Whether in the desolate area or in F0631 City, one could use a cleansing spray for personal hygiene. However, since he had already moved into the apartment and had no urgent matters at hand, Cheng Tingyu decided to take a shower to refresh himself.
In the washroom.
The steam billowed, swirling like clouds and mist. However, perhaps because Cheng Tingyu lived on the sixth floor, the water pressure wasn't very strong.
Cheng Tingyu squeezed a bit of the orange-scented shower gel provided for free by Apartment No. 6 onto his hand and lathered it into foam.
She hadn't been in this new world for long, but she had already experienced quite a few events. The days before her journey, when she was busy looking for a job, seemed to be a distant memory.
Cheng Tingyu was making foam while reminiscing about the past. He felt that he should pull out the knowledge in his mind and review it, lest one day he suddenly triggers the reverse time-travel package and fails the interview after returning..
"..."
Cheng Tingyu, who was taking a shower, suddenly paused.
Her fingers touched her own back.
Cheng Tingyu turned off the shower and glanced at his back in the mirror.
Just now, the place her fingers touched was her scapula, where there was an old scar.
A slight hint of surprise flashed and vanished in an instant. A contemplative look appeared in Cheng Tingyu's eyes as he raised his head to look at himself in the mirror. The gaze of the person in the mirror met his directly.
She had phoenix eyes and thin lips, giving her a sharp, blade-like appearance. However, most of the time, Cheng Tingyu wore a smile, softening the naturally intimidating aura of her features.
After a while, Cheng Tingyu lowered his hand and smiled at himself in the mirror, saying, "I can't believe you fooled me for so long."
Her smile was as bright as ever, but her gaze was as deep and dark as the night.
Cheng Tingyu thought absentmindedly, if having the same name and similar appearance could be considered some kind of law of crossing over, then why did this body have exactly the same scars as his own?
——Unless it was her all along.
Cheng Tingyu stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "Twenty-five years old... So I've actually been here for three years, haven't I?"
She leisurely changed into clean clothes and dried her hair with a towel.
Cheng Tingyu mused, "I see, so that's why there were no writings left in that book."
When Cheng Tingyu first crossed over, he had a book called "Modern Historical Development" by his side. On the slip of paper serving as a bookmark in that book, there were three lines of hints.
And those three lines of text were all in print.
Cheng Tingyu thought that her handwriting would obviously not change much because of the time travel. If those hints were handwritten, she would surely realize that she hadn't just traveled through time, but had been here for a long time, only losing three years of memory.
Then there was the ticket to the city F0631.
Cheng Tingyu was very unfamiliar with her surroundings, and the existence of the train ticket drove her to follow the original owner's plan and live in a relatively stable area.
As someone who knows herself very well, Cheng Tingyu was clear that if she had realized at the time that she had lost a segment of her memory, she would most likely have chosen to stay in the desolate area to search for clues about her past.
That's why she couldn't leave any marks in the books; she had to delay the moment of discovering her amnesia until after she entered the city.
Moreover, before her time travel, Cheng Tingyu had indeed read some time-travel novels to pass the time, which allowed her to quickly immerse herself in her role.
Everything was arranged so perfectly, even the snippets of memory were so fitting, and it all completely aligned with my own character..
Cheng Tingyu curved his lips, looking at the person in the mirror: "It was you, wasn't it?"
She then sighed again, "Why didn't they leave me a bit more money back then?"
Is it really something I could do to myself, leaving only a tiny bit of initial funds that can't even afford a stay at an inn?
Cheng Tingyu pondered for a moment, then had to admit—yes, this was exactly the kind of thing she could do to herself.
However..
Cheng Tingyu lowered her eyelashes.
The lack of funds is actually a clue as well.
Her departure from the desolate area to City F0631 must have had some purpose. In retrospect, it was either to avoid something or to search for something.
If the purpose was to hide, then before losing my memory, I should have arranged my subsequent life.
So the likelihood of the second scenario is even greater.
Because she had so little savings on hand, she took the initiative to venture out, extensively mapping the outer districts and continuously entering various dungeons.
Cheng Tingyu showed a hint of helplessness, tapped the mirror with his knuckles, and said with a smile, "You really have confidence in me."
Breakfast at the apartment was served until nine-thirty, which was quite accommodating for guests who were accustomed to sleeping in.
Cheng Tingyu went to the second floor to have breakfast, then habitually carried a large bag of bread and water back to the sixth floor.
Her room was 606. As she passed 605, Cheng Tingyu's steps came to a halt.
To facilitate cleaning, the apartment hallway was tiled, which usually didn't show any obvious stains. However, just as many flesh-and-blood players were highly resilient, Mitong always easily spotted clues that most people overlooked.
In front of Room 605, there were faint shoe prints. Judging by the size, they likely belonged to an adult man.
The air was filled with a faint scent of blood.
Cheng Tingyu passed Room 605, walked to Room 606, unlocked it with a key, and then slowly and gently pushed the door open.
A strand of hair fell from the crack in the door—it was something she had casually tucked in before leaving.
Putting down the food in his hand, Cheng Tingyu returned to the first floor once again and greeted the person inside through the glass of the duty room.
Yu Zhishou, wearing his work badge, looked the visitor up and down: "What do you need?"
Cheng Tingyu briefly said, "There might be some problems over at 605."
By the time Cheng Tingyu brought the staff to the sixth floor, the smell of blood in the air was already quite strong.
Before Yuzhi Shou used the apartment key to open the door, he specifically turned on the flashlight.
The flashlight's beam shone directly into Room 605, illuminating the already stiff corpse inside.
The deceased was Zhang Zhuowei, and on either side of the body lay a food bag nearly half the height of a person.
Yu Zhishou glanced at Cheng Tingyu beside him.
She was the stationed employee sent by the inspection team to Apartment No. 6, and had already learned about Cheng Tingyu's identity through internal channels.
Colleagues describe Cheng Tingyu as having a flexible mind and being good at making judgments.
Yu Zhishou was actually somewhat doubtful, not of Cheng Tingyu's strength, but of the type of her abilities.
Many players with secretive eyes also create a similar persona for themselves. The purpose is to conceal their special ability to directly see the truth of events. It's not difficult to distinguish them, as their conclusions often lack intermediate processes and they tend to explain their statements as intuition.
She planned to take advantage of the opportunity before her to probe the true situation of this visitor from the desolate region.
Yu Zhishou deliberately asked, "What do you think happened here?"
Cheng Tingyu squatted down, carefully observing Zhang Zhuowei's corpse.
Her ability had indeed been activated, and she could clearly see Zhang Zhuowei's detailed data
[Name: Zhang Zhuowei]
[Ability: None]
[Life Points (Death): 0/80]
Cheng Tingyu pondered, "This person..."
Yu Zhishou nodded, encouraging her to continue.
Cheng Tingyu continued earnestly, "Already dead."
——As an honest Mitong, she had already candidly informed the inspector team members in front of her of the key parts of the information she had identified.
Yu Zhishou waited for a while, then had to ask again, "And then?"
——She now felt that this girl might really not be Mitong, otherwise she should have seen some clues.
Cheng Tingyu: "The key in his pants pocket is for 601. Can it be used to open the door to 605?"
Yu Zhi Shou confirmed and shook his head.
Cheng Tingyu: "Then I suggest you talk to the resident of 604 to understand the situation." He continued, "605 is between 606 and 604. If Zhang Zhuowei entered a room that wasn't his own with the intention of visiting someone, the most likely targets would be 604 or 606."
She turned around and looked at Yu Zhishou: "I know I haven't been in contact with Zhang Zhuowei today, but you can also confirm the situation with me."
Yu Zhishou: "Then why do you think he wants to visit the guest in 604?"
Cheng Tingyu said, "Maybe he thought his own room wasn't good, so he went to check out the empty one?"
Yu Zhishou stared at her for a moment, slightly realizing: "Ordinary citizens who assist the inspection team in completing their work can receive a reward."
She didn't mention the amount of the reward, mainly because it depended on the extent of the contributions made by ordinary citizens.
Cheng Tingyu smiled, "You are responsible for managing the apartment, so you should have some understanding of the frequency with which the residents of each room go out."
Yu Zhishou: "Zhang Zhuowei basically goes out once a day to get food." As she spoke, she suddenly became aware of something.
Cheng Tingyu: "In that case, his behavior of specifically bringing two large bags of food upstairs becomes somewhat strange."
As a non-ability user, Zhang Zhuowei's daily consumption of food and water was within the normal range.
Cheng Tingyu: "So he must be bringing food for someone else."
Yu Zhishou immediately understood what Cheng Tingyu meant.
This morning, the resident of room 606, Cheng Tingyu, went to the cafeteria for a meal, while the resident of room 604 has not left their room. Among the two homeowners, only he has the need to ask someone to bring food.
Cheng Tingyu: "But the resident of 604 didn't come to the apartment alone; they could completely call the two companions for help..."
As she spoke, she kept her eyes fixed on Yu Zhishou's reaction.
Yu Zhishou replied, "Sometimes there are issues with the phone signal inside the apartment."
Cheng Tingyu smiled faintly and said no more.
Both of them understood that not asking their younger siblings for help to buy food because of the lack of phone signal was one possibility, and not wanting to violate the apartment rules regarding mutual visits was another possibility.
Ji Shilu was still unsure of the consequences that might arise from proactively visiting the rooms of other homeowners, so he did not make any requests to Ji Shiqi and Ji Shijiu. Instead, he chose to ask Zhang Zhuowei to help him fetch a day's worth of food from the cafeteria.
Cheng Tingyu was still deep in thought.
Ji Shilu's reluctance to go to the cafeteria meant that he considered going out to be a dangerous affair.
This situation almost immediately reminded Cheng Tingyu of the noise that came from the hallway after waking up from the dream that day.
——Eight or nine times out of ten, Ji Shilu heard the same sound last night.
Yu Zhishou quickly recorded the situation of Room 605, nodded slightly towards Cheng Tingyu, and said, "Thank you for your help. When I submit the report later, I will include your contribution."
She had already relaxed—"Mithra" was accustomed to skipping the process and going straight to the conclusion, but the occupant of room 606 in front of her clearly had a thought process. As expected, he was just an ordinary flesh-and-blood player.
Yu Zhishou thought that the conclusions of his colleagues in the inspection team were still reliable, and he had been a bit too suspicious.