CH 17

The table next door to the reunion was acting so perversely when confronted with the photos on their phones that it was written on their faces that “I have a problem”.

Seeing something different, Gu Shengan seized the opportunity to ask at the next table, “Who is this? Do you know him?”

At that, they looked away from the screen as if they had only just reacted.

Fu Wenbo, the chattiest photographer with dreadlocks, smiled reluctantly: “Nothing, I was just surprised that such an old phone could be turned on.”

Xiao Lan wasn’t so fooled: “The girl on the phone looks 17 or 18 years old, and the phone is ten years old, so she seems to be about the same age as you?”

Fu Wenbo’s smile stiffened a little and he quietly wiped the sweat from his hands on his trouser leg: “Ah, yes, what a coincidence.”

Xiao Lan continued, “She’s wearing the same uniform as you guys, is she one of your classmates?”

Fu Wenbo was shocked: “How did you know that?”

Xiao Lan made a careless face, “I just saw it in the picture you gave me, but it was just a flash and I thought I was mistaken.”

In fact, Fu Wenbo only showed a few photos of them together, which Xiao Lan had swindled him with.

Fu Wenbo hastened to remedy the situation: “We don’t even know her, we were just so surprised to see the same school uniform, you know we graduated ten years ago and we still see this school uniform, I really didn’t expect it, haha.”

Xiao Lan was about to say more when Cheng Lang, the manager in a suit, interrupted them: “Fu Wenbo!”

Fu Wenbo shuddered and suddenly realised that he had blurted out. He stood up quickly, not daring to look at Xiao Lan again, and fled in a huff, lying about a stomachache.

The four people left behind all looked puzzled and could not bring themselves to face the delicious dinner, and they hurriedly ate a few bites before making excuses to leave the restaurant.

Now only the players are left in the restaurant.

Gu Shengan asked a few other people, “What do you think?”

Liu Yiyi said impatiently, “What are you looking at? It’s just that there’s something wrong with the NPCs, the one on the phone is a ghost and this group of people got her killed, that’s all. What’s there to discuss, there’s no new clues, I’m going to rest now.”

And without waiting for a reply from the crowd, she went off on her own.

Xiao Lan also said, “At the moment, there are indeed no more clues left, I suggest that we observe the NPCs more next, or find out news related to the inn, after all, it was here that something happened ten years ago.”

Although Liu Yiyi’s words were unkind, they had so little information that any discussion was just speculation.

The other three nodded their approval.

It was the owner of the spa hotel who came in and said to the group with a smile, “The rooms for a few of you have been arranged, so why don’t I take you there first.”

The players had no problem with this and followed the boss to the area of accommodation.

They wanted to leave the phone with the owner, but he refused and it was left in the temporary custody of Tong Qing, who found it.

The accommodation area is on the third floor and up the stairs are rows and rows of rooms. Because only two waves of guests had been received, most of the rooms were vacant, and the owner led them all the way towards the innermost part.

The owner pointed to the row of rooms on the left and said to them, “Here are the five rooms for you, a Sister Xiao has just come in early and has taken the fourth room from the bottom, the rest you can arrange yourselves.”

Gu Shengan couldn’t resist asking, “Can we have a room for two?”

The owner, however, smiled, “You have booked one room for one person, so if you are not satisfied, I can change you to another room.”

The players hastily refused. Although they were now in one room, they were at least linked together and could still find someone to help them if something happened. If the boss had given them a different room in a different location, it would have been a shame if something happened at night.

While the others are still hesitating, Xiao Lan is already walking towards the far end of the room with his legs up.

The freckled Zhao Fan couldn’t resist saying, “Hey …… that’s the last room, aren’t you afraid?”

Xiao Lan laughed: “I’m so poor I’m still afraid of ghosts?”

After saying that, they went straight into the room, leaving the three players in place with a puzzled look on their faces, poor still has this function? After that, despite some unease, the remaining three chose a room each to stay in.

The rooms are, from the inside, Xiao Lan, Gu Shengan, Zhao Fan, Liu Yiyi and Tong Qing.

Xiao Lan doesn’t mind the last room, but do the ghosts of the Advent world care which room you live in? I’m afraid you won’t be able to escape even if you sleep in the hall. At least the last room has a window, so if the door is blocked, you can jump out of it and run away.

—

The room is also wooden, with carpets on the floor and crushed curtains hanging from the windows. From the outside, this room looks as good for a holiday as this spa hotel.

Xiao Lan put Luo down and checked for clues in the house itself.

Luo walked up to Xiao Lan with an elegant catwalk: “Sir, please leave the scouting to me.”

Xiao Lan watched as his hands itched again and couldn’t resist jerking them off before saying, “Won’t probing drain your power too much?”

Luo waved his tail, “No problem if you’re just looking for common items in a small area.”

Xiao Lan reluctantly withdrew his hand and Luo lifted his front paws to the floor, dark shadows pervading from under his paws and spreading across the room, carefully sweeping over every nook and cranny.

Luo took a few steps forward and jumped up to crouch on top of the wardrobe, he patted the cabinet, “Here, sir.”

Xiao Lan went up to the cabinet and opened the door, searched for a moment, and finally found a wrapped rectangular object in a gap in the topmost crossbar of the cabinet.

When I opened it, it was a locked diary, so old that the cover was yellowed. As for the lock, how did Xiao Lan know it was a diary, since it was printed with the words “The secret thoughts of a young girl”, so it couldn’t be a collection of mistakes, could it?

This simple lock was as good as non-existent in front of Xiao Lan, who opened it in less than three seconds.

It is the story of a girl called Gu Mo who has a crush on her.

I don’t think she was a regular diarist, usually only writing something new for five or six days, and not much at all. The first few entries were all trivial things like “He looked good playing basketball today”, “I met him in the hallway again today”, “He likes black pens”, and so on.

It wasn’t until later that Xiao Lan finally saw a familiar name: ” Du Yuhui called me poor and sour to his face and Cheng Lang actually laughed, they both had a good laugh ……”

The diary comes to an abrupt end here.

He probably knew what this girl had been through. She had a crush on Cheng Lang and only dared to look at him in secret and never dared to confess her love. One day, she accidentally caught her crush laughing behind her back with others, which was a devastating blow to her heart.

Xiao Lan’s childhood was one of carefree living, with a wealthy father and a beautiful mother who was always away, but who took good care of him. Until one day his father disappears and his life is turned upside down.

Xiao Lan has also experienced ridicule for being poor, and even more so because her family has fallen on hard times, and many of her former friends and elders have turned on her with frightening speed.

He had a hard time, but when his mother became seriously ill, he had to take care of her and deal with debt collectors, as well as study and work, so he didn’t care about these unpleasant taunts for a long time.

Luo noticed that Xiao Lan was in a bad mood and rubbed his furry square head against the back of his hand, “Sir.”

Xiao Lan came back, “I’m fine, let’s find a way to get closer to Du Yuhui and Cheng Lang tomorrow, ask them about Gu Mo, and there’s something on Du Yuhui’s side that concerns me.”

He described to Luo the way Du Yuhui looked at him and his own suspicions.

—

After nightfall.

In the darkness, Xiao Lan lies under the soft, dry duvet, chatting incoherently with Luo, who is lying on the pillow. With Luo’s low, soft voice, he has drifted off to sleep.

There was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the door.

It was as if someone was shuffling across the floor in slippers, and walking very slowly, making that long, rustling sound. The sound of footsteps hovered at the door of Xiao Lan’s room, as if someone was pacing in front of his door, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right.

But Xiao Lan lives at the end of the room, where is the left?

The door of the hotel was of quite good quality, with no light at all coming through the doorway, and Xiao Lan couldn’t tell what exactly was at his door, or perhaps nothing at all.

“Knock, knock, knock” came the knock on the door, a regular sound, as if the intervals were the same.

A woman’s voice came through the door, ” Xiao Lan , are you there?”

The softness of the voice and the gentle tone of the voice are particularly protective of the male.

Xiao Lan did not answer.

The woman’s voice trembled with a bit of pitying tenderness, “I’m so cold, will you come and keep me company?”

Xiao Lan : “Sorry, I don’t get up at night, you can go back to bed early after going to the toilet and you won’t be cold.”

The woman outside: “……”

Damn, you deserve to be single for the rest of your life.