Peace Hotel

Wu Pifu was a little dumbfounded.

This was unprecedented.

"Building purchase achieved, faction formation criteria achieved, event criteria achieved..."

"Special shelter confirmed established. Reward tier upgraded."

Wu Pifu murmured to himself, then asked in his mind, "Main Brain, what kind of special shelter is this? And what does upgrading the reward tier mean?"

But there was no response from the Main Brain.

Only then did Wu Pifu remember that his shelter had not yet truly been established. This was merely the Main Brain making an assessment of the shelter's establishment. Unless the shelter was genuinely set up, he could not hold a detailed conversation with the Main Brain.

Wu Pifu immediately began pondering those messages.

Building purchase achieved, faction formation criteria achieved, event criteria achieved...

Criteria achieved?

Wu Pifu immediately recalled the historical event he had accomplished in the world of Baseline Reality 0.7. The Main Brain would repeat the recorded information about the dynasty in which that historical event had occurred, but he had not heard any repetition. So it had not yet been achieved; it merely met the criteria...

The faction formation was probably the same. He just did not know whether the Main Brain would give any prompts. After all, neither he nor the seniors had ever formed any faction before. Everything they knew had merely been passed down from senior to senior.

There was no time to waste now, or Xu Shilan really would die.

Wu Pifu immediately said to Xu Rongyu, "Xu Rongyu, are you willing to join my ranks?"

Xu Rongyu had started wailing again. At those words, he froze, then burst into wild joy. "Willing! Willing! From now on, I'll follow you, Big Brother!"

Wu Pifu had intended to ask Lin Heier again, but the Main Brain spoke once more at that moment.

"Building purchase achieved, faction formation achieved, event criteria achieved."

Good!

Wu Pifu was delighted, but he also felt troubled. For the moment, he did not know how to trigger the event. But after thinking carefully about how he had accomplished that historical event before, it seemed that special emphasis had been placed on the four skinned survivors.

It seemed he needed to spread the information, preferably so the authorities would learn of it. And it had to be big enough, strange enough, bizarre enough, or legendary enough. Otherwise, it could not become a historical event.

Wu Pifu said to Lin Heier, "Senior Sister, I have something I'd like to ask of you."

Lin Heier immediately clasped her fists solemnly. "Master Wu, please give your orders. For the common people of this world, Master Wu and your companions have already sacrificed enough. I am willing to brave fire and water for Master Wu without hesitation."

"It's not that serious."

Wu Pifu spoke as he thought. "I need you, Senior Sister, to spread word of what happened here. The more people who know, the better. It would be best if even the authorities learned of it."

Lin Heier said awkwardly, "Publicizing Master's heroic deeds would be no problem, but this involves the Unborn Mother of our sect. Though I wish to eradicate that demonic faith in the Unborn Mother, it cannot be accomplished in a short time. This would be a great blow to our sect..."

Wu Pifu also found himself in a difficult position. He pondered for a moment, then suddenly had an idea. He immediately ran to where the food ingredients had originally been piled, dug out a conch shell, and once again suppressed his embarrassment as he said, "Magic Conch, how can I reasonably publicize what happened here so it becomes as legendary as possible and is recorded in history by the authorities, without involving the Unborn Mother?"

The Magic Conch trembled. Wu Pifu said coldly, "If you give me any nonsense, I'll crush you immediately! The lives of my two comrades are hanging by a thread. I'm not joking with you."

The Magic Conch seemed to tremble slightly again. The female voice mixed with the sound of waves still spoke only four words.

"Peace Hotel."

Wu Pifu froze. Memories raced through his mind, and very quickly, he locked onto an old film he had once watched. It was an extremely old movie. By the time he watched it in the twenty-first century, the film itself had been older than he was. He had only watched it because someone recommended it to him.

That's right!

Peace Hotel!!

Wu Pifu was incomparably excited, because he had already vaguely been considering making some big news in this world. If he borrowed the name of Peace Hotel, then in a few months, when the Eight-Nation Alliance entered the capital and Empress Dowager Cixi fled Beijing, the plan he had imagined might well be possible!!

Wu Pifu immediately said to Lin Heier, "Please, Senior Sister, publicize it like this: a martial artist... no, a swordsman, came here with his wife and brother-in-law."

"...How did I become the brother-in-law?" Yamadai's hoarse voice still rang out.

"Shut up! I'm taking you back right away!" Wu Pifu cursed, then continued, "But they unexpectedly encountered an ambush by the greatest bandit group beyond the pass. Through a moment of carelessness, the swordsman's wife and brother-in-law both died here. The swordsman flew into a rage and uprooted the greatest bandit group beyond the pass in a single night, slaughtering countless people..."

Xu Rongyu weakly said, "But Big Brother Wu, most of my father's forces never came. Only the elite were here."

"Shut up!"

Wu Pifu cursed again, then continued to Lin Heier, "But in the end, as he was about to kill the last of them, the morning sun suddenly rose. He saw a flock of pigeons fly past, and Buddha-nature arose in his heart while his murderous intent faded. Thus, he spared the last survivor of that bandit group."

Xu Rongyu stupidly pointed at himself, his face utterly bewildered.

Wu Pifu continued, "Afterward, he felt that there was far too much slaughter in the world, and that there were vicious men who insisted on exterminating entire families. So he marked out this land as a boundary and planted his blade as a sign. At the site of the former Yijia Funeral Manor, he opened an inn called Peace Hotel. From then on, no matter how vicious a person was, no matter how monstrous their crimes, no matter what faction or group they had offended, so long as they entered Peace Hotel, he would ensure their lives were safe. But once they left this boundary, their lives, deaths, grudges, and enmities would have nothing to do with him!"

Having said this, Wu Pifu told the dumbstruck Lin Heier, "Senior Sister, publicize it according to this script. You must make the swordsman's strength, the wondrous rules of Peace Hotel, and the legendary nature of this event known!"

Lin Heier hesitated. "There is no problem with publicizing this, but Young Master Xu, this..."

Xu Rongyu waved a hand carelessly. "No matter. My father really did die here, and he spent his whole life as a bandit. His hands were stained with blood to begin with. It was only natural that someone killed him. When a man dies, the lamp goes out. Dying at the hands of such a swordsman is not unjust... better than... better than turning into a monster."

Only then did Lin Heier solemnly clasp her fists toward Wu Pifu. "Heier will certainly accomplish it!"

The instant she finished speaking, the Main Brain's voice indeed rang out in Wu Pifu's mind.

"Event achieved: Peace Hotel."

"In the year 1900, the twenty-sixth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty, a miraculous event occurred at Yijia Funeral Manor outside Xuanhua Prefecture."

"An unnamed swordsman passed through this place with his wife and brother-in-law, only to draw the covetous attention of the greatest bandit force beyond the pass. They laid a trap at the funeral manor, and in the end, both the unnamed swordsman's wife and brother-in-law died here."

"The unnamed swordsman flew into a rage and slaughtered the core elite of that bandit force in a single night. He also killed on the spot Xu Zhenshan, the Stele-Slamming Hand, a martial arts master who had terrorized the lands beyond the pass for decades."

"When he came to the last survivor, daylight suddenly broke and pigeons flew past. The unnamed swordsman's murderous intent gradually faded, while Buddha-nature gradually arose. Thus, he spared Xu Rongyu, Xu Zhenshan's son and the last remaining member of that bandit force."

"Afterward, the unnamed swordsman marked out the land as a boundary and planted his blade as a sign. He established Peace Hotel at the former site of Yijia Funeral Manor, declaring that anyone who entered Peace Hotel would receive his protection. Regardless of the severity of their crimes, so long as they did not leave the inn or involve themselves in worldly affairs again, he would ensure their lives were safe. But if they left the inn, their life, death, karma, and consequences would have nothing to do with him."

Wu Pifu listened to the voice as if hearing heavenly music. When it finished, the Main Brain's voice rang out again.

"Building purchase achieved, faction formation achieved, event achieved."

"You have established a level-two special shelter."

"This shelter is centered on Peace Hotel. Every thirty days, you must guard this place for seven days. During that time, you may leave the bounds of Peace Hotel, but you may not leave this world. You may return to Gaia from anywhere in this world. When entering again from Gaia, you will appear directly inside Peace Hotel."

"You may bring living beings (non-human, non-Nightmare) between this shelter and the real world."

"You have received one fully random draw (level-one shelter) reward."

"You have received one personal attribute increase by one level (non-breakthrough) reward."

"You must achieve a%#,*... in order to upgrade this shelter to level three. The level-three reward is a personal information data interface."

"Due to the special shelter assessment, reward tier upgraded... assessing..."

"You may retain one level-two shelter reward while receiving the level-three shelter reward in advance. When this shelter is upgraded to level three, you may receive the level-four shelter reward in advance, and so on."

"Will you forfeit the reward tier upgrade and retain the original level-two shelter rewards?"

Wu Pifu considered this series of messages from the Main Brain.

The meaning was simple. Because it was a special shelter, he could obtain the personal information data interface in advance. Not only would the personal information data interface remain permanently available in this world, he could also designate one world to receive it.

But he could only choose one of the level-two shelter's rewards. After that, however, when the level-three shelter was upgraded, he could obtain the level-four shelter reward in advance; at level four, he would obtain the level-five reward...

Of course, he would still retain the guaranteed attributes, such as being able to bring living beings—non-humans and non-Nightmares—between this shelter and the real world. But for things like random draws, attribute increases, and awakening newcomers, he could only choose one.

Of course he would choose it!

"I choose the reward tier upgrade! I choose to retain the one-level personal attribute increase reward," Wu Pifu answered.

"Selection confirmed... confirmation complete."

Wu Pifu did not have time to inspect the personal information data interface or the attribute increase reward. He hurriedly said to Lin Heier and Xu Rongyu, "Actually, there are some things I concealed from you two. The three of us come from... beyond this world. I will explain the details to you later. Right now, I need to take them back for treatment. Wait for me... three days. I will definitely return in three days. If I do not return, then I am dead. You may both leave whenever you wish."

Lin Heier and Xu Rongyu looked at one another, each seeing utter confusion in the other's eyes. They watched Wu Pifu lift Yamadai with one hand, then carefully pick up Xu Shilan. At the same time, he hooked a bag of steamed buns with his foot. Lin Heier had intended to go help, but in the next second, Wu Pifu, Yamadai, and Xu Shilan vanished, along with a small bird that suddenly flew onto Wu Pifu's shoulder.

"Holy shit, he ascended!?" Xu Rongyu cried out.

Lin Heier's eyes were wide. Only after a long while did she murmur, "Could he be a celestial being?"

"Then is our world a minor chiliocosm, a medium chiliocosm, or a major chiliocosm?"

The scene fell silent. Other than the crackling of the still-burning buildings, no one remained to answer Lin Heier's question.