“Time is running out, look at this.” Shekh took an old magazine from the magazine rack next to the door.

The words "Peace Hotel" are printed on it.

Shi Jinzhe took the magazine, flipped through it briefly, and said, "Let's eat first."

The game is a closed instance, lasting seven days. The hotel definitely doesn't have enough food prepared, and there might not be enough food for the next few days. So eat while you can now.

They grabbed some food and a few magazines, and the four of them found a corner to sit down.

Shi Jin folded the magazine and flipped through it. The pages were yellowed; it turned out to be an old magazine from twenty-seven years ago.

He laid the book pages out on the table and gave half to Shekh.

Visiting the first hotel in Heping Town – Heping Hotel

The photo was taken from above, and the seven-story Peace Hotel is very eye-catching compared to the surrounding low-rise buildings that are only two or three stories high.

With its white tiled exterior and blue glass accents, the Peace Hotel stands out as a prominent landmark in the gray-toned town.

A seven-story hotel may not seem like much today, but in a small town 27 years ago, it was considered luxurious. Staying there for one night was something to brag about for days.

Shekh slowly read through one page before turning to the next. On the second page, a very festive photo appeared.

It was a wedding banquet photo; the bride and groom held up wine glasses and smiled at the camera, their faces beaming with the joy of their newlywed life.

The photo is captioned in small print: "[A wedding anniversary photo of Mr. Zhang Anguo, founder of the Peace Hotel, and his wife, Ms. Lu Xiaohui]"

The bride and groom stood side by side with the bridesmaids and groomsmen. The bridesmaids wore bright red lipstick, their lips even more vibrant than the brides'.

Turning the page again, Shi Jinzhe discovered that the introduction only consisted of these two pages, with the rest being all other content.

At that moment, Meng Chengxi called out to him and handed him the magazine in his hand, "Look at this."

The two exchanged magazines.

A natural hot spring has been discovered in Heping Town, known for its health and wellness benefits.

Ten years ago, a natural hot spring was discovered 25 kilometers away from Heping Town.

As the only place with natural hot springs within a radius of hundreds of kilometers, Heping Town is rapidly ushering in new tourism opportunities.

Among these, several hot spring hotels with updated facilities and closer proximity quickly squeezed out the Peace Hotel's space to survive.

With its unfavorable location, outdated style, and exorbitant prices, the Peace Hotel has gradually declined.

The deceased wife at the Peace Hotel…

We need to find out something about the owner of the Peace Hotel. I wonder how Lu Xiaohui is doing.

Unable to find any further information in the magazine, the group decided to have dinner first.

Shekh pretended to pick up a pair of chopsticks, but only moved his mouth the whole time.

Strange glances, both overt and covert, were cast her way, but everyone in the restaurant seemed transparent to her, as she ate without batting an eye.

Xiao Fang lowered his head so low it was almost buried in his plate. Meng Chengxi, caught up in the mess of two people eating improperly, also received a lot of stares.

He scratched his eyebrows, feeling a little embarrassed even though it wasn't directed at him.

Staring at the chopsticks in Shekh's hand, which hadn't even touched a speck of oil, he hesitated for a long time before finally asking, "You don't use them, so why are you holding chopsticks? Aren't your hands tired?"

Shekh also vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

She knows that chopsticks should be used to eat, but she doesn't use them herself, so why does she want to imitate others by holding them?

Twist the chopsticks a couple of times with your idle hand.

Well, since I've already picked it up, I might as well let it serve its purpose this once.

She picked up a shrimp from the nearest chopsticks, not even putting the chopsticks together, relying solely on the tender white shrimp to feed itself, its curved body hanging from the tips of the chopsticks.

When the shrimp was held up to his lips, Shekh simply said one word: "Eat."

When the time was up, he stopped and spilled some soup from the spoon in his hand.

He glanced down at the shrimp that was about to be placed in his mouth, then opened his mouth and ate it.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Shekh put down his chopsticks, feeling a strange sense of accomplishment.

Unable to go out, hotel guests could only go downstairs and eat in the hotel restaurant.

A waiter in a black uniform came over once to add more food. It was the first time so many people had come to the restaurant, and the amount of food prepared by the kitchen was slightly off, so there wasn't enough for everyone.

Meng Chengxi took a sip of hot soup: "Luckily, Xiao Fang came to call us. We arrived early, otherwise we would have been out of food."

Shi Jinzhe commented: "This hotel, apart from the receptionist, is pretty unprofessional."

When they entered the elevator, the other two of the three players who had teamed up with Cheng You'an also entered. The two of them kept their heads down and were very wary of Shekh.

It wasn't until they reached the fourth floor that the two looked up and walked to room 409 to relieve Liu Run, who was guarding the person.

Shi Jinzhe: "They're really watching closely."

Shekh: "It's good to be rich."

She must get all of Cheng Youan's money as soon as possible.

Before entering the room, Shi Jinzhe told Meng Chengxi about the discovery of the soapberry tree, and asked him to pay more attention to this aspect when searching for clues.

I closed the door behind me; the clock on the wall showed it was not yet eight o'clock.

When it was time to change the bedspread, Shekh sat on a hoop made of his tail.

"The Peace Hotel started to have poor management ten years ago. As the owner's wife, Lu Xiaohui must have been affected. It is difficult to go from luxury to frugality, and the couple's relationship is also prone to disputes over money. We can tentatively make her the first candidate related to the deceased wife."

Shekh glanced up: "What if she's not dead, and is alive and well?"

Shi Jinzhe carefully put the stuffed pillow back in place. "What did you find?"

“The residents upstairs are talking,” Shekh pointed to the sky. “They’re the people wearing those ghost masks. The woman with the black cat says she always hears a ticking sound when she sleeps at night and thinks there’s something wrong with this hotel.”

Another person suggested that perhaps their team-building activity of dressing up as ghosts offended spirits and gods, and they had indeed attracted some unclean spirits.

The third person said that she met the hotel owner that day. The receptionist pushed her around the seventh-floor corridor, and upon hearing about the situation, gave them a 30% discount on the room rate, explaining that the hotel was simply old and the facilities were outdated, and told them not to overthink it.

"Push? Is the proprietress having health problems?"

Sheh nodded, his head turning back and forth in sync with Shi Jinzhe's movements. "Wheelchair, the proprietress is in a wheelchair."

As if knowing what Shi Jinzhe was going to ask, she added, "There's no news about the boss. I only heard them say that the boss's wife has difficulty walking and lives on the seventh floor."

“That was when both of them had an accident. In the photo, she and Zhang Anguo were only in their twenties. In the past 27 years, they would be in their fifties. It’s natural to age to that age and not have difficulty walking. So it must be either an illness or an accident.”

With his hands empty, Shekh started playing with the tip of his own tail: "Then let's go to the seventh floor tomorrow and see what's going on. Tonight, let's see how things go. If it's not too dangerous, we'll act under the cover of night. If anything strange happens tonight, we'll see."

Shi Jinzhe: "I'll listen to you."

If Shekh doesn't feel threatened, then he can be taken along on nighttime missions.

The conditions here are poor, and Shi Jinzhe is eager to find clues as soon as possible so he can get out of the area.

After waiting for the time to finish making the bed, Sheh went to wash up first.

After coming out of the bathroom, she lay down directly on the bed against the wall, pulled over a pillow and lay down, leaving half of the bed space for Shi Jinzhe.