249 Turn of Events

Xiang Wan puffed a sigh of relief as she looked at the diminishing back view of the woman in black.

After swiping her room card and entering the room, she could finally relax.

Maybe she was too paranoid!

She felt her overly suspicious thoughts funny.

She sat on the sofa and took a look at the receipt which was inside the carrier that contained the food.

She got a shock.

Right next to the receipt, there was another note.

The note seemed wrinkled as though it had been crumpled. The printed words on the piece of note were familiar.

"You might have heard of 'The Temptation of the Rich & Famous'? This game is really fun. I will be inviting a lot of people to participate… And you are the main person that I want to groom."

At the bottom of the note, there was another tiny line of text:

Xin Xing Hotel. Year XX Month XX Day XX.

Xiang Wan's heart felt like it was squeezed tightly when she saw the note.

The hotel she was staying was exactly Xin Xing Hotel.

…

How did the small note get inside the carrier?

Could there be a problem with the delivery guy?

Was this note specifically written for her?

All these questions almost triggered her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Xiang Wan tried to call Bai Muchuan on his mobile.

However, all she heard was: "The number you have dialed is turned off. Please try again later…"

His phone might have run out of battery, she thought.

He should still be busy at work?

Xiang Wan kept looking at the clock. She couldn't stop making blind conjectures.

The more she thought about it, the more nervous she was.

She did not even dare to eat the food she ordered. In fact, she did not dare to order another takeaway.

Alone in the room, she felt as though she was a bird waiting to be barbecued. She wished she could fly out of her room to look for Bai Muchuan, yet she daren't leave her room. She was so worried she even locked her room from the inside.

Her mind wandered about as she lay on the bed. All kinds of thoughts went through her mind—her heartbeat couldn't stop drumming within her ears.

Nevertheless, she had been awake since early morning. She started to feel tired, and slowly, she was half-asleep… when her body suddenly gave a jolt, and she woke up in shock.

The sky outside the window still looked as cloudy as before.

She looked at the time again and noticed her back felt cold from her own sweat.

She got up, wiped the sweat off her, and picked up the strange note she left on the table.

"The temptation of the rich and famous, the temptation of the rich and famous…"

She mumbled to herself and pondered for a moment before sending a message to Yuan Qianqian.

"Did you delete a comment about 'The Temptation of the Rich & Famous'?"

About a minute later, Yuan Qianqian replied, "It's not me. Let me ask the others."

Xiang Wan waited patiently.

Soon, Yuan Qianqian replied, "The comment was deleted by Huangpu. She thought it was spam. Is there any problem?"

Huangpu was also one of the moderators just like Yuan Qianqian.

From what Xiang Wan knew, Huangpu was still a college student.

Yuan Qianqian added that the reviews and comments page was currently under the care of Huangpu as she was very busy with her work.

However, with regards to Yuan Qianqian's questions, Xiang Wan was unable to answer.

At that very moment, she couldn't tell what was the problem about this "The Temptation of the Rich & Famous". Giving it some thought, Xiang Wan felt she shouldn't drag her two moderators into the situation. Hence, she didn't tell Yuan Qianqian about the strange note but only instructed her:

"Get Huangpu to take a screenshot before she deletes the comment if something similar appears again."

"Okay, no problem."

Yuan Qianqian sent an "okay" gesture emoticon and asked a question.

"Is everything okay in the Capital?"

"Not bad."

"What time will you be uploading your chapter?"

Today…

Xiang Wan placed a hand on her uneasy heart.

"I'm not feeling quite well today. The update will be later than usual."

"Noted. We're not in a hurry. Do take care of your health…"

"Alright!"

Ever since the last 'discontinuation' incident, Xiang Wan had been updating regularly for a long period of time.

For a web novelist, it was definitely a feat and a mentally draining task to be able to write continuously and upload new content every day.

For that day, it was one of those times where she could not write anything due to that strange note.

It was so demoralizing!

Xiang Wan sighed as she stared at each and every word on the note. She wished she could find the secret hidden within—

She picked up her phone and decided to call Tang Yuanchu.

Ding-Dong!

When suddenly, the doorbell rang.

The room was very quiet, and the doorbell made Xiang Wan's hair stood on end. She held her phone as she walked to the door slowly.

"Who's that?"

"It's me."

That was a familiar voice! Xiang Wan's heart was instantly relieved.

She opened the door the moment she heard his voice.

The man standing outside the door was none other than Bai Muchuan.

"You're back—"

Xiang Wan could hear the changes in her own voice as she rushed over and hugged him by the waist.

Mm? Bai Muchuan was slightly surprised by Xiang Wan's actions. After they entered the room and closed the door behind them, he patted her head with a smile. "I just left for a short while and you're already missing me?"

Xiang Wan exclaimed, "Yeah, I miss you a lot!"

Bai Muchuan smiled again, his face suddenly turned serious. "What happened?"

He was very sensitive toward Xiang Wan's emotions.

Her pale face was the first thing that caught his attention.

Xiang Wan moistened her lips and told him what happened.

"Just now, I had a very strange encounter. I just felt that something was off. I tried calling you, but your phone was switched off…"

"Mm?" Bai Muchuan took his phone out from his pocket. "Ran out of battery."

"Take a look at this." Xiang Wan did not mind about that. She quickly pulled Bai Muchuan over to the sofa and passed the strange note to him. She went on to describe in detail about her encounter and that comment in her reviews and comments page…

When she mentioned the content of the comment, Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

However, when he saw the content of the strange note, he frowned instantly in contemplation.

He asked, "Did you see that comment in other authors' reviews and comments page?"

Xiang Wan shook her head. "I browsed through a few and did not find anything, but that doesn't mean nobody posted in their pages, it could have been deleted."

"Yes, that's a possibility."

Bai Muchuan took out the phone charger and plugged it to his phone. Next, he sent a voice message to his team in their chat group where he described Xiang Wan's encounter to them.

"Go contact Captain Zhang right away," he instructed Tu Liang, "get him to do a check on this weird guest."

"Yes, Boss!"

Tu Liang was a very reliable and trustworthy person.

Xiang Wan could tell Bai Muchuan trusted Tu Liang a lot. After putting down his phone, he kept quiet.

She noticed the change in his mood as well.

"How's the handover with the police from Xi City?"

Bai Muchuan remained silent.

About three seconds later, he replied, "The 121 case will be a joint effort with them."

Joint effort… That meant they would not be able to bypass the detectives from Xi City?

Xiang Wan asked softly, "Are they not willing to hand over the case?"

Bai Muchuan did not say much. "With regards to this case, they have already found out some important leads to the mastermind. It will not look nice on us to fully take over the case."

After her stint with the Criminal Investigation Unit at Jin City, she could understand Bai Muchuan's concerns.

In the 121 Case, there were already five deaths. No matter where this case happened in, it was already a super serious case.

From the perspective of the Xi City Police, they had already put in so much manpower and effort into the case, so if the case was taken over by Serious Crime Division One when they were about to solve it, it was only understandable they were unwilling. It would also not look good on Serious Crime Division One.

Working together to solve the case was definitely a better solution.

Xiang Wan nodded her head. "What are the important leads they have discovered?"

As Xiang Wan was not part of the team, it was actually not suitable for her to ask that question.

Nevertheless, as Zhang Lu had died, she got implicated and she was still being attacked on the internet every day. Thus, she was very curious about the clues the Xi City police had found.

Bai Muchuan gazed at Xiang Wan. There was a complicated look in his eyes. For a long while, he did not move.

"What's the matter?" Xiang Wan asked then let out a chuckle. "If you can't tell me about it, then don't."

Bai Muchuan looked grim as he mulled over the case.

"All five victims of 121 case had received the invitation to join 'The Temptation of the Rich and Famous'. The five of them expressed their interest to join, and we believed they were already a part of the project…"

What? Xiang Wan gasped.

"What did they write?"

"They died before they could write anything."

"This is too horrifying! Who exactly is the mastermind…"

"From the information disclosed by the Xi City police force, it involved a triad group called 'Dark Clan'."

Bai Muchuan hesitated for a moment and continued, "However, the information they have is still limited—"

Dark Clan?

Xiang Wan could feel goosebumps all over just from thinking about these people lurking in the dark.

"I have a question. All five victims died in their respective hotel in Xi City. The first four had come to Xi City voluntarily. If they accepted the invitation and got killed, their deaths could be considered as a scheme, but what about Zhang Lu?"

Zhang Lu and Xiang Wan took the same flight.

That flight was headed to the Capital!

If it wasn't for Zhang Lu framing her, the plane wouldn't have landed in Xi City.

Furthermore, Zhang Lu's intention to frame Xiang Wan was too obvious.

From the way Zhang Lu had deliberately imitated the manner of how the four victims died in the 121 case when on the flight, she definitely knew something about the case.

"Could it be that Zhang Lu was being used by them and then they silenced her?"

Bai Muchuan's phone rang just as Xiang Wan finished asking her question.

The call was from Tu Liang. "Boss, that woman is not a guest of Xin Xing hotel."

As the room was very quiet and Xiang Wan was just right next to Bai Muchuan, she could hear Tu Liang over the phone.

She was shocked when she overheard that. "That's impossible," she blurted out loudly, "she went into the elevator and took the same lift as me…"

Tu Liang heard what Xiang Wan had said as well. "We've checked the hotel's registration. Nobody checked into the hotel at that time… I've also checked with the hotel reception.

"They said that the woman did indicate she wanted a room and inquired about the pricing of various rooms and suites. While she was hesitating, she seemed to see her friend as she called out a name and went straight to the elevator…"

"Called out a name? What's the name?"

"… They didn't hear it clearly."

Bai Muchuan gave Xiang Wan a glance.

Xiang Wan's scalp turned numb as she looked at Bai Muchuan.

The 'friend' the hotel receptionist mentioned, could it be Xiang Wan herself?

In other words, that woman was not a guest in the hotel. She merely ran into the elevator to hitch a ride from Xiang Wan?

Xiang Wan felt cold from head to toe.

"I'm very sure she entered this floor. Bai Muchuan, can we check out the security footage?"

"Yes!" Bai Muchuan paused for a while before asking Tu Liang, "Is Captain Zhang here already?"

Tu Liang: "He's still working on getting the warrant. I'll give him a call to expedite it."

In dramas, whenever the police requested for security footage, they seemed to be able to see it right away. However, in an actual situation, the police needed to apply for the warrant and get it approved before getting the hotel to cooperate with them.

Xiang Wan felt perturbed and restless while waiting.

About waiting for more than 10 minutes, Tu Liang called up again.

"Boss, Captain Zhang's here!"

…