Noon, Shanshui B&B.
When Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang saw Shao Qingge off downstairs after lunch, a girl was arguing excitedly with the shop owner: "The price started at 10,000 gold coins, yesterday it went up to 20,000, and today it's up to 40,000! Boss, you're ripping us off! Doubling the price every day, why don't you just rob us!"
The owner said matter-of-factly, "Everything is going up in price these days, so why shouldn't accommodation fees go up? Take it or leave it."
The girl glared angrily, about to yell at him, when the boy behind her suddenly put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Tingting, let's move out. It's too expensive here, and the prices might even double tomorrow."
A hint of panic was clearly visible in the girl's eyes. She lowered her voice and said, "But where can we move to? Shanshui B&B is the cheapest place to live in City A. Other places might be even more expensive. You're not going to make me sleep on the streets, are you?! When you were pursuing me, you said you would give me a good life, but now, let alone a good life, we don't even have a place to live..." Her voice was already trembling with sobs as she spoke.
The man's face darkened, and after a moment of silence, he changed his tune, saying, "Boss, can we pay for our accommodation with instant noodles and milk?"
The boss then became interested: "How many do you have?"
The man said, "How about I give you a case of milk and a case of instant noodles to cover tonight's accommodation fee?"
The shopkeeper held up two fingers: "Two boxes."
The man's lips twitched violently: "Don't go too far!"
The boss shrugged and said with a smile, "Before prices went up, a box of instant noodles was 3,000 and a box of milk was 2,000, totaling 5,000. My accommodation fee here is 10,000 per day, so asking for two boxes isn't unreasonable, is it? Two boxes, take it or leave it."
The young man and woman exchanged a glance, and finally gritted their teeth and agreed.
The woman was in the lobby processing her extended stay, while the man went back upstairs to get food.
Yu Hanjiang leaned close to Xiao Lou's ear and whispered, "It seems these two are out of money for their rooms. They underestimated the rising prices and didn't pay in advance... You were the one who had the foresight to pay for seven days' accommodation directly."
Xiao Lou used to take his parents on trips during winter and summer vacations. He was used to paying for the accommodation online in advance because hotel prices fluctuate greatly between peak and off-peak seasons. Some hotels even have different room rates on weekdays and weekends. Booking in advance was always a good idea.
He paid for seven days' accommodation in one go, spending only 80,000 gold coins.
For Challengers who didn't pay their room fees in advance, today is only the second day, and the accommodation fee has already risen to 40,000. It will rise to 80,000 tomorrow. The Challengers ' initial funds are not even enough to cover the room fees.
At this time, using the stockpiled supplies to pay for the room and board is a good option.
But if supplies are stolen or robbed, then it's all over. Therefore, Xiao Lou especially hates guys who rely on "stealing other people's supplies" to pass the level; it's practically cutting off their path to survival.
**
The three left the guesthouse, and Shao Qingge decided to take his laptop back to the hotel alone to keep an eye on the stock market—his supplies hidden under his bed had been stolen, and his accommodation was actually the safest place.
Xiao Lou went to the city to investigate, while Yu Hanjiang went to the Construction Site.
Perhaps because of the hot afternoon weather, no one gathered to cause trouble in Central Square, and the shareholders who had stood on the rooftop in the morning demanding answers with banners had all dispersed. 80% of the shops on the streets were closed, and the whole city seemed deserted, except for the supermarkets, which were still packed with people with long queues.
Xiao Lou took a walk around the neighborhood. Thanks to Director Liu of the Market Supervision Administration reassuring everyone, no large-scale bloodshed occurred on the second day of soaring prices.
He called Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, " Captain Yu, how are things on your end?"
Yu Hanjiang said, " The boss at the construction site can't come up with a solution, so all the workers have gone home, and construction has completely stopped."
Xiao Lou asked, "Do we need to pack up and move our supplies?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Let's see how things go tomorrow. I'll try to find a vehicle to facilitate the transportation of supplies."
Xiao Lou told him, "Be careful, I'll wait for you at the guesthouse."
When Xiao Lou returned to Shanshui B&B after hanging up the phone, he was surprised to see the man and woman who had just been negotiating with the owner about paying the rent with milk and instant noodles standing in the lobby with gloomy faces. Each of them was carrying a travel bag, but both bags were flat, obviously not filled with much stuff.
The woman's eyes were red, as if she had just been crying, and her voice trembled noticeably. She pointed at the owner's nose and yelled, "Our things were stolen from your guesthouse! As the owner, of course you should take responsibility! What do you mean you didn't know? You're just trying to shirk your responsibility!"
The boss looked innocent: "I think you're the one who's cheating. You can't pay the room fee and you're saying your things were stolen? Who knows if it's true or not... I haven't seen you two leave the house these past two days. You've been hiding in the room all day, acting suspiciously. Maybe you two are the thieves."
The woman was furious: "Who are you calling a thief? Don't make false accusations!"
The man was clearly enraged as well, and he walked over and grabbed the boss by the collar: "Check the security footage and see who stole our stuff!"
The owner rolled his eyes: "Do you think this is a five-star hotel? Where would a tiny guesthouse get surveillance cameras...?"
The three argued incessantly in the lobby. Xiao Lou sensed something was wrong and immediately returned to his residence.
—Someone came in.
Before leaving, Xiao Lou tucked a strand of hair into the crack of the door, and at that moment, the short black hair...
The hair fell into the corner of the wall.
It was obvious that the door had been opened. However, there were no signs that the lock had been tampered with.
Could it be a lock-picking expert like Captain Yu?
Or is it...?
Xiao Lou suddenly thought of a card.
Clear Red Heart 3 Escape Room After the Bloody Maple Leaf, you will always receive a card [Universal/Key].
This key can open any type of lock in Secret Room World without leaving a trace. A key can be used a maximum of five times, but if two people work together, they can use it ten times.
Thieves can keep an eye on Challenger's movements at any time, and after the room's owner leaves, they can use a master key to unlock the door and steal supplies without anyone noticing.
The thief might be staying at the guesthouse, and right now there's a pair of eyes watching you from behind.
Realizing this, Xiao Lou felt a chill run down his spine.
He tried to maintain a calm expression, pretending not to have noticed anything, opened the door, went inside, and locked it.
After locking the door, he quickly sent a message to Yu Hanjiang: "The thief stole the couple's belongings on the second floor. Captain Yu, come back as soon as possible. The thief may have his eye on us."
Yu Hanjiang replied instantly: "I'll be right back, be careful."
***
At the corner of the corridor, a pair of sharp, eagle-like eyes were fixed on Xiao Lou's back.
It wasn't until Xiao Lou entered the room that the middle-aged man said in a hoarse voice, " Challenger, who lives in 207, is very cautious. There are no supplies in the room; all the food is in his travel bag."
The young man next to him said, "Impossible, right? There are three of them. They can't possibly survive seven days on the food in their bags. There must be a lot of supplies stored elsewhere. By the way, the tallest one goes out every day. Maybe he's checking the supplies, but he moves too fast and always takes detours very carefully. I can't keep up with him at all."
The middle-aged man sneered, "They must have a lot of supplies stored up. When they run out of food in their backpacks, they'll inevitably reach for more. We can strike then." He paused, then turned to the young man beside him, "Let's ignore the residents of 207 for now. Have you investigated all the other rooms thoroughly?"
The young man chuckled and said, " Brother Xu, don't worry. Except for room 207, all the Challengers on this floor have left their things in their rooms."
The middle-aged man slightly curled the corners of his mouth: "Let's move tonight."
***
Yu Hanjiang quickly returned to the guesthouse.
He rushed into the house and took a few steps to Xiao Lou, his eyes full of worry: "Are you alright?"
Xiao Lou smiled and shook his head: "Don't worry, I was outside when they were making their move, I'm fine." He pointed to the hair in the corner of the wall and whispered in Yu Hanjiang's ear: "The thief just came into our room too."
Yu Hanjiang looked at the hair and frowned slightly: "But when I opened the door just now, the lock was working properly."
Xiao Lou stroked his chin thoughtfully: "I've always wondered why the hotel supplies where CEO Shao was staying were stolen so quietly. Were the hotel staff blind? Or could these thieves fly and disappear?"
Yu Hanjiang turned to look at him: "What did you notice?"
Xiao Lou said, "If my deduction is correct, this thief probably came here after perfectly completing the escape room in Red Heart 3. They have two very convenient stealing cards in their possession."
Yu Hanjiang recalled the rewards from Heart 3 and suddenly realized: "A cloak and a key?"
Xiao Lou nodded: " The Invisibility Cloak has 30 minutes of invisibility time each day. The reward key can open any lock. When no one is in the room, they can put on the invisibility cloak, open the door directly, and take the supplies. If they put the boxes inside the cloak, the milk and instant noodles will also become invisible transparent objects, allowing them to take them away without anyone noticing."
Yu Hanjiang used the Invisibility Cloak to enter a warehouse in the home improvement market today.
The Invisibility Cloak was originally a limited-time card for Red Heart 3 Escape Room, and could only be unlocked and taken out of the room after a perfect completion of the game. A perfect completion of Red Heart 3 Escape Room is required. Bloody maple leaf, this thief is no ordinary person.
Xiao Lou followed up, saying, "Moreover, this thief wasn't just trying to pass the level. They probably wanted to steal a lot of supplies to sell later and make a fortune in the secret room of Financial Crisis!"
Yu Hanjiang's face suddenly darkened.
He had also considered this possibility.
If the goal is simply to clear the level, there's no need to steal so many supplies. How much food can you eat in seven days?
However, according to Shao Qingge's description, three groups of Challengers had been robbed at the hotel where he was staying. The two girls next door alone lost several boxes of milk and instant noodles.
When Yu Hanjiang entered, the couple in the lobby were still arguing, and they had obviously lost quite a few items.
This proves that Xiao Lou's deduction was completely correct—the person who stole the supplies was not trying to pass the level, but rather wanted to take advantage of the shortage of supplies in Financial Crisis to steal other people's supplies to earn a large amount of gold coins and take the gold coins out of the secret room.
They knew very well that the Challenger, whose supplies they had stolen, would not survive seven days.
Trading other people's lives for money is simply profiting from human suffering!
Yu Hanjiang originally didn't want to meddle, but since these people had stolen from Shanshui B&B and even sneaked into his and Xiao Lou's place—since they dared to mess with them, he had to intervene!
Yu Hanjiang analyzed with a serious expression: " The cooldown of Invisibility Cloak refreshes at 24:00 every day, with a 30-minute usage limit."
At 3:00 AM, many people are asleep, but some are awake. Breaking into a house to steal would be too risky; I'm more inclined to believe they'll act around that time.
Xiao Lou nodded: "At three in the morning, when everyone is asleep, they just use a key to open the door and go in, carrying away the supplies in the room... But what if someone has hidden things under the bed? If they move around too much, won't they wake people up?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Therefore, they must have other tools for committing the crime."
Xiao Lou's eyes lit up: "For example, inhaled anesthetics? What if someone resists? We can just knock them out?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Once they enter the world of Financial Crisis, all they need to do on the first day is find a way to buy a large amount of anesthetics, and they can survive by stealing things—not only do they live well, but they can also sell them later and make a fortune."
That's really clever.
Unfortunately, their intelligence wasn't used for good; they had to sacrifice other Challengers to complete the game.
Xiao Lou clenched his fist tightly and asked, " Captain Yu, do you have any ideas?"
Yu Hanjiang's gaze was deep as he coldly said, "Lure the snake out of its hole."
******