Volume 7: Days of Stargazing at the Inn
Mud
A complete arm was yanked out of the mud.
Let’s not even talk about why the cleaning staff would bring so much mercurochrome1 near the water tank; just that creepy second floor was enough to make people shrink back.
The original residents of the second floor didn’t have much of an opinion, but the NPCs on the third floor were the first to complain about the trouble.
After all, there wasn’t a staircase in the building, and if you wanted to wash up, you had to carry your bits and pieces downstairs, which was indeed a bit troublesome.
Perhaps the good mood from being amused by Golden Retriever’s appearance had run out. The receptionist flopped back down again and said indifferently, “If you think it’s too much trouble, then wash up on the third floor. Just don’t come crying to us if your bodies get stained.”
Who knew if getting stained was a death trigger!
The old TCM2 doctor muttered, “You little girl…”
Before he could even rate her with a 1, 2, or 3, the receptionist cut him off directly: “Stay if you want, if not, then f#ck off.”
Outside the window, the rain poured down in torrents. Although the mudslide had ended, no one knew if a secondary landslide would occur.
Her words now carried more backbone than before; she was certain the residents wouldn’t dare to court death by walking the mountain roads in the rain.
The old TCM doctor angrily flicked his sleeve and turned to go upstairs.
The others went on with their eating and playing. Several hours passed in a flash, and the heavy rain finally began to subside.
The dark clouds dispersed, and the sun shone upon the earth again, drying up all the moisture on the ground in just half an hour.
As soon as they saw the rain stop, Shen Maomao and the other two packed up, preparing to go up the mountain again. This time, their destination was the Celestial Body Research Center at the very top. They planned to see if anything had changed up there after the heavy rain.
The air after the rain seemed exceptionally fresh. The long-accumulated dust on the houses had been washed clean by the downpour, making them look brand new. Shen Maomao didn’t know if it was an illusion, but she could always smell a faint, elusive scent of disinfectant. But when she stopped to sniff carefully, the smell would suddenly disappear.
This Soul Harbor Inn was located just a bit above the junction of two mountain peaks. The mountain where the mudslide occurred was opposite them; the inn and the Celestial Body Research Center on the mountain were unaffected.
Not far from the inn’s entrance was a stream of mud still slowly flowing downwards, carrying rocks of various shapes and even broken tree trunks as thick as half a person.
The group walked up along the mudflow for some distance, looking into the muddy water as they went, thinking that if anyone had been swept in, they would lend a hand if they could.
However, after walking for several hundred meters, they didn’t see a single living person. Just as the group was preparing to turn back and head up the mountain, Shen Maomao’s sharp eyes spotted something in the distant mud that looked like a branch sticking out. It was now moving closer to them with the flow of the mud…
Shen Maomao shouted, “Lou-jie!!”
Lou Jingmo took a closer look. It wasn’t a tree branch as she had initially thought, but a hand covered in mud!
Golden Retriever also saw it clearly. He exclaimed, “Holy sh#t!” and couldn’t help but take two steps back.
Lou Jingmo ordered him, “Go back to the inn and get help. We’ll watch here.”
“Okay!” Golden Retriever responded and turned to run.
The owner of the hand was completely submerged in the muddy water, slowly approaching them with the mudflow. There was no telling how long they had been buried or if there was any chance of saving them.
Shen Maomao was somewhat at a loss, looking at Lou Jingmo with pleading eyes, waiting for her command.
Lou Jingmo thought for a moment and said, “I’ll try to pull him out. You hold onto me from the outside. If anything unexpected happens, use an prop that increases strength.”
“Okay!” Shen Maomao quickly rummaged through her prop inventory—no major props, but a pile of minor ones—picked one that could temporarily give her a strength buff, and then tightly gripped one of Lou Jingmo’s hands.
The two of them, holding hands, took several steps forward. Lou Jingmo stood sideways, reached out her other hand towards the muddy hand, and then, together with Shen Maomao, pulled.
A complete arm was yanked out of the mud, followed by a shoulder, a neck, and then half a face, so covered in mud it was unrecognizable, along with strands of her hair.
It was a woman.
Lou Jingmo continued to pull, dragging half of her body out of the muddy water.
Shen Maomao’s heart pounded. She felt inexplicably nervous. She looked at the muddy face, her brow furrowed, and unconsciously tightened her grip.
Lou Jingmo thought something was wrong with her and looked back, questioning her with her eyes.
Shen Maomao quickly relaxed. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the person in the muddy water suddenly open her eyes. The unfocused pupils spun rapidly twice in the whites of her eyes, then fixed on Lou Jingmo.
“Lou-jie!!” Shen Maomao’s eyes widened. She crushed the prop directly and pulled Lou Jingmo back with all her might.
Lou Jingmo also realized something was wrong and immediately let go of the muddy wrist, only to have her own hand grabbed in return.
Those five fingers squeezed tightly, as if to crush her wrist. The nails dug deep into her skin, and at the same time, a powerful force came from this hand, as if trying to drag her into the muddy water to be buried with it.
Shen Maomao, with the prop activated, and Lou Jingmo were dragged forward together, their shoe soles scraping a long mark on the ground.
She leaned back desperately, trying to use her weight to stop their forward movement, but it was completely useless.
Lou Jingmo’s arms were pulled so hard they ached, and she couldn’t help but frown.
Just then, the sound of urgent footsteps came from the nearby mountain. Shen Maomao’s eyes lit up, and she yelled desperately, “Help!! A ghost is killing people!!!”
Two people emerged from behind the mountain, one holding a child. It was Xiaobao’s family.
Seeing the situation, Xiaobao’s mom immediately covered Xiaobao’s eyes. “Oh my god!! What is that?! Let’s go quickly!” She said, about to run towards the inn with Xiaobao.
Xiaobao’s dad said, “You take our son and go, I’ll go help!”
Xiaobao’s mom said reluctantly, “They’re strangers, why are you helping them? Is it because those young girls are pretty?! I knew you…”
“Shut up!” Xiaobao’s dad snapped. “Stop making a scene! This is a matter of life and death!”
Xiaobao’s mom glared at him resentfully, then turned and ran with Xiaobao.
Xiaobao’s dad picked up a tree branch and also came to the edge of the muddy water. He frantically beat the dark, muddy head with the branch, muttering things like “Heaven protect us” and “Amitabha Buddha3.”
But he was clearly making a useless effort. The head in the muddy water turned towards him with a creaking sound and suddenly bared its teeth at him.
Xiaobao’s dad was so scared he plopped onto the ground, unable to recover for a long time.
Shen Maomao was frantic, sweating profusely, but didn’t dare let go, terrified that Lou Jingmo would be dragged in. Fortunately, heaven never seals off all exits4; Golden Retriever finally arrived with a group of people.
He ran at the forefront. Seeing this scene, he quickened his pace to help. But the others, seeing how bizarre the situation was, refused to take another step forward, pointing and muttering from a great distance.
“Oh god… what’s going on?”
“It couldn’t be a reanimated corpse, could it?”
“Good heavens, in broad daylight, I’m scared into a cold sweat5…”
“Did that girl do something to wrong him, so now she’s being haunted?”
Shen Maomao gritted her teeth and, with Golden Retriever’s help, gave a hard pull. Finally, the upper body of the thing was dragged out of the muddy water.
She was wearing clothes of the same style as Shen Maomao’s group. The original color was no longer discernible, but it was basically certain: she was a player.
Seemingly realizing it couldn’t drag Lou Jingmo into the muddy water, the woman suddenly let go and dived back into the mud.
The three of them stumbled back due to inertia. Golden Retriever fell on his butt, almost breaking it in two. Shen Maomao tripped over his leg and rolled on the ground a couple of times.
Only Lou Jingmo, somehow, managed to stand firm. She immediately returned to the edge of the muddy water, her gaze as sharp as lightning, and grabbed the woman’s still-exposed hair, shouting sternly, “Get the hell out!”
Shen Maomao clutched her head, little stars appearing in her eyes as she looked at Lou Jingmo.
Lou-jie was so incredibly awesome6, wasn’t she?!
With a “rip!” sound, like fabric tearing, the force Lou Jingmo was contending with suddenly slackened. She retreated three steps, a bloody scalp in her hand.
Shen Maomao quickly scrambled up and limped over to catch her. “Lou-jie? Are you okay?!”
The woman sank into the mud. A few mud bubbles gurgled to the surface, and then everything returned to complete calm.
A dark mark appeared on Lou Jingmo’s left wrist. The skin beneath the mark was an unnatural bluish-purple, looking very painful.
“Tsk.” She clicked her tongue lightly, casually tossed the lock of hair into the mud, then picked up the branch Xiaobao’s dad had dropped and stabbed fiercely into the water.
The muddy water wasn’t deep at all, only about thirty-odd centimeters. It made one wonder how such a large person could have disappeared without a trace in the water.
The surrounding people still didn’t dare to go up and help, standing in a row far away.
Lou Jingmo stabbed a few more times but still couldn’t find the body. She could only swallow this loss, threw the branch aside, and said, “Let’s go, back.”
Golden Retriever silently rubbed his butt and followed behind the two. The three of them pushed through the crowd and supported each other as they walked into the inn.
The NPC onlookers thought for a moment and also hurriedly followed them back.
When the three came out from washing their hands on the first floor, they saw a group of people with their bags packed surrounding the front desk, all expressing their desire to check out and leave.
The receptionist, as usual, didn’t stop them, saying slowly, “Perhaps the mountain roads are all blocked by the mudslide. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?”
The old TCM doctor was also in the crowd wanting to leave. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but say, “Not in a hurry? If we’re not in a hurry, our lives will be gone! This mountain of yours, it’s very sinister!”
The receptionist said, “An upright person doesn’t fear a crooked shadow7. What are you afraid of?”
The old TCM doctor’s face darkened. “Just hurry up and give us a refund! Cut the crap!”
The receptionist gave him a half-smile. Just before he flew into a rage from embarrassment, she slapped two hundred yuan on the counter. “Your change is two hundred yuan exactly. Won’t see you out.”
Seeing that this group of people was about to leave, Lou Jingmo didn’t wait for everyone to gather and directly asked, “Has anyone lost their phone?”
Everyone quickly took out their phones to check.
With just one glance, Lou Jingmo was certain—
Everyone’s phone was identical.
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