59. A torrential rainstorm hits the village on night.

After saying that, Liang Mei ignored Fang Chengjin and limped towards the guesthouse.

Fang Cheng stared intently at the dense forest ahead, then plunged into it without looking back.

The mountain was very large, and no one had pruned its branches and leaves for many years. The surrounding trees were lush and green, and there were many forks and paths. Fang Cheng tried to recall the way he had taken to climb the mountain, but when he looked at the crisscrossing paths on the ground, he really didn't know which way to go.

He paused for a few seconds, then chose a path and started walking down. The further he went, the more the wind howled through the woods, like ice blades scraping against a wall, making a creaking sound.

After walking for only a few minutes, we were blocked by a pile of fallen tree trunks.

Fang Cheng stared intently at the pile of fallen tree trunks, knowing he couldn't go any further.

The tree trunk can only be moved by calling for a rescue team.

Fang Cheng took out his phone and found it had no signal. He wasn't planning to leave yet; he wandered around the area for a while longer, then noticed something odd about the cross-section of the fallen tree trunk.

He came to a large tree trunk stump, touched the cross-section with his hand, and found that most of the front half of the cross-section was smooth, with only a few small gaps and unevenness around the edges, as if it had been torn off.

Fang Cheng bent down and sniffed the cross-section. He could smell a little woody scent, but nothing more.

His nose was blocked and had lost many of its functions.

If someone had used a knife to grind this cross-section, they would have been able to smell the rust.

Fang Cheng then turned to observe the severed tree stumps around him and discovered that something was indeed amiss.

About ten tree trunks had been cut, with the front half smooth. They could be toppled over with just a gentle gust of wind. Two other small tree trunks were uneven, as if they had been snapped off by a strong wind.

The sky grew darker, and the drizzling rain fell like rolling beads. The raindrops were icy cold, but they felt hot on the back of my hand. There was also a faint smell of rust in the air.

Fang Chengjin put his hands in his pockets, glanced at the scene before him, and then turned and hurriedly walked towards the guesthouse.

A massive rainstorm is coming.

**

Back at the guesthouse, as soon as I entered, the heavy rain outside began to fall in a drizzle, and the sound of raindrops gradually rose.

Fang Cheng patted his waterproof trench coat, shaking off a lot of raindrops.

Several people were sitting on the sofa in the hall. Everyone was there except for Huo Xu, the rich second-generation.

A-K was the first to notice Fang Chengjin's return, and he quickly went to the front desk to get a towel and handed it to Fang Chengjin.

"Wipe yourself off, Professor Fang, be careful not to catch a cold."

Fang Cheng smiled and thanked him, then accepted the gift.

A-K asked, "Professor Fang, have you still not seen Miss Zhou?"

Fang Chengjin shook his head while wiping his hair with a towel.

Ah K was puzzled, a look of doubt appearing on his handsome face: "That's strange. If Miss Zhou went out on her own, she should have returned by herself in this heavy rain. Is she trapped? If so, we need to send someone to look for her, but there are only a few of us at the guesthouse, and it's raining heavily outside, so it's not safe..."

Fang Cheng remained silent. He walked to the front desk and put the towel back on the table.

Seeing that he was still relatively calm, A-K followed up and asked, "Professor Fang, what are your plans now?"

At this moment, the butler came out of the kitchen in the hall with a small food cart. He rang the bell a few times and smiled politely: "Lunch is ready. Please move to the table and have something to eat."

Liang Mei was applying medicine to herself by the sofa. She was wrapping her injured leg with gauze and said impatiently, "What are you banging for? You only ring bells for dead people, it's bad luck!"

Director Chen, who was sitting to the side with a solemn expression, couldn't help but speak up, "Ms. Liang, there's still no conclusion about Mr. Lei's incident, so we shouldn't spread rumors about the murderer. We'll have to wait for the police to arrive to find out exactly how Mr. Lei got into trouble."

Liang Mei immediately threw the medicine box in her hand at Director Chen, which hit him directly on half of his face, causing him to cry out in pain.

Director Chen covered his face, furious but unable to speak out.

Liang Mei: "I will definitely sue your travel agency. I will make you pay until you go bankrupt. You caused an accident to a tourist halfway through the trip. This is all your responsibility!"

Director Chen sighed and stopped trying to persuade him.

Fang Chengjin walked over to the sofa and looked at Liang Mei. "After lunch, I'll go to your room to check. Maybe I can find some clues about what happened to Mr. Lei."

Liang Mei was furious: "No way! This room is my private space. I won't allow you murderers to go in, especially since you helped the housekeeper. You're accomplices! I can't trust you anymore! I'm waiting for the police!"

Liang Mei got up, clutching her leg, and limped away from the sofa, heading towards the dining table.

Fang Cheng frowned slightly.

As Liang Mei passed by, the sleeve of her right arm was rolled up, revealing her fair skin and... one or two bruises.

Fang Chengjin continued to gaze at Liang Mei's departing figure. At this moment, he noticed that although Liang Mei's left leg was injured, her right leg also seemed unable to walk properly, and it looked somewhat trembling.

**

At lunchtime, everyone looked rather unwell, and the entire group remained silent, quietly eating their food.

The lunch prepared by the housekeeper was quite substantial: eight dishes and a soup, with meat and vegetables, and all tasted delicious.

Directly opposite the dining table were two enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, offering an unobstructed view of the mountains outside, where the wind and rain raged and the mountains were shrouded in darkness. Each of them felt like a bird trapped in a mountain range, unable to fly away.

With a crackling sound, lightning ripped across the sky. Tang Tiantian pretended to shout, put down the toast in her hand, and hid in Ye Xiao's arms in fear.

The butler, looking apologetic, immediately stepped forward and lowered the dark purple curtains. The lavender scent eased the atmosphere in the hall considerably.

A-K suddenly spoke up: "I just found out through some channels that a typhoon eye is coming here. It's not just a normal torrential rain. It's expected to last for about three days before it dissipates, which means we'll have to stay in this guesthouse for another three days."

Frustrated, Liang Mei threw down her knife and fork: "You say three days, so it's three days? Why should I believe you? It's just a rainstorm. We can leave as soon as it stops!"

Director Chen tried to ease the tension: "Dear tourists, regardless of whether it's three days or not, we must wait until the heavy rain stops before we can go down the mountain, otherwise there will be danger to our lives."

Liang Mei sneered: "Even in a guesthouse, things still go wrong, don't they? I'll make you pay me back when I get out here!"

Director Chen was embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

While the people at the table were talking, Fang Chengjin had already finished his meal. He pushed back his chair, got up, left the table, and walked to the sofa on the other side. He chose a seat by the window, gazing at the scenery outside, lost in thought.

A-K noticed this detail. While the people at the table were still discussing how miserable this trip was, A-K also got up and followed Fang Chengjin to his side.

He stood behind Fang Chengjin, gazing out the window at the view.

After a long while, A-K took a sip of wine, swirled the glass, and said with a slight smile, "Professor Fang, what are you thinking about? Are you wondering who killed Lei Batian? Did you smell anything else at the time? If so, I can help you gather clues."

Silence, silence.

It is unknown how much time passed before Fang Chengjin returned.

"I'm thinking about Zhou Yun."

There was no sound behind him, only a sigh, comforting him, "Don't worry, Miss Zhou will be alright."

The equation remained silent.

He missed Zhou Yun so much that even solving the case became less important.

Zhou Yun, where are you...?

Time passed slowly, and everyone was getting a little bored staying in the guesthouse. Director Chen, being the tour guide after all, organized those who wanted to play card games to play together.

The afternoon passed quickly, and around 7 p.m., the wall clock in the lobby chimed a few more times. Afterward, everyone had dinner together.

Outside, the wind and rain continued to rage. As darkness fell, the scenery outside became like an abyss, swallowing everyone's hearts. No one was willing to open the door and take another step outside.

The rain poured down relentlessly, and I had no idea when it would stop.

The cell phone signal in the guesthouse was lost. Even Huo Xu, the rich second-generation who rarely came downstairs, couldn't help but come down to eat with everyone at dinner time.

Huo Xu was wearing a deep red silk nightgown. He had a handsome face and an air of nobility. The Patek Philippe watch on his left wrist was a vibrant green.

Everyone was stunned when they saw him come downstairs. The butler was the first to react, "Young Master Huo, I was just about to bring your dinner up to you."

Huo Xu frowned slightly, waved his hand, and didn't say anything. He looked at everyone's seats at the table for a while, and then went to sit down in the empty seat next to the popular internet celebrity Ahua.

Ahua's eyes lit up as she stared at Huo Xu, her cheeks flushing slightly.

Ahua asked kindly, "Young Master Huo, would you like something to drink?"

Huo Xu shook his head: "I only drink plain water."

Ahua nodded, not daring to make a sound.

The butler stood to the side and poured water into Huo Xu's cup. Huo Xu was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Ahua, "After dinner, I have something I'd like to talk to you about. Are you free?"

Ahua was flattered and shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, saying, "Sure..."

Liang Mei sneered, and the knife and fork she used to cut the steak made a slight sound.

Dinner was over quickly.

After leaving the dining table, Fang Cheng did not linger in the hall for long before returning to the third floor.

He walked towards room number one. Upon entering the room, a faint scent of lilies wafted from the bed and the suitcases on the table—the scent of Zhou Yun.

He immediately felt all the fatigue of the day disappear, as if his nose had been sprayed with a freshener, filtering out the foul air.

Fang Cheng waited quietly in the room for a while. He checked the room from beginning to end. About an hour later, he confirmed that there was indeed no secret room or other mechanism in the room.

Does this mean that Zhou Yun left the room normally through the door?

The only question is the method of leaving: being dragged away or walking on your own?

The most crucial reason is that I was drugged and knocked unconscious last night.

Fang Cheng closed his eyes and sniffed carefully, but unfortunately there was no smell of any sleeping potion.

His sense of smell is sometimes sharp and sometimes not; the important thing is that he smelled the bloody words this morning and accidentally hurt his nose.

Fang Cheng moved a chair and placed it under the central air conditioner. He stood on it and peered over to check the gaps.

He noticed a thin layer of white powder in the crevice. He sniffed it and found it smelled like bitter almonds.

Fang Cheng got off the chair, intending to go back to his room to check. He had left in such a hurry this morning that he hadn't had time to go back to his room.

It was already nine o'clock in the evening when I came out of Zhou Yun's room.

Room number three is occupied by Huo Xu, a rich second-generation heir.

When Ahua came out, she looked around and saw Fang Chengjin. Without feeling embarrassed, Ahua smiled and waved at Fang Chengjin, then naturally continued to walk up the stairs back to the fourth floor.

Fang Cheng silently returned to his room.