Two Missions

"What happened?"

Tong Guan and Chang Nian did not know much about Shop No. 7's situation, and they asked as they ran.

Ji Li did not turn around, merely answering softly:

"There are currently four ghosts in the hotel. Two days ago, we discovered external ghosts attempting to collude with the Internal Ghost. We only just strengthened surveillance over the second floor."

Tong Guan was alarmed upon hearing this. He had never encountered a situation where internal and external ghosts were connected, nor had he ever seen ghosts outside of Hotel Missions.

This development was entirely beyond his expectations.

When Ji Li reached the second floor, the dim corridor was deathly silent, and each Ghost Resident stood quietly without a sound.

With the iron plates blocking the way, even the shattered glass fragments had fallen outside. At least on the surface, it looked as if nothing had happened on the hotel's second floor.

After observing several times, Ji Li still could not spot anything unusual. He could only raise his head and ask the air:

"Hotel, did you see anything happen?"

"Sorry, Mr. Ji Li.

There was nothing unusual inside the hotel. What happened just now came from outside, and I have neither the authority nor the ability to observe it."

The sweet Female Voice represented the Hotel's Will, and its words could not be false.

Yet Ji Li vaguely sensed something strange, an odd feeling that extended from within to without.

It was as though something had been altered invisibly, but he had no way to investigate it and could only let things take their course.

But if he remained powerless until that conspiracy surfaced, what awaited him would be a price many times more devastating!

"Why hasn't the new mission come yet?"

Tong Guan was growing impatient as well. Ever since arriving at Shop No. 7, he felt that his previous experience had ceased to apply.

First, although three newcomers had clearly reported in, Li Xing had arrived two minutes later than them.

Then came the mission's prolonged delay, which went against the experience he had accumulated over six previous missions.

And just now, he had learned that Shop No. 7 actually had external ghosts lying in wait at the hotel windows, constantly colluding with the residents inside.

He slowly turned his head toward the silent Ji Li.

Those pupils, bright as stars, fixed on Ji Li's pale, chilling face as he said softly:

"I think there's something wrong with this mission..."

Ji Li looked up and met his gaze, then scanned the surroundings. "Where's Li Xing?"

Yu Guo poked his head out from behind them.

"Downstairs!"

By the time they reached the first floor, Li Xing was holding a magnifying glass and leaning over the memorial portraits, engaged in some bizarre behavior.

Tong Guan held Chang Nian's hand and whispered, "Do you see anything unusual about Li Xing?"

Chang Nian flicked her ponytail behind her head. Her delicate face carried a grave expression as she considered it for a moment before saying:

"He's utterly ordinary. There isn't the slightest thing special about him.

I know what you suspect, but at least for now, he hasn't done anything unreasonable."

After hearing Chang Nian's words, Tong Guan said nothing further and merely muttered softly:

"Li Xing's arrival was delayed, and the hotel email was delayed. There may be some connection between the two.

That possibility is very, very low, but it is not impossible!"

At the same time, Ji Li was also whispering with Fang Shenyan.

"Li Xing arrived nearly three minutes after Tong Guan and the other woman. There should be something distinctive about him, but I can't see through him."

Fang Shenyan habitually pushed up his glasses, and the glare on the lenses made the emotions in his eyes impossible to read.

Ji Li nodded.

"The mission email should have been issued two hours ago, but it has been delayed until now.

I suspect the hotel is waiting for something."

Ji Li and Tong Guan were far apart, but the direction of the suspicions revealed in their words ultimately converged on one point.

Li Xing might be connected to the anomaly of the delayed mission email!

Ji Li simply leaned more toward the hotel as the cause, while Tong Guan focused on what was special about Li Xing!

"If that's the case..." Yu Guo leaned against a chair, occasionally rocking backward as he mumbled to himself.

Ji Li turned around and picked up the Hotel Phone on the table, then froze for a moment.

He looked at his right hand gripping the phone. This time, he had habitually reached out with his right hand, yet the little finger of his left hand twitched for no reason.

Ji Li looked suspiciously at his left hand, but it was perfectly still.

He then looked at the six phones on the table, belonging to the six staff members, shook his head, and quickly walked toward Tong Guan.

Tong Guan happened to return to the solid wood table with Chang Nian at that moment.

The instant the two met, they spoke in unison:

"There's no need to wait any longer!"

Ji Li nodded without much surprise. He had long felt that Tong Guan was extraordinary.

To lead the staff safely through an upgrade to a Two-Star Hotel, Tong Guan's ability surpassed even Ji Li's.

Tong Guan spoke softly. "We can only wait and see what happens!"

Ji Li turned to Fang Shenyan and Yu Guo. "Let's each return to our rooms and rest first, so we can deal with the mission ahead."

That entire afternoon, all the staff remained in their rooms, ready at any moment for the new mission.

Ji Li was communicating with his other two personalities about the current bizarre changes;

Fang Shenyan had moved a chair directly in front of his door and was resting with his eyes closed;

Yu Guo was still holding his livestream phone, arguing with the platform administrators to see whether his account could be unbanned;

Tong Guan and Chang Nian's situation was more complicated. They were arguing...

Chang Nian had an extremely fiery temper, completely contrary to her delicate appearance. At that moment, she was loudly berating Tong Guan.

Though Tong Guan was clear-headed and calm, his temperament was equally blunt, and he was just as easy to provoke.

This married couple had several minor arguments almost every day.

Everyone was busy, and Li Xing was no exception in the room at the very end of the Third Floor.

The curtains in the room were drawn, and the lights were off.

Li Xing sat at the desk, his face illuminated by the cold glow of the computer screen, flickering between light and dark.

His once lively face looked extraordinarily stiff and wooden, but his fingers were especially nimble as he held the hotel-issued phone and typed out line after line of black text.

"It's coming... It's coming..."

Li Xing looked as if he had fallen into madness. With every tap of his fingers, the eerie light in his eyes grew brighter.

At one point, his pupils actually turned a deep crimson!

After typing the final character, Li Xing seemed to lose all his strength, and his body collapsed backward limply.

His head drooped against the back of the chair. Half-asleep and half-awake, he did not move again.

Ding-dong!

The phone, which gave off a faint glow, immediately lit up with an email as he fell still:

"Recipient: Li Xing, staff member of Tianhai Hotel, Shop No. 7.

Beginning at exactly 10:00 p.m. on October 26, 2015, for a duration of twelve hours.

Discover the true content of this mission, and..."

But...

The email's contents vanished before they could fully appear!

A new message appeared instead, overwriting it!

"Recipient: Li Xing, staff member of Tianhai Hotel, Shop No. 7.

Please arrive at Bogu Commercial Building in this city at exactly 10:00 p.m. on October 26, 2015.

Do your best to protect the forty-three current staff members inside the building and prevent them from dying at the hands of ghosts.

The time limit is six hours. You may not leave the building during that time.

If the protection mission is not completed within six hours, the hotel will lift its restrictions on the ghosts, and everyone will be killed without a solution!"