Mysterious Resurrection: The Peddler

Chapter 24 The Truth about the Inn

"Dong~dongdong~!"

This knocking sound really made Cao Yang feel insecure. It is no exaggeration to say that for a time traveler who is familiar with the mysterious resurgence, this knocking sound is definitely an indelible psychological shadow.

"Dear guests, there is only one hour left before check-out. Please wake up as soon as possible to check out. If you still don't leave the room at nine o'clock, our hotel will not be responsible for any consequences."

It was strange that Boss Liu's voice was not loud, but to Cao Yang and the others it sounded as resounding as a huge bell, as if the sound could reach people's consciousness directly.

Cao Yang sat up almost subconsciously, looking at the door with vigilance. Outside the door, he could vaguely see the thin figure of Boss Liu. Looking at the table again, there was indeed only the last section of the third incense stick left, which also confirmed the authenticity of Boss Liu's urging.

"I lost consciousness and passed out under the influence of the sleeping spirit. Boss Liu was right. The guest room did provide temporary safety. There didn't seem to be any danger while I was asleep."

"But it's time to get out now. Three sticks of incense can only provide twelve hours of peace, and time is running out."

Cao Yang, who was about to wake up Luo Qin and Chen Zongtao, suddenly felt an inexplicable danger. The source of the danger was his own head! The scene of the distance being forcibly changed was played out again. From Cao Yang's perspective, the guest room was no longer in front of him, and there was no trace of Chen Zongtao and Luo Qin. His body was retreating uncontrollably, as if a hand was grabbing him in a certain direction.

"boom!"

"We're here, young man, open the door and come out."

With a crisp sound, Cao Yang's body slammed into the relatively intact wooden door, but strangely, this old wooden door was not easily knocked open like the door of the guest room.

"Bang!"

However, the corridor seemed different during the day. Even with his eyes closed, Cao Yang could feel that the surroundings seemed much brighter.

Boss Liu's voice rang in Cao Yang's mind, but Cao Yang ignored it and still kept his eyes tightly closed and refused to open them.

The door of Room No. 9 was forcibly pushed open by Cao Yang's back. Cao Yang subconsciously closed his eyes because he didn't know if he could walk out of this corridor with his eyes open. He had already experienced the danger of the corridor last night.

I don't know if it was Boss Liu's special hobby or something, the distance was changed again, but this time the supernatural power acted on Cao Yang's eyelids. Cao Yang was forced to open his eyes, and he could see the interior of Taiping Inn clearly:
The corridor was not a corridor at all, but a path made up of corpses, so walking on it last night gave me a distinct sense of sinking. Not only that, on both sides of the corridor of corpses were guest rooms, Tianzi No. 8 and Dizi No. 7. It seemed that the Dizi No. rooms were all odd numbers, while the Tianzi No. rooms were all even numbers.

"Hey, why are you always so wary of a businessman like me?"

"This is impossible? It was pulled open before, how can it not be opened by pushing now?"

"You can open your eyes now, young man."

Although each guest room seems to be close to both sides of the corridor, in fact, the words on the plaque on the lintel of some guest rooms are not clear at all, as if they are very far away and blurry.

Boss Liu's voice came from behind the door, sounding a little dull. Cao Yang didn't turn around, but just reached back and tried to push the door open, but the old wooden door didn't move at all.

Cao Yang didn't believe it, so he increased his strength and pushed a few more times, but the wooden door remained as steady as an old dog.

"Oops, my memory is bad. I forgot to tell you that this door can only be pulled and not pushed."

Cao Yang was about to use the gravity to bless himself, but the door was suddenly opened, and Boss Liu was standing behind him. Then, Boss Liu carried Cao Yang out like a chicken, and he slammed the wooden door shut. "Take this, you can leave. I think the things in the bag should be enough for you to get through."

Boss Liu picked up a cloth bag from the counter and threw it to Cao Yang. Then he sat back on the armchair and leaned over the counter, ready to take a nap, as if he could never get enough sleep.

"What's in here?"

Cao Yang felt that Boss Liu seemed to have no ill will towards him. In the original novel, after this group of second-generation ghost riders faced captains such as Yang Jian, Boss Liu was also a peacemaker who tried his best to make peace, which was very consistent with his character.

"It's a window, but it's not a real ghost window. The ghost window was passed down from my ancestors, but by the time my father's generation came around it got out of control, or to be more precise, it got halfway out of control. All that was passed down to me was a window frame, and the ghost in the window had run away."

Boss Liu's voice was not loud, but Cao Yang could hear every word very clearly.

"The pattern of that ghost is to kill people near the window, but it has escaped into reality. There are not many young people who can deal with a ghost that only exists in the window field of vision. You are very good, but you are not enough to deal with that ghost."

"In order to reduce unnecessary casualties, I asked Lao Hei, the servant who massaged my back, to take the frame and snatch people from the ghost every day. If the ghost shows up first, the person will die; if Lao Hei gets there first, the person will be caught by him and taken to the inn. Although ordinary people will most likely die in the inn, I can still be considered the boss with a clear conscience."

"So this is the truth about the ghost window?"

Cao Yang asked.

"Ghost Window is Ghost Window, and the ghost is the ghost. It is always the ghost that kills people, and Ghost Window is just the ghost's accomplice in disguise. The ghost has been entangled with Ghost Window for a long time and has stolen some of Ghost Window's supernatural powers. The number of times that Lao Hei was able to take action before the ghost is few and far between. It was a miracle that he was able to bring the four of them here yesterday, but he didn't expect the ghost rider to get involved."

Boss Liu was very patient and explained all of Cao Yang's doubts.

"Then what about the ghost outside the inn last night that could only invade humans? Why did it know so much about the inn?"

"Taiping Inn has always been run for peace, but the inn can only maintain a stable balance when it is fully occupied. That ghost lived in the inn before, but later left. Someone triggered the law, so it will naturally appear. Now the balance of the inn has become increasingly difficult to maintain, and I am ready to pack up my belongings and move out."

As he spoke, Boss Liu yawned.

"You moved away and just let the inn get out of control?"

Cao Yang's tone became unfriendly, not because he had a strong sense of justice. If the inn got out of control, it would inevitably lead to supernatural events, and he would still have to deal with it. This inn was very old, and could even be traced back to the Republic of China. Cao Yang didn't want to get too deeply entangled with this ghost place.

"You are still too young. My family has been running the inn for generations. I cannot afford to be the one who abandons the inn. Even if the inn is destined to get out of control, it cannot be destroyed in my hands. I'd better leave this problem to my son."

"Inside the bag is an ordinary window that has been invaded by the ghost window. It is definitely enough for you to leave it for the task. Just make sure that the ghost does not run out of it and kill people one day. As for the real ghost window, you'd better leave it in the inn."

"Young man, you are great. If you run into any trouble in the future, you can try to find me in Taiping Ancient Town. I have some old friends there. Maybe we old guys can help. Haha. Don't worry about the two ordinary people in the room. If there are no living people, ghosts cannot be attracted to move in. Although this is cruel, I think you can understand my point of using the sacrifice of a small number of people to stabilize the situation."

At some point, Boss Liu had cleaned up everything in the hall. The servant named Lao Hei was carrying two large snakeskin bags and standing next to Boss Liu with a simple and honest expression.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride. The story of Taiping Inn will come to an end, but its ending will not be written by me."

(End of this chapter)