Wen Qing took a long time to compose herself. After several deep breaths, she nodded.
"Next, we head to the tenth floor to find out what the landlord's real secret is. Once we know the full picture, we leave this building." Xiang Nuan and the monsters from the Cursed Hospital had all vanished, and Chen Ge didn't want to stay in one place for too long—he was worried he might miss something.
A little over ten minutes later, everyone assembled at the stairwell landing between the ninth and tenth floors. They had searched every room but found nothing useful.
"The last secret of this building should be hidden on the tenth floor. Prepare yourselves." As Chen Ge said this, his gaze swept over Dr. Li and Big Head.
Dr. Li and Big Head were each carrying an opaque bag filled with lock-picking tools. The two stood together, their eyes shifting and refusing to meet Chen Ge's. It seemed they had hatched a separate plan behind his back.
Ready to make their move?
Chen Ge acted the same as always—his tone and expression hadn't changed much—but he no longer turned his back to anyone, staying close to Wen Qing and Little Sun the entire time.
On the way upstairs, Chen Ge deliberately grabbed onto Kong Ying and peppered him with trivial questions.
During their brief separation just now, the tenants had scattered across various rooms, but when they returned, Dr. Li, Big Head, and Kong Ying and his wife had come back together. The four of them seemed to have reached the very limit of their tolerance toward Chen Ge.
On the tenth floor, it didn't take long to pry open the door to Room 1006. The more locks they picked, the more skilled they had become.
When the security door swung open, a faint stench wafted from inside, as though something had rotted and spoiled.
"The tenth floor is usually off-limits—only the landlord ever comes up here. This level isn't rented out to anyone else," Qu Ying said, covering his nose and mouth. To Chen Ge, the smell was fairly ordinary, but to the building's residents it was overpowerly pungent. Conversely, the horrific stenches that Chen Ge found unbearable were invisible to everyone else.
Room 1006 had only been roughly fitted out. The floor was covered in standing water and grime.
Following the acrid smell, they entered the room and discovered that it contained nothing but large freezers—not a single piece of furniture.
"There aren't bodies hidden in those freezers, are there?" Wen Qing ducked behind Chen Ge, only to be pulled back to his side.
"Don't leave my sight. Bodies are frightening, but they won't try to kill you. My back is not safe." Chen Ge casually opened one of the freezers. It was packed with rotting vegetables and meat, along with large jugs of purified water. "Why did the landlord stockpile so much food?"
They opened every freezer in the room. None of them contained anything horrifying. The first several held food supplies. Around the last freezer, spoiled meat and raw ingredients lay scattered on the floor, while inside were several large packages of medication.
Chen Ge pulled one of the packages out and opened a bottle for a closer look. "This kind of granulated medicine accelerates decomposition and deterioration when exposed to moisture, severely compromising its effectiveness. The landlord had a large quantity of this drug—he clearly knew a great deal about it, so he wouldn't have stored it in a freezer. And look at the raw meat scattered around. The person who came here was probably just looking for a convenient place to stash extra medication."
"After the landlord died, whoever held the keys had to be the killer. Are you saying the killer has been in here?" Dr. Li walked over to Chen Ge carrying a black opaque bag.
"I never said that." Chen Ge tilted his head and glanced at Dr. Li. "Speaking of which, you have such a respectable job, and your income is above average compared to most people—why on earth did you choose to live here?"
"I'm used to it," Dr. Li replied flatly.
"Used to the filth and squalor? Or used to the chaotic management?"
"I'm used to the air here. Living here makes me feel comfortable. I can't be bothered to move somewhere else." Dr. Li closed the freezer. "Let's go. Check the next room."
He turned his back to Chen Ge, carrying the black bag, and deliberately walked past him.
Chen Ge was holding his backpack. His gaze wasn't fixed on Dr. Li at all—instead, he was studying Qu Ying, who was looking rather nervous.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing." Qu Ying pressed a hand to his stomach and followed Dr. Li and Big Head out of the room.
Little Sun was about to leave as well, but Chen Ge seized his arm. "I want to ask you a question."
"Go ahead." Little Sun hadn't yet figured out who the killer was and was frowning in deep thought.
"When the electrician was killed, did you hear something?"
"Not much, really. But I got the feeling the electrician somehow knew Aunt Ding and Dr. Li. They didn't seem like ordinary neighbors." Little Sun could pick up on details—he just tended to think too narrowly.
"They were close, yet Aunt Ding and Dr. Li were determined to kill the electrician. Why do you think that was?"
"Silencing a witness?"
"Exactly. The electrician was a degenerate who preyed on the weak. Aunt Ding was a psychologically disturbed human trafficker. And the most terrifying one of all is Dr. Li—he's been orchestrating everything." Chen Ge dropped this bombshell in one breath, the sheer volume of information staggering.
"When did you find all this out? Why are you only saying it now? What are you planning?" Little Sun was horrified at the thought that he had been running around the entire building in pursuit of a killer, guided by the actual killer himself. He no longer dared to trust anyone.
"Everyone has their own secrets, and you're no exception. It's just that some people's secrets don't hurt anyone, while others' secrets are built on causing harm to others." Chen Ge gently patted Little Sun's shoulder. "Human nature is the most complex thing in the world—it's what makes each person utterly unique. I won't force you to make any particular choice, but I hope you'll think it through carefully before deciding what to do."
Little Sun's appearance behind Xiang Nuan's door meant he himself likely had some issues, but he hadn't been assimilated by that environment. The darkness around him hadn't dragged him under. His mysterious disappearance outside the door was probably connected to that same reason.
Chen Ge felt Little Sun could be won over. He had been observing him the whole way.
Gaining Chen Ge's trust in the world behind a door was no easy feat—Chen Ge was never the type to trust people readily. However, he did have one advantage: once he truly trusted someone, he rarely wavered.
"No matter what happens next, your first priority is to protect yourself. Stop running your mouth."
Before, Little Sun had been nothing more than a stranger to Chen Ge. Whether the man lived or died hadn't concerned him much—at best, he might lend a hand if it was easy enough.
Now that Chen Ge wanted Little Sun as an ally, he naturally wasn't going to let him keep blurting things out and inviting trouble.
After hearing Chen Ge's words, Little Sun looked puzzled but nodded instinctively.
A scream echoed down the hallway—Big Head. Chen Ge stepped out of Room 1006 and saw Big Head sitting on the corridor floor, clutching his stomach as blood seeped through the bandages.
Big Head's condition had worsened. During their search, Dr. Li had suggested he go back and rest, but Big Head had refused flatly. He seemed to know what might be coming next and wanted to stay to help Dr. Li.