Hou Guisheng stared at that withered, shriveled face. As he slowly raised his head, the Rose Hotel hung several dozen meters away in his field of vision. He could vaguely make out a few figures, like stars in the sky, only pitch-black.
"Have I become a hidden pawn...?"
Under those circumstances, this had already been the best solution he could manage. But the truth had far exceeded his expectations, causing an equally unimaginable change in the outcome.
Those now inside the ghost cavern were no longer the ones directly steering the situation at the Rose Hotel, but they had become the catalysts for a tremendous upheaval.
Because they had exposed Ruru's Mother, Ruru would have to step out from behind the scenes to maintain the hotel's basic order.
The Root Ghost was finally about to appear. This also gave those still inside the hotel an opportunity, forcibly creating a sliver of hope for solving what had originally been an unsolvable problem.
"If we're all on the same side, then things are changing for the better."
Wei Guang revealed his objective. The only clue he had obtained concerned Ruru's Mother. In fact, it could hardly even be called a clue—it was merely a hint.
He had followed that hint and, with Hou Guisheng's help, brought about the current result. It had been an enormous gamble.
"Why do I feel like this is exactly what Ruru wants to see, too...?"
Xue Tingtao's instincts remained sharp. He immediately picked up on certain traces running through this chain of developments, muttering as he circled the coffin.
Exactly.
Hou Guisheng narrowed his eyes at the sky, seemingly searching for something. His expression grew increasingly grim as he picked up the thread:
"All of this looks like Ruru controlling and manipulating Ruru's Mother. The latter is