Killed

It took them 10 minutes to walk from the small restaurant to Uncle Gern’s inn.

The front door of the inn was open, but the reception room on the first floor was empty.

Doro asked Huanhuan and the others to sit downstairs for a while. She went upstairs alone to look for Uncle Gern.

Unexpectedly, not long after she went upstairs, she rushed down with an extremely ugly expression. “Uncle Gern was killed. Stay here and don’t move. I’ll get someone to help.”

Without waiting for Huanhuan to speak, Doro ran out of the hotel.

Huanhuan, Bai Di, Shuang Yun, and Xue Ling looked at each other.

They were just here to ask something. They did not expect to encounter a murder scene.

Bai Di muttered, “Let’s hope this is just a coincidence.”

Doro returned quickly. She was accompanied by a team of armored dragon guards and an old man with white hair.

The old man looked like a doctor. He followed Doro upstairs while the rest of the armored dragon guards were divided into two groups. One group stayed indoors to collect evidence, while the other looked for witnesses around.

Huanhuan’s family of four was left in the lounge. They couldn’t leave and were in a difficult situation.

Gern’s body was carried down.

When they passed by the lounge, Huanhuan looked at the corpse curiously.

Gern was very fat. There was a knife in his round belly. His face was purple, his eyes were very wide, his pupils were constricted, and his expression was pained.

After his body was sent away, Duo Luo took the time to say to Huanhuan, “Uncle Gern is dead. All the money in the cabinet is gone. The hunter who used to stay in this hotel is also missing. We suspect that he murdered Uncle Gern for money.”

It sounded reasonable to be tempted by wealth.

Huanhuan did not comment on the murder. She said, “If you find that hunter, please inform us as soon as possible, okay?”

“Naturally.”

The armored dragon guards found nothing in the inn and could only leave empty-handed.

By the time they left, it was dark.

Doro suggested, “This is the only hotel at Vanilla Bay. If you don’t mind, you can stay here for the night. You won’t be charged.

Someone had died in this hotel. Logically speaking, this place had become a haunted house.

However, the dragons were not afraid of these things. To them, death was a small matter and would not affect the normal use of the building.

If they didn’t stay in the inn, they would have to sleep on the streets tonight. Bai Di didn’t think much of it, but he didn’t want Huanhuan to suffer, so he made the decision to agree to Doro’s suggestion.

There were two empty rooms on the first floor. They planned to make do with them for the night.

While Bai Di and Huanhuan were cleaning up the rooms, Shuang Yun and Xue Ling went upstairs to take a look.

The layout of the second floor was actually very simple. There were four rooms, and the doors to each room were open. The innermost room should be the murder scene. There was still dried blood on the ground.

The room was neat. There were no signs of a fight.

They returned to the first floor.

Huanhuan, who had just spread the blanket, looked up and asked casually, “What did you see upstairs? Did you see anything?”

Xue Ling sat on the bed she had just made and pulled her into his arms. “Gern was killed with a knife. He probably died before he could struggle and resist.”

However, Shuang Yun said, “But Gern is also a dragon. Even if he’s not strong, he shouldn’t have been killed so easily, right?”

Huanhuan recalled the appearance of Gern’s corpse. “His skin has turned purple, and the blood on his body is faintly black. His nails were very dark as well. My guess is that he was poisoned before he was stabbed to death.”

“Is it possible the knife was poisoned?”

Huanhuan shook her head. “I don’t think so. The wound caused by the knife was red. I didn’t see any discoloration. I don’t think it was smeared with poison.”

Bai Di pushed open the door and walked in. “Dinner is ready. Let’s discuss it after dinner.”

Eggy had recently fallen in love with Bai Di’s cooking. As soon as she heard that there was good food, she flapped her little wings and flew out following the fragrance of the dishes.

After eating and drinking their fill, the family returned to their room to rest.

In the middle of the night, Bai Di suddenly opened his eyes. He sat up and looked toward the door.

Huanhuan was aware of the movements of the person beside her. She rubbed her eyes and saw Bai Di sit up. She was about to ask when he pressed his index finger to his lips and hushed her.

She immediately shut up and followed his gaze to the door.

Was there something outside the door?

After Bai Di got out of bed, he stepped barefoot on the floor and walked silently to the door.

He pressed his ear to the door as if listening to something.

Huanhuan looked at him with wide eyes, feeling nervous for no reason.

There was suddenly the sound of fighting outside the door!

Bai Di pulled open the door and rushed out!

Beside the stairs, Shuang Yun was fighting a man. Bai Di rushed forward to help Shuang Yun beat the man to the ground and tie him up tightly.

Huanhuan hurriedly ran out of the room in her pajamas. At this moment, Xue Ling had already walked out of the room. Eggy flew out of his arms, flapped her wings, and landed on Huanhuan’s head.

Xue Ling noticed that Huanhuan was not wearing shoes. He reached out and picked her up. “Don’t run around without shoes,” he reminded her. “You’ll catch a cold easily.”

Bai Di lit a torch and stuck it in a jar beside him.

The fire lit up the entire reception room.

The man who had trespassed the inn at night was tightly bound. In the light of the fire, Huanhuan saw his face. It was a very unfamiliar face. She had never seen him before.

Shuang Yun crossed his arms and looked down at the other party. He said coldly, “This guy sneaked into the inn in the middle of the night. He must be up to no good.”

The man quickly shouted, “I’m Gru, a proper hunter. I’m not up to no good!”

A hunter? Huanhuan immediately thought of the missing hunter.

She took out the portrait, unfolded it, and showed it to him.

“Did you draw this?”

Gru saw the three people in the portrait and nodded immediately. “Yes, yes! This is my portrait. I sold it to the restaurant owner’s son for the money for the wine. Why is it with you?”

Shuang Yun kicked him. “If we ask you a question, just answer it. You have no right to ask questions.”

Gru was in so much pain from the kick that he could only shut his mouth aggrievedly, not daring to speak nonsense again.

Huanhuan continued to ask, “Have you seen the people in this painting?”

“Yes, I happened to meet the three of them on my way to Vanilla Bay. At that time, I felt that something was wrong with the three of them, especially the woman. She had the aura of a demon. That aura was very faint. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to smell it, but my nose is especially sensitive, so I smelled it. That’s why I drew their appearances and thought about exchanging this information for some wine money.”

“Then do you know where they went?”

Gru said nothing hesitantly.

Shuang Yun kicked him again. “Tell me!”

“Stop kicking! I’ll tell you! The three of them went to Nether City!”