"Knock, knock, knock!"
Outside Room 302, the three began knocking tentatively, hoping for an answer from within.
Clyde was filled with mixed emotions. Since coming to Branch No. 9, he had grown close to Huang Banxian, but he had never seen the usually shameless charlatan so listless and dispirited.
He could not be sure whether Huang Banxian could still participate in the commission mission in his current state, but he could not simply stand by and do nothing.
Even if Huang Banxian truly could not go, they could at least talk and help ease his distress.
Yet the knocking continued for half a minute without an answer. Inside, all was silent.
Seeing this, Wei Jiande pushed Clyde aside, clenched his fist, and pounded several times. Still, it was like tossing a stone into a lake—there was no response.
He furrowed his brows, exchanged a glance with Clyde, and whispered:
"Could something have happened to him?"
Meanwhile, White Wolf gestured for silence, pushed the two aside, and pressed his ear against the door, holding his breath as he listened.
A moment later, he abruptly raised his head, lifted his right foot, and slammed it into the door, shouting:
"Something's wrong! There's a low growling inside!"
In any hotel, only the manager could force a door open, so White Wolf's kick naturally had no effect.
Urgency flashed in Clyde's azure eyes. He quickly shoved White Wolf and Wei Jiande out of the way, turned the handle, and forced the door open.
As soon as the door opened, the three filed inside.
Room 302, the room closest to Gu Xingjian's, was shrouded in darkness. The curtains blocked out all sunlight, and an indescribably strange odor hung in the air.
It smelled as though something was burning, yet not quite.
Standing in the middle