61. A torrential rainstorm hits the village on night.

On the morning of the third day, the hands of the wall clock downstairs in the lobby pointed to 7.

Three consecutive resounding booms echoed throughout the hall.

On the second floor, the butler of room number one came out of the door. He was dressed neatly and slowly went downstairs to the lobby. He drew the curtains, and outside, the rain was still falling heavily.

The housekeeper muttered, "When will this rain stop? The food in the warehouse will only last a week at most..."

The housekeeper's clothes were clean and tidy, and a red dot had been added to the "+" mark on the hem of her apron.

After the housekeeper drew the curtains, she immediately began preparing breakfast.

Time passed slowly, and people gradually came down from upstairs.

The first to come down was Liang Mei. She was wearing a scarlet silk low-cut nightgown underneath a light brown wool coat. Her hair was messy, and she had swollen bags under her eyes.

She yawned, covered her mouth, walked to the dining table, and sat down. "Housekeeper, I'd like some hot water."

The housekeeper, as always, responded with good temper: "Please wait a moment, Ms. Liang."

A dozen seconds later, the butler came over with a cup of hot water and placed it on the table.

Liang Mei took a sip, clenched her fists on the table, glanced at the heavy rain outside the window, frowned, and remained silent.

After half an hour of silence, the housekeeper brought up milk, fried eggs, and noodles. At that moment, two more people came down from upstairs: Tang Tiantian and Ye Xiao.

The two were listless, and Tang Tiantian was not as lively as before. She came down to the dining table, didn't even look at Liang Mei, and started eating.

Ye Xiao went to the sofa, lay down, closed his eyes, and didn't eat breakfast.

Half an hour later, Ah K came down from the fourth floor. When he reached the third floor, he paused for a moment, but finally went to room number two and knocked on the door.

"Professor Fang? Are you awake?"

There was no response, so he knocked on the door again.

After a while, the door to room number one suddenly opened, and Fang Chengjin walked out with a cold face.

A-K was startled. "Professor Fang, what are you doing in this room?"

I miss Zhou Yun.

Ah K exclaimed "Ah!" and then "Oh!" "Professor Fang, is this Miss Zhou your girlfriend? She can't just be your student, can she? I noticed you seem quite concerned about her."

Fang Chengjin yawned, touched the back of his head which was still a little sore, and frowned.

He asked, "Did you hear anything last night?"

A-K frowned, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes, and shook his head.

"Professor Fang, what happened last night?"

Fang Cheng ignored him and walked back to room number two. "I'll wash up first."

A-K nodded without saying anything, watching Fang Chengjin return to room number two and close the door.

A-K touched the tip of his nose, turned around, and paused for a few seconds in front of the tightly closed door of room number three. But it was only for a few seconds. Without any expression, he continued to walk downstairs.

Twenty minutes later, Fang Chengjin came out of room number two. He took a hot shower and covered his nose with a hot towel, which finally cleared his nose.

As he passed by room number three, he suddenly smelled a strong stench of blood. He tried to smell it more closely, but his nose suddenly became blocked.

Fang Cheng frowned, paused, and looked toward the door of room number three.

If I remember correctly, this room is occupied by Huo Xu, the rich second-generation.

When Director Chen saw Fang Chengjin come down, he immediately stood up from the dining table and greeted him, "Professor Fang, come and have some breakfast!"

Fang Chengjin walked to the dining table, looked at the butler standing to the side, and asked, "Has Huo Xu not come downstairs?"

The butler paused for a few seconds, a look of confusion flashing in his eyes: "What's wrong?"

Director Chen immediately stepped forward and said, "Professor Fang, what happened? Tell me what's wrong, and I'll help you solve it."

Fang Cheng shook his head: "I just want to know if anyone saw Huo Xu this morning."

The butler smiled and said, "Professor Fang, I've already delivered breakfast to Huo Xu's room this morning. Is there a problem?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Chengjin finally felt relieved, shook his head, and sat down to eat breakfast.

Director Chen returned to his seat and poured milk for Fang Chengjin.

The butler then stepped forward and asked Tour Guide Chen, "By the way, Tour Guide Chen, there's one more tourist in the tour group, Ms. Ahua. Why isn't she coming down for lunch? I see everyone has almost finished eating. Would you like me to prepare a meal for her?"

Upon hearing this, Director Chen put down the milk and said, "I'll go ask her. The signal is bad here, and I didn't see her tell me she doesn't eat breakfast."

With that, Director Chen went upstairs to knock on the door.

About ten minutes later, Director Chen came downstairs quickly, his steps unsteady, and he hurried to the butler's side.

"Could you please open the door to room number three on the second floor for me?"

The housekeeper was clearing the empty bowls and chopsticks from the table when he heard this, and paused for a moment. "Unless absolutely necessary, we cannot open the guests' room doors casually."

Director Chen was getting anxious. "Damn it, Huo Xu and Ahua switched rooms last night. When I went up to the fourth floor to look for her, Huo Xu opened the door. He said he let Ahua stay in his room last night! I just knocked on the door of room number three on the second floor, but no one answered. I'm scared..."

The housekeeper understood: "Huo Xu did mention to me last night that he wanted to change rooms, saying..." The housekeeper didn't finish his sentence, but just glanced at Tang Tiantian.

Fang Chengjin overheard their conversation. He took the napkin, wiped his mouth, and stood up. "I'll go upstairs with you."

The housekeeper had no choice but to retrieve a spare room key and lead the two of them upstairs.

**

Room number three on the third floor was closed, and there was nothing unusual happening outside.

Fang Chengjin stood at the door. His nose twitched, his brows furrowed and then relaxed.

With a beep from the butler, the door immediately opened.

A strong stench of blood could no longer be concealed and wafted over the faces of the three people.

A.K was the first to enter the room. He was so disgusted that he gagged and his body trembled as he fell to one side.

The butler's face drained of color, turning ashen white, and he dared not move.

Fang Chengjin remained calm, his eyes only flickered briefly, before he stepped forward to examine the body.

Inside, Ahua lay slumped beside the bed, wearing a blood-stained white nightgown. She lay face up, her hands clawing like chicken claws, trying to grab something. Her eyes were wide open, her death unresolved. A dense black line ran from her mouth; upon closer inspection, it turned out to be fishing line used to seal it.

Scattered beside the body were numerous photos, and a line of blood-written words:

Fang Cheng stepped forward to examine the body without saying a word, his movements swift and efficient.

A-K vomited for a while before he recovered. He stood at the doorway, watching Fang Chengjin examine the corpse, and felt a strange sense of admiration. He murmured, "As expected of Professor Fang, he's so skilled at handling the dead."

The butler was a little better than Ah K. He pinched his nose and went to the side, asking, "Professor Fang, is there anything I can help you with?"

Fang Chengjin simply lowered his head and replied, "Just reassure the others. If she dies, they'll probably be even more frightened."

The butler nodded, thought for a moment, and then left the room to go downstairs and tell everyone the bad news. At the same time, he also thought about how to explain it.

He sighed as he went downstairs: "Two people died. We're doomed. This guesthouse probably won't stay open. The owner's money is going down the drain..."

Ah K covered his mouth and nose, not daring to open the window. It was raining heavily outside, and the smell inside was extremely unpleasant. He slowly walked over and picked up the photo at his feet to look at it.

After examining the body, Fang Cheng pulled the blanket from the bed and covered the deceased. Then, he got up and looked around the room, checking from the doorway. He noticed that the tables and chairs in the room had chipped or broken marks and were not neatly arranged.

He strained to smell the air, bending down to sniff the table, but couldn't detect anything; his sense of smell had dulled.

He stood in the room for a while before finally speaking: "Let's go downstairs."

A-K nodded, picked up a photo, and followed Fang Chengjin downstairs.

Soon, the two went down to the lobby on the first floor. Everyone was sitting in the living room, and the atmosphere was heavy. Even Huo Xu was dressed neatly, and he was serious and cold-looking.

The butler lit two white candles at the front desk, muttered something to the air, and made the sign of the cross.

Fang Chengjin approached the group, and the butler immediately stepped forward to ask, "Professor Fang, how is the situation?"

Fang Cheng looked at everyone intently, his gaze sweeping over each person as if he were smelling their scent, and said, word by word, "Ahua is dead. According to the preliminary autopsy, she had multiple stab wounds, the most fatal of which was probably the one in her abdomen from excessive bleeding. The murderer must have stabbed her directly at the last moment. Judging from the stiffness of the body, the exact time of death was probably around two or three in the morning. The most bizarre thing is that her mouth was sealed with fishing line."

The crowd fell silent; no one uttered a sound.

A-K stepped forward and added, "We also found many photos next to the body, as well as a sentence written in blood:

The sins committed are intolerable; only death can erase them. - Greed.

Based on this photo, I can roughly deduce how things unfolded.

A-K placed the photo on the table in front of the sofa, but no one dared to pick it up and look at it.

A-K continued, "The photo tells us that A-Hua used rumors to harm another influencer from the same company. That influencer went insane, and just last month, she committed suicide in a mental hospital. According to the clues in the photo, this influencer was A-Hua's competitor at the same time, and at one point was even more valued by the company and had more traffic than A-Hua."

The butler frowned and couldn't help but ask, "Is this what greed means?"

A-K shook his head. "I don't know, but it's obvious that the victims in both of these murders were not innocent."

Liang Mei immediately stood up. "What do you mean? Are you saying that Lao Lei deserved to be killed?"

A-K chickened out, shook his head, and hid behind Fang Chengjin. "I didn't say that... I just deduced it based on the situation at the scene..."

Liang Mei was about to throw a tantrum when Fang Chengjin interrupted her.

"It's obvious the guesthouse was surrounded by heavy rain. Her murder was clearly committed by someone staying at the guesthouse. What were you all doing at this time last night?"

His question was like a sharp scalpel, slicing through the gentle mask in the air.

Liang Mei was so frightened that she dared not speak. She sat down awkwardly, her brows furrowed.

The housekeeper raised his hand in response: "Let me say it first. I was resting in my room at this time last night. I should have just fallen asleep. Before I went to sleep, I glanced at the alarm clock on the wall. It was 1:50 a.m.

Director Chen chimed in, "Me too, because as you know, after the accident that happened to my tour group, I couldn't sleep well at night. I tossed and turned, and when I glanced at the alarm clock on the wall, it must have been 2 a.m.

After Director Chen finished speaking, Tang Tiantian was standing next to him. Director Chen gestured with his arm for her to say something.

Tang Tiantian frowned. "What's the point of saying this? What if someone is lying? Are there any security cameras in the hallway?"

The housekeeper immediately replied, "There are surveillance cameras in the hallway, but not in the rooms. We protect our guests' privacy and it's impossible for us to install them in the rooms."

Tang Tiantian said, "Since there are surveillance cameras, let's pull them up and take a look. If someone wanted to kill Ahua, they would have gone out and passed through the corridor, otherwise how could they have gotten to her room?"

Fang Chengjin spoke up: "You're right. Ahua lives in the room. If someone knocks on the door, she can see who it is through the peephole or by listening to the voice. She won't open the door to strangers, but she has already met and knows all of us. Therefore, the person who killed her must be among us."

These words were like a depth charge, shattering the tranquility of the guesthouse.