Fulong Town, Welcoming Inn.
Ye Ling brought Feng Ke, who had not yet recovered, over, intending to settle in before discussing other matters.
Ye Ling was also somewhat surprised by Feng Ke's sudden embrace earlier, but he quickly composed himself and regained his calm.
Feng Ke, on the other hand, became shy and dared not meet Ye Ling's gaze for a long time.
The lobby of this inn was deserted and dilapidated, with most of the paint on the walls peeling off. However, the floor was mopped so clean that it could almost be used as a mirror.
A bald old man wearing glasses sat at the front, staring intently at an old television set not far away, which was still playing programs from over twenty years ago.
The lobby was incredibly quiet, seemingly peaceful, yet it always gave off a strange feeling.
It was hard to pinpoint what was wrong.
As soon as Ye Ling entered the inn, he smelled a faint scent of blood emanating from the basement, mixed with the smell of decaying wood from the inn.
Realizing that something was amiss with the inn, he remained expressionless and walked to the front desk, saying to the innkeeper, "Please give me two king-sized rooms."
The innkeeper pushed his glasses up and smiled apologetically at Ye Ling, saying, "I'm sorry, but it's our Fulong Town's Hot Spring Festival, and many tourists come to visit. The inn is fully booked, and there are no rooms left."
"None left?"
Ye Ling frowned slightly and scanned the inn's rooms above with his divine sense. Each room was tidily cleaned, and no one was staying in them.
The innkeeper was clearly lying through his teeth.
However, since the innkeeper had said so, Ye Ling couldn't force his way in. He continued to ask, "Then are there any places to stay in town? We came here by reputation, wanting to experience the Hot Spring Festival. It would be a lifelong regret if we couldn't stay due to lack of accommodation."
As soon as Ye Ling said this, the innkeeper's expression immediately became one of deep concern. He slapped his forehead and said, "Oh dear... for the two guests to come all the way to our Fulong Town for the Hot Spring Festival, it would be our fault if we didn't host you well."
"How about you wait a moment? I'll ask my friend. He has an empty house, and I'll see if he can lend it to you."
Ye Ling smiled lightly, "Then I'll trouble the boss."
The innkeeper waved his hand and smiled, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Guests are guests!"
After a brief chat, the innkeeper went into a room to make a phone call, while Ye Ling and Feng Ke sat in the lobby to wait.
Seeing the innkeeper leave, Feng Ke whispered to Ye Ling, "I saw so many keys hanging on the wall. The rooms are clearly still available, so why did he say they were all full?"
Ye Ling glanced at the innkeeper making a phone call in the room and said, "There are no living people left in this town. The memories and thoughts in their minds have been artificially altered and deleted."
"In the innkeeper's mind, the Hot Spring Festival is Fulong Town's grandest festival, attracting a large number of tourists. Therefore, his inn is always fully booked during this period."
"All of this is his own delusion. He automatically ignores anything that doesn't make sense. In this way, he naturally wouldn't notice the keys hanging on the wall."
"However... this inn itself has a problem. It's likely that the mastermind deliberately refuses to accept guests to monitor anyone who mistakenly enters Fulong Town at any time."
"It's estimated that when the innkeeper is making the phone call, the mastermind already knows about our presence."
"Then why did you..." Feng Ke's voice rose slightly, then she quickly lowered it, "Why did you let him go in?"
"Wouldn't that alert the enemy?"
Ye Ling chuckled, "This is called luring the snake out of its hole."
Feng Ke was confused, "I don't understand..."
Ye Ling didn't explain much, only saying, "Just wait patiently. According to this progress, the mastermind will likely be lured out tonight, and we can completely resolve the issues in Fulong Town tomorrow."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Feng Ke seemed to understand but not fully, unsure of Ye Ling's plan.
However, she did understand one thing.
Ye Ling saw through everything that was happening in Fulong Town. All she needed to do was stick close to Ye Ling. Acting rashly would only cause more trouble.
Having figured this out, Feng Ke stopped talking and sat quietly beside Ye Ling, observing the unfolding events.
Soon, the innkeeper came out of the room with a smile and said to Ye Ling, "I have good news for you two. My friend has agreed to let you stay. He'll be here to pick you up shortly. If you're not in a hurry, you can wait here for a while."
"Thank you, we're not in a hurry," Ye Ling replied with a smile.
The innkeeper glanced at Ye Ling and Feng Ke with a smile and said, "I'll go pour you two some tea. Please wait."
"Thank you."
Watching the innkeeper re-enter the room, Ye Ling didn't just wait idly. A trace of demonic energy permeated his shadow, seeping towards the inn's basement.
After passing through a constricted doorway, the demonic energy quickly condensed into Ye Ling's clone, standing on the dark staircase.
A more intense smell of blood assailed his nostrils.
"There's still someone alive?"
Upon entering the basement, Ye Ling sensed a faint aura covered by a barrier, and he was slightly stunned.
Before entering the inn, he had known that there was a weak barrier beneath the inn. He hadn't expected that in this town full of dead souls, there would be a living person hidden!
However, that person was barely breathing. If no one saved them, they wouldn't live much longer.
"Consider yourself lucky to have met me."
Ye Ling chuckled and walked down the stairs, soon seeing a locked iron door.
The padlock was rusty, and a blood-stained talisman was stuck to it. A foul odor emanated from behind the iron door.
"Town Security Peace..."
Ye Ling read the four large characters written in blood on the talisman and let out a sneer, "Doing this kind of thing and still using talismans to suppress evil spirits, how ironic."
Ignoring the talisman and the iron door, Ye Ling transformed into demonic energy and passed through, then condensed again behind the iron door.
The basement was extremely dark, to the point where one couldn't see their hand in front of their face. The ground was also wet, it was unclear if it was blood or water.
Ye Ling scanned the basement and found that the walls were covered with various knives and torture instruments, and several body bags were hanging from the ceiling.
"Judging by the age of this basement, the innkeeper has been doing this for at least ten years... his foundation is not clean."
Ye Ling muttered to himself, using his spiritual power to cut down the body bags hanging from the ceiling and release the corpses within. He discovered that they were all young girls, their bodies preserved intact through special means.
However, judging by the wounds on the girls' bodies, they had suffered a lot of torment before their deaths.
And the person whose faint aura he had sensed was also wrapped in a body bag. It was likely that the innkeeper intended to hang her to death.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
As Ye Ling was examining the corpses, the unconscious girl began to cough violently, spitting out a pool of black blood.