Chapter 91
Chapter 91
After a round of discussion, everyone decided to split into three groups to investigate.
Wei Sen, Xu You, and Chen Lin formed one group.
He Xu, Zhou Jie, Xia Susu, and Liu Shuang formed another.
Guo Lan, Lin Xiaoxue, and Huang Xinze formed the last.
To avoid missing any clues, all three groups would visit every location, just in a different order.
Wei Sen’s group of three would investigate the inn first. He Xu’s group of four would head straight to the village, while Guo Lan’s group of three would enter the forest first.
Once the plan was settled, they each set off.
Wei Sen first went to the inn’s entrance and looked around. Unfortunately, people from the other teams had also been leaving one after another, leaving the snow outside the door trampled with messy footprints. On top of that, heavy snow had fallen all night, so there was no way to determine who had delivered the gift to the innkeeper from the footprints alone.
However…
Wei Sen carefully examined the floor, her expression gradually darkening. “Look at the ground.”
“The floor’s pretty clean. What’s the problem?” Xu You said, bending down to sniff it.
Chen Lin pushed up her glasses and suddenly realized something. “Sister You, that’s exactly it-it’s too clean! We clearly saw the innkeeper come out to take the rose and the gift before going back inside. Logically, there should’ve been snow on her feet. When she stepped onto the wooden floor, she should’ve at least left some water stains. But right now, there’s not a single returning footprint, either by the door or on the stairs.”
Xu You frowned and slowly said, “That’s normal. Ghosts’ feet don’t touch the ground.”
“Are you sure she’s a ghost?” Wei Sen asked.
“Mm. She’s wrapped in yin energy and resentment. There’s no living aura on her at all.”
Wei Sen carefully recalled Lili’s figure, the way she moved, and how the wind had stirred the hem of her dress. It felt more like…
“Aside from a ghost lifting its feet off the ground, I think there’s another possibility… Maybe she doesn’t have legs at all,” Wei Sen said.
Xu You and Chen Lin both sucked in a cold breath.
That was indeed possible.
“Sister Sen, when that girl from Red Team picked up the steamed bun earlier, her expression was really strange. She must’ve seen something. I’ll message her privately and ask,” Chen Lin said.
“Mm.”
Right now, they couldn’t afford to overlook any clue. Any seemingly insignificant detail might become the key to clearing this Instance.
Xu You crouched down and examined the spot where the rose and gift box had been, sniffing the floor carefully. “Whatever was in the gift box wasn’t anything good either. The smell of blood was even stronger than on the Ice-Sculpted Rose.”
“Only she knows what was inside that box.” Wei Sen looked upstairs. “I want to go to the fourth floor.”
Chen Lin looked startled. “But the rules said we can’t go to the fourth floor.”
“The rules said that if the innkeeper discovers us, the consequences will be severe. But what if she doesn’t discover us?” Wei Sen looked at the two of them.
Xu You instantly understood what Wei Sen meant. Smiling, she lowered her voice and said, “Let’s ask Meiya for information first.”
“Mm!”
The two hit it off immediately. Chen Lin was a little frightened, but when she thought of her purpose for entering the Instance World, she took a deep breath and followed Wei Sen and Xu You with determined steps.
The three arrived at the front desk. When Meiya saw them coming, she did not seem surprised in the least. Instead, she stood up to greet them.
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
Xu You stepped forward and lowered her voice to avoid being heard by the one on the fourth floor.
“Is the innkeeper always on the fourth floor? Does she ever leave the inn? For example, does she go out in the afternoon to do some square dancing with the villagers or something?”
“Huh?” Meiya’s eyes widened.
“What I mean is…”
“Sister You, wait!” Chen Lin said in shock, holding her watch out in front of Xu You and Wei Sen. Yang Yan had replied to Chen Lin’s message.
[Yang Yan: The innkeeper has no legs!]
Wei Sen and Xu You exchanged a look. Only then did Xu You realize how offensive her question had been.
But Meiya’s reaction proved that she knew everything!
The person in front of them was clearly alive, so why would she willingly work for a ghost?
Xu You thought it over. There had to be some cause and effect behind this…
Wei Sen asked directly, “May I ask when the innkeeper is not in the inn?”
Since Meiya knew everything, yet had chosen to tell them the rules and protect them as Order Keepers, her position was at least neutral.
So Wei Sen felt there was no need to beat around the bush with her. It would be better to ask directly.
Meiya did not seem surprised by the question. She replied, “Every day at 3:00 p.m., the manager leaves the inn. She usually comes back about an hour later.”
“What does she go out for?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know. I’m always in the inn during work hours.”
“All right, thank you.”
“Actually…” Meiya’s lips moved, and a trace of sympathy colored her eyes. Her voice grew much quieter. “Dear guests, as long as you follow the inn’s rules and wait until the snowstorm stops, you can go home. As for anything else… it’s best not to do it.”
All of them could tell this was a blatant warning.
“Why? Is this place not safe? Or is it…” Xu You leaned closer to Meiya. “Your manager isn’t safe?”
Meiya was so frightened she took a step back. “No, no! Our inn is very safe! The manager is safe too!”
“If it’s that safe, then why did thirty of us check in, but after just one night, only twenty-two are left?” Xu You pressed relentlessly.
Meiya’s expression grew increasingly ugly. “Dear guests, I need to start working now. Please do whatever you wish.”
Wei Sen pulled Xu You back. “Let’s go. We shouldn’t disturb her work.”
Seeing that Meiya was unwilling to reveal anything more, Xu You had no choice but to leave for now.
The three of them headed toward the hot spring in the backyard together. Through the corridor, they could see members of the Red Team by the hot spring as well.
“I have an idea,” Xu You said solemnly.
“Let’s hear it.” Wei Sen looked at her.
“We tie Meiya up, torture her for answers, and make her tell us everything she knows!”
For a moment, Wei Sen and Chen Lin were speechless.
“What? Is it a bad suggestion? Don’t worry, when it comes to tying people up, I’ve got experience!” Xu You began cracking her knuckles.
“Sister You, Meiya clearly won’t tell us anything more. And kidnapping a native of the Eerie World… if that kind of thing worked, wouldn’t the difficulty of the Instance drop by a huge amount?” Chen Lin said.
“I think that method might be feasible,” Wei Sen said.
“Right? Sister Sen gets me!” Xu You slapped Wei Sen on the shoulder.
“Hiss…” Pain shot through Wei Sen’s shoulder. Why did this Daoist have the strength of an ox?
“Let me finish… The prerequisite is that you have enough Merit Points to be deducted,” Wei Sen continued. “Merit Points are more like the Eerie World’s standard for judging every Order Keeper. Clearing an Instance increases Merit Points. Killing people or killing an Eerie Entity deducts Merit Points. Something like kidnapping should come with a corresponding penalty too.”
Chen Lin said, “Mm, I think the same as Sister Sen. We came to this world by the decree of God. Although we don’t know why God wants us to clear one Instance after another, He definitely doesn’t want everyone to become villains who will do anything to achieve their goals.”
Xu You let out a dispirited sigh. “Fine, fine, you’re right. How could a mere mortal body like mine dare defy the will of God? Maybe… God wants everyone to be a good person too?”
Wei Sen said nothing. Instead, after hearing Xu You’s words, she lowered her head and fell into silent thought.
The Protagonist Aura System in her mind had only ever asked her to do one thing: “be a good person.”
Could it be… that this System had also been given to her by that God?
As Wei Sen pondered, she passed through the corridor with Xu You and Chen Lin and arrived at the edge of the hot spring.
The hot spring was very large. The water in the pool was crimson red, steam curling above it, and the surroundings were encircled by rocks and white snow.
Xu You abruptly stopped. She sniffed the moisture in the air, then could not help pinching her nose. “What a strong smell of blood!”