Liu Runguang felt heartbroken whenever he thought about it. Although five million was not a difficult amount for him, the fact that he had competed with others for several days for something that others didn't need made him feel uneasy.
But he dared not show his distress; someone who wouldn't even accept a three-word card must have someone better.
The room was too crowded for six people, so he tried to minimize his presence and hid in a corner.
"What are you doing hiding there? Where are your clues?" Shekh leaned against the mirror, with three tall men standing behind him, looking like creditors who had come to collect debts with their own bodyguards.
Although none of the bodyguards could fight as well as her, her aura was very impressive.
"What aspect do you want to hear about?" Liu Run asked ingratiatingly.
However, no sooner had he finished asking than his rubbing hands turned into a semi-petrified statue, with only the area above his chest still able to move.
The props he was hiding in his palm were also sealed with stone. He hurriedly shouted to stop, "I'll talk, I'll talk... don't petrify me."
"I want it all." Shekh reduced his petrification level, just like Cheng You'an, sealing it only up to Da Tiao.
The prop fell to the ground, and Shi Jinzhe picked it up in a good mood.
"If you don't behave, I'll pulverize all the petrified parts of you into powder, so they can never be restored."
After being given a beating and then a sweet treat, Liu Run realized he could recover and stopped trying to outsmart him.
“My two teammates didn’t find out much information. They learned from other guests that Manager Zhang had published a book about parenting education.”
“The resident said it was a book from a few years ago, and he had bought it. It was a bestseller in Heping Town for a while, and many parents would buy a copy. But no one expected that Manager Zhang would not go abroad to study and become a scientist as described in the book, but instead come to work as a hotel manager.”
"Many people in the town felt sorry for her, thinking that she should have had a brighter future. Later, Lu Xiaohui, the owner of the Peace Hotel, said that she could not accept the death of both her parents, so she did not want to go too far from home and wanted to stay here to take care of her parents, which is why she came to the hotel."
“My teammates also found out that Manager Zhang’s father died while saving someone, and the town government even gave him an award. Some people say she is the daughter of a hero.”
Shi Jinzhe: "How long has her father been dead?"
Manager Zhang looks to be only in his mid-twenties and has been with the hotel for five years.
The time of her parents' death does not match the time of Zhang Anguo's death three years ago, so we can now rule out that she has no relation to Zhang Anguo.
Liu Run: "It is said that when she was seventeen or eighteen years old, I think it was the day she turned eighteen and came of age, the police found a newly bought crystal bracelet at the scene where her father was saving people. It was a birthday gift for her."
He kept touching his petrified legs because of nervousness. Liu Run asked Shekh, "Is it okay now?"
"No, you didn't come back last night either. What happened to the information you gathered?"
Liu Run felt a lump in his throat and could only continue, "I... I found out about Lu Xiaohui's leg. She was in a car accident three years ago and couldn't stand up anymore. She can only use a wheelchair. Then, three years ago, Zhang Anguo was bitten by a snake and died."
"It's said that he had an affair with his mistress in a hotel, and then he woke up the next day with an erection. The woman was so scared that she moved out overnight and never came back to Heping Town. After he died, only the disabled Lu Xiaohui was left to manage the hotel alone."
Shi Jin asked Liu Run, "So Lu Xiaohui was in a car accident first, and then Zhang Anguo died?"
"Yes, that's what the guest told me. Lu Xiaohui was in a car accident three months before Zhang Anguo died."
Shi Jinzhe responded with a "Yes, please continue."
"Also, yesterday in the control room, I heard the sound of high heels. After that sound, I was locked inside the control room from the outside. Then this morning, Manager Zhang opened the door and took me away."
Liu Run lowered his head listlessly. "There's really nothing else. Only a day and a night have passed, and the clues we can find are limited. This is already a lot."
Shekh was barely satisfied, but still had some questions: "Did you contact your teammates outside the control room? Did Manager Zhang discover you himself?"
"No, I didn't have any communication tools, and I was afraid of disturbing anything, so I waited until morning to have my teammates pick me up. But I didn't expect Manager Zhang to come first. She said she came to check on the work and that's how she unexpectedly found me."
Liu Run said earnestly, "There's really nothing else."
Shekh then asked Shi Jinzhe, "Do you have any other questions?"
"No, let's go."
With Cheng Youan here, Liu Run won't run around aimlessly. Let him stay alive for now, and wait for their teammates to continue sending messages.
The four of them left the room and wandered around the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors for a while. Relying on Sher's hearing, Shi Jinzhe learned that there were a total of 56 people staying at the Peace Hotel.
On the sixth floor, besides the masked woman, there was also an old man who gossiped with them during the day, and several local residents.
These people had no pre-sleep activities; they were all preparing to fall asleep.
The fifth floor was occupied by about ten people who were having a team-building activity.
The focus of the discussion was either the crazy client, the boss who had nothing better to do, or the incomprehensible colleague.
Occasionally, they'd bring up topics of love, like "you love me," "I love him," or "she loves her," but nobody mentioned that crazy colleague.
Besides the 24 people who came to complete the game, there are three other rooms on the fourth floor that are occupied.
There was no sound coming from the three people's room; they were probably asleep.
The players are all incredibly shrewd; they're physically present but remain silent, constantly pondering, and they probably communicate through handwriting.
After wandering around for an hour, the group went down to the third floor.
Meng Chengxi and Xiao Fang stood at the top of the stairs. "There are three of us, and two of you?"
Shi Jinzhe: "Okay, go back to your room after you're done checking. Don't linger in the hallway. There must be a reason why no one is living on the second and third floors. Also, we still don't know what's going on with those high heels. It's better to be cautious."
After giving their instructions, Shi Jinzhe and Shehe went down the stairs to the second floor.
The entire corridor was shrouded in darkness. Because no one lived there, the power switch on the second floor was off, and the dark path made it impossible for Shi Jinzhe to see anything more than a meter away.
He rummaged through his prop backpack and found the candles for the memorial service, as well as a lighter that could always be lit.
This is the prop we got in the last match, and it's one of only two props that can provide light.
Shi Jinzhe chose a lighter. Firstly, the flame is small and can be turned off at any time, unlike candles which leave traces and smells after burning for a long time. Secondly, the name "candle for the memorial service" sounds unlucky, so he decided to keep it for now.
Blue-purple flames flickered, casting a dim light over the two of them.
The lighter's illumination range was very small, and the light at the edges flickered, like a dandelion trembling in the wind.
After walking only a few meters into the second-floor corridor, Shi Jin was enveloped in darkness again after turning around.
Shekh has night vision, so the unknown darkness is not a problem for her, but she still chooses to walk side by side with Shi Jinzhe.
In the eerie corridor, the two moved as quietly as possible. In the deathly silence, Shekh corroded the lock on the first room door.
The room was empty, covered in a thick layer of dust. Shi Jinzhe looked down and saw that their footprints were clearly visible where they had walked.
"We need to explore this place thoroughly tonight. There's been too much damage, and it will definitely attract attention tomorrow."
"Understood." Shekh left the first room and went to open the door to the second room across the street, which was also empty.
The third room, the fourth room, the fifth room, the sixth room...
It wasn't until the seventh room that something different appeared in the room.
A string of five coins made of red cord and five copper coins was placed in the center of the room, next to a snake skin.
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