Ke Wuwen, Huang Rongfei, Lu Da, and Jia Dong had not yet returned.
Jing Minghe took two steps toward the banquet hall entrance, hesitating whether to go out and check. Just then, Ke Wuwen came sprinting back, his face a mixture of fear and tension.
Seeing Jing Minghe, Ke Wuwen's sprinting pace quickened.
"Idol! Brother Tong! I'm so glad you're alright! I... I..."
Ke Wuwen shouted. Running too fast, he stumbled and fell flat on his face. The impact dazed him, and he forgot how to get up.
Jing Minghe was about to step forward to help him, when someone moved faster than him.
Tong Zheng roughly pulled Ke Wuwen to his feet and said with a hint of anger, "Why are you running so fast?"
"Something terrible has happened!" Ke Wuwen revived, clinging to Tong Zheng and continuing to shout, "They, they're dead! On the fifth-floor deck! They died horribly, it was gruesome!"
"Who's dead?" Qiu Zhian stepped forward, demanding.
Since Ke Wuwen had returned, the other three must be dead.
It was just unknown if all three were dead or if two had perished.
Given Ke Wuwen said "they," it meant at least two people.
"The fifth floor?" Jing Minghe turned to look at Chi Hao and the others. "Let's go up together and take a look."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Just as they were about to leave, they saw Jia Dong, covered in wounds, walking toward the banquet hall.
"Brother Jia!" Wan Zuo rushed forward to support him. "What happened?"
Jia Dong's consciousness was still hazy. When he heard Wan Zuo's question, he merely shook his head slightly, unable to speak.
Seeing this, You Mi walked over to Jing Minghe and asked softly, "Do you need me to help him with his wounds?"
You Mi naturally sought Jing Minghe's opinion, as most of the medicine in her kit was purchased with points from Jing Minghe's medical card.
Jing Minghe nodded. "Of course," he said, lowering his voice. "Sister You Mi, try to get some clues if you can."
You Mi understood. "I will," she replied.
After getting Jing Minghe's consent, You Mi approached Jia Dong, enlarged her medical kit, and said to Wan Zuo and Jia Dong, "I'll help Mr. Jia with his wounds. Wan Zuo, you can go with Minghe and the others to the fifth floor to investigate."
Wan Zuo nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Miss You Mi."
During their time in the rest area, You Mi had helped treat Wan Zuo's injuries. Wan Zuo had always wanted to thank her properly. He had even considered bringing You Mi along in the instance, but he found that You Mi had her own team, whose members were no less capable than his own, especially Jing Minghe and Chi Hao.
Now, it seemed, he would owe her even more, from this point forward.
"It's alright," You Mi smiled. "This is all I can do. Instance exploration and analysis still depend on all of you."
Wan Zuo said earnestly, "I will do my best."
With that, he handed Jia Dong over to You Mi's care and went with Jing Minghe and the others to the fifth floor to check on Huang Rongfei and Lu Da.
Everyone arrived at the fifth-floor deck, where Ke Wuwen had said the bodies were.
As soon as Shen Rong saw the corpses, she covered her mouth and rushed aside to vomit.
"This..." Qiu Zhian frowned. "How could this happen? It's too horrific."
Lu Da's head was bound to his chest with his own intestines, and his limbs had been mangled and placed beside his torso, giving a bizarre appearance.
Compared to Lu Da, Huang Rongfei was in a slightly better state, with only his eyeballs dug out and hung on either side of his head.
Jing Minghe sighed softly. "It is indeed gruesome."
He then turned to Chi Hao beside him. "Brother Hao, what are your thoughts on these gruesome corpses?"
"Art," Chi Hao said faintly, uttering two words.
"What?"
Not only the others, but even Jing Minghe looked astonished. "Brother Hao, where do you see the artistic merit in this?"
Chi Hao took a step forward, his eyes narrowed, and explained, "Lu Da, not Huang Rongfei."
Jing Minghe murmured "oh" and continued to examine Lu Da's body. The limbs were deliberately mangled and piled around the torso, and the head was wrapped around the chest with intestines. It did indeed give the impression of some kind of artwork. Su Dan Novel Network.
But... what exactly was it?
Jing Minghe pondered, feeling something constantly swirling in his mind, yet he couldn't grasp it.
"Both of them died on the fifth floor," Tong Zheng voiced his speculation. "Could it be that the fifth floor is the place one should not hide?"
"Very likely," Wan Zuo agreed, but he also raised a question. "However, Lu Da was hiding. Then what about Huang Rongfei? He's a ghost player, isn't he? Why did he die too? Was it because he failed to find someone? And he died on the fifth floor too, is it a coincidence? Or some other reason?"
Jing Minghe's thoughts were temporarily interrupted. He decided to put aside the question of artistic merit for now and discuss it with everyone. "I don't think Lu Da's death can definitively prove that the fifth floor is a place one should not hide. As for Huang Rongfei, I personally believe it was most likely a coincidence."
Ke Wuwen finally recovered and stepped forward to ask, "Idol, what should we do next? Hide-and-seek indeed has death traps, but this game should have one every day, right?"
"The fifth floor only has the cinema and the grand theater," Jing Minghe suggested. "Let's split into two groups and thoroughly search both places."
"Okay."
Everyone unanimously agreed.
Thus, Jing Minghe, Chi Hao, Tong Zheng, and Ke Wuwen formed one group to search the cinema, while Qiu Zhian, Shen Rong, and Wan Zuo searched the grand theater.
Jing Minghe and his group of four arrived at the cinema. It was vast, but only three or four emergency lights were on, casting a truly dim light. In this dimness, the rows of densely packed seats seemed as if some unknown creature might leap out at any moment.
"It's so dark," Ke Wuwen clutched Tong Zheng's arm tightly. "Brother Tong, do you think those two died in this cinema?"
Tong Zheng patted Ke Wuwen's head. "That's a good question. If they died in the cinema, why would they put the bodies on the deck?"
"Of course, to prevent others from knowing where they actually died."
Jing Minghe smiled and said, "But this fifth floor only has the cinema and the grand theater. It's a simple choice between the two, isn't it?"
Ke Wuwen looked suspicious. "Then why?"
"Actually," Jing Minghe stopped and turned to Ke Wuwen. "What you just said wasn't wrong."
"Huh?" Ke Wuwen was even more confused. "Which part? The part about 'to prevent others from knowing where they died'? But, Idol, you also said it's a simple choice between the cinema or the grand theater."
Jing Minghe raised an eyebrow. "The words are not wrong, but the conclusion is."
Ke Wuwen felt his head fill with question marks. Why couldn't he understand at all what his idol meant?