Chapter 40: Stop 22: Severance

Chapter 40 - Station 22: Cutting

The manager's office was located at the end of the right corridor.

Two intricately carved oak doors stood firmly shut, their metal handles gleaming coldly, securely locked.

This was no issue for Ming Yiyang, who removed the yellow bamboo pendant hanging around his neck.

Before he could do anything, hurried footsteps sounded from behind him.

He nonchalantly hung the pendant back in place and turned to look.

Oh, it was Chi Zihe, accompanied by Si Shuhao.

He attempted to resume his previous actions, but Chi Zihe held him back.

"You're insane, doing this in broad daylight."

"When else should we do it? The access card for the exit might be inside."

Chi Zihe quickly signaled to him with a subtle glance, and Ming Yiyang followed his gaze down the lengthy corridor.

A woman in a white cap, the cleaner, was staring at them from the entrance foyer.

However, they were too far away to discern her exact expression clearly.

Still, such secretive surveillance was enough to send shivers down one's spine.

Ming Yiyang suddenly chuckled softly, as if he had stumbled upon something amusing:

"Is this part of the rules?"

"I'm not sure. When we came to find you just now, she was already standing there, it was quite creepy."

Si Shuhao rubbed his arm, trying to soothe the goosebumps rising beneath his clothes:

"By the way, Qi Yongxin has asked everyone to gather in his suite. He wants to discuss Song Yuan's death and encourage deeper connections and information sharing, so we can establish a rapid response mechanism and avoid making the same mistakes again."

The mere mention of that pretentious person's name irritated Ming Yiyang.

"Why would you involve us in such trivial matters?"

Chi Zihe knew he would say something like that and waved at the man dismissively. "We were just here to put on a show anyway. You two focus on your investigation, we'll take care of it. Oh, by the way, has Simon given you Song Yuan's blood sample?"

Yan Qiling answered straightforwardly, "Zihe, there's no need to collect more blood samples. Someone among us has a different target."

Chi Zihe immediately grasped the key point in his words and stroked his chin. "I see... I was wondering why it seemed a bit odd. It seems we can't avoid getting involved with Qi Yongxin now. Perfect, Miss Si and I will go and gauge their intentions first. As long as there are foxes around, we won't miss their trails."

Si Shuhao only realized the situation after Chi Zihe finished speaking: This Incognito World seems to be divided into factions!

Recalling Song Yuan's gruesome death, the goosebumps on her skin intensified.

Yan Qiling nodded slightly and looked towards the manager's office.

Behind this door lies the key to our escape, and since the hotel staff is keeping a close watch, we shouldn't force our way in. You can divine when would be the opportune moment to open it, and we'll seize that chance.

Chi Zihe kept his hands in his sleeves, smiling calmly, "No problem at all. After I'm done with that social event, I'll perform the divination."

Si Shuhao found it hard to believe, "…You can actually divine something like that?"

Ming Yiyang spoke lazily, "Of course, if you give him your birthdate and time, he could even tell you at what age you wet the bed. He can predict time, location, people involved, and even the cause and effect of events with great accuracy."

Si Shuhao blushed again, staring at the candid speaker with an awkward glare.

Chi Zihe chuckled, diffusing the tension, "Matters like those are too trivial. I usually don't bother. Alright, let's start the meeting, or Qi Yongxin will start barking again. Come on, let's go."

He gently propelled Si Shuhao away, leaving the other two to exchange glances. A hint of helplessness crept into Yan Qiling's brows.

"Why do you always have to attract young girls?"

"If you can chat with Ada, why can't I talk to Si Shuhao?"

Despite Yan Qiling's self-assured intelligence, he couldn't grasp the logic behind Ming Yiyang's words.

Unbeknownst to both Yan Qiling and the one speaking, Ming Yiyang himself wasn't entirely aware of what he was doing.

The young man subtly touched his nose and smoothly changed the subject,

"I was just using that as an example. But honestly, I think your deductive skills surpass Chi Zihe's. In the world of the Pen Spirit, you led us to the observatory for safety – that couldn't have been a coincidence, right?"

Seeing that Yan Qiling didn't respond, he felt a slight relief and swiftly crafted a plausible question to draw the other back into the conversation,

"Si Shuhao told me that in the previous world, you played the Pen Spirit game with Jin Shuen's mother inside the school building and obtained that 'important diary'. Was that diary truly found within the school building, or did you get it at the observatory?"

"You're quite perceptive."

Yan Qiling indeed fell into the trap. Seeing the earnest exploration on the young man's face, he tactfully avoided further discussion:

"I can tell you it was at the observatory, but beyond that, I must refrain from divulging more."

Ming Yiyang cared little about such trivial details. Noticing that the initial topic was no longer pursued, he casually shot back:

"Your riddles are abundant, even a labyrinth would bow down and call you its ancestor."

Yan Qiling merely chuckled in response.

Under the watchful eye of the janitor, they retraced their steps down the corridor and found the staircase leading underground.

Ming Yiyang was keenly interested in the garage, so they bypassed other areas and headed straight for the garage situated at the end of the underground space.

The garage was not spacious, accommodating only a massive snowmobile designed for six passengers. It seemed to be used by the patrolling staff.

The snowmobile's two sharp skis were pointed towards a low incline exit, with a securely closed roller shutter door blocking the ramp.

Once the roller shutter door was opened, the snowmobile could easily exit.

The garage wasn't as well-heated as the rest of the place, seemingly only ensuring that the car's fuel tank wouldn't freeze due to the low temperature.

Aside from that, there were various tools for vehicle maintenance here.

Ming Yiyang rummaged through the items and pulled out a handful of nails, jesting,

"If I were a villain, I'd puncture all the tires on this snowmobile. Then it couldn't leave, and we'd be completely trapped in the hotel."

He then looked at the closed roller shutter door, raising an eyebrow,

"Oh, there's no need for such hassle. Just cut off the power, and within an hour, the snowmobile's fuel tank would likely be useless. Besides, the snow on top of the shutter door would accumulate more and more... What a clever design."

In a blizzard like this, if the snow outside was piled up several meters high and the roller shutter door couldn't open, how was one supposed to drive the snowmobile out?

The design of this underground garage was laughable.

Leaving the absurd garage behind, they returned to the kitchen area where the chefs were preparing ingredients.

It was spacious enough to accommodate twenty people cooking simultaneously.

In a corner stood a large aquarium, presumably used for storing seafood, now standing empty.

The storage room was also in this area. When they arrived, its door had been locked, but now it was slightly ajar.

Ming Yiyang pulled open the storage room door for a quick look inside.

The space was brightly lit, packed with canned goods and various well-sealed ingredients.

Scattered on the ground were some colorful thin ropes, likely used to tie up food boxes, along with a thick jute rope lying in a corner.

Ming Yiyang's gaze lingered on the jute rope.

It seemed to be intended for securing larger objects onto a handcart, though there was only one, it was long and thick, coiled several times on the floor.

Leaving the door ajar as before, the two inspected the adjacent cold storage.

A dramatic large lock accompanied the sturdy metal door, clearly indicating that it was not a place to be entered casually.

Access to the boiler room was also denied, but through a small window, they could see an older style, vertical coal-fired boiler inside.

In such regions prone to winter snowstorms and communication disruptions, coal is indeed the most reliable heating method.

Ming Yiyang's gaze lingered on the two cylinders of liquefied gas inside.

He shifted his angle, trying to see more, but the small window only offered a limited view, leaving him unfulfilled.

Yan Qiling, watching him fiddle with the peephole, asked,

"Did you find something?"

"I'm not sure, just a hunch."

Observing the young man's thoughtful expression, Yan Qiling refrained from pressing further.

They hurriedly inspected a small compartment dedicated to handling hotel bedding and clothing ironing.

Ming Yiyang suddenly said,

"Why is the steam iron's hose missing?"

This was entirely beyond Yan Qiling's realm of knowledge.

He knew that the small compartments functioned by transferring the residual heat from the boiler room to this area for drying and ironing, an excellent design for recycling energy.

But as for the specifics of how it worked, he was clueless.

He had never done this kind of work before, so naturally, he didn't know what was considered normal in this setting or what should or shouldn't be there.

Seeing the vivid confusion on Yan Qiling's face, Ming Yiyang found it endearing and, unusually patient, explained, "There's a heat exchanger installed in this wall. You can think of it as a place to store heat."

"There's a pre-set temperature threshold inside. It maintains a constant temperature whether it's in use or not. That way, the ironing table is always ready to use, and clothes or bedding can immediately enter the drying process, no need to wait for preheating."

He picked up the iron and turned its handle over, revealing a connector. "Logically, there should be a pipe connected here. The heat comes in through the pipe, evaporates the water stored in the iron, and then you can iron the clothes."

"Thank you for clarifying," Yan Qiling said, appreciative but still puzzled. "What does it mean if this pipe is missing?"

Ming Yiyang replaced the iron exactly where he had initially placed it, with the angle unchanged.

As he smoothed out the wrinkles in the fabric, he asked,

"Have you heard of high-pressure cutting?"

Yan Qiling pondered for a moment before slowly coming back to reality, and couldn't help but sigh,

"I'm really getting old..."

Ming Yiyang didn't expect such a response and involuntarily formed a question mark in his mind.

Soon, he heard Yan Qiling state matter-of-factly,

"You're wondering how Song Yuan died, aren't you?"

Ming Yiyang's gaze shot over instantly.

Just like many times before, Yan Qiling voiced out his hidden speculation:

"At first, when I saw the wound, I leaned more towards it being the work of a supernatural entity rather than a human's doing."

"But with your reminder, I suddenly recall that Pan Hu once, for convenience, acquired a canister of natural gas, attached a gas pipe and a metal head to it to cut through steel."

"If a canister of natural gas could be used to cut steel, then liquefied petroleum gas could too. The charred area likely resulted from burning during the cutting process."

"However... this process would still require time, and such a method of death should be incredibly painful. It doesn't make sense for there to be no signs of struggle at all."

Ming Yiyang fell silent for a moment before he couldn't help but ask:

"Who is Pan Hu?"

Yan Qiling: "Huh?"