MS Chapter 12

The death of the female employee was too tragic; many timid guests no longer dared to stay in the lobby.

Panic spread throughout the resort. If it weren’t for the blizzard outside, many would have likely fled by now.

Even so, there were still quite a few people on the verge of psychological collapse. With two consecutive nights of deaths, questions and accusations filled the air.

Someone even exclaimed in terror, “Could it be that a psychopathic killer is hiding here, taking advantage of the snowstorm?”

This was clearly a notion influenced by too many movies, yet it gained the agreement of many.

Seeing that Manager Hao could no longer hold up, Lu Qingjia stepped in and said, “Let’s put a stop to these baseless speculations.”

“I understand everyone’s feelings, but please consider the women and children among our guests. Spreading anxiety in this situation does no good.”

This struck a chord. Generally, those who come to such a remote hotel are not alone; most bring their families.

Although most women and children had already been sent back to their rooms by the time the body was discovered, their emotions could easily spiral out of control in a chaotic situation, exacerbating the current state.

Lu Qingjia continued, “Let’s sort through the clues. The condition of the body indicates that our employee fell from a window of the hotel, her limbs rendered immobile, and she briefly lost consciousness. She did not make it back to the hotel and froze to death outside.”

“Based on the freezing conditions and the sounds many guests reported hearing, we can preliminarily determine that she fell before lunchtime.”

“The degree of distortion in her limbs suggests she did not fall from a low floor. By tracing the location where the body was found and the range she could have climbed, we can easily pinpoint which rooms she fell from.”

The doctor who had examined Mrs. Li’s cause of death the previous night nodded in agreement, “Just as I thought.”

The previously panicked guests calmed down a bit upon seeing someone in the group analyze the situation and restore the scene of the incident.

Lu Qingjia took a layout map of the hotel from the front desk and pointed to a specific area: “The place where she fell is between rooms 8 and 11 on the fourth to sixth floors.”

This range was still quite large.

But Lu Qingjia added, “There are a total of twelve rooms, but we need to establish whether she accidentally fell or if there was someone else present at the time.”

Dr. Zhou nodded repeatedly, while others were still processing the information.

Then it suddenly dawned on them: if there was another person in the room when she fell, it would indeed be a case of murder.

If the deceased had not died immediately upon falling, and if there was another person present who did not report the incident or attempt to help, how was that different from murder?

“And it’s actually simple to determine these two scenarios,” Lu Qingjia’s words made Manager Hao, who was standing behind him, turn pale, lowering his head to avoid drawing attention.

Then came the execution-like statement: “If it was merely an accidental fall, then the window of the room she fell from would definitely still be open.”

“If there was another person in the room at the time, who coldly observed her situation, then it must be one of these twelve rooms occupied by a guest.”

The crowd suddenly understood and quickly paired up to check those twelve rooms.

The results sent chills down their spines: not a single window in any of the rooms was still open, indicating that someone had watched her fall and callously closed the window.

There weren’t many guests in the hotel, only about twenty people, most of whom were families, so the distribution of rooms was limited.

Among the twelve rooms identified, only three had occupants.

The residents of the three identified rooms quickly denied, “We were all sleeping in this morning and didn’t call for room service. Besides, we have no grievances with that girl.”

Dr. Zhou interjected, “No, there’s another room—the office on the top floor.”

“Manager Lu, can you tell us what that room is used for?”

Lu Qingjia smiled. At this moment, he had already thoroughly reviewed the events at the hot spring resort in his mind.

“That room is the manager’s office, belonging to me and Manager Hao.”

“However, I only started working yesterday. I was busy getting accustomed to the various departments and attending to guests, and I haven’t even been in that office yet.”

The guests had little suspicion of Manager Lu; if he truly wanted to hide something, he wouldn’t have needed to speak up at all.

Thus, with Manager Lu ruled out, Manager Hao became the prime suspect.

The guests turned their attention to him, “Manager Hao, can you tell us where you were at that time?”

“The girl who died was a hotel employee. I would say she shouldn’t have anything to do with the strangers staying here, right? But is there some conflict within your hotel?”

Manager Hao’s face turned ugly, but he still tried to clear himself, “How would I know? My office isn’t locked; anyone can come and go.”

“Besides, you can’t just accuse me to clear your own suspicions. Do I have any enmity with her?”

“Not locked? But I went to find Manager Hao before noon, and the door was closed,” Lu Qingjia said.

“Exactly, Xiaomei was taken away by Manager Hao for a reprimand that morning and never came back,” an employee who had long been dissatisfied with Manager Hao chimed in.

The crowd’s gaze turned increasingly hostile towards him, and Dr. Zhou asked, “Manager Hao, can you tell us when you last saw the deceased?”

Manager Hao, anxious to find an excuse, was interrupted by Lu Qingjia’s final blow—

“It’s actually simple. We didn’t sort through the situation clearly before, and the workload for the investigation was large. As long as we determine the range and check the surveillance footage from those floors, it will be clear.”

The three guests nodded eagerly, “Check, check, check! It will thoroughly prove we have nothing to do with this.”

Manager Hao seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at this, but when everyone went to review the surveillance footage, they discovered that the recordings from the past few days had been deleted.

While this didn’t provide direct evidence, it almost solidified Manager Hao’s suspicion.

After all, ordinary guests wouldn’t care about where the surveillance room was, and not everyone knew how to delete surveillance files.

Though there was no evidence, Manager Hao was still detained. Despite his loud protests, none of the guests or employees present were willing to let someone with murder suspicions roam freely.

They searched him and took all his belongings, locking him in an empty room.

Before leaving, Manager Hao struggled and shouted, finally yelling a thought-provoking line: “Mr. Li, you must believe me, right?”

Although Mr. Li was long gone, Lu Qingjia felt a sense of sorrow for him.

A meticulously planned scheme, almost calculated to every step, ended up ruined by a fool.

Of course, the greater tragedy was that so many people in the hotel were also caught up in this and lost their lives.

After securing Manager Hao and assigning someone to guard the door, everyone returned to their rooms.

Another death extinguished the guests’ previously lifted spirits, and the entire hotel fell silent by eight o’clock.

The other five players found Lu Qingjia and asked, “Did you hear that guy’s shout? It really points to Mr. Li’s husband being the key.”

“Is it possible he conspired with that Hao guy to kill her?”

Indeed, at this point, even the dullest among them realized the crux of the matter.

Unlike ordinary guests, knowing the outcome and the ‘nonexistent’ Mr. Li seemed to be everywhere, participating in this bizarre cycle through others’ words; even the most foolish should have grasped the issue.

Lu Qingjia shook his head, “It’s not accurate to say it’s a conspiracy; after all, that Hao guy is too stupid to be worthy.”

“This whole affair has been a case of human plans not matching the heavens’ plans. Although Mr. Li’s plan wasn’t flawless, it was indeed meticulous.”

“If things had gone as intended, Mrs. Li would likely have been classified as an accidental death, and the matter would have ended there.”

“However, that Hao guy got lucky and stumbled upon some crucial scenes, which were key enough to unravel the entire carefully laid plan.”

“That Hao guy used this leverage to threaten, but unfortunately, the female employee overheard something she shouldn’t have. Naturally, he couldn’t let the opportunity slip away, whether it was an accident or a premeditated act, the female employee ended up dead.”

“But that Hao guy is too foolish, consumed by greed and short-sightedness, thinking he had resolved the issue.”

“There are indeed smart people among the guests, like that Dr. Zhou, who quickly figured out his problem. Relying on such a fool to withstand police questioning without implicating himself—let alone the ruthless Mr. Li—could you all place your bets on him?”

The five shook their heads vigorously.

Lu Qingjia concluded, “So, Mr. Li, through suggestion, temporarily calmed that Hao guy, preventing him from exposing himself in front of everyone. The method is simple: as long as he understands that a fish dying with the net is not beneficial, and since the police haven’t arrived yet, there’s a chance to escape. If he can secure a large sum of money and sneak away abroad, he could still live a carefree life.”

“However, this is merely a lie. The moment that Hao guy is implicated, Mr. Li has already decided to silence everyone in the hotel. After all, if the incident is too bizarre, the police will take it seriously, and under deep investigation, he can’t guarantee he won’t slip up.”

The five players clicked their tongues, “So that Hao guy believes it?”

Lu Qingjia smiled, “Of course he believes it, because although the resort is closed off, there are still ways to take risks and get out.”

“As long as he escapes down the mountain in advance, with a bit of luck, he might indeed evade punishment.”

The group was shocked, “Get down the mountain? How do we do that?”

“You’ll find out when the time comes,” Lu Qingjia teased.

The five players didn’t dare to ask further; after all, they had just discovered the clues, and if they pressed on—well, the entire mystery would be unraveled.

This was only the first day of the dungeon.

Someone couldn’t help but ask, “When did you determine that Mr. Li murdered Mrs. Li?”

Lu Qingjia replied, “Yesterday, after I helped Mrs. Li check in and sent her back to her room.”

The five were speechless.

Sorry for misunderstanding that you were seducing a married woman.

The bespectacled player pondered for a moment and finally discovered a key point: “Wait, you mentioned another key figure in the incident? Besides Mr. Li and that Hao guy, who else is there?”

Then he muttered to himself, “Right, Mrs. Li’s cause of death was chemical poisoning. If Mr. Li was only interested in the hotel’s cleaning agents, that stupid Hao wouldn’t have discovered any flaws, and coincidentally, the door was broken—what a coincidence! This suggests there was an accomplice.”

Not completely dull, Lu Qingjia nodded at the bespectacled player, “The cleaning solution was only recently changed. Although it was approved by that Hao guy, his penny-pinching nature makes him easily swayed; a little incentive could seal the deal.”

“To be involved as an accomplice in a murder, there must be a highly unified common interest, especially in a case of spousal murder; the scope is too easy to guess.”

“I specifically sought a managerial position to confirm the supply time and specific employee information, and sure enough, there were issues.”

Not to say ‘sought’ was too polite; everyone thought, you clearly deceived your way in.

“You all know about the supply issue. Another point is that besides Mr. Li, there is also a hotel employee who was clearly in the records but did not enter this cycle. The repair request for the bathroom door in Mrs. Li’s room was filled out by this person, and the new cleaning supplier shares the same surname as her. What a coincidence, right?”

At this point, it was almost a solved case.

“That Hao guy inadvertently stumbled upon two people having an affair, likely after Mrs. Li checked in yesterday, in a relatively secluded area outside the resort, before the snow began to fall.”

“Then that night, Mrs. Li died, and there just happened to be a doctor among the guests who pointed out the cause of her death. Now, that Hao guy is a complete fool; he should understand what’s going on, right?”

There was no denying it; what do you mean it hasn’t started but is already over?

The five felt that there was nothing more to do in this dungeon, but the game’s task only allowed them to survive for three days. This meant that even if they were completely passive after everyone understood the entire sequence of events, their points and evaluations wouldn’t be too low.

This was akin to being carried by a big shot; they had to show some appreciation, right?

Just as they were thinking of flattering him, they heard a series of loud knocks coming from the window at the end of the corridor.

They turned around and gasped in shock, for through the light, they saw a snow-white face frozen against the glass.

Like a living ice sculpture, it kept knocking on the window, as if it were the last obsession of the deceased.

Several players exclaimed, “Damn, I forgot that the night of the death, the deceased would turn into a ghost.”

Everyone instinctively looked at Lu Qingjia; they remembered his astonishing performance last night.

But then they snapped back to reality—no! Mrs. Li’s ghost had some emotional ties; that was because Lu Qingjia had invested considerable effort into her.

This employee was entirely an accident; before her death, no one knew she was the second victim, so naturally, there couldn’t have been any revolutionary friendship developed in such a short time.

“Let’s run! Don’t expect anything good to happen.”

However, just as they were about to leave, they saw Lu Qingjia heading in the opposite direction.

The group couldn’t help but stop.

Seeing Lu Qingjia open the window and let the ghost in directly.

He let her in—

The players gasped; it wasn’t over yet. Lu Qingjia seemed to conjure a blanket from nowhere and draped it over the ice sculpture ghost.

With concern, he said, “It must be very cold outside, right? You’ve worked hard; come in and warm up.”

The ghost seemed a bit dazed, staring blankly at Lu Qingjia, her expression shifting between resentment and confusion.

Lu Qingjia continued, “You are truly a brave and kind girl. If you had conspired with that Hao guy to extort money, you wouldn’t have been killed. It must have been your commitment to justice that led to your demise.”

“Such foolishness, but also truly admirable.”

Upon hearing this, the female ghost’s face flushed, and her resentment dissipated considerably.

Lu Qingjia added, “However, tonight is the last peaceful night for the other guests. Please don’t disturb everyone, okay?”

The ghost clearly wasn’t very pleased, but Lu Qingjia gently yet firmly said, “This is my request as a member of management.”

“Even as a ghost, you are still a hotel employee, right? You are a diligent and sensible employee, so please don’t violate your professional ethics and trouble the guests, okay?”

The players were left dumbfounded, watching someone use their looks, authority, and sweet words to fool an innocent and honest ghost.

The ice sculpture ghost showed a troubled expression, glancing resentfully at the crowd one moment and then clearly reluctant to go against her gentle superior’s words the next.

Lu Qingjia then called out in a certain direction, “Mrs. Li, could I trouble you to take care of her?”

“Please endure for tonight; I promise to satisfy you afterward.”

The players shivered as they saw a room door slowly open, and Mrs. Li’s ghost emerged, shyly smiling at Lu Qingjia, before truly taking the ice sculpture ghost away into the night.

“…”

Is this really a horror game? Or is it a harem created by someone named Lu?

At that moment, far away in the real world, a person who suddenly appeared in a room opened his eyes wide.

“Disappeared?” he murmured, then pulled up the coordinates and vanished from the room.