Deep Mountain Inn

As the two walked five hundred meters through the dark, rainy mountain forest, they found markers left by Yu Jing on the trees ahead, proving they had returned to their starting point and ending their brief exploration of the dark forest.

"A ghost wall? If we go a certain distance from the inn, we automatically walk back? A horizontal distance of five hundred meters, this way we can roughly calculate how far we are from the inn. This can be used as a reference for future escapes."

"While you were walking ahead of us, I felt something in the forest watching us. It felt dangerous... very dangerous. Did you feel it?" Yu Xiaoxiao whispered beside him.

Yu Xiaoxiao's chilling words also made cold sweat break out on the back of Yu Jing's neck. He remembered the distorted, crawling woman in the inn, feeling as if she could crawl out from the dark forest at any moment.

"Let's go! To the inn, maybe other teams were also teleported nearby."

Yu Jing immediately suggested heading towards the inn, at least the firelight could dispel some of the fear.

Unexpectedly, as the two walked upwards towards the light, Yu Xiaoxiao took Yu Jing's hand. The contact between their skin gave Yu Jing an indescribable special feeling, and his fear subsided somewhat.

"This monotonous mountain forest, coupled with the encroaching darkness, can easily cause paralysis in the nerves, leading us to get separated unintentionally. Ensuring physical contact prevents such a situation."

Yu Xiaoxiao seemed unaware of some of the taboos between men and women. The two walked hand-in-hand towards the source of the light. The three-story wooden inn, exactly as Yu Jing remembered it, appeared. Candles were lit in every room, making the whole place look exceptionally eerie.

Despite having experienced life and death in the research institute's tests, the scene before him stirred Yu Jing's primal fear.

"Someone's here!"

A blade slid out from Yu Xiaoxiao's sleeve, and she looked towards the depths of the road in front of the inn.

Four voices also approached with considerable caution, but the tense atmosphere immediately dissipated when they met.

"Friend Yu Jing, I didn't expect you to be here too! It's raining heavily outside, shall we talk inside the inn? I assume you couldn't leave this area, so you had no choice but to come here, right? The inn should have the dangerous ghost creatures that Commissioner Lu Chuan emphasized, but now we have no other choice but to enter the tiger's den."

Jiang Pengyu from the Physical Training Academy seemed carefree, but in reality, his observation and analytical skills were quite good.

"En."

Jiang Pengyu's gaze also specifically noticed Yu Xiaoxiao holding Yu Jing's hand.

The two teams walked into the lobby of the Deep Mountain Inn together. A similar damp smell permeated the air. A single candle and a sign that read 'Rooms Available Today' stood on the counter. A teacup that was still warm and an old television set that was still playing but muted were exactly as Yu Jing remembered.

However, the most important item, the bell that was supposed to be on the counter in his memory, was nowhere to be found.

"Creak!"

At that moment, the sound of footsteps echoed from the stairs leading to the second floor at the end of the lobby. The weight of someone's steps creaked on the wooden stairs.

The six people present felt their hearts being eroded by the fear brought on by the dark, cold, and decaying environment, but their deep-seated will to survive suppressed this fear. All six were on high alert, staring at the stairwell.

Especially Yu Jing, who had had special experiences, already envisioned the twisted woman crawling down the stairs.

However, what finally appeared before everyone was a withered old woman dragging a candlestick. She looked at least seventy or eighty years old, her hobbling steps slowly leading her behind the lobby counter.

"It seems the mudslide must have knocked down the power poles down the mountain again. Do you guests need to stay here?"

The old woman before him, in Yu Jing's opinion, was a flesh-and-blood human, not some strange entity. Analyzing the current situation, it seemed that due to the power outage, the old woman had gone upstairs to light candles in each room.

"We'd like to stay. How much is it per night?" Jiang Pengyu, the leader of the four-person team, asked politely.

"Single rooms are 60 per day, double rooms are 80 per day. It's up to you to arrange it."

Although personal belongings were forbidden during physical training, including Jiang Pengyu's group and Yu Xiaoxiao, none of them had any cash on them. One of the women in Jiang Pengyu's team was even preparing to use special means to control the old woman.

"Do you need me to lend you money?"

Jiang Pengyu's group didn't know how dangerous the inn truly was. The old woman before them was, in Yu Jing's opinion, a key figure. To avoid causing an accident prematurely, Yu Jing took out a stack of bills from a hidden pocket in his hoodie, about three thousand yuan.

"How did you bring money out... Can I borrow some money from you, Yu Jing? I'll pay you back double when we return to Di Hua."

Jiang Pengyu was somewhat surprised that Yu Jing had so much cash on him, as in this era, electronic transfers were used everywhere. Jiang Pengyu himself usually found it troublesome and didn't carry cash.

"For safety, let's have two people per room, right? Since your team has a female member, she and..."

"No, I'll share a room with you! We are a team, it has nothing to do with others."

Yu Xiaoxiao immediately refused to share a room with another female member of Jiang Pengyu's team, indirectly refusing cooperation between teams. Her words were blunt and left no room for negotiation. In Yu Xiaoxiao's eyes, she only trusted Yu Jing, her gaze filled with rejection and even hostility towards strangers.

"It's fine, we'll arrange it within our team. One thousand yuan is a loan, and I'll return it after the physical training ends... Please give us a double room for seven days."

Jiang Pengyu intended for all members of his team to stay in one room, minimizing danger by acting together.

The old woman at the counter took the cash and placed the hundred-yuan bills one by one in front of the candle to verify their authenticity. She then slowly wrote down the names of the four people and took out a key with a wooden tag labeled '207' from the reception desk, handing it to Jiang Pengyu.

"Let's go."

Jiang Pengyu and his group headed upstairs, leaving only Yu Jing, Yu Xiaoxiao, and the old woman in the lobby.

"Are you staying in a room with me?" Yu Jing asked Yu Xiaoxiao again.

"En, it's safer this way. I don't trust anyone. The woman from the other group made me uncomfortable, and the other two also have hidden agendas. I don't like interacting with them. Let's choose a room in the corner on the third floor, it will be convenient for escaping in case of an emergency."

As per Yu Xiaoxiao's request, the old woman took out a key with a wooden tag labeled '310' and handed it to the two in front of her.

"If you need anything, come to the front desk yourself. I'm old and my legs aren't good, and my dear granddaughter has run off somewhere."

"Dear granddaughter..." Yu Jing hesitated slightly but chose not to question the old woman about it at this eerie hour of the morning.