love on the turquoise land

Chapter 9

Distracted, Nie Jiulo's hand slipped, and the graceful curve of the witch's neck she had been drawing turned into a stiff, slanted line.

What's going on? Is Sun Zhou demolishing the hotel's room or what?

Nie Jiulo sat for a moment, feeling increasingly uneasy. She stood up and walked towards the door. Perhaps she had a premonition in her heart, as her footsteps slowed down. When she reached the door, her hand was already on the doorknob, but she hesitated and withdrew it. Then, cautiously, she approached the peephole and looked outside.

Compared to the normal perspective, the image through the peephole was slightly distorted, but everything outside seemed quiet and the lights were bright.

Nie Jiulo sighed in relief and was about to look away when someone entered the field of view of the peephole.

It was a man in his twenties or thirties with a crew cut. He was not tall but extremely muscular, carrying a heavy canvas bag. He seemed alert, looking around as he walked. There was a moment when his face was directly facing Nie Jiulo's side of the peephole.

It's hard to describe his appearance, but ugly would suffice. Not just ordinary ugly, but the kind of innate, pathological, and defective ugliness.

He walked quickly, and in less than two seconds, he was out of sight of the peephole.

Nie Jiulo's heart began to beat faster. This person came from the left side, which was where the end room was. The room opposite that one hadn't been opened, so could it be... he came out of Sun Zhou's room?

Realizing that the man did not seem like Sun Zhou's friend, Nie Jiulo estimated that he must have already gone far. Carefully, she opened the door.

The hallway was empty, and she heard a beep-beep sound from the neighboring room, indicating that the door wasn't properly closed.

Nie Jiulo hurried over and, out of politeness, knocked on the door. "Sun Zhou? Can I come in?"

No one responded.

Nie Jiulo pushed the door open. As she expected, the room was messy. The coffee table was leaning against the wall, and broken glass littered the floor. A hotel slipper lay sideways on the floor.

Sun Zhou was nowhere to be found, and neither was he in the bedroom nor the bathroom.

In a flash, she recalled the heavy canvas bag the crew-cut man had been carrying.

Nie Jiulo didn't have time to return to her room. Stepping over the mess, she rushed to the bedside phone and dialed the front desk.

As soon as they answered, Nie Jiulo fired off questions: "Did a man carrying a large canvas bag leave? A big canvas bag, a man?"

The front desk sounded confused, "Huh?"

"Did you see him?"

"No, I didn't see anyone like that."

So he hadn't reached the lobby yet? Nie Jiulo felt a bit relieved. "If you see him, stop him immediately. I don't care how, he stole something from me."

To emphasize the seriousness, she added, "Tens of... tens of thousands."

The front desk was clearly shocked by the large amount of loss. "O-okay."

Just as Nie Jiulo was about to hang up, something else crossed her mind. "Besides the lobby, are there any other exits in this hotel?"

"Yes, there are three back doors."

Nie Jiulo's heart sank. With a total of four exits, the chances of intercepting that man had just decreased to one in four.

***

The police arrived around midnight, an older officer and a younger one, both quite polite. They first inspected Sun Zhou's room and then reviewed the hotel's surveillance footage.

While there was property damage in Sun Zhou's room, there were no signs of personal injury. The hotel's surveillance cameras were mainly focused in the lobby, elevator interiors, and elevator entrances, but none of them captured the crew-cut man carrying the canvas bag.

Based on the current situation, without evidence of a crime or its social impact, and only relying on suspicion, they couldn't open a case. The older officer advised Nie Jiulo to file a police report, provide as much detail as possible, and leave contact information for follow-up.

It was Nie Jiulo's first time filing a police report, so she lacked experience. As the encounter ended, she couldn't help but ask, "Don't you need to collect fingerprints or evidence?"

The older officer smiled helplessly, while the younger one was enthusiastic, "You've been watching Hong Kong dramas, haven't you? We don't call it forensics here; it's the Criminal Investigation Department, responsible for crime scene investigation."

Nie Jiulo vaguely understood. They belonged to the criminal department, responsible for crime scenes. Sun Zhou's situation might not even qualify as a crime yet.

While filling out the forms, the younger officer explained their current considerations. Sun Zhou couldn't even be classified as missing at the moment. What if he returned on his own tomorrow? Property damage didn't necessarily indicate violent abduction. What if he was willingly cooperating or voluntarily playing disappear by crawling into the canvas bag?

With so many possibilities and no updates, this would just be a police record, and they could only be vigilant and follow up as needed.

His words made Nie Jiulo uncertain. She had speculated earlier that Sun Zhou might be pressured by gambling debts. Could it be that Sun Zhou, in order to evade debt, collaborated with a friend to stage this scenario?

But regardless, she had done what she needed to do.

After filling out the form, the older officer glanced over it briefly. "You're a sculptor? Is that related to fine arts?"

Nie Jiulo nodded. "Yes, it's related."

"Do you also paint? That's considered basic skills, right? Since the cameras didn't capture anything, and you saw the person's face, could you roughly sketch it?"

This request wasn't unreasonable. Nie Jiulo borrowed paper from the front desk and started sketching. As she was about to finish, she heard the sound of luggage wheels rolling near the door.

It was Yan Tuo.

It wasn't surprising. The village wasn't large, and wealthy out-of-towners mostly chose this hotel.

Two police officers in uniform guarding a young woman drawing in the lobby in the middle of the night would naturally attract attention. Yan Tuo glanced over but didn't seem curious. He quickly averted his gaze and walked straight to the front desk.

Nie Jiulo put the finishing touches on the sketch and handed it to the older officer.

***

Translator notes:
This is the first time I have translated a novel with a horror situation like this and to be honest, it's kinda scared me a little. No. A LOT. But suddenly Yan Tuo appeared at the end of the chapter and it made me feel... giddy and happy and fine ijbol.
By the way, I am in my last semester and currently busy with my final project. So, I can't update the chaps regularly. Please bear with me.

Regards,
Yan Tuo's wife