58. Heavy Rain Comes to Zhuang

Fang Chengjin was serious and unsmiling, his dark black trench coat like a sharp blade that could pierce through the lies in the air.

The butler nodded in agreement, looking anxious: "That's right, Professor Fang, please come quickly! We can't let the guests slander me!"

Fang Chengjin quickly walked to the body.

The scene was chaotic. The deceased lay supine on the ground in a spread-eagle position, with several pieces of paper scattered around him, along with a line of shocking handwriting:

Fang Cheng first performed a simple autopsy to determine the manner of death. He reached out to check for breath, then pressed on the skin of the carotid artery in the neck, and cracked his knuckles.

My icy fingers can only bend halfway.

"Without instruments, based on the current condition of the body and the lividity at the scene, it is preliminarily determined that the person has been dead for more than three hours. If we want a precise time, further forensic examination is needed."

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped.

Fang Cheng examined Lei Batian's body and found that there was a large amount of bleeding on the back of his head, which had formed a scar, and there were minor abrasions on his limbs and waist.

Fang Cheng pointed to the room with the open window on the fourth floor and asked, "Is that the room where the deceased lived?"

The butler glanced at it and nodded, "Yes, that's the one, the only one with a window view facing the fountain!"

Fang Cheng frowned slightly.

Judging from the circumstances of the deceased, it seems more likely that he died from a fall. Falling from an upper floor would make more sense, but if he fell from his own window, he shouldn't be here; he should be closer to the window, unless... someone pushed him, causing him to travel further away like a parabola.

He squatted down, touched the line of red characters with his finger, then withdrew his finger and brushed it between his nose and nose.

Because it's winter now, every line has frozen solid.

Liang Mei sobbed and demanded loudly, "Professor Fang, how did your examination go? Was it this butler who did it? Go and smell him!"

Fang Chengjin stood up and shook his head at everyone: "The only smells on the deceased were alcohol and medicine. He must have drunk alcohol and taken medicine before going to bed. I couldn't smell anything else. The butler did smell alcohol, but he often goes to the kitchen, or he probably brought you a bottle of wine last night."

The butler nodded: "That's right, Professor Fang. Last night, Mr. Lei ordered a bottle of our 1982 Lafite. When I brought it up, I opened the bottle in front of you two and didn't touch anything."

Liang Mei glared angrily: "You must have put something in the drink!"

The housekeeper calmly met Liang Mei's anger: "Ms. Liang, I saw you drinking last night, and you're perfectly fine now, aren't you?"

Tang Tiantian suddenly chuckled, then realized her mistake and quickly covered her mouth. Ye Xiao pulled her arm, telling her to be quiet.

Fang Cheng turned around to pick up the paper on the ground and look at it.

Ah K had already picked up the papers on the ground and read them once. He immediately assisted Fang Chengjin, his voice tinged with anger: "I've already looked at these papers. They're all reports about how Lei Batian's former engineering company owed workers money, leading to several workers being forced to jump off buildings! There's also a printed photo of Lei Batian's bills from the past few years. He's been living a carefree life these past few years, transferring millions of dollars in bills in one go."

With each word Ah K uttered, the way people around Liang Mei looked at her changed.

Finally, Ah K sighed and looked at Liang Mei: "Ms. Liang, these photos on the ground and this line of text, I think they must be related to Mr. Lei's death. How much do you know about these things concerning him?"

For a moment, a crack appeared on Liang Mei's tear-streaked face. She didn't continue to sob and complain, but just stood quietly in place, her whole body swaying precariously.

"No, I know nothing about these things, and I haven't used this money. Why are you looking at me like that?! It's none of my business!"

Liang Mei finally shouted it out, her voice echoing in the air.

Suddenly, Fang Chengjin felt a strong, warm, and somewhat thick sensation in his nose.

He suddenly couldn't smell anything.

The butler was the first to notice Fang Chengjin's unusual behavior. "Professor Fang, you have a nosebleed!"

The butler immediately offered him a handkerchief from his waist, intending to reach out and cover his nose.

Fang Chengjin stopped his hand, calmly took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and covered his nose.

The handkerchief had his favorite scent. Before the trip, he had stuffed the handkerchief into Zhou Yun's backpack, but he couldn't smell it anymore.

The butler had no choice but to take back his handkerchief. "Are you feeling unwell?"

Fang Chengjin's gaze was somewhat unfocused, but he quickly regained his composure, his voice muffled by his handkerchief.

His gaze fell on the line of words on the ground, and he said, "These blood-written words are poisonous."

Even after reasoning it out himself, A-K didn't dare to say it aloud; he just looked around.

The surroundings were quiet, no one made a sound, even Liang Mei, who had been angry, was preoccupied, her swollen eyes from crying were exhausted.

The clock in the lobby pointed to the number 8, and then chimed twice, marking the hour.

The guesthouse was surrounded by mountains, and the wind rushed in from all directions, ruffling the hair of everyone present.

The butler squinted, surprised: "Why is the wind so strong today..."

He had barely finished speaking when his phone rang.

In the silence, the housekeeper had no choice but to take out his phone from his pocket and see that the caller was a cleaning lady hired from the neighborhood.

The call was connected.

The butler's expression grew increasingly grave; he remained silent, his brows furrowed deeply.

Ye Xiao was the first to notice that the butler's expression was off, and he asked directly, "Uncle Butler, why do you look like you're in a bad mood?"

After hanging up the phone, the housekeeper apologized profusely, "Dear guests, I just received a call from the cook we hired. She was hired by a nearby villager to help out. She usually only comes up the mountain during the day to help with the guesthouse's affairs. She just called me and said that there was a heavy rainstorm today, and there might be extreme weather in the next three or four days. She was worried about mudslides on the mountain, so she asked me for three days off."

Tang Tiantian immediately screamed, "How can this be? You're talking nonsense! I checked and the weather has been great these past few days before we went up the mountain. You've ruined our plans!"

Her voice had a peculiar irritability.

As soon as he finished speaking, the butler raised his phone, looking apologetic: "I'm so sorry, I received a text message from the weather bureau saying that there will be a heavy rainstorm today, and we should stay in the hotel and not go anywhere. As compensation, we will refund part of the cost to everyone."

The next second, Liang Mei rushed up to the butler, almost hitting him, "I want to leave! It's not safe here, I can't stay any longer! Take me down the mountain right now!"

The butler said helplessly, "Miss Liang, I really am not the murderer. You had an accident at my hotel, so I am the prime suspect. How could I do such a thing? Besides, I have no connection with Mr. Lei. Why would I kill him? And how would I have done it?"

Liang Mei: "I don't care, I'm going down the mountain today and call the police to arrest you!"

After saying that, Liang Mei walked towards the main gate.

At this moment, the wind blew even stronger, and dark clouds loomed overhead, a sure sign of an impending downpour.

Fang Cheng covered his nose for a while, and the bleeding stopped, leaving a red stain on his handkerchief.

"Well..." Fang Cheng sniffed.

He couldn't detect a distinct scent; it was vague and almost imperceptible.

He knew there was something wrong with his sense of smell.

Fang Chengjin ignored Liang Mei who had run away, and simply looked up at the housekeeper and said, "It's going to rain, let's help carry the body inside..."

He saw the warehouse in the distance.

"Move it to the warehouse, otherwise the heavy rain will make his body even more disintegrated. We need to preserve the body before the police arrive."

The butler nodded. "Alright! We'll do as Professor Fang says! I, and..."

A-K raised his hand, "I'll help too!"

Ye Xiao hugged Tang Tiantian but didn't offer to help. He stood there, observing the people in front of him with a cold and indifferent look in his eyes.

The three of them worked together to move Lei Batian's body into a separate warehouse in the distance.

The warehouse door opened, and a strong smell of plastic wafted out, but Fang Chengjin couldn't smell it very well; in fact, he thought the smell was very faint.

The warehouse is large and divided into three areas: a cold chain area, a cooked food area, and a miscellaneous goods area.

As Fang Cheng passed through the clutter area, he noticed that the brooms and mops inside were very old, as if they hadn't been replaced in a long time.

Fang Cheng frowned slightly, but said nothing, and continued carrying the body to the cold chain area.

The three of them moved to the entrance of the area, and the butler said to them, "Put it here for now. I'll take the food inside to our main hall in a cart, otherwise we won't get any food here!"

Ah K enthusiastically said, "I'll help you push it over!"

The butler looked up at Fang Chengjin and said kindly, "Professor Fang, please go and rest. You had a nosebleed just now. Take a break. There's enough for him and me here. We're two men, we have plenty of strength!"

Fang Chengjin did not refuse and nodded in agreement.

As he walked out of the warehouse, a strong wind surged up again, with a faint howling sound, and the sky darkened as if darkness was about to descend once more.

Fang Chengjin slowly exhaled.

He thought of Zhou Yun and immediately walked around quickly, hoping that Zhou Yun had really just gone out for a while.

The guesthouse has a simple layout, consisting of two buildings on the left and right, plus a fountain, a large lawn, and a swimming pool.

Fang Cheng walked around the gate but found no trace. He stared at the gate for a few seconds, then went outside to look around the area.

He walked out the door and saw Liang Mei staggering back.

As they drew nearer, Liang Mei panicked. She stopped in front of Fang Chengjin, clutching her bleeding left calf with her other hand, and said fiercely, "Damn it, do you want to leave too? I advise you not to go down the mountain either. A lot of trees have fallen down below, almost killing people!"

After cursing and swearing, she limped toward the guesthouse.

Fang Cheng stopped him, "Have you seen Zhou Yun? The lady who came with me?"

Liang Mei snorted coldly, "This guesthouse is too eerie; it might be hiding somewhere. How could she possibly escape from here? She couldn't have sneaked down the mountain last night!"