Xingwang Hotel
Chapter 348: Internal strife
At the moment when Wen Jianyan blocked Xi Zi, the person walking ahead slightly turned his head. A glimmer of cold, gloomy light flickered deep within his eye sockets.
“……”
Wen Jianyan was slightly startled.
Wait a moment, could it be—
As if to confirm his suspicion, in the next second, an abrupt change erupted!
“Thud!” “Thud!”
Several doors on both sides of the corridor suddenly swung open, and multiple figures lunged forward, their target unmistakably the badge on Wen Jianyan’s chest!
“Step back!”
Chen Mo suddenly stepped forward and spread his palm.
A sharp clattering of metal rang out as countless massive, heavy chains materialized out of thin air, intertwining with one another in a deafening cascade to form an enormous wall.
In an open space, Chen Mo’s ability might not have been as effective. However, in the confined and narrow corridor, the chain barrier was able to firmly block the approaching enemies, making it impossible for them to break through in a short time.
“Go, quickly!”
The group hurriedly retreated.
However, perhaps due to the commotion attracting too much attention—
The eerie silence of the corridor was completely shattered. More doors creaked open, and the sound of footsteps came rushing from all directions.
Xi Zi’s expression darkened, as if preparing to take action, but Wen Jianyan swiftly pressed down on her hand: “Don’t.”
Xi Zi was momentarily stunned, instinctively pausing her movement.
“Close your eyes,” Mu Bai suddenly said urgently.
He seemed to have activated some kind of tool. Dense black smoke billowed upward like the ink released by a fleeing squid, spreading uncontrollably in all directions. In the blink of an eye, the air turned pitch black, engulfing the surroundings at an overwhelming speed. Very soon, the entire area was plunged into darkness, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead.
“Follow me.”
In the darkness, Mu Bai’s low voice sounded nearby. “This way is safe.”
“Where are they?”
“Over there, chase them!”
“Don’t let them escape!”
Footsteps and frantic shouts mixed together, echoing through the narrow corridor with a hysterical frenzy.
“Their badges—steal their badges!”
……
In the damp, chilling corridor on the fourth floor, a sense of chaos and peril spread, sending a shiver down the spine.
“Thump, thump, thump—” Footsteps reverberated outside the door.
“Shh.”
Mu Bai raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence.
In the pitch-dark room, everyone held their breath and waited.
Soon, the footsteps faded into the distance.
It seemed that the pursuers had left this section and moved further away in their search.
As the air returned to silence, the tense atmosphere inside the room finally relaxed slightly.
“This… What exactly is going on?”
Blond lowered his voice, sounding confused. “Aren’t we all on the same side? Why would they…”
“Because of this, of course.”
Wen Jianyan raised his hand and tapped his chest badge with his fingertip, producing a crisp knocking sound.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke:
“It seems that we are not the only official employees who have obtained more intel.”
Evidently, after being separated into different areas, the two groups obtained different pieces of information. As official employees, they gained intelligence regarding the “criteria for winning and losing in the instance,” “the banquet on the third day,” and “the means of participating in the banquet.” Meanwhile, those who had not entered the official employee rest area and had remained in the more perilous regions as “intern employees” acquired the other half of the intelligence—
For instance, “what would happen if one failed to become an official employee by the second day,” and “how to become an official employee by the second day.”
Judging from the current situation, the method for becoming an official employee within the instance had likely been altered—now, only by seizing the badge of an anchor who became an official employee on the first day could an intern employee be promoted. If that were the case, Wen Jianyan’s initial plan to expand the number of official employees on the Red Faction by sharing intelligence was probably a lost cause. He glanced at Yun Bilan, who stood not far away, and let out a quiet sigh.
He had expected it—there was no way this malicious instance would allow them to clear it so easily.
“Why did you stop me just now?”
Xi Zi narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Wen Jianyan with a hint of displeasure. “Since they’ve already turned against us, there’s no need for us to hold back, is there?”
Although they were all part of the Red Fcation and technically on the same side, it didn’t mean they couldn’t attack each other.
So when Wen Jianyan warned him, Xi Zi’s first instinct wasn’t to flee but to retaliate fiercely—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
“Even though our numbers are small,” Xi Zi swept his gaze across the other anchors in the room and said calmly, “we have the advantage in terms of strength. If it really comes down to a fight, we won’t lose.”
“Actually,” Mu Bai, standing to the side, shook his head, “I agree with his decision.”
“What?” Xi Zi frowned.
Mu Bai stepped forward and glanced toward the door before speaking: “Those people have reached a dead end. To them, obtaining official employee status now takes precedence over everything else. But we can’t afford to act the same way.”
He sighed and shrugged.
“There are still too many unknowns. The Black Faction next door is already making moves—we shouldn’t act recklessly just yet.”
That was true.
As official employees, they didn’t face the same desperate survival pressure. They had more to consider.
If there was yet another hidden trap within this situation, and they started fighting among themselves before fully understanding the true rules of the instance, there was a real risk of handing victory to the Black Faction.
“The most pressing concern now,” Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes, curling his fingers as he tapped lightly against his bent knee, “is figuring out what information they obtained over there—”
“—and what exactly happened last night.”
Though the contact had been brief, those “intern employees” seemed off.
And the changes in the corridor—the way it felt as if the Rainy Town was gradually merging with the Xingweng Hotel, fusing the two into one—
Xi Zi took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions. “What do you propose we do?”
Wen Jianyan blinked.
“The simplest method?” He smiled. “Of course, we just grab someone and ask.”
Although capturing someone didn’t seem particularly difficult, to ensure both stealth and success, they ultimately decided to send four people for the task. As a non-combatant strategist, Wen Jianyan remained in the rear without any qualms.
During this waiting period, he did not remain idle.
Wen Jianyan stepped further into the room, moving with utmost caution as he scrutinized the vacant space before him.
Clearly, there was a medium among Mu Bai’s team. That meant that, while the fourth-floor rooms were not completely safe, they had still managed to pinpoint one that was free of immediate danger with remarkable accuracy.
Familiar furniture lay shrouded in shadow, appearing unchanged from the previous day—except for…
Wen Jianyan raised his hand and brushed his fingertips against the wall, rubbing them together.
Wet.
To be precise, the entire room was damp.
Though unoccupied, the carpet and bed were saturated with moisture, and the air was oppressively humid, making it almost difficult to breathe. And then there was…
Wen Jianyan stopped in front of the oil painting, narrowing his eyes slightly.
It wasn’t his imagination.
Droplets of water had formed on the surface of the painting. Compared to yesterday, the image had grown significantly blurrier, as though it were slowly melting. But what was even more concerning…
Wen Jianyan leaned in closer, squinting slightly.
Were there… more shadows in the painting than before?
Yesterday, the paintings in the room had primarily depicted landscapes, with only a handful containing faint human figures. Yet after just one night, something in Midsummer had shifted. In the misty, damp scene within the painting, numerous shadowy figures had appeared in the distant background.
And they immediately reminded Wen Jianyan of the countless silhouettes he had seen in the corridor of the framing shop.
Was there a connection between the two?
Or…
A fleeting image surfaced in his mind—the gaping black hole he had glimpsed in the Ouroboros space. Wen Jianyan furrowed his brows slightly, a sense of unease creeping up his spine.
There were three days in total for this instance. If the hotel had already changed this much by the second day… then what would it look like when the banquet arrived on the third?
At that moment, the door swung open, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps, abruptly interrupting Wen Jianyan’s thoughts.
Startled, he turned toward the entrance.
The four team members who had left earlier to “find someone” had returned.
They had clearly executed their task flawlessly, successfully bringing back an “intern employee.”
The captive was shoved roughly to the floor. Although his hands, feet, and mouth were bound, he still struggled unwillingly.
“Behave yourself,” Xi Zi barked.
She crouched down, grabbed a fistful of the captive’s hair, and quickly recognized his face.
“…It’s you.”
The intern employee they had captured was none other than the Red Faction member who had attempted to lure them into one of the rooms by the elevator earlier.
A smirk tugged at the corner of Xi Zi’s lips. “That makes things easier.”
Under Xi Zi’s grip, the man’s head was forcibly tilted back.
He looked… off.
Under the dim lighting, his face appeared eerily bloated, as if it had been soaked in cold water. His eyes bulged slightly, shifting sluggishly as they fixed on Xi Zi. A strange, guttural “gurgle” escaped his throat.
“What exactly happened last night?”
Xi Zi scrutinized the distorted face before her, frowning.
“Speak!”
