That was a woman.

She was holding an umbrella on the stone bridge, even though it wasn't raining.

It was a long-handled oiled paper umbrella with a bamboo handle, a red canopy, and a circle of white patterns in the middle, printed with blooming cherry blossom designs.

The woman had long black hair and was wearing a not particularly gorgeous kimono.

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ didn't know much about kimonos and couldn't identify the specific type of garment, so he could only roughly describe it.

The kimono was white with purple patterns and a large number of flower designs. The belt was beige, with a flower-shaped woven ornament hanging on the left side. The sleeves were of medium length.

"..."

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ expressionlessly spat out a puff of black smoke. The blade of the giant naginata in his hand buzzed, as if craving blood.

He could see the young woman's umbrella, the kimono she was wearing, her hairstyle, and the wooden clogs she was wearing.

But when he focused his attention on her appearance, his mind went blank, and he couldn't construct her appearance in his brain no matter how hard he tried.

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ felt a faint sense of regret in his heart.

During the day, the players had gathered together to analyze the television video that Wan Li Feng Dao had seen the night before. Bai Haozheng had taken the lead in sacrificing himself, risking a certain amount of danger to extract the video memory fragments from Wan Li Feng Dao's mind.

At that time, Hei Shengzi and Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ had chosen to retreat without saying a word, to avoid possible meme contamination, and did not look at the dynamic manga drawn by Bai Haozheng.

When the woman combing her hair in front of the mirror in the dynamic manga ignored the hotel's "daytime safety" rule and turned her head to smile at Bai Haozheng,

Hei Shengzi and Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ felt a faint sense of relief in their hearts.

They felt that if something went wrong, the abnormal event related to the dynamic manga would definitely find Bai Haozheng first,

That way, they would be safer.

But now, Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ was regretting it.

The river below the stone bridge was covered with foam, and a large number of dead fish were floating on the surface,

Perfectly matching a scene described by Wan Li Feng Dao at the time.

If Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ had chosen to watch the dynamic manga at that time, he might have been able to recognize whether the young woman combing her hair in front of the mirror was the umbrella-holding figure in front of him.

Crack—

A dull sound came from behind. Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ didn't turn his head.

Relying on his player's keen senses far beyond ordinary people, he clearly sensed that it was the sound of a stone brick loosening behind the stone bridge.

The stone bridge was collapsing.

"Who are you?"

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ asked, his voice thick and strong, vibrating the air. "Where is this?"

The kimono woman stopped, quietly looking at Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ. She didn't answer, but slowly turned the bamboo umbrella handle with her slender fingers.

Like a young girl who had just fallen in love, she met her secret crush on the stone bridge and was shyly hesitating about how to greet him.

Crack, crack—

The sound of the stone bricks loosening was louder, and the entire stone bridge was shaking slightly.

The anxiety and unease in Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ's heart became more intense. He had a faint feeling that if the stone bridge completely collapsed and he had not escaped from the dream,

Something very, very bad would happen.

"What's your name!"

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ roared at the kimono woman, and black smoke-like baleful aura spun rapidly around his tall body and naginata.

After a long time, the kimono woman slowly opened her mouth, her voice soft and gentle. "Excuse me, are you here to kill me too?"

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ's eyes widened suddenly, and he subconsciously asked, "What?"

"Are you here to kill me, too, right?"

The kimono woman bowed slightly, as if apologizing for the trouble she had caused, and said with regret, "I haven't seen any hotel staff for a long time. I thought they had an accident during the last incident...

Ah, the bridge is about to collapse.

If you don't kill me, you'll be trapped here forever."

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ's mind was filled with confusion, anxiety, fear, and unease. He faintly felt that he had touched some truths about the hotel.

He planted his naginata and growled, "What are you talking about?

Who the hell are you?"

Boom!

The stone bridge behind him had begun to collapse, and a large number of stones fell into the river, splashing white foam.

The location where Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ was standing was also shaking violently.

"...Are you not a hotel employee?"

The woman blinked, as if realizing something, and her eyes were filled with sadness. "They're all dead..."

Who exactly were they referring to?

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ wanted to question her, but the speed of the stone bridge's collapse was too fast.

Countless stones fell into the river. Every time a stone fell, a large number of dead fish would surge from the bottom of the river, rise to the surface, and emit a foul stench.

Seeing that the collapse of the stone bridge was about to encroach on his foothold,

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ stepped on the ground and, with agile steps that were completely incompatible with his burly figure, lightly swept across the stone bridge and rushed in front of the kimono woman.

He reached out his hand and grabbed her neck.

As the guardian of the young master of the Other Shore Organization, Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ's equipment and props were naturally not shabby.

A technique he cultivated happened to include the effects of "suppressing spirits and absorbing their power and memories."

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ was very sure that the other party was not a normal human, but some kind of anomaly.

However, he greatly underestimated the other party's fragility.

He just reached out his palm, and his fingertips just touched the other party's neck skin,

The kimono woman's neck burst and broke, turning into countless fragments and flying backwards.

More fragile than paper...

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ's pupils were filled with surprise and astonishment. He opened his mouth, just about to say something, when he was driven by an unstoppable force and flew straight into the air, flying higher and higher.

The sound of the wind whistled past his ears, and the stone bridge below, which had completely collapsed into the river, became smaller and smaller, eventually turning into a gray dot.

The next second, Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ suddenly woke up from the bed, breathing heavily, his eyes covered with bloodshot veins.

That was not a dream.

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ jumped out of bed, grabbed the banknotes on the bedside table, and went straight to the living room.

He still retained the body surface characteristics of a demon, and held a naginata in his hand.

He also heard a system notification sound in his ears, reminding him that he had just killed a life and received a reward of five hundred game coins and experience points.

What Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ had just experienced was not an illusion. He had indeed killed the kimono woman in a strange way that even he himself didn't know.

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ scribbled on the paper. He felt in his heart that

What the kimono woman said and the video that Wan Li Feng Dao saw last night were both revealing the essence of the hotel.

He had to record it and let his young master Hei Shengzi see it, to maximize Hei Shengzi's chances of survival.

The time now... is 03:28.

I stayed in the "dream" for three hours...

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ quickly wrote the words on the paper, but his mind subconsciously flashed back to Wan Li Feng Dao's description during the day.

Among the pictures he saw, there was one that was a close-up of the corridor of the Dolphin Hotel.

That corridor was unremarkable, and it was impossible to tell which floor it was on. The clock at the end of the corridor showed the time as 03:33.

Three thirty in the morning...

The time Dan Fei received the call last night, the time in the video that Wan Li Feng Dao saw, and the time Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ woke up at this moment.

Three thirty, what exactly does it mean in this Dolphin Hotel?

"One less..."

An extremely abrupt, androgynous, ethereal, and deep voice entered Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ's ears.

The guardian from the Other Shore Organization felt his hair stand on end. His right hand couldn't put down the pen, and his left hand held the huge naginata and slashed back violently.

The sharp blade drew a crescent-shaped trajectory,

The force of the wind blew away carpets, tables, and chairs, and slammed into the wall with a bang.

"One less."

The ethereal and deep voice sounded again. Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ looked around in shock and swallowed.

The voice did not come from room 1208, or even from the twelfth floor.

That voice echoed throughout the hotel.

"One less!"

The deep voice suddenly raised its pitch, and the hotel floor shook slightly, as if something had broken in.

Mù Yǐn zhī Guǐ took the paper and pen and ran to the door of 1208. His huge body bent down, leaned against the front door, and peered out through the peephole with one eye.

He saw that the light at the top of the elevator lobby on the left side of the eleventh floor was on.

Starting from the first floor, gradually rising.

Someone, or something, pressed the elevator button and was coming up.