◎ “I am the Last Villager” ◎
The fluorescent light on the third floor was shattered, causing the light to flicker erratically. The sound of shifting bones was unnervingly stark in the deathly stillness of the night. The floor was splattered with mottled blood, and the oppressive atmosphere made it difficult to breathe.
The little ghost ran over anxiously, pointing at He Yupu. “Mom, a guest wants to check out.”
The landlady, who was busy retrieving her head, paused. She stiffly turned the severed head she was holding. Her two empty eye sockets stared fixedly at He Yupu, a scene that was incredibly gruesome.
She grinned wickedly as she placed her head back onto her shoulders and pressed down with both hands. With a sharp crack, the outward turned red muscle tissue actually reconnected, though blood continued to stream down.
“Check out? No problem at all. It has been a long time since I met a guest who wanted to check out.”
The landlady’s lips stretched to her ears, and her pitch black hair clung to her skin. Her voice carried a malicious tone. “Let me think about the fate of the last person who checked out. That feeling was truly delicious, hehehe.”
“You are very long winded. Can you hurry up?”
He Yupu furrowed his beautiful brows. “Even Xie Jingyan has never made me wait. What kind of person are you to make me wait?”
Suddenly, the suffocating air seemed to twist. The killing intent coiling around them felt like a sharp blade, transforming into a chill that crept up his spine.
The landlady’s massive, fleshy body trembled with rage. A bubbling, wheezing sound emerged from deep within her throat as her withered claws elongated, seemingly intent on slicing through his neck. How dare this lowly human be so arrogant?
He Yupu ignored all of this, even offering a provocative smile. He knew the landlady was unable to act due to the inn’s restrictions, so he was fearless. If I can insult her, it is a win!
[Ahhh, how can my wife be so wicked yet so cute!] +15 points awarded.
[I am dying of laughter. This is the first time an NPC has stood in front of the landlady and blatantly insulted her after using the inn’s rules to restrain her.]
[Everyone, put “Player faction is useless” on the screen!]
After a long while, the heavy sound of the landlady’s footsteps echoed. She glared at him viciously. “Follow me!”
He Yupu followed reluctantly. “Can we not just handle this here?”
He had been hoping to search for clues on the third floor while the landlady was busy, wondering if he could find a solution.
The landlady spun around suddenly, her head falling off with a crack again. She glared with a hideous, twisted expression. “Have you ever seen an inn where you check out in the lounge area?”
Her headless torso continued to walk forward.
The little ghost chased after her anxiously, holding the head it had picked up from the floor. “Mom, your head fell off!”
The scene was too bloody and bizarre. Both ghosts were exhausted by his antics, yet nothing changed; they could not escape the fate of going to the front desk to register.
Walking down the stairs to the front desk took less than three minutes. He Yupu scanned the area and discovered that the middle aged man who had died for refusing the first task was still lying there. His corpse was riddled with holes, as if bitten by something, flesh mangled, even revealing the eerie, pale skeleton beneath.
A large sign stood on the front desk. This was where he had seen the inn’s rules. The first fourteen rules were standard for a normal inn.
However, the fifteenth rule was different; the handwriting was crooked, as if it had been painted on with blood.
The landlady licked her lips, greedily extending a hand soaked so long it had turned white. “Hand over your room card.”
He Yupu took out the room card and pressed it down firmly on the counter.
The landlady tried to snatch the card, but because he pressed it down so tightly, she could not retrieve it. Her voice sounded warped and harsh. “What is the meaning of this?”
She grinned hideously, as if savoring the struggle of prey nearing death. “Finally feeling afraid? Little guest.”
“Do not be in such a hurry. Wait until you know who I am and decide whether you want to kill me or not.”
He Yupu lifted his gaze, his slender, porcelain like fingers pressing the room card down tightly. His voice was clear and carried a strong sense of credibility. “I am the last villager.”
The landlady froze mid action, her words choked in her throat. Her pitch black eyes reflected He Yupu’s figure, and her deformed, mangled face revealed a trace of confusion.
Time seemed to stretch infinitely. It took the landlady a full half minute to react. She shrieked, “Impossible! I killed everyone a long time ago!”
“I was studying away, so I did not live in the village at the time. Later, because I was pretty, I was kept by my boyfriend as a little canary, so I have not been back in a long time.”
He Yupu averted his eyes, his tone tinged with self deprecation. “After all, no one wants their lover to know how humble their origins are or how terrible their family is. For a vain person like me, that is a very embarrassing thing.”
The landlady was half skeptical. “Then why did you come back this time?”
“Because my boyfriend fell in love with someone else and did not want me anymore. So I could not get over it and wanted to die.”
He Yupu sighed and offered a bitter smile. “I did not want to be a ghost in a foreign land, so I came back to commit suicide.”
“You came just in time. I will kill you, and then the entire village will be trapped in this hotel forever!”
The landlady’s thick, oily hand gripped his neck, her voice trembling with rage. “I will make sure you are never reincarnated, to atone for my family’s sins!”
He Yupu raised his fair, swan like neck, radiating an air of fragility and charm. Because of the lack of oxygen, his lips parted slightly as he gasped.
His voice was seductive, slow and steady. “I know the truth, and I have evidence. I can prove to you that your husband was killed by the villagers!”
[System appraisal initiated: Skill points 5, Random dice roll 7 (7 > 5).]
[Beginner charm failed. The player will suffer 35 seconds of electric shock punishment. Please prepare yourself.]
The landlady’s ugly face revealed pure madness. “The truth is no longer important.”
She continued to tighten her grip on He Yupu’s neck. Combined with the subtle current coursing through his blood vessels, every fiber of He Yupu’s body felt as if it were being fiercely bitten by ants. Blood spilled from his lips, staining his chin. He Yupu looked like a kitten struggling in vain, so fragile it was heart wrenching.
On the verge of death, he suddenly curled his lips into an extremely weak smile. His voice was a mere thread. “Then what if I have a way to help you kill the villagers?”
“Why should I believe you?” Although the landlady was skeptical, her hand involuntarily loosened its grip.
He Yupu knew he had a chance.
He leaned against the front desk counter, gasping for breath, and looked her in the eyes. “I just killed one on the second floor. You have maintained this inn for so many years; you should know exactly how many ghost shadows are here. Why not go count them and find out?”
The inability to kill the ghost shadows had always been a source of heartache for the landlady. While being trapped here meant they could not be reincarnated, the landlady felt that only death was the true punishment. To a landlady who had lost her family, being with her loved ones for eternity was clearly a reward, not a punishment.
She grabbed He Yupu by the collar and dragged him up to the third floor, locking him in her room. “Stay here and behave yourself.”
He Yupu’s body felt heavy as if weighted by a thousand pounds. He lacked the strength to do anything else, so he responded weakly.
Seeing his obedient behavior, the landlady felt a touch of unease.
She was in a rush to count the ghost shadows. Her speech was rapid, her fleshy face twitching as she warned, “I opened this inn; I know its structure better than you do. Do not get any improper ideas!”
He Yupu leaned against the chair and nodded obediently.
[Fuck, this NPC is too good at utilizing every single point. This is an extreme reversal!]
[Is he on the landlady’s side now? But there are ghost shadows on the third floor! If the landlady leaves, the ghost shadows will come out to play, and he will still die!]