Wen Nuan could tell he was dreaming. His eyelids were heavy, and it was like he was sinking deeper into a great fog.
He suddenly heard someone speak. “Beg me to help you?”
This voice sounded extremely familiar. A ripple of peculiarity vibrated in the depths of his heart…
“Sure.”
The owner of this voice sounded like they were smiling playfully, continuing, “But I never help others in vain. This mark represents the debt you owe me. From today onwards, you’re my person. Only after you repay this debt will your freedom be reinstated.”
This familiar voice was more than just familiar…
Wen Nuan came to an understanding in a flash. More bewilderment followed, engulfing everything else.
He couldn’t resist raising a hand and stroking his own throat. This was his own voice; there’s no way he’d mistake it. He felt there was a sense of unreality in all aspects.
Someone’s figure from behind appeared from afar, going farther and farther away without turning back.
“Ying…Zi?”
Just from the back view, Wen Nuan was about eighty percent sure that the retreating figure was undoubtedly Ying Zi.
Why did Ying Zi appear in my dreams?
Another wave of confusion surged through his heart. Wen Nuan didn’t have time to think about it when a shadow appeared overhead, blocking Wen Nuan’s line of sight.
Ying Zi’s figure was completely obstructed. Wen Nuan looked up, immediately dumbstruck and even more surprised.
Baili Wuchang!
Wen Nuan blinked. Not only was he dreaming about Ying Zi, he was also dreaming about the guest from Room 404. It looked like today’s dream was a beautiful one, and an especially high-quality one at that.
The shadow that had blocked Wen Nuan’s line of sight was Baili Wuchang. Baili Wuchang looked about the same; his black hair was blown by the wind in slight disarray, his pupils had a slight crimson tinge to them, and he stared calmly at Wen Nuan.
Wen Nuan wanted to ask him, Guest, how are you here?
But…
“This expression of yours…you aren’t jealous, are you?”
Wen Nuan opened his mouth, but he couldn’t control his own voice, and his words were a bit baffling.
His words were weird, and his tone of voice was weird. But Wen Nuan was certain, this was his own voice.
Baili Wuchang remained expressionless. His lips were firmly closed, unresponsive to Wen Nuan’s question.
Wen Nuan smiled, and he couldn’t help laughing.
Not only could he not control his mouth, he also couldn’t control his motions.
Wen Nuan suddenly leaned forward, natural and unforced without hesitating. He quickly got closer to Baili Wuchang, tilting his head up to kiss Baili Wuchang’s lips.
Huh—!!!
Internally, Wen Nuan sucked in a fierce breath. Even when it was Wen Nuan’s first time seeing a ghost, his heart hadn’t jumped around this wildly.
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.
This—this—this…
Qfc Rejc kjr ja j ibrr. Lf mbeivc’a yfilfnf tf kbeiv yf rb ygjhfc. Lbk mbeiv tf tjnf ajxfc ilyfgalfr klat atf uefra ogbw Ebbw 404 bea lc ygbjv vjsiluta?
Lf tfjgv atja atlr uefra kjrc’a j cbgwji qfgrbc, yea rbwfbcf ogbw Lfii ktb kjr jc Fcvfgkbgiv boolmf-yfjgfg. Uier, tf kjr jc boolmf-yfjgfg klat j afwqfg.
It wasn’t just Wen Nuan who was shocked into a stupor by his own actions; Baili Wuchang was also a little surprised. A horrifying look of ferocity was soon added to his expressionless face.
His arms came up to trap Wen Nuan in his embrace, unquestionably deepening their shared kiss.
Wen Nuan’s brain turned to wood. He was thoroughly flabbergasted. He had taken liberties with the guest from Room 404, but instead of beating him into human graffiti, the guest from Room 404 had cooperated?
Sure enough, this is a dream…
It was said that thoughts from the day influenced dreams at night. Wen Nuan couldn’t help but start to reflect; had he lost his integrity this quickly? He had only run into the guest from Room 404 a handful of times, so they couldn’t be said to be too familiar, and yet he was able to conjure up such an intense dream?
Wen Nuan silently repeated in his heart: It’s a dream, it’s a dream, it’s a dream…
But this dream felt too real. Not long after, Wen Nuan was kissed by Baili Wuchang until he was gasping for air, his entire body boneless.
Before Wen Nuan could catch his breath, his head spun whimsically, and he was pressed down by Baili Wuchang.
Wait, wait; it’s already very exciting right now; there can’t be any more stimulation.
Wen Nuan wanted to raise his arm to push Baili Wuchang away, but instead he raised his arm to gently hook around the back of Baili Wuchang’s shoulders in an inviting and pandering way.
“Don’t be jealous,” Wen Nuan said in a smiling voice. “I’ll let you make me your person, how about that?”
After Wen Nuan spoke, he never wanted to bite off his own tongue more. He couldn’t control his own voice, so he ended up saying something so mortifying like it was no big deal.
After hearing these words, Baili Wuchang’s eyes became a pure blood red, completely just like a wild beast…
“Huh—!”
Wen Nuan gasped, his eyes flying open as he snapped out of his dream and sat upright.
“The staff dorms?”
Wen Nuan looked around. He had slept in the staff dorms once before, so he remembered his surroundings and recognized where he was immediately.
He quickly patted his chest, letting out a big sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had been dreaming…
Wen Nuan dreamt about Ying Zi, dreamt about saying some weird words, and dreamt about doing weird things to the guest from Room 404.
“It was really too weird…”
Thinking about this dream, Wen Nuan felt like his face was about to combust.
Though Wen Nuan was a face-con, he had never had experience with a girlfriend or boyfriend. His relationship experience was a complete zero. He’d never kissed anyone, and there was no need to mention if he had done anything past that.
However, in his dream just now, his dream was so clear that even after Wen Nuan woke up, he could recall every detail down to Baili Wuchang embracing him.
“Gulp—”
Wen Nuan pathetically swallowed his saliva. He raised his hand and found that his face was sweating, as well as the rest of his body, as if he had just come up from swimming.
He inexplicably felt as guilty as a thief, jumping up and running to the washroom inside the dorms. He closed the door, ready to take off his clothes, jump in the shower, and wash away his sweat and distracting thoughts.
After he unbuttoned his white dress shirt, Wen Nuan hung it up. He felt like his back was itchy, so he reached out a hand to scratch it.
On Wen Nuan’s originally spotless back, there was a red mark that appeared at some unknown time. It sat right under his left butterfly bone.
That red mark didn’t seem to have a pattern at first glance, and it almost looked like a rash from an allergic reaction. But looking closely, it was rather familiar. It was like a different side of the same coin if compared to the mark on the back of Ying Zi’s hand, like a fragile flower petal.
The washroom didn’t have a mirror, and Wen Nuan couldn’t see his back. He reached out and scratched, but once the itch was gone, he didn’t think more of it, continuing on with his shower.
Wen Nuan finished washing up before realizing that he had forgotten to take a change of new clothes with him inside. His shirt from earlier had been soaked with sweat, so wearing it again would be a waste of a bath.
Wen Nuan could only put on his pants, wearing only his pants out first.
“Wen Nuan, you woke up? I was just thinking about how you suddenly disappeared. You really gave me a scare.”
There was another person in the washroom, giving Wen Nuan a scare. The empty dorms had gained one more person, Fan Liangda.
“Senior Fan?” Wen Nuan quickly dug through the cabinets for a fresh uniform, throwing it on. “Senior Fan, why are you here?”
“You fainted earlier,” said Fan Liangda with concern. “I was worried, so I’ve been taking care of you. I went out to take a call earlier, and you were missing when I came back, so I got scared.”
Wen Nuan had woken up with a guilty conscience, and he had almost forgotten about what happened earlier.
He also didn’t quite understand himself. He had suddenly fainted, and whatever happened after he passed out, Wen Nuan wasn’t clear about it.
Fan Liangda said, “After you fainted, the ghost envoy lord brought you here to rest. Lord Baili said there was nothing wrong with you, and that it was just excessive fatigue. He let me take care of you, and then he left.”
Excessive fatigue?
Wen Nuan blinked. Was that referring to himself? He had only been working the night shift for two days, and there was nothing to be fatigued about.
Also…
“Ghost envoy lord?” asked Wen Nuan.
Fan Liangda looked a little awkward. He said, “Sorry, Wen Nuan. I should have told you before.”
When Fan Liangda mentioned the ghost envoy lord, he naturally meant Baili Wuchang.
Fan Liangda said, “The Hell Chain Hotel actually isn’t a normal hotel…”
The Hell Chain Hotel was a special hotel set up by the Underworld in the living world. It was originally meant for ghost envoys to have a specialized lodge for when they were on missions rather than a place for guests.
But later, after the Underworld and living world merged and interacted, ghosts who held passports could go to the living world for work or vacation, so they could stay at the hotel.
Eventually, in order for the Hell Chain Hotel to maintain cash flow balance and better business, they expanded the scope of their operations. Guests from the living world were admitted, solving the hotel’s consecutive financial deficit problem.
Fan Liangda scratched the back of his head as he spoke. “Because we started to do business with guests from the living world, the hotel recruited a few normal people from the living world as guests. When I first started working here, I was also startled by all the crazy and bizarre things here. But…the salary here is really high!”
Wen Nuan was good at understanding others. He nodded; that’s right, the salary here was high, and it really was a fatal attraction.
Fan Liangda was embarrassed. “I was shocked when I saw you come to work, and I didn’t know if you could handle it. I was afraid of scaring you, so I wanted to wait for you to get familiar with the environment before telling you about the hotel’s circumstances. But…I didn’t think that after two days, you would encounter so many complicated things.”
Wen Nuan felt like his vitality was quite tenacious. He said, “Senior Fan, I’m okay. My ability to tolerate things is actually quite strong.”
Because of the salary, this small excitement was nothing.
Fan Liangda looked at him approvingly. “Then that’s good. When I first came, I was so scared I nearly wet my pants. As expected, you’re amazing, Wen Nuan. Oh, right; there are some special matters in the hotel to pay attention to. Let me explain.”
Wen Nuan more or less understood the Hell Chain Hotel. The hotel was directly ordained by the Underworld, and the hotel’s managers were Hell’s top three superiors. During Wen Nuan’s first day after his job offer, he had met the three managers. They were quite strange, and they had peculiar temperaments.
The Hell Chain Hotel would become especially busy after midnight. After midnight, all the normal guests would be able to see ghosts. Because of this, the hotel would become rather chaotic. The hotel needed workers to upkeep maintenance.
Fan Liangda said seriously, “There’s also one more important thing. The hotel has a few rooms that are specialized for the highest level of Hell’s ghost department’s ghost envoy lords, which are the VVIP rooms. Those rooms can’t be given to other guests. They have to be set aside year-round for a period of possible want or need.”
Hearing this, Wen Nuan knew that Room 404 was probably one of these rooms.
Ghost envoys wandered between Hell and the living world throughout the year. Arresting ghosts and handling emergency cases were a ghost envoy’s duty, so the hotel offered them long-term lodging.
Fan Liangda lowered his voice, much like a thief to say, “Room 404 is Lord Baili’s personal room. Lord Baili’s temper isn’t very good. Recently, the Underworld has been having some issues, and many ghosts escaped without permission. Lord Baili is in charge of bringing justice to these ghosts. This is something that gives people a headache, so since Lord Baili’s got this thorn in his side, his mood hasn’t been great recently. If you can, we all avoid walking past Room 404, so you should be careful.”
At the mention of Baili Wuchang, Wen Nuan suddenly thought of the stimulating course of events that took place in his dream. He rattled his head and replied, “Okay, I got it.”
Fan Liangda smiled and patted his shoulder. “Everything else isn’t a big deal. You should rest. I’m still a bit busy on my end, and there are still guests waiting.”
“You should go work, then,” said Wen Nuan.
Fan Liangda seemed to really be quite busy. He hastily said goodbye to Wen Nuan, leaving the room.
Once he left the room, he turned to close the door.
“Creak—”
The door was almost about to close; all that was left was a small gap. Fan Liangda paused in closing the door. He gazed through the gap to stare into the room at Wen Nuan.
Fan Liangda muttered in a low voice, “The birthmark is starting to appear. It looks like someone’s about to wake up…”
“Clack—” The door closed shut.
Fan Liangda stood outside the door, his expression a little bizarre, like a smile that wasn’t a smile. “Indeed, it truly will be a stage for all to look forward to…”
The author has something to say: [Mini Theater]
[Ding~ If someone peeped at you while you were changing clothes, would you__?]
A. Tell him that this is not right, and not to peep again.
B. Kill him with one slap!
C. Depends on the peeper’s attractiveness index and waist index…
Wen-Little-Nuan: Mm…I’ll pick C!
Lord·Hardcore fan of The Ghost King’s Pampered Wife·Baili: Who dares to peep at my person?
TL Notes: This novel doesn’t have defined arcs, but this is where Ying Zi and Su Mu’s ‘arc’ ends! :^) I’ll be pointing the end of these kinds of arcs in the future as well. The plot thickens…
Is it bad that I want a side story of Ying Zi and Su Mu’s relationship? I just wanna see them make up and possibly start dating.. Also Fan Liangda seems interesting.
Thanks for the chapter 🫶
+1 Swear I need to see some fluff after all that 😭
( ᐛ ) Fear not; the next chapter will soothe your soul a little!
Is there anyone genuine in that hotel ?! Thank you for the chapter !
Don’t tell me there’s something wrong with Fan Liangda! 😭
Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️
Oop so fan liangda is also not a normal human..? 🤔 So many secrets, so much more interesting things we’ve yet to see 😲
Ohh~ it become so interesting! >.<
For the MIni Theater, I choose B. KIll him with one slap for peeping at Laozi!!