"So boring. Those two girls were pretty. They left too. I should ask them for their WeChat. They are such sweet girls."
There were only two boys chatting in the hot spring area.
"You're so brave to ask for your sister's contact information in front of her brother. Aren't you afraid that her brother will punch you? But... did you think those people were weird?"
"Really? What's so strange about that? Not as strange as the guy in our club who always wants to watch a horror movie and goes to the bathroom halfway through the movie. But if I really have to say it's strange... it seems a little bit?"
"You finally figured it out?"
"I rarely meet people who are as handsome as me, but today I met two of them at once, which is really strange."
"You are quite confident."
"What's wrong, brother, am I not handsome?"
Although they were soaking in a hot spring that was almost 40 degrees Celsius, they still felt a little cold. After soaking for a while, they got up and prepared to go to another hot spring with a higher temperature.
After getting out of the pool, a boy suddenly asked curiously, "Did anyone just pass by here?"
Another boy also turned his head to take a look: "I didn't see it."
"That's strange, whose footprints are these?"
"It might be the group that's looking for someone. They just passed by us and we didn't notice them. We walked away and almost froze to death. There's a red wine pool over there. Let's go take a look."
Two people ran towards the red wine pool like a charge. Suddenly, one of the boys stopped and looked at the pool next to him: "Is there anyone there?"
The other one looked over and said in surprise, "No one is there."
“No, I went to see, and I really saw someone.”
The other boy had no choice but to run over, but there was really nothing in the pool. He said, "Look, there's really no one."
"Something's wrong..." the boy muttered to himself and jumped into the pool. He felt around at the bottom of the pool and finally found a palm-sized piece of cloth at the water outlet.
He took the cloth out of the water and showed it to his companions: "Why is there a piece of cloth——"
His voice suddenly stopped and he stared at the cloth in his hand with wide eyes. The cloth melted in his hand like chocolate, turned into water, and dripped into the hot spring pool.
"Is this scientific? Can cloth turn into water?" he asked stutteringly.
"But...it could be some chemical substance we don't know about?" Another boy tried to explain. "Let me check it out."
"No signal, don't check it." The boy said, "Didn't you notice that my phone had no signal as soon as I came in? Forget it, the price here is so expensive, stay here for a while longer, otherwise you won't get your money back."
"I still find it very strange. Do you feel that the man in the black windbreaker who warned us just now is like the NPC in a horror game who warns the protagonist not to commit suicide?"
"You play too many games..."
"Also, did you hear any breathing?"
"It's yours, don't think about it, soak for a while and then go eat. The room price also includes the buffet, so eat more later..."
——
Chi Shen and his companions had already arrived at the hotel lobby. Chi Shen went to the front desk to ask if anyone had seen the friends who came with them.
The young girl at the front desk, who checked them in yesterday, said, "The gentleman went out alone in the morning, around 11 o'clock, and I haven't seen him since then."
"Where did he go after he left the house?" Chi Shen asked again.
"It should be the hot spring area... Sorry, I didn't pay much attention to it." The lady at the front desk said apologetically.
"Okay, we understand, thank you." Chi Shen smiled and thanked.
"It's okay, it's my duty." The front desk lady blushed slightly. She looked down at her registration book and suddenly thought of something. She said, "At this time, maybe you are going to eat?"
It was indeed dinner time. Chi Shen thought about it for a moment, but before he could say anything, Ji Xingchen said, "I suggest we search separately. The longer they are missing, the more dangerous they will be. If we search separately, the chances of finding them will be higher. I'll go to the restaurant."
"Then I'll go to the hot spring." said Zhong Jingzhu.
"No, I'm going to the hot spring. You go to the room and wait for him to come back." Chi Shen said, "He's grown up now, he might come back on his own."
"But……"
"Listen to me." Chi Shen still looked kind with a smile, but his tone did not admit of rejection.
Zhong Jingzhu calmed down. He realized that he was not in the right mood. He seemed to want to say something, but finally nodded: "Okay."
After Zhong Jingzhu left, the red-clothed female ghost popped her head out, thought for a moment with her not-so-bright little brain, and said, "I don't want to be separated from Sister Bai. If we're separated, we'll be sent one by one!"
"You two go play together. If you see Gui Lian, remember to tell him and ask him to help find someone." Chi Shen said, and then looked at Ji Xingchen. Ji Xingchen nodded, and the two of them left the hotel building together.
Ji Xingchen went to the restaurant, while Chi Shen returned to the hot spring area.
The hot spring area is a little bit warmer than the outside, and it’s surrounded by steam, making it look like a low-end fairyland.
Chi Shen and Ji Xingchen had both changed their clothes. He was still wearing his bright yellow sweatshirt, strolling in the hot spring area, thinking about some issues as he walked.
It was already the second day since he came here, and it seemed like nothing had happened.
Compared to the notes of Mr. Zhong that he had read, this day and night was quite peaceful.
He's here, so it doesn't dare to come out.
But after a day and a night, you should be hungry, right?
Maybe it shouldn't call itself hungry. There are two fresh lives right next to its mouth, so it should be greedy.
Let him go and see how the two boys are doing now.
——
Ji Xingchen has already walked into the restaurant.
He walked through the elegant green area and entered the restaurant.
The restaurant was very deserted, with no customers at all. After all, there were only a few "tourists" in the entire hotel.
Breakfast was a buffet, and they only saw an auntie serving porridge. When they arrived at noon, there was only one person in the restaurant, but it was no longer the auntie serving porridge, but a tall man in a white kitchen uniform.
Seeing Ji Xingchen coming in, the man immediately smiled and asked, "What would you like to eat?"
Perhaps in order to make the guests feel close, the kitchen here is set up in a semi-open manner. Some stir-frying and fried rice are done at the front desk so that customers can see the production process. It is obvious that this chef is the chef in charge of cooking here.
"Tomato and egg fried rice." Ji Xingchen said.
"Okay, tomato and egg fried rice. You can sit over there and wait for a while. It will be ready soon." The chef said as he skillfully started to heat the oil in the wok.
Ji Xingchen didn't move, just stood at the front desk and looked at him.
The chef looked up at him as he started beating the eggs and said, "I'll bring it to you when it's done. No need to wait here."
"It's okay, let me take a look." Ji Xingchen said.
The chef laughed and said, "What's so good about this?"
Ji Xingchen was silent for a while, then he said, "I want to learn."
Chef: “Oh?”
Ji Xing pushed his glasses calmly, or almost coldly, and a cold light reflected from the lenses: "Learn whether to put sugar or salt in scrambled eggs with tomatoes."
The chef laughed and said, "Don't add sugar. It will affect the taste. We never add sugar here."
When it comes to professional skills, the chef became excited and carefully explained to Ji Xingchen why sugar was added, what the principle behind adding sugar was, why he insisted on not adding sugar, and what the principle behind not adding sugar was.
Ji Xingchen looked like a very serious listener, at least on the surface. He could even repeat the principle. Although he never smiled throughout the whole process, he was able to chat with people very happily. It seemed that the chef was about to introduce a teacher to him and let him become his apprentice.
However, Ji Xingchen did not give him this opportunity. He took the lead and asked, "Are you the only one in such a big restaurant?"
Speaking of this topic, the chef's smile suddenly froze. His face darkened a little bit, and then he curled his lips slightly, revealing a helpless expression: "There were many people here before. After all, our business is still good in winter. But about that incident... Don't be afraid, don't worry, no one has died here, it's just that the outside world said that some people are missing here. I know that they are not missing, and they are not dead. You will be fine, don't worry."
Although anyone who heard what he said would find it strange that he kept repeating "don't worry", Ji Xingchen did not interrupt him but listened to him continue.
As he spoke, he smiled at Ji Xingchen again, as if he was trying to smile a little more kindly, but the corners of his mouth looked very stiff. Then he said, "After the police came to investigate, no more customers came here, and the cooks who used to work here gradually stopped coming. Now I'm the only one left. I think there must be a cook in the kitchen, otherwise what about the tourists, so I've been doing this job."
After that, he unskillfully put the tomato and egg fried rice into a plate, placed it on the tray, and asked Ji Xingchen: "Where are you sitting? I'll bring it to you."
Ji Xingchen tilted his head and glanced at the seat casually: "By the window."
The chef walked him over briskly, then turned back to ask Ji Xingchen if he wanted a drink. Ji Xingchen asked for a glass of boiled water, then asked, "Has anything strange happened recently?"
The chef's expression changed slightly: "What strange thing did you encounter?"
Ji Xingchen said, "One of our friends is missing."
The chef's expression softened a bit, and he asked, "Is it the girl who was with you?"
Ji Xingchen said: "It's the boy who was with us."
"Oh..." The chef smiled. "Maybe he got lost. Our place is so big and there are so many trees. People often get lost. This is normal."
As he said this, the chef walked to the back kitchen and took a knife from there.
Ji Xing stared over.
The chef smiled and explained to him: "I'm going out for a while, you can eat slowly, it's very dangerous outside, so I need to bring a knife for self-defense."
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