Chapter 100.2: Xishan Residential Area (20)

  Before Ruan Qing mentioned the instance he had been in, another new player had the least experience in instances and the lowest points among this group of experienced intermediate players.

However, after Ruan Qing spoke, that changed, and Ruan Qing became the one with the least points.

Someone with low points and no significant strength was not something anyone cared about.

So when it came to deciding who would go investigate, the players all turned their attention to Ruan Qing.

Even Lu Rufeng looked at Ruan Qing, his expression somewhat obscure, giving away nothing about his thoughts.

Just as the other players were preparing to speak, the advanced male player glanced at Ruan Qing, raised his hand directly, and then volunteered, “I’ll go.”

The advanced male player was the kind of self-interested person who seemed very shrewd at first glance, so his sudden volunteering felt somewhat discordant.

However, one couldn’t judge a book by its cover; not everyone was as they appeared on the surface.

So, while the other players were somewhat surprised, they didn’t say anything.

The advanced male player cautiously approached the security room.

However, there was nothing in the security room; it seemed the security personnel had simply forgotten to turn off the lights when they left.

Seeing there was no danger, the other players also entered the security room.

Lu Rufeng had memories from before the instance reset, and he didn’t actually need to go through this part at the Xishan Kindergarten again.

However, he didn’t want to reveal to Su Zhen that he had memories.

Lu Rufeng thought of the scene where Su Zhen had threatened the young man with a knife, and his expression darkened.

Everyone had to pay for their actions, even Su Zhen was no exception.

Lu Rufeng looked at the surveillance cameras, which seemed completely different now, and furrowed his brow.

What’s going on? Where was Su Qing?

Did he not come to pick up the child?

Had something happened?

After considering a certain possibility, Lu Rufeng’s eyes turned completely dark, and he exuded a chilling aura.

Lu Rufeng walked directly toward the door, preparing to leave.

But he had only walked halfway when it seemed he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped in his tracks and glanced to the left.

Lu Rufeng stood to the left, facing the security office’s desk.

At this moment, a chubby person was sitting quietly in front of the desk, flipping through the list of visitors.

Clearly, he was quite unattractive.

Yet, his silence gave off a sense of docility.

So docile that it made people wonder.

Lu Rufeng was momentarily stunned. Docile enough to make people wonder what?

Wait a minute, docile?

Lu Rufeng looked at the person, whose bloated body resembled a corpse, with a trace of bewilderment rarely seen in his eyes.

Was he insane?

How could this fat guy be considered docile!?

Could it be that he was affected by the reset of the instance? Or was his magic card malfunctioning?

Resetting instances with super S-level items could have unpredictable consequences.

After all, his card was only an S-level item.

Lu Rufeng’s complexion turned even uglier.

Su! Zhen!

He would definitely kill him.

When Ruan Qing noticed someone was looking at him, he subconsciously raised his head, meeting Lu Rufeng’s unpleasant expression and that obscure gaze.

Ruan Qing’s heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t show it on his face. He calmly lowered his head and continued to look at the record of visitors in his hands.

Luckily, Lu Rufeng quickly averted his gaze and disappeared outside the security office.

It seemed like he had left directly.

Ruan Qing breathed a sigh of relief once again.

This Li Shuyang was truly troublesome, and his heightened senses seemed unexpectedly strong. Even in his current appearance, he could still attract his attention.

It appeared that he needed to be more cautious.

Apart from monitoring and recording visitors, the security office seemed to have nothing else.

The list of visitors mainly recorded situations where parents came to pick up children, and no other clues had been found. It seemed like there’s nothing important here.

Ruan Qing glanced around and sat directly in front of the monitor, starting to check the surveillance.

Many players had already watched the surveillance, but they hadn’t found any useful clues.

People had already started discussing on the side, and there’s only one topic of discussion: whether or not to enter the Xishan Kindergarten for investigation.

All the other players had joined the discussion, so there were only two people left in front of the monitor: one was Ruan Qing, and the other was the advanced male player.

Ruan Qing was very focused, and when he saw something, he paused. “Wait a moment. Rewind the surveillance here.”

The advanced male player immediately complied and rewound the surveillance to the time point specified by Ruan Qing.

Ruan Qing’s voice wasn’t quiet, and when other players saw this, they immediately stopped discussing and gathered around.

A player with yellow hair asked, “Did you find something?”

Ruan Qing pointed to the woman on the screen who was holding a child and leaving, his voice hoarse, “She said, ‘Our second baby is really great, playing ‘Xiao Xi’ so well. Mom is really proud of you.’”

When the players heard the words ‘Xiao Xi,’ their eyes widened, and they immediately rewound the surveillance again, zooming in on the woman’s face.

Then everyone stared at the woman’s mouth.

When the woman on the screen spoke, the players’ expressions turned serious.

Sure enough, if the lip movements were correct, she said exactly that sentence.

But the woman quickly left the surveillance range at the entrance of Xishan Kindergarten and disappeared into the crowd.

Apart from Ruan Qing, the players didn’t have lip-reading skills, so they repeatedly watched and confirmed that the woman did indeed mention ‘Xiao Xi’.

Players exchanged glances, and the player with the yellow hair spoke up, “What should we do now? Continue to investigate inside the kindergarten or go after this woman?”

Other players furrowed their brows, and one of them spoke with a serious expression, “To be honest, Xishan Kindergarten gives me a very bad feeling.”

“It’s as if we go in now, we’ll end up dying inside.” Another player immediately agreed, saying, “I’ve had a creepy feeling ever since entering the area of this kindergarten.”

“It’s as if I’ve been targeted by something, but I’m not sure if it’s just my imagination. It makes me feel very unsafe.”

The player with the yellow hair pondered, “Sometimes intuition is crucial. Since we all feel this way, let’s start by investigating this woman.”

“Let’s come back here tomorrow, during the day, for the investigation.”

The players nodded without hesitation, looking at the woman pointed out by the player with yellow hair.

Intuition, though elusive, could sometimes save lives.

Once the players made their decision, they took out their phones and snapped pictures of the woman under surveillance.

They were ready to find out who this woman really was.

Anyone who could send a child to Xishan Kindergarten was undoubtedly a resident of the Xishan Residential Area.

They only needed to take the woman’s photo to the Xishan Residential Area to find out her identity.

Xishan Residential Area had a total of eight residential buildings, and they were prepared to check each one.

In reality, Ruan Qing knew who the woman was. Mrs. Ning, who lived in Room 306 downstairs from the Zhou family. She was the only person the original owner knew in this Xishan Residential Area.

But Ruan Qing couldn’t reveal this directly.

After all, he was a player now, not Zhou Qing, and he couldn’t possibly know Mrs. Ning.

Ruan Qing could only pretend to go along with the players.

Since it was already nighttime, going alone was definitely not a wise decision. So, even though it was more efficient for each person to check one building, no player chose to go alone.

The players divided themselves into two groups, with one group preparing to check four buildings.

And they agreed that regardless of whether they found anything or not, they would return to the hotel by midnight.

Although this instance seemed to lack any supernatural presence, the period from midnight to three in the morning was considered a delicate time.

It was an extremely dangerous time to be out.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, most players would avoid this time.

Ruan Qing’s luck, for better or worse, led him to the group checking the buildings E, F, G, and H.

In sequence, they headed to building E first.

And building E was not only Mrs. Ning’s home but also Zhou Qing’s home.

This might lead to an accidental encounter with the murderer.

In his heart, Ruan Qing comforted himself. With his current appearance, even if he encountered the murderer, he probably wouldn’t be recognized.

As long as he didn’t give himself away, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Moreover, Mrs. Ning’s home was on the third floor, and if the murderer had nothing to do, he probably wouldn’t go to the third floor.

But sometimes, what you fear might just happen.

Ruan Qing looked at Li Shuyang and the murderer in the elevator and felt numb.

Because Mrs. Ning especially liked playing mahjong and also liked to exercise in the afternoon, many residents nearby knew her.

So, they easily inquired about Mrs. Ning’s situation and learned that she lived in apartment 306 in building E.

The players immediately informed the others, and they decided to go to Mrs. Ning’s home to check the situation.

The height of the third floor was not too high, so, with the presence of an elevator, the players chose to take it.

While waiting for the elevator on the first floor, two familiar figures suddenly appeared beside Ruan Qing. They were Li Shuyang and the murderer.

So, it resulted in the awkward situation they were in now.

Ruan Qing looked at the two tall figures in front of him, his scalp tingling, and he quietly squeezed into the corner of the elevator, trying to reduce his presence, fearing that he might attract the attention of the two.

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