After examining the corpse, the three individuals retreated from the restroom, their hearts heavy with unease at the sight of such a bizarre and unnatural death.
"Time of death is likely within the last three hours," the burly man declared, his eyes fixed on the pocket watch in his hand. "That puts it roughly between 2 and 5 AM."
"How can you be so sure about the time?" the innocent-looking woman asked, her voice tinged with suspicion.
The burly man glanced at her, explaining the overnight watch schedule and the seven-hour timer on his pocket watch. It turned out that the middle-aged man had been next in line after Jiang Cheng, and the fat man who discovered the body had woken up to use the restroom.
The fat man clambered to his feet, trembling as he asked why the middle-aged man had died. With a heavy sigh, the burly man pulled the restroom door shut, and the group retreated to the sofas near the fireplace.
As a newcomer, Jiang Cheng had remained mostly silent, listening intently and analyzing the situation. Most of the insights came from the experienced burly man and the woman with the mole near her lips.
Through the bits of information revealed during their discussion, Jiang Cheng realized that in this world, people were never killed without reason. Those who met such fates must have violated some forbidden taboo.
And these taboos were likely the key to unraveling the mystery of their task.
"What could he have possibly done that we haven't?" the male clerk whimpered, wedged between Jiang Cheng and the innocent woman, clearly terrified of meeting the same inexplicable end as the middle-aged man.
The innocent woman furrowed her pretty brows. "Could it be because he used the restroom on the first floor? Maybe that's the hidden taboo in this task, and anyone who goes there must die."
"No way," the fat man said softly, squatting with his hands on his knees. "I used that restroom just yesterday when we were searching the living room."
Jiang Cheng turned to the fat man. "Well, you'd better be careful then. Even with your thick neck, I bet it could still be snapped with enough force."
The fat man nearly burst into tears at those words.
The burly man seemed displeased with Jiang Cheng's attitude but said nothing. He simply shook his head, suggesting that it couldn't be the reason, as nearly all of them had used the first-floor restroom at some point. If it were the cause, more than just the middle-aged man would have fallen victim.
"Perhaps it's a matter of timing," the woman with the mole said with an eerie smile. "You should know that ghosts rarely kill in quick succession."
The burly man glared at her but, uncharacteristically, did not argue.
"So those things really do exist..." Jiang Cheng muttered, his suspicions confirmed. The door that appeared in his dreams undoubtedly belonged to the realm of the supernatural, and the presence of ghosts seemed to fit within that context.
"Wait, so in this world, we're up against ghosts, not people?!" The male clerk's face turned ashen with fear.
Given his previous behavior, no one bothered to acknowledge him.
"Since someone has died, it's clear that this villa is our true destination. The supposed journey was non-existent, and the car's appearance was merely a means to transport us here," the innocent woman said, glancing around. "The problem lies within this villa."
"What could be wrong with the villa?" the fat man asked.
The innocent woman stared at him for a moment before replying, "For example, some heinous events may have taken place here in the past."
The villa appeared luxurious and showed no signs of damage, yet it had been abandoned under mysterious circumstances. Jiang Cheng found the innocent woman's theory quite believable.
The burly man approached the villa's entrance and grasped the door handle, giving it a forceful tug. The door remained firmly shut.
"It's locked," he said, not even attempting a second try. "It seems this place is indeed our task location. We won't be able to leave until we unravel the events that transpired here."
"Now that we've confirmed the task location, let's split up and search for clues. It's daylight now, so it should be safer."
Despite his words, the middle-aged man's death had put everyone on high alert, especially the three newcomers: Jiang Cheng, the fat man, and the male clerk.
To increase efficiency, they formed groups, with each experienced member paired with a newcomer. The fat man followed the burly man, the male clerk went with the woman with the mole, and Jiang Cheng partnered with the innocent woman.
For safety, they limited their search to the villa's first floor. The burly man's group took the living room and entrance area, the woman's group searched the remote storeroom, and Jiang Cheng and the innocent woman investigated the kitchen and dining room.
The groups remained within sight of each other, ready to provide support if anything happened. Armed with previous experience, they conducted a more thorough and meticulous search.
Half an hour later, as the sun fully illuminated the sky, the three groups reconvened by the fireplace.
"This is what we found in the storeroom," the woman with the mole said, producing a thick hemp rope with a segment stained a glaring red.
The burly man took the rope, rubbing it vigorously and sniffing the discolored portion. "It's blood," he said, looking up at the woman.
She nodded. "It was behind a pile of firewood. I also found this nearby." Opening her right hand, she revealed a pale green, maple leaf-shaped brooch that seemed to belong to a gentle young woman.
A girl had once been bound in the storeroom.
"What did you find?" the woman asked, turning to the burly man.
"Come with me and see for yourselves," he replied, leading the group to the door.
Standing at the entrance, the burly man felt along the wall and pressed a spot that Jiang Cheng's keen eyes recognized as a pale blue button, camouflaged within the sky-blue background of a painting beside the door.
As the button was pressed, a crack appeared on the right side of the door, slowly widening to reveal a well-hidden, recessed shoe cabinet.
The cabinet had three levels, with the third level mostly intact while the partitions between the first and second levels had broken, leaving various shoes jumbled together.
After sorting, they found two pairs of men's leather shoes, a pair of women's red high heels, and three pairs of women's casual shoes.
The woman with the mole picked out one pair from the casual shoes and placed it beside the red high heels. "These two pairs likely belong to the same person."
The remaining two casual pairs clearly belonged to a younger girl, their sizes identical.
On the third level sat a pair of men's sneakers, their size differing significantly from the leather shoes.
"Based on what we've seen so far, a family of four once lived in this villa: a husband, a wife, a girl, and a boy," the innocent woman said, looking up. "This matches the layout of the bedrooms on the second floor—a master bedroom for the couple, a girl's room, and a boy's room."