Chapter 136
Chapter 136
At the Mirror Person’s words, Jiang Li’s mind suddenly buzzed!
Dry clothes, a Hot Spring Pool filled with water…
How could Jiang Li have forgotten that place where it seemed impossible to hide clothes!
At the same moment the Mirror Person finished speaking, a line of red text appeared on the broken mirrors of the Hot Spring Pool, revealed by the action of the steam:
[The most unlikely place is the safest.]
The text only had a very faint outline.
It was likely a “clue” deliberately left by the Instance for the Chosen One to prevent the situation from reaching a total stalemate.
However, the “Old Granny” was incredibly cunning; she had wiped that hint away!
Recalling when she had first come downstairs, the Cleaning Cart the “Old Granny” was pushing happened to have a “bloody rag” on it.
That rag might very well have been the tool the “Old Granny” used to wipe away the blood-red words!
Without time for further thought, Jiang Li rushed into the Employee Pool.
“Jiang Li, what are you doing? I just got out, why are you going back in?” The Mirror Person climbed out of the Hot Spring Pool and stared blankly at Jiang Li.
Jiang Li hiked up her pant legs and stepped into the pool, heading toward the position of that specific floor tile.
She glanced at her watch; seventy seconds left.
“Patient ID 1037, pry up that floor tile and see what’s under it.” Jiang Li’s expression was grim.
The Mirror Person gave an “oh” and obediently did as told.
Prying up the tile revealed a sealed, large Iron Box inside.
The Mirror Person exerted a great deal of effort to lift the heavy Iron Box out.
Once it was out, it discovered a small Lock hanging on the outside of the Iron Box.
“Jiang Li, this needs a key to open.” The Mirror Person scratched its head in frustration.
Jiang Li looked at the small Lock from a distance.
The keyhole was very small.
On the outside of the small Lock, the letter “b” was written.
Jiang Li suddenly remembered that the ring of keys she had just taken happened to have two small keys, one of which was labeled with the letter “b.”
Jiang Li fished out the keys and tossed them to the Mirror Person. “Unlock it, use the one with the letter ‘b’!”
The Mirror Person caught the keys in both hands.
It picked out the key with the letter ‘b’, inserted it into the keyhole, and gave it a gentle turn.
The small Lock opened with a “click.”
Jiang Li looked delighted.
She stepped closer and immediately flipped open the lid of the Iron Box.
But the moment she saw what was inside, Jiang Li’s pupils suddenly constricted.
Bricks.
A box full of bricks.
In an instant, a cold sweat broke out across Jiang Li’s back.
Remaining time: fifty seconds.
– “Go to bed, everyone. The situation is clear now.”
– “The traps in the Aberration World are truly impossible to guard against…”
– “It’s a loss, a loss. Sigh, everyone just go home!”
The Mirror Person placed a hand on Jiang Li’s shoulder and let out a low sigh:
“Jiang Li, don’t lose heart. If we can’t find dry clothes, at worst we’ll just wear the wet ones! Look at me…”
As the Mirror Person spoke, it spun in a circle in front of Jiang Li to show off its wet clothes.
“I’m doing just fine in wet clothes.” As soon as the Mirror Person turned back around, it saw that Jiang Li had already run off.
After scanning the Employee Pool once, Jiang Li didn’t hesitate and headed straight for the red Hot Spring Pool.
There were two pools in the Hot Spring Room.
One was the “VIP Pool” for guests.
Inside sat a dead Long-Haired Woman, and the pool water was red.
The other was the “Employee Pool” Jiang Li had just visited, where the water was blue.
Jiang Li reached the edge of the VIP Pool.
She grabbed a pair of extra-long Rubber Gloves from a nearby Iron Bucket and pulled them on quickly.
Then, she grabbed the corpse of the Long-Haired Woman and dragged it aside.
She leaned over the edge and reached her gloved hand into the pool.
After groping around for a moment, Jiang Li flipped something over.
Then, an identical large Iron Box was hauled out of the pool by Jiang Li.
The Mirror Person watched from the side, dumbfounded.
Without a moment’s pause, Jiang Li pulled out the keys again, selected one, inserted it, turned it, and opened the lock.
She pried open the lid of the Iron Box.
Inside was a box filled to the brim with clothes. Each garment was sealed inside a waterproof bag, clearly placed there with deliberate intent.
Seeing these dry clothes, Jiang Li’s frayed nerves finally relaxed a little.
– “Holy crap, she actually found it??”
– “I don’t get it. How did she know there were clothes there?”
– “I’ve done the math; Jiang Li is definitely using cheats behind our backs!”
Jiang Li glanced at her watch. There were only thirty seconds left until the next hour mark. She quickly grabbed a set of dry clothes and bolted out the door.
Inside the Intelligence Department.
Elder Fan asked Xiao Wu tentatively, “Xiao Wu, tell us-if it were you hiding the clothes, where would you have put them?”
Xia Guofeng also grew interested. “Yes, Xiao Wu, give us your take. We old-timers want to hear more from the younger generation.”
Xiao Wu looked up and glanced at Elder Fan.
He naturally saw the hidden layer within the question. The moment he saw the bricks in the first box, he had immediately guessed that the dry clothes were in the other pool. But… should he really tell the truth?
Elder Fan’s question seemed casual, but it carried deep implications. If Xiao Wu perfectly analyzed that the hiding spot was beneath the Female Corpse in the VIP Pool, his rapid deduction skills would undoubtedly put him in the spotlight. It would further validate his potential as someone who could become a rival to Jiang Li.
He feared that everyone’s guard against him would become uncontrollable in the future.
However, if Xiao Wu deliberately avoided the correct answer to reduce suspicion, it would instead feel like he was trying too hard to hide something. Because Xiao Wu had already performed brilliantly in the early stages, suddenly playing dumb would clearly be a case of “feigning stupidity to cover his tracks.”
This was a psychological battle between him and Elder Fan.
After thinking for two seconds, Xiao Wu looked up at the seniors in the meeting room.
“Then I shall humble myself and offer a brief analysis.”
Xiao Wu stood up and walked to a small blackboard nearby. He took a marker and drew a simple diagram of the two pools.
“I can only say that if I put myself in Jiang Li’s shoes, I would definitely realize the clothes were hidden under the Female Corpse in the VIP Pool.”
Xiao Wu circled the upper-left corner of the Employee Pool.
“There is a hidden compartment in the upper-left corner of the Employee Pool. The Iron Box inside can be opened with a Type B key. Since Jiang Li has a Type B key, it actually implies the existence of a Type A key. By extension, it means there must be another large Iron Box in the Hot Spring Room.”
Xiao Wu used the marker to sketch the broken mirror in the Hot Spring Room.
“Combined with the hint on the mirror, it could already be determined that dry clothes would appear in the Hot Spring Pool. Before Jiang Li went to the VIP Pool, she scanned the Employee Pool once, but she clearly didn’t find any other similar floor tiles. This indicated that the clothes were not stored in the Employee Pool.”
Xiao Wu paced in front of the blackboard, analyzing seriously. “There are two pools in total. Since the clothes weren’t in the Employee Pool, they could only be in the VIP Pool.”
Having said that, he held the pen and drew some grid lines within the box representing the VIP Pool.
“The VIP Pool is very large, with at least four or five hundred floor tiles. If the Iron Box were placed in a spot without any markings, it would be impossible to pass this stage. Therefore, the location of the Iron Box must have a special marker.”
Xiao Wu circled the upper-left corner of the VIP Pool, where the Female Corpse was located.
“And the only thing in this pool that serves as a special marker is the location of the Female Corpse.”
Xiao Wu adjusted his glasses and smiled. “Because the Female Corpse itself is the marker.”