"You actually came downstairs? I was just about to look for you. Ge Congze said we need to have a meeting to discuss the current situation. Those four women have already arrived."
Xia Yuanhou pointed to 403 and led the way there.
As soon as Si Yehan entered the room, he saw Ge Congze sitting on the bed, along with four other women sitting in chairs, and two empty chairs not far away.
Xia Yuanhou sat down in one of the chairs and pushed the other chair toward him.
Ge Congze's expression hardened slightly. He glanced around and switched back to his original voice, saying, "I just woke up and called everyone here. I'm here to say that we should eat something early today and make more contact with the natives before the Night Watch to find out the cause of death of those four corpses. After all, it's extremely rare for someone to transform into a ghost just by killing one participant; this has never happened in the previous two instances."
Qianjing Youhui fiddled with her bangs and said, "We really should make more contact. We're in such a passive position right now. One of the seven of us might die tonight. We need to be extremely careful."
Su Wei for a moment and said, "Zhuang Xiaosheng's discovery is significant, but the candle's effect wasn't apparent last night. Even though it was constantly being made to go out, it never did. I wonder if it will go out tonight?"
Xia Yuanhou raised his hand, rubbed his chin, and said, "Do you think the candles might be used to suppress the ghosts' killing intent?"
Xie Fei asked in a rather cold tone, "Then how did Zhuang Xiaosheng die last night?"
Xia Yuanhou rolled his eyes at Xie Fei, his expression darkening slightly. "Are you trying to get yourself killed by speaking so bluntly? I was just stating a deduction. Besides, only one of those four corpses transformed into a ghost; the other three were special beings. Who knows if the candle was the tool that made them follow the rules of killing!"
Xie Fei's expression stiffened upon hearing Xia Yuanhou's threat, but she couldn't find the words to express her apology in a tactful way, so she could only snort coldly and say no more.
Ge Congze said, "There is indeed a possibility, but we can't rule out the possibility that the candles are a misleading option. We currently have too little information and can only speculate based on multiple factors."
Just as everyone was about to continue arguing, Su Qing, with her gentle eyes and timid demeanor, raised her hand and said, "Where should we go to interact more with the locals? There are so few people here, even including the staff serving food in the restaurant."
Su Wei continued, analyzing, "Aside from the restaurant staff, we only saw four natives, a one-armed old man from the security office, a woman we grabbed from the front to test the sixth floor, and those two women. Of the three staff members from Renshou Funeral Home, only Ning Qian didn't show any aversion to the Night Watch Hall, and she was also the only one whose memories had been altered, presumably due to a shortage of personnel."
Xia Yuanhou said in a deep voice, "Then we will try our best to understand Renshou Funeral Home by using her as a starting point, while ensuring her personal safety."
Si Yehan listened to everyone's speculations and plans without saying a word. He found it very boring and thought it would be better to test whether the curator had any supernatural powers. If not, he could use force to interrogate him and then use a life as a test after getting the answer.
The methods they offered were all too inefficient.
Seeing that everyone was getting more and more excited, Si Yehan said, "Instead of continuing to discuss here, why don't we take action first? Xia Yuanhou, before we go to the restaurant for dinner, go and call Ning Qian. We can discuss things while we eat."
Ge Congze narrowed his eyes slightly, but quickly regained his composure. "It is indeed a good idea. I'm a little hungry after sleeping for half a day."
Xia Yuanhou smiled and said, "I'll go get Ning Qian right away. You can go to the restaurant first, or wait by the elevator."
Having said that, Xia Yuanhou hurriedly stepped out the door, his curiosity about Ge Congze greatly diminished today.
Si Yehan's lips curled into a slight, almost imperceptible smile, but he quickly suppressed it and followed the others out the door. He found the scene about to unfold rather amusing, yet also somewhat anticipated.
Once inside the elevator, Xia Yuanhou hurriedly pressed the button for the third floor. As the elevator descended, his expression showed no excitement whatsoever, only an uncontrollable upward curve at the corners of his mouth, revealing his undisguised joy.
As the elevator reached the third floor, Xia Yuanhou turned around and said to the crowd, "Wait here for me, I'll be right back."
As soon as he finished speaking, he practically flew out of the elevator.
Si Yehan leaned against the corner of the elevator, arms crossed, silently counting down the time in his mind.
3...2...1.
The moment the countdown ended, Xia Yuanhou roared in despair and collapse, his voice filled with anger and pain! This sound startled everyone in the elevator except Si Yehan.
They rushed over immediately, while Si Yehan walked at a leisurely pace.
Xia Yuanhou was standing blankly at the door of 302. When I walked over, I found that his face was ashen and his body was trembling uncontrollably.
A strange look appeared on Ge Congze's face, but as he focused his gaze on the room, his expression suddenly changed! His expression became extremely grave. "This is truly an outrageous act. What kind of monstrous beast could do something like this?"
Seeing Ning Qian covered in bloodstains and her flesh rolled up to the sides, Su Wei couldn't help but tremble. This scene was far more horrifying than when the woman on the sixth floor died. Since she had been dead for some time, Ning Qian's body was already showing signs of decomposition, and the wounds on her body naturally attracted many flies to swarm around the room.
For a moment, the stench of a corpse filled the air!
Su Qing only glanced at it before turning her head away, unable to look again, and even felt a little nauseous.
Xie Fei's expression changed slightly, and she immediately turned her head away, no longer looking.
Qianjing Youhui stopped fiddling with her hair, her voice tinged with coldness, and she staggered back a few steps. "What kind of person could commit such an outrageous crime! I don't consider myself a good person, but I couldn't possibly torture and kill an innocent, kind person like this. A person who does such a thing doesn't deserve to be called human; they are a devil."
Si Yehan walked over without saying a word. Seeing everyone's reaction, he almost burst out laughing. Fortunately, he had excellent emotional control, otherwise, things would have been difficult to handle.
The only option then is to send all these people to their deaths ahead of time.
Xia Yuanhou stood there stunned for a long time before staggering to Ning Qian's body, ignoring the stench. Her voice and image were still vivid in his mind, but now the corpse was right in front of him, leaving him no choice but to believe it. He had only made that promise not long ago, how could it have turned out like this?
Xia Yuanhou untied the body, letting out a low, desperate roar. He felt a stinging sensation in his nose, tears welling in his eyes, and he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "You only recognized me a short while ago, how could you die like this... Who killed you? Was it that curator? But your memories have been altered."
Often, the intensity of a relationship has little to do with the length of time it lasts; it depends more on the details of the interaction and the element of fate.
Xia Yuanhou cried for a moment, then wiped away his tears, his eyes red, and said in a deep voice, "I will avenge you, I promise!"
Two footsteps sounded in the hallway, gradually approaching.
Everyone turned to look, but Xia Yuanhou finishing speaking, was still staring blankly at the corpse.
The heartbreak came fiercely but also subsided quickly. After all, they had only known each other for a very short time, but many details truly moved him; it was the first time he had met such a wonderful person.
P. S.: I've been reading some romance novels lately and found them quite interesting. I'd like to add a few couples as the protagonist's prey. I'll also try to make the protagonist's killings after returning to reality as specific as possible, but considering the large number of characters, it's difficult to describe them all. So, I'll try to select the more outstanding scenes to write about.