Lianrong's expression changed drastically as she quickly entered the room. With trembling fingers, she gently placed her hand under the old man's nose. Slowly, she exhaled, and her expression softened slightly. But soon, she checked his pulse for a final confirmation.
The old man's pulse was very weak; he was still alive, but his face was pale as if it had been lightly stained.
Cheng Shuang wanted to go forward to check, but Sun Han stopped her. He was afraid that the old man had been poisoned and that the young girl's sudden approach might cause some danger.
He then considerately explained, "Lianrong and I will stay here to take care of the old man. I need to check if he has any wounds." The second sentence was spoken to Lianrong.
Lianrong nodded hurriedly, her once healthy and beautiful face now pale, looking somewhat lost.
Having gone through several cycles of reincarnation, this was the first time she had seen her grandfather lying there, his face withered and unresponsive. If she hadn't been worried about what had happened to him, she would have burst into tears at that moment.
“I’ll go find the staff to find out what’s going on.” Du Jun pursed his lips. “If something happens on their territory, they have to give an explanation.”
"Then I'll go find Brother Li Lei with Sister Han." The little girl immediately received a pale but grateful smile from the beautiful older sister.
The five people were assigned roles and quickly got to work.
The house has been thoroughly searched; there is simply no way anyone could be hiding there.
Cheng Shuang and Han Meimei went straight into the courtyard. Du Jun, who was walking in front, ran to the gate, turned around and waved to them, "Come and see!"
The two ran over and found that the gate was securely locked and showed no signs of having been opened.
"It's very likely that Brother Li Lei is still in the yard."
If Li Lei were drawn out of the room by something in the middle of the night, the old man, being so vigilant, would surely know and would most likely accompany him. Even if he temporarily left the courtyard, there was no way anyone would lock the door from the inside. The old man wasn't so careless as to lock his companion in the dark outside. Even if he didn't accompany him, he would leave the door open and wait for Li Lei to return.
Even though they're temporary teammates, I still have that much trust in them.
"I'm going out." After saying that, Du Jun opened the door and stepped towards the covered walkway ridge not far away.
The door was wide open, and the mountain breeze carried the coolness of the morning. The tall courtyards along the way looked like prisons that trapped hope. Some of them were too tall, which made the steps and paths sandwiched between the courtyards seem even narrower.
Outside the wall, many rose family plants were planted, their flowers blooming in vibrant colors against the gray wall, instantly filling the originally secluded and unsettling place with vitality.
Cheng Shuang took two steps toward the door, looking up at the wall of the Water Lily Courtyard. She secretly measured it and found that the wall was at least three times her height.
Three 1.4-meter walls, wow, the courtyard wall is 4.2 meters high.
Is it because they're afraid that guests staying in the ridge rooms near the foot of the mountain will spy on the privacy of the guests in the courtyard?
The little girl originally wanted to cut two bunches of flowers to make the older girls happy, but when she got close to the flowers, she remembered the signs in public places that prohibit picking or breaking flowers and trees, and immediately put her hands down.
Just then, Han Meimei, who was waiting for her in the courtyard, called out, "Xiao He, have you found something?"
Cheng Shuang hurriedly ran back and shook her head at Han Meimei, "The courtyard wall is about four meters high and covered with roses. It's impossible for Brother Li Lei to have climbed over the wall to get out."
“I glanced around and saw that there was a backyard.”
In short, the courtyard is not very big. Apart from the passageway and a leisure area with a round table, it is full of flowers and plants. Even the cracks in the pebble path are covered with lush green grass.
Apart from the open space enclosed by the three side rooms, which was paved with dusty stone slabs, the pebble path turned at the side rooms and went around them to the backyard.
"The room where the dead man lived was only eight or nine square meters, but from the outside, it looked no different from the west wing in terms of size. Sister Han, I suspect there are other rooms." The old man and Li Lei also lived in the east wing, and their room was the same size as the west wing, about fifteen square meters.
"Let's go check the backyard first." Han Meimei was able to remain calm undoubtedly because Li Lei was only missing, and there were no signs of a struggle in their room. So she could deceive herself into believing that her boyfriend was alright, just trapped somewhere waiting for her to rescue him.
After going around to the back of the east wing, the 'other rooms' that Cheng Shuang had analyzed were clearly laid out in front of them, with a sign for the shower room hanging above the door.
Han Meimei pushed open the door and went in first.
To her disappointment, the room was small, with only one showerhead and not even enough room for a bathtub.
Cheng Shuang peered through the doorway. The bathroom's decor was quite intriguing. Large rose-patterned tiles echoed the green ceiling, and the classic red and green color scheme was dazzling. It didn't seem like the kind of taste a high-class institution like the Academy of Sciences should have; rather, it resembled the over-the-top local features of some farmhouses.
After leaving the bathing room, the backyard is located behind the main room.
The courtyard was about ten square meters, a long and narrow strip, with roses climbing all over the ground, and even a few climbing the back wall of the main wing.
Cheng Shuang noticed that these flowers were connected to the tall courtyard wall.
Because the overall area and the height of the courtyard walls are mismatched, even now, with the sun rising, the light in the courtyard is still insufficient. Yet, these roses are so vibrant they seem to bleed.
The little girl shivered, but this time she didn't hesitate. She squatted down and decided to cut a rose to study it.
Before she could even make a move, she heard Han Meimei beside her say quietly, "I've been to a dungeon. A western castle, a manor with a large area of roses, and a vampire duke who feeds on human blood."
She walked up to Cheng Shuang, her expression grave, and pulled her aside. "Don't cut them yet. There's something clearly wrong with these roses. If we alert them, it'll be a disaster."
The little girl nodded obediently. Before getting up, she glanced at the flower branches and asked, "Sister Han, do roses have thorns?" She only knew that roses had thorns. Boys who wanted to pursue her sister had secretly sent flowers to her home by express delivery, and all the thorns on those roses were cut off before they were made into beautiful bouquets.
“Some varieties do have them,” Han Meimei said, her tone somewhat impatient. “I don’t pay much attention to these kinds of things. Let’s look elsewhere!”
Cheng Shuang, understanding her situation, simply took her hand and led her out of the courtyard.
She finally realized the purpose of the high walls and backyard. The walls were too high, the yard too narrow, and it was covered with a lot of blood red. It was oppressive and unsettling at first glance, and she didn't want to stay there at all.
Actually, the little girl wanted to search the place thoroughly, but she found it difficult to say it to Han Meimei. She decided to wait until all the places had been found before saying so.
The two searched the entire courtyard and even thoroughly looked through the east and west wing rooms, but found only the two main wing rooms.
There was some noise in Zhou Ting's room. If a stranger had appeared, the three girls wouldn't have been unresponsive. So, that leaves the room with the four boys.
Sun Han had finished examining the old man and found no new injuries. He took off his gloves and walked out of the room, leaving Lian Rong and the old man alone. When he looked at Cheng Shuang, his gentle brows furrowed slightly. "Xiao He, do you have any antidotes? Lian Rong wants to exchange them with us."
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