Xingwang Hotel
Chapter 321: 408 Resident’s Life
In the dilapidated house with drafts coming from all sides, the sound of raindrops tapping on the roof echoed. Under the eaves, a short woman stood in the center of the room, her eyes slightly rolled upward, showing an eerie gray-blue color. Her lips moved slightly, as if she was muttering something.
In front of her, a white piece of paper was neatly placed.
Her fingers, in a strange posture, tightly gripped a pen, seemingly scribbling haphazardly on the paper—she drew faster and faster, the lines growing more chaotic, intertwining with one another. Soon, the image on the paper began to take shape and become clearer.
Suddenly, the anchor gasped and fell backward.
If her teammate hadn’t been standing behind her, quickly supporting her tilted body, she would have collapsed to the floor.
“This feels like… a shopping street?”
Locket picked up the paper from the floor, examining the drawing that was gradually emerging from the chaotic lines. He frowned slightly, pondering aloud.
“It looks like it.”
A young man beside him nodded in agreement.
“This small town’s layout seems pretty intact.”
Locket snorted lightly, then handed the paper to the female teammate who had struggled to stand up.
The woman, with a pale face, nodded and took the paper, carefully examining the seemingly childish scribbles.
Clearly, she had long been accustomed to interpreting these seemingly disordered lines, which seemed to contain an abundance of information.
Soon, she looked up and pointed in a certain direction:
“About that way, not far, we should be able to reach it soon.”
Locket nodded, “Alright.”
Afterward, he turned to the group and waved his hand, signaling them to move.
“……”
Yun Bilan silently slid her phone into her pocket, preparing to follow, but at that moment, the female anchor who had just been drawing hesitated and spoke up:
“But…”
Locket stopped, turned, and asked, “What is it?”
The female anchor took a deep breath, turned the paper in her hand, and pointed to a specific area of the drawing for Locket and the others to see.
Yun Bilan subtly stepped forward and peered at the paper.
The white paper was filled with chaotic black lines, as if drawn by a madman. The overlapping lines, some deep and some light, formed a roughly blurry image. If you looked from a distance, you could see a very three-dimensional image.
However, in the corner of the drawing, there was an area densely packed with deep, overlapping lines. It looked like a pitch-black, impenetrable hole with no contours or edges, which was unsettling.
“This is…”
Locket frowned slightly and asked.
“I’m not sure either.” The female anchor took a deep breath, slowly shaking her head, and said seriously, “Captain, you know, when I’m writing or drawing, I have no awareness. I can only barely interpret it after everything is over, but…”
Her face seemed to still be pale from the previous exhaustion, and she involuntarily shuddered:
“This part gives me a very bad feeling… If we enter the shopping street, we’d better avoid this area. Otherwise, I feel like something terrifying might happen.”
“……”
Locket appeared thoughtful and slowly nodded:
“Alright, I understand. Let’s go; we should head out.”
Yun Bilan, following behind the group, subconsciously moved her fingers at her side, as if wanting to do something, but then held back.
Now, everyone was moving as quickly as possible toward the door, and outside the house was the familiar, continuous rain.
This message, unlike the earlier “shopping street” clue, couldn’t be easily sent out.
In this situation, she found no opportunity to send a message to Wen Jianyan.
Yun Bilan looked toward the crooked door of the dilapidated house.
Under the gray, gloomy sky, the incessant rain weighed heavily on the air, making it hard to breathe.
The heavy curtain of rain blocked her vision, and she couldn’t see what was ahead.
—She could only follow the action.
She took a deep breath and followed the others out of the room, walking into the rain.
*
■■ Primary school.
Wen Jianyan stood at the door of the classroom, looking down at the slightly glowing screen of his phone. His fair profile was illuminated by the soft light, his eyes flashing with a thoughtful expression.
…A shopping street?
The clue “shopping street” from Yun Bilan and the image in the oil painting in room 329 must be connected.
The higher the level of the instance, the more meticulous it is, and this can’t just be a coincidence.
The possibility that Locket and the others directly spawned at the shopping street was low, so the only explanation now was that the Black faction was either currently at or heading to the shopping street, and Locket and his team must have somehow found out and were heading in that direction.
This was the most reasonable guess.
He let out a shallow breath, put the phone back in his pocket, turned, and walked into the corridor, raising his voice:
“A message has come in!”
Soon, the team members who had scattered into other classrooms walked out.
“What did Yun Bilan say?” Chen Mo asked.
Wen Jianyan showed them the screen of his phone.
Blond’s gaze fell on the screen, and he paused for a moment:
“Wait, did the shopping street say…?”
Wen Jianyan took back his phone and nodded, confirming his guess: “It should be correct.”
Chen Mo: “Then this is perfect. We can solve the customer’s request in room 408 in one go and kill two birds with one stone.”
Blond nodded vigorously.
Wen Jianyan didn’t respond.
He lowered his eyes, hiding the unease that inexplicably rose in his heart.
Although they hadn’t entered the oil painting in room 329 after the lights went out this time, they had still, after all the twists and turns, ended up…
On the original path.
However, no matter what worries Wen Jianyan had in his heart right now, they had to head to the shopping street next. Otherwise, they would miss this great opportunity, and if they wanted to catch up with the Black faction later, it would likely become much harder.
He raised his eyes and summarized: “Even so, we probably can’t take action for now. After all, we don’t have any tools that would allow us to travel long distances in the rain, nor do we have a map of this town, and we don’t know where the shopping street is. So, what we can do next is continue waiting.”
Wait for Yun Bilan to reach the shopping street.
Wen Jianyan was not just the leader of Yun Bilan’s team; he was also the president of the guild she belonged to. With these dual connections, Yun Bilan could share her location within the instance with Wen Jianyan. They should still be on the move, which was why Yun Bilan hadn’t sent any messages yet. Once they reached their destination, that would be when Wen Jianyan and his team could set out.
“During this time, we’ll continue searching for clues in this primary school,” Wen Jianyan raised his eyes and looked at everyone:
“So, what have you found so far?”
The group exchanged glances and shook their heads.
Blond shrugged awkwardly: “Inside, it’s basically just some random stuff—desks, chairs, podiums, books—nothing important, no special clues.”
Chen Mo nodded:
“Yeah, it’s the same here.”
“Wait a minute,” Wen Jianyan seemed to realize something, “The classrooms you entered, none of them had oil paintings, right?” Blond and Chen Mo both froze, then nodded.
Wen Jianyan turned to look at Bai Xue and the teammate who had been forced to switch from Zhong Shan’s team to theirs: “What about you two?”
“……”
Bai Xue remained silent, giving a small nod.
The teammate from Zhong Shan’s team shuddered and answered nervously: “Yes, yes, I didn’t find anything either.”
There were five of them in total, and the primary school only had six classrooms. This meant that only one classroom, one teacher’s office, hadn’t been entered.
“Let’s go, let’s check the remaining two rooms.”
Wen Jianyan made a quick decision and said.
The last classroom was pitch dark, filled with a damp, chilly odor. A pale beam of light slowly swept across the room, passing over the disordered, low desks, the bare, peeling walls, and several crooked, simple drawings stuck on them.
Still no oil painting.
Not only was there no oil painting, but there was also no human-skin umbrella.
According to the pattern they had previously summarized, if a building had neither an oil painting nor a human-skin umbrella, then at the moment the “accident” began, it was highly likely that there were no people inside. But the problem was, whether it was the chaotic appearance of the classroom or the faint shadow of a child seen through the windows before entering the painting, everything pointed in the opposite direction—there were “people” here.
So, what did they symbolize…?
Wen Jianyan’s gaze fell on the crooked simple drawings on the wall in the far corner of the room. He squinted slightly, a thoughtful expression on his face.
He turned to look at the others and asked: “In the classrooms you entered, were there these simple drawings as well?”
Everyone nodded.
Then it was certain.
Although there were no oil paintings in this primary school, there were many simple drawings posted around. It seemed these served as the mediums the children relied upon.
However, this still didn’t fully explain why there weren’t a corresponding number of human-skin umbrellas.
Wen Jianyan’s thoughts shifted. “Let’s go check the teacher’s office.”
The group headed toward the final room.
With a creak, the door slowly opened before Wen Jianyan, revealing the dark room beyond.
It was identical to other locations in the town.
The space appeared ordinary, messy, and old, filled with signs of human life despite the absence of people.
Wen Jianyan’s gaze swept to the side and stopped at the base of the wall.
There stood a small umbrella stand. In the decayed and rotting stand, three umbrellas leaned haphazardly.
The familiar texture of human skin.
It seemed that unlike the students, the teachers here were no exception.
Wen Jianyan pulled the umbrellas from the stand, distributed them to the others, and then placed his own umbrella—already nearly corroded, with a fully formed Ghoulie handprint on its handle—into the now-empty stand. That umbrella would likely become dangerous again in just a few minutes. Now that they had replacements, there was no need to risk using it to walk in the rain and face malevolent spirits.
Wen Jianyan stepped into the office.
The office was dimly lit, the air damp and moldy. The sound of rain pattering overhead added to the oppressive atmosphere.
Soon, Wen Jianyan found what he was looking for.
Near the wall stood three oil paintings, all in the same frames and canvases, depicting the same rigid, blurred figures with deathly pale faces.
One man, two women.
The portraits in these frames must have been the teachers who once taught at this primary school.
Chen Mo keenly noticed something unusual: “Wait, if they were all in the same room when the ‘incident’ happened, why are there three separate oil paintings instead of just one containing all three of them, like before?”
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes and replied slowly:
“My guess… is blood ties.”
In the houses they had explored before, they were all residential homes where the inhabitants were families connected by blood. But this was different. This was a school, and it was unlikely that the teachers and principal shared blood ties. That’s why they appeared in separate paintings.
“What about married couples?” Chen Mo asked.
If a couple had children, the children would naturally share blood ties with their parents. However, the couple themselves wouldn’t share any blood ties. By that logic, they shouldn’t appear in the same painting. Yet…
Wen Jianyan answered almost without hesitation:
“Bodily fluids.”
Chen Mo was startled by the speed of his response.
It made sense.
Although married couples didn’t share blood ties, their intimate lives involved prolonged exchanges of bodily fluids. By this rule, they would indeed qualify to appear in the same painting. However…
Chen Mo turned to look at Wen Jianyan.
The other man tilted his head, staring deeply at the oil paintings before him. His pale profile was half-hidden in the darkness, concealing his expression.
Chen Mo opened his mouth but swallowed his words.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that Wen Jianyan hadn’t deduced this conclusion through logic alone but instead knew something the rest of them didn’t. That’s why he had jumped to the final answer so quickly and with such certainty.
And indeed, that was the case.
Blood.
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes.
He was so certain because this instance was inextricably linked to Wuzhu.
In all rituals associated with it, blood was a critical medium.
A strange, almost metallic taste seemed to linger on his tongue. He could still recall the sticky, scorching golden liquid sliding down his throat, as if it were igniting his organs from within.
His blood.
The blood of a god.
The two had fused tightly within his body, inseparable.
Wen Jianyan instinctively licked his lips. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed.
At that moment, a voice came from behind him. It was Blond: “Captain! There’s something here I think you should see!”
Wen Jianyan pulled himself from his thoughts. “…Coming.”
He turned and walked toward Blond.
The man was standing near the office window, pointing to a large wooden frame on the wall. Inside the frame were charts of teaching tasks and similar documents. All the crucial information, such as the primary school’s name and specific dates, had been blurred by rainwater, making them illegible—just like other items in this town.
However, Blond wasn’t pointing to those.
He held a flashlight in one hand, his expression serious, and gestured toward a photograph slanted in the frame’s corner. “Captain, look at this.”
The photograph’s edges were yellowed and curling, with faint water stains blurring the image.
Even so, it was clear that the photo had been taken in front of the school’s gate.
In the picture…
There were four people.
Wen Jianyan’s expression tightened as his gaze fell on the spot Blond indicated.
At the edge of the photo stood a woman in a black dress, her face blurred.
Although her features couldn’t be seen, Wen Jianyan’s instincts told him that this “person” was the subject of the only portrait in the dilapidated house—the former occupant of room 408.
So, she had once been a teacher at this town’s school?
Wen Jianyan stood still, staring intently at the photo.
Then came the question…
Why, when the “incident” occurred, had she ended up at the edge of the town, in a deserted, crumbling house?
And were the abnormalities displayed by the “students” in this school related to her?
*
The rain poured relentlessly.
Yun Bilan ran forward through the downpour, her clothes soaked through. Ahead, Locket’s voice rang out:
“Hang on! We’re almost there!”
She wiped her face and looked up.
Not far ahead, about thirty or forty meters away, a long, crooked street came into view. Every low building along it was dark, lifeless, and foreboding.
Yun Bilan’s heart sank slightly.
She knew…
They had reached the shopping street.
