The theater on the tenth floor of the Fair Hotel hosts a nightly performance, alternating between poignant love stories and comedic plays that elicit laughter from the audience.
However, the most highly praised is the weekly production of the fixed play “Fire Scene Mystery.” Xiao Qing looked at the poster at the theater entrance with the slogan “Adapted from real cases,” and observed the excited audience discussing the plot – some of whom were residents of the 22nd floor.
Watching a story about hotel guests being burned alive in a fire inside the hotel…
“That’s quite a unique interest.”
“Some people find it thrilling.” Xu Yintang could understand this; there were patients in the hospital who willingly came in on their own, knowing the danger but rushing inside. No matter how much you tried to persuade them, they wouldn’t turn back. It was like they were really choosing to put themselves in danger.
As the saying goes, it’s hard to advise those seeking death. After being dragged into the game, Xu Yintang even suspected that the hospital was some kind of dungeon and those patients were unfortunate players who crashed. However, he later found out they were just ordinary people who had lost their minds.
Most of them were shooting videos and live streaming, holding their phones with blank screens, swiping, and showing Xu Yintang their five million followers on social media.
“Alright, just be careful.” Xiao Qing patted Xu Yintang on the shoulder and bid farewell to Second Treasure, who was peeking in and out of his collar. “Second Treasure, bye-bye, take care of your mom.”
Second Treasure’s eyes rolled, and he gave Xiao Qing a soul-soothing gesture to show friendliness.
While they were talking, the music announcing the start of the show had already begun in the theater. After a few words with Xiao Qing, Xu Yintang entered the theater and took his seat.
As soon as he sat down, the theater lights dimmed. The four doors entering and exiting slammed shut, and the elongated creaking sounds in the space made people shudder, immediately plunging them into a tense and dim atmosphere.
Then, the lights on the stage slowly illuminated, revealing the arrangement of a hotel room. Scenes similar to Xu Yintang’s own room appeared, causing the audience to whisper to each other. As a string of violin music pressed down the entire venue, a middle-aged man lying on the bed suddenly sat up, as if just waking from a nightmare, and began narrating in a weathered and melancholic voice.
He claimed to be the Old Mr. Fairman, the former manager of the hotel. He said he dreamt of that fire again, where over ten of his relatives tragically died, and he himself was severely injured and unconscious.
Now, the Old Mr. Fairman had returned to this hotel, where he encountered several suspicious suspects.
The Old Mr. Fairman looked at his hands and sighed as if memories were being dragged back to the scene of the tragedy.
“Who do you think is the murderer?”
A voice sounded in Xu Yintang’s ear, and he turned to see a figure standing behind him, leaning on the back of his chair. The dim light on the stage illuminated a face full of wrinkles and age, neatly trimmed beard and hair, presenting the appearance of a refined gentleman.
“Mr. Fairman.” Xu Yintang nodded and suppressed the restlessness of his two companions. His calm reaction disappointed Mr. Fairman, who straightened up, shook his head and sighed. “Young people should have more vitality.”
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.
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Xu Yintang willingly took Mr. Fairman’s hand and stood up. Like a ghost, he maneuvered through the oblivious audience and ascended the stage step by step from the corner stairs.
Mr. Fairman watched him from the stage, smiling warmly and enthusiastically, “I hope you enjoy what you see.”
“I hope so too.”
The stage lights were particularly glaring, and Xu Yintang squinted slightly. In an instant, the lights, stage, and audience all disappeared. He found himself in a hotel room identical to the set, with flames and thick smoke pouring in from every crevice. In no time, the rolling waves of heat were right in front of him.
Is this supposed to be the best viewing spot?
Outside the door, there were chaotic sounds of screams, cries, and curses.
“Be careful.” Xu Yintang picked up Little Darling, who had almost been touched by the flames, not rushing out immediately. Instead, he first took out the fire escape kit that his teammates had collectively prepared for him from the system backpack. They already knew Mr. Fairman’s scene was related to a fire, and it was obvious that preparation was necessary.
Of course, the unfortunate Mr. Fairman was the one who had to manage and fund the supplies that they needed.
He first put on the flame-resistant six-piece set, then wore the safety helmet and attached the gas mask before making sure all the equipment was in place. With one hand holding a blast-resistant shield and the other wielding a fire axe, he broke the deformed anti-theft chain and kicked open the door that had already melted.
The corridor was a hellish scene, filled with the stench of burning oil and singed hair. The ground was littered with charred and unrecognizable corpses, emitting faint wails as if they still retained a hint of consciousness. However, when they saw Xu Yintang, they all screamed in agony, like crazed beasts rushing towards him.
It was a combat scene he had anticipated before opening the door.
Xu Yintang calmly turned to the side, using the blast-resistant shield to block the impact of the first wave of scorched zombies, stabilizing his footing and accelerating toward the direction of the escape route. The scorched zombies that charged at him crashed heavily into the blast-resistant shield, losing limbs and legs. In an instant, Little Darling’s tentacles rolled over them and bit them into pieces.
Since Little Darling’s skin wasn’t yet resilient enough to resist fire and water, it clung to Xu Yintang’s back, avoiding contact with the scorching ground. It waved its tentacles to help Mom check for any deficiencies, ensuring a 360-degree coverage to eliminate all potential threats attacking Mom.
As they got closer to the escape route, the fire became more intense. The burning zombies resembled giant rolling fireballs, and the air was so stifling that it seemed impossible to squeeze out any oxygen. Inhaling three or two breaths made people dizzy and unable to continue.
Even with flame-resistant clothing, Xu Yintang felt a burning pain on his skin as if it were being scalded. He quickly patted the little troublemaker still pretending to be strong, hiding in his clothes. While shielding himself, he quickly glanced around, estimating the appropriate distance to the escape route. Suddenly, he made an abrupt stop, turned around, and quickly assessed the situation before and after.
This was the expected combat scenario.
Xu Yintang wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Instead, he pulled out two large liquid nitrogen tanks, each two meters high and one meter wide, from the system backpack. Holding the nozzle, he took a deep breath and aimed the nozzle toward the flaming zombies, opening the valve.
In an instant, the misty white fog engulfed the entire corridor like a roaring torrent. The crackling sounds of brittle objects continued without interruption. The hot air filled with the smell of burning flesh disappeared entirely in the mist. The sudden silence was as chilling as death lingering in the pitch-dark corridor.
Meanwhile, Xu Yintang had seized the opportunity and rushed to the emergency door, smashing open the locked escape door. Under the impact of the hot and cold, the previously sturdy iron chain lock became fragile.
The thermal insulation layer of the flame-resistant suit bought him and his little one a brief moment of safety, ultimately paying only the price of some burns and frostbite to successfully escape the fire scene.
Who would have thought that those several large tanks of liquid nitrogen were Tiantian’s findings from the hotel kitchen?
Xu Yintang didn’t look back at the disaster scene where liquid nitrogen collided with the raging fire. After rushing out of the emergency door, he consecutively ran down several floors. The flames downstairs were still fierce, and those trapped in the corridor seemed to smell him. They crowded around the locked emergency exit, desperately pounding and banging on the door, the chains entwined around the doorknob clinking loudly, as if the next second the monsters behind the door would swarm out.
The dim stairwell was filled with thick smoke as if the air could spontaneously combust at any moment. Xu Yintang didn’t bother to count how many floors he had run. With two or three steps, he leaped and landed, rotating his body. The poor visibility did not affect his agility at all; the flaming zombies and the darkness were like old friends to him, making him feel as relaxed as being in the home where he grew up.
Even this straight-up-and-down staircase felt even more effortless, and he wouldn’t run and suddenly lose his sense of direction, smashing into a wall.
That hurts a lot.
Biting his lip, Xu Yintang leaped down from another staircase, shaking off the roars and howls of the scorched zombies behind him. It wasn’t until the lights in the staircase suddenly lit up, and the thick smoke in the air dissipated, that he paused for half a second in the gap between descending floors, confirming the floor he was on.
12th floor.
The destination was the 10th floor.
Xu Yintang kept moving, simultaneously taking a slow and deep breath. He felt the lungs, about to burst from the stifling atmosphere, finally getting a slight relief. Little Darling’s tentacles emerged from his collar, swaying to capture the scent in the air.
Third Flora, hidden in the mouthpiece of its core flesh, had been carried there since entering the fire scene. Now, it quietly peeked out to observe its surroundings. It could sense a suppressed and terrifying aura in this space, like a shark smelling the scent of blood, about to swim toward it. The colossal and indescribable aura of a predator had already arrived in advance, stirring Third Flora’s infinite instinct for birth.
It was this!
It wanted this!
A strangely sweet fragrance quickly spread in the stairwell. Little Darling, unable to pull away in time, watched as Third Flora followed the scent and disappeared around the corner of the stairs like a smoky mist.
Anxious, Little Darling hurriedly chased. As everyone knows, when a cub runs crazy, it’s hard to catch; even if an adult tries to catch up from behind, it’s not guaranteed. Xu Yintang, chasing and dodging the scorched zombies for half a floor, then sprinting ten floors in a flash, finally caught up to Little Darling when the frantic cub had already bitten off Mr. Fairman’s head at the entrance of the theater.
Mr. Fairman had been waiting at the door in a calm manner, looking forward to seeing the embarrassed appearance of the guest. Unexpectedly, he was suddenly rushed by a terrifying monster. Before he could speak, his head was already swallowed by Little Darling.
“Sorry.” Xu Yintang placed the half of the head spit out by Little Darling and put it back on Mr. Fairman’s body, apologizing sincerely. “Little troublemaker is still small and didn’t mean to attack you. Maybe you standing here scared it a bit… Little Darling, come over and apologize.”
Mr. Fairman was still alive, his face contorted with a gruesome expression due to the corrosive mucous in Little Darling’s mouth. He stiffly pushed his eye that had fallen out of the socket back in, his mouth wriggling as if he wanted to say something. However, the vocal cords bitten off by a single bite couldn’t support him in making any sound.
Xu Yintang empathetically said, “You want to ask me who the murderer of this scene is, right?”
He pointed to the inside of the theater, where over a dozen priests in black robes writhed their bodies, circling around a severed head, emitting a sound that sounded like a howl and a roar. The eerie tones were extremely eerie. Third Flora had quietly entwined itself around the severed head, waiting for the wandering predator to succumb to temptation and fall. It firmly captured this perfect host, second only to Mom.
Faster, even faster…
The sacrifice was about to enter the final climax. In the world beyond human reach, in the void sea where the gods slumbered, the breath of the sacrifice cast a casual glance at the dream.
In an instant, the severed head swelled and burst. The patterns forming the array twisted and writhed, taking on the appearance of the initial root system, entwining and enveloping the brain within. Like a ravenous appetite, it devoured all the death and slaughter in the space, and the joy of birth made it unaware. A cloud of mist clung to its branches, condensing into a small, white cocoon.
Caught…
Hehe, caught…
Soon, very soon, it would be born and become Mom’s true child…
Author’s Note –
Third Flora has successfully taken root! [Applause!]
This round is Sugar Daddy’s solo, and his muscles are not just for show.
As for the situation with the liquid nitrogen, do not try at home.
Sugar Daddy really dares to play like this relying on his good physique and fast recovery [distant gaze].
The author sure does love staring into the distance 😂
The Author is plain bananas
The author does their own sanity roll every 300 words
WARNING Don’t do this at home or hotel 🙃
Or work too, granny’s house or local hospital
Hot. Pun 100% intended
Congrats to Third Flora!
Flora, looking to take root in the root. Mom is super hot! Lmao! 🔥🔥🔥😆🔥🔥🔥
Hot mom!!
Congrats Third Flora for taking root!
Thank you for your translation 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜