Are there children here?

I had a sudden feeling of unease. To be honest, this was the first living voice we heard after we emerged from this thick white fog.

However, this only made us more apprehensive.

There wasn't even a boss, so how did this person manage to check in? Especially since it was just a child!

The child's voice was broken and intermittent, as if he had seen something frightening.

The girl and I froze on the spot almost simultaneously, and the flashlight beam suddenly shone on the stairwell.

This was my subconscious reaction.

"Third floor, is there a child?"

The girl's voice trembled slightly, and her hand gripped the hem of my clothes even tighter at this moment.

Lei Jian became increasingly tense, and he began to complain helplessly in his heart.

"Master, what's going on with this inn? Something's very strange. In the middle of the night, where did this child come from crying? I'm afraid it's some kind of evil spirit!"

Lei Jijian's words made sense. To be honest, I also had some doubts. What strange things were in this inn? Old Liu didn't explain it to me clearly, and neither did Lan Jia.

I swallowed hard and stared at the staircase leading to the third floor. The single staircase was very old.

Just like this counter, it's covered with a thin layer of dust, but I can clearly see that the dust is freshly deposited.

It seemed like no one had left, but not long afterward.

The child's crying continued, sometimes near, sometimes far, and I could hardly tell if it was coming from the third floor.

"Don't panic, assess the situation first."

My intense fear made me remember the cloth bag Old Liu had given me.

I quickly wiped my sweat inside, but there was nothing useful, so I continued to shine the flashlight around.

After adjusting the dial, I noticed that the flashlight became much brighter, much brighter than before.

Old Liu's flashlight is pretty reliable. I relaxed for a moment and thought to myself, if it weren't for his thing, we would probably be in a lot of trouble!

I shone my flashlight down the stairs, wondering whether I should wait there for a while or go straight up to check.

"Yiyi, should we go up?"

I asked the girl, since we needed to make a decision together at this point.

Otherwise, there is a high possibility of danger. In such an unfamiliar environment, the worst thing to do is to split up.

"Brother, I think we should wait in the lobby first. Maybe the boss will come down when he hears the noise. After all, he should be dead by now!"

Hearing Yi Yi's words, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Indeed, that boss should be dead if nothing unexpected happens.

Or rather, we are the living, and he is the dead.

This environment is exactly what a hotel should be like, run by a dead person.

If that's the case, then all those dark, gloomy places I can see from the outside must be where dead travelers live.

In that case, this child must be the only living person in these three floors!

Holy crap...

I felt a sudden rush of cold sweat to my back.

A hotel full of dead people...

This is the first time I've ever encountered something like this!

I nodded slightly, but I still didn't dare to relax.

The girl's words did make some sense, and her suggestion to do so was also for safety reasons.

After all, it would be a mistake to act rashly without knowing the boss's true situation.

But the child's crying was really quite frightening.

"Master, I feel this place is a bit too creepy. If that child is the only living person in this inn, could he be someone's child who has wandered into this deadly place by mistake?"

As I listened to Lei Jijian's words, I felt a bit uneasy.

Indeed, that is entirely possible, but if that were the case, this child would not only be the only living person here, but he would be the only living person in this entire land!

"Who knows? No matter what, we can't go up now. The situation is unclear, and the boss hasn't shown up. It's too dangerous."

I continued talking to Lei Jijian.

Meanwhile, Lei Jijian kept muttering to himself in my head.

We couldn't wait for the boss anymore. Lei Jijian's gist was that we should hurry up and go look for it, maybe the sea marrow was up there.

In that case, we can finish this business without lifting a finger, and the contract will probably end naturally.

"If Master does this, it will prevent any unforeseen complications!"

I was still a little hesitant, but the child's crying continued, occasionally interspersed with a few sobs.

I felt really uneasy listening to it.

I didn't know what to do, so I just shone my flashlight on the walls of the hall again.

Hoping to find some other clues, but after searching around, all I found was a yellowed old newspaper.

The situation in Shanghai is somewhat unclear.

I could barely make out the words "Grand Opening of the Hotel" on my own.

As for the date, it was 1990...

Holy crap.

This is all from many years ago; it hasn't been renovated in over thirty years.

I sighed slightly, then discussed it with the girl.

"How long has this boss been dead? How could he stay in a place like this for so long?"

The girl didn't speak; she simply clutched the dew-covered branch in her pocket slightly.

I took a look at that dew-covered branch.

"Brother, this boss has been dead for so many years but he's still here. He's definitely not simple. I'm afraid he'll recognize it when I take out the Dew-Gathering Branch!"

I completely agree with this and nodded in agreement.

However, if the owner really intends to set a trap here, then we certainly can no longer keep an eye on the stairwell.

If we go up from here, wouldn't we just get blocked by the boss right here?!

Whether it's a trap or not, we can't fall for it. We'll just wait here in the lobby, and if the boss doesn't come out, we'll keep shouting.

If he doesn't come out in the end, we'll just set the house on fire.

If you want to hide, then hide for the rest of your life.

I refuse to believe that by then he will still be hiding somewhere.

To be honest, if that boss is trying to exchange his life for ours through this contract, then he definitely has certain restrictions on him.

When I heard that he was a hotel owner and wanted to enter into this life-exchange contract with us, I already knew it.

This hotel owner is very likely the same type as Sister Huang from before.

What they have in common is that they are all restricted!