Western outskirts of the city.
A streak of fire tore through the night, crossing the empty street before coming to a stop in front of Star Fast Food, just across from the Maple Grove Hotel.
Shen Ye got off the bike and looked into the fast-food restaurant.
Strange.
There was no one else inside.
Only a little girl, about five or six years old, sitting in the corner with a large backpack on her back.
Hearing the sound of the motorbike, she looked up at Shen Ye.
Shen Ye gestured to her.
The girl immediately ran out of the fast-food restaurant, stopping in front of him and looking up nervously.
Around her neck hung a large pair of red headphones, the ear cups designed with patterns resembling eyeballs.
A language comprehension exercise was playing through the headphones.
“Did you call me?”
Shen Ye asked.
“It was me—have you seen my mom? I can’t reach her,” the girl said anxiously.
She was dressed in a red school uniform, patched up all over. Her frame was thin, her hair dry and yellowish, as if malnourished.
—She looked like she could be blown away by a gust of wind.
Shen Ye studied her briefly before glancing across the street at the Maple Grove Hotel.
The hotel was a towering building, dozens of floors high. In the darkness of the night, it loomed like a beast waiting to devour its prey.
“I’m going to find your mom. Did you call the police?”
“I got through, but no one answered.”
“I’ll try.”
Shen Ye quickly dialed the emergency number.
Beep—beep—
The phone rang for a full thirty seconds, but no one picked up.
…How could this be?
Shen Ye was momentarily perplexed.
“Is my mom still alive? Can you help me find her?” The little girl bit her lip, looking up at him.
Shen Ye asked, “Where’s your dad?”
“He passed away a long time ago. It’s just me and my mom,” the girl said.
“In that case, I’ll take you somewhere safe first. Once I find your mom, I’ll contact you.”
“Where?” the girl asked.
“Ghostfire, take her to the Mortal Martial Arts Tower, then come back for me,” Shen Ye instructed.
A soft voice sounded from the bike, “Recalculating route. Route confirmed. Children under twelve, please fasten your seatbelt. Departing now.”
Shen Ye placed the girl on the bike.
“I want to see my mom,” the girl said, staring at him.
“I’m looking for her too,” Shen Ye replied.
“Her room number is 707, but I can’t reach her, so I was afraid to go.”
“Alright, I’ll find her, and then we’ll come get you.”
“I’m scared,” the girl began to cry.
Shen Ye patted her back and spoke gently,
“Don’t be afraid. The place I’m sending you is very safe. Later, we’ll take you out for a meal.”
—The best course of action was to get her to leave here willingly.
Life was more important than anything else.
The girl wiped her eyes and studied him carefully, staying silent for a long time.
Seeing her calm down, Shen Ye let out a sigh of relief and patted the bike.
“Returning to your side in 5 minutes and 39 seconds,” the bike announced.
“I’m going to the hotel across the street. Look for me there,” Shen Ye said.
“Returning to your side in 5 minutes and 40 seconds,” the bike responded.
“Go!”
The bike started up, swiftly carrying the little girl away from the area.
Shen Ye continued to stare at the Maple Grove Hotel.
“This is a complete waste of time. That girl has nothing to do with you, not even an acquaintance. She could be a burden to you. I can’t understand why you’re helping her,” the skeleton said.
“Her mother is innocent. She got caught up in this because of me,” Shen Ye replied.
“Hmph, too soft-hearted. You’ll never achieve great things,” the skeleton scoffed.
Boom—
A loud crash came from the hotel, accompanied by faint angry shouts.
Xiao Mengyu was fighting the “Skinner”!
—No more waiting.
But something felt off.
Ever since entering this district, Shen Ye had felt an indescribable silence.
No cars on the street.
No pedestrians.
Shops had their lights on, but no people inside.
This place felt like a ghost town.
Shhh…
Cold rain fell from the night sky, pattering against the ground with a soft rustling sound.
Boom—
Another loud crash.
Whether it was an illusion or something else, Shen Ye had the unsettling feeling that the hotel had become even darker.
—It had completely transformed into a dread, ominous black cathedral.
Each glance at it only deepened his unease.
But he had no choice.
So many people had died.
The assassination threat was still looming.
If he didn’t investigate today and let it fester in the shadows, was he supposed to live in fear forever?
—The truth was right in front of him!
Shen Ye put his phone on silent and slipped it into his pocket before crossing the street and stepping into the hotel lobby.
There were people inside the lobby.
Several hotel staff members stood together, all looking at Shen Ye.
“Hello, are you checking in?”
A middle-aged woman wearing a “Manager” name tag smiled politely.
Just as Shen Ye was about to speak, the skeleton’s voice rang in his ear:
“Be careful, none of them are alive.”
When it came to matters of life and death, Shen Ye trusted the undead more than anyone.
He flipped his hand, drawing out Nightfall, and asked,
“How did you die? Why are you still standing here?”
—”Dark Whisper” activated!
The middle-aged woman maintained her smile and explained, “To make the living arrangements more comfortable, our master killed us all, connected us with special threads, and used magic to control our souls, making us act as if we were alive.”
“Is that so?” Shen Ye asked the others.
The corpses all nodded.
“Why haven’t you attacked me?” Shen Ye asked.
“We were programmed to serve guests to the best of our ability. Our master is busy fighting a strong enemy and hasn’t given us new orders,” the middle-aged woman said.
“How many more people have died here besides you?” he asked.
“All of them,” the woman replied.
“All? As in?”
“This entire district—everyone here is dead.”
Shen Ye froze.
Now he understood the source of the ominous feeling he had earlier.
Upstairs, the sounds of battle grew even more intense—he could even hear Xiao Mengyu’s sharp cries.
The fighting was heading toward the top floor.
Good, this was his chance!
Shen Ye dashed up the stairs, rushing straight to the seventh floor, stopping in front of Room 707.
No matter how horrifying—
He pushed hard against the door.
The lock broke instantly, and the door swung open, revealing the scene inside.
Corpses littered the floor, hung from the walls, and were nailed to the ceiling with steel wires, filling the entire room.
A woman’s corpse lay on the carpet in the center of the room.
Part of her body was missing, but her face felt somewhat familiar to Shen Ye.
His heart gradually sank.
No…
Stepping over the lifeless bodies, he approached the woman and softly asked:
“Do you recognize me?”
The woman opened her eyes and looked at him.
“Shen Ye, I saw you get haunted while I was on duty,” she said.
An urge to flee suddenly welled up in Shen Ye.
But he didn’t move. He simply closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
“I’m sorry… You died because of me,” he heard himself say.
The woman’s voice was calm.
“I’m already dead. These things don’t matter as much anymore. Besides, it’s not your fault. But if you’re willing—”
“Please avenge us.”
Revenge…
Shen Ye looked around at the room full of corpses and recalled what the manager had said in the lobby.
“This entire district… everyone here… died in this place.”
How many people had that bastard killed?
“Can you sense the other bodies?” he asked.
“That’s right. The other rooms are just like this one—no, even worse, packed with corpses,” the great skeleton replied.
Shen Ye turned his gaze back to the woman and whispered:
“Don’t worry. The vengeance will be carried out. And… your daughter…”
“I will make sure she grows up healthy.”
“I’ll cover all her future expenses.”
“Rest in peace.”
The woman listened quietly. A flicker of confusion crossed her face.
But there was no time to say anything else.
The ground trembled violently.
An overwhelming force struck the hotel building, blasting away half of it.
“Who?!”
A voice, both furious and alarmed, rang out from the rooftop.
The great skeleton quickly reported: “Of the two fighting up there, one has suffered a sudden drop in vitality. They’re falling in our direction—right outside the window.”
Shen Ye’s expression changed.
The voice on the rooftop belonged to a man.
Which meant the one falling…
Xiao Mengyu!
He rushed to the window and leaped out, scanning the air.
Sure enough, a woman wielding a sword was plummeting from the sky.
Her body was covered in gruesome wounds, blood pouring out nonstop.
Xiao Mengyu’s cold gaze shifted toward him. When she recognized Shen Ye, she was visibly stunned—then relaxed.
“Her life force is extremely weak,” the great skeleton said.
“What?!” Shen Ye’s heart dropped.
He caught Xiao Mengyu in his arms.
“Kill me now… I don’t want to be tortured by him,” she murmured, barely holding on.
“Shut up! You’re going to be fine!” Shen Ye snapped.
Xiao Mengyu stared at him. Sensing his sincerity, she found it both amusing and admirable that someone of his strength had rushed to her aid.
—Did he think I had no hidden trump cards?
The injuries, the weakened aura—it was all a bait, meant to lure the enemy in for a counterattack.
Victory or defeat hinged on that final reversal.
But plans never keep up with reality. This kid had jumped in, trying to “save” her.
Naturally, that “Skinner” hadn’t followed.
Xiao Mengyu was both exasperated and amused. She let out a faint snort.
“Fine, I’ll let this—”
Smack.
Shen Ye delivered a knife-hand strike to the back of her neck.
Since she was a top-level swordswoman, he worried that a normal strike wouldn’t be enough. He dumped all seven of his attribute points into strength.
A force of 8.3.
Hitting the neck of a critically wounded girl—even though she was powerful—was enough.
Her eyes widened in shock.
“You—”
She couldn’t hold on any longer. Her head slumped, and she lost consciousness.
“It’s fine. I just don’t want you to see my secret,” Shen Ye muttered.
He caught her sword in one hand and held her in the other, then used Moonlit Deer Step‘s “Evasion” to run along the wall, breaking through another window into an adjacent room.
Thankfully, his agility had surpassed 10!
Otherwise, carrying someone while using such a technique would have made him fall.
As soon as he landed, he activated Moonlit Deer Step‘s “Dash,” burst through the door, and reached the hallway.
“Door!”
A door immediately appeared in the corridor.
Shen Ye carried Xiao Mengyu and dashed through it.
“Dissolve! Dissolve!”
The door vanished.
A second later—
A figure landed in the room.
It paused briefly before gliding across the broken doorway like a shadow flowing over the floor, entering the hallway.
One step too late.
The door had already disappeared.
The man saw only an empty corridor.
This created a misleading assumption, born of experience.
“Hmm? Hiding?”
He first showed a hint of surprise, then chuckled.
“Perhaps you don’t realize… This entire hotel is filled with my eyes and ears. And yet you think you can play hide-and-seek with me?”
“How amusing.”
He pulled out a white handkerchief and wiped the crimson off his fingers, speaking leisurely:
“Very well. I’ll play along.”
“Now, I’ll start counting. When I reach one… I’ll begin my search.”
“Ten.”
“Nine.”
“…”
