FIMA Ch32: Strength

Through this encounter, Wang Xue and Ji Haoying of the Yellow Group gained a completely new understanding of Gu Siyuan.

It turned out this live audience member wasn’t here to drag them down, but was an actual “big thigh” (carry).

Regardless of whether they could solve the puzzle in the end, just based on this boss’s skills alone, at the very least they wouldn’t have to desperately run and hide the moment they saw an NPC. Now they actually had time to slowly search for evidence and clues.

The three continued forward, searching for clues and NPCs.

Gu Siyuan stopped in front of a door.

The door of the adjacent room suddenly opened, and a plump woman dressed in a cheongsam stood in the doorway.

“The Master isn’t here. Do you have business with him?”

This was a rare, clear-headed person they had met since coming upstairs.

Wang Xue cherished this opportunity and smiled: “First Wife?”

The woman nodded and said gently: “No one is allowed to casually approach the Master’s study. You should leave quickly.”

“Okay,” Gu Siyuan replied, then asked, “Then do you know where Master Bai has gone now?”

“At this time, normally he should be listening to opera at the Fourth Wife’s place,” the First Wife said almost without thinking. After speaking, she immediately slapped her own arm: “Oh my, I forgot, I’m afraid that won’t do today. He probably went to drink tea at the Second Wife’s place.”

Saying this, she didn’t seem in high spirits and repeatedly cautioned: “You guys can go look around elsewhere, just don’t stay here at the study door. The Master’s study is very private and important.”

Gu Siyuan and the others nodded in agreement.

The First Wife then closed the door with a smack.

Gu Siyuan glanced at an ornamental ironwork model placed not far away, reached out to feel it, and soon after, a short, thin strip of iron appeared in his palm.

Wang Xue realized: “You’re going to pick the lock?”

Ji Haoying was also surprised: “Boss, you even have this skill?”

“First time, might not succeed.” Gu Siyuan bent down slightly, successfully inserted the thin iron strip into the keyhole of the study door, and at the same time pressed his ear against it.

The other two also bent down, watching closely.

Right at this moment, a crisp click sounded.

Gu Siyuan raised his hand, pushed the door, and it opened.

Wang Xue and Ji Haoying exchanged a glance. Is this the level of the boss’s ‘first time’?

After entering the study, the group didn’t need any prompting and began searching individually.

Using his old trick, Gu Siyuan picked the locks of two drawers on the desk. Inside were basically money orders, contracts, account books, and the like.

Besides those, there was a leather-bound diary.

Gu Siyuan opened it directly. Although it could be seen that the diary was started a long time ago, the number of entries written so far wasn’t many. The dates were sometimes only a few days apart, and sometimes more than half a year apart. Moreover, the content of each entry was very concise, all consisting of just a few sentences.

Gu Siyuan flipped through it page by page.

Wang Xue leaned over, her eyes lighting up: “Is this a diary?”

“Mn,” Gu Siyuan responded verbally without moving his gaze.

Watching his movements, Ji Haoying asked: “Flipping so fast, Boss, have you confirmed any clues?”

Gu Siyuan: “Pretty much.”

This diary wasn’t considered large; with three people crowded together, they couldn’t see clearly anyway.

Wang Xue and Ji Haoying left the desk to continue searching.

They felt along the books on the bookshelf one by one. Suddenly, Wang Xue noticed that the hardness of a certain thick tome was abnormal.

She called Ji Haoying over: “Here, here.”

The two worked together to pull the book down, revealing a compact safe behind the bookshelf.

Just at this time, Gu Siyuan finished reading the diary and walked over as well.

Wang Xue asked proactively: “Boss, can you open the safe?”

Gu Siyuan’s expression remained unchanged: “I’ll try.”

Wang Xue and Ji Haoying watched as he neither used the iron strip nor listened with his ear, but directly reached out and started turning the combination dial.

Then, after four consecutive clack sounds, the safe door opened.

“This, this…” The two exchanged a glance.

Isn’t this too unscientific?

In a rare moment of kindness, Gu Siyuan explained: “I just saw in the diary that almost every year on August 12th, Master Bai would write an entry filled with nostalgic lamentations. I figured this date probably had some special significance, so I casually gave it a try.”

Ji Haoying raised his hand: “Wait, weren’t you just randomly flipping through it earlier? In such a short time, not only did you finish reading the content, but you even memorized the dates?”

Gu Siyuan remained unfazed: “In passing.”

“Uhh…” Wang Xue and Ji Haoying drew a breath of cold air.

Gu Siyuan reached in and took out the items from the safe. Aside from some gold bars and land deeds, there was one very special item—an English report.

Wang Xue and Ji Haoying were instantly dumbfounded.

Both of them had attended arts academies back in the day, and their grades were average to begin with. Not to mention, the English on this report consisted almost entirely of obscure vocabulary words.

At a glance, apart from the title “The… of…” at the very top, the words “Dear Sir” at the beginning of the report, and the bilingual Chinese-English signature at the very bottom, they basically didn’t recognize a single word.

They subconsciously turned their gazes to Gu Siyuan, only to see that the boss was indeed reading it seriously.

About five seconds later, Gu Siyuan stuffed the report back into the safe and returned everything to its original state.

Wang Xue asked curiously: “Boss, what was written in that English?”

The two completely didn’t suspect that Gu Siyuan reading it so seriously just now might have been him pretending to understand when he didn’t.

And sure enough, Gu Siyuan didn’t disappoint: “It’s a medical diagnosis report.”

Ji Haoying: “Goodness, eighty years ago medical diagnoses were issued in English. Doesn’t that mean we’ve regressed now?”

Gu Siyuan shook his head: “It’s progress. Back then, Western hospitals were mostly dominated by foreigners, and only the powerful and wealthy could afford to go, which is why reports were issued in English. Today’s hospitals are all our own people.”

Hearing this, Wang Xue and Ji Haoying immediately smiled knowingly.

The three came out of the study and continued walking forward.

Right at this moment, they encountered the three members of the Red Group coming head-on.

However, the other party clearly wasn’t as relaxed as they were. Each one of them was panting heavily, looking as if they had just escaped from some terrifying place.

Thus, upon seeing the Yellow Group’s leisurely appearance, Teacher Li became curious: “Did you guys not go looking for clues?”

Gu Siyuan asked back: “You guys came from the Eldest Young Master’s place?”

Teacher Li nodded: “This girl Yanyan asked if he was the one who killed his little brother, and as a result, he blew up and chased us like crazy…”

Gu Siyuan nodded: “I see.”

“Wait…” Qi Ran said in surprise: “Brother Siyuan, how did you know it was the Eldest Young Master who chased us?”

Gu Siyuan didn’t answer.

Teacher Li was stunned for a moment, but then quickly reacted: “This second floor is where Master Bai, the First Wife, the Second Wife, and the Eldest Young Master live. It seems you guys encountered the others.”

Gu Siyuan nodded: “Pretty much.”

Wang Xue and Ji Haoying exchanged a glance. Apart from encountering the First Wife and the fat chef rushing out from the servants’ quarters in the stairwell, we didn’t encounter anyone else…

At this time, Gu Siyuan turned to the two of them and said: “We’ve pretty much seen enough here. Let’s go to the third floor and check the scene!”

After saying that, he walked toward the direction of the stairs.

Naturally, Wang Xue and Ji Haoying had no objections to his words and directly followed him.

Looking at the backs of the three people, Teacher Li narrowed his small eyes with a shrewd look: “It seems this temporary helper is someone with real skills.”

Qi Ran first nodded, then smiled and said: “But it’s fine. Although we were chased, we did obtain some clues.”

“Mn.” The three members of the Red Group exchanged glances, all in quite good moods.

At this very moment, at a certain corner on the third floor, there were two figures still reeling from shock—precisely the two guys from the Green Group.

Earlier, after seeing the eyeball under the door gap, Xi Shuang resolutely abandoned her teammate and fled. All that talk about sincere cooperation, not abandoning, and not giving up had become an empty promise.

However, Xie Jinzhao was ultimately a guy. Although his starting speed was slightly slower than hers, in the end, the two arrived screaming together at the corner of the corridor.

Afterward, the two had been resting against the wall.

After an unknown amount of time, Xi Shuang looked at Xie Jinzhao and said: “We can’t be like this anymore. We need to stay calm and cooperate. These things are actually all fake, there’s absolutely no need to be scared.”

Xie Jinzhao nodded, saying with a cold, indifferent face: “Mn, you’re right. Otherwise, even if we survive safely, we won’t get a single clue, and this game will still be a failure.”

Xi Shuang nodded: “Just like we agreed at the beginning: don’t abandon, don’t give up.”

Xie Jinzhao nodded: “Don’t abandon, don’t give up.”

“Bao’er… Bao’er…” (TN: Bao’er translates to “precious baby/child”)

Right at this moment, a shrill, drawn-out cry came from behind them, moving from far to near.

The two swallowed a mouthful of saliva and looked back simultaneously.

They saw a young woman with disheveled long hair, wearing a nightgown, smiling lightly. Appearing as if her feet weren’t touching the ground, she slowly walked towards their direction.

Upon seeing Xie Jinzhao and Xi Shuang, her speed visibly increased, while her blood-red mouth opened and closed: “Where is my Bao’er? Was it you… did you steal my Bao’er?”

Xie Jinzhao and Xi Shuang exchanged a glance, screamed in unison, and then each transformed into a gust of wind, bolting forward.

All the prior agreements to stay calm and cooperate were completely treated as non-existent.

However, this castle was an open rectangle. They were originally at a corner, and running further forward only led to a dead-end room.

Xie Jinzhao reached the end of the corridor first.

Xi Shuang, flailing her arms behind him, screamed “Wait for me”, only to find there was completely no way out. Her face instantly turned pale, eyes full of despair.

In a flash of inspiration, she grabbed Xie Jinzhao’s sleeve next to her: “You’re a guy, can’t you beat her? Hurry up, go beat her up!”

As soon as these words came out, the sinister gaze of the young woman in the nightgown directly locked onto Xi Shuang.

“Ah!” Xi Shuang pulled at Xie Jinzhao: “Go, go quickly!”

“I never lay hands on women!” Xie Jinzhao gritted his teeth and refused.

“She’s not human, she’s a female ghost!” Xi Shuang trembled in fear.

Suddenly, Xie Jinzhao felt a loss of control behind his back, tilting sideways.

He turned his head to look. The door he had been leaning against was actually unlocked, and was now slightly ajar.

Joy appeared on Xie Jinzhao’s face.

However, the next moment, his entire body tilted as a violent impact struck his side. Xi Shuang beside him turned into a bolt of lightning, shoved him aside, entered the room first, and closed the door with a bang.

“…” Xie Jinzhao.

Right at this moment, the sound of footsteps suddenly came from the top of the stairs on the other side of the corridor.

The young woman in the nightgown’s expression changed, and she turned her head, slowly walking back to where she came from.

Xie Jinzhao breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and lightly patted the door: “The person is gone, quickly let me in.”

Xi Shuang cautiously opened the door to let him in.

The two exchanged dry smiles, completely avoiding any mention of their mutual abandonment and betrayal just now.

With a cold, pretty face, Xie Jinzhao spoke with the benefit of hindsight: “We were still too nervous just now. Looking at her, she might not have attacked us. She might just be the Fourth Concubine, the biological mother of the dead child. We could actually try asking her for some clues.”

Xi Shuang also nodded: “Right, we can’t do this next time. We were both too agitated. We still need to stay calm and cooperate.”

Xie Jinzhao agreed.

“Hehe… hehe…” Right at this moment, a light, airy, and crisp chuckle suddenly sounded inside the room.

The two exchanged a glance and began to scream frantically, “Ahhhh…”, scrambling and crawling toward the door.

However, when Xi Shuang came in earlier, she locked it too tightly, bolting every lock available. In their flustered panic, and dealing with Republican-era keys, they couldn’t open it at all for the moment.

“Ahhhh…” Xi Shuang yelled anxiously: “It’s all your fault, why are there so many locks?”

Xie Jinzhao was even angrier: “You came in a minute earlier than me, didn’t you notice there was someone inside?”

Knock knock… knock knock…

Right at this moment, a rhythmic knocking sound also rang out from outside the door.

Xie Jinzhao had one leg braced against the wooden door to leverage himself while unlocking it. These few knocks scared him into dodging to the side, terrified that a hole would suddenly burst open in the door, followed by a large, blood-red hand reaching in.

“What do we do, what do we do?” Xi Shuang also broke down: “A wolf in front and a tiger behind, we’re dead.”

“Open the door.”

At the right moment, a cold male voice sounded from outside the door.

“Ahhh…” Xi Shuang was shocked: “This ghost actually knows how to speak?”

Xie Jinzhao also had lingering fears: “And the voice is so chilly. It must be a century-old vengeful ghost…”

“Open the door. If you don’t open it, I’m picking the lock.” The voice outside grew even colder and sterner.

Xi Shuang grabbed Xie Jinzhao: “What do we do, this ghost even knows how to pick locks, and he’s threatening us.”

But she noticed Xie Jinzhao suddenly fell silent.

She shook Xie Jinzhao’s shoulder, saying despairingly: “My god, you didn’t pass out from fear, did you? Don’t tell me I have to face this alone next…”

Xie Jinzhao’s shoulder trembled. He swatted her hand away, saying hesitantly: “No, I feel… the one outside might not be a ghost.”

“Huh?” Xi Shuang was confused.

Xie Jinzhao’s hand rested on the lock catch again. Perhaps because he knew who the person outside was, his heart instantly settled. The lock that couldn’t be undone no matter what just now was opened very smoothly this time.

With a slight exertion of force from his wrist, he pulled back lightly, and a handsome face filled with icy frost entered his view.

Xie Jinzhao breathed a sigh of relief and even let out a light chuckle.

“What, the century-old vengeful ghost coming to take your dog life is right before your eyes, and knowing your time of death is near, you’ve decided to smash the cracked pot—giving up and acting recklessly?” Gu Siyuan said expressionlessly.

“Ah…” Xie Jinzhao was embarrassed.

What do I do when I’ve offended my manager and boss?

Wang Xue covered her mouth and laughed: “Goodness, you guys actually mistook our group’s ‘big thigh’ for a vengeful ghost?”

Xie Jinzhao raised his hands in surrender: “I was wrong.”

Xi Shuang followed suit: “I was wrong too.”

Ji Haoying looked at the two of them and revealed a rather surprised expression: “You two haven’t been eliminated yet? It seems you’ve cooperated quite well?”

Xie Jinzhao and Xi Shuang exchanged a glance and smiled simultaneously.

Xi Shuang shamelessly boasted: “You flatter us. Both of us are rational and calm people with a sense of cooperation, so we’ve actually found quite a few clues. What about you guys, how are things…”

Xie Jinzhao also asked Gu Siyuan: “You guys came up to the third floor so quickly, didn’t you find any clues on the second floor?”

Gu Siyuan shot him a glance and didn’t speak.

Ji Haoying, however, was eager to show off: “We know nothing, but Mr. Gu said he has it figured out and already knows who the murderer is, just temporarily lacking the crucial evidence.”

Xie Jinzhao remained composed on the surface, but his heart surged wildly.

Holy crap, this godforsaken place is so terrifying, and there’s actually someone who still had time to look for clues? Instead of running around blindly in fear?

When the variety show airs, won’t this make my group look like completely useless garbage?

“Hehe… hehe…”

Suddenly, that extremely light and crisp chuckle rang out from the room behind them again. If they weren’t in this gloomy old castle, this laughter would actually sound extremely innocent and romantic.

Gu Long once said, the three types of people you absolutely shouldn’t provoke while wandering the martial world are monks, women, and children.

Leaving monks aside for now, in horror stories—especially Chinese horror stories—women and children are truly what makes people’s hearts chill. Have you not seen that many suspense and horror movies use the laughter of women and children or terrifying nursery rhymes as their opening or ending?

Therefore, at this very moment, apart from Gu Siyuan, the other four people all tightened their brows. Xie Jinzhao even directly grabbed Gu Siyuan’s sleeve, hiding behind him.

Although Mr. Gu was also terrifying, when facing ghosts and monsters, he possessed a great deterrent force.

Mn, “Ghost’s Despair” was probably a good nickname.

In this brief moment, a person slowly twirled out from within the room—she truly just twirled out.

A young girl wearing a peach-red ballet outfit, with thick white powder smeared on her face and blood-red lips resembling a ghost, appeared before them just like that, twirling, dancing, and giggling.

In the gloomy, dilapidated castle, a young dancing girl—this contrast was far too intense.

Gu Siyuan snapped his fingers.

The girl looked over curiously, but her feet never stopped moving.

Gu Siyuan asked: “Are you the Young Miss of the Bai family?”

The girl shook her head: “I’m not, I’m the little swan.”

Wang Xue frowned.

With one hand in his pocket, Gu Siyuan nodded, following her words: “So you’re called the little swan. No wonder your dancing talent is so high?”

“…” Everyone.

Boss, are you spouting nonsense with your eyes wide open? They were all people from the entertainment circle; they could tell how good this dancing was.

However, the girl was clearly very happy.

“Hehe… giggle…” Truly like a white swan, her feet completely not touching the ground, she flew directly over.

Combined with that face smeared with white powder and blood-like lips, the visual impact was truly huge enough.

“Ah…”

The two ladies present couldn’t help but let out a scream.

Is this the black technology? Exclusively used to scare people? Unnecessary, truly unnecessary.

“Although your ballet talent is very high, it’s a pity you don’t seem to have received guidance from a famous teacher. Your acting expression is a bit outdated?” Gu Siyuan said.

The girl first puffed her cheeks angrily, then said with a hint of pleading: “Then what do you say I should do?”

Gu Siyuan pointed at Wang Xue: “I have a dance expert invited from Italy here. She can guide you, but I hope you can answer a few questions of mine.”

Seeing herself suddenly cued, Wang Xue was very excited. She finally had some value. She hurriedly performed a few classic ballet poses. If not for the inconvenience of her clothing, it probably would have been even better.

The girl no longer had the mind to care about anything else and immediately started following and learning, saying simultaneously: “Then ask away!”

Gu Siyuan said: “The night before last, did you hear any movements?”

“Ah…” The girl’s continuously dancing movements actually stumbled at this point, and she said in panic: “I know, you’re here to investigate the death of that poor child.”

Gu Siyuan nodded: “Yes.”

“Shh, you can’t say.” The girl’s distinct black-and-white eyes darted around, and at the same time, she stretched out a finger and gently blew: “You absolutely cannot let it hear. It is the Tathagata Buddha, it has clairvoyance and clairaudience. Leave quickly!”

After saying that, the girl directly twirled and drifted away.

Gu Siyuan extended his hand, wanting to grab her, but it stopped mid-air.

For the first time, he felt a bit annoyed with this black technology he had researched. If it were a real person, he would have directly grabbed and held her hostage; she wouldn’t have been able to run even if she wanted to, and he would have forced her to explain clearly.

Noises came from the stairs again, and then the three people from the Red Group walked out.

Seeing them staring blankly at a door with unpleasant expressions, Teacher Li chuckled and said: “It seems finding clues isn’t going very smoothly…”

“Mn,” Gu Siyuan responded.

Tugging at his sleeve, Xie Jinzhao gently shook it: “Actually, I have some clues. How about we cooperate?”

Gu Siyuan looked at him, his thin lips opening slightly: “Want to free-ride? Keep dreaming.”

“…” Xie Jinzhao.

For a person weighing over a hundred catties, how can the words you speak be so icy cold?

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