"Alright, stop being so mysterious, just tell me."

I tapped the table gently, urging them on.

Li Huai leisurely lit a cigarette and then said:

"When we were moving the body, we found that all the ornamental fish in the aquarium were dead!"

"It didn't die belly up, but rather like it starved to death. It was as if all the water in its body had been drained, leaving only a thin layer of fish skin covering the fish bones, densely packed at the bottom of the fish tank. The scene, well, it was as eerie as it gets!"

At this moment, Master Wang was so frightened that he couldn't speak, and his forehead was covered with a fine layer of cold sweat.

He also investigated the hotel, but the information he obtained was far less than what Li Huai knew.

Luo Tianhe, standing to the side, pondered for a moment:

"What's the hotel's explanation? The death was so suspicious, there has to be some kind of explanation, right?"

"Hehe, as long as you pay enough, no one will ask any questions about the explanation."

Li Huai chuckled.

"They paid off the family and told the public it was an accident, a sudden illness that caused him to faint and drown. As for why he was laughing when he died, maybe he had a mental illness. They said the fish died because of water quality issues. Anyway, they have money and power, so it's not hard to cover it up. Besides, the person who died wasn't an important person, just an ordinary waiter."

The atmosphere in the funeral home grew increasingly somber, and only then did Wang Lin realize:

He hadn't revealed much of what he knew yet, but it already showed just how dangerous the Yushui Hotel was.

Beneath the glamorous surface lies a turbulent undercurrent, concealing countless dirty deeds.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Uncle Wang, please continue. What exactly happened to your nephew?"

Li Huai was somewhat disheartened and passed the buck to Wang Lin.

Master Wang paused for a moment, then organized his thoughts and continued:

“We did some investigation at the time, and although we knew about a few accidental deaths, none of them were as bizarre as you just described, so my nephew went for the interview.”

“My nephew graduated from a pastry school, so his interview went very smoothly and he went straight into the kitchen.”

“My nephew told me at the time that the hotel’s layout was very strange. From under the bridge, it looked like a grave, and the main building of the hotel looked like a tombstone. The overpass surrounding it looked like a wreath.”

"I didn't think much of it at the time, and I thought he had read too many horror novels. But now that I think about it, he was right, there was definitely something wrong with the feng shui!"

Hearing this, my expression became even more puzzled.

It's unbelievable that a hotel with such a feng shui layout could be opened there. Even people who sell paper money wouldn't open a business in such a place.

Master Wang picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and continued speaking:

"The hotel's layout was strange not only on the outside, but also inside."

"According to my nephew, the kitchen is divided into a first floor and a second floor. The kitchen on the first floor is a normal kitchen, while the kitchen on the second floor is very large. When my nephew went up to the second floor to see his working environment, he was very nervous because it was dark there and the lights were not even on."

"But he didn't think much of it. Later he learned that the first and second floors were responsible for different things. The first floor was responsible for serving the dishes normally, while the second floor was only used when there were large banquets. At the time, my nephew was quite happy, thinking that he had gotten an easy job."

At this moment, Li Huai couldn't help but interject.

"The person who fell into the oil and got fried to a crisp was from the kitchen on the second floor."

"Alright, brother, I understand. You don't need to say anything more."

Master Wang had a long face.

Li Huai knew he had touched a nerve, so he gave an awkward laugh, then shrank back into his chair and continued listening.

After calming himself down for a moment, Master Wang continued:

"After checking out the work environment, the next thing to do was to look at the accommodations. The hotel was a bit strange; they were using the top floor as staff dormitories. Normally, shouldn't the top floor be filled with luxury rooms?"

Hearing this, both Luo Tianhe and I looked puzzled.

As is well known, the top floor of a five-star hotel usually offers the best view and is also the most expensive.

Using it as staff dormitory is clearly a waste of resources.

"Hehe, I know that, because that fish pond used to ward off evil spirits is on the top floor."

Li Huai, standing to the side, chuckled coldly and offered an explanation.

Master Wang nodded.

“Young man, you’re right, but my nephew didn’t know that someone had died in that pool at the time.”

"My nephew was also puzzled at the time," Wang Lin said, rubbing his arms as if they were a little cold.

"But the person who showed him the dormitory said it was a hotel benefit, allowing employees to enjoy the best view. Although they lived in a dormitory, the conditions were good, with two people per room, a private bathroom, and large windows."

A chill instantly ran down my back.

Making employees live next to a fishpond where people have drowned? This isn't a benefit; it's downright harmful!

"Heh, the people at this hotel have no shame at all; they can actually tell such lies."

Li Huai, standing to the side, cursed without any politeness.

He paused, seemingly lost in thought:

"The big window you mentioned, it wouldn't be the one facing the fish pond, would it?"

Wang Lin nodded with a wry smile.

“He didn’t know at the time and thought that the employee benefits were really that good. My nephew is also naive. He likes fish and even thought the arrangement was pretty good.”

My lips twitched; this young man was indeed very naive.

"What happened next? Did anything strange happen to the fishpond?"

Hearing my question, Master Wang took a deep breath and replied:

"The first few days were fine, but after about half a month, strange things started to happen."

"Now, when I'm trying to sleep at night, I can faintly hear the sound of water, but the soundproofing in the hotel room is supposed to be pretty good, so it shouldn't be like this."

"What terrified my nephew the most was the eerie sound of the water, as if someone was gently patting the surface of the water."

"Slapping the water's surface?" Luo Tianhe carefully considered these words before asking:

"Did your nephew mishear? Was that the sound of a fish jumping out of the water and splashing?"

Wang Lin shook his head violently: "No! My nephew has raised fish before, he can tell the difference! That sound is more like an unseen person sitting by the pond, idly playing with the water with their hands."

The description of sitting by the pool and gently patting the water in the middle of the night instead of sleeping sent chills down my spine, as did Luo Tianhe and the others.

“My nephew initially thought it was a hallucination, so he asked his roommate, only to find that the guy also heard that sound at night and thought he was dreaming.”

"The two of them were terrified when they talked to each other, but they had no other choice but to muster up their courage and plan to go and see what was going on that night."

"And when they mustered up their courage at night and came to the pool, guess what they saw?"