Xingwang Hotel
Chapter 350: Peeping
Chaotic footsteps and hushed whispers echoed from the far end of the corridor. The group was still frantically searching for the source of the noise—it wouldn’t be long before they found this place.
Wen Jianyan did not ask any further questions.
After a quick exchange of contact information, the three squads swiftly split up.
Having already memorized the internal layout of the hotel, Wen Jianyan led his team in another direction, moving silently and carefully. Through the labyrinthine corridors, they navigated with practiced ease, making sharp turns and weaving skillfully through the passageways. It wasn’t long before they had left the pursuers’ footsteps far behind.
The corridor fell into a dead silence. Only through the walls could they still faintly hear the remnants of the chaotic sounds.
Dim red lighting bathed the narrow, damp hallway.
The doors on either side remained tightly shut. Some bore “Do Not Disturb” signs, while others did not. But even so, they dared not enter any room at will—after all, no one knew if the guests other teams had brought from the town were lurking inside.
The ceiling, the walls—everywhere bore faint cracks, as if splitting open from deep within, the fractures still expanding.
Cold, damp moisture seeped from the cracks in the walls, soaking into the carpet. The wallpaper’s patterns, blurred by the creeping wetness, became increasingly indistinct. Water stains darkened and spread.
“Drip, drip.”
The faint sound of water droplets echoed from all directions.
The hotel was leaking.
Yet no one could pinpoint the exact source.
The group pressed close to the wall, treading lightly, slipping through the empty corridor like shadows.
Unlike the first day, the humidity in Xingwang Hotel had increased significantly. Even though they hadn’t been inside for long, their skin was already damp and sticky. Thin shirts clung uncomfortably to their bodies.
“…”
Wen Jianyan hooked a finger under his collar, pulling it slightly away from his skin as he looked ahead.
Not far away stood Room 408, its door shut tight.
The “Do Not Disturb” light glowed faintly, standing out starkly in the dim corridor.
They had arrived at their destination.
Although many hotel room numbers had changed, making things slightly more difficult for Wen Jianyan, their journey had been smooth overall.
“Are you ready?” Wen Jianyan asked as he stood before the door.
Blond swallowed, his gaze flickering toward the “Do Not Disturb” sign. He hesitated before whispering, “Wait… doesn’t that mean the ghost is still inside?”
“I’m afraid so,” Wen Jianyan replied with a nod.
“But we’ve been inside before, haven’t we?” Chen Mo glanced at Blond. “We’re hotel employees of the same faction. The guests we brought in shouldn’t attack us.”
That was the logic, at least…
But that was on the first day. No one knew if the same rule still applied now.
Still, if they needed to return to the abandoned house from the beginning, then they had to pass through Room 408 to reach the town. No matter what, this was the only way.
Blond understood this as well.
Taking a deep breath, he seemed to steel himself before nodding. “…I’m ready.”
With confirmation, Wen Jianyan pressed down on the door handle.
With a creak, the door opened.
He stepped forward—his foot sinking into ice-cold water.
Pausing, Wen Jianyan flicked on his flashlight and shone it into the room.
Cracks marred the walls, and large, dark water stains spread across them. Chilled water gushed from the fissures, pooling across the floor. The shallow water had already surpassed what the carpet could absorb.
All the furniture, including the bed, was submerged—only the mattress remained barely dry.
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes.
This scene looked almost identical to what he had seen before inside Ouroboros.
Wen Jianyan tilted his head slightly, glancing toward the wall beside him.
The cracks in the wall spread like a spiderweb, fracturing in all directions. One crack was particularly deep. Whether out of curiosity or some unexplainable premonition…
Wen Jianyan leaned in closer and peered inside.
“!”
In the next instant, his entire body tensed, as if startled, and he took a sharp step back.
“What’s wrong?” Yun Bilan was alarmed, quickly stepping forward. “What did you see?”
Wen Jianyan kept his gaze locked on the crack, his face appearing pale under the dim lighting. He took several deep breaths, preventing the others from coming closer, and said in a low voice,
“…An eye.”
“What?”
The others froze, inhaling sharply.
“There’s an eye inside the crack,” Wen Jianyan steadied himself and explained.
In that brief moment he had leaned in, he had clearly seen it—inside the fissure, an eye was staring back at him.
Upon receiving confirmation, a chill ran down everyone’s spines.
An eye, hidden within the crack in the wall, watching them…?
What did that mean?
Just then, from the corridor behind them, the once-distant footsteps began drawing closer. The fragile silence in the hallway was gradually being broken.
“…Where?”
“…Ahead… hurry?”
Faint, delirious murmurs could be heard in the distance.
It seemed that the opposing squads had begun using tracking tools or abilities.
They had to move. Fast.
Wen Jianyan snapped back to attention. “Go.”
Now was not the time to hesitate at the doorway—they needed to enter the town and shake off their pursuers.
Under Wen Jianyan’s lead, the group quickly stepped into the room.
Behind them, the door to Room 408 swung shut.
Wen Jianyan didn’t pause, heading straight for the massive painting.
The numbers on the oil painting had vanished, but the image still depicted that same decrepit house, standing motionless in the rain. However, unlike before, faint, shadowy figures were now subtly visible within the painting.
Outside, the chaotic footsteps grew even closer.
Wen Jianyan reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocket watch, adjusting the hands according to the instructions in the employee manual—
“Zzzzz.”
The lights in the corridor flickered twice before abruptly dimming.
Through the gap beneath the door, only pitch-black darkness remained.
The localized darkness had fallen.
They could now pass through the door into the town.
Chen Mo stepped forward, running his fingers along the edge of the painting. Within moments, he skillfully gave it a tug. With a creak, the frame of the oil painting swung open like a door.
Beyond it, the familiar rain-drenched town came into view.
But…
Just like the hallway, something felt off.
The rain poured harder, striking the ground in relentless torrents. The visibility was worse—distant buildings had blurred into vague silhouettes.
And more importantly…
In that gloomy, dim world, several indistinct figures stood motionless in the distance, as if they were waiting for them.
A chill crept into everyone’s hearts.
They hadn’t expected that the shadows they had seen in the painting… were not just symbolic representations. They were real—actual entities that had appeared in the town on the second day.
“The rain’s gotten heavier,” Chen Mo frowned, glancing up at the sky. “We won’t last thirty seconds this time.”
“No problem, don’t we still have the masks and the human-skin coats?” Zhong Shan’s face lit up as he began patting himself down. “With the masks, we won’t have to—”
Before he could finish, his expression suddenly changed. “Wait a second… Where’s the mask?”
Everyone froze, hastily checking their belongings.
The human-skin coats were still there, but at some unknown point, the masks had completely vanished.
“N-no way…”
Blond’s face turned pale. “Does this mean… if we want to attend the banquet, we’ll have to go back to that street again?”
Yun Bilan, however, didn’t seem surprised. She glanced down at the items in her hands and let out a soft laugh. “Figured.”
She had known all along—this dungeon wouldn’t let them reach their goal so easily.
On the second day, everyone had to start from the same point.
“The good news is that the Black Faction has probably lost their masks too,” Chen Mo said. “But the bad news…” He frowned, then continued, “Their next destination is probably also the mask shop.”
Which meant—
They were likely to cross paths again.
In a instance that had already begun to distort, going head-to-head with streamers who might have ‘ghost-controlling’ abilities was far from ideal.
Suddenly, Chen Mo realized something. From the moment they had opened the door, Wen Jianyan hadn’t spoken for a long time.
He turned his head, puzzled. “Captain?”
Wen Jianyan didn’t respond. He was staring intently at the doorway, deep in thought.
“Captain?”
Chen Mo raised his voice slightly. “What are you looking at?”
“Don’t you think… the corridor is a little too quiet?” Wen Jianyan finally spoke, his voice slow and deliberate.
“…!”
The group stiffened, instinctively turning their heads toward the door.
Indeed.
The corridor outside was pitch black, not a single sound to be heard.
At first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual. But—
Before they had adjusted the watch, the other streamers had nearly reached the door.
So why… had it suddenly gone silent? Why had they abandoned the chase?
Wen Jianyan furrowed his brows, his thoughts deepening.
Last night, Xingwang Hotel had remained dark the entire night.
The few of them had successfully passed the intern evaluation and entered the safety of the “employee dormitory,” which meant they had no idea what had actually happened in the hotel overnight.
But something had changed.
By morning, the Xingwang Hotel was no longer the same, and the streamers who had remained inside… looked terrified. Deranged.
Could it be—
Their transformation was caused by the “lights out” event?
What exactly had happened?
“…Wait here,” Wen Jianyan said, stepping toward the door.
Through the peephole, he peered outside.
The hallway was pitch black—nothing could be seen.
Wen Jianyan reached out, pressing his palm against the door handle. Slowly, he applied pressure.
“Captain!”
A tense voice came from behind him. The others had realized what he was about to do.
“…”
Wen Jianyan hesitated for a moment.
But… if he wanted to find out what had really happened last night, this might be his only chance.
Taking a deep breath, he made up his mind—and carefully pushed the door open.
He peeked out.
The hallway was completely dark.
But—only this hallway.
Roughly ten meters away, in another corridor, the lights were still on, bright and steady, completely unaffected.
It seemed that the pocket watch only affected the lighting within a single corridor, rather than the entire hotel.
Which meant that even if other full-time employees adjusted their watches, their actions wouldn’t interfere with the movement range of others.
In the pitch-black corridor, the sound of dripping water echoed more clearly than ever.
“Drip. Drip.”
The sound of water echoed through the silence.
Wen Jianyan lowered his head, glancing at the floor.
Unnoticed until now, the water that had once been trapped inside the room was slowly seeping into the corridor. And it wasn’t just from this room—the same was happening in other rooms as well.
Cold water surged soundlessly into the pitch-black hallway. Under the distant glow of the lights, Wen Jianyan faintly saw something—countless dark, human-like shadows stirring beneath the water’s surface.
As if sensing his gaze, one of the shadows slowly turned its head, looking directly in his direction—
Wen Jianyan sucked in a sharp breath, instantly recoiling.
With a loud “bang,” he slammed the door shut.
While Wen Jianyan had been peering outside, unseen behind him, something strange was happening.
The once-dry bed had begun to dampen.
Dark, wet stains spread across the sheets, deepening gradually—until they formed the distinct outline of a human figure.
Without warning, a voice broke the silence from behind him.
“Run.”
It was Bai Xue.
His voice was always composed, devoid of emotion, yet this time—it carried an urgency rarely heard before.
Wen Jianyan stiffened and turned his head.
Bai Xue had raised his eyes at some point. He was staring fixedly at the bed, lips pressed into a thin line, his face starkly pale.
Could it be…
Realization struck. Wen Jianyan’s gaze shifted downward.
In the pool of water near the bed, a dark reflection surfaced.
The faint outline of a woman in a white dress, her face blurred, slowly sitting up from the bed.
“!!!”
A chill shot down Wen Jianyan’s spine, his body stiffening in shock.
Instantly, he recalled something—on the first day, when they had entered the hotel’s first floor.
Other than the “guest” from Room 408, who had been lured out, there had been another, much taller “guest” who had left their room of their own accord once the lights went out.
Which meant—this was their active period.
Before, with fewer guests in the hotel, this pattern had been difficult to detect.
But now…
Everything was becoming terrifyingly clear.
Once guests checked in, the hotel’s “lights-out” period would no longer be harmless.
It was far more dangerous than he had imagined.
And judging by Bai Xue’s reaction…
Did that mean that, as employees who had invited guests into the hotel, they had lost their immunity from being attacked?
Wen Jianyan made a split-second decision.
“Move! Get into the town—now!”
He broke into a run, throwing on his human-skin coat as he moved.
The others reacted instantly, hurriedly pulling on their own coats as they rushed toward the oil painting.
They were seasoned streamers—far faster and more responsive than ordinary people.
In mere seconds, they had all bolted into the torrential rain.
Cold raindrops lashed against their skin, a biting chill sinking deep into their bones, stinging their eyes.
Without the restriction of the masks, the human-skin coats on their bodies activated rapidly, exuding an unbearable stench of rot.
“Go!” Wen Jianyan shouted over the storm.
The group ran at full speed, their eyes locked onto the distant abandoned house.
They knew the process by heart.
As long as they made it under the eaves, the danger would be over!
The distance was closing.
Almost there!
Wen Jianyan was the first to charge inside, followed closely by Yun Bilan, Chen Mo, then Zhong Shan, Blond, and Bai Xue…
Soon, they all stood inside the familiar abandoned house, gasping for breath, their chests heaving. The roof shielded them from the rain, which drummed loudly above.
Within the drafty, dilapidated space, the sound of their ragged breathing reverberated.
“Everyone okay?”
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, wiping the rain off his face. He shrugged off his human-skin coat and tossed it aside, then glanced at the others.
Their faces were pale and shaken, but they all nodded.
Wen Jianyan let out a long exhale. The tension in his chest finally eased.
He turned his head, sweeping a glance toward the door.
Beyond it, the endless downpour stretched into the gloom.
He wasn’t sure why, but a sudden thought crossed his mind.
Wu Zhu, that guy…
It made sense for him to have disappeared in the hotel.
But now that they were back in the town—why hadn’t he reappeared?
Wen Jianyan frowned.
It wasn’t as if he particularly cared.
But it was unusual. It didn’t fit the pattern. And that alone was enough to make him think about it—nothing more.
Withdrawing his gaze, he turned back to the others. “Let’s go check the back of the house.”
They had no time to waste.
The group nodded and followed closely behind Wen Jianyan, moving swiftly toward the depths of the house.
Having explored the place before, they knew the layout.
This time, their pace was quick, their steps decisive, leading them straight to their destination.
Before long, they arrived at the spot where they had first discovered the portrait.
But now, it was gone.
The darkness stretched over an empty wall.
“I remember you were planning to pull a backstab here last time.” Yun Bilan gave Zhong Shan a sideways glance, her tone dry.
“…”
Zhong Shan scratched the back of his head, his expression awkward and embarrassed. “I—well, I just didn’t recognize a true master when I saw one. My bad, my bad…”
As he muttered his excuses, Wen Jianyan had already stepped forward.
By the glow of the flashlight, he carefully examined the patch of wall before him.
Then—he paused.
His fingers reached out, brushing across the dust-covered surface, tracing something unseen.
Click.
A crack split through the wall.
The group startled, instinctively turning toward the sound.
No—not a crack.
A hidden door.
Behind the portrait of the woman in white—there was a door.
Wen Jianyan stood in the doorway, one hand gripping the half-opened secret passage.
The others rushed forward, peering over his shoulder.
Beyond the door, not far away, stood a dry well.
It leaned slightly to one side, its base overgrown with weeds.
The rope and wooden pulley, though rusted, remained intact.
“This is…” Blond murmured.
“Yeah.”
Wen Jianyan nodded, narrowing his eyes.
There was no mistaking it.
This was the scene depicted in the portrait held by the woman in white—
The dry well, hidden behind the abandoned house.
Hehe, he’s worried abt where Wu Zhu is~
Me neither (;ŏ﹏ŏ)