Thinking Forest Mansion (6)

After opening the master and mistress's bedroom, the butler made no mention of the art studio or piano room. It seemed they would have to find a way to open those two doors themselves.

That afternoon, the four split up. Fang Rui took Tang Cha and Lu Jiancheng to continue searching the study for clues.

Ji Xun went to the kitchen alone.

The cook's vicious behavior on the first day had made the players steer clear of the place, which suited Ji Xun perfectly.

The cook was hard at work preparing dinner.

He really did seem short-handed.

Hearing someone enter, the cook turned around and stared at Ji Xun with a sinister expression.

"Here to bring me some help?" the cook asked with a cold sneer.

Ji Xun looked utterly unconcerned. "No. I just wanted to tell you your food tastes terrible."

The air instantly turned cold. Anger surfaced on the cook's face, and he looked at Ji Xun as though he were already dead.

Pretending not to notice, Ji Xun said with a blissful expression, "I had a bowl of meatball noodles once. That flavor... I really miss it."

The cook scoffed disdainfully. "It's just a bowl of noodles."

Ji Xun had stirred his competitive spirit, and he immediately set out to show off his skills.

A rich broth accompanied plump meatballs, while the evenly cut noodles slid smoothly into the mouth.

Ji Xun took a single bite before shaking his head. "No good. Not even close. Mr. Cook, you're not trying hard enough."

The cook angrily slammed down his spatula. "I don't believe it! What did he use, dragon meat?"

Ji Xun said mysteriously, "Actually, you're not far off. He did use a special ingredient."

"Oh?" Intrigued, the cook asked curiously, "What was it?"

Ji Xun held up one finger. "Answer a question first."

A flicker of conflict crossed the cook's face, but his craving for the recipe won out. "Ask."

Ji Xun smiled faintly. "Did the mistress know her husband was having an affair with the maid?"

"Where did you hear that?" The cook stared at Ji Xun in shock. "How could that be possible? The master and mistress have always been so..."

"So in love?" Ji Xun curled his lip and made as though to leave. "Fine, don't tell me. I'm leaving."

The cook hurriedly stopped him. After checking the kitchen doorway to make sure nobody was eavesdropping, he shut the door and lowered his voice. "I'll tell you, but you can't say you heard it from me."

Ji Xun nodded, thinking, Aside from you, there's only the butler in this mansion. Anyone could guess. Why would I even need to tell them?

"The master and mistress really did get along well after they married, but... men, you know. How can a wife compete with the allure of another woman? Besides, that maid's figure... tsk, tsk." The cook traced a curve in the air, wearing a knowing look.

Compared with the dignified, gracious mistress, the sexy, sultry maid had clearly won more of the master's affection.

Ji Xun asked, "So they were sneaking around behind the mistress's back here in the mansion?"

The cook nodded. "They only met secretly at night, but they made so much noise. The butler and I aren't dead. How could we not notice?"

"You didn't tell the mistress?" Ji Xun frowned. Sure enough, the butler hadn't spoken a single truthful word.

The cook said indifferently, "What standing did a maid have? She couldn't possibly threaten the mistress's position. There was no reason for us to be the bad guys."

Perhaps the butler had thought the same way, so both had independently chosen to conceal the master's affair with the maid from the mistress.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Ji Xun prepared to leave.

The cook hurriedly blocked his path. "You still haven't told me what meat it was!"

Only then did Ji Xun remember. He leaned toward the cook's ear and whispered a few words.

The cook looked thoughtful after hearing them.

As he left the kitchen, Ji Xun noticed a hatch beneath the sacks and boxes piled in the corner. He suspected there might be a cellar below.

But the cook clearly wouldn't let him go down there. He would have to find a way.

"I really fucking hate cheating bastards," Lu Jiancheng cursed in disgust after hearing Ji Xun's account.

"That makes the maid a suspect in the mistress's murder too," Tang Cha said.

"From a woman's perspective, do you think the mistress could have failed to notice the affair?" Ji Xun asked Fang Rui.

Fang Rui shook her head. "Don't underestimate how perceptive a woman can be in her marriage. And I suspect those fishnet stockings weren't the maid's first attempt to provoke her."

There might have been many more occasions when, behind the master's back, she had flaunted their secret affair to the mistress, both openly and through insinuations.

"By the way, Ji Xun, were those meatball noodles really that good?" Tang Cha asked curiously.

Ji Xun's gaze darkened as he looked him up and down. "That depends on how your meat tastes."

Tang Cha shuddered. "Don't tell me it was-"

Ji Xun said, "Go tell them not to touch the meatball noodles tomorrow. If they don't believe you, leave it."

They were already on the second day of this instance, yet nobody had suggested creating a game group chat.

Even passing along a message required poor Tang Cha to knock on every door.

Most players were skeptical, while a few openly scoffed at Tang Cha's warning.

Brother Dong's lackey closed the door and relayed Tang Cha's words to him.

"What the hell does he know?" Brother Dong sneered. "We've eaten the cook's food plenty of times, and nothing's happened to anyone. Those people, on the other hand, definitely had something to do with Wan Mingfei's death."

"Brother Dong, how do you know?" his lackey asked.

Brother Dong said with supreme confidence, "Think about it. None of us heard any strange noises last night. Only they claimed to have heard something. And what a coincidence-Wan Mingfei and Li Hongbo both died near their rooms."

Realization dawned on his lackey. "That makes sense, Brother Dong!"

"Learn a thing or two," Brother Dong said smugly. "Don't trust just anyone."

Although he didn't show it, he was starting to feel anxious too.

It was already the second day of the instance, but they still hadn't found any clues related to the mistress's death.

After the lights went out, Brother Dong lay in bed, tossing and turning to the sound of his lackeys' snores.

He sat up angrily and delivered a hard kick. "Stop snoring! You're keeping me the fuck awake!"

His lackey showed no sign of waking.

Brother Dong lay back down in a huff, only to suddenly hear a woman's soft, sweet voice beside his ear. "I'm so cold."

Brother Dong's eyes snapped open, and he looked around.

There was no woman anywhere.

"Please hold me."

The woman's breath was sweet and fragrant. A tingling warmth spread through Brother Dong's entire body.

Almost unable to control himself, he pushed open the door and followed the voice.

It drew closer and closer. To his surprise, it was coming from the mistress's bedroom.

The bedroom was filled with a refreshing fragrance. Brother Dong took a deep breath of it, his face clouding with dazed desire.

The wardrobe he had ransacked during the day was now empty.

The clothes that had filled it were gone, replaced by a naked woman.

The woman had an alluring figure. She crooked a finger at Brother Dong, seemingly inviting him over.

Brother Dong stiffly shifted his neck. The sight made his eyes bloodshot, and the veins in his neck bulged grotesquely.

Unable to resist her seduction, he lunged forward to embrace and kiss her.

But the instant he stuck his head into the wardrobe, its wide-open doors slammed shut!

The part of Brother Dong's body still outside the wardrobe shuddered, then collapsed limply to the floor.

His head was gone.