Yumi and Tong Zheng were still discussing the issue of the guest room doors being locked.
Tong Zheng informed Yumi that during the game, all doors on the lower level were also inaccessible. He and Wan Zuo had already excluded the lower level from their search area.
If the guest rooms were the same as the lower level, could they also be excluded?
"I believe the situation is different," Jing Minghe stated, negating the idea, and then explained, "While I can't be entirely sure, I am confident that the guest rooms cannot be excluded. After all, they are intimately connected to people. Every guest room must bear traces of human presence. Even if this instance doesn't have actual NPCs, any story background is inseparable from people."
"I agree with Minghe," Yumi was the first to express her support.
Tong Zheng and Ke Wuwen also nodded in agreement.
The group prepared a large spread of food while discussing.
Qiu Zhi'an and Wan Zuo had already come down earlier to wait.
After eating, everyone indicated they weren't tired. Including Shen Rong, who was later called down by Qiu Zhi'an, there were now eight people. They divided into four groups of two and began searching all the guest rooms on the cruise ship one by one.
Yumi and Ke Wuwen searched the guest rooms on the second floor. Tong Zheng and Wan Zuo, along with Shen Rong and Qiu Zhi'an, searched the third floor. Jing Minghe and Chi Hao searched the fourth floor.
Although they were not allowed to act alone during the game, when exploring an instance, everyone felt it was safer not to split up.
Jing Minghe and Chi Hao arrived on the fourth floor and began their search from the guest rooms at the far end.
Although there were many guest rooms on the cruise ship, the search was not overly difficult. There wasn't much inside, so the most challenging part was finding useful clues among the limited items.
The two searched room by room. Some rooms were completely empty, containing only moldy everyday items and bedding. Others, upon closer inspection, yielded something slightly different.
Jing Minghe collected almost everything he deemed potentially useful.
It took them more than five full hours to search every single guest room on the cruise ship without exception. Afterwards, they gathered in the ballroom on the second floor.
Each group first pooled all the items they had collected.
After everyone had placed their belongings, Jing Minghe scanned each person and finally looked at Wan Zuo and Qiu Zhi'an. "I assume you've also managed to get some information from the injured Jia Dong."
"Yes," Wan Zuo admitted. He and Qiu Zhi'an had spent considerable time escorting Jia Dong back to his room, so it was unlikely they had learned nothing. "Although we didn't find out his hiding place, he did tell us a few things."
"Oh?" Jing Minghe asked. "Were they related to children and the voices of crying, which tempted him to commit suicide?"
Wan Zuo nodded. "It seems we learned the same things. He said a child's crying had been constantly tempting him to commit suicide, that his lighter had been replaced with a knife, and something about making mistakes leading to punishment, and that those who harmed others must bear double the harm."
"If that's the case," Jing Minghe suggested, "then let's first pick out everything related to children. What do you think?"
"Agreed," Wan Zuo fully supported Jing Minghe's suggestion.
The others had no objections.
Thus, everyone began sorting through the items related to children.
After a whole night of effort, almost everyone was slumped on the floor. However, their efforts had finally yielded some results.
Wan Zuo pointed to the small pile of items they had sorted and meticulously organized. "Based on these items, it appears there weren't many children on this cruise ship, perhaps five or six. And they were mostly pampered young masters and ladies."
As Wan Zuo mentioned young masters and ladies, Qiu Zhi'an's gaze flickered towards Shen Rong. He wanted to suggest that they had a lady present who could speak about her childhood, but he feared offending her, so he swallowed his words.
Wan Zuo continued his analysis. "I suspect these children were playing together, and their games went too far, leading to some uncontrollable accident on this cruise ship."
Yumi, listening to Wan Zuo's analysis, hesitantly voiced her doubt. "Just a few children, what kind of accident could they cause? Such a large cruise ship should have very good safety measures, at least, it shouldn't be broken by a few children."
Ke Wuwen followed up with a question. "Then what did the ghost child mean by 'making mistakes leading to punishment'? Surely someone committed a grave, unforgivable wrong?"
"That's certain," Tong Zheng responded. "But what it was, is probably impossible to determine from these items."
"Wait a moment," Jing Minghe suddenly stepped forward and took a picture book from the pile of children's items. "This picture book feels out of place compared to the other items."
Everyone looked at the picture book in Jing Minghe's hand and nodded in agreement. Compared to the other items, which were broken but appeared valuable, this picture book seemed slightly cheaper and its feel didn't quite fit in with any of the other categories.
Jing Minghe casually flipped through a few pages. "Come and look. What do you think these drawings resemble?"
The group gathered around as Jing Minghe flipped through the somewhat tattered picture book. Most of the drawings were blurry, appearing at first glance to be just casual scribbles by a child.
"I know!" Qiu Zhi'an exclaimed excitedly. "I know what they look like! They look like plating!"
"Plating?" Tong Zheng asked, confused. "You don't mean the kind of plating chefs use when preparing dishes, do you?"
Qiu Zhi'an nodded. "Yes, doesn't it look like it?"
Everyone looked again. Perhaps due to suggestion or some other reason, the more they looked, the more it resembled plating.
"Indeed," Ke Wuwen said, shaking his head. "It really does."
"In that case," Wan Zuo looked up at the others, "Lu Da's death posture also seems a bit like..."
Wan Zuo found it difficult to continue. After all, the thought of arranging a dead person's body like a plate was enough to make one feel nauseous.
Before Wan Zuo could finish, someone turned away and began to retch.
Jing Minghe suddenly remembered the two words Chi Hao had said at the time: "art."
He hadn't fully understood why Chi Hao had linked Lu Da's corpse with art. Now, however, he felt it was indeed true.
Jing Minghe turned his head slightly to glance at Chi Hao, thinking, this person is still so sharp. Nothing he says is ever wasted.