[Inn rules] [Rule one: Do not leave your room after seven o'clock each evening. However, if you hear a knock, it is a server delivering your meal. You may open the door to collect it.]
This was the first rule of the Weird Tales Inn.
It was past seven now, and some supernatural changes had indeed occurred earlier.
So was this knocking a server delivering a meal?
"How strange."
"I didn't order anything. Does this inn provide dinner for free? And they even deliver it to the guests' rooms? How thoughtful."
Jiang Qiao rose and walked to the door.
The electronic peephole's screen showed no one outside. There was nothing beyond the door.
The knocking also vanished as he approached the door.
Nor did he hear anyone knocking on the other rooms along the corridor.
"Is this just for me? A perk of the King of Hell Suite?"
"But this rule should apply to everyone staying at the inn, shouldn't it? Maybe it's because I'm the only person around here?"
Jiang Qiao speculated.
"Come on, let me see who's playing games with me."
Without hesitation, he took the handle, gave it a gentle twist, and opened the door.
Don't leave the room? There won't be anyone in the corridor at night? What does any of that have to do with me, Jiang Qiao?
Once I step into the corridor, won't there be someone there?
Nothing wrong with that logic.
Creak—
With a soft creak, the door opened a crack, and light from the corridor immediately spilled through.
And at that very moment...
Something baffling happened.
He heard footsteps approaching rapidly from one end of the corridor. They grew faster and heavier, and even the thick carpet on the floor could not muffle the sound.
It sounded like someone