Having gone downstairs and gotten into the car, Long Yuehong surveyed the street scene through the rear window.
He saw a dozen or so people lined up outside a nearby clinic for the common folk, their faces not looking good, either pale, tired, or haggard.
In Long Yuehong's understanding, such a sight was definitely abnormal, because the vast majority of the residents of the Olive District were struggling on the poverty line. They would definitely not choose to see a doctor unless they were seriously ill, preferring to endure it and tough it out.
And there was no reason for so many seriously ill people to suddenly appear in the surrounding neighborhoods.
As thoughts raced through his mind, Long Yuehong thought of his encounter last night and the Hunter's Guild mission, saying with a speculative tone:
"Are these all the people who had that nightmare last night?"
"Probably." Bai Chen, on the same side as Long Yuehong, agreed.
"Let me see, let me see." Shang Jianyao clamored, stretching his body across Genaeva and Long Yuehong.
Long Yuehong ignored this guy and said to himself:
"But that nightmare ended abruptly last night, and none of us experienced dizziness, nausea, or fatigue."
"This is very likely to vary from person to person." Jiang Baimian said thoughtfully, "We are all seasoned warriors with good strength and relatively firm will. Even in the dream, relying on instinct, we can definitely hold out longer than most of the residents of the Olive District. By the time Xiao Chong and Teacher Du Heng helped to scare away the 'nightmare,' those residents were likely already caught up by the monster and drowned in darkness."
Thus, they had corresponding symptoms and experienced some discomfort.
Genaeva moved his metal neck up and down and supported Shang Jianyao's body with his hand:
"The number of people affected is definitely more than those lining up at the clinic. Most people would choose to endure it for a day, get a good night's sleep, and see if they can recover."
This was a judgment he made based on the human behavior pattern library he had established.
Jiang Baimian "Hmm"ed and said to Bai Chen:
"Let's go, let's take a detour and then go to Hugo Inn."
This would effectively conceal the fact that they lived nearby.
As the jeep moved forward, several security officers in gray-blue uniforms came out of the clinic and raised their hands to signal Bai Chen to stop.
Long Yuehong quickly glanced at Shang Jianyao, who had just sat up straight, signaling him to prepare for "thought guidance."
Tap, tap, tap.
One of the security officers leaned over and knocked on the passenger seat window.
Jiang Baimian, who had disguised herself, lowered the window and asked, pretending to be uneasy:
"Officer, is there anything wrong?"
The security officer asked sternly:
"Did you have a nightmare last night?
"What kind of nightmare?"
Jiang Baimian curled up the corners of her mouth and showed off her hunter badge:
"Officer, we saw the collective dream mission at the guild yesterday."
She didn't say that she only looked but didn't accept, nor did she mention that she had a nightmare but was unaffected, but her actions and words naturally led people to understand in the direction she hoped:
These were a group of relic hunters who had accepted the mission and came to investigate today. They didn't live here last night and undoubtedly didn't have a nightmare.
The security officer who asked the question did not hide his disappointment and waved his hand:
"Don't cause trouble, behave yourself!
"Report any situation immediately!"
"Yes, officer." Jiang Baimian raised her hand and saluted with an indifferent expression, making herself look like a seasoned hunter who had been hanging around Initial City and the surrounding area for a long time.
After she closed the window, Bai Chen drove the jeep around the block.
Along the way, the Old Task Force, in order to play the role realistically enough, stopped the vehicle from time to time to ask passersby if they had a nightmare and what kind of nightmare they had.
After asking only five people, they got three positive answers, and the nightmares of these three were almost identical:
In the wilderness or inside abandoned buildings, they were chased by a monster hidden in the darkness, with bloody, pale hands and alternating elbows to support the ground. Eventually, they were exhausted or unfortunately tripped, and were enveloped in icy coldness, waking up startled. Today, they had more or less headaches and dizziness.
"It's about the same as the team leader predicted." Long Yuehong said with sincerity.
Jiang Baimian looked out the window and sighed with a hint of worry:
"If the impact of the 'nightmare' is limited to this, that would be good..."
She was afraid that the problem would become more and more serious and eventually become unmanageable.
At this time, the jeep arrived at the three-story earthen-yellow building where Hugo Inn was located.
As a relic hunter who came to this neighborhood to investigate the "nightmare," it was a reasonable and normal behavior to ask door to door.
As soon as he entered the hall, Shang Jianyao sighed regretfully:
"No one is here."
The "person" here refers to the owner, Hugo.
In fact, there were still some scattered rooms on the first floor, with a few guests staying there. Therefore, Shang Jianyao didn't confirm that Hugo wasn't there until he entered the hall and combined it with his observation of the environment.
"Went to the True Self Church?" Jiang Baimian said to herself in a low voice.
She could now control her volume freely, without worrying about her whispers being too loud to be heard.
At this time, the front desk was empty, and the wooden door of the room connected behind it was tightly closed.
As Bai Chen looked around, two guests staying at the inn returned from the entrance. They rubbed their foreheads as they passed through the hall, casually exchanging words:
"I thought I could get a good night's sleep after leaving the wilderness, but I had a nightmare. I was so scared that I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night."
"Me too, maybe it's because I've been under a lot of pressure lately. If it's still like this, I plan to go to the clinic to get some medicine, although it's definitely not cheap, but as a relic hunter, maintaining a good condition is more important."
"I suspect that something abnormal has happened in this neighborhood. The boss didn't even get up in the morning and open the door. I was the one who did it for him."
"Really? You opened it?"
"Of course. You came out too late. I had already opened the door before you arrived."
Hearing the conversation between these two guests, Bai Chen's eyes flickered, and she vaguely had a bad premonition.
She quickly turned her gaze to Jiang Baimian, and found that the team leader's brow was also slightly furrowed.
"Even if Hugo really went out to do errands, he wouldn't forget to open the inn's door." Bai Chen said her thoughts after the two guests returned to their rooms.
Shang Jianyao looked sharply towards the room behind the front desk.
The wooden door was tightly closed, and no sound came out.
"Go take a look." Jiang Baimian was superficially giving an order, but in reality, she walked towards the front desk herself.
Genaeva, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen naturally dispersed and entered combat positions, ready to provide fire cover for their teammates at any time.
Shang Jianyao followed behind Jiang Baimian, carefully observing her path.
"Hmm, not lost." Shang Jianyao was quite gratified.
It's only a few meters away, and the target is so big, I can see it clearly, how could I get lost? Jiang Baimian tried hard to keep her expression serious.
She went around the front desk, arrived at Hugo's room, and then stretched out her right palm to turn the handle.
The wooden door slowly receded, Jiang Baimian's nose twitched, and her expression suddenly became solemn.
As the door opened, the scene inside the room completely came into her eyes:
A bed was placed against the left wall, and next to it was a log-colored table. The table was cluttered with sewing needles, old knives, a dark leather whip, several ropes, and a candle that was only half-burned.
The hotel owner Hugo, who had dark skin, was lying naked on his back on the floor, his face tightly covered with a translucent blue plastic bag.
His eyes were wide open, and there were traces of incontinence on his lower body. A faint stench permeated the room.
He no longer had the consciousness of a human being, and he had lost his life.
A flash of sorrow crossed Jiang Baimian's face. She turned her body slightly and said in a deep voice to the team members outside:
"Hugo is dead."
Dead? Hugo is dead? Long Yuehong couldn't accept it.
Yesterday, the hotel owner was still fine, and he even promised the team leader to contact General Focas. How could he suddenly die today?
Shang Jianyao raised his left palm and sighed:
"Namo Amitabha, may he ascend to paradise."
Jiang Baimian walked into the room step by step, always careful not to damage the scene.
When Shang Jianyao arrived at the door, she squatted down and roughly inspected it.
After a few minutes, Jiang Baimian straightened her back and said with confusion:
"The cause of death seems to be suffocation.
"Judging from the scene, Hugo put the plastic bag on his head himself, tied the opening tightly, and suffocated himself alive..."
If it were anyone else, Jiang Baimian would definitely think that this was a scene deliberately fabricated by the real culprit, but it happened to Hugo, a devout believer of the True Self Church, and she felt that it was not impossible.
These people always seek to torture themselves in various ways, hoping to feel the "true self" through similar behaviors.
This is like dancing on the edge of a cliff, and a slight accident can lead to being smashed to pieces.
Without waiting for others to respond, Jiang Baimian added:
"The time of death was probably between eleven o'clock last night and four o'clock in the middle of the night."
Last night... Long Yuehong's heart moved, and he exclaimed in horror:
"Could it be caused by that 'nightmare'?"