Translator: Cinder Translations
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Upon hearing this, Ben Fu could no longer hold back his nosebleed. He instinctively tried to stop it with one hand, resulting in blood splattering all over his hand. He was in a frantic, messy state.
After a moment, everyone turned their gaze to Chen Xiaomeng with a mix of astonishment.
When Chen Xiaomeng finally reacted, enraged and humiliated, she took out the rope, ready to deal with the bastard in front of her. At that moment, a sudden burst of exclamations erupted from the crowd.
Everyone's gaze was fixed on the rope in her hand, as though some strange idea had been confirmed.
Before the village chief arrived, Chen Xiaomeng, after drinking only a few sips of porridge, was so angry that she could no longer continue. Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng had finished three bowls of porridge and even ate the side dish of pickled cucumbers clean. He then cautiously asked if Chen Xiaomeng wanted more. When he saw her grim expression, he wisely stopped.
It seemed that due to the unpleasantness between them and the shop owner yesterday, the village chief and his group only stood in front of the shop without entering, occasionally peering inside.
Upon seeing the village chief, Zhou Rong stood up from the table and approached him first.
"Please wait a moment," Zhou Rong said. "I'll go get the keys from the owner, then we can leave together."
The elderly village chief, whose forehead was creased with wrinkles, rubbed his hands in excitement and said with a forced smile, "No need to rush. You coming here is already a blessing from our ancestors."
Hearing this, Yu Man, who was lounging on a wooden chair with her legs crossed in a very provocative manner, sneered, "If your ancestors had accumulated any virtue, you wouldn't have ended up in such a state."
Of course, her voice wasn't loud, and only a few people nearby could hear it.
Li Lu furrowed his brows but didn't say anything.
After waiting a little longer, the shop owner still hadn't appeared. From morning until now, neither the shop owner nor his wife had shown up.
Zhou Rong had woken up the earliest, but he simply opened the door and stood in front of it. It wasn't until the neighboring door opened that he went downstairs with everyone.
The porridge had already been placed downstairs, and next to the pot were eight sets of bowls and chopsticks, clearly left for them to have breakfast.
Jiang Cheng slowly finished his last spoonful of porridge, but his gaze was fixed on the position of the stairs.
Chen Xiaomeng's gaze was also there.
She was waiting, as the shop owner, who had originally said he would wake up early to send them off, had not shown up.
On the other hand, the village chief's group had found their way inside.
The sky had brightened, and Zhou Rong, holding several keys in his hand, seemed eager. He stood up and turned toward the stairs.
Before he could reach the stairs, a figure caught up to him. "Mr. Zhou," Jiang Cheng said warmly as he walked beside him. "Let me go with you."
"Alright."
Given that Jiang Cheng had supported him the previous day, Zhou Rong had a favorable impression of him, even though he knew Jiang Cheng wasn't as simple as he appeared.
They searched through the second floor but didn't find the shop owner and his wife.
The third floor was the same.
They hadn't expected that this not-so-small inn only housed eight guests.
"Could they have gone out?" Jiang Cheng looked around and asked. "I overheard a Fatty say that the morning market has cheap and fresh vegetables. Many restaurant owners like to go there early to stock up."
"Perhaps," Zhou Rong answered. He turned and said, "It looks like we'll have to leave the keys at the counter. This way, they'll see them when they return."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Cheng clapped his hands and praised, "Mr. Zhou, you really think of everything!"
Zhou Rong, who had just turned around, paused in surprise and turned his head with confusion.
Jiang Cheng continued, "Compared to you, I am like the sun compared to this candlelight. As the saying goes, after three days of separation, one must look at a person with new eyes!" He pointed at a candle holder at the end of the corridor and casually made the comparison.
Zhou Rong: "???"
What kind of nonsense is this?
Although he thought this in his heart, he subconsciously followed Jiang Cheng's finger and looked. The third floor was much smaller than the second floor, with only ten rooms.
There was a corridor dividing it, five rooms on each side, facing each other in pairs.
Only one side had stairs, while the other was blocked by a wall.
Due to the lack of lighting, a candle holder was hanging on the wall.
A pale white candle flickered dimly, creating an inexplicably oppressive atmosphere.
It felt like... entering a funeral hall.
Only now did Zhou Rong notice the candle and its unusual placement on the wall. The candle was positioned in the middle of the wall, neither too high nor too low, which resulted in very limited illumination. It made the place feel even darker, and as if he had discovered something, Zhou Rong's gaze suddenly turned strange.
The wall on the opposite side also seemed off, painted in an unusual black color.
This made the already poor lighting of the third floor even darker. Looking down the stairs into the room, it didn't look like a wall, but more like the entrance to hell.
People living in this era weren't stupid; how could they design such a layout?
The next second, Zhou Rong's pupils suddenly contracted.
His eyesight was excellent, and he had just seen the flame on the candle flicker violently.
Then, he felt a light breeze brush across his face. It was subtle, but he looked around, and all the doors along the corridor were closed. Where did the wind come from?
It turned out that discovering the problem wasn't his strong suit—analyzing and solving problems was. He quickly recalled the information he knew about the inn.
There were three floors. From the outside, the first and second floors were of equal length, but the third floor was noticeably shorter.
This explained why the second floor had fourteen rooms, but the third floor only had ten.
That meant the third floor should have been about two rooms shorter in width than the second floor.
But Zhou Rong recalled that, in reality, this wasn't the case.
So, there was likely more space behind that wall.
And the shop owner and his wife were probably hiding there.
Without time to explain to Jiang Cheng, he quietly stepped forward and approached the wall. He carefully stood still and moistened his finger with his tongue, then slowly began feeling around the edges of the wall.
Soon, he felt a slight coldness against his fingers.
At a tight spot along the wall, he found a crack.
The crack was relatively rough, but because the wall was completely black, and due to the poor lighting, even someone standing right in front of it might not notice it.
No one would think there was a secret room hidden behind it.
The gap was large, and Zhou Rong swallowed before he hesitated no more and pressed his head against it.
There was indeed a hidden space behind it. A white candle, nearly identical to the one outside, was standing in a corner of the secret room, dimly burning.
In the faint light, Zhou Rong saw a familiar figure: the shop owner, wearing a dirty apron.
He trembled, as though he was excitedly explaining something, but due to the angle, Zhou Rong couldn't see the person standing in front of him. He could only see a pair of small feet.
Those feet were much smaller than the shop owner's wife's.
(End of the Chapter)
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