"What's making you uncomfortable?" Qin Nuo asked.
"Those two ghosts have sensed my presence and are hostile towards me," the Blood-Eyed Ghost replied in a deep voice.
As Qin Nuo pondered, a little girl suddenly spoke up, "Big brother, it seems like there's something inside you. My mom and dad asked if they should help you get it out and squash it?"
Qin Nuo's expression changed slightly, and he said, "It's my friend. Please tell your parents there's no need."
"Oh." The little girl nodded obediently.
After a seemingly endless dinner, Qin Nuo finally left the room, feeling relieved.
The Blood-Eyed Ghost was also uncomfortable; Qin Nuo could feel his right hand tense the entire time.
"Don't go into that room again. The way those two ghosts looked at me was like they were eyeing prey!" the Blood-Eyed Ghost said in a deep voice.
"Can't you take them on?"
"Do you think a rat can beat a cat?"
"Not even close!" The Blood-Eyed Ghost was a bit resentful, feeling dragged into such a dangerous place just for a meal.
Qin Nuo remained silent.
"Congratulations to the Host for completing the D-level instance mission. Additional scores will be calculated upon exiting the instance!"
"Ding, congratulations to the Host for acquiring a main quest—Room 401 seems to hold some clues. Why not take a look? There might be unexpected rewards!"
Room 401?
Qin Nuo suddenly realized.
Among the residents on the fourth floor, from rooms one to six, it seemed only room 401 was left, and he had never seen anyone there.
Because he had never seen the door open.
Qin Nuo had once thought it was a storage room, not rented out.
After pondering for a moment, Qin Nuo changed direction and stood in front of room 401, gently knocking on the door.
No response. Qin Nuo knocked again, and the door opened on its own.
It wasn't locked.
The creaking sound of the door echoed in the deathly silent room.
Inside, there was almost nothing, the space was small, with the living room and bedroom combined, trash everywhere, and sour, yellowed clothes piled on the bed.
A short-haired girl, around 18 years old, sat on the floor, wearing a torn and dirty school uniform.
"Hello?" Qin Nuo called out.
The girl turned around, not with a terrifying ghost face, but rather a pretty appearance with a sunny beauty.
However,
Her hair was messy, drool ran down her mouth, and she sucked her fingers. Upon seeing Qin Nuo, she wasn't scared but giggled foolishly.
"An idiot," Qin Nuo realized.
He hadn't expected this.
How could the old landlord allow a mentally challenged girl to live in a room?
Granddaughter?
Qin Nuo didn't dwell on it. He was curious about the clue pointing to room 401, which must be hiding something.
Qin Nuo started searching around, while the girl on the floor just watched him walk back and forth with a silly smile.
Finally, in a drawer, Qin Nuo found a diary.
The diary belonged to the girl, named Xia Xinlu. She seemed to have been a vibrant university student, with a photo attached.
Why would Liu Meng lie to him?
Or was she covering something up?
Without a doubt, that girl from room 402 was the biggest suspect so far.
But without solid evidence, he couldn't jump to conclusions.
However, in Qin Nuo's mind, he was already wary of that girl.
The next day was the fifth day of the game.
There were five days left until the instance ended.
The players were all focused on the instance tasks, hoping to get a high score when exiting the instance.
Qin Nuo had already completed five instance tasks and wasn't interested in continuing with them. Instead, he focused on investigating the main quest.
In the first-floor lobby.
Qin Nuo and the old landlord were playing chess.
However, one was bored, and the other was deep in thought, completely different vibes.
"Checkmate! Old man, you let me win!"
After the old landlord pondered for a full ten minutes, he finally made the last move.
Qin Nuo also made the final move without hesitation, ending the long chess game.
But this time, losing the game, the old landlord wasn't angry or upset. Instead, he stroked his beard and showed a smug smile.
"Even though I lost, this time you only beat me by a small margin!"
Qin Nuo laughed along, "Yes, as they say, after three days, one must look at a person with new eyes."
"Last time, I had you down to just your general, and now you still have so many pieces left. I almost lost this time."
"Old man, your chess skills have improved by leaps and bounds!" Qin Nuo said with a look of admiration.
These words made the old landlord even more pleased, his beard almost flying up.
In reality, Qin Nuo could have won ten moves ago if he wanted to.
And he could still have defeated the old landlord completely, making him question life.
But,
In life, one must have high emotional intelligence.
Was this game really about chess?
No!
It was about human relationships.
"Old man, can I ask you something?" Seeing that the time was right, Qin Nuo suddenly said.
"I knew you had ulterior motives for suddenly playing chess with me."
"But I'm in a good mood, so go ahead," the old landlord said, picking up his old pipe.
"Do you know the girl in room 401?"
"Yes, she's a pitiful child. A few years ago, her parents died in a car accident, and she became like this, and that girl from room 402 has been taking care of her since."
"Why do you ask?" the old man asked casually, taking a puff from his pipe.
Qin Nuo's expression turned a bit serious.
The old landlord's tone was the same as Liu Meng's!
Could it be that Liu Meng didn't lie?