Chapter 121: The Story Before 12:00

"..."

The room fell quiet again, but Ding Mo's heart was not at peace.

He stood up once more, paced around, and began to re-examine the bedroom.

At the very least, he would likely be unable to leave this place tonight; naturally, he had to carefully inspect the place where he was "staying" to avoid any hidden dangers he hadn't yet noticed.

If he could safely make it through tonight, he hoped that by tomorrow, everything would return to "normal," just as it had been during the day.

Otherwise, he would have no choice but to use his final resort—"suicide" with the dagger he carried!

The space here was isolated from the outside world; if he were to commit suicide and could not rely on his own terrifying rule to transfer to the outside, it might lead to even worse consequences...

As he thought this, he passed the dim desk lamp, its light reflecting a clean sheen off the wood flooring, which looked as if it had been waxed.

Inside the room were a sandalwood wardrobe, chests, and a small side table, cozy yet luxurious. It exuded the air of a grand mansion and a wealthy household.

A moment later, Ding Mo closed the wardrobe and turned back to look at everything.

There was nothing unusual, as if this were truly just an ordinary room.

"How can that be?" Ding Mo muttered to himself, then, after a moment of thought, he walked to the bedroom door.

He did not open the door, but instead lifted the rug in front of it.

"Huh?"

He had only been acting on a whim, never expecting to actually find something!

Grasping a slip of paper in his hand, Ding Mo stood up and returned to the bed.

Opening the yellowed slip of paper, which seemed to be quite old, he began to read it carefully.

On it, a single sentence was written in a crooked hand:

"After 12:00 AM, do not stay in the bedroom."

Do not... stay in the bedroom?

!!

Ding Mo was startled.

What did this mean?

The information revealed on this slip of paper completely conflicted with what Xiao Junfeng had said!

By the slightly dim bedside, he stared at the slip of paper, frowning.

The rest of the room had no lights on, and the darkness swallowed every corner, seemingly compressing Ding Mo's range of movement to the area around the bed.

Was there danger in the room, too? Could he not stay?

But that ill-tempered "brother" of Xiao Junfeng...

Who, in the end, should he believe?

Ding Mo pondered for a while, then tucked the slip of paper away.

The problem now was simply whether to stay or to go out. Up to this point, other than that meal and his attempt to escape, Xiao Junfeng had shown him no malice.

But this slip of paper could have been left by the previous guest who stayed in this villa, a warning to those who followed.

To be honest, it was a difficult choice to make.

Besides, if he went out now, wouldn't he be detected by some weirdness like "Xiao Junfeng"?

After a moment of silent deliberation, Ding Mo glanced at the clock by the bed—it showed 22:04.

It was only just past 10 o'clock; according to Xiao Junfeng, he should still have nearly 2 hours of free time.

Thinking of this, Ding Mo no longer hesitated; he stood up and walked outside.

Rather than passively encountering an attack, it was better to use the time that was still relatively safe to take the initiative and search for clues.

Closing the bedroom door, Ding Mo arrived in the hallway.

Looking around, the elegantly decorated walls were occasionally adorned with landscape paintings, which gave the otherwise somewhat dull and enclosed hallway a bit more vitality and color.

Touching the slip of paper in his pocket, Ding Mo walked in one direction.

His goal now was to figure out the truth of the content on this slip of paper.

If the slip of paper really was left by the previous guest, Ding Mo would truly have to seriously consider the possibility that Xiao Junfeng was deceiving him.

Conversely, he would have to speculate on the intentions of the person who left this note...

In the lonely hallway, Ding Mo walked with light steps, wandering back and forth.

His current line of thought was:

Since he could find one slip of paper—if this thing really was left by the previous guest, then perhaps he had left other "traces." Finding these traces might confirm his Identity.

And the place where a guest would leave the most traces, other than the bedroom, was likely the living room!

Before long, Ding Mo followed the path he had taken during dinner and arrived at the dining living room.

The Chang Zhuo, which had been covered in various foods just a moment ago, had now been cleaned up completely, leaving not a single trace behind.

Seeing this, Ding Mo's expression sank slightly.

If the "master" here cleaned up this place often, then those traces might...

Without further ado, Ding Mo immediately searched carefully for a while; he searched every corner, not just of the living room, but also the surrounding restrooms, bathrooms, and the parlor.

He was so thorough he almost tore up the floorboards, yet he still found no traces.

"This cleaning is just too thorough!" Ding Mo frowned, placing the flower, its roots still attached to the soil, back into its pot.

Alright, now the trail was cold; what should he do?

"..." Thinking, Ding Mo returned to the living room and glanced at the clock on the wall.

After the series of searches just now, the time had already reached—23:48!

There wasn't much time left until 12:00 AM!

"Since that's the case, there's nothing else to be done." He sighed and walked straight toward the stairs.

There were no further clues; it was possible they had been erased, or perhaps this note itself was problematic!

Therefore, to be safe, Ding Mo decided to stick with Xiao Junfeng's words; it was more secure to return to his room and stay there.

He went upstairs and returned to the familiar corridor, where all the rooms, whether occupied or not, were unusually tightly shut.

Ding Mo was just about to return to his room.

But suddenly, on the path he had to take to reach his room, a door opened.

Creak~

The inside of the room was pitch black, and from within, a voice came:

"Ding Mo, why did you come out of your room? Is something the matter?"

It was Xiao Junfeng... Ding Mo stopped in his tracks, his brows knitting together as he struggled to identify the owner of this voice.

This was not his fault, simply because the Xiao Junfeng speaking at this moment was completely different from the silly, energetic version from the daytime.

His voice now was muddled, as if he had just woken up, or one could even say he was talking in his sleep!

Taking a few seconds to process these blurred words and their meaning, Ding Mo stared at him and spoke slowly:

"Oh, nothing much, I just left something in the living room and went to get it, that's all. I'm just heading back to my room now."

Inside the open door, a dark shadow swayed slightly, and after a long while, it slowly mumbled:

"Is that so... right... my... brother, is about to... wake up, you... be careful... don't... come out again..."

"Alright, by the way, I also found a note..."

Slam!

But before he could finish his sentence, the door slammed shut, cutting him off.

What was going on?

Seeing this, Ding Mo gave up on asking, staring at it while moving slowly past the door in a posture ready to turn and flee at any moment.

Until he returned to his own room, he kept looking back every few steps, constantly watching for any movement from that door.

However, the door never opened again after it had shut.

Slipping into his room, Ding Mo closed the door and finally let out a sigh of relief.

This Xiao Junfeng undoubtedly had a major problem!

He hadn't stepped out from the darkness just now, but how keen was Ding Mo's hearing?

He heard the sound of flesh tearing repeatedly coming from that guy's body! It was as if some "thing" was breaking out from within him!

"..."

Locking the door, Ding Mo even pushed a cabinet over to brace it.