Chapter 635: Terrified
They had been hiding in their rooms all day. After so long without any sounds of fighting, they figured the attack on the Grand Fortune Hotel was over. Hunger finally forced the dancers out of hiding—they decided to head to the kitchen to find something to eat.
They weren’t the only ones with that idea.
Behind them, a door opened. A man in a white chef’s coat, belly protruding, stepped out and patted them on the back.
“I was scared to death,” he muttered.
The woman in the red dance dress turned and snapped, “Master Qi! Don’t sneak up behind me like that—it’s terrifying!”
The chef, called Master Qi, smiled and gestured for silence. “Shh. Jingxuan, are you hungry too? Let’s go get something to eat.”
Jingxuan nodded, then nervously pointed upward. “Master Qi… do you know when these started growing? It’s so scary—it’s like they appeared overnight.”
The vines in the corridor had grown at an absurd rate. Thick green tendrils climbed along the walls and ceiling. Each door was wrapped in a mass of foliage. Occasionally, the leaves trembled—even though there was no wind.
The area around the elevator was especially overgrown, like a portal into a primordial forest.
Master Qi stared for a moment, then braced himself and tugged one of the vines.
“It seems harmless. Just a regular plant. Let’s go—I’m starving.”
With that, he stepped forward and pulled open the elevator door.
Several women lifted their skirts and followed him inside—like walking straight into the mouth of a giant green monster, completely unaware.
Soon after the group entered, more doors opened. Starving residents poured out, heading for the elevator, searching desperately for food.
They rode down to the first floor. The moment the doors opened—
Blood.
Blood trails stained the smooth marble floor of the grand lobby. The once luxurious hall was utterly destroyed. Ice blocked the main entrance, burying the entire ground floor under a thick frozen layer.
“Ah—hahaha.”
A child’s laughter suddenly echoed across the empty, ruined hall.
Jingxuan and the others, leading the way, froze in place. They slowly turned toward the voice.
A girl, about eighteen, walked toward them.
She wore two thin braids and a thick pink cotton-padded jacket in the style of old-fashioned Han clothing, with a slanted collar and two tied straps. Her feet were bound tightly. She wore black cotton pants and pushed a small walker as she shuffled forward.
The bright chandelier light shone down on her, but instead of warmth, it cast a chilling glow.
Behind her stood the Grand Fortune Hotel’s teahouse. Two blood-red lanterns hung from its antique doorway, and green vines climbed up the frame.
The lanterns swayed—though the air was utterly still.
In the child’s stroller were three tiny yellow chicks. Each time the girl pushed the handle, the chicks hopped down to peck at the ground. She laughed softly as she passed the crowd, the chicks pecking in rhythm to her movements.
Jingxuan, Master Qi, and the others stared, horrified— completely terrified by the child.