The noise outside was getting louder, with faint curses of a man, Lin Jie suddenly awoke, turned over and got out of bed to lock the door, then grabbed his phone and dialed the contact number Bai Qili had left him.

The call instantly connected, and Lin Jie hurriedly but quietly shared his discovery with her.

Bai Qili's steady voice came through: "Mr. Lin, just stay in your room and keep yourself safe, don't venture out, and don't do anything to provoke them."

"The security personnel and I will arrive as quickly as possible!"

After hanging up, Lin Jie listened to the increasingly loud noises outside and swiftly searched for something handy to use as a weapon.

Unfortunately, after taking a quick look around, Lin Jie couldn't find a suitable weapon in the room, unless a pillow counted as one!

Just then, someone turned the doorknob of the bedroom. Realizing the door was locked, a shout came, "This door is locked, there must be someone inside!"

"Break it down!" commanded a coarse voice.

Just as Lin Jie felt apprehensive, a girl's voice rang out, "This isn't right, why don't we notify the resort's security?"

Someone concurred, "Anyway, the person inside can't escape, let's notify the resort staff instead!"

Just as Lin Jie breathed a slight sigh of relief, the coarse voice sounded again, "What if that guy is secretly colluding with the resort people? This kind of thing isn't uncommon."

"It's best to drag the person out and find solid evidence. Step aside, I'll break down the door."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a loud thud against the door, causing Lin Jie's heart to jolt.

Thankfully, the door was sturdy enough not to be kicked open with one hit!

Just then, Lin Jie heard the sound of engines, so he quickly pulled apart a curtain to peer out. Through the glass, he saw three dune buggies racing towards the hotel.

The people outside evidently heard the sound too, noticing the situation outside, and stopped trying to break down the door.

A few minutes later, as the commotion outside dissipated, Bai Qili's voice was heard outside the door, "Mr. Lin, the five intruders have been taken to the downstairs hall by security. Are you okay?"

Lin Jie opened the door and saw Bai Qili, dressed in a light professional suit, standing outside with a concerned look. She said, "Apart from being a little frightened, I'm fine. They seemed to be saying they were catching a thief?"

Bai Qili replied sternly, "That's what they said, but we still need to verify! Nonetheless, they barged in without permission and frightened you, which is on them."

Lin Jie followed Bai Qili to the first floor, where he saw, in the center of the hall, three men and two women in beach shorts or swimwear, crouched on the ground with their heads in their hands, under the watch of five security guards holding rubber batons or stun guns.

Upon seeing Lin Jie, a man with a slight belly stood up and said, "Misunderstanding, it really is a misunderstanding. Our items were stolen, and we suspected it was a woman who took them."

"The few of us chased her all the way here..."

"We really meant no harm!"

"Yes, yes, we really didn't intend to intrude!"

The other individuals chimed in, professing their innocence.

Lin Jie, also a little worried that someone might indeed be hiding here, said to Bai Qili, "My two sisters aren't here, have the security thoroughly search, so as not to wrong them!"

Bai Qili nodded and immediately instructed three security personnel to search room by room. Simultaneously, she called the monitoring room, asking them to carefully review the videos of this area.

A few minutes later, the three security personnel returned, reporting that they found nothing.

Just then, Bai Qili's phone vibrated with a message from a colleague in the monitoring room, containing a video clip.

After watching it, she frowned and showed the video to Lin Jie.

From the video's capture on the west side of the building, one could clearly see a tall woman, with a bag slung across her, appearing on the rooftop of the building.

You could see her looking around, then crossing the railing, holding onto the rooftop with one hand, and after descending low, releasing her grip to jump down, landing and rolling on the ground before casually jogging into the forest path.

The entire sequence was smooth and fluid enough that Lin Jie felt as if watching an action film.

At the end of the video, there was a freeze-frame of the woman's relatively clear face.

Upon seeing this person's face, Lin Jie immediately felt as if he'd searched high and low, only to stumble upon it by pure chance!

Lin Jie handed the phone back to Bai Qili and said, "This video confirms that these people weren't lying. They are victims too; however, barging in so rashly is wrong, and they also damaged the door, turning this place upside down..."

"We'll compensate! We'll compensate!" the few crouched in the center of the hall hurriedly exclaimed.

Lin Jie did not make things difficult for them, simply instructing them to restore the disorder and compensate for any damages to the resort.

Seeing that Lin Jie wasn't pursuing charges, Bai Qili, also preferring to keep things as simple as possible, didn't hold this group accountable either. She assured them they'd quickly catch the female thief and retrieve their stolen items.

"Miss Bai, do you think you can catch this female thief?" Lin Jie anxiously asked.

Bai Qili confidently replied, "As long as she doesn't leave the resort immediately and go off the grid, capturing her won't be a problem."

"If you catch her, please don't send her to the police station right away. I have some questions for her," Lin Jie requested.

He continued to explain, "I realized this female thief has a connection with me. I now remember encountering her once in Binhai City, after which something strange happened to me."

"I need to find out if it's related to her," he concluded.

Bai Qili assured, "Mr. Lin, rest assured, as soon as she's apprehended, we'll inform you immediately!"

After resolving this matter, it was already eleven-thirty, nearly lunchtime!

Lin Jie called Lin Miao, intending to ask if they should have lunch together or separately.

Upon connecting, Lin Miao excitedly said, "Brother, Kemeng and I got really lucky. We were at a store selling pearls, picked a few oysters, and actually found some pearls inside."

"One of the pearls is large and round—about the size of a fingernail. The store owner said even though it's of such good quality and size, it would sell for at least ten thousand yuan."

"And we only spent a hundred yuan!"

This stroke of luck seemed unreliable to Lin Jie, who casually asked, "Did the owner suggest making it into a pendant or necklace on the spot, and only charge you for the materials and labor?"

"Brother, how did you know?" Lin Miao wondered.

Lin Jie replied resignedly, "I suspect you've been scammed. I hope the owner doesn't ask for an exorbitant fee! Remember, don't argue with the owner, and wait for me to get there before discussing further!"

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