Evil Thought Detection, a Passive Skill

When Lin Xuan's Martial Artist class reached Lv.2, it granted him a non-upgradable passive skill called Evil Thought Detection.

Unlike the two martial arts techniques he had mastered and his various talents, this passive skill could not actively grind experience.

Its effect was simple and straightforward: whenever someone harbored malicious thoughts toward him, he would naturally sense them.

However, ever since acquiring this passive skill, he had rarely had a chance to use it.

Under normal circumstances, few people would harbor malicious thoughts toward a three-year-old child. The last time Lin Xuan had sensed such malice had been from Teacher Hu.

The reason he had immediately said he wanted to go to Duo Duo's home with her was because he had clearly sensed Teacher Hu's intense malice toward him when Duo Duo saw him and stopped.

He was not the sort of brat who usually liked causing trouble, and the other teachers all had a good impression of him. There was no reason Teacher Hu's attitude toward him should have been so drastically different.

The final outcome proved that he had not been overthinking it.

Teacher Hu really did have a problem.

This time, his Evil Thought Detection took effect again, and he sensed someone hidden in the dark harboring malicious thoughts toward him.

No, this seems a little different from last time. This malice isn't directed at me... Lin Xuan's heart stirred.

The instant he sensed the malicious intent lurking in the dark, he had already raised his guard, ready at any moment to deal with any unexpected situation.

But after sensing it more carefully, he realized that this malice was not as intense as what he had felt from Teacher Hu. It was more like someone in the dark harbored malicious thoughts toward everyone in the buffet restaurant.

He had merely been included among them, which was why the malice he sensed was not so strong.

Since this was deliberate, they naturally would have considered that the hotel has backup power... This is going to be troublesome.

Lin Xuan could already guess how things would unfold next.

The facts proved that his guess was completely correct.

About five minutes passed, yet the entire buffet restaurant remained almost completely dark, with only the scattered glow of emergency lights.

The stifling, oppressive atmosphere made some diners, already irritated that their meal had been interrupted, unable to sit still any longer. They began shouting:

"When the hell is the power coming back? Doesn't your hotel have backup power? Where is it?"

"Exactly! You can't just string us along like this. If there's no power, refund us already! What are you keeping us trapped here for?"

"I'm warning you, my child has claustrophobia. If he has an episode because of your work failure, you'll bear the consequences!"

Several diners could not help slamming tables and glaring as they shouted at Manager Shi, all looking determined not to let the matter rest without an explanation.

Hearing them, Manager Shi inwardly groaned.

He did not know what was going on either. Based on past experience, the backup power should have already kicked in by now.

Yet there had not been the slightest movement. He had just tried using the internal line to call the hotel's general affairs department and have them ask the engineering department why the backup power had still not come online.

To his astonishment, he discovered that the hotel's internal lines could not connect at all.

He had then planned to use his phone to contact the general affairs department or acquaintances in other departments, only to discover that his phone had no signal either.

At this point, even if he had been slow on the uptake, he could not possibly fail to realize that something had happened.

This power outage was clearly not an accident!

It was a man-made emergency, and the other party had cut off the hotel's internal lines and even blocked mobile signals!

Manager Shi knew that some of the diners in the buffet restaurant had likely noticed the lack of signal too, but they probably had not thought too deeply about it.

At most, they would assume it was a chain reaction caused by the power outage.

If the diners learned the truth, the entire buffet restaurant would probably descend into chaos in an instant.

No, it might not just be the diners who panic... Manager Shi thought grimly.

Even the employees under his command might not be able to remain calm in the face of something like this.

If things really blew up and something happened, he, the restaurant's lobby manager, would absolutely be unable to escape blame when the matter was settled afterward.

With that in mind, Manager Shi picked up a loudspeaker, cleared his throat, and said, "Everyone, distinguished guests, please listen to me... I just contacted the hotel's engineering department. There are indeed some issues with the power supply system, and power cannot be restored for the time being."

Manager Shi's words instantly set the restaurant in an uproar!

"Fuck you... Refund us!"

"What the hell are you people doing? If there's no power, why didn't you say so earlier? You're treating us like monkeys, aren't you?"

"I'm filing a complaint against your hotel the moment I get back! This is too much!"

A few hot-tempered diners were just short of rushing up to hit someone.

They might not normally have been this impulsive, but being stuck in this oppressive blackout environment had inevitably made them more irritable than usual.

Manager Shi's words were like a fuse thrown onto a pile of explosives, and they snapped at once.

Fortunately, the restaurant staff reacted quickly. They apologized while holding back the most impulsive diners, preventing an actual fight from breaking out.

Of course, that was also because Manager Shi himself kept apologizing through the loudspeaker. As the saying went, you did not hit a smiling face, so the diners could not go too far either.

"Everyone, please calm down first. Let's see how they intend to resolve this. If they cannot provide a satisfactory solution, I am willing to represent this case free of charge and pursue it to the end!"

A middle-aged man in a suit stepped forward and pulled out his business card. "My name is Zeng Yi. I run a small law firm. If any of you have legal needs in the future, feel free to contact me."

When everyone heard that there was actually a lawyer among them willing to step forward as their representative to negotiate with the hotel, there was naturally no reason to refuse.

Seeing this, Manager Shi also relaxed slightly.

What he feared most was disorder. As for refunds and compensation plans, those were minor issues. The hotel was not short on that bit of money.

"Lawyer Zeng, here's the situation... Refunds will definitely be issued. Not only today's meal fees, but even everyone's room fees can be discussed."

To calm everyone down as much as possible, Manager Shi immediately agreed to the refunds.

Seeing that everyone had indeed calmed down somewhat, he continued, "But the entire hotel has no power now, and it's pitch-black outside as well. If everyone rushes out at once and a stampede occurs, that would be troublesome."

Lawyer Zeng nodded. "Then what do you suggest?"

Manager Shi pondered for a moment. "How about this? We first select a group of representatives. One portion can work with the staff present to maintain order, while the other portion can go with me to supervise the repair work..."