Xingwang Hotel
Chapter 322: Mountain of blades and a sea of fire
The drizzling rain fell steadily.
“Hurry up!”
Through the bone-chilling curtain of rain, Locket’s distant shout could be heard.
In the grayish gloom, the street ahead drew closer and closer.
“……”
Yun Bilan felt her heart pounding wildly.
She quickened her pace, desperately running alongside her teammates before finally diving into a house at the end of the street.
The sound of rain was muffled by the eaves.
Everyone was drenched, looking as miserable as drowned rats, standing breathlessly in the dry space.
“Is… is this the place?”
Zhong Shan wiped the rainwater from his face, his complexion deathly pale from the loss of vitality. Gasping for breath, he asked.
The medium anchor took out a piece of paper covered in lines from his pocket, carefully unfolding and raising it to compare it with the scene outside.
Under the dim light, the chaotic lines intertwined to form an unsettling image.
Although it couldn’t yet be perfectly matched to every building here, it was still clear that this drawing depicted a part of this street.
“No mistake, this is the place.”
The person nodded affirmatively.
“Then… what next? What do we do now?” one of the teammates asked.
Locket seemed to hesitate as well.
The information derived from psychic readings was often vague and lacked specific directions. That meant they had two options: either stay put and wait for the other team members to arrive, or venture deeper into the street in search of the exact scene depicted in the vision.
But…
Locket hadn’t forgotten the warning given by the medium earlier.
In the vision, there was an eerie, pitch-black corner, its edges undefined, swallowed by chaotic strokes of darkness—like a bottomless abyss capable of devouring everything. It exuded an ominous and unsettling aura.
While Locket and the others were still hesitating, Yun Bilan stepped forward, discreetly glancing at the street outside the window.
It was, on the surface, an unremarkable and even rather old shopping street.
The low buildings on either side and the crooked roads were all cast in a dull, oppressive gray. The doors and windows stood wide open, dark and empty inside. The clothing, miscellaneous goods, and other items on the shelves remained neatly arranged, buried in the shadows, their outlines barely discernible.
The entire street felt heavy and lifeless.
Not far away, in the rain, a vague, dark silhouette appeared.
Yun Bilan’s breath hitched.
She narrowed her eyes, straining to see more clearly—
Someone seemed to be braving the rain, hurrying toward them.
—
“Bzzz! Bzzz!”
Wen Jianyan’s phone vibrated again, breaking the office’s silence.
He took it out and immediately saw Yun Bilan’s message.
“!”
Wen Jianyan’s spirits lifted.
He turned to the others. “Let’s go. It’s time to move.”
“Yun Bilan’s there already?”
Blond’s eyes lit up.
“Yes.” Wen Jianyan smiled. “And not only that, they should be about to make contact with the Black Faction soon.”
Everything was progressing as expected.
He glanced down at the small red dot displayed on his phone and quickly calculated the relative positions and distances.
From the looks of it, Yun Bilan wasn’t far—no more than 200 meters away.
This matched his hypothesis.
The doors in the Xingwang Hotel that led to different areas of the town weren’t entirely random; they followed a pattern.
They had entered through a room on the second floor, while the Black Faction and Locket were aiming for Room 329’s portrait, which depicted the shopping street. Since the hotel’s upper and lower floors were mirrored versions of each other, that meant in a sense, the third floor was also the second floor, and vice versa.
Because of this, the distance between them and Yun Bilan was never going to be too great.
After distributing a few umbrellas, the group quickly left the school, stepping back into the rain and heading toward the marked location Yun Bilan had sent.
—
Meanwhile, inside the shopping street.
Not long after Yun Bilan spotted the silhouette, the others also noticed another team approaching.
There was no need for further speculation—they immediately knew who it was. After all, this meeting had been their goal from the start.
“The Black Faction is here.”
Locket’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
He swiftly turned to his teammates. “Everyone, get ready!”
Although their primary objective was to cooperate with the Black Faction, Locket was confident in his own bargaining power. He was fairly certain the other side would accept their offer.
However, in case negotiations broke down, they had to ensure they could at least retreat safely.
This was precisely why they had recruited Zhong Shan.
In a situation of binary opposition, having more trump cards was always better.
After confirming everything was in order, Locket strode forward, stepping into the faint glow of light, and raised his hand in greeting toward the figures in the rain.
“Hey!”
The figures in the rain quickly noticed them.
After a brief pause, the group resumed their approach.
Inside the room, everyone unconsciously tensed.
Beneath the dark eaves, silence stretched, broken only by the steady drumming of rain overhead.
The anchors subtly adjusted their breathing, preparing for the possibility of direct confrontation.
Like any unremarkable, ordinary anchor, Yun Bilan stood at a position neither too close nor too far from the door.
She slightly adjusted her angle and looked outside from the edge of the window.
In the rain, a group of people was approaching rapidly.
Yun Bilan narrowed her eyes cautiously, suppressing her heartbeat.
Even though they were still some distance away, she could clearly sense… an unnerving quality about them. It was a presence that only those who had survived countless instances and witnessed numerous deaths could possess. They were undoubtedly highly experienced anchors—not people easy to deal with.
Among them, two male anchors stood out the most.
One was dressed impeccably, with handsome features, and despite being drenched by the rain, he did not appear the least bit disheveled. The other, walking beside him, had limbs eerily thin and elongated like an insect’s, exuding a chilling aura. Though their appearances were entirely different, Yun Bilan sensed the same energy from both of them—
The scent of danger.
Just then, a voice tinged with surprise rang in her ears:
“…Mr. Gentleman?”
“???”
Yun Bilan was momentarily stunned and turned her head.
It was Locket.
Wait a minute—did Locket already know members of the opposing team…?
That would be bad.
Yun Bilan’s heart sank slightly.
Although she was well aware of her mission this time and knew that the two teams were likely to collaborate—something Wen Jianyan had been pushing for—
Cooperating while knowing each other’s backgrounds was fundamentally different from a partnership between two entirely unfamiliar teams.
If it were the latter, even if both sides outwardly agreed to cooperate, they would likely have their own agendas, maintaining a superficial peace but lacking a deeply bonded alliance—posing little threat.
But if it were the former…
Everything would change.
And these two men—one was the deputy leader of Oracle, the other a high-ranking member of Eternal Day. The likelihood that they had already met before entering this instance was very high.
With a heavy heart, Yun Bilan watched as the group referred to as “Mr. Gentleman” stepped into the dry area beneath the eaves.
To make matters worse, judging by the atmosphere between them, their relationship… didn’t seem to be bad.
“Mr. Gentleman, I never expected you to enter this instance.”
Locket enthusiastically stepped forward, reaching out his hand.
“The same goes for me.”
The Gentleman removed his soaked top hat, tucking it under his arm. He extended his hand and shook Locket’s briefly, a polite and friendly smile on his face.
Turning his head slightly, he glanced at the other anchors under the eaves and asked curiously:
“So then, which side are you on this time?”
Even Yun Bilan could tell—he was asking despite knowing the answer.
There was no way the Black Faction wouldn’t gather for a meeting. If this were truly the first time they met, then Locket could only be a member of the opposing faction.
In other words, the Gentleman was testing their current stance.
Locket was clearly aware of this as well.
“The Red Faction.”
He answered.
The Gentleman let out a dramatic sigh: “Is that so? What a pity. It seems we weren’t lucky this time and ended up on different teams.”
“But… as long as our goals align, that doesn’t really mean anything, does it?”
Locket said meaningfully.
“Oh?”
A cryptic smile played at the Gentleman’s lips. “What do you mean?”
Locket briefly summarized the situation regarding Wen Jianyan and Bai Xue, then laid out his own intentions:
“…I have no personal grudges against Bai Xue, but as you know, that guy is extremely sinister.”
“!”
Hearing this, Yun Bilan was slightly shocked.
Extremely sinister…?
What did that mean?
She didn’t know much about the top ten. Up until now, she had always thought Locket defected to the Black Faction because he was unwilling to accept his failure to seize power in the Red Faction. But now, it seemed… things were different from what she had imagined?
It was actually related to Bai Xue?
Before Yun Bilan could think further, she heard Locket continue:
“As for the rewards, sure, I want them too. But compared to my life, they’re worthless.”
At that moment, the anchor with insect-like thin limbs, bulging eyes, and an eerie demeanor suddenly spoke:
“So, you’re saying you want to cooperate with us?”
His voice, much like his appearance, carried an unsettling, raspy texture, making Yun Bilan shudder involuntarily.
“Of course.”
Locket nodded, a faint smile on his face, speaking humbly:
“Rest assured, while our abilities are nowhere near comparable to any of the top ten, if used properly, we might just become a very useful chess piece…”
Throughout the entire exchange, Yun Bilan kept her eyes on the opposing Black Faction team.
She subtly furrowed her brows.
Logically, a veteran anchor team from the enemy faction offering to defect was equivalent to handing them a dagger to stab into the other side’s heart—it was an undeniable advantage.
But… was it just her imagination?
She felt as if the opposing team wasn’t particularly pleased about Locket’s decision.
In fact, they barely seemed surprised at all.
It was as if they had already anticipated this outcome.
“Haha.”
The Gentleman suddenly chuckled. “That’s certainly good news.”
However, before Locket could relax, he heard the other man’s tone shift abruptly, his smile unwavering:
“Unfortunately… your arrival was probably already within Pinocchio’s plans.”
“!”
Yun Bilan’s pupils shrank sharply.
“What?”
Locket frowned, displeasure flickering across his face.
“Wait a minute, Mr. Gentleman, that’s a baseless accusation. Are you implying that we’re merely pretending to defect and are actually double agents?”
“No, no, of course not.”
The Gentleman’s smile remained as warm and polite as ever, but his eyes—cold and metallic—slowly swept over each anchor in front of him.
Yun Bilan forced herself to remain expressionless.
Yet, she couldn’t stop the cold sweat from forming on her back when his gaze brushed over her.
“It’s just… have you ever thought about how you found out about Bai Xue’s existence?”
The Gentleman asked with a smile.
“Wasn’t it your opponent who told you themselves?”
A chill ran up her spine.
Locket’s frown deepened: “But—”
He still seemed to want to argue about something, but the gentleman lightly interrupted him:
“Overheard by chance? You don’t really believe in such coincidences, do you?”
Those eerie gray eyes finally shifted away and once again landed on Locket.
“Or do you think that a top-tier anchor ranked eighth would be careless in a place like this?”
Locket’s face alternated between red and pale.
The cramped room fell into a deathly silence. The cold, damp air seemed to solidify, pressing down on them, making it hard to breathe.
The Gentleman turned his head and glanced behind him.
Outside the door, the gray-black sky drizzled with fine rain. The distant misty horizon looked deserted, devoid of any figures.
He sighed softly, looked at Anis beside him, and said:
“Looks like we really underestimated that newcomer. I never expected him to figure out his situation so quickly—last time we met, he was still completely ignorant of the overall picture, yet in such a short time, he caught up, even using this method to make up for the information gap between us…”
The Gentleman smiled, but there was no warmth in his eyes.
“The younger generation is truly formidable. We old bones just can’t keep up.”
“Hah.” Anise let out a dry laugh without saying a word.
“What a pity.”
The Gentleman shook his head.
“The advantage we worked so hard to gain has been caught up by the other side just like that. It’s truly frustrating.”
“What’s so frustrating?” Anise said. “Isn’t this just right?”
His pale face was expressionless, carrying an indifferent and ruthless air that sent an inexplicable chill down one’s spine.
In the “Xingwang Hotel” instance’s barrage:
[Whoa!]
[Whoa!!!]
[Things are getting interesting!!!]
[To be honest, at first, I really thought the Red Faction wouldn’t figure out anything until the end, but who would’ve thought—what’s the anchor’s name? Wen Jianyan? He actually figured out something was wrong just by thinking and then made a risky move to forcefully close the progress gap. That’s insane.]
[The gentleman truly deserves his title as Vice Leader of Oracle… Even though he’s only ranked tenth, he’s terrifyingly deep.]
[So what if he’s deep? His position is exposed now, isn’t it? I just came from the other stream, and the Red Faction is already heading this way, LOL… They got a head start, yet in the blink of an eye, they’re about to be overtaken. What kind of advantage is that?]
Inside the live broadcast barrage, supporters of the Black Faction and Red Faction were arguing fiercely.
[Can you guys stop being so annoying? If you want to fight, go outside. Don’t ruin everyone else’s viewing experience, okay?]
[Besides, what’s the point of arguing? Didn’t you guys notice? Anise is about to make a move.]
[Hehe, the teamfight terminator is on the way!]
“Wait a minute…”
Locket suddenly realized something. He hurriedly stepped forward and said, “I don’t know how you’re so sure that Pinocchio and the others are following, but I really didn’t know about this. However, I’m willing to cooperate—”
“No need.”
Anise replied.
His voice carried a strange, spine-chilling quality.
The realization that the Red Faction might arrive at any moment had shifted the atmosphere within the opposing team. They all seemed to grow anxious, as if they were racing against time to do something.
Anise’ sinister, protruding eyes glowed with an eerie light as he scanned the people in front of him:
“We’re in a hurry. We don’t have time to play house with you all.”
A cold chill shot up Locket’s spine.
He turned to the gentleman, who was familiar to him: “Wait… Mr. Gentleman, you should at least help me—”
But before Locket could finish speaking, the Gentleman interrupted him.
As always, he maintained that refined, courteous demeanor, wearing a warm and polite smile, as if he were friendly with everyone.
“My sincerest apologies.”
The Gentleman smiled regretfully, but his eyes remained indifferent and calm, as if none of this concerned him in the slightest. He spoke without hesitation:
“This is the captain’s decision.”
He had no intention of interfering.
It was as if…
He enjoyed watching everything fall into chaos.
“Since that’s the case, don’t blame me for being rude!”
Locket gritted his teeth and said viciously.
Since he couldn’t talk his way through, the only option left was mutual destruction.
“Don’t forget, we have the advantage in numbers!”
Not far away, the Gentleman, standing aside, shook his head and sighed with a smile:
“You don’t really think a numerical advantage matters, do you?”
But before he could do anything, he suddenly realized—
He couldn’t move.
More precisely, most of the people on his team had lost their strength, as if paralyzed by some kind of toxin, or perhaps bound by an invisible force, rendering them incapable of resisting.
“Excuse me?”
Anise smiled faintly.
“And what do you intend to do?”
Shock flashed in everyone’s eyes.
This was… overwhelming power.
*
The rain poured from the dark sky.
A small team moved quickly through the rain, racing toward their destination.
They were already moving at full speed, but reality inevitably slowed them down.
The town’s roads were uneven, and the buildings were arranged irregularly, making it difficult to travel in a straight line. On the map, it looked like only two or three hundred meters, but in practice, the journey was much longer.
Even though they had three umbrellas to rotate between, they still had to periodically take shelter under rooftops to avoid the rain. This was necessary to prevent the ghosts lurking beneath the umbrellas from invading and to stop their bodies from getting wet, which would drain their vitality.
Despite all this, they were steadily closing in on the red marker.
There was only a short distance left.
But just then—
“Bzzz, bzzz.”
Wen Jianyan’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
“……”
Wen Jianyan paused, gripping the umbrella handle tightly with one hand while reaching into his pocket with the other to pull out his phone.
He knew that things had progressed to this point, and Yun Bilan wouldn’t send a message unless it was important. She wouldn’t waste time on something trivial or distract them from potential danger.
So, even if there was some risk, Wen Jianyan couldn’t afford to ignore the information she was sending now.
His damp thumb swiped across the screen, lighting it up.
Sure enough, the message was from Yun Bilan.
Compared to last time, this message was much shorter.
Just two words.
[Don’t come]
There was no punctuation.
The two bold black characters flickered on the wet screen, distorted and magnified by the raindrops on the surface. Amid the endless rain, they appeared especially striking—almost shockingly jarring.
Wen Jianyan’s breath caught for a moment.
He abruptly halted his steps.
Not far away, Blond noticed his movements and shouted across the distance, “Captain, what’s wrong!!!”
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, steadied his mind, and pointed toward a nearby building.
This was the signal they had agreed upon beforehand.
If anything unexpected happened, they would use this to silently communicate with teammates to leave the rain and move into a dry area.
Following Wen Jianyan’s instructions, the entire team ran toward the shelter of the eaves. Soon, they were back in a safe zone.
Panting, they looked at Wen Jianyan.
“What… what happened? Did something go wrong with the umbrella?”
Wen Jianyan shook his head gravely and held up his phone for the others to see.
Seeing the two characters on the screen, everyone was startled.
“What’s going on?”
“If my guess is correct,” Wen Jianyan lifted his gaze, his expression unusually serious as he spoke each word slowly and deliberately, “Yun Bilan’s identity is most likely exposed.”
It was unlikely she had simply encountered danger.
According to the last message, they had already joined up with the Black Team. Not to mention that the Black Faction was composed entirely of veteran anchors, including the tenth-ranked Gentleman and Anise. It was hard to imagine any crisis they couldn’t handle.
Furthermore, too little time had passed.
Given the current timeline, it was almost impossible for them to have already pinpointed the core danger of the shopping district.
That left only one possibility for Yun Bilan’s message.
Her disguise had been compromised.
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes, scanning the phone screen.
The red marker hadn’t disappeared.
That meant, despite sending such a message, Yun Bilan was still alive for now.
Without hesitation, Wen Jianyan immediately reached a conclusion.
This was a trap.
The Black Faction had discovered Yun Bilan’s true identity, but instead of killing her outright, they were keeping her alive—most likely to use her as bait to lure the rest of them in.
That was why Yun Bilan had warned them not to come.
“!!!”
Upon hearing Wen Jianyan’s speculation, everyone drew in a sharp breath.
“What???” Blond’s voice rose uncontrollably. “Then what do we do???”
Although he hadn’t known Yun Bilan for long, after surviving so many instances and crises together, they had long formed a bond of life and death.
Chen Mo also looked grim but remained silent, turning to Wen Jianyan and waiting for his decision.
Wen Jianyan tucked his phone back into his pocket, lifted his gaze, and swept his eyes over the people before him.
Suddenly, he smiled.
His amber eyes narrowed slightly, exuding an air of composed confidence and assured victory:
“Alright, let’s go.”
The others were stunned, clearly unable to keep up with Wen Jianyan’s unpredictable thought process. “…Huh?”
“To the shopping district.”
Wen Jianyan shrugged, speaking with casual indifference.
——So what if it was a trap?
Even if it was a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, they had to charge forward.
