Chapter 354 - The Game

...

Noah went out at last because Ferne had been out for too long. As he walked, he caught the sight of Ferne, who had been chatting with a girl in the beverage area， and reached out for a note, on which the girl's phone number was written. He immediately frowned.

Ferne turned around and saw him. He waved his hand, "Let's go. It's so hot. Let's go up and rest for a while."

Noah nodded and took two drinks from the bar.

The little girl looked straight at Noah and asked Ferne, "Is this your friend?"

Ferne was afraid that she would say something improper, so he coughed, "Right."

The little girl was incredulous. Never had she thought that such a man would need to go out to hit on women.

Noah knitted his eyebrows and looked at her. Although he sensed something from her expression, he didn't say anything. Then he turned around and walked toward the elevator.

Ferne waved goodbye to the girl and immediately followed up.

In the elevator, they exchanged a glance, reaching an unspoken agreement.

They came out on the third floor and took the stairs to the fourth floor through the exit passageway. Before entering the surveillance area, Noah pushed the surveillance camera to the other side. After a while, they successfully sneaked into Room 666 and Room 888.

No room on the fourth floor started with 4. All of them were named with a series numbers, like 111, 222, until 999. These numbers stood for good luck. Only the most powerful and wealthiest people were entitled to these rooms.

Ferne knew everything about hotel door locks. Before he came, he had taken with him a skeleton key and a master room card of the hotel owned by him. He also brought an extra card for Noah.

With his hands in plastic transparent gloves, Noah entered the room with the card. He placed a stool under the air conditioner and put a napkin on it. Then he stepped onto it and put a bug at the back of the air conditioner. Meanwhile, from the miniature headset came Branden's words, "I need to go back to return a phone call."

Noah unhurriedly fixed the bug behind the air conditioner. Then he moved the stool to its original position, took the napkin into his pocket, and carefully left the room.

Ferne was in the next room. Noah came to the room and whispered, "Are you done?"

Branden's friend stayed in this room. Noah decided to eavesdrop on both of them so that he wouldn't miss any information. It was possible for him to find some important clues.

Ferne's voice came from the room inside, "Come in and take a look at this."

Noah knitted his eyebrows and said in a low voice, "Branden is coming back."

At the same time, he walked into the room carefully, avoiding touching door panels and walls. Then, he saw an opened suitcase with some suits and solid-colored underpants in it. Ferne was checking a wallet. There was a photo in the wallet.

Noah looked at the wallet and was surprised.

"If I recall correctly, the abbot of the GY Temple is called Leon Cowan."

In the photo, the abbot and Branden's friends smiled and stood side by side. Then, they found Nikhil Cowan's name on the ID card placed on the left side of the wallet.

"They are brothers! Branden and the GY Temple are closely related!" Ferne said excitedly.

Noah took out his phone and took photos. Then, he asked, "Do you remember where they were before? Hurry up and put it back. Branden is coming back. Have you bugged yet?”

Ferne nodded and carefully put the items in order. He then took out the chip.

He was about to stuff it into the suitcase when Noah raised his hand and stopped him. "This is too easy to find and not easy to retrieve."

Ferne took his words and gave up this idea.

After cleaning all the traces, the two carefully walked down the passageway. After a few steps, they heard a sound coming from the corridor.

Noah gestured at Ferne, making a signal of going upstairs.

They could tell from the sound that someone was approaching the second floor. If they rushed to the third floor, it was very likely for that person to see their backs or faces.

The Forest Hot Spring was a six-floored building, the upper two floors of which had long been empty because they were reserved for government officials. Therefore, they crept upstairs.

They went up all the way from the passageway to the rooftop. After they arrived, they were shocked by the scenery on the rooftop.

From the rooftop, they saw five large hot springs reflecting with sea-blue light under the night sky. Not far away, ground lights were sparkling in the broad-leaved forest, like a swarm of fireflies, flying leisurely in the night. Seeing from the rooftop, a myriad of twinkling lights formed a line, stretching to the horizon.

On this extremely tranquil night, Ferne turned his head to Noah and tried to say something, but he was suddenly stunned when he saw Noah. He raised his face slightly, his gaze exceptionally calm and gentle, and the sinister-looking eyebrow also stretched out.

"What's the matter?" Noah sensed Ferne's gaze and turned his head, looking at Ferne.

Ferne shook his head, "Nothing."

A thought crept into Ferne’s mind.

He thought Noah might have been a very gentle person in the past.

A man's shout came from the hot springs.

Ferne was startled and immediately stretched his neck to see. He saw people laughing in the pool, and they shouted, "Take it off!"

"..."

He had guessed what kind of exciting game was going on.

...

In the pool, Randy, who had just been punished, desperately protected his underpants and shouted, "There's only one left! I can't take it off! I can't take it off!"

Janessa laughed so hard that she choked on her own saliva, so she started to cough.

Armando came to her side and patted her back. Janessa turned around and immediately stopped coughing when she saw this half-naked man.

Fifteen minutes ago, these people were playing the words string up puzzle. According to the rule, they wouldn’t be punished if they failed for the first time. However, if they couldn't answer the second time, they had to take off one piece of their clothes.

Since they were here for the hot springs, these men only wore shirts, beach pants, and underpants. Ladies usually wore more than men did. Emily had wrapped herself with several clothes, including a coat. However, there was one exception--Janessa.

In the first round, No one was good at this game. They were even confused when it was their turn to take the challenge. In the second round, they were on the right track. They became familiar with the game and speeded up the game. Everyone would rehearse words in their minds and wait for their own round.

In this game, the first player was not well placed, because there was not much time for them to consider. This meant the last player could have enough time to prepare. Randy was the last one but he didn't see the benefit of being the last one, because other players had given almost every idioms used in daily life. When it came to his turn, he either repeated the idiom people said before or gave a false one. Eventually, he was stripped of his shirt and beach pants, wearing only his underpants.

The built-in lights of the pool were turned off, so they couldn't see others clearly, as long as they stayed in the water. However, the light from the distance enabled them to see each other clearly if they were close.

"Urchin! Take off yours! Take the punishment for me!" Randy shouted.

Immediately, Janessa said with a straight face, "No."

Randy retorted, "Why? You failed the game just now, and Armando took your punishment!"

"..."

Several minutes before, Janessa only had her bikini had left because she failed in the last round and had to take off the clothes Armando gave to her. In this round, she failed again. When she was about to take off the bikini, Armando took off his clothes for her and threw them ashore.

"I'll take the punishment for her," said Armando.

No one said a word and they all accepted this rule.

However, Janessa overturned this rule when Randy used this rule on her. Randy became dissatisfied and asked, "Then why could he take his clothes off for you?"

Janessa looked at him and smiled. Suddenly, she unbuttoned her underwear and threw her blue underwear to the shore in front of everyone.

Then, she raised her chin at Randy and said, "Are you satisfied?"

Randy was speechless.