The clock tower's second floor was much narrower than the first.
All four walls were covered with stopped clock faces, each with an old photograph pasted beneath it. The photographs showed different people: maintenance workers, shopkeepers passing by, night security guards, and several students in school uniforms. Beneath each person's photograph was a time.
1:17 a.m.
Lu Wenchuan walked closer for a look.
"They all stopped at the same time."
Xu Zhihan stood in the center, his fingers moving slightly beneath his cuff.
"They all heard the bells."
A faint noise came from the corner.
An old mantel clock opened on its own, and a small screw rolled out. It fell to the floor, spun a few times, and stopped beside Lu Wenchuan's foot.
Lu Wenchuan looked down.
A name was engraved on the screw.
Dai Yun.
"He's showing us the way," Xu Zhihan said.
Lu Wenchuan picked up the screw without touching it directly and put it in an evidence bag.
"Dai Yun, where do you want us to go?"
The clocks on the walls moved at the same time.
All their hands slowly swung in the same direction, pointing toward the stairs to the third floor.
Song Zhixia's voice came over the comms. "The first round is almost up. Come out, then go back in."
Xu Zhihan glanced at the stairs.
"One more floor."
Song Zhixia's voice immediately turned cold. "Xu Zhihan."
"We'll pull out first," Lu Wenchuan said.
Xu Zhihan looked at him.
Lu Wenchuan wasn't joking, his voice low.
"You already heard the bells once just now."
Xu Zhihan's gaze grew colder.
Lu Wenchuan added, "One minute out, then we go back up."
Xu Zhihan looked at him, then finally turned and went downstairs.
When the two returned to the first-floor entrance, the outer wooden door