Chapter 37: The Household Spirit (I)

Wang Chenghao was utterly exhausted.

They were now approaching the border of Hubei Province; just a few more miles and they would cross into Anhui. The two blood-red characters marking the tiny province stood tall in the night sky.

“You said… we need to face the right things with the right attitude…” he gazed plaintively at Qin Ye, who was playing a mobile game beside him, sounding like a resentful spouse.

Qin Ye had switched his life mode entirely: lazy mode activated, a world apart from the industrious Wang Chenghao. While Wang Chenghao drove, Qin Ye listened to music. While Wang Chenghao drove, Qin Ye played games. While Wang Chenghao drove, Qin Ye idly counted license plates. This man simply refused to learn to drive!

“Qin, the car… My dad said it’s a basic life skill…” Wang Chenghao tried to persuade him yet again. After thousands of miles behind the wheel, he felt transformed into a veteran driver, desperately wishing for a helping hand from beside him.

But this man—he just watched Wang Chenghao drive all those miles, drifting in a sea of indolence.

“Exactly. So you should put more skill points into it.” Qin Ye replied, cursed under his breath, and tossed his phone onto the seat. Wang Chenghao’s eye twitched when he saw Qin Ye ranked eighth in his game.

“You should keep up with the times and download some new games. That whatever-it’s-called—Glory, for instance—is pretty good.”

Unbelievable—you still have the nerve to be picky?

Gritting his teeth, Wang Chenghao paid the toll and drove onward toward Bao’an City.

He had to admit, only after leaving Sichuan did he realize how sparsely populated it was. Anhui’s population was a fraction of Sichuan’s, and he could feel the car speeding up, the traffic thinning out.

Bao’an City lay on the edge of Anhui Province, neighboring East Sea Province. It wasn’t economically developed. After another day on the road, they finally reached the outskirts of Bao’an. Three or four more hours, passing through several counties, and they’d be in the city proper.

“Hmm?” At that moment, Qin Ye paused.

Gu County was the first county within Bao’an City along the highway, with dense shops and service areas flanking the national road, countless motels and gas stations lining both sides. Qin Ye snapped his fingers: “Let’s stop here. We’ll rest tonight and enter Bao’an tomorrow. Once we arrive, we can finally rest properly.”

At last, rest. Wang Chenghao breathed a long sigh of relief and followed Qin Ye toward a row of motels.

A dozen minutes later, Wang Chenghao hesitated. “Qin… I have money.”

“This is called not flaunting one’s wealth.”

“…I mean, there’s no need to settle for less. Truly.”

“Hao, you have no idea about household expenses until you’re in charge. Can you earn the money yourself? You think tens of thousands is a lot? Has your father’s inheritance been settled yet? Until the millions arrive, we should be careful with these mere tens of thousands.”

Wang Chenghao stared at Qin Ye for a moment, then finally sighed in resignation, turning to look at the motel before them.

Dilapidated.

Utterly dilapidated.

The sign for Home Inn glowed faintly red, tucked away in the most obscure corner of the motel street, beside vast fields and woods. Not a single room showed any light; the two-story building was anything but welcoming. The sign hung crooked, no other neon lights, looking every bit like a business on the verge of collapse.

No… even the main entrance was sealed tight, no lights inside, not a sound.

Wang Chenghao shivered; for some reason, standing here made him feel cold.

“Is this motel… safe?” After so many strange encounters recently, he couldn’t help but tug at Qin Ye’s sleeve.

Qin Ye’s gaze seemed to ripple slightly, but he replied calmly, “It’s fine.”

“It’s just unfinished business… Since we’ve come across it, we might as well do what needs to be done…”

With that, he pushed open the door and went in first.

Wang Chenghao followed.

“Is anyone here?” Qin Ye leaned over the counter and knocked hard. “Boss? We need a room.”

No answer.

The entire motel was as silent as a tomb.

“Qin… Maybe we should try somewhere else?” Before his words faded, a desk lamp clicked on.

It was right beside them, less than a meter from Wang Chenghao. Under the lamp’s glow, a pale face appeared, adorned with a small tuft of goatee, eyes tinged red, staring straight at them.

“Damn!!” Wang Chenghao nearly leapt out of his skin. When had this old man gotten here? He hadn’t heard a breath, let alone any other sound a person might make—no shifting in the chair, nothing!

He sat there like a moving corpse, silently waiting for any guest who dared enter.

Qin Ye was unfazed, handing over his ID card. “Two people. King bed.”

The old man didn’t take it.

He looked about fifty, but his hair was completely white, appearing closer to seventy. Time had carved deep lines into his face. Wrinkles etched sharply, he was gaunt as a skeleton, eyes fixated like nails on the two of them.

Ten seconds passed before his raspy voice broke the silence: “No one stays here.”

“All other motels are full.” Qin Ye snapped his fingers, unconcerned. “I wouldn’t want to stay here either. We’ll make do for one night.”

The old man suddenly grinned, revealing yellow-black teeth. His voice screeched like a cat clawing glass, unbearably shrill: “You really want to stay?”

Qin Ye nodded. Wang Chenghao shook his head desperately.

The old man spoke no further, finally taking the ID cards. Wang Chenghao noticed there was no computer here, only a desk lamp; registration was done by hand.

“201.” The old man uttered the room number, switched off the lamp, and pressed another button. With a click, a hallway light flickered on.

Dim.

The light was dim, the corridor dusk-like.

This building was decades old, decorated in a nineties style: turquoise paint below, white above. But time had faded it all to a single yellow hue.

Autumn insects fluttered under the lights. The illumination was so weak, it barely reached two meters; beyond that, darkness reigned like a hellish abyss.

Swallowing hard, Wang Chenghao clung to Qin Ye as they ascended. Just as they reached the corridor, the old man’s raspy voice called up: “The room by the window… no matter what, don’t go in…”

“At night… don’t open the door… don’t go to the bathroom… use the chamber pot if you can…”

This was a motel straight out of the last century! Chamber pots—unbelievable!

The thought made Wang Chenghao’s skin crawl. Seeing the room only made it worse.

The air was thick with mold.

The bedding was passable, but there was no TV. The window opened onto endless fields and woods, the night breeze rustling them like beasts in the dark.

Wang Chenghao promptly shut the window.

“Sleep.” Qin Ye fell onto the bed. Wang Chenghao, exhausted, was out soon after.

Time passed minute by minute. When Wang Chenghao awoke, he rubbed his eyes and checked his phone—it was four in the morning.

He had woken up needing to pee.

“This damn motel doesn’t even have a water heater!” As a pampered young master, he’d never stayed in such places. Muttering curses, he put on his clothes and prepared to go to the bathroom.

The bathroom was downstairs. He had no intention of using the chamber pot. He opened the door and stepped out.

“Hiss…” The moment he did, he shivered. “So damn cold… Anhui isn’t even in the north, but this place is freezing.”

The corridor was pitch-black, with a button outside each room door. Pressing it, the next section of hallway lit up. Some anti-human design—he had to press four buttons to reach the staircase.

The staircase was beside the window.

Wang Chenghao rubbed his arms. Under the dim light, the corridor was eerily quiet, the night wind rustling the trees outside, the darkness beyond the sparse illumination seemingly hiding horrors that chilled the soul.

He shuddered. If not for desperation, he would never use the bathroom in this haunted place. It was like a set for a horror film.

Click… He pressed the second button. Another section lit up ahead. This step-by-step unveiling of darkness gripped his heart with invisible claws, his pulse inexplicably quickening.

As if… as if… something was lurking in the shadows.

When he pressed the third button, he froze.

A wave of terror swept from his tailbone to the top of his head, every hair on his body standing on end!

“Ahhhhhhh!!!!” His scream echoed through the motel. Qin Ye, playing his game in bed, glanced up and muttered, “The boss told him not to go out at night—how is he so timid?”

In the corridor, Wang Chenghao clung to the wall in panic. Just now… just now! When he pressed the button, there should have been a click—but there wasn’t.

Because… when he pressed it… he pressed onto another hand!

This button wasn’t activated by him!

There was a ghost… a ghost!

His hair stood on end; all he wanted now was to rush back to the room, not caring about his dignity, and cling to Qin Ye for dear life! But as he turned—

Click—

The first switch turned off.

The light outside their door abruptly died, and his pupils narrowed sharply.

He saw—just as the light went out—a woman in a black dress standing beneath it!

She lifted her head, beautiful, but her face was as pale as snow, and her tongue hung down a full foot!

She stood there, motionless, in the dim light, in the dead silence of the corridor.

At four in the morning.

“Ahhhhhhh!” Wang Chenghao was nearly driven mad with fear. Worse still, when the second switch died, he saw—the woman, that terrifying figure with a corpse-like pallor—was now less than two meters from him!

As if she moved forward with each light extinguished!

Yet not a sound.

“Ahhhhhhh!” All he could do was scream, unable to return to his room, fleeing wildly toward the stairs!

Click—the third light went out behind him. Darkness swallowed him as he frantically pressed the fourth button.

This time, there was no woman.

“Heh… haha…” He trembled uncontrollably, sweat pouring down, leaning against the banister, nearly in tears.

“Gone… gone, is she gone?” His voice trembled, unsure if he’d spoken aloud.

But his voice stopped abruptly.

“Sha… zila…” A faint sound arose behind him.

“De… de-de-de…” His teeth chattered, his whole body shaking as if stricken, neck creaking as he turned to stare at the end of the corridor, at the tightly shut door.

The motel owner had warned them not to approach that room.

“Sha… zila…”

He heard it clearly, and he knew… someone was behind that door, using their nails, scraping bit by bit at the wood!