Freezing the Gland

Shen Ranxin strolled back to the detention room, only to realize the moment he entered that something was off. The entire room had dropped to an outrageously low temperature, completely different from when he had left.

He shivered twice from the cold and circled the living room before finding the air conditioner remote tossed beneath a throw pillow.

One look at the temperature setting, and damn—it was practically below zero.

Shen Ranxin adjusted it back to a normal temperature, then went into the bedroom to look for Lu Zhi.

"Lu Zhi? Where did you go?" Shen Ranxin asked as he walked. "Did you turn the temperature down this low because you wanted to turn yourself into frozen meat..."

There was no sign of Lu Zhi in the room. Shen Ranxin searched the first floor twice without finding him, then frowned and called the director.

The director paused before saying, "Lu Zhi is missing? How is that possible? He never left the detention room!"

"I know. I just wanted to ask whether you saw him on the surveillance footage," Shen Ranxin said. "I went out for a bit, and when I came back, Lu Zhi was gone from the room."

"Well..." the director said, "while you've been staying in the detention room, the surveillance cameras have been turned off, so..."

Still on the phone, Shen Ranxin headed for the basement. "All right, I understand. Sorry to trouble you."

The basement facilities were extremely simple. Aside from a large swimming pool, there was only a gym filled with all kinds of exercise equipment.

This was the only place Shen Ranxin had not searched. He checked the gym twice, but still found no trace of Lu Zhi.

Shen Ranxin clicked his tongue.

Such a big man—could he have crawled into a crack in