Upon entering, Chuzheng realized that the corridor branched out in all directions, connecting different buildings, and she had no idea which way Jing Lan had gone.
Chuzheng glanced at the people standing in the corridor.
"Excuse me, did any of you see…"
The person raised a hand, rubbing their thumb and index finger together.
They wanted money to talk.
After Chuzheng handed over the cash, the person didn't wait for her to ask, they simply pointed, "He went up that way."
This familiar routine clearly indicated they often gave directions like this.
Chuzheng followed the indicated staircase upwards.
The building was circular, with the stairs spiraling up through the center, connecting to different directions.
Occasionally, there were people going up and down the stairs, but she neither saw Jing Lan nor noticed anything suspicious.
While Chuzheng was halfway up, suddenly a dark figure dropped into the center of the stairwell.
Thud—
A heavy thud echoed as it hit the ground.
