A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 425 Hidden Commonalities

The incident happened so suddenly that even the hotel security guards didn't react immediately. After a moment of stunned silence, they quickly grabbed their tools and rushed forward to set up barriers to cordon off the scene.

Ning Zhe folded his wings and hid motionless in the gaps between the leaves of the money tree, silently observing how things would unfold.

First, two new guests who originally wanted to check in cancelled their reservations at the front desk. They just wanted to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible, but they were stopped by the security guard at the door. The hotel apologized to the two guests, but they needed to stay to cooperate with the police investigation, which might take some time. Everyone present felt the same way.

Police cars quickly arrived at the hotel entrance, and the scene was taken over by the police. The two customers who were supposed to check in were briefly questioned and then released. The hotel cooperated by providing the identities of the two deceased, their room bookings, and the corridor surveillance footage from yesterday to today.

Ning Zhe hid in the shadows and listened to the police investigation process and their initial deductions about the cause and effect.

"There were two deceased. The man was Li Shunan, 20 years old, and the woman was Ding Wanqiu, 21 years old."

"The two are a couple, both local students from Jiaotong University. They checked into the Vanilla Hotel at 15:11 p.m. yesterday and did not leave their room after that. They only had the staff deliver food and drinks to them during dinner time."

"At 08:53 this morning, the front desk heard a heavy thud. Surveillance footage showed two people, both naked, falling from the 16th floor together. Along with them fell broken railings and glass shards. The two landed directly on the concrete ground without any cushioning and died on the spot."

"Police found a lot of bedding in the couple's room and detected bodily fluids on the balcony floor. They speculated that the two were engaging in sexual activity on the balcony for thrills, and the railing could not support their weight and broke on the spot, causing them to fall to their deaths."

This is the initial assessment made by the police.

The basic outline of the matter is clear. The only point of doubt is the hotel's balcony railing, which is made of stainless steel frame and tempered glass. Its load-bearing capacity is far greater than the weight of two adults, so this situation should not have occurred.

The specific cause still needs further investigation and analysis to check whether there are any safety hazards such as metal fatigue or structural aging, and then specific accountability will be pursued.

Police collected the deceased's body, notified relatives from both sides to come and claim it, and took several people involved in the case for questioning.

After this incident, the hotel guests were all on edge and checked out one after another, with many leaving the hotel.

After watching the police car leave, Ning Zhe returned to his 27th floor.

In the bedroom, Feng Yushu was lying alone on the bed, her plump, snow-white legs pressed tightly together, her face covered by a garment, from which came heavy breathing and chuckles. Ning Zhefei took a closer look and saw that it was the undershirt he had changed out of yesterday and hadn't washed.

Ning Zhe landed lightly on the floor beside the bed, transformed back into his original form, and gently poked Feng Yushu's chest with his finger.

"Ah!" Feng Yushu jolted awake and hurriedly sat up.

……You've got it.

The shirt covering her face slipped down to her legs. Looking up, she saw Ning Zhe's ambiguous smile. A fleeting look of panic crossed Feng Yushu's face. She covered her chest with her hands, her face flushed with embarrassment: "How could you poke so accurately..."

"What do you think?" Ning Zhe said with a half-smile.

Feng Yushu's blush faded slightly. She lowered her hands from her chest, straightened her back, and said, "...Want to guess again?"

So Ning Zhe reached out and poked it again.

Feng Yushu's shoulders jerked suddenly, her body instinctively curled up, her back arched sensitively, and her eyes looked at him with watery eyes.

Judging from this reaction, I guessed right again.

Ning Zhe reached out and pinched his aunt's soft cheek, saying, "Alright, we have serious business to attend to now. We can play later." Upon hearing this, Feng Yushu quickly suppressed her girlish charm, sat up straight, and asked seriously, "Have you discovered something?"

"Two people died downstairs. They fell from the 16th floor. They were a young couple," Ning Zhe said. "The man's name was Li Shun'an. You should remember him."

Feng Yushu nodded. She had indeed noticed this boy named Li Shunan when she used her special assignment to investigate the hotel guests yesterday, but she never expected him to die today.

"He fell to his death..."

After listening to Ning Zhe's brief account of the scene cleanup and the police's deductions, Feng Yushu had to admit that they were indeed very reasonable. From any perspective, this was an accidental death, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, the main party responsible would be the hotel, which had failed to fulfill its security screening obligations.

That's theoretically true, but based on the intuition of those who have encountered many bizarre events, Feng Yushu felt there must be other reasons behind it.

Ning Zhe's 'intuition' was far more acute than hers.

“We had just arrived yesterday when someone cut their wrists in the bathtub, and then today someone fell from the building.”

Ning Zhe sat down on the edge of the bed as he spoke, and Feng Yushu moved closer, resting her chin on Ning Zhe's shoulder as she listened quietly to him:
"Then there's that artist on the 21st floor named Xia Hua. We noticed he seemed off in the elevator this morning. Later, I sneaked into his apartment and found him sulking alone in the bathroom. His graphics tablet was broken. He must have encountered some trouble."

A girl pretends to cut her wrists in the bathtub, a young couple falls to their deaths from the balcony, and artist Xia Hua is unusually depressed...

"These three things seem unrelated on the surface, but beneath the surface, they may share some common characteristics."

Ning Zhe put his arm around the slender waist of the beautiful mature woman beside him and said softly, "It's just that we don't have enough information right now to determine what the commonalities are in these matters."

We can't just sit and wait any longer; we have to investigate.

"Auntie, I need you to go find the hotel manager or a waiter and ask about the girl who faked cutting her wrists yesterday. It would be best if you could get the footage from that hidden camera."

Ning Zhe said, "I'll go check on that painter named Xia Hua and see what's bothering him."

Feng Yushu nodded obediently: "I understand."

"Then be careful," Ning Zhe said softly.

Ning Zhe sat on the bed for a while, but Feng Yushu did not get up and leave, which made him a little puzzled.

"What's wrong?" Ning Zhe asked.

Turning his head, he saw his aunt sitting beside him, staring at him intently with her eyes unblinking, her lively gaze seeming to speak volumes.

Feng Yushu pursed her lips slightly, her moist lips carrying a hint of sweet osmanthus fragrance; it turned out she had applied new lipstick.

Ning Zhe lowered his head and gently kissed her lips, tasting the sweet fragrance of osmanthus on his tongue: "Alright, go on now."

"Hmm." Feng Yushu stood up with satisfaction and went to change her clothes, slipping on her slippers.

(End of this chapter)