Chapter 50 Mad Dog Hotel

"Okay, don't worry, I'll make an announcement for you right away." The receptionist picked up the phone.

Lu Qi waited anxiously. After confirming the broadcast, she hurriedly said thank you and ran towards the exit.

As the echoes of the broadcast faded, the entire hotel erupted in noise.

The twenty-odd survivors peered out of the window and saw the slender woman running desperately toward the exit.

Bait? Trap? Or a breakdown and madness?

On the lawn in front of the exit, the dogs dressed in clothes were all lessons learned from bloodshed; no one dared to make a move.

Suddenly, a series of loud knocks echoed down the hallway. A woman outside shouted urgently, "Come on! Go out and see! Put on the necklace and go see!"

The obviously unnatural sky created an unusual atmosphere; it was clear to everyone that something was about to change.

"Shall we go take a look?"

"It's like the sky's leaking air, what if it really is..."

"Let's go take a look first."

Let's go take a look.

Tian Miaoying knocked on each door, her heart pounding, unsure of what was going on.

Lu Qi had never told them that something like this would happen, but Meng Feiqin told her to call everyone outside. Meng Feiqin looked very confident, and Tian Miaoying decided to obey.

"Brother Lü, Brother Lü!" She ran to the door of room 0218. "Brother Lü, are you there? It's just me, no one else!"

There was silence behind the door.

Tian Miaoying patted and called out for a while, but still received no response.

She was extremely anxious, having no idea where Lü Shi'an was hiding.

"Are you looking for someone?" Just as she was in a panic, a woman in her early thirties came down from the emergency exit.

Tian Miaoying recognized her and rushed over, "Sister, where's your husband?"

The woman's gaze flickered, and Tian Miaoying, knowing her concerns, said quickly, "Why don't you go and inform them for me? The weather's changing; it might be a chance to get out. Don't miss it!"

"Yes." The woman nodded; she was on her way to find her husband.

She agreed, but didn't leave immediately. Instead, she kept a close eye on Tian Miaoying and asked, "What are you planning to do next?"

“…I’m leaving!” Tian Miaoying left right in front of her, without any intention of following her to find the men’s hideout.

She met up with Meng Feiqin at the main gate, and Meng Feiqin called down everyone she could get her hands on.

The hotel, which had been quiet for many days, was unusually crowded. Everyone gathered together anxiously, feeling both nervous and expectant.

"Be careful, everyone." Meng Feiqin glanced at the few people who were willing to follow her; they were all doctors who had survived the training.

She sternly instructed, "Don't run away, and absolutely do not run away in front of the dog."

They all understood this principle, and they nodded hesitantly. They knew it, but they still felt uneasy.

On one side, Meng Feiqin and Tian Miaoying organized people to head towards the exit, while on the other side, Lu Qi had already arrived.

Before she even got close, the fierce wind made her feet feel unsteady, and she almost fell.

The wind blew in the dirt and grass, and sand got into Lu Qi's eyes. He raised his hand to shield his face from the sand and dust, and through the gap in his arm, he could vaguely see two people standing at the red line at the exit.

Lulu stood with her back to her, and the girl above the red line.

Lulu stood guard inside the red line, and even from behind, Lu Qi could see her fury and tension.

Unlike Lulu, the girl stood in front of the line with a natural demeanor, a calm posture that predators could hardly predict.

The wind grew stronger, coming from outside the red line. Lu Qi even felt that the wind was blowing out from a hole behind the girl.

The fierce wind made it hard for her to breathe, and every step forward was heavy and difficult.

Lu Qi lunged at a nearby street lamp and grabbed the lamppost to steady himself.

She couldn't hear what Lulu and the girl were saying. Seeing Lulu shift her weight forward, Lu Qi knew something was wrong. She opened her mouth to shout, but the wind blocked her out half a syllable.

Lu Qi suddenly turned around, facing away from the wind, lowered his head and bent over, covered his mouth and nose to avoid the wind, and breathed heavily.

She couldn't utter a complete sentence, but even that slight sound had already attracted the attention of the person marked with a red line.

Lulu turned around quickly, and when she saw Lu Qi struggling to breathe in the wind, her dark pupils contracted several times, as if she was making a decision.

The girl also saw Lu Qi, and without any hesitation, she rushed towards Lu Qi.

It wasn't human running; she was like a swallow flying low, her legs like feathered tails, leaving a silky afterimage as she skimmed the ground.

As soon as she moved, Lulu immediately gave chase.

He lagged behind the girl, and just as Lulu was about to bark at her, she saw the girl abruptly stop two meters away from Luqi.

She stopped, lowered her head, her face hidden by her hood, and pointed to the area outside the red line towards Lu Qi.

Lu Qi was bewildered.

roar--!

Lulu charged forward from the flank, grabbed Lu Qi, and slid backward dozens of meters, baring her teeth and wrinkling her nose as she let out a deep roar at the girl.

No longer a defensive, warning bark, it now barked out translucent, cone-shaped nails from its ten fingers, revealing its canine teeth and dripping sticky saliva, looking ferocious and menacing.

He wanted to kill her; he wanted to tear her to pieces.

The girl panicked for a moment when she saw Lu Qi being dragged away by the lord.

She looked up from under her hood, her petite face revealing a fierce glint, and threw something at Lulu.

A sliver of cold light shone down with the wind, aided by a strong gust.

With a soft thud, Lu Qi felt the embrace around her tighten, and Lulu's low growl quickly grew even more furious.

She turned back in the wind, her breath caught in her throat, and she saw a dark red hue.

A small fruit knife was completely embedded in Lulu's shoulder, with only the black handle sticking out.

The pain spurred him on, and he instinctively lunged forward, his body bending down to touch Lu Qi in his arms.

For a fleeting moment, Lu Qi and Lulu's eyes met.

His eyes were completely black, without a trace of white or any light.

It's been a while, yet this scene feels both strange and familiar.

Lu Qi saw a sense of fear in those dark, lifeless eyes.

Lulu stopped yelling, hugged Lu Qi tightly, and ran deeper into the hotel.

In a few steps, his body twisted and deformed, gradually turning into a black and red sticky mist that enveloped Lu Qi completely.

Lu Qi was still confused and didn't understand why the dog, which was supposed to fight, suddenly chose to run away.

She didn't feel anything special while enveloped in the sticky fog. She turned her head out of the fog and saw the girl following her.

She "flew" for a while, and just as she was about to touch Lu Qi, she stopped as if she was wary of something, and let them go.

As the distance grew farther and farther, the already petite girl became smaller and smaller until she turned into a small gray vertical line, looking somewhat timid and pitiful.

Lu Qi quickly forgot to observe the girl and found herself starting to float in the air.

At first, it was only one or two meters high, but then it suddenly rose higher and soared into the sky.

She screamed in surprise. Fortunately, Lulu didn't actually take her to the sky; she just took her to the hotel rooftop.

It landed on the roof, the sticky fog cracked open, and Lu Qi was released.

As soon as she stepped onto solid ground, Lulu immediately transformed back into human form.

"Cough..." The moment the young man transformed, he staggered and knelt down, clutching his bleeding shoulder, his breathing slightly rapid.

This was typical abdominal breathing caused by pain. Lu Qi quickly helped Lulu up. "Professor Meng has some iodine gauze. I'll go get it!"

“No need.” Lulu turned her head, staring with disgust at the small knife stuck in her shoulder.

He opened his mouth, his teeth gripping the black hilt of the knife, and with a flick of his head, pulled it out—

Clang.

The knife fell to the ground, splattering a few drops of blood.

The young man groaned, cold sweat beading on his forehead, his entire body trembling.

He took off his coat, revealing a large red stain on his white undershirt.

Through the tear in her clothes, Lulu licked her wound perfunctorily, her eyes still fierce, full of anger towards the girl.

He looked ready to fight again, but Lu Qi pressed his hand against his chest.

"Don't move!" she shouted, startling Lulu, who was filled with murderous intent, and her eyes regained their clarity.

The red patch against the white background made Lu Qi dizzy.

She picked up Lulu's trench coat from the ground and tugged at it forcefully—nothing happened. She grabbed one side and held it to Lulu's mouth, "Tear!"

When she's in a hurry, what comes out of her mouth is a clear command.

Lulu instinctively did as instructed, biting her clothes with her molars and shaking her head, successfully tearing off a sleeve.

Lu Qi shook off the dust from the outside of the wound and quickly bandaged it.

After suppressing the bleeding, she anxiously asked Lulu, "Who is she?"

Lulu tilted her head. "You don't know her?"

Lu Qi replied truthfully, "I've met her twice. Don't you know who she is?"

In just over ten minutes, the clear blue sky was completely taken over by a third of the dark clouds that had surged in.

Lulu lowered her eyelids slightly, "[The world's henchmen]."

"What do you mean?" Lu Qi didn't understand.

"[The world's goodwill] invaded this place a long time ago," Lulu said calmly. "All I know is that she is [the world's] henchman, trying to reclaim the people who belong to [the world]."

This was still somewhat abstract, and Lu Qi only vaguely realized that the existence of the "door" was probably real.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lu Qi spotted several figures downstairs.

Someone came out of the hotel and ran towards the exit.

The girl hadn't lied to her; the door was real, and there really was a way to leave peacefully. Lu Qi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked the question that concerned her, "Then what will she do to you..."

Lulu did not answer.

Under the dim and eerie sky, his soft, light blond hair was ruffled by the wind. He stuck out his tongue and licked away the blood that clung to his lips.

"Lu Qi, I'm sorry." He spoke softly, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "You can close your eyes and rest."

Lu Qi didn't understand the meaning of Lulu's words. The next moment, the half-black and half-white sky suddenly darkened.

She looked up; the darkness wasn't caused by the complete invasion of dark clouds, but rather by the arrival of night.

It was a moonless and starless night, and all the lights in the park were turned on, shining brighter than the stars.

Although Lu Qi had read the rules and heard Tian Miaoying describe the giant dog that ate people at night after losing her memory, these were all just words on paper; she had never experienced the reality.

Now, she finally saw it.

Black smoke rises from the darkness where the light cannot reach, and the smoke turns into dogs when it lands.

Huge black dogs emerged from the shadows, each one larger than a giant Alaskan Malamute. They charged at the humans with a clear purpose.

Lu Qi watched as a giant gray-black dog caught up with the woman running towards the exit, pinned her under its paws, and bit off her head.

The headless corpse lay on the only road leading to the exit, serving as the most powerful deterrent.

The people in front collapsed to the ground in front of the giant dog with its mouth full of blood, while the people behind were too afraid of the corpse to take another step forward.

"What are you doing!" Lu Qi turned around, furious. "Why are you doing this!"

Even knowing that death would allow her to leave, this extreme approach still surprised her.

Lulu shook her head, her eyes still filled with a sadness and fear that Lu Qi could not understand. "Lu Qi, I need power."

Having witnessed the killing firsthand, people immediately felt fear, despair, and anger. These negative emotions flowed into Lulu's body, and the wound on his shoulder visibly closed.

Lu Qi couldn't see the changes under his clothes, but he could sense that Lulu's aura had changed.

His physique was stronger, the fear in his eyes had faded, and a gloomy sense of power surrounded him.

He was full of strength, yet he was also filled with sorrow.

The ghost stories are all about the humans he likes, the women he has always loved.

With a deep, resonant sound, the energy surging into Lulu suddenly decreased dramatically.

In the direction of the red line, a broad-backed cleaver shot out from the air and plunged straight into the giant dog's forehead.

Following the cleaver, a slender gray figure came in, and the girl gripped the hilt and drew the blade backward.

With a loud crash, the blade was pulled from the head, and the huge black dog turned to ashes, all of which flowed into the girl's mouth.

She sucked up all the black ash, puffed out her cheeks, and chewed it.

The women around stared in shock at the amazing girl and quickly moved aside.

The girl showed no interest in interacting with them, pointed to the red line, and then silently attacked the next black dog.

She left, and the women exchanged a glance before taking off running towards the red line.

Lulu bared her canine teeth, her handsome face contorted into a sinister and ferocious expression.

He tried to bring the person at the red line back, but as he moved, his neck was suddenly grabbed.

He ran over during his walk, and the dog was still on its leash.

Lu Qi swiftly grabbed the dog leash, wrapped it around his hand twice, and sternly shouted, "Stop!"

Lulu turned around and glanced at the thin rope restraining him and the frail woman.

He said in a deep voice, "Be good, be obedient."

Lu Qi exerted even more effort.

She realized this was a crucial juncture, and she needed to do something—

What will you make?

She really didn't know what ghost stories were, or what that girl was, and she didn't even know what Lulu was now.

Everything is supernatural and bizarre, detached from reality, and without any basis.

She hesitated to let go, so Lulu turned around and faced her. "Let go. I'm protecting you."

“I know.” Lu Qi looked him straight in the eye.

She didn't understand the logic behind this strange world; there were too many things beyond her comprehension. But no matter how it changed, no matter which world it was, Lu Qi was certain of one thing—

“Lulu, I know, I know,” she said. “I know you want to protect me.”

The rope tightened little by little, and the force at the other end far exceeded that of Lu Qi.

Seven years ago, she couldn't stop her.

“I raised you, and I will take full responsibility for you. If you only want to live here, I can stay and keep you company. But Lulu, no one else has an obligation to accommodate us.”

Lu Qi wrapped the dog leash around again and said, "Let them out."

The wind high in the sky was tearing at the clouds.

The first group of survivors has reached the red line.

The scarlet lines made them hesitate.

Once inside the red line, the group quickly discovered that all the dogs wearing clothes on the lawn had disappeared.

"Where did they go?" someone asked anxiously.

"Did they go out? Did they go out?!"

"Is the outside world really the same as before? Maybe it's a lie, and all those dogs have been tricked out!"

Among the crowd, a young girl with bloodshot eyes gritted her teeth and strode forward against the strong wind.

"Wait!" the woman beside her called out, "It's not certain yet, don't take any risks!"

The girl cried out, "I want to go home!"

That step crossed the line.

Everyone held their breath, watching the girl walk out of the line.

Lulu, wrinkling her nose on the rooftop, was eager to go down and force the person to retreat.

The force with which he turned around was beyond Lu Qi's control.

She was being pulled forward by the rope; she couldn't possibly be stronger than Lulu, nor could she engage in a tug-of-war with him.

Pulling the leash backward will only reinforce the dog's current behavior; the tighter the leash around its neck, the more instinctively the dog will want to rush forward.

The moment Lulu turned around, she kicked his thigh.

Lulu turned around with a slight annoyance and growled, "Don't stop me!"

Lu Qi narrowed his eyes. "Are you yelling at me?"

Unlike humans, a dog's growl carries a deeper meaning. Lulu immediately looked away guiltily, licking her lips, shaking her head, and yawning, sending a reassuring signal to herself and Lu Qi.

"Are you yelling at me?" But Lu Qi wouldn't let him go, taking a step forward. "You're making that low growl at me, are you trying to attack me? Are we enemies now?"

“No, no,” Lulu said weakly, backing away. “I just wanted to help you, Lu Qi.”

“I’m not a dog, so biting, suppressing, and driving away are not my responsibility,” Lu Qi said, glancing at the situation at the red line as he stalled for time. “A dog’s help to humans never includes barking. Dogs only bark at bad people.”

“No, Lu Qi! I just, I just…” Lu Lu’s native language was not her native language, so she couldn’t explain clearly. In her anxiety, she revealed her feelings, “I love you, you have to be here, I love you, Lu Qi, you are very fragile, I want to protect you.”

Lu Qi pointed her toe and kicked his calf, using the touch to bring him back to his senses from the tangled mess of words.

"Sit down." She cut off his chaotic emotions with a concise command.

Lulu pursed her lips, and he stopped talking, but he didn't do as she said.

The young man lowered his chin, a hint of stubbornness in his dark eyes that mirrored hers.

That look in his eyes was exactly the same as how the elders saw Lu Qi.

The girl who crossed the red line disappeared completely; she never came back.

The women inside the red line anxiously peered out. Time ticked by, barely half a minute, yet it felt like an eternity.

She didn't come back, nor did she turn into a dressed dog. Did she go out? Or is she completely dead?

No one gave them a definite answer.

The agonizing wait was more unbearable than death itself. Soon, some people couldn't endure the torment of having a sword hanging over their heads and charged forward in despair, shouting, "I don't care anymore! I'm leaving this hellhole!"

Seeing someone leave again, Lulu hurriedly moved her toes, and Lu Qi immediately pulled on the dog leash, staring at her: "Sit down!"

The young man's five fingers, covered in sharp armor, twitched. His dark eyes held not only stubbornness but also sorrow.

Lulu didn't want to have a conflict with Lu Qi, so he could certainly be a "good puppy" and obey her unconditionally.

But what happens after that?

He's trying to please her here, to make her happy for a while, but what will he do in the days to come?

Without humans and enough negative emotions, ghost stories would wither and collapse.

The outside world is fraught with danger. More than half of the population are men, and they are extremely unstable, like landmines scattered all around, ready to explode at any moment on the weak.

The snowy night filled with the smell of alcohol and blood, and the male clients who had been so unreasonable to Lu Qi over the years, replayed in Lu Lu's mind.

Lu Qi's trembling body, her screams, and her all-night sobbing as she fled home strangled Lulu's neck.

She needs help.

She needs a world full of rules and order.

All unstable factors must be expelled.

The black and red sticky mist rolled and boiled over Lulu's body. He stood rooted to the spot, motionless, but Lu Qi sensed that he was about to do something.

"Stop!" She had to stop the dog the instant he had the idea; once the action happened, it would be twice as difficult to stop him.

Even though it's just an idea, Lulu doesn't intend to stop.

He grabbed Lu Qi's hand, which was wrapped in the dog leash, and said, "Let go."

Lu Qi looked up. "You can untie it yourself."

Lulu's breathing became heavy.

"If you don't want me to catch you, untie yourself."

Lu Qi shifted her gaze slightly, glancing at the giant dogs downstairs, and murmured lightly, "They are really big and powerful."

"Woof!" Lulu barked angrily, grabbing her shoulder and forcing her to look at him.

Lu Qi held the dog leash up in front of Lulu and spread his five fingers: "Try it."

Lulu trembled all over, wrinkled her nose several times, and bit her neck in anger as a warning.

The sound of sharp teeth snapping together didn't intimidate Lu Qi; instead, it made her stubborn.

She simply untied the dog leash from his hand, tilted her chin up to expose her neck, and brought it to his mouth, saying, "Give it a try!"

"Woof!" Lulu was anxious, angry, and scared. She shook her head frantically to shake off her overwhelming emotions and force herself to calm down.

Lu Qi stared at him. He took a deep breath, shook his head several times, and finally lowered his eyes.

Under Lu Qi's stern gaze, Lulu lowered her head and slowly touched the hand that was wrapped with the dog leash.

He slowly curled Lu Qi's outstretched palm, making her grip his rope tightly.

“I only have you, Lu Qi.” Lulu spoke in a hoarse voice, her eyes reddening, “...You can’t have any other dogs.”

Lu Qi, following his pitiful strength, grabbed the dog leash again.

She couldn't be soft-hearted; she had to stand firm: "Sit down."

Lulu pursed her lips, glancing at the hand holding the dog leash out of the corner of her eye.

He slowly lowered his head, then bent over, then knelt down, as if a piece of hard iron had been barely pressed down by a hydraulic press.

His body trembled and shuddered, half of his body covered in dark red blood.

Lu Qi held her breath. Lulu rarely trembled like this; she only trembled like this when syringomyelia flared up.

She almost immediately felt a lump in her throat and wanted to hug him and comfort him.

Reason held her back.

She understood that this was a natural process for a dog to transition from a dominant to a submissive type. The trembling was just a physiological reaction, a sign of his inner struggle, and he was not in pain.

Her soft heart and indulgence had already killed him once; she had to persevere and control him.

Lulu knelt down in front of Lu Qi and looked up at her.

Lu Qi breathed a sigh of relief and came to his senses, his back feeling sticky.

Controlling a dog with your mind is more difficult than using physical strength.

She couldn't see Lulu's ears and tail, but from her posture, Lulu seemed to be obedient.

Lu Qi suddenly frowned. She realized that she had not yet won. Lulu's eyes did not yield and shone with a very determined light.

As she realized this, wisps of mist emanated from Lulu's body.

They soared into the sky, split into several streams, and sped off to various parts of the hotel.

The sticky mist touched the ground and transformed into a new giant dog.

Four or five giant dogs landed on the red line, stretched out their bodies, and turned to roar at the woman who was trying to leave.

"Ah!" The woman, who was just one step away from leaving, was frightened and retreated.

Surrounded by vicious dogs, their newly mustered courage was shattered by the giant dogs' claws and teeth. The group panicked and turned to run away.

"Do not move!"

Suddenly, a strong female voice, like an imperial command, came from behind.

The panicked survivors opened their eyes and saw a woman with her hair combed high and white hair striding towards them, followed by eight or nine young men.

She moved with lightning speed, weaving through the panicked survivors and heading straight for the red line, completely ignoring the giant dogs.

"Woof!"

The four giant dogs guarding the red line roared loudly, each roar louder than the last, white foam rising from their black lips.

"Don't move." Meng Feiqin stopped three meters away from the giant dog, turned to the side and raised her hand to the people behind her, and instructed again, "We are no shorter than them, and there are more of us. Get ready, keep breathing, don't make eye contact, don't talk, don't be afraid of being bitten, focus on that red line, and leave everything else to me."

Upon hearing this, Tian Miaoying, who was holding her breath in tension, quickly began to breathe.

She grabbed the blood line on Huang Zhenyi's neck and pulled him along. Huang Zhenyi, sensing his owner's nervousness, opened his mouth to scream, but Tian Miaoying quickly grabbed his mouth.

The other survivors found Meng Feiqin's words unbelievable, but the veterinarians trusted her and followed her instructions.

The three characters Meng Feiqin shone brightly.

They used to follow her in their studies, and now they follow in her footsteps on the brink of life and death.

"Woof woof woof—roar—"

Warnings were useless. The high-pitched barks gradually subsided, and the giant dogs lowered their upper bodies, revealing their powerful and terrifying back muscles.

"Get out of the way," Meng Feiqin responded calmly to their protest.

She leaned on her slender hiking stick, her chin slightly raised, her expression a mixture of solemnity and disdain. "Don't block my way, little black dog."