“Brother Nan is right. There was still a big group of hotel guests left in the hotel after eleven o’clock last night. However, between eleven to six o’clock in the morning, a group of guests have already gone missing. Our priority should be to search for the missing group of guests right now. We have to find out if there is any common ground or any specific information contained within the missing guests, in order to figure out if there are any hints or anything that we can use as clues to find the password to escape from this hotel,” Jiang Yuning replied as soon as Xiao Chennan voiced his opinion.
At this time, the director sitting behind the camera screens had a very smug expression on his face.
This time, they had already concealed the hint very well. The production team did not believe that Jiang Yuning would be able to discover the hint so easily.
Hmph!
The ten participants then gathered all of the hotel guests in the lobby before they started to determine the identity of the missing guests from the hotel register.
After some time, they finally found out the identities of all the missing guests and Xu Beishen then decided to hand the hotel register over to Jiang Yuning instead. “Here, perhaps you can take a look at the information that we have gathered so far and see if you have any insight at all.”
“The eight missing people are all of different ages and sexes. Although most of them comprise of children, there are also several adults who have gone missing along with them. Moreover, just by looking at the hotel register, I do not think that the clues are hidden within their surnames, weights, heights, or any physical attributes of the guests,” Jiang Yuning concluded as she analyzed the information in a calm manner.
“Is the distribution of the missing guests random?” Jin Mingchen could not help but ask after listening to Jiang Yuning’s analysis. “Do you think that this is perhaps a prank that has been started by this group of missing people then?”
Jiang Yuning stared at Jin Mingchen with a profound expression on her face before she said, “There is definitely a hint hidden within this register.”
“Let me have a look at it,” Xiao Chennan replied as he took the hotel register from Jiang Yuning’s hand. “I think that the most useful information that we can obtain from this register is this,” Xiao Chennan said as he circled the ages of all the missing guests with a pen.
This was because numbers in general were usually the best clues.
“5/9/7/8/20/5/5/14. Do any of you have any idea what this could mean?”
As soon as Jin Mingchen heard the string of numbers, he immediately felt overwhelmed. Therefore, he started whining almost instantly, “Oh no! I feel dizzy just looking at all these numbers. Don’t be so cruel and hard on a young boy who only scored eight points in Mathematics for his college entrance examination…”
At this time, Jiang Yuning quickly hit Jin Mingchen on his head. “Hurry up and apologize too the audience immediately.”
“Ahh! But why?”
“Why are you so proud of yourself for scoring eight points in your examination? You are setting a bad example for the kids out there!”
“Oh, you are right. Director, please remember to edit this part out from the program,” Jin Mingchen quickly replied as he looked into one of the cameras installed within the five star hotel.
“Is there anything that we should be referring to? Or is there any way to find out what these clues could actually mean?” Xu Beishen could not help but sigh. “Everyone, let’s try our best to think of a solution.”
“Why don’t you show it to us too?” the guests at the hotel offered their help almost instantaneously.
Xu Beishen did not hesitate to hand the hotel register over to the hotel guests and everyone started circulating and passing the register book around, but it was seemingly useless to add, subtract, multiply, or divide those numbers.
“Do you think that perhaps this is not a mathematical formula, but these numbers could actually be referring to something else instead?”
This was one of the key points raised by one of the hotel guests.
“What can we compare these numbers to so that we can get an answer, then?”
“Oh, I know! I know! We can use the dictionary!” Jin Mingchen yelled excitedly.
Everyone was dumbstruck.
Xu Beishen could not stand it any longer and she replied Jin Mingchen sarcastically, “Oh, if your suggestion is right, then we could also compare the numbers to idioms or the periodic table, right?”
As soon as Xu Beishen reprimanded him, Jin Mingchen quickly made an okay gesture before he chose to keep his mouth shut.
However, Jiang Yuning suddenly thought of something else because of Jin Mingchen’s suggestion that they should use the dictionary.
When Xu Beishen saw the expression on Jiang Yuning’s face, she immediately knew that Jiang Yuning had already thought of something…
“What do you have in mind?”
Jiang Yuning tore out a clean blank page from the hotel register before she started writing down the twenty-six letters of the English alphabets on the piece of paper.
“What is the fifth letter in the English alphabet?”
“E.” Xu Beishen answered immediately.
“What about the ninth letter?”
“I.”
“List down all the other letters that corresponds with the numbers.”
“Eighteen! Eighteen!” Xu Beishen replied excitedly.
“She is so intelligent…”
“This girl is really smart.”
The hotel guests who had just witnessed this scene could not help but sing praises for Jiang Yuning as they admired her intelligence.
“Good job”
“That is so amazing!” Qi Mo and the other participants quickly gave Jiang Yuning a thumbs up.
In fact, Jiang Yuning could only think of this solution because of Jin Mingchen’s suggestion. It would definitely be too difficult to compare the numbers against the Chinese dictionary, but Jiang Yuning suddenly realized that it would be relatively easier to compare the numbers against the English alphabets.
“What could the word eighteen refer to then?” Vera asked as she looked at Jiang Yuning. “Is it a clue for the password, or do you think it means that we should head to the eighteenth floor?”
Jiang Yuning looked at the guests who had already gathered around her in the hotel lobby before she finally said to the crowd, “Why don’t we spilt our tasks instead? Beishen, you and Brother Qi Mo can stay guard in the hotel lobby and look after all the guests while you think of other possibilities or clues. Brother Nan, Vera, and I will head to the eighteenth floor to see if there are any clues hidden on that level. What do you think?”
It was obvious that Jiang Yuning’s intention was to ensure that Xu Beishen would keep a lookout on Jin Mingchen’s movements.
“Alright then, let’s do it,” Xu Beishen replied as she understood Jiang Yuning’s plans immediately.
“Alright. Let’s go now. Since the electricity and power in the hotel is still relatively unstable, I think that it would be better for us to take the staircase instead. We do not want to be trapped inside the elevator. That would be very troublesome,” Xiao Chennan reminded them as he looked at Jiang Yuning.
“You are right. Let’s take the stairs.”
Vera suddenly felt her legs going wobbly as soon as she looked at the eighteenth flights of stairs that they have to run up.
As the three of them started going up the stairs, Jiang Yuning suddenly turned back and looked at Xiao Chennan before she said, “Brother Nan, I will leave Vera to you now. I will make my way up to the eighteenth floor first.”
“Stay alert and be aware in case there are other traps set up for us.”
Jiang Yuning nodded before she started running up the stairs, maintaining a safe distance between herself and the other two just so they could still hear each other.
As soon as Jiang Yuning left their sight, Xiao Chennan reached out his hand to Vera: “Let’s go.”
Vera blushed immediately before she shook her head. “No. We are recording a variety program now. Aren’t we just heading to the eighteenth floor? I can do this.”
Xiao Chennan did not say anything but he continued walking silently behind Vera, protecting her and ensuring her safety without saying a single word.
At this time, Vera could not help but sigh as she thought about Jiang Yuning’s high emotional intelligence. She knew that Jiang Yuning had been creating countless opportunities for her to be able to spend some time alone with Xiao Chennan, but Vera also knew that she should exercise some self-restraint. After all, they were recording a variety program now and Vera could not imagine the dire consequences if Xiao Chennan’s fans were to find out about their relationship.
She was still feeling overwhelmed by everything that happened last night and therefore, she should act more appropriately from now on.
Vera stayed strong and continued climbing flight after flight of stairs as they followed behind Jiang Yuning.
When both Vera and Xiao Chennan finally arrived at the eighteenth floor, they saw Jiang Yuning standing in front of a room door with a thoughtful expression on her face.
“What are you looking at?”
“Take a look at this.” Jiang Yuning then pointed at the advertisement box located right outside room number eighteen on the eighteenth floor of the five star hotel. “There is an X drawn on this door, which means we are clearly forbidden from enter this room. However, that is also the reason why I have a feeling that the answer we are looking for is definitely inside this room.”
“Alright. I will go inside the room and check it out. Both of you should stay outside and keep guard in case anything happens,” Xiao Chennan replied as he quickly pushed the two girls aside.
“Brother Nan…”
Xiao Chennan pushed the door open and entered the room without any hesitation at all. However, when the door closed behind Xiao Chennan after he entered the room, the two girls realized that they could no longer open the door.
“Brother Nan…” Vera shouted in an anxious manner. “Can you hear us?”
“Warning! Warning! There is no air, water, nor lights in this room! It is forbidden territory and nobody should enter the room.” The advertising box right beside the room made a loud noise and both girls jumped in shock.
“What does this mean?”
“He must try to escape the room immediately,” Jiang Yuning replied to Vera’s question. “Don’t be so anxious and worried. Let me try to think of a solution.”
“Hurry up! He must be suffering inside.”
You are already choosing a guy over your friends!
Jiang Yuning stared at the advertising box with a serious expression on her face as she thought of ways to resolve this issue. At this time, the glass windows in the hotel were all crackling because there was a huge typhoon outside.
“Stop worrying about the weather first. It is more important that we save him now!”