Decrypted password (10)

  Fortunately, neither of them was a person who got hung up on trivial matters. After thinking about it, they didn't have any definitive plan, and staying here wouldn't be of much help either. So Xia Zhu simply followed Lin Yuan to the only castle in the distant suburbs of A City.

  That is a coffee shop, which has been located here for many years, and the name is concise and easy to understand, called Coffee Castle.

  However, at this moment, the once-famous coffee shop seemed to have completely fallen into disrepair. Outside, there were cobwebs tangled in a mess, looking as if no one had come for ages.

  "This place is a bit like a haunted house." Xia Zhu said excitedly, her expression fluttering with excitement.

  Lin Yuan pinched his brow: "Are you afraid?"

  "I think......" Xia Zhu hesitated for a long time and finally gave a definite definition: "A free haunted house, not bad."

  Lin Yuanxiao couldn't help but laugh, the usual methods of dealing with ordinary girls would never work on Xia Zhu, that was her magic.

  "Never mind," he said with a thick palm grasping Xia Zhu's fingertips: "Let's go in and take a look."

  "The door is locked." Xia Zhu pushed it, but couldn't open it. The old lock was an eight-digit password lock, just like the kind used in escape rooms to annoy people. She let out a slightly frustrated sigh and was about to look for another entrance when she saw Lin Yuanbai had already squatted down.

  "Any lock has the same structure." Lin Yuan said.

  Xia Zhu was still in a daze, not yet grasping the deeper meaning, when Lin Yuanji quickly and nimbly began to pick the lock. His tools were simple - a small, extremely sharp component and a thin iron wire - but his movements were incredibly fast and agile, not at all like those of an amateur lockpicker.

  But soon, with a clang, Lin Yuanke somewhat disdainfully took down the rusty lock and put it in his bag. He turned to Xia Zhu: "Let's go in."

  His tone was nine parts calm and one part expectation, Xia Zhu sincerely praised: "I have never seen such a versatile person."

  Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow without saying a word, but Xia Zhu could tell that he was also delighted.

  He doesn't like social niceties, but he likes the genuine praise and admiration of others. Whether with Zou Mianyuan or Sheng Yuan, this can be seen. And more often than not, Xia Zhu's praise makes him feel comfortable all over, and opening ten more locks is no problem at all.

  Xia Zhu shook her head and smiled, pushing open the door for Lin Yuanxi: "Please."

  Lin Yuan stepped in with big strides, without being polite at all.

  It's obvious that the furnishings inside are old and it's been a long time since anyone came.

  Xia Zhu wiped the coffee machine next to her lightly, leaving a faint gray dust mark: "No one took away the coffee utensils, and even the tables and chairs in the house remained unchanged," Her voice was very light, but it echoed back and forth in the room, bringing out an empty echo: "Why?"

  Why rush away and abandon things that were once treasured like jewels?

  "Too hasty, often leaves some handles." Lin Yuanxi commented.

  He narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping fiercely through the furnishings in the room, tapping here and there, until finally locking onto the diary on the coffee table.

  This coffee shop is known for its artistic and elegant atmosphere, with a tall European-style vintage bookshelf filled with the owner's travel diaries. Lin Yuanxi took down all the diaries and placed them on a table, scanning through them as he handed one to Xia Zhu: "Take a look, and recall the impression the previous owner gave you."

  Xia Zhu had only been to this coffee shop once, but her exceptional memory took over instantly. As she flipped through the pages of Lin Yuan's book with one hand, she slowly said: "This is a husband-and-wife-owned store. The owner goes to Europe every year to buy things. They don't have children and always travel just the two of them... however..."

  "These photos are incomplete," Lin Yuanqi frowned and pointed at a photo on the beach, "Can you see the problem?"

  Xia Zhu picked up the photo, and it was obviously a very beautiful beach. The sand was warm and fine, with three pairs of footprints lined up in a row. The middle pair were small and shallow. Another photo showed that the seawater had not yet covered this piece of beach. What could be seen was a little boy being held by the male shop owner, laughing and making funny faces. However, the little boy looked surprisingly similar to an adult.

  "I remember..." Xia Zhu was shocked and puzzled: "They don't have children."

  "That's right," Lin Yuan sneered: "Think again, who gave us the clue?"

  "It's Lu Yin..." Xia Zhu said slowly and emotionally: "Lu Yin has been in prison for so long, who gave him the news?"

  Lin Yuan sneered: "Prison is nothing but an empty name for him."

  He handed his mobile phone over to Xia Zhu, thought for a moment and took it back: "Make a call to Zou Mu Yuan."

  "Oh," Xia Zhu muttered drowsily, blinking her eyes: "I'll go make the call now."

  Lin Yuan furrowed his brow: "No need, I'll do it."

  Xia Zhu was shocked again.

  Her intuition told her that Lin Yuan had been a bit off lately, although she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

  Lin Yuanxi hung up the phone after saying a few words: "We've caught someone, but something doesn't feel right."

  His furrowed brow made Xia Zhu also tense up, and she couldn't help but ask: "What's going on?"

  "Too stupid." Lin Yuanxiao was silent for a long time before blurting out this sentence.

  Xia Zhu blinked her eyes and felt utterly bewildered.

  "There's the lead Lu Yin mentioned, we'll still use this as a starting point. I had Zou Mingyuan check the entry and exit records of that couple, hopefully they haven't run far." Lin Yuan said indifferently.

  However, the news brought back by Zou Mu Yuan was enough to thoroughly stun both of them.

  "Not these two people."

  "What does it mean?" Lin Yuan asked aloud.

  Zou Mianyuan fell silent for a moment: "In other words, they had already died five years ago. The death certificates can be found."

  This time even Xia Zhu felt something was off, as if the silence around her had suddenly become unsettling, exuding a cold and eerie feeling that pierced to the bone.

  The author has something to say: Thank you for the comments and support from Ball Algae Pets, lah! (╭(╯3╰)╮

  Sorry for stopping for one day QAQ! Covering face and running away...

  Babies, if possible, please float up and let me see your starry eyes!

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