“Temporarily closed?”
Luo Kang felt the blood on his forehead had stopped, but it still stung. He wiped away the blood from his face. If he remembered correctly… Why didn’t he notice it when he first came in?
Or was he only focused on the swimming pool at the time, and everything else was subjectively ignored?
After changing back into his clothes, Ningma walked back to the plastic boards floating on the surface of the water. The pool water was almost still. The six plastic boards, affected by the surface tension of the water, were now completely still. They were still translucent, almost blending into the water surface unless you were deliberately looking for them.
If he hadn’t swum out of the water a few minutes ago, he would probably be pinned down by these plastic boards, with only maybe five centimeters of air separating him from survival.
A wave of fear washed over him. If someone with slightly worse swimming skills, or…
Ningma’s gaze fell on the small diving platform directly above the plastic boards—2.5 meters high. Anyone jumping from this height would adjust their posture to enter the water headfirst, most likely smashing their head on the plastic boards floating on the surface. A direct hit could result in fractures and dislocations at best, and a broken neck at worst, leading to instant death!
Don’t underestimate these few boards—Ningma pressed his finger on one. There was almost no undulation. The fact that they could float on the water meant their density was lighter than water, but their texture was definitely several times harder than ordinary plastic. Combined with the adsorption principle of fluid mechanics, it would be almost impossible to lift them from underwater…
Ningma gripped the Gzi Bead hanging around his neck again. The slight coolness helped to calm his mind. He had just brushed shoulders with death. Who could have imagined that such a pool of emerald water would hide such unexpected danger?
[If you see this text, please exit reading mode or go to the “source page” to read normally]
[Please go to the source page to read, the following content is automatically replaced to prevent collection] you──I, big──small, more──less, up──down, left──right….
He could only blame his own carelessness. Ningma found a piece of paper with the same message posted on the back of the door leading away from the swimming pool, informing that “Equipment maintenance, swimming pool closed.”
Returning the way he came, he ran into Solang Lunzhu, the slightly overweight front desk manager, in the hotel lobby. Seeing Ningma’s wet hair, she thought he had been caught in the rain and hurried over. When she saw the wound on his forehead, she was even more surprised.
“Mr. Ningma,” Manager Lunzhu asked tentatively, “Are you alright?” She pointed to her forehead.
Ningma immediately realized that the hotel swimming pool had posted a notice that it was closed, but he had rashly entered because of his carelessness. It was originally his problem, and besides, the injury wasn’t that serious. “Oh, it’s nothing, just bumped it.”
Not knowing if the other party was aware of his whereabouts, Ningma glossed over it. “Do you have band-aids?”
“Yes, of course,” Manager Lunzhu didn’t press the issue, and trotted back to the front desk to get a small box. “Need any help?”
Ningma refused with a smile, “No need, it’s just a small wound, you can go back to your room and take care of it. Thanks!”
“You’re welcome,” the manager gestured towards the elevator with a “please” gesture, her professional habit kicking in. “Please feel free to contact us if you need any help.”
“Thank you,” Ningma didn’t linger and took the elevator back to the executive deluxe suite on the fifth floor.
The moment the elevator doors closed, Ningma saw the lobby manager turn and walk towards the small supermarket in the lobby.
Back in the room, the soft lights gently illuminated the space. The moderate rain outside hadn’t stopped. It was 3:15 PM, and the rain had gotten heavier than when he had lunch in the restaurant.
After putting on the band-aid, perhaps it was a psychological effect, the headache lessened a bit, but the feeling of fatigue became more obvious. The indoor temperature was in a comfortable range for the human body, plus the top-notch sofa, like a black hole, firmly attracted his frightened body.
Ningma sank into the sofa. The scene from half an hour ago was still vivid in his mind. Those six large plastic-steel boards were a hair’s breadth away from taking his life. But what was strange was, why didn’t the clerk at the supermarket remind him when he bought the swimming trunks? Logically speaking, he should also be a hotel employee.
The room was so quiet that he couldn’t hear any sound. The only sound was the slight “hiss” from the central air conditioning vent above the entrance. Beside him was freshly brewed Song tea, let’s call it “Song tea.” It came from that small package of seemingly rough tea that the manager with the surname Huang gave him last night.
He took a sip of the indescribable tea. Although he could say he had “tasted countless teas,” this particular flavor, filled with the taste buds, gave people a kind of irresistible feeling, or he should order some to take back when he left this place.
The decoration of the room was in a fresh and elegant style. In addition to the expensive furniture, the soft furnishings also seemed to be carefully placed, such as the wine bar, silk curtains, and Famous paintingsdecorations everywhere.
He fell asleep without realizing it. After escaping danger, the adrenaline pumped out would have a long adjustment process after it was consumed. The whole process would ultimately be completed by deep sleep.
The sky outside the window was gloomy, and the accumulated rain clouds were transforming the two forms of water, without any sign of stopping.
A slight snore sounded in the suite. Time passed bit by bit, until noon was replaced by dusk, and the night gradually faded in the thick clouds.
“Ding,” a crisp reminder sounded, indicating that it was exactly 7 PM.
Ningma opened his sleepy eyes and realized after two seconds that it was the hourly chime. Although he was a little groggy, at least the headache had disappeared a lot, including the wound on his forehead.
Although his eyes were open, his brain wasn’t online yet. He stared aimlessly at the half-wall connected to the ceiling, dazed in the remaining light.
He saw a decorative painting hanging on the wall opposite him, a wooden frame, an oil painting portrait, a self-portrait of a young woman. He didn’t recognize the name of the painting, but he occasionally saw it hanging on the walls of some high-end places, Monet or a work by some master. It was often seen in some high-end places to follow the fashion.
The picture was a side portrait of a European woman holding a pot, wrapped in a white headscarf with soft facial lines, looking down in contemplation, revealing a snow-white neck.
The whole picture was peaceful and simple, trying to bring a kind of rustic texture, but Ningma’s line of sight didn’t pay attention to the painting, but focused on the side face of the character in the picture, to be more precise—it was the earrings worn by the woman in the painting.
Something was strange. It clearly looked like an 18th-century costume, but the style of the earrings was a bit out of sync with the actual situation at the time.
There was also—if he wasn’t mistaken, the earrings protruded from the picture. This was easy to ignore if you didn’t look closely. Who would pay attention to familiar things that they were used to?
After confirming that it couldn’t be the effect of blurred vision or light, Ningma got up from the sofa and leaned closer, reaching out to take off the earrings from the painting. The original picture had nothing on the woman’s ears, but it just fit perfectly with the one in his hand.
The style of a single earring was unique. The center was a pea-sized pearl, with a golden crescent moon slanting across it, hanging with long and short silver tassels, giving a sense of being surrounded by stars.
At first glance, it should be an expensive top jewelry series, well-made and precious gold, but he didn’t know why only one was left inserted in the painting and perfectly matched the characters in the painting. If it weren’t for the faint light reflected by the earrings in the dim light, it would have been almost impossible to find.
So, did this earring belong to the next guest who lived here? Why did she nail the earrings in the painting? Was it intentional or unintentional? Didn’t she think about leaving one behind when she left?
Also—Ningma circled the room, carefully searching from the other decorative paintings, no, no, none of them had it…
So, where was the other earring?