What Gao Cheng had referred to as a mere guest house unfolded before their eyes as a grand hotel. Its towering structure boasted expansive floors, and within, a radiant tapestry of lights illuminated the interior.
Zhang Rui scoured the front desk for what felt like an eternity and only found three room cards. None of which belonged to the first floor.
Ever watchful, Xie Ying gazed beyond the door. “Let’s go upstairs; we can’t dilly-dally any longer.” For that those malevolences might come at any time.
“Then our only option is the sixth floor,” Zhang Rui said, showing the room cards to everyone. The sixth floor was the lowest floor out of their available choices.
“That’s great too, this way they’ll have a harder time finding us,” Xie Ying reassured.
Night descended swiftly, enveloping the surroundings in complete darkness. The lobby, with its excessive brightness, cast their shadows onto the glass. Fang Chen stared at it, feeling as though, with one careless move, the reflection of a man-eating monster might materialize among them on the glass.
This hotel was truly conspicuous.
“Hey, what are you two doing? Hurry up and come upstairs!” Gao Cheng shouted. Fang Chen snapped to attention; now there were only his and Nie Shi’s reflections on the glass. As he caught up with the others, Xie Ying turned around and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Fang Chen shook his head. He couldn’t describe it… it was as if something were silently prodding them forward.
Wang Huiwen remained glued to Zhang Rui’s side, tightly holding his arm and leaning against him. Gao Cheng trailed behind, touching his neck and scratching his head, his gaze involuntarily fixed on the pair.
Nie Shi and Fang Chen walked at the farthest back, with Fan Yingying and Xie Ying in front. Fan Yingying would occasionally steal glances over her shoulder, her evasive eyes catching glimpses before swiftly returning.
As Fang Chen treaded on, his legs grew increasingly feeble. He desperately wanted to beg Fan Yingying not to turn back her head at him anymore. Was there something lurking behind him? Why did she seem so afraid? And so, he got closer and closer to Nie Shi, until their arms ultimately brushed against each other.
“Are you afraid?” Nie Shi suddenly spoke, startling Fang Chen.
Fang Chen hurriedly shook his head, afraid to hear Nie Shi’s reassuring “Don’t be afraid,” a phrase that was more unsettling than anything else.
“There’s nothing behind us,” Nie Shi said, glancing back to confirm once more, “nothing at all.”
Fang Chen heaved a sigh of relief.
The dimly lit long hallway stretched before them like the gaping maw of a monster, with the red carpet beneath mimicking its tongue. Behind them, a vast emptiness lingered, an absence of anything discernible.
Upon reaching the sixth floor via the elevator, Zhang Rui swiftly found the room and inserted the room key. What welcomed them was a spacious room with a large double bed, a bathroom, a balcony, and a sofa. The bedside lamp was switched on, emanating a soft glow and casting an air of ambiguity.
Xie Ying switched on all the lights in the room. Turning around, she saw Wang Huiwen already seated on the bed.
Gao Cheng, beads of sweat dotting his forehead, flopped down on the floor with a boisterous “Aiya,” and spoke, “Is there an air conditioner? Let’s turn on it for a while?” While others were already left soulless with fear, he remained remarkably composed.
The air conditioner hummed to life, releasing a surge of cold air that permeated their pores, causing Fang Chen to quiver involuntarily.
“If that creepy thingy comes our way, what do we do?” Gao Cheng wiped the sweat off his forehead and flung his hand in a swift motion.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Actually, its movement is by no means fast, and…” Xie Ying looked at Nie Shi. “It has a weakness, right?”
All eyes turned to Nie Shi.
Nie Shi: “The heart.”
“What the… That thing even has a heart?” Gao Cheng asked.
“No,” Fang Chen blurted out, memories of the malevolence sticking on the outside of the car window surfaced in his mind. “It’s not the heart… The dark mass in its chest isn’t the heart, right?”
“Mm, that’s right,” Nie Shi affirmed Fang Chen’s statement.
Xie Ying: “But it’ll die as long as we strike that dark mass, right?”
Nie Shi swept a glance at Xie Ying. “Mm.”
“That’s good then. As long as it’s not invincible, we have a way out,” Xie Ying sighed in relief.
Fan Yingying sat rigid on the sofa. Xie Ying gave her a light pat, and in response, she trembled and started to shake her head. Tears welled up in her eyes, and with a dry throat, she uttered, “…I want to take a shower.”
Xie Ying was taken aback and caught off guard. “Bear with it for now, yeah? Bathing at a time like this…”
“Well, then we’ll go find something to eat in the meantime.” Gao Cheng spoke up. “There should be food in this hotel, right?”
At Gao Cheng’s suggestion, everyone soon felt hunger.
The four men went outside to find food. Before leaving, Zhang Rui reminded the ladies, “Hurry up and shower finish before we come back.”
“Oh… I’m genuinely famished. Otherwise, I’d certainly stay back.” Gao Cheng smacked his lips in the hallway and asked Fang Chen, “How long do you think they’ll take to shower?”
“Huh?” Fang Chen was inexplicably singled out to receive the question. “I don’t know.”
“Girls take their own sweet time in the shower.” Gao Cheng rubbed his hairy arm. “They need to foam up the shower gel, you know…”
Nie Shi covered Fang Chen’s ears with his hands.
Gao Cheng fell silent. After a short while, he opened his mouth again, the anticipation of words on the tip of his tongue but was interrupted by Zhang Rui’s shout, who was leading the way, “Let’s hurry up! The sooner we find food, the sooner we can return. Every extra second spent outside is a risk!”
Fang Chen tilted his head, casting a sidelong glance at Nie Shi. Nie Shi, in response, shifted his eyes away, prompting Fang Chen to once again have the urge to reach out. Fortunately, this time, he managed to restrain himself.
Gao Cheng had already moved ahead, and Zhang Rui didn’t dare to rush Nie Shi and could only stand there, helplessly waiting.
The restaurant was on the twelfth floor, so they needed to take the elevator again. While passing the stairwell, Fang Chen deliberately peered downward, feeling his heart leap because there were no lights illuminating the stairs. If malevolence were to approach, the only conceivable route would be through the stairs…
…Hold up!
Is there even a rule specifying that they have to take the stairs?
Fang Chen was stunned by his own thoughts, his eyes gradually widening.
“The windows…” Fang Chen immediately turned around and ran back. “They can climb through windows!” He sprinted too fast, and Nie Shi barely managed to follow his pace, leaving the other two far behind.
The long hallway was well-lit, with the light flickering above them. Fang Chen hastily returned and knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” It was Xie Ying’s voice.
“It’s me, Fang Chen.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The windows, are they closed?”
“Wait a moment, let me check.” Xie Ying promptly went to inspect.
The other three had caught up by now, and Fang Chen suddenly looked to the left, scrutinizing other rooms.
“They’re closed,” Xie Ying returned and confirmed.
“Mm, that’s good then,” Fang Chen replied, meticulously scanning each room.
Zhang Rui asked, “What are you looking at?”
Fang Chen turned his head. “When I ran over, I thought I saw a room with a slight door opening.” He said, tilting up his head slightly, the gentle glow of the lights casting a tender sheen in his eyes, “But it’s gone now.”
“For real?” Gao Cheng, now catching his breath, questioned, “Perhaps you saw it wrong?”
“Probably.” Fang Chen’s gaze fell on the faux light on the wall, adorned with intricate patterns and delicate stripes, encircling as if trying to pull people in. “Maybe I ran too fast and misjudged.”
Zhang Rui expressed a hint of reproach in his tone, “Seriously, don’t scare us for no reason. You suddenly ran off, and we thought something happened…” The more he spoke, the quieter he became, as Nie Shi suddenly cast a cold gaze in his direction.
“Sorry,” Fang Chen murmured, staring at the empty hallway for a while before a hint of fear finally crept into his mind.
“Fang Chen,” Nie Shi called him.
“Mm?” Fang Chen slowly came back to his senses.
“Let’s go.” Nie Shi gently nudged the side of his waist.
On the twelfth floor, there really was a tempting array of food awaiting—succulent chunks of fried chicken, vibrant fresh vegetables, and an assortment of fruits. Gao Cheng casually grabbed a piece of duck meat, dipped it into a savoury sauce, and popped it into his mouth.
Zhang Rui’s expression turned grim. “These are all prepared in advance.”
“Aren’t readily available foods just perfect for our situation?” Gao Cheng smacked his lips, seizing another piece, with sauce trickling down the corner of his mouth.
“But there’s no one here. Who could’ve prepared these?” Fang Chen walked inside, meeting a variety of prepared dishes on the dining tables. Unfortunately, they had cooled by now. Positioned on a table near the window, there was a pot of rice. Intrigued, he approached it.
“Fang Chen…” Gao Cheng called him.
Fang Chen lightly touched the edge of the pot with his fingertips, finding the rice still warm.
As he turned around, he faced Nie Shi wielding a gun, its barrel pointed directly at him.
A breeze caressed Fang Chen’s cheek, reminiscent of the warm, calloused hands of a woman, evoking memories of the old director who cared for him a lot at the orphanage. Back then, that subtle but not-so-obvious favouritism made the time living among the children a challenge for him. He was the one ostracized, and it seemed he had cried because of it. During the silent hours of the night, he would hide and whimper softly in his blanket. The less talkative child beside him once kicked him and said, “You’re so noisy, I can’t sleep”…
Truly malevolent.
Bang!
The gunshot reverberated behind Fang Chen, prompting him to swiftly turn towards the window and retreat.
The window was open, allowing warm air to flood the room. The malevolence struck by Nie Shi plummeted straight down! Nie Shi quickly closed the window and turned to look at Fang Chen.
“F*cking hell, how can it climb so well? It could even reach the twelfth floor!” Gao Cheng wiped a thick layer of sauce around his mouth off with his hand. “Let’s quickly check if there are other windows left open?”
“Even if this floor is secure, what about the others?” Zhang Rui panicked. “We can’t guarantee that every floor’s windows are closed, right? Pack the food; let’s go quickly.”
After speedily packing the food, Fang Chen remarked, “The rice is still warm.”
“You’re still thinking about eating rice at a time like this? Have a couple of steamed buns; pair them with duck meat. It tastes good,” Gao Cheng suggested, handing a bag of packed steamed buns to Fang Chen.
“I didn’t mean that…”
“Enough with the overanalysis; let’s finish packing and get out of here!” Zhang Rui chimed in, echoing Gao Cheng’s sentiment.
Back on the sixth floor, Zhang Rui initiated a knock on the door, receiving a “Wait for a moment,” response from inside.
Zhang Rui: “What are we waiting for? Keep waiting, and we’ll end up with a dead person!”
Fang Chen stood at the rear, his eyes scanning the ground.
While everyone’s attention was fixed on the door, only Fang Chen noticed a room not far from them gently—ever so gently—opening a crack.
—Someone or something was observing them through the gap in the door.
Scared
Thank you for your translation 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙
Feng seems to be getting more and more conscious! Noticing all these little details. Also we’re learning about more of his background and it shows that he seems to have been kind of mean? But subtly caring? This is interesting