.

It was still a fire, extremely hot.

Feeling dizzy and shaky, Zhou Yun felt like she was having a long dream, as if she were sitting on an airplane, rising and falling, traveling a bumpy journey. She tried to open her eyelids, but could only glimpse the cold moonlight and the swaying shadows of the trees.

**

Ding-dong, ding-dong, the wall clock in the lobby on the first floor suddenly rang, and the hands pointed to the number 7.

There was movement on the second floor first. The butler, Ah Shi, was already dressed and slowly coming downstairs to prepare breakfast.

He checked the hall as usual, found nothing amiss, and then walked to the main entrance, ready to open the door to welcome the dawn.

Then, the next second, a shrill female voice rang out in the sky.

The butler paused for a few seconds, his hand on the doorknob pausing in surprise.

What's going on? It sounds like tourists upstairs are screaming.

**

When the scream rang out, Fang Chengjin also opened his eyes.

A layer of hot sweat appeared on his forehead, and the warm air seemed to hint at something unusual.

The scent was very faint; he couldn't smell it at first yesterday. But after spraying it all night, Fang Chengjin could still smell the faint, bitter almond scent of the drug.

Fang Chengjin threw off the covers and rushed out of the room the next second. At this moment, Liang Mei on the third floor panicked and came downstairs. She stumbled and bumped into the stairwell several times.

Fang Chengjinli's room was more than ten meters away from the entrance of the corridor. He stood at the door and glanced at Liang Mei.

The door to room number 4, which was located in the middle of the corridor, opened, and Ye Xiao rushed out, asking what had happened.

Liang Mei shook her head, unable to speak at all, and ran downstairs.

Fang Cheng frowned slightly, but instead of chasing after them, he turned to look at room number 1.

All he cares about now is: how is Zhou Yun doing...?

Fang Chengjin took a few steps forward and knocked on the door, calling out Zhou Yun's name several times, but there was no response from inside. He tried to turn the doorknob, but found it was locked and couldn't be opened.

Fang Cheng hung up the phone, realizing that Zhou Yun might be in trouble.

He went to Zhou Yun's room and kicked it several times, but the door only made a few noises and was not broken.

Fang Chengjin only regrets that he is not strong enough now.

He hurried downstairs to find the housekeeper, whom he remembered lived on the second floor. Once downstairs, he knocked on the housekeeper's door several times, but there was no response.

Just then, Director Chen from next door opened his door, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Strange, I think I just heard someone shouting, it was kind of scary..."

Fang Chengjin kept a calm face, pondered for a few seconds, and then quickly went downstairs.

The lobby on the first floor was empty; there was no one there. A lot of people had run down there earlier. Where did they go?

Fang Chengjin walked to the open doorway and saw a group of people gathered around the fountain in the distance, including the butler.

Fang Chengjin quickly ran over, and the closer he got, the stronger the smell of blood in the air became. It came along with the cold, damp air of the mountains, enveloping his entire body and sending chills down his spine.

It was six o'clock in the morning, and the sky was still dimly lit.

Several people were already standing there, and Fang Cheng approached the housekeeper with caution. "Ah Shi, I need the key to room number 1. I can't open Zhou Yun's door. I suspect something has happened to her."

The butler immediately looked at Fang Chengjin in surprise, his face showing distress and his eyes glazed over.

Liang Mei was crying and shouting on the ground, "Old Lei, what happened to you? Wake up, please! Waaah..."

Fang Chengjin only glanced at the corpse on the ground and quickly noted down the scene. But what he cared about most was Zhou Yun at this moment.

Seeing the butler speechless, Fang Cheng urged again, "Give me the key quickly."

The housekeeper sighed, "Come back to the front desk with me. What happened? Why did something go wrong this morning..."

The two returned to the front desk, where the butler took another room key from a locked drawer and handed it to Fang Chengjin. "This is a spare room key. Take it upstairs and check on your friend. I still need to deal with Mr. Lei's matter."

Fang Chengjin took the room key and immediately went upstairs, leaving the butler behind him to sigh, "What a troublesome winter! It's getting cold, something bad is going to happen!"

**

After going up to the third floor, Fang Cheng used his room card to make a beep, and the door to room number one opened.

Fang Chengjin's gaze fell on the suitcase, the clothes on the bed, and the cell phone...

Fang Cheng searched the room thoroughly and found that Zhou Yunren was not there, but her belongings were still there, and the door was locked from the inside.

He stood in the center of the room for a moment, then looked up at the central air conditioning unit.

When I entered the room just now, I smelled a faint scent of bitter almonds.

Zhou Yun must have turned on the heating last night.

He walked to the central air conditioning unit and stared at it for a moment.

Suddenly, another voice came from outside the door, "Professor Fang, what's wrong with you?"

It's Ah K.

He was clearly woken up as well, wearing a pajama-style cotton coat with his hair disheveled.

Fang Cheng withdrew his gaze, his tone calm but tinged with worry, "Zhou Yun is missing."

A-K was surprised and scratched the back of his head. "How could this be? But Ms. Zhou's things are still in the room. Where did she go? Did she go somewhere else and not follow you?"

The equation remains silent.

He was pondering this possibility, which had only a 1% chance.

It's six in the morning, and the chances of Zhou Yun leaving the guesthouse alone at this time are slim. She went downstairs just now, but there was no one in the lobby, and the fountain plaza outside was also deserted. Besides, her phone was in her room. Where else could she go alone?

Ah K added, "Don't rush, let's all go look for her together later. By the way, I heard someone screaming early this morning, it sounded like Miss Liang's voice, what happened to her?"

Upon hearing Liang Mei's name, Fang Chengjin slowly began to speak, "Lei Batian is in trouble."

A-K's eyes widened in shock, his earlier drowsiness vanishing instantly.

**

Near the fountain, the water was rushing and splashing, and at the same time, Liang Mei was sobbing.

"I'm calling the police! This is a rip-off! How could Lao Lei have fallen from the building like that?!"

She immediately dialed 110, and the call was answered quickly.

"Hello, is this 110? Yes, I want to report a case. My partner has been in an accident at the Yelaizhuang Guesthouse... What's the exact location?"

Liang Mei turned her head, her eyes red-rimmed. "Butler, where exactly is this place?! Damn it, in this remote mountainous area, I really have no idea where we are!"

The manager sighed and immediately took the phone. "This is the back mountain of Shizi Village in Haifeng District. There used to be a sugar factory here. Yes, that's the place."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Liang Mei snatched the phone back, shouting, "Send someone over here right now!"

Suddenly there was silence on the other end of the phone.

Liang Mei held up the phone and called out several times, but received no response. She looked at the phone carefully in a panic and found that it had no signal!

"What a lousy place this is!" Liang Mei cursed.

The housekeeper reassured her, "Don't worry, ma'am, we've already called the police. They should be here soon. Please don't be anxious."

Liang Mei distanced herself from the housekeeper, looked around at the people, and said, "You all saw it, Lao Lei was murdered at the guesthouse. You are all witnesses. This housekeeper is definitely suspicious!"

The others stood there looking at each other, completely unaware of what had happened.

“Miss Liang, please calm down. How can this be blamed on the housekeeper? We can’t slander an innocent person, nor can we let any bad person go unpunished. We can have Professor Fang examine the body; he’s a detective expert at the police station.”

As soon as the voice faded, Ah K emerged from behind the crowd, and at the same time, Fang Chengjin appeared behind him.