A Chance Encounter (Continued)

Lin asked Eden, "How many people came?"

"Only Su hasn't arrived yet, which is a bit strange. Su usually arrives early..."

Eden looked at the increasingly heavy snow outside the door with some doubt and worry. Their monthly gathering often encountered rain and snow in winter, and this year's snow was particularly heavy, with a tendency to develop into a blizzard. If they didn't hurry here, there might be danger on the way.

"Have you made a phone call?" Lin and Mobius walked into the house, and he took off his coat, which was soaked with snow.

"Hmm... but Su didn't answer."

"This is a bit troublesome..." Lin Wenyan's expression wasn't exactly pleasant either. "Let's wait a little longer. If Su still hasn't arrived, we'll go out and look for him."

As for calling the police?

This is already a very remote area. It's a villa built on private land that Eden bought. With the blizzard, even if the police wanted to come, it would take them a long time to find this place. They can only call the police as a last resort.

And...

Lin took out his phone and checked the poor signal strength.

Was it caused by a blizzard...?

Upon entering the living room, they found that all their friends had already arrived.

There were thirteen people in total, plus Su who didn't arrive, making a total of fourteen.

"Brother Lin, Serpent Sister, you're here?" Pardo, who was wrapped up tightly in a mascot costume, lay on the ground and waved to Lin and Mobius.

Elysia munched on potato chips, smiling and waving, "Oh my, isn't this Lin and Mobius? I thought you two were so lovey-dovey at home that you didn't want to come out."

The others also greeted them, mostly congratulating the newlyweds. Even Mobius, who had seen a lot, was a little shy and hid behind Lin, his cheeks flushed.

"Then it's just Su left." Kevin, who was playing PS5 with Chrono on the TV, put down the controller and said in a strange tone.

Lin noticed that Kevin's tone seemed a bit off. After asking Mobius and Elysia to sit together, he sat down in the empty seat next to Kevin and asked, "Kevin, don't you usually come with Sue? Why did you arrive first today?"

"He said he had an emergency patient who needed surgery today, so he would be a little late and told me to go ahead. I don't know if the surgery went well," Kevin said casually. "I called him two hours ago and he said he was already on his way. He should have arrived by now."

Lin's brows furrowed and then relaxed. "Then let's wait a little longer."

With the arrival of Lin and Mobius, the atmosphere in the room gradually warmed up. Eden brought out some dishes and snacks that had been prepared in advance, and everyone sat together happily, talking about what had happened this month. They even made fun of Mobius, who was getting married. However, once Mobius recovered, he turned around and launched into a witty retort, leaving them with no chance to win.

As the clock struck eleven, Lin began to feel uneasy.

Su hasn't arrived yet.

"Does anyone have a cell phone signal? Call Su." Lin looked at the stunned crowd, and his prompting made them realize that something might have happened to Su.

So they all took out their phones, but in the increasingly heavy snow and wind, the phone signal was so weak it was like a candle in a storm.

"There's a landline at home." Eden reacted quickly, immediately turning around and walking towards the landline at the entrance of the hall.

After everyone held their breath and waited for forty seconds, Eden turned around and his ugly expression made everyone's hearts sink to the bottom.

"Kevin, Chrono, and I will go out and search. Eden, call the police. Everyone else, stay inside."

The three oldest men present stood up without hesitation, and Kosma seemed to want to follow, but Chrono stopped him. "Kid, you stay here and take good care of Griseo, understand?"

"I... okay." Kosma realized that they needed another man here, so he could only sit down dejectedly.

"Put on your coats and non-slip shoes, and let's search around the road first."

Lin and his team searched the dark mountain road with flashlights in the face of the severe rain and snow, but they couldn't find a single trace. The intense weather had obscured any human traces, and even the tire tracks left on their way there had disappeared.

To make matters worse, the blizzard showed no signs of stopping, and in this situation, even if the police were called, they probably wouldn't be able to get here.

We can't go any further; if we continue, we might be blown off the cliff. Our fingers are already frozen stiff.

"Damn it! This awful weather!" Chrono was so angry he almost threw the flashlight down.

"Chrono, keep your voice down," Kevin quickly stopped him from shouting in this weather.

"Damn it... what if that brat Su accidentally crashed his car and now needs us to rescue him? That would be..."

At this moment, Lin silently squatted down, a move that caught the attention of Kevin and Chrono.

"What's this..."

Lin Cong the snowdrift and found something.

A mobile phone.

"... If I remember correctly, this is Su's phone." Lin looked at the phone in his hand, its screen cracked from being smashed on the ground, and then looked heavily at the two people behind him.

Then, look down into the bottomless abyss.

April Fools' Special: The Snowy Mountain Villa Hero Team Annihilation Incident Part Two)

Are you kidding me...?

Upon entering, Chrono immediately reached for his car keys, but Lin grabbed his arm.

"Are you crazy? There's a risk of skidding and rolling off the road while driving now."

"So you want me to wait here?" Chrono panted heavily, glaring fiercely at the expressionless Lin. "What do you think the chances are that something will happen to Su?"

"Even if it's true, I won't allow anyone else to get hurt. We'll wait for the police to arrive before making any decisions."

"He might be waiting for us to rescue him! Do you want him to freeze to death? By the time the police arrive, he'll be frozen solid!"

"He's more likely fallen, and it's too late to save him now."

"You--"

Chrono grabbed Lin by the collar, his muscular arms lifting him up with ease, his masked face almost touching Lin's.

"Chrono!" Kevin stepped in between them, stopping the enraged Chrono. "Lin is right, calm down. If something happens to us again, do we want them to keep coming to us?"

"..."

Perhaps Kevin's words had an effect, for Chrono let out a heavy sigh and released Lin.

Their argument drew the attention of the people in the living room. Mobius was the first to rush out. Seeing how close Chrono and Lin were standing, and Lin's disheveled collar, she guessed what had happened. She stood directly in front of Lin and glared at Chrono with hostility.

"It's alright." Lin patted Mobius on the shoulder and gently shook his head at her.

"Nothing wrong? I think if I had come out any later, you might not have been able to say anything wrong, right?" Mobius glared at Lin with a gloomy expression.

"What happened? Have you found Su?" Ying also came out. She saw that it was the three of them who had returned, and she asked in confusion.

Kevin shook his head, his face ashen. "No, we found Sue's phone, on the edge of the cliff..."

"What?!"

Seeing that everyone had come out, Lin shook his head and asked Eden, "Eden, did you call the police?"

"Yes, the police are on their way, but they're not sure if they'll be able to find this place..."

"Okay, let's go inside and talk."

"What do we do next? Just wait for the police to come?" Pardo, the most timid of the three, poked her head out of the doll's cover and asked tremblingly.

"... I might as well go find it myself." Chrono couldn't sit still at all.

"No, in this weather, even if you wanted to look, you wouldn't know where to start." Lin was staring at his phone, deep in thought, when he suddenly asked, "Kevin, did Su come by car?"

"No, his car was recently sent for maintenance, so he must have come by car."

"..."

Taking a car will only take you to the foot of the mountain at most. The section from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside requires walking, so there is a high chance of not being able to see the road or being blown off the mountain.

However, Lin felt that things were not that simple.

He turned on his phone screen, and on the spiderweb-like cracked lock screen, three missed calls were displayed.

Kevin said he called Sue twice; the first call went through, but the second didn't. Eden also called Sue, but the call didn't go through. The two of them must have made the calls when there was still a signal, which is before 8 PM.

Who made the remaining call?

Because Su had set up a fingerprint lock, Lin couldn't access his phone to see who was using it.

"Besides Kevin and Eden, who else called Su?" Lin looked up and asked the crowd. At this moment, the most likely cause of this third missed call was one of the thirteen people present.

Upon hearing this, there was complete silence.

Although Lin didn't know who made the call or what its significance was, he realized that Su's death was likely not such a simple matter.

"Eden, did anything strange happen before I arrived?" Lin asked Eden.

"Strange thing? No... Oh right, Griseo seemed to say that a strange person flashed past the window."

Lin looked at Griseo, who had a blank expression on her face, and slowly asked, "Griseo?"

"Hmm..." Griseo realized that the harmonious atmosphere from before was no longer the same. She thought for a moment and said in an innocent tone, "When I was drawing, I saw someone walk past the window, but everyone was inside, so I thought I must have been mistaken..."

A figure...

Lin's gaze swept over everyone.

In this house, besides them, could there be... "something else"?

When did you see it?

"Afternoon... around 6 PM..."

Lin walked to the windowsill. The window didn't let in much light. It was probably designed with low light transmittance to prevent direct sunlight from glaring the eyes of people standing inside. This design greatly reduced the original clarity, making it difficult to see inside or outside.

Lin imagined Griseo's location at that time, then glanced out of the corner of her eye at the window, imagining a blurry figure passing by outside.

The others exchanged silent glances. They weren't stupid; they all realized that Lin might have discovered something, and that Su's matter wasn't so simple.

As Lin looked through the window, he noticed something tucked under the closed windowsill. He walked over, pushed the window open, and found a piece of paper underneath.

There are words written on it.

What is that?

"Eden, is this yours?" Lin asked, turning around as he picked up the paper.

Eden shook his head in denial. "No, I didn't put anything under the window."

After a quick glance at the words on it, Lin's face was so gloomy it looked like it was about to burst with tears. He took the paper and placed it on the table.

Then he began to read the words on it.

"The Divine Revelation sent Thirteen Sinners to the Ice and Snow Hell, and the gods descended to cleanse them of their sins."

"First, those Lost One are scattered along the road."

Second, Mad One sets himself on fire in the icy ground.

"Third, Wrathful One falls from a high building."

"Fourth, those the Hidden Suffocates in Cloth."

Fifth, those the Fearful Hangs Themselves by the Blades.

"Sixth, the Jealous One will freeze to death in the frost and snow."

"Seven, the Pure One are submerged in low waters."

"Eight, the guardian collapsed in front of the gate."

"Nine, the Wise One are destroyed by folly."

"Ten, the Innocent One are lost in the curtain call."

"Eleventh, Selfish One give their sincere efforts."

"Twelve, the Selfless One remain silent in their betrayal."

"Thirteen, the Truthful One laughs wildly at the Finality."

"This is the path of the thirteen, which comes to an end in the land of wind and snow."

After Lin finished reading all the words, everyone had the same expression on their faces.

Fearful and bewildered.

What does this mean?

Lin said nothing. He silently wrote the character "Su" after the sentence "One, those Lost One lost on the road are scattered."