CH 66

(Scheming Big Bosses)

Edited by Silver Wind 

It went without saying that Puffy Skirt did not believe that Shen Dongqing had the sufficient age to be addressed as an ancestor and she only felt like he was messing with her. The feeling of suffocation lasted for a long while before she said: “You, you……”

By virtue of her youthful face and honeyed voice, she usually affected male players into lowering their guards against her, and she had profited considerably while relying on this point. However, she never expected that she would suffer such a setback.

Once Puffy Skirt thought about the fact that the scene had been witnessed by other people, her face reddened out of anger. In the end, she stomped off without getting a word in edgewise.

And when she bumped into the Redhead who was watching the commotion at the door to the veranda, she did not even apologise before she ran far away. 

Shen Dongqing still found it a little strange: “But I was telling the truth.”

Why did she get angry in spite of him telling the truth?

Zhou Wenyan said: “Don’t concern yourself with her.”

She was merely a player courting her death.

However, as he considered the words that Shen Dongqing spoke just now, Zhou Wenyan’s lips quirked up. “Little ancestor?”

Shen Dongqing: “… Can you not call me that?”

If he called him ancestor, wouldn’t he be reminding the both of them that their age gap was too wide?

Zhou Wenyan followed his good advice readily and changed it to a different endearment. Lowering his voice, he added a tinge of ambiguity to his tone as he said: “Little darling?” 

Shen Dongqing’s movements stilled, earlobes going red. Despite how old he was, it was incredibly evident that he was a little pure heart who had experienced nothing in reality.

He lowered his head to evade Zhou Wenyan’s teasing gaze and forked up another piece of cut steak as he mumbled, “Do whatever you want…..”

On the other end, Redhead rubbed the area where she had been bumped into and told the Besuited Man in a low voice: “Perhaps we should forget it……” 

Those two individuals did not look like people who could be provoked.

Besuited Man contemplated his options before he decided that they should not bother the pair for now, decisively turning around to leave with the Redhead.

Redhead said: “We’ll just stay vigilant and ensure that we don’t touch anything that can take our lives.”

Besuited relaxed himself slightly, “The minigame I participated in involved a car accident, it’s quite unlikely for there to be cars in a hotel.” 

From the start, the possibility of a car accident occurring was miniscule, and he was secured as long as he followed the rules and regulations of the hotel.

Redhead: “Mine was a fire incident, it looks like I’ll have to stay further away from the kitchen.”

As they were conversing, a server was coming up from ahead.

The server was pushing a small dining cart with two bottles of alcohol and a covered dish on top, and he appeared to be sending some guests their candlelight dinner. 

As the dining cart was pushed past Redhead, there was some distance between them which was why Redhead hadn’t minded it as she continued to talk to the Besuited Man in a soft voice.

However, for no discernible reason, the dining cart lost control halfway through and knocked into Redhead, causing the alcohol bottle to shatter and spill all its alcohol contents onto Redhead’s person.

The server was extremely anxious, “I’m really sorry.”

Initially, Redhead wanted to blow a fuse but she remembered that this was not an ordinary hotel. Hence, she forcibly suppressed her irritation and waved her hand, saying: “Forget it.” 

The server bowed again and again. “I’m truly sorry for this.”

The Redhead could not be bothered to waste more time on the server, and she turned to the Besuited Man and threw down a single sentence, “I’m going back to change my clothes.”

With two bottles’ worth of alcohol being split on her clothes, there was a nauseating smell of alcohol all over her body and she felt sticky and wet all over which was causing her discomfort.

She got on the elevator and pressed the “14th floor” button. 

For the entirety of today, nothing strange had occurred in the hotel which soothed some of the usual paranoia that the Redhead had, and that led to her failure in noticing the scorched black handprint that had appeared on the wall behind her.

A burning smell was being emitted.

However, the Redhead did not notice it because the stench of the alcohol was too strong and it covered all the other smells.

Ding—

The elevator reached her floor.

The Redhead walked out in a hurry and arrived back at her own room. She reached for her room’s bronze plaque but she came up empty.

“How could this be—” She looked at her empty pockets in astonishment, since there was nothing to be found. 

Her bronze plaque was gone!

The first rule of the hotel was that they could not lose their bronze plaque; should it be lost, the hotel would demand a fitting compensation.

Thankfully, no one was using the lift at the present moment and the elevators opened again very quickly.

Efvtfjv vgliifv lcab atf fifnjabg jcv qgfrrfv atf yeaabc ab ub ab atf ijguf tjii bc atf olgra oibbg jujlc. 

Lfg ygbchf qijdef kjr vfolclafis rabifc ys jcbatfg qijsfg!

Po la kjr cba Ueoos Vxlga atfc la tjv ab yf atf Dfrelafv Zjc, rtf tjv ab ajxf la yjmx jr rbbc jr qbrrlyif!

The elevator continued its smooth descent and the smell became increasingly thick and strong, such that even Redhead was not exempt from catching a whiff of it.

Alas, she was too nervous and flustered from losing her bronze plaque and she did not take notice of it all, thus losing her last chance to escape with her life. 

Under the conditions where Redhead was not paying attention, more scorched black handprints appeared on the elevator walls one by one, like someone had been trapped in the lift in the event of a fire and they desperately beat the walls, wanting to escape from the space.

When the doors were about to open as the elevator reached the first floor, a small flame jumped out from the wall and landed on Redhead’s body. It was just a single spark but it instantaneously lit up all the alcohol on her body, spreading across all over, engulfing and turning her into a fiery person.

“AH—”

Redhead issued a miserable scream as she staggered out of the elevator in a rush, pleas for her life still spilling from her lips: “Save me, s-save me—” 

Everyone in the large hall ceased their movements and looked over.

However, they only watched without doing a single thing. Their eyes did not offer the slightest emotion. In fact, it harboured some expectations as they looked forward to her death.

The Redhead was akin to a flaming ball of fire as she bashed sideways and collided into objects in the large hall. Despite her struggles, she did not manage to find something that could save her life and she ended up burning up into a piece of charcoal, and it was only then that the fire dwindled down.

Standing behind a pillar in the large hall, Puffy Skirt hummed out a tune as she played with an object in her hands. She waited until Redhead was thoroughly silenced before slowly sauntered towards the dustbin and threw the item she had been holding. 

Ding—

It happened to be a bronze plaque and the room number “2301” was branded on it.

Three players left.

Shen Dongqing burped as he placed down his cutlery, “I’m full.”

Zhou Wenyan had finished eating a long time ago. Compared to Shen Dongqing, the quantity of food he required was significantly smaller, to the extent where he could get by consuming some arbitrary morsels. He was not certain if it was because he had played too many games but his body was no longer considered within the normal realms of man.

Shen Dongqing had just stood up when he heard garbled noises coming from outside. He poked his head out, “What’s happening?”

Zhou Wenyan replied, “Something rather boorish happened.” 

It was merely a case of mutual killing between players.

While Puffy Skirt’s actions were concealed well, it could not escape his eyes.

Despite that, Shen Dongqing walked out and discovered that there was another burnt black figure on the clean floor tiles of the large hall and it emitted the smell of over roasted meat. Meanwhile, the onlooking guests and servers turned a blind eye to it as they stepped over the corpse.

Shen Dongqing: “It turns out someone died ah.” 

His expression was extraordinarily calm. Afterall, he had been living for a long time and he had witnessed everything before. He stared at it for a while before he commented: “Why isn’t her spirit appearing?”

When a living person dies, they would become a spirit.

Some people would turn into a muddle-headed and ignorant soul, waiting for their reincarnation, while others would turn into ghosts because of their lingering sentiments and they would wander in the mortal realm. Even if they were players in the game, they were ultimately people and they could not escape this absolute law.

However, when this person burned to death, no spirit materialised. It seemed like something existed inside the hotel and it had swallowed her spirit whole, leaving behind a useless outer shell. 

Shen Dongqing could not understand it.

However, he was more sanguine; if he could not understand it, he would stop thinking about it.

Whereas it was Zhou Wenyan who remembered his question instead.

“I have an idea,” Zhou Wenyan slipped both his hands into his pockets as he spoke slowly. 

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan had been together for a long period of time and he was cognizant of his behaviour and style. Once he heard those words, he knew he was planning to do something and he could not suppress his excitement: “What do you want to do?”

Zhou Wenyan: “Check out what’s going on with this hotel exactly.”

Sitting and waiting around carelessly to clear the copy had never been his style.

It was better to take the initiative to attack. 

Shen Dongqing had already eaten his fill and he had nothing better to do, hence, he would always respond in the positive regardless of the idea he wanted to carry out, to say nothing of making trouble because he would basically raise both hands to express his approval.

However, there was a lingering hesitation in his heart: “We should be more careful…”

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Wenyan was a little shocked.

Since when did his Xiao Dongqing have the word “careful” in his dictionary? 

Before he could recover from his shock, however, he heard Shen Dongqing continue to speak: “Don’t tear down this hotel, I still want to eat two more meals.” Afterall, the craftsmanship of the hotel’s kitchen was excellent and they had a buffet to feast upon every day. Wouldn’t it be nice to stay for two more days?

Zhou Wenyan chuckled softly, “Understood.”

That was more in line with what his family’s Xiao Dongqing would think.

Zhou Wenyan’s first objective was the front desk.

The front desk had all the guests’ particulars recorded and it would give them some information with regards to who entered the hotel.

Shen Dongqing followed Zhou Wenyan to head straight for the front desk.

A pretty lady was seated at the front desk, and she stood up immediately upon seeing the two guests walking over. Revealing a flawless smile, she asked in a soft voice: “These two guests, do you require anything?” 

The two guests did not beat around the bush as they took down the lady at the front desk without any hesitation.

Probably because the lady at the front desk was a girl, they did not act too harshly against her. After they knocked her out, they pulled her to one side and ensured that she did not suffer any more pain than necessary.

While there were a few people milling around the large hall, they seemed to abide by the norm where they would disregard everything that did not affect them directly and they did not even spare a glance in their direction.

Thus, the pair Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing sat at the front desk openly as they flipped through the information. 

Owing to the fact that the vacation hotel was built ages ago, it had never been through the era of information technology and they had stuck to the most old-fashioned paper records which made it simpler for them to sift through.

Zhou Wenyan opened the heavy record book which had the name list of the guests who entered the hotel this month. At first glance, nothing seemed to be amiss on the records but once he carefully scrutinised, he noticed that apart from the usual dates, names and telephone numbers, there was another column that stated, “Cause of Death”.

The first five guests were all players, namely Puffy Skirt, Besuited Man, Redhead, Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing, and their date of checking in was on the first day of the month and they were slated to stay for seven days.

Within the names that followed after, there were a few that Zhou Wenyan was familiar with like Lisa, Borg and Leo who entered the hotel today. Additionally, the cause of death written for them was “Aviation Accident; Snow Disaster” and they were staying in the hotel for an indefinite duration. 

As a matter of fact, any guest with their cause of death filled in were staying in the hotel indefinitely.

Zhou Wenyan seemed to have thought of something and he looked upwards again. It was then that he noticed the words denoting Redhead appeared to be burnt, leaving an ugly mark and it looked like the word “Fire” was scrawled onto it.

Simultaneously, the duration of her stay had changed from seven days to indefinite.

“It seems like she became a VIP member of the hotel once she died.” Zhou Wenyan commented as he closed the book. 

Shen Dongqing was shocked, “That’s great.”

She could still stay in a hotel where there were food and drinks in unlimited supply after she died, wasn’t it better than those lonely and wild ghosts outside?

He said resolutely: “I want to return here after I die.”

Even though Zhou Wenyan was accustomed to Shen Dongqing’s inability to grasp the important points, he could not help but laugh and shake his head at the present moment. 

He put the registry aside, wanting to see if there was anything concerning the rules and regulation of the hotel.

Dong—

As he was flipping through more information, a person standing outside of the counter desk knocked on the wooden surface gently. 

Zhou Wenyan raised his head.

The newly arrived guest was wearing thick and heavy clothing that covered them up thoroughly and they only revealed a section of skin around their eyes. It looked incomparably black and they emanated a burning smell.

“Checking in.”

From the guest’s figure, they appeared to be female but their voice sounded like they had been suffocated in smoke, making it coarse and unpleasant to the ear. 

Zhou Wenyan pulled open a drawer but there was no bronze plaque for the rooms inside. Then, he opened another drawer but he ended up empty again.

Perhaps because the guest had been standing there for a long time, it attracted the gazes of others.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and bring the guests to—” The attendant approached them speedily, strict appearance conveying that he wanted to reprimand an incompetent worker. However, when he saw who the two people were behind the desk, it scared him to the point where he changed faces right then and there.

“Haha……” The attendant laughed dryly as he shot a glance at the front desk lady who was lying on the ground. But he did not dare to reprimand them either, so he could only say: “This guest is an old guest, she can be lodged immediately, I’ll bring her there.” 

Soon after, he told the new guest: “Please follow me, your room has already been prepared, it’s 2301.”

The attendant brought the new guest away.

Zhou Wenyan watched on pensively, “2301?”

Wasn’t that the room Redhead stayed in previously? 

Shen Dongqing said: “That’s because she became a piece of furniture in the hotel ah.”

Zhou Wenyan: “Furniture?”

Shen Dongqing touched his chin with one hand as he said: “Although I’ve never experienced one myself, but this should be a tomb and only dead people can stay here. If a living person were to die in here, they will become a furniture in the tomb, and unless the tomb is destroyed, they’ll be trapped here indefinitely.”

Which was also why the people who had died outside prior to this could appear inside this hotel. 

Zhou Wenyan: “We have to stay here for seven days.”

Shen Dongqing shook his head. “We can’t stay here for seven days. A ghost turns back into a spirit after seven days; if we were to stay in the tomb for seven days, we’ll become ghosts as well due to the constant infusion of yin energy into our bodies.” When he spoke to this point, he paused briefly, “However, it should have no effect on us.”

The reason was that Zhou Wenyan already possessed an enormous amount of yin energy internally, and Shen Dongqing used to be a ferocious ghost and they technically belonged to the ranks of people who could stay inside a tomb.

However, that was not the case for other people. 

Shen Dongqing: “It’s all my fault for forgetting too many things, or else I would have known the moment I stepped in.”

Zhou Wenyan caressed his head, “It’s fine, you might be able to remember in the future.”

Shen Dongqing: “It’s fine even if I can’t remember, it’s enough that there’s good food to eat.” He gave the person beside him a glance and added another sentence, “There’s you too.”

Zhou Wenyan was helpless. Did that mean his position was still below good food? 

But he had no choice either; he could only work harder and supersede the position that good food held for Shen Dongqing.

Shen Dongqing: “I was thinking……”

Zhou Wenyan: “En?”

Shen Dongqing: “Can we stay here for two more days?” 

The chefs here made great dishes, the service staff was kind and even the guests here were exceedingly amicable. It gave him the sensation of having arrived home and he would love it if he could stay here for two more days.

While other players were thinking of methods to get out, these two individuals were thinking about staying a few more days— they really could not be compared, or the comparison would anger the other party to death.

After hearing what he said, Zhou Wenyan waved his hand to beckon the attendant.

The attendant walked up to them gingerly, unsure of what these two big bosses wanted to do. He asked: “Do you have any instructions to give?” 

Zhou Wenyan asked: “Can we continue staying here?”

The attendant thought he had heard them wrongly as he stared at them with wide eyes and mouth agape. “Huh?”

Generally speaking, most living people staying here would cry and shout about wanting to leave, and there had never been people who asked if they could stay for two more days. This was, frankly, too strange.

Shen Dongqing: “We can’t?” 

When the attendant recalled the two big bosses’ actions, he stated resolutely and decisively: “No.”

If it were not the fact that he could not check them out on his volition, he would have escorted these two big bosses out a long time ago.

Shen Dongqing was extremely regretful. “Then can we stay here again?”

Despite thinking that he was going to pull the two individuals into the blacklist in his heart, he was still cordial on the surface as he said: “There is no rule in the hotel that allows for a second stay.” 

Shen Dongqing puffed his cheeks, “That’s truly unfortunate.”

Attendant: Hehe.

At that moment, a series of anxious footsteps sounded from the distance.

Puffy Shirt was panting heavily and her footsteps were a staggering mess, as if some terrifying creature behind that was chasing her, and it was only when she caught a glimpse of Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing that she came to a stop. 

“You, you guys…..” Puffy Skirt huffed and slowed, “I sat on the lift and went to the 14th floor basement!”

It was plain to see that the hotel only had 14 floors and it did not have a basement, but Puffy Skirt had managed to get to the 14th floor basement by taking the elevator and she had witnessed some horrifying scenes.

Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing exchanged glances.

“Let’s take a look.” 

Puffy Skirt was still having an unstable state of mind as she brought them before the elevator. Hesitant, she opened her mouth and said: “It’s better if I don’t go down…”

Zhou Wenyan pressed down on Puffy Skirt’s shoulder, refusing to tolerate her rejection. “We’re going together.”

Puffy Skirt’s complexion stiffened.

It was true that she had been to the 14th floor basement and encountered a few things, but she had also parcelled out some of the secrets that the hotel had and she felt that she could make use of it to harm other players. Thus, she had feigned a panicked expression as she ran over to them, wanting to deceive the Besuited Man into going downstairs. And by coincidence, she had seen Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing which made her change her targets. 

Now that she was observing Zhou Wenyan’s reaction, however, she questioned if her act had been seen through.

Due to her uncertainty, Puffy Skirt glanced at the pair covertly.

Zhou Wenyan looked back at her with a smile that was not a smile and Shen Dongqing stood to the side, facial expression brimming with a blasé attitude.

Puffy Skirt retracted her gaze. She recalled the game’s hint of how only one player could walk out of the hotel alive. Since that was the case, they could not blame her for being cruel and ruthless. 

She made up her mind and said: “Fine, follow me then, it’s just that you should be cautious…”

Once they entered the elevator, it could be seen that an aberrant button had manifested out of nowhere on the original button panel and it was emitting a bloody light as if the number had been written with scarlet red colours.

Puffy Skirt said in a small voice: “It was that negative 14 floor.”

Without making any preparations, Shen Dongqing pressed it, causing the blood light that the -14 floor was emitting to become even denser as if it was oozing blood. 

As the elevator made its slow descent, a multitude of noises could be perceived.

Women weeping and howling, children sobbing, wrathful howls from men……

Puffy Skirt held onto her talisman quietly.

No matter what happened, she had to leave the pair here. 

If there were people who were well-acquainted with Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing present, and they were clued in on what Puffy Skirt was thinking, they would definitely look at her sympathetically.

Not only would they not warn Puffy Skirt, they would pray for Puffy Skirt silently, hoping that she could reincarnate early and be born again with a better brain.