Translator: CinderTL
"Ghost-hunting team."
"That's right." Liu Guo hadn't expected to find such a lead at first. He looked at Jiang Cheng and continued, "Li Maoshen, Yu Youwei, Song Xiaoyu, Qiao Yu, and Zhao Jiajia—all five of them were members of the ghost-hunting team. I think what really killed them was one of their filming sessions."
"And this ring." Hua Luo suddenly spoke up. Everyone saw him pull out a ring from his pocket, with the name "Shen Aiwei" engraved on the inside.
Based on the current clues, it seemed clear that Li Maoshen and Yu Youwei were likely a couple, and Li Maoshen himself was the founder of the ghost-hunting team.
"But if they angered a ghost during filming, why did the ghost leave this ring in Yu Lan's mouth after killing her?" Wan Yuanning looked at the ring and raised a practical question.
The existence of this ring had somewhat skewed their investigation, as they had initially suspected a crime of passion.
"Don't know." Wei Jinting shrugged.
He carried a backpack on his back, larger than the one Banana Wolf had, and this bag hadn't been there before.
Noticing someone staring at the bag, Wei Jinting casually took it off and pulled out a black and red laptop from inside. It was an older model.
"Qiao Yu's," he said. "We got it from his brother, but there's nothing left on it. It's been wiped clean."
"His brother didn't do it. It was already empty when we got it back from the police," he explained, spreading his hands in resignation.
It was clear that Banana Wolf and the others were still curious about what was on the computer, but it was getting late, and time was running out.
After briefly discussing the incidents involving Lu Huaxu and Chen Yi, everyone went their separate ways.
In the stairwell, Fatty kept imparting survival tips to Chu Jiu, which made Jiang Cheng frown. The two of them escorted Chu Jiu back to her room.
Standing in front of Chu Jiu's door, Jiang Cheng glanced at Room 710 not far away. Its door was closed, and it would never open again.
The situation was dire for Chu Jiu. Chen Yi, who had been taking care of her, was dead, and it had been confirmed that there was a ghost in Room 717 on her floor.
Chu Jiu lowered her head, seemingly afraid of being overwhelmed by emotions. Jiang Cheng reached out, patted her head, and then leaned in to whisper something in her ear.
His voice was so soft that even Fatty couldn't hear it.
But after hearing his words, Chu Jiu immediately looked up at him with a peculiar expression, as if trying to gauge the truth of his words.
Jiang Cheng nodded at her, then raised three fingers solemnly and pointed them at Fatty, saying, "If I'm lying, may Wang Fugui be struck by lightning."
Fatty: "???"
To Fatty's slight relief, Chu Jiu's expression improved significantly after that. For the first time since Chen Yi's disappearance, there was a glimmer of light in her eyes.
On the way back, Fatty surprisingly didn't complain about Jiang Cheng using his name to swear. "Doctor," he asked, keeping pace with him, "what did you say to that kid?"
Chu Jiu claimed to be in college, but she looked like she had just started high school, so Fatty always called her "kid."
"I told her this instance is special. Chen Yi isn't dead; she was just taken by the ghost," Jiang Cheng said. "If we solve the mission quickly, she still has a chance to survive."
Fatty was stunned for a moment, then asked with a hint of hope, "Really?"
Jiang Cheng paused for a few seconds before slowly replying, "No."
After a moment of silence, Fatty didn't react as Jiang Cheng had expected. Instead, he placed a hand on Jiang Cheng's shoulder and patted it reassuringly. "Doctor," Fatty encouraged, "don't blame yourself. I know you did your best."
At this, Jiang Cheng's eyes flickered slightly. He took the opportunity to adjust his clothes and removed Fatty's hand. "Chen Yi was haunted by the ghost. She died because she was foolish," Jiang Cheng said coldly. "Why should I blame myself?"
"I rode in the same car as Chen Yi to observe the ghost's killing methods up close. I brought Chu Jiu along as a precaution," he glanced at Fatty, flipping up his wrinkled collar, and added indifferently, "She could be used as a shield in a critical moment."
Fatty blinked, then after a long pause, whispered, "Doctor, were you... explaining just now?"
"Drip."
"Drip."
In the room, a man sat next to the bed, the smell of tobacco spreading through the air.
Liu Guo stared at the wall clock, extinguishing his cigarette at exactly 7:15.
A few seconds later, the phone rang on cue. He picked it up after the fourth ring.
"Chen Yi is dead..." The voice on the other end belonged to a young man, speaking in a low tone, as if suppressing his emotions.
Liu Guo pursed his lips and said softly, "I know."
His grief was no less than the young man's, but now was not the time for sorrow. This was war—a fight to the death.
Of course, it was even worse to fall into the hands of those people and suffer a fate worse than death.
"Was it them?" The young man's voice seemed to squeeze through clenched teeth.
Liu Guo thought for a moment, then exhaled. "I'm not sure. I've been keeping a close eye on things here, and Lu Huaxu is really dead. It's not a fake."
He had seen Lu Huaxu's corpse, which was covered in severe burns, with some extremities even charred.
The eerie part was that they had found the body in the bathroom, but next to it were three large red plastic buckets filled with water.
The entire bathroom was clean, except for the corpse, which showed signs of intense burning. Flammable items like wooden mops and toilet paper showed no signs of ignition, as if he had spontaneously combusted in an instant.
"I know what you're thinking. You feel like his death was too easy, right?" Liu Guo continued. "I think so too."
After a moment, the voice on the other end said, "This Lu Huaxu is a fake."
"Exactly," Liu Guo agreed. "I think the same. This Lu Huaxu is just a decoy, a pawn to distract us. The real Crimson is someone else."
"That... Wu?" The young man hesitated after speaking, then added a few seconds later, "Although I also find him suspicious, his name and actions don't seem like someone trying to hide. He's too casual, and he hardly ever participates in our mission objectives, as if the success or failure of the mission has nothing to do with him."
"This afternoon near the café, the fire alarm was triggered, and we got separated in the crowd," Liu Guo said, leaning forward with the phone in hand. "Wu disappeared for about 20 minutes."
(End of the Chapter)
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