Others also found several letters scattered around the room, each with a different story, but the only thing they had in common was that all of these stories took place in this hotel.
Some letters described the hotel as a lucky place, while others called it a ghost hotel. Some letters told stories of happy marriages, while others told stories of tragic funerals.
Yin Chengjue turned to the end of the letter and found that it was written by a person named "Jiao Yu" to "Xi Xi".
“A key is still missing.” A voice came from behind. Yin Chengjue looked in the direction of the voice and saw Rong Yu holding a letter up to the light, muttering to himself, “Without the key, the riddle cannot be solved.”
"What did you find?" Yin Chengjue approached, intending to hold the letter up to the light as Rong Yu had suggested, when he saw Rong Yu holding the letter in one hand and making a small heart gesture.
Yin Chengjue also silently raised his hand, and using the letter as a cover, made a heart shape with his hands towards Rong Yu.
Rong Yu smiled and winked playfully at Yin Chengjue, saying, "I feel like I've found enough clues in this room. I want to look in the other rooms."
Upon hearing this, the guard said, "I strongly advise you not to go to the third room on the left after you go out. You'll regret it!"
Rong Yu said "okay" but went straight to that room after leaving the house. Yin Chengjue followed Rong Yu out the door. After Rong Yu pushed open the door to that room, he only stiffened for a moment before calmly walking in.
Yin Chengjue curiously peeked over and finally understood why Young Master Wei and Young Master Xiao were so scared.
The floor of what should have been a living room was covered with all sorts of snakes!
The reason I used the word "displayed" is because those were actually simulated toy snakes. They were real toys and didn't move, but they were incredibly realistic. They felt cool and slippery to the touch, which explains why those young masters who had been invincible in countless haunted houses were so frightened that their faces turned pale.
Imagine Lei Miao excitedly prying open the door, the guards eagerly turning on the lights, only to find a pile of lifelike snakes on the floor, coiled and intertwined, their bright yellow vertical pupils staring straight at them…
Even knowing that these aren't real snakes, it's hard to be happy in this situation...
Yin Chengjue tossed aside the toy snake he had picked up casually; the snake landed on the other toy snakes, making a splattering sound.
Rong Yu had already turned over the piles of snakes and found a box inside one of them. The box was locked, but this time it was a combination lock.
“Brother Yin, I have an idea.” Rong Yu said while searching for a way to unlock the combination lock in the room, “If we take it literally, there are three mission lines: the detective line, the escape line, and the treasure-hunting line. There should be three directions. The detective line requires finding the real culprit, the escape line requires leaving this place, and the treasure-hunting line requires finding the treasure hidden somewhere here.”
Rong Yu: "We are the detective team, so as long as we find the real culprit, the mission will be completed."
Yin Chengjue nodded understandingly: "So, we need to find the body first."
Rong Yu: "Yes, since we need to find the real culprit, then a murder must have happened here. We need to find the crime scene first, and then we can investigate the murderer based on the clues."
But with so many hotel rooms, it would take forever to search each one.
Yin Chengjue saw through Rong Yu's troubles and said, "Don't worry, the production team won't broaden the scope. We just need to find the rooms that require unlocking."
The rooms that require unlocking are not the kind that require swiping a card, but rather those that are locked with combination locks by the production team.
Since this is a TV show, it's impossible for them to spend time collecting certificates in every room. So they only lock the key rooms. The unlocked rooms mean that the production team didn't leave any important information in them.
"Moreover, finding the crime scene isn't actually difficult; we can ask people from other mission lines to help us find it," Yin Chengjue said.
Rong Yu's eyes lit up: "You mean, trick them into looking for clues elsewhere, and then once someone discovers the crime scene..."
Yin Chengjue: "Nine times out of ten, they will scream in surprise."
Rong Yu: "And then we..."
Rong Yu: "Understood!"
Yin Chengjue and Rong Yu's plan proceeded smoothly as expected; the guard's loud screams pointed them in the direction of the murder scene.
The others arrived one after another. The moment Hua Yun saw the dummy hidden under the bed, her sharp gaze swept over them one by one, and she said meaningfully, "Three detectives, it's time for you to come out and get to work."
Yang Ji loosened his tie and, mimicking Conan's tone, said, "There's only one answer to the mystery of the truth!"
Liu Qingling feigned surprise: "What, Lao Yang, are you a detective?"
Yang Ji wasn't fooled, and just smiled mysteriously: "Guess."
Since no one has openly revealed their mission lines yet, if Yang Ji denies one of his mission lines, then the people on the other two mission lines will be able to guess his mission line.
"By the way, I've found a clue related to the treasure hunt storyline." Lei Miao shook a bag in his hand. "Let me be clear up now, I'm not part of the treasure hunt storyline, so I'd like to exchange this clue for another one. Please come find me privately later."
Yin Chengjue secretly gave Rong Yu a hand signal, then stepped forward and examined the dummy "corpse" in front of everyone.
Although he didn't say anything, his actions told everyone that he was a detective.
"The female corpse had ligature marks on her neck and marks on her head from being struck hard. She was probably knocked unconscious and then strangled. Do you remember those letters? The story in the letters mentioned a woman in a white dress who hanged herself in a hotel room." Yin Chengjue said, "This woman was also wearing a white dress."
"Huh? But wasn't that ten years ago?" Wei Shu asked, puzzled.
"It seems we still need to decipher the riddles in those letters, otherwise we won't understand the background of the story," Xiao Xiao said.
Guard: "Aren't those just stories? Can they solve problems?"
“The story is a story, but have you noticed that there are patterns on the borders of those letters, and they are all different patterns, obviously drawn on by people?” Xiao Xiao pointed to the letter in her hand.
The others also took out their letters to examine them, and the guard suddenly realized: "These aren't patterns! Turn them over and look at the back; these are numbers! Roman numerals written backwards!"
Liu Qingling had already brought paper and pen and wrote down the Roman numerals on each letter.
Lei Miao: "But what's the use of knowing these numbers?"
“Just like Morse code, as long as there’s a unified set of rules, it can be cracked.” Rong Yu took out a book: “This is a book I found in room 331 on the third floor. The cover is also decorated with Roman numerals forming a border. Doesn’t it look a lot like these letters?”
"Wow! Xiaoyu is amazing! This clue is really crucial!" Wei Shu took the book and started reading.
Lei Miao said, "Wait! I remember I was the one who broke into that room, so why didn't I see any books?"
Rong Yu: "It was hidden in the gap between two glass windows, and there were curtains covering it. It was hard to notice it unless the curtains were drawn."
Lei Miao: "The production team is so insidious! They actually hid in a place like this!"
The guard flipped through the book again and again, then said with a pained expression, "I can't find it. Could there be any clues in it?"
After he finished speaking, Hua Yun tapped him on the forehead: "Idiot! The cover of this book tells you the rules for arranging these Roman numerals, and the mystery of these letters is hidden inside the book."
As Hua Yun spoke, she pointed to the numbers on the book cover and said, “These numbers are 23, 580, 17, 256, 13, 586… If we pair the numbers together, we can see that they are the 580th character on page 23 and the 256th character on page 17… If we put these characters together, isn’t that the title of this book, ‘Mingsheng Grand Hotel’?”
"Huh! It really is!" the guard exclaimed in realization.
Hua Yun: "According to this rule, you can look at these letters again."
The others took out their letters and counted them one by one, comparing them to the page numbers and word counts in the book.
As the words were deciphered, the Roman numerals on the letter in the guard's hand corresponded to—I, see, reach, and you.
The Roman numerals on the letter in Yin Chengjue's hand correspond to—I like you.
The Roman numerals on the letter in Rong Yu's hand correspond to—I like you.
The Roman numerals on the letter in Hua Yun's hand correspond to—Why did you reject me?
The Roman numerals on the letter in Liu Qingling's hand correspond to the phrase "Marry me!"
The Roman numerals on the letter in Lei Miao's hand correspond to—I know you are the murderer!
The Roman numerals on the letter Qin Ke found corresponded to the words: I will kill you.
I'm going to kill you!
When they deciphered this sentence, everyone's expression changed to one of surprise.
Who would have thought that such simple letters could hide a deadly intent!
So what was the purpose of the person who wrote these letters? Did they want to present their murderous intent as a premonition of murder?
Yin Chengjue stood up and exchanged a glance with Rong Yu without leaving a trace. Rong Yu's expression was serious, as if she was thinking about some serious issue.
“There are still many clues we haven’t found…” Rong Yu murmured softly. Yin Chengjue, standing beside him, heard this and nodded in deep agreement.
Although these letters contain a great deal of information, they are still insufficient to prove that the murderer is the person who wrote them; they still lack crucial evidence.
Moreover, judging from the dates of the letters, Qin Ke's letter was the last one.
Yang Ji suggested arranging the timeline of these letters, so the sentences were arranged chronologically as follows: I like you—Marry me—Why did you reject me—I saw it was you—I know you are the murderer—I like you—I want to kill you.
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