Chapter 670: Someone Knocking
Closing the door, Xu Huo first surveyed the room's layout.
From an ordinary aesthetic standpoint, the room was almost horrifying. The relief-carved walls were covered in complex, hard-to-distinguish patterns, and the carpet, bedsheets, and even the bathroom tiles and curtains followed the same style.
Under the dim yellow light, the room felt oppressive. The only things that were passable were the toilet, the sink, and the mirror above the sink.
He entered the bathroom, casually pulled a towel over to cover the mirror, rolled up his sleeve, and treated the wound on his arm.
The long, strip-shaped wound had festered and expanded again. Although he could see the fungal threads inside, the discomfort from the injury hadn't disappeared.
He cut away part of the wound with a knife, bandaged it, then walked out and draped his coat over a chair. "I'm not going out today."
The Painting Woman stuck to the inside of his clothes blinked her eyes but maintained her original position, staying hidden in the fabric.
Just as he was about to lie down to sleep, a knock came at the door. Xu Huo opened it and found the hotel manager, who handed him a boxed meal. "This is a freebie from the hotel, comes with an apple too."
His clean jacket had been swapped for a work uniform, which carried a faint scent of perfume.
"Can I order specific dishes?" Xu Huo asked.
"I'm afraid not," the manager said. "Another colleague asked for leave today, so I'm the only one left in the hotel. I can only provide boxed meals. If you want something else, you'll have to go outside. But around here, everyone goes to bed early—shops close by ten."
Xu Huo took out a few White Notes and handed them to him. "I'd like to order a late-night snack."
The manager pocketed the money and said cheerfully, "Alright, just give me a call then. The cost of the food will be separate."
Xu Huo didn't say much more, closed the door, set the boxed meal aside, and lay down to sleep.
He slept very deeply, until he was woken by a series of urgent knocks.
"Get lost!" he shouted toward the door. The knocking stopped abruptly, and after a moment, the person outside hurried away.
Rolling out of bed, Xu Huo felt his mental state had recovered somewhat. He checked the time—it was already one in the morning.
Peering through the edge of the curtain, he saw a thick fog outside. The streets were completely devoid of light or sound, while only the faint glow from the hotel windows broke the darkness.
"Thump, thump, thump!" A faint, elusive knocking came from upstairs. Xu Huo washed his face, opened the door, and walked out. As soon as he reached the third floor, he saw Wei Xian standing at his own doorway, looking around anxiously. Spotting Xu Huo, he quickly said, "Did you see You Jun just now?"
"No. Are you two staying together?" Xu Huo glanced into the room. There were two pairs of shoes neatly placed on the floor, but Wei Xian was wearing slippers.
"He's gone missing," Wei Xian said uneasily. "Someone knocked on the door just now. He said he'd go check it out. I heard the door open and came out right away, but he was already gone!"
Just then, Yi Pei stepped out from the room next door. "Could he have gone to another player's room?"
"No," Wei Xian said firmly. "Why would he switch rooms in the middle of the night?"
It turned out the room next to them was also occupied. A curly-haired man yanked open his door and said irritably, "Maybe he ran off to some female player's room."
Fu Danhong and Tian Kunwen were staying on the second floor. Xu Huo hadn't heard any noise from there when he passed by.
"Let's go downstairs and ask," he said.
The curly-haired man's door slammed shut with a bang. Xu Huo and the other two went to the second floor, knocked on Fu Danhong's door, and asked if she had seen You Jun.
"Why would he come to my room?" Fu Danhong said. "Even if I went up and knocked on his door, given our relationship, he probably wouldn't open it for me."
The two had clashed on the train and were at odds with each other. Even if Fu Danhong were calling for help outside his door, You Jun likely wouldn't have opened it.
"Why would he open the door?" Tian Kunwen frowned. "It's abnormal for someone to knock in the middle of the night. You've made it to D-rank instances—how could you still make such a rookie mistake?"
At his reminder, the others realized You Jun might have run into danger.
"That doesn't seem right," Wei Xian said. "I was in the room and didn't hear any other sounds. If something happened, he would have at least yelled out, wouldn't he?"
"So you're saying he was taken away without putting up any resistance?" Fu Danhong thought for a moment. "Could he have left on his own?"
"If he was in danger, instinct would have made him struggle a bit. Whether it was a player or some danger we don't know about, it's too strange that there were no sounds or signs of a struggle."
"Or maybe he couldn't resist?" Yi Pei suggested. "Maybe the person knocking has a way to make someone lose consciousness instantly."
"Did anyone else get a knock on their door?" Xu Huo asked.
Everyone shook their heads, but Yi Pei added, "I heard a knock on the door of the room next to mine—not You Jun's room, but the man who came out and talked to us earlier. But he didn't open it."
"But he didn't seem willing to talk to us," Wei Xian said. "His attitude was bad too."
"The players who arrived first have an advantage. He might know something," Tian Kunwen said. "Fu Danhong and I will go ask him. You guys search the area for You Jun. If you can't find him alive, you should at least find his body."
They split up. Xu Huo, Yi Pei, and Wei Xian went to find the manager to get the keys, but the manager wasn't in the break room.
"He's not here. Did he lure You Jun out?" Wei Xian asked.
"Probably not," Yi Pei said, touching the bedsheet. "There's no warmth at all. The manager probably doesn't sleep here at night."
"His water cup is gone too," Xu Huo added.
If the manager was the one knocking, he wouldn't have taken his water cup with him.
Also, three rooms had been knocked on tonight, with very short intervals between them, on both the second and third floors. That meant at least two people were active.
Xu Huo picked up the registration book next to him and cross-referenced the players by room number. Some names were crossed out, but the earliest check-in date went back three days. That meant there was still a player in the hotel who had entered the instance four days ago.
The curly-haired man on the third floor, Fang Penghui, and Liu Shiyan, whom they had briefly seen on the first floor, had checked in two days ago.
In addition, there were three guests who checked in three days ago, three who checked in two days ago, and four who checked in one day ago but checked out the next day.
The names of the guests who checked out were not crossed out.
"The crossed-out ones are probably dead. Did the ones who checked out go to the guesthouse?" Wei Xian asked. "Are those people still alive?"
Who could know? After a pause, he added, "That Liu Shiyan we met earlier said he'd only been here for a day, but he's already been staying in the hotel for two days!"
"He doesn't have to tell you the truth," Xu Huo said, putting down the registration book. He turned to look at the stairs. Fu Danhong and Tian Kunwen were coming down, both looking grim. The latter shook his head. "Forget about getting information—he didn't even open the door and just cursed us out."
After a moment of silence, Yi Pei said, "We didn't find You Jun in the hallway or any empty rooms. If we want to search further, we'll have to go outside."
"If you want to go, go ahead. I'm not taking that risk." Fu Danhong crossed her arms and pointed her chin toward the door. "Take a look at what it's like out there right now."
(Chapter End)