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Published at 30th of August 2023 11:13:35 AM


Chapter 247.1

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Bai Lixin pondered for a few seconds after hearing these words, “You disappeared first and then transformed into a hotel staff member. Is it also because of the golden room?”

The attendant’s eyes flickered for two seconds and then nodded, “Yes, that’s right.”

“Then, did you disappear at noon?” Bai Lixin asked.

The attendant was slightly startled but quickly nodded, “Guest, you’re quite smart
. You guessed it right again.”

The confusion in Bai Lixin’s eyes gradually dissipated, replaced by clarity. “So, the disappearance of the eldest son-in-law is also because of entering the golden room?”

The attendant was unable to keep up with Bai Lixin’s train of thought, but fortunately, answering his questions was simple. He used choice questions, so all she had to do was answer “yes” or “no.”

The attendant answered once again, “Yes.”

Bai Lixin fixed his gaze on the painting hanging on the wall, lost in thought. “Let me summarize the information I gathered from your answers just now.”

“First, the disappearance and mysterious deaths of the guests are all related to the golden room.”

“Noon is the time of disappearance, and nighttime is the time of death.”

“Am I right?”

The attendant opened her mouth, glanced at Bai Lixin, and nodded, “…Yes.”

With lowered eyelashes, Bai Lixin’s frowned slightly as he mused, “But why are there both disappearances and deaths?”

Countless fragmented images and fragmented information danced in his mind, like bubbles in boiling water, opening up one by one on the surface, only to burst suddenly.

The scalding bubbles burst in the air, transforming into a hazy mist.

The mist enveloped the sea, symbolizing the truth, but in an instant, the sea became blurred.

Mr. Oude’s golden powder-covered fingers, his elegant attire, Mrs. Oude’s sudden disappearance, Mrs. Nick catching the youngest daughter having an “affair” in the backyard, and the late night visitor Emil saw on the third floor at night…

Mr. Oude and Mrs. Nick’s bodies, the dark secrets of the Nick family, the resigned and indifferent expression of the youngest daughter, and the attendant’s secretiveness when it came to Mr. Oude.

Countless images and details flashed through Bai Lixin’s mind.

Among these tiny clues, he slowly grasped one.

“Both you and Mr. Oude entered the golden room, but Mr. Oude entered before you,” Bai Lixin looked at the attendant, “Mr. Oude was the first to enter the room, he is the beginning of the golden room.”

“When we discovered Mr. Oude on the first day, he was collapsed on the ground, dressed in formal attire.”

“He dressed like that for you, didn’t he?”

A hint of resentment from being hurt and betrayed flashed in the attendant’s eyes, and she chuckled self-deprecatingly, “Yes, we had our last lunch together, but unfortunately, I didn’t know anything at that time and was still full of joy.”

Bai Lixin caught the important keywords in her words, “So, Mr. Oude knew that you would disappear, but you didn’t?”

He suddenly looked up at the attendant, “Could it be that your disappearance was because of Mr. Oude?”

The attendant nodded, “Yes!”

Bai Lixin gazed at the attendant with a complex expression. It seemed that he had unraveled the secret of the golden room and what had happened between them.

Perhaps it was not something pleasant to hear.

“Did Mr. Oude have any obsession or wish? I noticed that his physical condition didn’t seem good,” Bai Lixin asked.

The attendant forced a smile, “He had a terminal illness and had only six months to live. He came here to see the legendary Eden before his death. The tickets were acquired at great cost, almost bankrupting us. I had planned to spend the last moments with him.”

Bai Lixin pondered for two seconds, “Let me give you my speculation, and you tell me if I’m right.”

“The golden room contains something that can lure humans inside. The stronger the desire, the stronger the attraction of the golden room.”

The maid stood quietly, her eyes becoming somewhat excited, and she didn’t refute Bai Lixin’s inference.

“So what happens after entering the room?” Bai Lixin pondered.

“According to what you said, you entered the golden room unknowingly, but Mr. Oude had the intention. Could it be that he used you to reach a deal with the golden room?”

“Like sacrificing you in exchange for a healthy body?”

The expression on the attendant’s face couldn’t be controlled any longer, and her eyes were filled with resentment.

“We were a married couple for forty years. I accompanied him through most of life’s ups and downs. In the end, he sold me for a worthless life,” she laughed bitterly.

“That day, he said he wanted to celebrate our golden wedding anniversary here, not attending the gathering but spending time together, just the two of us.”

“I wore a dress that I had only worn once in my life, preparing for this special date. He also wore his most precious tailcoat.”

“He seemed really affectionate that day. I had been doing all the household chores all my life, and when I was about to cut an apple, he said there was no need for me to do any more chores in the future.”

“At that moment, I thought he finally cared for me, but I didn’t expect him to mean something else.”

“At noon, I suddenly found myself in an unfamiliar place, leaving behind the warm room for two.”

“While we were having lunch, he talked a lot at the table. Thanking me for my long-term dedication, recalling the hardships of the past, and imagining the future…”

“Heh, I wasn’t even in the fantasy of the future. I still didn’t realize the problem. I thought he just forgot to mention me.”

“Until the moment the clock struck noon. I suddenly came to a strange place from the warm room of two.”

“There was no one around, but I could hear voices. Those voices told me that my husband had entered the golden room the previous night and used me as a sacrifice in exchange for a healthy body.”

Bai Lixin asked, “Besides the voices, did you see anything?”

The attendant replied, “I saw images. I saw my husband’s ecstatic expression when he realized his wish could come true, I saw him heartlessly abandoning me, and I saw his ecstatic face when he saw me vanish into thin air.”

“After I disappeared, he didn’t come looking for me. Instead, he celebrated with wine and apples.”

“It’s ridiculous. He used to ask me to peel every apple for him, saying he couldn’t eat them with the skin. But when I was gone, he enjoyed apples with their skin.”

“He never had an aversion to apples with their skin. He just wanted me to serve him.”

“My whole life has been a joke. When I was young, I gave up my dreams and dedicated myself to supporting him. I tried so hard to be a good wife. But what happened? I spent my whole life as a cow and a horse for him, only for him to use me as a stepping stone. He never loved me. He pretended to be loving, but he was only accustomed to my care. The only person he loved was himself.”

“But he never expected that it wasn’t over yet,” the attendant suddenly smiled mysteriously. “The wish in the golden room is only the first step, and the sacrifice is not a powerless object.”

“The golden room gives the sacrifice a chance to choose.”

As the attendant spoke slowly, she unraveled the final question that had troubled Bai Lixin. “As the sacrifice in the golden room, did you refuse the rights of the wisher?”

“If you agreed to be the sacrifice, Mr. Oude could indeed have a long life, but the cost would be your death.”

“But if you refused to be the sacrifice, the wisher, Mr. Oude, would meet his demise, and as the price of refusal, you would need to stay in the resort.”

The attendant looked at Bai Lixin with surprise, “How did you know?”

Bai Lixin responded, “If this resort demands that none of you can tell lies, then the golden room, which has always been present, shouldn’t be able to lie either.”

“Since the golden room can’t lie, it can indeed grant wishes. But Mr. Oude still died. You, the sacrifice, are the only uncertainty. You just mentioned that you became the sacrifice, but now you stand here as a resort attendant, which means you have made some kind of deal with this resort.”

“After experiencing betrayal, the person you most wanted dead was Mr. Oude.”

The attendant let out a soft sigh, “As a married couple, I didn’t want things to end this way. I may be foolish and stupid, but I’ve been fooled by him all my life. Even at the end, he wanted to deceive me. If it weren’t for the golden room giving me a chance to choose, I wouldn’t even have the opportunity to avenge myself.”

The attendant suddenly clenched her fists and looked towards the ceiling devoutly, “I’m willingly staying here. After the resort helped me take revenge, it also restored my youthful appearance. I’m genuinely grateful to the resort for giving me a second life. So, I’m staying here willingly, without any coercion.”

Bai Lixin: “…”

———————

In the live broadcast room.

[So that’s how it is!]

[Is this the secret of the golden room? God Xin is amazing; the attendant didn’t even realize that she was manipulated.]

[The brother who said the attendant looked like someone while referencing Mrs. Oude is incredible. How did you figure it out? It doesn’t look like her at all!]

[Actually, Mrs. Oude’s facial structure is quite distinctive. If you ask me what I do, I can tell you, I’m an archaeologist. When I said the attendant looked like Mrs. Oude, I wasn’t referring to collagen or facial features but to bone structure. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that I initially studied anatomy and later worked on reconstructing the appearance of ancient people. I was mainly responsible for restoring the previous appearance of mummies and skeletons.]

[So here’s the question, with so many skeletons discovered during archaeological excavations every year, do you restore each and every one?]

[Well, not really. The task of restoration is actually quite heavy, and the talent pool in this field is scarce. Besides, it’s also unnecessary. Unless it’s bones of great historical significance, like dinosaur fossils or undiscovered ancient humans, or famous historical figures.]

[I read a news article before about a team of scientists who found a thousand-year-old beautiful female mummy. I saw the pictures, and even the eyelashes were clearly defined, and the lips were well-preserved. The team even called her the Thousand-Year Beauty. Do you restore cases like that too?]

[Yes, we do. The value lies not only in restoring the appearance of that time, but also in uncovering the historical truth behind it. A well-preserved mummy like that hides a story.]

[Hey, do you know that during the same period, they also found another mummy?]

[Huh, I didn’t know. I didn’t pay much attention to that news. What’s the name of the other mummy?]

[I’ll scare you with the name. Because she had an ordinary appearance, she was called Mummy Number Two.]

[…]

[…Damn it, you got me.]

[Beauty anxiety has even reached the level of mummies?]

[Sisters, did you see that? Wuuu. We really need to pay attention to skincare and beauty. In case someone excavates our graves thousands of years later, we should all aim to be XX beauties.]

[Come on, wake up. Burials aren’t allowed now; cremation is the trend. Otherwise, are you expecting future generations to examine our calcium oxide with magnifying glasses?]

[QvQ, you broke the defense.]

————-

After listening to the attendant’s description and piecing together the timeline, Bai Lixin had a clear understanding.

At nightfall, the wisher enters the golden room.

The sacrifice disappears at noon the next day, becoming an offering, and they have the opportunity to choose their path.

When the choice is made, night becomes the time of judgment.

In the silent late night, the wisher pays a painful price for their desires.

Bai Lixin asked, “Is sacrificing a person always the price for making a wish?”

The attendant replied, “Yes.”

Bai Lixin continued, “What are the requirements for the sacrifice? It can’t be just anyone, or else Mr. Oude could have chosen a stranger. Is the requirement that the sacrifice must be a companion?”

The attendant nodded, “Yes, the sacrifice must be someone who came together with the wisher.”

Bai Lixin stated, “So the culprit for the eldest son-in-law’s disappearance can be narrowed down to the Nick family.”

“Although Mrs. Nick also died yesterday, the eldest son-in-law had not yet disappeared and entered the golden room at the time, therefore could not have made the choice. But Mrs. Nick is still dead, so there is only one reason.”

“Last night, the mysterious wisher made a wish for Mrs. Nick to die.”

Bai Lixin quickly handed his travel bag to the attendant and said, “I understand now. Please take care of my belongings. I need to find someone.”

He hurriedly uttered these words, pushed open the door, and ran out.

He rushed to the adjacent room and looked through the open door. Inside, he saw his youngest daughter calmly packing her things, while the attendant stood motionless outside the door, like a statue.

When the attendant lifted his eyes upon seeing Bai Lixin’s arrival, he had already stepped inside.

The youngest daughter didn’t seem surprised to see Bai Lixin. She casually glanced at him and spoke with a graceful demeanor, “Hello, Mr. Bai Lixin.”

“Thank you for intervening this morning. If it weren’t for you stopping that man, I would have undoubtedly been beaten again.”

Bai Lixin stared at the skinny girl before him, feeling a mix of emotions. “The cloaked figure who entered the golden room last night, it was you, right?”

The youngest daughter glanced outside the hall and didn’t deny it, saying, “Yes, I went in.”

“When I went to find Mrs. Nick last night, she said she would help us hide the truth only if we entered the golden room. My brother-in-law was too afraid, so the only one capable of entering the golden room was me.”

“I didn’t know what would be inside when I entered. I just mustered up the courage and went in.”

“Everything happened as it naturally should.”

Bai Lixin furrowed his brows slightly and asked, “Do you know what it means to enter the room?”

The youngest daughter replied, “Before entering, I knew nothing. But after entering, I knew everything.”

“Mr. Bai Lixin, you were the only person who showed me kindness when I was at my most desperate,” she sighed softly. “So, I want to give you a piece of advice: stay away from the golden room, stay away from desires.”

“Because you helped me, as long as you promise to keep my entry into the golden room a secret, I will tell you some information about the golden room.”

“After entering the golden room, I heard a voice. That voice allowed me to make a wish. But instead of rushing to make a wish, I asked many questions.”

“The golden room is a test of human nature, but ironically, only those with desires in their hearts can open the golden room. However, once desire arises, humans inevitably lose themselves.”





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