Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  “It’s so quiet here!”


  There were no more than three cars in the huge parking lot. It still seemed that people were working there.

  “It is quite empty. When I came last time, there were many people. Maybe this was not the right time to come here,” Pan Jun said. He had come more than once with friends to take a dip in the hot springs. Although he had said there was no overcrowding on those occasions, the parking lot had still been half full of cars. It was nowhere near as empty as now.

  “Let’s go in and have a look,” Wang Yao said with a smile. This was his first time there.

  The resort was built on the hillside. It had an antique style and was well-designed and constructed.

  When they came to the front desk, they saw a woman in her 40s yawning and playing with her cellphone. She did not notice them when the five of them walked up to her.

  “Hello!” Jia Zizai shouted.

  “Hey, hello, how are you? Did you come to soak in the hot springs?” After seeing Wang Yao and other people, the woman seemed excited. Her surprise was overwhelming.

  “It’s been more than 10 days! Finally, someone has come!”


  “Five of you?”


  “Yes.”


  “It is $80 per person.”


  “Let me settle it,” Jia Zizai said.

  “No, let me settle it.” Pan Jun also took out his wallet.

  “What are you guys fighting for? Didn’t I say that it’s my treat today?”


  Wang Yao paid. He and his group entered the hot springs.

  The men and women were separated. Jia Zizai and Hu Mei went to a pool since there were just the five of them in the entire villa soaking.

  “It’s quite unsanitary,” Jia Zizai complained as he held a cigarette in his mouth.

  There was obvious dust on the ground, which made the usually smooth ground appear gray and murky. Fortunately, the pools were clean.

  After entering the hot spring, Jia Zizai stretched and said, “Well, it’s very comfortable!”


  “It’s quite a good place. Why isn’t anyone coming here? The price is not too expensive!”


  “Did you ask Sir why he suddenly invited and treated us to soak in hot springs?”


  “Ah, no, what’s the matter?”


  “I think something is going on,” Hu Mei said.

  “Something going on? What is it?”


  “You!” Hu Mei rolled her eyes at him.

  In the other pool, Pan Jun softly asked, “Are you here to investigate the cause of death of those individuals?”


  “I am curious, so I’ve come to take a look,” Wang Yao said with a smile. “But I mainly came to soak in the hot springs. Don’t think about it anymore.”


  “Oh.”


  Huh?

  Wang Yao suddenly lowered his head and carefully looked at the spring water.

  “What’s the matter?” Pan Jun asked.

  “Nothing. Let’s leave after soaking for a while. The water is not very clean,” Wang Yao said.

  “It’s not clean, but it looks quite nice,” Pan Jun said. The spring water in the pool was very clear and steaming.

  Although he said that, he was cooperative and immediately got into the pool. It was quite comfortable to soak in.

  “It’s OK. It doesn’t matter if you don’t soak in it often,” Wang Yao said.

  After a while, Wang Yao got out of the pool, followed by Zhong Liuchuan and Pan Jun.

  “Go and call the husband and wife.”


  In the pool on the other side, Jia Zizai and Hu Mei were making themselves comfortable. They got a call from Zhong Liuchuan. He asked them to get out.

  “What’s the matter?”


  “Sir asked us to leave, so there must be something going on.”


  The two of them packed up, dressed, and went out.

  “What’s the matter, Sir?”


  “Just take a quick soak. It’s bad for the body if you soak in it for a long time,” Wang Yao said.

  “Really? I feel quite comfortable!”


  “I’m going to look around. Feel free to do whatever you want.”


  “OK.”


  Other than soaking in the hot springs as the main attraction, the resort had many other activities, including massages, billiards, chess, and cards. It was quite thoughtful. Since there were too few people coming, these facilities had not been put into operation. There had been no working capital for the operation of the villa. It was like a big hole only accepting investments but not making any profit. The contractor had invested tens of millions of dollars but had not made any money. At this rate, he was going to go bankrupt. No one was willing for that to happen. Unfortunately, no one wanted to come after the news of the dead had spread. It was impossible to sell it off. The boss was probably drinking unhappily and crying in some unknown place. Also, the wages of these workers had been delayed for months.

  If the salary could not be paid, what would these people do? At last, the boss had said that he would be self-sufficient and deduct the salaries from the income of the villa. Since no one came, how could there be income? Half of the operating staff of the villa had already left. There were still months of wages they had not received, so the entertainment activities had been abandoned. Now, there were no other entertainment activities to be carried out besides soaking in the hot springs.

  “Ah, how boring!” Jia Zizai and Hu Mei wandered around the resort.

  It was as bleak as the season.

  “What’s the matter?”


  “There must be something wrong with Sir.”


  “What’s the matter?”


  “I don’t know.”


  “You two explore the place. I’ll look around on my own,” Wang Yao told Pan Jun and Zhong Liuchuan.

  “Yes, Sir.”


  Wang Yao wanted to find the source of the hot springs and inspect it. He had not told them that the reason he didn’t want them to stay in for too long was that he had smelled a unique scent. The hot springs had a fishy smell of insects. The water was not clean. He had connected the smell to those who had come into contact and were bitten by poisonous insects from Li Jia Gou. He suspected that the smell was from the unknown poisonous insects, so he wanted to check the source.

  There was no patrol security guard or service personnel. Wang Yao wandered around the huge mountain resort alone. Quite a number of the valuable things in it had already been removed.

  “What are you doing?”


  He finally bumped into a young man in his 20s. He had yellow hair and a stick in his hand.

  “I want to see what the source of these hot springs looks like,” Wang Yao replied.

  “No, don’t wander around if you have nothing to do. Hurry up and leave.”


  Wang Yao didn’t speak. He continued walking forward.

  “Ah, I’m talking to you! What’s the matter with you? Can’t you understand words?” As soon as the young man saw his reaction, he immediately became angry. He was ignoring him while he was still polite.

  He approached Wang Yao with the stick.

  “Young man, too much anger hurts the liver!” Wang Yao placed his hand on his shoulder. The young man lost control of his body and fell to his knees.

  The force was too strong. It felt as if a car was pressing on his shoulders. There was no room for resistance. He immediately knelt.

  “Think about where the source is.”


  “Hey, hey, Big Brother, that hurts. Take it easy. I’ll take you there.”


  “Let’s go.”


  The young man cooperated and took him to the source of the hot springs. It was a well dug in the ground that they had built a pool around. From there, they distributed the hot spring water into various pools through recycling equipment.

  “It smells fishy, and the scent is very strong.” Wang Yao sniffed it carefully.

  “Alright, it’s none of your business.”


  “Yes, yes.” As if the young man had been pardoned from a great crime, he trotted away.

  “Damn it, he’s quite cocky. You wait!” He turned to the direction of the door and said a sentence, but his voice was not loud. It was as if only he could hear it.

  “On the mountain?”


  Wang Yao came out of the room and looked at the mountain behind the villa. It was not abrupt. The actual height was about the same as Nanshan Hill.

  “Look for it on this mountain?”


  With a leap, Wang Yao easily jumped over the 9-foot high courtyard wall and arrived at the back of the mountain.

  Looking for small insects on such a huge mountain was like looking for needles in the sea.

  Wang Yao wandered around the mountain. He thought, That kind of poison is heat poison. I think these insects should be very fond of warm places. There are hot springs here, and the heat is strong. I’ll just check out those places.

  With a few jumps, he arrived at the top of the mountain. He looked down from a high spot as he glanced around.

  “There it is.”


  He saw a place where there was a faint heat wave not high above it.

  Within a few moments, he came to the place and squatted down to feel it out.