Yu Hanjiang had originally planned to go to Qingshui Town the next day. However, the more he investigated, the more complicated the relationships and backgrounds of these people became. He was worried that Xiao Ye and Lao Mo would not be able to handle it, so he set off ahead of schedule and headed to the town overnight.
Although this town is located in a remote area, the data shows that it has beautiful scenery, excellent air quality, and a pleasant climate all year round, making it a very suitable place for retirement. Uncle Zhong's decision to resign and return here was a wise one. Not only can he enjoy his later years in peace, but also, hiding in this rural town, no one will bother him anymore.
It was already dark when Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou arrived in the town, and there were few pedestrians on the streets. The town's nightlife was not as vibrant as that of big cities, which made the "Tianya Entertainment Club" in the town center particularly eye-catching.
The three-story clubhouse was surrounded by colorful neon lights, flashing and resplendent.
Before arriving, the two contacted Ye Qi, picked her up from the hotel, and set off together for Tianya Entertainment Club.
Ye Qi, sitting in the back seat of the car, said, "Lao Mo and I went to a club last night. Invisibility Cloak was in a state of disuse, so we couldn't sneak in. We pretended to be from out of town and went to the entrance to ask what kind of place it was. The security guard at the entrance said that it was a members-only entertainment club, and you had to be introduced by someone you knew and have a membership card to get in. Ordinary people weren't allowed in."
Lao Mo added, "This club is very strictly managed. The security guards know all the clients, and strangers can't get in at all. However, I noticed that there were many luxury cars parked in the club's parking lot, and I also saw He Rong drive back here at 3 a.m. The club is not open during the day, but it is open all night from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next morning."
Yu Hanjiang roughly understood the situation. He glanced at the time on his watch and made a decisive decision: "It's 11:30 now. Xiao Lou and I will go and scout ahead first. After the card skills refresh at midnight, Xiao Ye and Lao Mo, you can go in."
Ye Qi worriedly asked, "This club looks very mysterious. What if there's danger inside? What if you can't get out when the Invisibility Cloak expires? Should we set up a teleportation point in advance?"
Xiao Lou also felt that Ye Qi's concerns were reasonable, so he took out the " Tao Yuanming " card and said, "I'll open the entrance to Peach Blossom Spring in the car. If we encounter danger and can't get out later, we'll just teleport directly."
This provides double insurance.
Invisibility Cloaks have a 30-minute invisibility period, making them completely invisible to others.
If they can't find the exit within 30 minutes, or if time runs out and they don't have time to escape, they can be teleported back to Peach Blossom Spring. The entrance is in the car. Parking in the parking lot some distance away is very safe.
Ye Qi and Lao Mo felt relieved and sat comfortably in the car to wait.
Yu Hanjiang then brought Xiao Lou to the vicinity of the club.
The two hid in a dark corner, waiting for their chance, until a private car pulled up in front of the club. The doorman went to open the car door for them, and Yu Hanjiang whispered in Xiao Lou's ear, "Let's go, follow them."
Xiao Lou nodded in agreement, took out the Invisibility Cloak card, and was about to put it on when Yu Hanjiang said, "Nobody knows what's inside the club. What if it's another maze? We might get separated. Just to be safe, I'll take you with me. Let's not get separated."
After the man finished speaking, he simply reached out and gently grasped Xiao Lou's wrist.
Xiao Lou felt a burning sensation on his wrist as it was being held, but he couldn't pull his hand away. Seeing Yu Hanjiang put on his cloak and disappear in front of him, Xiao Lou knew that now was not the time to dwell on these things, so he immediately activated the cloak card and followed him.
Yu Hanjiang covered the area where the two were holding hands with his cloak, so that no one around them could see them.
Xiao Lou couldn't see Yu Hanjiang, but the clear sensation on his wrist told him that Yu Hanjiang was right beside him, which made him feel at ease.
As the two arrived at the clubhouse entrance, a wealthy businessman got out of his car. The businessman was tall, dressed in a suit, and wore an emerald ring on his hand. The ring was shiny and clearly very expensive.
The receptionist at the door greeted him with a big smile and led him inside.
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou followed behind him, and slipped into the clubhouse the moment the door opened.
The club's interior was luxuriously decorated, with a crystal chandelier in the center of the lobby sparkling like diamonds. In the very center was the elevator lobby. Upon seeing him, the lobby manager took the initiative to greet him, saying, "Mr. Yu, welcome. Your reserved room has been held for you."
Mr. Yu smiled slightly and said, "Thanks. Is Xiaoping here today?"
The manager said, "Yes, I've already asked her to prepare it. Please come with me."
He followed the lobby manager and turned to walk towards the private room, with Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou following behind.
Mr. Yu entered VIP room number 8 on the first floor alone. The room was spacious, with a sofa, coffee table, and a king-size bed. The ensuite bathroom featured a luxurious bathtub large enough to accommodate two adults. A young and beautiful woman was waiting for him in the room. The two seemed to know each other well, as the woman showed no shyness and proactively ushered Mr. Yu into the bathroom, smiling as she asked, "Mr. Yu, would you like a milk bath, essential oil bath, or herbal bath today?"
Mr. Yu gently pressed his forehead and said, "I've been too tired lately, let's have a medicinal bath."
The woman turned to get the medicine, while Boss Yu began to openly undress. Yu Hanjiang had no interest in watching a grown man shower, so he turned and left with Xiao Lou. However, just as the two stepped out of the bathroom, a strange series of "uh" and "ah" sounds suddenly came from inside.
Xiao Lou turned around in confusion, and the scene before him made his cheeks flush red.
Before the herbal bath even started, Boss Yu impatiently grabbed the woman and tumbled into the tub together. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had no idea they were witnessing a live broadcast; both were extremely embarrassed and quickly slipped out the door.
Xiao Lou took a deep breath to steady his heartbeat, ignoring the erotic scene he had just witnessed, and said in the Telepathic Connection corridor, "This club is definitely not what it seems. It's nominally a massage parlor, but in reality..."
He was too embarrassed to continue.
Yu Hanjiang remained calm and said casually, "I guessed it. Otherwise, a place that's just for taking a bath wouldn't be making such a fuss about VIP membership management."
Xiao Lou coughed lightly and changed the subject, asking, "Does this Tianya Club have any direct connection with organ transplant organizations?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Let's check it again."
After leaving Boss Yu's private room, the two returned to the corridor.
The private room doors were extremely soundproof; whatever was happening inside couldn't be heard at all in the hallway. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had no choice but to turn around and walk further into the clubhouse.
As they walked, they discovered that the clubhouse was like a maze. All the corridors were decorated identically, with dazzling crystal chandeliers on the ceiling and marble tiles on the floor. The wide corridors were lined with VIP rooms, and the winding passageways made it easy to lose one's way.
Xiao Lou excels at solving puzzles within mazes, but his sense of direction isn't very strong. After walking around for a while, he couldn't see a single person; it was all the same kind of corridor. Yu Hanjiang also started to get a headache: " Diamond A didn't indicate that this was a maze instance. It seems that Tianya Club was set up like this from the start. There must be some secret hidden in the club."
Xiao Lou sighed, "I have to call Lao Mo. I can't figure out the directions in this maze either. It doesn't feel like a simple loop structure."
Yu Hanjiang estimated the time of the Invisibility Cloak and decisively said, "Let's retreat. Once it's past midnight, call Lao Mo to come along."
The two left the clubhouse directly using the Peach Blossom Spring Teleportation app and returned to their car.
Ye Qi's eyes widened when he saw them suddenly appear in the car: "What's going on? You guys came right back?"
Xiao Lou said, "We encountered a maze, went around in circles, and couldn't find a way out."
Yu Hanjiang said, "Go after midnight. We only have 30 minutes. Lao Mo, try your best to figure out the rooms inside the club."
Mo Xuemin nodded earnestly: "I will do my best."
Yu Hanjiang said, "After wearing the Invisibility Cloak, we can't see each other and it's easy to get separated. Lao Mo will take Ye Qi with him and connect to Xiao Lou's Telepathic Connection. When we get to the corner, we'll use the Telepathic Connection to give him directions, and then Xiao Lou will lead me."
In this way, even if everyone becomes transparent, they won't get separated.
Just as the card skill reset in the early morning, Xiao Lou severed the Telepathic Connection with Yu Hanjiang and established a communication channel with Lao Mo.
The four of them returned to the entertainment club wearing Invisibility Cloaks again.
After passing through the familiar lobby, everyone entered the first corridor. Old Mo led the way, holding little Ye Qi's hand, while Xiao Lou led Yu Hanjiang. At the corner, he heard Old Mo say in his mind, "Turn left."
Xiao Lou led Yu Hanjiang to the left, and when they reached the fork in the road, they continued to follow Lao Mo's instructions and went left.
As Lao Mo walked, he quickly memorized the door numbers and corridor locations. After walking around, he found that this place was much more complicated than the underground maze of Antai Garden. Antai Garden was mostly T-junctions, while this maze was mostly crossroads.
Ye Qi was so dizzy from all the spinning that he didn't dare to speak, so he could only obediently follow behind Lao Mo.
What puzzled everyone even more was that there wasn't a single person in the brightly lit Tianya Entertainment Club!
The guests should all be in the private rooms, and it's easy to imagine what's happening inside. But the corridor is empty and quiet, as if you've entered a suffocating ghost town.
After walking for more than ten minutes in the same empty corridor, Xiao Lou couldn't help but ask in the Telepathic Connection passage, "Old Mo, what's going on with this maze? It seems to have no end, it just keeps going in circles..."
Old Mo took a deep breath and thought to himself, "If my judgment is correct, this should be a '田' shaped maze. There are four '田' characters on this level alone, and the four '田' characters are nested together to form a '回' shaped corridor structure."
To make it easier for everyone to understand, Lao Mo stopped at the door of a restroom, wet his fingers, and quickly drew a floor plan on the sink.
There are four "田" characters pieced together, one above, one below, one to the left, and one to the right, but the middle and four corners form an empty space.
Kouda Kou
Taguchida
Kouda Kou
Xiao Lou looked at the makeshift map drawn with water on the sink and couldn't help but be surprised: "The '田' (field) area, that's where we just walked, right? I remember that each corridor was about the same length. The '口' (square) shaped area in the middle is the elevator lobby and the clubhouse lobby, but what about the blank areas in the four corners?"
"Yesterday, Xiao Ye and I observed the building from above. It has a standard cubic structure. Therefore, the four corner 'square' areas cannot be empty." Old Mo paused and speculated, "I suspect that the 'field' areas are for guests. Once people reach the end of the corridor, they can easily assume that the road has ended. But in reality, there are likely many hidden doors inside this club."
Old Mo quickly marked several places where there might be hidden doors with water droplets.
The clubhouse is cleverly designed; the "田" (field) shaped corridors form numerous passageways within the clubhouse.
Even if the police come to investigate, no one would expect that there would be a hidden door leading to more areas at the end of a corridor.
Fortunately, Lao Mo was there; luckily, he had observed the overall shape of the building from above beforehand, which allowed him to deduce the secrets inside the club. When Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang first entered the club, they were completely unaware of the existence of these hidden doors.
Yu Hanjiang turned his head to look at the empty corridor.
The club's interior is decorated in a lavish style, with numerous mirrors adorning the walls of the corridors. This visually magnifies the current scene; for example, a mirror at the end of a 50-meter corridor can make it appear as if it were 100 meters long.
Yu Hanjiang whispered a reminder: "Is there something wrong with the mirror?"
Old Mo agreed: "I also think that there is not a wall behind the mirror, but possibly a secret space."
Yu Hanjiang replied decisively, "Let's go take a look."
The four of them quickly walked to the mirror.
The mirror didn't look special at all; it was a very common full-length mirror with an ivory-white frame and delicate carvings. Yu Hanjiang reached out and pushed it, but the mirror didn't budge.
Xiao Lou asked in confusion, "Isn't it a mirror?"
Old Mo suggested, "Let's try again. There are three Kind corridors at the intersection of the '田' and '口' characters, and they are all equipped with mirrors. There must be some secret hidden behind these mirrors."
The four of them conducted a thorough and careful inspection of the mirror at the end of the corridor.
Nothing amiss was found in any of the mirrors on the first floor, and the second floor yielded nothing either. With only five minutes left in the Invisibility Cloak, and only the third floor remaining to be checked, Old Mo began to feel uneasy; "Could I have been wrong?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Let's keep looking. It doesn't matter if we can't find it. We have Peach Blossom Spring as a backup plan. We'll retreat before the Invisibility Cloak expires."
The four of them hurried to check all the mirrors at the end of the corridors on the third floor. When they found a mirror at the east corner, Xiao Lou suddenly stopped and said softly, "This mirror is not right. Take a look."
On the upper left corner of the mirror, there is a small patch of paint chipped off the ivory-white frame.
For mirrors of good quality, cleaners won't wipe off the paint on the frame when cleaning, unless the edge of the mirror hits the wall. If it's a door, the chipped paint at the corner could easily hit the adjacent wall when the door is opened.
Xiao Lou reached out and pressed the corner of the mirror, but the mirror still didn't react. However, a square LCD keypad with the numbers 1 to 9 suddenly appeared on the mirror's surface. Yu Hanjiang thought carefully and said, "This is He Rong's club. His birthday is December 24th. Could the keypad be his birthday?"
The only person currently connected to the club is its owner, He Rong.
Ye Qi asked worriedly, "What if I typed it wrong?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "If we enter the wrong information, or if the alarm is triggered or the secret door is locked, we can still teleport away directly."
Ye Qi was relieved: "That's right, we can always retreat. Captain Yu, you should give it a try."
Xiao Lou interrupted them softly: "The password shouldn't be 1224. None of the mazes we've encountered so far have used the owner's birthday as a password. We probably need to analyze the terrain."
Old Mo thought about it carefully and said, "Could the password be related to the structure of this maze?"
Xiao Lou said, "The four 'field' characters form '5' blank areas, and the character 'field' also has 5 strokes. The numbers 4 and 5 should be in the password. We just checked, and there are a total of 72 mirrors in the entire club. I think the password is more likely to be 4572?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Hanjiang entered the result directly.
Ye Qi's eyes widened – Captain Yu didn't even hesitate, so trusting of Professor Xiao?
As it turns out, Xiao Lou's prediction was correct.
After entering the password derived from the terrain analysis, the mirror actually rotated 90 degrees in front of everyone!
Behind the mirror, a dark, narrow passage appeared. Before anyone could see what was hidden in the passage, a piercing alarm sounded!
With only 30 seconds left in the Invisibility Cloak, the alarm sounded, alerting the clubhouse security. A series of hurried footsteps came from downstairs.
Ye Qi said nervously, "Oh no, they'll call the police! Let's get out of here!"
Yu Hanjiang whispered in Xiao Lou's ear, "Wait for me, I'll activate the teleportation in the last 3 seconds."
After leaving those words, the man vanished into the secret passage like a gust of wind. Xiao Lou only saw a beam of luminous pearl light illuminate the passage before disappearing.
Countless footsteps came from downstairs, getting closer and closer to them!
Seeing Yu Hanjiang burst into the passageway alone with the luminous pearl, Xiao Lou's heart nearly stopped. The security guards had already reached the third-floor corridor; once the Invisibility Cloak's effect wore off, they would be caught red-handed.
The countdown has only 10 seconds left...
Xiao Lou silently counted in his mind, and the moment he reached 3, he decisively activated Peach Blossom Spring Teleportation!
The four were instantly teleported back to Peach Blossom Spring. The Invisibility Cloak became invalid almost immediately. They looked at each other, their expressions tense.
Ye Qi breathed a sigh of relief: "That scared me to death! What a close call!"
Yu Hanjiang stood under the peach tree, his face ashen.
Seeing his expression, Xiao Lou quickly stepped forward and asked, "What did you just see?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded and said in a low voice, "A lot of guns, all kinds of guns."
The three of them: "..."
Yu Hanjiang said in a deep voice: "Inside the secret door of the Tianya Club..."
"The organization is actually a huge arsenal. We've already gotten to the core of the organization. When I investigated Cheng Shaofeng, I was shot by someone from this organization; they wanted to kill Cheng Shaofeng to silence him!"