"Xiaoyin, you just said that when the knock on your door came, you opened the door directly, right?" The fool asked, "After you opened the door, there was no strange sound?"
"After I opened the door, I didn't hear the knock on the door again." Xiaolan said firmly.
"Could it be..." Bai Su held on to the doorframe, looking as if he had been hit, "The thing knocking on the door was looking for one of us. After knocking on Sister Qin Yin's door, that...
Didn't that Uncle Luo come out, and that thing... found its target..."
An invisible thing.
Something that even Lao Luo's Panlong Pond couldn't discover.
Unimaginable.
Xiaolan described the rotten monster to her companions again. Before any of them could react, a clear and loud ringing sound came from downstairs.
"Dingle bell!—Dingling bell!—Dingling bell!—"
It's breakfast time.
"Hisoka must know something," the Taoist priest looked at everyone, "We'll try to ask later."
Seeing that Luo Jiutian's calm demeanor was not pretending, everyone stopped being pretentious and went straight to the restaurant on the first floor.
Hisoka put on a black and white vertical striped work clothes and stood upright at the door of the restaurant to greet them.
The Taoist priest took the wet towel handed by Hisoka and wiped his hands a few times. He glanced into the restaurant and asked casually, "Mr. Hisoka, are you the only employee here?"
"In the White Castle, we have a butler, a chef, and a gardener. It's just me who usually receives the guests."
Several people walked into the restaurant quietly.
It's still the same long table, but the seats have changed a bit.
There are still four chairs on the left side, but there are only three on the right side. The tableware set for the main seat is still there.
"Why are there only eight sets of tableware?" the Taoist priest asked.
"There are only eight guests, and of course there are only eight sets of tableware." Hisoka led a few people to their seats.
"How did you know that we are missing one person?" The fool stood aside and asked with a stern look.
"One person is missing?" Hisoka glanced at everyone, "Aren't all eight of them here?"
"There were nine of us last night." Xiaoyin couldn't wait to interrupt.
"Nine people?" Hisoka was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Miss Qin Yin may have counted wrongly. When you came to the White Castle last night, there were eight people."
After speaking, as if he was afraid that some people would not believe it, he pointed upstairs and added, "There are exactly eight rooms on the second floor for you to live in. Did you...did you forget?"
"What we mean is that since there are only a few of us, Xisuo, you can dine with us." The Taoist priest explained.
Hisoka's brows widened, "Dear kind guests, the master is not here, and the rules of the White Castle are in place. Hisoka will not hinder you from dining. Thank you for your kindness."
The Taoist priest smiled stiffly and nodded.
Everything has changed.
Luo Jiutian's eyes darkened, the Taoist priest patted his shoulder, and the two sat side by side on the right side.
"Uncle Hisoka said last night that there would be monsters in the forest," Xiaolan asked innocently, holding up a fork, "What kind of monsters are they?"
The corner of Hisoka's mouth twitched.
"Some unusual animals can hurt people," Hisoka replied, "They usually don't come out during the day."
"That's it..." Xiaolan nodded, turned to Baomu, who was sitting on the right, and asked, "Brother Baomu, can you still smell the strange smell?"
Baomu was concentrating on eating the omelette when he was frightened and choked when Xiaolan said "Brother Baomu".
"Ahem...still..." Baomu glanced at Hisoka, "There's still a little..."
"Maybe the kitchen warehouse has not been cleaned," Hisoka said quickly, "I will ask them to clean it again."
"Hisoka, why don't you show us around today," the Taoist priest said with a smile, "This castle and gardens are so beautiful, we have to pay a visit."
"That's exactly what Hisoka meant." Hisoka agreed simply.
The few of them finished their breakfast in silence, and then under Hisoka's guidance, they looked around the study room, conference room, lounge and small living room on the first floor of the castle. Just as Hisoka was about to lead them out to the garden, they were stopped by Bai Bai again.
Su stopped it.
"Here...this..." Bai Su seemed to have mustered up a lot of courage, "Where is the kitchen? We...we also want to take a look at the kitchen."
"The kitchen is very messy and not suitable for distinguished guests to watch," Hisoka opened the door. "A clump of wild lilies of the valley just bloomed in the east corner of the garden last night. I brought..."
"We want to see the kitchen." Bai Su insisted.
Xiaoyin looked around at the stalemate between Bai Su and Xisuo and said, "This kid kept shouting last night that the steak was delicious. I want to see it..."
Bai Su glanced at Xiaoyin gratefully.
"Yeah, it's super delicious," Xiaolan also agreed, "I also want to see how it's cooked."
Although I haven't finished eating yet.
Hisoka's troubled face softened, "The chefs left after preparing breakfast. It's a pity. Why don't I take some of them to visit before lunch?"
Having said that, it would not be good to insist on it anymore.
There was a breeze outside today, and the flowers in the garden were swaying in the wind, looking quiet and romantic.
Xiaolan stood beside the newly bloomed lily of the valley and turned to look towards the second floor of the castle.
The window on the far right should be from my room, and the one next to it belongs to Xiaoyin.
The room next to it, which should have belonged to Lao Luo, has now disappeared together with Lao Luo.
They looked through the entire castle, except for the kitchen and all the bathrooms, and there was no place where anyone could hide.
Where can Lao Luo go?
The wind gradually became stronger.
Just as Xiaolan was about to propose the idea of spreading out and wandering around in the garden, dark clouds came over in the distance and a strong wind started. Hisoka hurriedly urged the guests to return to the castle.
Xiaolan followed the Taoist priest into the study, and Luo Jiutian was also inside.
"Jiutian must have noticed it too," the Taoist priest said in a low voice.
Luo Jiutian pursed his lips and nodded.
"What did you notice?" Xiaolan didn't understand.
"A few of the lilies of the valley were trampled down and buried in the grass," the Taoist priest said. "It's hard to see if you don't look carefully, but there is indeed a small half shoe print on the soil."
"Is it Uncle Luo's shoe print?" Xiaolan asked.
"It's hard to tell," the Taoist priest replied, "but the lily of the valley was newly opened last night, which means someone walked by there in the middle of the night. It could be Vice President Luo, or... it could be Xiaolan you saw.
monster."
That monster...
Wearing shoes or not? Xiaolan raised her head and thought hard, but didn't pay attention.
"It's not convenient in front of Hisoka. We have to go investigate tonight. Maybe we can find clues about Deputy Luo's disappearance."
Luo Jiutian nodded. He seemed to be in good spirits, but his eyes were filled with anxiety.
Before lunch, Hisoka found them and took them to the kitchen to watch the cooking process up close. The chefs were well-trained and were not distracted even when others were watching. They cut the vegetables in an orderly manner and started cooking.
The kitchen is neat and clean, it doesn't look like a secret place.