Chapter 17

Qi Zhiyong is not in a very good mood.

Aside from him, the most valuable and seemingly most confident Lotus Juanren, He Qiong, died confusedly in that basement.

Only the two sisters, stained with mud, returned to the hostel. Since their return, they have been hugging each other and weeping, adding a thread of sorrowful atmosphere to this bonfire party.

The sound of crying made Qi Zhiyong feel annoyed, and he slammed his dinner plate.

"Enough, don't waste precious time on crying!"

The two women finally stopped and took out tissues to wipe their red and swollen eyes.

Speaking of this, Qi Zhiyong suddenly interrupted.

But Wu Xian asked curiously: "What kind of grudge do they have?"

"They only took over the Ping'an Hostel two years ago; before that, it was operated by a couple surnamed An."

But the experience gained during the discussion made him understand what this old man wanted to do.

A woman named Zhao Juan became mentally unstable due to her husband's death and committed suicide in the Ping'an Hostel out of excessive grief; the room she committed suicide in was 406.

This news is like a puzzle piece, connecting the previously obtained clues together; the story that happened here is gradually becoming clear.

Ten years ago, they committed many major cases nearby, and the victims included the original hostel owner's family, the community canteen owner, and the hanged malevolent entity Zhao Juan.

"The canteen owner's son went missing early on. When he was found, he had already become a mummified corpse. The police speculated that he was starved to death. This matter is related to Chen Yan."

His instinct told him that figuring out what happened here might be more helpful for survival than blindly improving his strength.

"So that's how it is..."

Wen Chao is like a different person compared to yesterday; he seems to have aged ten years overnight. At this moment, he doesn't look like a university professor at all, but more like a dejected, wandering old man.

This evening gathering ended hastily just like that.

For the sake of ideals and research, he hasn't drunk alcohol for thirty or forty years.

His final conclusion is that robbing black-hearted forces is the most convenient way.

Wu Xian returned to his room, washed up, lay on the bed, stared at the ceiling, and organized all the information he had obtained from the beginning to the present.

But this sounds like just an ordinary case.

Thump, thump-thump!

As a detective, Wu Xian had once studied what to do if one could not obtain weapons through regular channels.

"No one... lied to me!"

Shi Ji described his encounter in the canteen, but erased the matter about the divine statue; he also added some other information.

Su Huilan and her sister here have been sobbing, unable to provide any valuable intelligence. Their mouths are intermittently saying things like they harmed He Qiong and don't want to live anymore, which is completely meaningless.

But today, there is no need to care about those things.

The hostel owner couple Wang Zhiwu and Yu Yinghua, Mr. Wang from Fuxin Huayuan, and the starving ghost from the community canteen, the four of them belong to the same criminal gang.

This is also the reason why Wu Xian encountered a malevolent entity attack at the beginning.

Room 406.

This clue ends here.

He already knew in his heart what would happen. Even if he were awake, he couldn't do anything. In case of any emergency, he had already prepared an emergency plan.

Wu Xian's eyes lit up: "How did you reply?"

"Didn't reply, I slaughtered him."

"How about you?"

Wu Xian slept soundly with his legs wrapped around the quilt.

The Gate-Breaking Malevolent Entity let out a roar.

In the empty corridor, heavy footsteps sounded, and the Gate-Breaking Great Malevolent Entity appeared on time.

"Satisfying!"

The canteen owner also wanted to kidnap Yu Yinghua, but by then Yu Yinghua had already gone missing, so the next kidnapping plan had to be forced to terminate.

"Hee hee, let's play, let's play."

Wu Xian stared at Wen Chao's bag thoughtfully. In the bag were tape, wooden boards, firecrackers, steel pipes, and some bottles, jars, and other sundries like electronic components.

"This old man didn't gain anything, just went to pick up a pile of junk."

Whether it was Yu Yinghua's knocking or the Great Malevolent Entity's gate-breaking, it only made him open his eyes in a daze for a while.

Qi Zhiyong frowned and looked at Shi Ji again.

The footsteps stopped, and the huge figure appeared abruptly at the door of Room 408.

"This old gentleman is not simple!"

The Gate-Breaking Malevolent Entity raised its big foot and kicked the door. The sturdy wooden door was torn open like waste paper, and its huge, ugly head poked into the room, but it saw nothing.

These footprints sneaked into the room of Wu Xian and the others.

He found a diary in the canteen counter, which recorded the whole story.

A piece of news was recorded in the newspaper.

After speaking, he opened the small wine bottle, took a fierce gulp of Erguotou, and then coughed continuously from the strong liquor, his old face turning red instantly.

That starving ghost was named Chen Yan, who came to Laifuyuan City to seek refuge with his relative Yu Yinghua.

"Let's all talk about today's findings. Those who are dead are already dead, we still have to find a way to survive."

"I went to the hostel's secret room today and found some information. The owner of Ping'an Hostel is named Wang Zhiwu, and the landlady is named Yu Yinghua. I think everyone has a deep impression of this name."

Wu Xian nodded, took over the conversation, and talked about his findings.

The hostel's secret room was the last place Wu Xian went today.

One day, two days, three days...

"Roar!"

The next second, the lights in the corridor went out. When the lights came on again, the Gate-Breaking Great Malevolent Entity had disappeared, leaving rows of tiny footprints on the lime marks on the ground.

Two years ago, this criminal gang washed their hands of the business. The bandit leaders, the Wang-Yu couple, bought the Ping'an Hostel. Mr. Wang got entangled with Zhao Juan, the starving ghost was kidnapped, and they gradually could not hide...

What he found from the secret room also included a newspaper.

How could it become the starting point of the malevolent entity disaster in this world?

Wu Xian was speechless.

Qi Zhiyong only cared about information that could help him survive the night, Wen Chao was a bit tipsy from drinking, the Su sisters were still crying, and no one cared about this story.

Three o'clock in the morning.

Chen Yan was finally starved to death in the canteen which had countless amounts of food!

"Another point is very interesting. The couple surnamed An deliberately kept the check-in records for a period of time ten years ago, and the two names Wang Zhiwu and Yu Yinghua also appeared on this check-in record."

This is not a lack of vigilance, but unnecessary.

When Chen Yan came to eat, he was recognized by the enemy who ran the canteen. The canteen owner kidnapped him, locked him in the basement during the day, and provided no food except for basic drinking water. At night, he filled the canteen with food, gagged him, and tied him to the pillar in the middle of the canteen.

"Speaking of which, I met a wandering malevolent entity today who claimed to be An Xin. He told me that his daughter went missing ten years ago, and his wife became crazy because of it. He was worried that no one would take care of his wife after he died, and hoped I could help."

"Mark... there are... living people here."

"Hee."

Wu Xian in his sleep suddenly heard a childish call.

(End of chapter)