Claude walked up the stairs slowly, pricking up his ears to listen to the sounds above. But to his surprise, it was very quiet up there, without a single sound. Even when Claude concentrated, he couldn't detect the sound of anyone breathing.
As for the people, Claude went up to the second floor smoothly without seeing a single person. This is a two-meter-wide passage with suite-style rooms on both sides. The floor of the passage is also covered with dark red wool carpet, which looks much more upscale than the hall downstairs.
Gently push open the wooden door of the first room on the left. The wooden door is very thick and the room is a bit cluttered, but it is clear at a glance that no one is hiding in it. This is a large room within a room. The room is a bedroom, with a large bed. The bedding on the bed is messy. It can be seen that there has been a fierce physical battle, and the harmonious smell can still be smelled in the air.
Next to the bedroom is a bathroom with a toilet and a washbasin. No one is hiding in it. There was a table in the large room with some chips and wooden gambling equipment thrown on it. Next to the table were four armchairs with thick velvet cushions. However, one chair was lying on the ground. It was obvious that the owner had taken the chair with him when he left.
There are two single sofas and a large coffee table on the left side against the wall. On the coffee table are several bottles of white grape fruit wine and blueberry fruit wine, as well as five or six glass cups. Two of the bottles of fruit wine are empty, and there is another. The bottle was mostly full, and there were still half glasses of fruit wine in the two glasses.
There was a long table placed against the wall opposite the entrance, with several silver plates on it containing snacks such as barbecued meat, honey bread, and fruits.
Claude backed out of the room and entered the first room on the right. The layout of this room is very similar to the room on the left. Maybe it's because no one has a private room. Everything in this room is neatly arranged and not messy at all.
How could there be no one? Claude quickly checked all the rooms on the second floor, but the results were the same. The rooms were empty and no one was found. This was impossible. Those people obviously didn't go down the stairs. Claude remembered clearly that he had always paid attention to the stairs leading to the second floor when he was fighting with the big men in the hall.
Claude once again walked from the stairs to the platform on the second floor. Yes, it was just one staircase and one passage. There were fourteen suites on both sides of the passage, with seven doors on one side and no other exits. Then there is only one possibility. There is another secret passage on the second floor. Those people, including Albert, escaped through that secret passage.
"He's on the second floor"
"Catch him right there"
Claude looked down and saw a large group of members of the Black Snake Society swarming at the iron gate of the underground hall where he entered, wearing various coats, holding various weapons, and even two One held a matchlock. A rough count showed that there were at least fifty or sixty people rushing into the underground hall from the stairs going down.
These members of the Black Snake Society were in large numbers. As soon as they entered the iron gate, they saw Claude standing on the second floor platform thinking, and they immediately started making noises. But when they entered the underground hall and saw the miserable state of the big men lying on the ground, their screams immediately dropped. The first few didn't even hold the weapons in their hands and dropped them to the ground in fear.
Claude flashed back into the passage. He didn't want to stand on the platform and be a target. Looking at the doors on both sides of the passage, I was nervously thinking about which room contained a secret passage.
If we exclude the guest suites, the most likely room is the room in the middle that is used as a storage room. Claude remembered that he came in and searched just now. This suite was different from other rooms. There were two single beds in the room, and the large room outside was filled with shelves, with various gambling equipment and boxes of food and fruit wine on them.
If there is a secret passage on the second floor, it will not be placed in the guest suites. Only in this room can the safety of the secret passage be ensured by having someone guard it. Claude first moved the rows of shelves. There was no problem with the shelves, but there were so many heavy things on them that they couldn't be moved at all.
{} Those people pushed the cart past Claude and looked at Claude suspiciously. However, they were obviously not interested in causing trouble. They looked at Claude a few times and continued pushing the cart forward. A woman's voice rang out: "It seems to smell of blood. You can smell it."