Chapter Thirty-Eight: Discovery of the Secret Photograph

Xin Gan glanced up at him briefly. The hallway light was dim and yellow; he was tall, so the light shone down from above, casting a shadow that obscured his expression and lent him an air of mystery. An inexplicable ripple stirred in her heart. In the next instant, their gazes met, and she quickly looked away, her eyes unfocused as they wandered elsewhere.

Her voice was soft. “Alright.”

After she spoke, she tapped her keycard, opened the door, and went inside without lingering.

Cheng Jiu frowned slightly but said nothing. Catching sight of Xiao Shi, he tossed out, “Why are you just standing there? Open the door.”

“Oh, right. I’ll do it now.” Xiao Shi hurried into their room and asked, “Brother Jiu, are you going to take a shower, or just go to bed?”

Though the room was small and somewhat shabby, at least there was an air conditioner that could blow warm air. The temperature had dropped at night, so it was much more comfortable than staying in the car.

Cheng Jiu lit a cigarette and said, “You go first.”

Without hesitation, Xiao Shi ducked into the bathroom for a shower.

Cheng Jiu opened the window, leaned out to survey the surroundings, and noticed the window of the adjacent room was also open, its lights on, but all was quiet.

After finishing his cigarette, he still felt unsettled. He lit another and stood leaning by the window.

Suddenly, a sharp, urgent scream came from the neighboring room—it was Xin Gan’s voice. Alert, he immediately rushed out and knocked on her door.

When Xin Gan heard the knock, she took a moment to compose herself before opening the door to find Cheng Jiu standing there. He asked, “What happened?”

He had reacted quickly, and Xin Gan realized his earlier words were true. The walls weren’t soundproof at all.

She scratched her head, saying, “There was a spider. It startled me.”

Normally, she wasn’t the kind of person to be frightened by insects, but the incident from a few hours ago still played vividly in her mind, and she hadn’t recovered from it yet. Compared to the explosion at the station, this felt even more unsettling.

Cheng Jiu looked at her for a moment before saying, “Let me check.”

He brushed past her into the room.

Xin Gan pressed herself against the wall and said, “By the head of the bed.”

Cheng Jiu picked up a pillow, pushed the bed aside, and searched thoroughly but found no spider; it must have slipped away somewhere. He checked the corners, and while he found no insects, he did discover a hidden surveillance camera, cleverly concealed. If not for the tiny blinking red light, it would have been nearly impossible to spot.

Xin Gan saw him crouched over, fiddling with something. She stepped closer and asked, “Did you find anything?”

His tone was rather cold. “There’s a hidden camera.”

A chill ran through Xin Gan. “How could there be…?”

“Turn off all the lights. I’ll check the room.”

She immediately pulled out the keycard, cutting the power. Then Cheng Jiu said, “Turn on your phone, open the camera app, and record a video while you scan the room.”

Following his instructions, Xin Gan did a sweep, and in the bathroom she found another camera, also blinking with a red light. The more she looked, the more frightened she became; her back was damp with sweat. Thankfully, she hadn’t showered yet—otherwise…

Cheng Jiu dismantled all the suspicious devices with his bare hands. After reinserting the keycard and turning the lights back on, he stowed away the two miniature cameras he’d removed and said, “It’s late. You should get some sleep.”

“But what about these cameras…?”

“Don’t worry about them. Just sleep. The hotel owner wouldn’t do something like this—the place is run by locals, and if word got out, their reputation would be ruined. Most likely, these were installed by previous guests—despicable, but not worth mentioning.”

Xin Gan never imagined she’d encounter something like this; her heart was pounding in her throat.

Cheng Jiu said, “You must feel unlucky, getting caught up in all this.”

Did he even need to ask?

Xin Gan said nothing.

He glanced at her again, paused, then offered a word of comfort, “Don’t overthink it. Get some rest.”

He turned to leave, but Xin Gan suddenly called out, “Cheng Jiu, who were those people tonight?”