Chapter 48 - Trouble

From the very beginning, Li Chi Yu didn’t leave his room. Since the moment he opened the door, he had remained standing at the door.

He didn’t know why but he just felt that something bad would happen if he went out.

Li Chi Yu continued: “Did someone also knock on your door?”

Su Min nodded: “It impersonated your voice, so I asked you in the group chat. You were in your room at that time.”

Hearing this, Li Chi Yu felt his hair rise.

Something had impersonated him and then it impersonated Le Ling while knocking on his door – It might be a terrifying-looking ghost with mask of his face.

Li Chi Yu spoke fearfully: “It’s so scary.”

Su Min said: “It is indeed scary.”

That unknown thing was scarier than the corpse in the fish tank and the corpse inside the vase. They didn’t even know what their intentions were.

Jiang Taozhi heard the commotion outside and opened the door: “What are you guys doing?”

Li Chi Yu repeated everything that had happened again. Hearing it, her expression changed: “………You guys aren’t impersonators, right?”

If all three of them before her are impersonators, then she may faint from fear.

Su Min said helplessly: “Of course we’re not.”

Jiang Taozhi trembled: “Then when Li Chi Yu opened the door and didn’t see anything, could it have slipped into the room?”

It wasn’t impossible.

Li Chi Yu was startled by her words. He turned around and looked in his room. The lights were on and it was the same as usual.

Su Min guessed: “Maybe something will go wrong if you go out.”

There used to be a legend that if you opened the door for a devil, it would either kill you directly or take you away.

Something that would trick them into opening the door would possibly even take over their body the moment the door is opened.

“Fortunately, I didn’t go out.” Li Chi Yu felt that he was very lucky, “Le Ling, you shouldn’t have come over.”

Le Ling was expressionless, “It’s nothing.”

Su Min was curious about Le Ling’s identity in this horror movie, but he still hasn’t had the chance to find out. Perhaps it would be revealed at the end and play a role in the finale.

Everything they said were just speculations and the truth couldn’t be reached. In the end, they could only come to one conclusion ——– Don’t go out.

Jiang Taozhi said hesitantly: “The sky isn’t dark yet. Let’s hurry and get something to eat.”

Su Min said: “Let’s go together. This place is a bit unsafe so it’s best if the four of us went together.”

When they reached the first floor, they heard a loud commotion.

After exiting the corridor, they saw a group of people berating the hotel and cursing at the staff and organisers.

There were originally just a few people but later a group joined them.

Su Min listened to them and found out that the reason for their anger was because someone that came with them had gone missing and they couldn’t find that person in the hotel.

It was a little different to what he had thought. He didn’t expect so many people to go missing. Afterall, they had only found two bodies.

The woman at the front desk stared blankly at the group.

Le Ling said: “You won’t get a solution like this.”

As soon as she spoke, a pale-faced man suddenly came in. His expression was exactly the same as the woman at the front desk.

The people in the hall stopped arguing for a moment.

Everyone stared at the pale-faced man. He didn’t know what he was doing here.

The pale-faced man didn’t move. Eventually, they started to argue again.

“I came here to watch the show but now my wife is missing. Can I get an explanation from the hotel?”

“I will definitely make a complaint after I get out. What is this rubbish hotel? You can’t even get out!”

“Where’s the person in charge? Is that person dead? Why haven’t they come out yet? This hotel can’t even make a call out to the police. Are you trying to kill us?”

“………………”

The arguments got louder and louder until the pale-faced man suddenly moved. He grabbed the loudest in the group and dragged him out the hotel.

The crowd saw the two leave together but the person that was dragged out never appeared again. It was as if he had disappeared.

Jiang Tao Zhi who saw this was frightened.

After this incident, the crowd slowly dispersed and went back upstairs. They no longer wished to stay downstairs.

As for the missing person, they didn’t care for him at all.

The four of them stood at the end of the corridor and was a long distance away from the people in the hall so they were safe.

He had a small thought, “He might have been thrown out of the hotel. That fog might have eaten him up.”

Except for the audience, the remaining people in the hotel were the staff and front desk. Every one of them looked like pale corpses.

Su Min was a little uncomfortable at first, but he had become used to it.

And they haven’t done anything to them yet, so they are very fortunate. Those that cursed out the staff will definitely suffer from horrible consequences.

Though he also wanted to say a few bad things.

Li Chi Yu said: “I thought that with the disappearance of the driver, there would only be the front desk woman herself left. I didn’t expect there to be another one.”

He didn’t know where he came from. Perhaps there were more of them in this hotel.

Su Min: “That is not the main point. As long as you don’t provoke them, they won’t hurt us. The main point is how we’re going to leave this place.”

Li Chi Yu let out a cry: “The fog outside this hotel is a little scary. It’s impossible getting out of the hotel without running into it.”

When he only stuck out his arm, the fog rushed over to envelop him.

Le Ling suddenly spoke up: “Since it is a show ticket, we probably will need to watch the show. The breakthrough might be during the performance.”

Su Min nodded: “In other words, everything that’s happening in the hotel are just appetisers.”

If that show really does exist, it is very likely something dangerous.

But it was also likely that this horror movie didn’t even have a show in the first place and that it was all just a gimmick. In the end, it could turn out to be just a movie revolving around the hotel.

Perhaps it is a Battle Royale or Hunger Game type of movie.

“Battle Royale’ was a movie Su Min watched a long time ago. An officer left a class of students on a deserted island to fight for survival.

“Hunger Games” was even more unique. Su Min read the novel. Among the people selected, they would have to continuously escape and kill. There were many psychological warfare and conspiracies in the show and, in the end, only one can survive.

Su Min was afraid that this movie may be like that one and only a small team could survive.

He didn’t know much about the concept of Death Show. Maybe the show itself had already started with their stay at the hotel and they’re possible even the actors in the show.

Su Min was most afraid of this.

He hated being secretly watched in his private life, but he also had the option to avoid things like this as he experienced a movie.

Su Min let out a breath.

Hearing Le Ling’s words, Li Chi Yu felt more and more suspicious that he must have been possessed when he bought the ticket.

He was practically exchanging his life for this performance.

The pale-faced man just continued to wait there. He only moved when the noise escalated too much. It was as if he was waiting for instructions.

When he thought this, Su Min wasn’t very happy.

If he was waiting for instructions, then this would mean that everything that was happening here was seen. It is very likely that they are being watched.

The colours on the walls and other similar places were easy hiding spots. It was difficult for them to tell whether or not they were being monitored unless you looked very carefully.

Jiang Taozhi took some things from the restaurant and then they each returned to their rooms.

Su Min thought for a long time in his room. He finally decided to set an alarm for an hour and take a nap.

But before he could sleep for half an hour, someone knocked on his door.

Su Min was startled. After confirming the person outside, he opened the door and asked: “What’s wrong?”

Li Chi Yu whispered: “It’s time to watch the show. I just got notified about it. We need to leave this hotel.”

Earlier someone had walked down the corridor calling this out. When they came out, they saw a pale-faced staff.

The staff was very stiff. He only said three words: “Watch the show.”

No matter what they asked, the staff only repeated this sentence. Everyone could tell that it was futile asking.

Jiang Taozhi and Le Ling were also called out by him. The four of them went down together and saw the other guests in the hotel already waiting in the courtyard in twos and threes.

Su Min looked at the crowd and whispered: “Don’t you think the number of people has decreased?”

Last time several waves of people went into the restaurant to eat and he estimated that there were a little more than a hundred people, but now it looked like there were only fifty or so people.

Half of them were gone. Where did they go?

Su Min had a bad feeling. This show couldn’t possibly be going to show them performances by those missing people will it?

Li Chi Yu was surprised: “It doesn’t feel good seeing that so many people have disappeared. Fortunately, we’re still here…….”

If they disappeared, they didn’t know when they would reunite again. Perhaps they would end up separated by heaven and earth.

They didn’t wait long. Soon, a bus arrived inside the courtyard.

The driver was another pale-faced man. His face looked like it was painted with several layers of white paint. It was extremely ghostly.

He didn’t speak and just sat in the driver’s seat. The door opened, revealing the insides of the air-conditioned bus.

Everyone looked at each other. No one dared to board it.

In the end, Su Min went on first. He found a seat by the window, but the window couldn’t be opened.

The others saw the four of them boarding and also slowly followed them on.

The bus didn’t look big but with everyone on the bus, it was completely filled. It was as if the number of seats were prearranged for the number of people left.

“Where is it going?”

“Heavens, what kind of show is this? The ticket also didn’t say anything. Can I choose not to go?”

“Why do we have to go at night? Why not during the day? Where’s the person in charge of the hotel? Can’t they be a little more responsible?”

Su Min intuitively felt that the destination of this bus should be the performance venue.

The sky had already darkened and, with the fog outside, everything was unclear. The gate to the hotel opened slowly and the bus left the hotel.

The dark fog surrounded the bus and appeared to be wanting to come in, but it couldn’t and could only linger around.

Small discussions filled the bus. Su Min leaned against the window trying to see the route outside but it was futile effort.

In the darkness, the only source of light was the bus.

Jiang Taozhi was a little scared: “Will we be taken somewhere and massacred? Like at the colosseum?”

The colosseum was something everyone knew about. It was both bloody and cruel. Once they are put in a place like that, it could be said that they are due to die soon.

Li Chi Yu said: “Don’t guess haphazardly. It won’t be like that.”

Although he said that, he still felt a little fearful.

Su Min didn’t say anything. He recalled the events in the hotel and then thought about the current situation. He realised that there was a connection.

The bus droveon for an unknown period of time when a small spot of light suddenly appeared outside.

It was a little far from them and the light was blurry, but it guided the bus over.

As the bus got closer, the light in the distance got clearer.

Su Min could even see that the road was bare on both sides. All that was there were grass and trees. There wasn’t a single building or house in sight.

Although the people in the bus were scared, there were also a few that had fallen asleep. The moment they were awakened, they got anxious and things started to get noisy again.

After all, they were in a very desolate place. Adding onto that the previous disappearances, they were all anxious and worried.

Su Min’s side however was quiet.

Jiang Taozhi suddenly pointed in a direction and said: “Look at that tree!”

Her voice wasn’t very soft so everyone in the bus heard it. Their eyes all moved over to the tree and, with the bus’s positioning, they saw it very clearly.

That tree was just around the corner and it wasn’t the usual lush greenery. Instead, it was an old, bare tree. Its branches were twisted and gnarly, and it stuck out crookedly.

The trunk of that tree was quite thick and would require several people to be able to hug the entire diameter. In the middle of the trunk was a protrusion. It looked like a pimple and it looked very strange.

As the car got closer, the bump in the tree trunk became clearer.

Su Min finally could finally see it’s true appearance.

It wasn’t an ordinary protrusion at all. There were countless faces protruding out the trunk.