Returning from the abyss

Chapter 250 The Lake House
There were no screams, no nightmares, and no heavy atmosphere from waking up early in the morning.When Lu Ning left the RV early in the morning and walked into the hotel, the scene she saw was no different from the first day.

Carl is cutting a roast while Robert is packing some food.In addition, many early risers also came downstairs, preparing the things they would bring to the lake house today.Although everyone looked like they were going on an outing, they were not lacking in caution. They had to bring all the food, water and tools by themselves.

"Speaking of... if you want to stay all night, what about the lighting?" Sugiyama Rio asked a question that no one had thought much about.

At this time, electricity has appeared, but it is not very popular. In Baihu Town, hotels and some newly built houses are connected by wires, but most of the houses are not connected to electricity.

"I really didn't pay attention to the power situation there, maybe there is no power?" Sally scratched her head.

"I asked the boss, no." Just then Yiluo walked in, "The local people don't know who the owner of the villa is, but a few women have received the job of cleaning and replenishing supplies on time. So there is no waste. There is no electricity, if you want to go, it is best to go to the grocery store to prepare items such as candles or flashlights. In addition, the boss does not know what the relationship between the lake house and the witch is."

"Is the door locked there?" Carl asked.

"There is no lock." Yi Luo crossed his arms and said a little uneasy, "This is indeed very suspicious."

"Then you can check how the salary is paid." Lu Ning quickly prepared a plate of breakfast for herself, "I'll leave this morning to ask."

"Aren't you going to the cottage?"

"It's a short four-kilometer drive. I have a car."

After Lu Ning said this, she immediately received several envious looks.

"In addition, I have some things to do in the town, and I will go there in the afternoon. I won't wait until it gets dark, don't worry."

"Do you need someone to stay with you?" Carl asked, "It's dangerous to move alone."

"Borrowing from Ms. Detective's words... I also have the means to protect myself, so don't worry about my safety."

She nodded to Carl, clapping her hands on her waist.Although Carl was not particularly relieved, he still respected Lu Ning's meaning.

Soon the first batch of people who decided to set off decided. Sally and Luo Nan led the team with two off-road vehicles, carrying Carl, Robert, Zhu You and Qiu Yiyun to the lakeside hut.Then the four Qu Siyuan brothers walked over not long after, and drew a topographic map on the way.

There are other things that Lu Ning doesn't mention about the others, and Yu Guiting still has to go to the mayor's house to inquire about the lakeside hut and their elders.Kiyotaro Asayama wanted to ask the forest ranger to confirm what happened before.Only Xia Xinhe and his wife didn't care when they acted and what they were going to do.

According to the address she asked from the hotel owner, Lu Ning found a house in the town who was in charge of cleaning the hut.

The hostess here is a woman in her 40s who usually handles some agricultural products at home, so Lu Ning happened to be at home when she found her.

After listening to the inquiry about the lake house, the hostess told the story unpreparedly.

"That was... About three years ago, our harvest was not particularly good, and when we were worrying about how to survive the winter, we found a letter in the mailbox at the door one morning."

"Working?"

"Yes, there is a job mentioned in the letter. We need to replenish supplies for the lake house on the 15st and No. [-] of every month, and the cleaning is from [-] pm to [-] pm every Tuesday. This time is fixed. , no delay is allowed. And as long as I finish this job, I can get a good income every month..." The voice of the hostess gradually weakened, "Shouldn't I accept it?"

"No, it has nothing to do with this. You are not doing things like replenishing supplies alone, are you?"

"Yes, there are now seven women from the town who are in charge together. After all, the place is a bit big, and if there are not enough people, it can't be cleaned."

"Where did the supplies come from?"

"There is a warehouse on the west side of the town. We will receive a letter one day in advance, and we can use that letter to get the day's supplies from the warehouse manager."

"Then how are your salaries paid to you?"

"It's all about sending letters."

Lu Ning nodded slightly: "Can you show me the letter?"

The hostess hesitated for a moment, and Lu Ning immediately said: "Did your employer tell you not to tell others? If not, then you can do so."

This made the hostess a little dizzy, and she finally went back to the room and took out some letters.

Lu Ning checked carefully. There are only two types of letters here, not including the earliest job invitation.There was no handwriting on the letter used to replenish supplies, only a seal and a signature that was too flowery to tell what it was.The salary in the salary letter has been taken away, there is only a document recording the working hours of the hostess here and the corresponding salary amount, and there is only a seal under the document.

These two seals are both round, like a three-pronged fork pattern inserted on the ground. The ink pad used is of good quality. Lu Ning twisted it a little hard and it didn't appear to be dyed, while the letter paper had a natural grassy texture. Fragrant breath.

"I want to keep two copies for reference, is that okay?" Lu Ning asked.

"This... won't cause me to lose this job, will it?"

"It's just two out-of-date letters. You can throw them into the trash can and be picked up, right?"

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Lu Ning's pace was not slow, and by the time it was almost noon, she had already visited all seven households that had been entrusted with cleaning work.These families received the entrustment at different times. The earliest one was in charge of this job seven years ago, and the result from their inquiries was that the number of people cleaning the house seemed to maintain this number forever, and Lu Ning went smoothly To get to the addresses of those who gave up the job.

She put the collected letters back into the caravan, and happened to see Xia Xinhe and his wife driving an old car and hurriedly heading towards Baisha Lake.

"Hmm..." She thought for a while, but didn't pay much attention to it.

At noon, she bought a piece of bread from the bakery, and then took Lima's research notes from the nearby grocery store.

If Lima had discovered any secrets about the lakeside hut, then the place where he said in the end that he would cultivate the witch's heart probably had something to do with it.Taking advantage of the time, Lu Ning found a family that looked relatively wealthy. The two-story building was obviously a new building, and the antenna on the roof could even be seen.

"Mrs. Taylor, I'm here to ask you something." After seeing the hostess here, Lu Ning still directly cut to the point.

Mrs. Taylor is an older woman in her 50s with a slightly obese body. She didn't let Lu Ning into the house, but looked at her warily: "I don't know you, miss."

"It's like this. I'm a traveler who passed by here by accident. I met some friends. We plan to stay at the lake house for one night, but I don't know who the owner is. I heard that you used to work there. Do you know Any relevant news?"

"Stay for one night? The owner there? I don't know who the owner is. I stopped doing that job five years ago. Wouldn't it be nice to ask those who are still doing that job now?"

"Unfortunately, they don't know either. I think you, who suddenly resigned, might know something to visit... Let me tell you directly, I think it's suspicious, but I don't have any evidence to convince those friends, That's why I came here to find some evidence."

The words Lu Ning said clearly hit Mrs. Taylor's mood, and her expression relaxed a little: "You also think it's weird? You haven't been there, why do you think so?"

"At first I just thought, but the more I inquired, the more I felt that there was a problem. The owner there never showed up, but he kept asking for the maintenance of the villa. The letter sent to you has a detailed work report, which proves that the owner there is in your house. There is a way of watching you guys when you go to work. In the end, you only ship supplies in, so who consumes them? Why is there no work to ship old items out? All this makes me think that the hut The villa is really not reassuring."

After saying these words, Lu Ning's wrist was immediately held by Mrs. Taylor, and she was quickly pulled into the room.

"Look! I don't think anyone doesn't care about those problems!" Mrs. Taylor seemed to see a confidant, "I just left early one day because my daughter was sick and came back to take care of her, and the next month's salary will be deducted from my salary for that week. An hour's wages! But at that time, no one was in or near that villa except a few of us!"

"Is it because of this that you feel something is wrong?"

"It's even more terrifying in the back, I just complained at the time, thinking that the owner knew about it because he watched us go home somewhere in the town, but the next day I received a letter explaining it! "

Mrs. Taylor waved her hand and took out a letter from the drawer, and stuffed it into Lu Ning's hands excitedly: "Look! Look!"

Lu Ning unfolded the envelope.

[Dear Mrs. Taylor:

Your salary for leaving the job early in the second week of the previous working month is deducted according to our agreement, but you complain about "just leaving the job for special reasons", I will explain it.

I'm not overly heavy on what you've provided and the content is simple.Correspondingly, we do not have any clauses such as sick leave, you do not have to work, and I will only deduct the corresponding part of your salary, because I have not received your services.

I sympathize with your daughter's illness, but this matter has nothing to do with the services I should enjoy, please understand.

Just in case, allow me to remind again:
If no work is performed within two work weeks, I will consider you dismissed from this position and no further pay will be given.

wish you a happy life. 】

A very formulaic letter, there is nothing wrong with the text, the problem is the letter itself.

"That man is spying on me! Watching my family! Has anyone ever wondered how he knows that we are in a difficult situation and need money? No one! Everyone went to work happily..."

"Mrs. Taylor, please calm down, at least now you are no longer working for that person, aren't you?"

"But how can I be sure that I'm not being watched?" Taylor retracted into the chair, holding his head in his hands, "Since I resigned, I really haven't received any letters, but that made me even more disturbed... I I can't even confirm it!"

"Your family has already left."

"That's right, I asked them to leave." Mrs. Taylor said in a trembling voice, "There are problems with that hut, and the owner there! I don't want to stay here anymore, so I got them to agree to move... You came too late Coincidentally, I will leave this town tomorrow too."

She raised her head and smiled weakly at Lu Ning.

"Thank you for listening to me so much, girl, I still advise you not to go to that hut casually. To be honest, I have not received any threats or intimidation. Everyone thinks I am imaginary..."

"I believe not. People have strong intuition when facing danger. I believe you have made a judgment that you will never regret in your life." Lu Ning reached out to hold Mrs. Taylor's hands to calm her down, "very Sorry for reminding you of this."

"No... finally someone who can believe in me let me say these words, and I feel a lot better."

"That way I can feel a little more at ease. Can I take this letter away? It can also be used to convince my companions." Lu Ning shook the envelope.

"Of course, kind girl." Mrs. Taylor nodded.

After leaving the family, Lu Ning went to the blacksmith's shop to get the dagger she needed.The blacksmith's skills are still very good, the dagger is small and sharp, Lu Ning tried it with a scrap of iron sheet, and the iron sheet of about two millimeters can be pierced with a little effort.

"Good stuff, isn't it an ordinary ore?"

"Hehe, this is made of stones from the mine in the southwest, and I don't have a few pieces in my hand." The blacksmith's simple and honest face showed a little shrewd look, "After mixing those metals, whether it is hardness, toughness or durability The degree of wear and tear has been greatly improved, but it is a pity that that kind of ore can only be picked up by luck, and no one dares to mine it on a large scale."

"Why? If it is such a good thing, there should be many mining companies willing to mine it?" Lu Ning asked.

"Dead people! I came back three or four times. After three or four days of mining, the mine collapsed and exploded. After seven or eight people died, the project had to be stopped urgently. Over time, no one came. Like us, we can only stroll around the outer circle for a while. Pick it up."

"It's a story with a touch of fantasy." Lu Ning put the money that was about three times the price on the blacksmith's workbench, "Then this dagger will be even more valuable, and it may be one of the most meaningful collections during my journey. one."

"Hahaha, it's yours anyway, have fun, ma'am."

And when Lu Ning returned to the hotel car, it was also the time when the last group of people were ready to leave.

The three of Yu Guiting also have a caravan, and it looks more luxurious than Lu Ning's. Qingtaro Asayama and the others only have a van, which is a little bigger than a van. Five people can squeeze in it, plus The luggage is really a bit too much to sit on.

"Doctor Lu, can you help us?" Kiyotaro Asayama had no choice but to ask Lu Ning for help.

"Why do you have so much luggage?" Lu Ning poked her head out of the car window and saw their embarrassment.

"It's because I didn't dissuade you in time..."

"We accidentally bought too much!!" Rio Sugiyama yelled.

Finally, after negotiating for a long time, the stern Fujii Xueyin sat in Lu Ning's co-pilot seat.

(End of this chapter)