Chapter 10: Old John Is the Kindest and Most Honest Person I Have Ever Seen

Many people, more or less, can bring a sense of security.

Bi Wan-hui tried her best to recount what had happened to her in a calm tone.

Tang Luo said nothing, looking toward Zhou Zhen-guo.

Zhou Zhen-guo said: "I planned to keep watching this guy, so I didn't go out with them."

The guy he was talking about looked utterly hopeless.

"As for little Bi screaming, I didn't hear that either—I saw her being dragged in, everyone was in chaos, and only then did I realize something was wrong."

Before Tang Luo and Xiao Chu came back.

Zhou Zhen-guo helped Bi Wan-hui recall what had happened at the time multiple times.

All kinds of details were thoroughly covered.

"Where is the body?"

Tang Luo asked.

"The body disappeared."

Zhou Zhen-guo furrowed his brows into a '川' shape.

He came over from next door without paying much attention to the end of the hallway.

The inn had electric lights, but they were still far dimmer than modern bright lights.

Each one could only emit a dim, yellowish glow.

In the middle of the night, the inn couldn't possibly turn on all the lights in the hallway.

Looking from outside the room toward the toilet at the end of the hallway, a quick glance showed nothing but pitch-black darkness.

When Zhou Zhen-guo went to check.

Not to mention the body—there wasn't even a trace of blood to be seen.

Speaking of which, this was exactly the same as when he discovered Li Liang's murder and called people to come look afterward.

The only difference was that Li Liang had been sleeping inside the toilet.

As for Cheng Cheng, whether it was the crime scene in front of the toilet door or inside the toilet itself, she could not be found anywhere.

It was as if she had vanished into thin air.

Under such circumstances, it was impossible to make the suicidal decision to split up and search.

Now the situation is that Cheng Cheng is missing, her life or death unknown; before she disappeared, Bi Wan-hui saw her corpse.

Just as Zhou Zhen-guo saw Li Liang's corpse.

"Disemboweled?"

Xiao Chu asked.

"I don't know—I didn't see clearly." Bi Wan-hui said, "I only know she was lying face down, and there was a lot of blood—so much that I got blood all over myself too."

"Did you see it?" Xiao Chu turned to look at the high school student Xiao Zhou.

Xiao Zhou scratched his head: "It was too dark—I don't even know if I saw wrong, but it seemed like there were bloodstains."

Bi Wan-hui fainted, and the eviscerated Li Liang finally came over to help.

Together with Xiao Zhou, they laid her on the bed.

During this process, they did not see—or rather, did not notice—any bloodstains on her body.

One could also say that at this point, Bi Wan-hui no longer had any bloodstains on her body.

Otherwise, there would at least be some impression.

"I didn't lie!"

Bi Wan-hui shouted in a low voice, suddenly understanding Zhou Zhen-guo's feelings at that time.

"Amitabha. Female donor, don't get angry—we believe you."

As a master, Tang Luo naturally had to step forward at such a critical moment to calm emotions.

But that gentleman's overcoat outfit made him look even less like a monk than his initial sportswear.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Everyone remained silent, not speaking.

"Let me share our findings."

After a while, Xiao Chu was still the one who broke the silence.

Compared to the bad news inside the inn, what Tang Luo and I discovered could well be considered good news.

"So, the conversation you initially heard, Bi-jie—the cleaner—might also be a member of the Ripper organization! He might be the killer!"

After recounting his night's experience and his speculation, Xiao Chu spoke with firm conviction.

"How did the body and bloodstains disappear?" Zhou Zhen-guo said.

"This is the worst-case scenario I've deduced."

Xiao Chu pushed up his glasses, gave a bitter laugh, and said: "Jack the Ripper isn't just a single person in an organization—there's more than one, actually, I should say, there are definitely multiple individuals with special abilities."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go—this place isn't a den of thieves, is it!"

The eviscerated Li Liang finally got excited.

Too bad it's just to run away.

According to Xiao Chu's speculation, that cleaner is a member of Jack the Ripper's organization and likely also has special abilities.

We, who are participating in a mission for the first time and actually have no combat power at all as divine demon wanderers—wouldn't walking into a thieves' den be walking straight into a trap?

This is a black shop!

"With the master here, it shouldn't be a problem."

Xiao Chu said, gesturing for Li Liang to calm down.

He had witnessed Master Xuanzang's formidable combat prowess, turning a living person into a headless corpse in the blink of an eye.

Even more ferocious than Captain America in the movies.

On top of that, he had also awakened an ability (or so he believed).

He lacked neither courage nor confidence.

"If this place truly is a den of thieves, and danger arises, this poor monk can cover your retreat." Tang Luo pressed one hand against his chest and gave a slight nod.

"Master, you wearing those clothes and making that gesture feels really weird."

Xiao Chu smiled and said.

"Heh." Tang Luo neither confirmed nor denied it.

Clearly, he had made up his mind to maintain his eminent monk persona to the very end within the God-Demon Game.

After all, he was originally a man who had been conferred Buddhahood.

As for the reason.

Naturally, it was to more easily gain others' trust, help people, punish evil and promote good, and acquire more merit power to heal his injuries.

Don't look at how nowadays, at the mention of monks, a bunch of people are dismissive, even contemptuous.

It's actually the same as some people cursing up a storm at the mention of police or soldiers.

Their mouths shout fiercely, but their hearts are honest—

If they truly encountered danger, everyone would still trust soldiers and police.

With them around, there's a much greater sense of security.

Monks have a bit of that effect too.

Of course, a fat-headed, big-eared, greasy-faced middle-aged monk definitely wouldn't work.

But a kind-faced, benevolent old monk, or someone like Tang Luo, who could change clothes and tidy up a bit to play the part of Wuhua—

Would undoubtedly gain favor, trust, and a sense of security more easily than ordinary people.

In short, it's still about looks. Mhm, about looks.

"Let's wait for dawn."

Zhou ZhenGuo said, "We'll search again at daybreak, whether it's for Cheng Cheng or that janitor."

"Right, does anyone know what that janitor looks like?"

Xiao Chu suddenly asked.

Come to think of it, everyone had only stayed at the inn for one day plus tonight.

Where would they know what the janitor looks like?

"Let's ask the boss tomorrow during the day." Zhou ZhenGuo said, "Even at night, they'd only dare act sneakily; with more people in the daytime, there shouldn't be danger."

If there is danger.

He, Zhou ZhenGuo, isn't a vegetarian either.

Don't treat a player with only two skills as a God-Demon Walker!

A night passed without incident; everyone rested in their rooms fully clothed.

Early the next morning.

Except for Tang Luo, everyone's complexion didn't look too good; exhaustion practically overflowed from them.

The two nights since entering the God-Demon Game had been anything but peaceful.

The newcomers could be considered to have truly entered the rhythm now.

Rather than that initial sense of unreality and illusion, of being detached bystanders.

And each person's reaction differed.

Li Liang was despairing and giving up, only seeking safety to scrape by.

Bi WanHui was also panic-stricken and uneasy, hoping the next victim wouldn't be herself, with zero thought of completing the task.

Xiao Chu, on the other hand, was very proactive.

High schooler Xiao Zhou wavered constantly; one moment feeling he should strive to complete the task and reach the pinnacle of life.

The next feeling danger on all sides, wishing he could return to normal life the very next second.

Torn up enough to make his own balls ache.

The group washed up and left their rooms.

They went down the stairs to the inn's first-floor lobby, front desk doubling as part of the dining hall.

The boss behind the counter immediately came up, smiling as he asked, "Gentlemen, would you like breakfast?"

Due to the Ripper's influence, travelers in the small city had greatly decreased.

The inn had practically no business at all.

Tang Luo, this out-of-town detective, had directly booked rooms for a week; at this special juncture, he already counted as a major patron.

"Good."

Tang Luo nodded and walked toward the dining area.

The boss hurried off to the back kitchen to instruct the chef, not noticing at all that a guest was missing.

Small square tables.

Xiao Zhou, Li Liang, and Bi WanHui sat at one table, looking at the breakfast with zero appetite to speak of.

At the adjacent table.

Tang Luo ate without a care, while Zhou ZhenGuo and Xiao Chu were quite hesitant.

They were hungry, but afraid the black inn might pull something, not daring to eat.

Actually, rationally speaking, the dinner delivered to the rooms hadn't been tampered with either.

It was even more impossible to tamper with the breakfast service, which was open to the outside and also allowed non-guests to dine in.

They could say they were being cautious to sail for ten thousand years, or they could say they couldn't get past this hurdle in their hearts.

As for Tang Luo, well, he could drink DDT like water.

Not learning from him is the correct approach.

"Didn't see that cleaner? Why don't we just go look for him?" The hungry Xiao Chu planned to shift attention with a topic.

"Ask the boss, boss, where is your hotel's cleaner?"

Tang Luo shouted while picking up the bell on the table and shaking it, and the other two didn't have time to stop him.

Even if Zhou Zhen Guo suggested asking the boss, he hadn't planned to be so direct.

It was that kind of indirect probing in casual conversation.

The boss soon appeared: "Sir, do you have any instructions?"

"Where is your hotel's cleaner? I need to find him about something." Tang Luo was more direct and more reckless than everyone imagined.

"Old John?"

The boss froze for a moment, "He hasn't come today; he should be at home."

"Sir, what business do you have with him?"

I don't understand why these outsiders suddenly asked about Old John.

"I'm a detective." Tang Luo bluntly produced the authorization documents from Gran Chang, "Invited by Gran Chang, I'm investigating the Jack the Ripper case."

"What could Old John possibly have to do with Jack the Ripper?"

The boss lowered his voice anxiously.

Once linked to Jack the Ripper, if it got out.

His hotel, which was already doing poorly, now relying on food sales to survive, would truly have to close its doors for good.

"It's nothing, just possibly needing Old John to provide a clue, not a big deal."

Tang Luo's calm tone.

Made Zhou Zhen Guo and Xiao Chu secretly give a thumbs up.

"Old John has worked for me for ten years; he's the kindest and most honest person I've ever met, absolutely no connection to Jack the Ripper." The boss declared firmly, explaining Old John's situation.

Old John.

In his early sixties, alone, no children.

Lame in one leg, inconvenient movement, a quiet, diligent, honest worker.

Hmm—his wages were also relatively low.

So he was deeply favored by the hotel boss, often praised verbally, used for promotion, urging everyone to learn from him.

As for raising wages, it was impossible to raise wages.

An old bachelor, what would he do with so much money?