Chapter 23 Mad Dog Hotel
At the appointed time, Lu Qi asked Tian Miaoying to go to Lü Shi'an's room together.
The two of them were stunned when they pushed open the door.
Seeing their astonished expressions, Lü Shi'an smiled helplessly and said, "Come in."
This is a room without windows.
A room like this shouldn't exist in a hotel like Favier's. It looks a bit like a converted staff dormitory. The 13-square-meter room is square with a fake window and two 1.2-meter beds. There are no tables or chairs, only a bedside table.
"That's such a huge difference!" Tian Miaoying looked at the two of them with sympathy. "What kind of allocation system does this hotel have? How can there be such a big difference?"
"What kind of rooms do you have?" Huang Zhenyi asked.
Tian Miaoying coughed. "Presidential suite."
"..." Huang Zhenyi seemed to want to swear, but realizing there were girls present, he held it back and said in a frustrated tone, "We checked in together, fate is so unfair."
Lu Qi had just encountered the word "fate," and upon hearing Huang Zhenyi say this, he thought of the four words he had logically deduced: "Everyone has their own fate."
Tian Miaoying couldn't bear it, "Why don't you three men stay in room 2602 and Sister Lu stay with me?"
Lu Shi'an did not agree immediately.
He took a manual from the only drawer on his bedside table and handed it to Tian Miaoying.
Upon seeing the familiar "Fivina Hotel Check-in Instructions" on the cover, Tian Miaoying exclaimed in surprise, "You have one too?"
“Take a look,” Lü Shi’an said.
Upon opening, the preface was identical, but the second page following the preface contained content different from that in Lu Qi's room:
[1. Please stay in your room as much as possible. From 22:30 to 05:00 the next day, please do not enter other people's rooms or leave the hotel.]
It also only has one page, and the rest is blank.
Lu Qi looked at it and, although it was a little strange, it was much more normal than hers.
Just as she was thinking this, Tian Miaoying said, "I also have a copy in my room, and the content is much stranger than yours."
"What's yours?" Huang Zhenyi asked.
“It’s strange, I even took a picture, ready to post it on WeChat Moments, look—” Tian Miaoying took out her phone to show everyone.
[1. Pet dogs are loyal companions to humans. If you have a pet dog in your car, please do not scold or chase them away.]
“It really is true,” Huang Zhenyi was dumbfounded. “Ours is still considered hotel rules, what are yours?”
"I don't know." Tian Miaoying shrugged. "And why emphasize 'pet dog'? Aren't dogs usually said to be man's best friend?"
“Perhaps it’s because there are more than just pet dogs here,” Lu Qi said.
The group looked at her, and she said, "My handbook says: [A person is a person, and a dog is a dog. Dogs with owners have collars, and dogs without collars are stray dogs or wild dogs.]"
Tian Miaoying exclaimed, "Then yours is still the strangest."
Combining Lu Qi's and Tian Miaoying's handbooks, we can deduce the following conclusion in reverse:
"You can't chase away pet dogs because they are friendly; conversely, you can scold and drive away stray and wild dogs because—they are not friendly?"
Huang Zhenyi shook his head. "I don't understand."
Lu Qi pondered, "I remember that the kobold had a green collar around its neck."
“But he’s a human being!” Tian Miaoying blurted out instinctively.
“That’s right, he’s a human.” Lu Qi’s rule is, “[a human is a human, a dog is a dog], that is to say, a human and a dog cannot transform into each other. But he…”
“So, the rules are wrong,” Lulu suddenly interjected.
Lu Qi looked at him, while Lulu's eyes were wary as she looked at the manual. "We don't know who put these things here, so there's no need to listen to them."
The group suddenly snapped out of their daze, realizing they were actually seriously analyzing these nonsensical manuals.
"Maybe it's just a prank," Huang Zhenyi hesitated.
"It's changed!" Tian Miaoying exclaimed.
As they were speaking, writing suddenly appeared on the blank pages of Lü Shi'an and Huang Zhenyi's handbook, which read:
[Secondly, dogs are loyal companions to humans. If you have a dog in your car, please do not scold or chase them away.]
[Thirdly, a person is a person, and a dog is a dog. Dogs with owners have collars; dogs without collars are stray or wild dogs.]
"Added? Is this an e-book?"
"It doesn't look like it at all. What e-reader is 1 millimeter thick?"
"Then why are the words jumping around!" Tian Miaoying rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. "Oh no, have we entered a strange world...?"
Lu Qi flipped through the booklet, muttering to himself, "Looks like something out of a tale of strange rules?"
"What are you talking about?"
Huang Zhenyi immediately chimed in: "Rules of the Unusual! A horror genre where people need to follow the correct rules to survive."
Huang Zhenyi never expected that the quiet and aloof Dr. Lu would also be interested in these things.
It's not easy to meet someone with the same interests in real life, and he was immediately thrilled by the feeling of mutual appreciation: "Sister Lu, I didn't know you also love reading online novels."
Lu Qi was taken aback, then shook his head. "I don't read novels much, but I'm a little interested in ghosts and supernatural tales."
Tian Miaoying asked in surprise, "Sister, you're still interested in this kind of thing?"
"Hmm... I've done some haphazard research before, but I've never witnessed it firsthand. If it really is a strange tale of rules, then it's too unrealistic..." She pondered and frowned. "The situation is unclear right now. Before we can verify whether the rules are good or bad, let's be careful."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Huang Zhenyi raised his hand. "Of all the strange rule stories I've read, there's not one without flawed rules. Sooner or later, there will be a pitfall here. If you completely believe it, you'll die a terrible death."
“It’s never wrong to question, but we can’t condemn everything outright.” Lu Shi’an pondered, “These rules aren’t necessarily right or wrong. Is it possible that some of these rules are right and some are wrong? For example, the rule [do not scold or drive away pet dogs in the car] is very likely to be correct.”
He recounted the events of the day, "Do you remember the scene when that man mutated? He was about to drive away, but then he got out of the car, opened the back door, and leaned his upper body into the car—what was he doing in that position?"
Tian Miaoying gasped, "That's right! He turned into a dog's head after he came out, and it was a dog's head with a collar. Could it be that there was a pet dog sitting on the back of his seat at the time, and he chased it away..."
The group exchanged glances.
Lu Shi'an made the final decision, "The rules in Miao Ying's room are very likely correct. As for Xiao Lu and the others' rule—"
“The first part has almost been proven wrong,” Lu Qi thought. “The man had clearly turned into a non-human monster, so a person could turn into a dog. The second part also seems to have a logical flaw.”
"A vulnerability?" Lulu asked.
“[Dogs with owners have collars, and dogs without collars are stray dogs or wild dogs],” Lu Qi pondered. “Leaving aside wild dogs for now, the broad definition of ‘stray cats’ and ‘stray dogs’ is ‘abandoned dogs and cats’.”
"Assuming the dog has a collar, is it necessary for the owner to specifically remove the collar when abandoning the dog?"
People with a tendency to abandon their pets rarely leave their contact information on the collar.
Since the collar doesn't record your information, there's no need to specifically remove it, throw it in the trash, and then find another place to dispose of the dog.
Lu Qi said softly, "It's not like it's garbage that needs to be sorted. One time is enough to throw it away."
Lulu's eyes darkened slightly.
He shook his head, trying his best to calm himself down.
Tian Miaoying suddenly realized, "Yes, there are so many cats and dogs that get lost at the entrance of our hospital, leaving behind their collars. Some people not only leave the collars, but also leave all their pet supplies next to them."
"So not all pet dogs wear collars, and stray dogs and wild dogs may also wear collars?"
Lu Qi turned to Lulu and asked for her opinion, "Logically speaking, the rules in our room shouldn't be entirely correct, what do you think?"
Lulu lowered her eyes slightly. "Yes, I think so too."
Lu Qi had some doubts.
She noticed almost immediately that Lulu was in low spirits.
for what?
“Then that’s the rule left for your room,” Tian Miaoying said. “I feel it’s the most crucial rule.”
[Please do not enter other people's rooms or leave the hotel between 22:30 and 05:00 the next day.]
Lu Shi'an glanced at his phone, his expression changing slightly. "It's already 10:15."
Lulu took Lu Qi's hand and led her outside, saying, "Let's go home quickly."
“Wait a minute,” Lu Qi said, “we need to notify the others.”
Huang Zhenyi shrank back. "But what if it's fake? Then we'll have harmed everyone."
"What if it's true?"
“It’s too late,” Lu Shi’an said. “We don’t have a group chat for hotel guests, and the soundproofing here is terrible. Are we supposed to knock on each door to notify them?”
Lu Qi looked at the landline in the room.
She walked over, but Lulu stopped her.
“It’s very late,” he stared at her, his expression more serious than ever before. “It’s dangerous outside, Lu Qi. You have to come back with me.”
“It’ll be quick.” Lu Qi used her other hand to make him let go of her. “I’ll just make a call and see. If it doesn’t work, we’ll leave.”
Lulu still refused to let go.
“It won’t take too long,” Lu Qi reassured her, “two minutes.”
Her tone was gentle yet decisive. Lulu pursed her lips, and after a moment, she loosened her grip slightly.
Lu Qi picked up the phone and dialed the front desk.
A gentle female voice came through the receiver: "Hello, this is the front desk of the Fivana Hotel. How can I help you?"
Lu Qi said, "Hello, I am a tenant in room 2602. I would like to ask if your control room could make an announcement for me?"
"Sorry, guests are not authorized to use the hotel's public address system."
"Why?" This doesn't make sense. "If a child or an elderly person gets lost, can't you help me broadcast a message to find them?"
There was a pause on the other end, followed by a message: "Do you need to find someone? Please provide the missing person's information, and we will broadcast a search for them."
This response is somewhat like an AI customer service representative, offering irrelevant answers and crudely extracting keywords.
The front desk staff aren't just like AI at this moment; when faced with excited guests, they only use the same few sets of scripts over and over again.
Lu Qi hesitated for a moment, then tentatively said, "Well... then could you please make an announcement to find someone for me?"
"Okay, please provide the other party's information, describing it in as much detail as possible."
“Okay, please broadcast what I have to say in full.” Lu Qi said slowly, word by word, to make sure the front desk could record it. “My child is lost. His name is ‘All Guests.’ I got separated from him in the ‘Hotel Room Check-in Handbook’.”
"There was a sign nearby that said, 'From 10:30 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., you are not allowed to enter other people's rooms or leave the hotel.' If anyone sees him, please let him think carefully about whether he wants to go back to his own room immediately."
"Okay, I've written it down. I'll broadcast it to you now. Please wait patiently."
This absurd broadcast was quickly aired, and a friendly female voice echoed throughout the hotel:
"The following is a missing person announcement: Attention everyone, attention everyone, your mother is looking for you."
"If you see a lost child near the 'Check-in Handbook' in your hotel room and the sign that reads 'You cannot enter other people's rooms or leave the hotel between 10:30 pm and 5:00 am,' please inform him to think carefully about whether he should return to his room immediately or take him to the lobby on the first floor."
"What kind of nonsense is this?" Tian Miaoying couldn't bear to listen anymore.
“The more chaotic it is, the better,” Lu Qi said. “With such chaotic notifications, people won’t blindly follow orders and will have their own thoughts. We share the intelligence, and what they do is none of our business.”
“That makes sense,” Lu Shi’an agreed. “When people see a left-turn sign, they will turn left without hesitation. But if the sign is for going straight or turning left, people will stay on the sign for 0.2 to 1 second longer. The more complex the sign, the deeper people think and the more cautious they become.”
"Let's not talk about others, should we follow it ourselves? What if the rule is reversed..." Huang Zhenyi was still not quite sure.
“Nighttime is not safe for any creature,” Lulu asserted. “There’s nothing wrong with that rule, and it should be followed.”
“But…” Huang Zhenyi was still hesitating when Lulu grabbed Lu Qi’s wrist. “It’s too late, let’s go, Lu Qi!”
Lu Qi stopped dwelling on it and gestured to Tian Miaoying, "The chances of it being right or wrong are fifty-fifty. We can't verify it right now. I'm going back to my room to find something to protect myself."
Logically speaking, the best approach would be to gather everyone in the hotel together.
However, they had no other people's contact information. In such a short time, they could neither contact everyone nor guarantee that they would be able to persuade most people to stay with them.
Time is of the essence; we have no choice but to take a gamble.
Tian Miaoying gritted her teeth and chose to believe Lu Qi and Lulu.
Lulu grabbed Lu Qi, and Tian Miaoying followed behind Lu Qi. The three of them ran towards the elevator.
As the elevator ascended, Lulu kept checking the time.
Lulu had remained remarkably calm since the dog-headed man's transformation began, so Lu Qi found it rather strange to see him so agitated now.
She tried to ease his anxiety, "Didn't you say you didn't care about anything when you were with me? What's wrong now?"
Lulu gave her a resentful look, then nervously lifted her heels and lightly stepped back and forth on the elevator.
There was actually plenty of time; we had seven minutes left when we arrived at the 26th floor.
The three parted ways at the door. Lu Qi instructed Tian Miaoying, "Guard the door and stay with Professor Meng."
Tian Miaoying nodded: "Sister Lu, you guys be careful too."
Lulu had already opened the door, pacing back and forth, looking at Lu Qi with slight anxiety, silently urging him to come back quickly.
Lu Qi went into the room, and Lulu immediately closed the door tightly and locked it completely.
She was puzzled. "You seem particularly concerned about this rule?"
Lulu readily admitted, "I think it's the most useful rule."
That certainly seems to be the case.
Compared to the dog-related terms and conditions that she and Tian Miaoying obtained, this rule is concise and directly related to the tenants.
"Do you really think we need to follow those rules?" Lu Qi asked skeptically. "Could it be that we're overthinking it, or maybe this is just a prank show that copied the structure of 'Rules of the Past'?"
Although she insisted on sharing information from below, then again, do ghosts and monsters really exist in this world?
Rules of the supernatural are just a fantasy genre; can they really happen in the real world?
Lu Qi had tried it too many times, and she knew very well that there were no ghosts or wandering souls in this world; death was the end, and nothing else would come into being.
To put it another way, assuming that strange things really do exist in this world, she would prefer to accept situations like those in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, rather than the more recent trend of rule-based supernatural tales and the Fury Beastmen.
A ghost story featuring a dog named Furry—this even feels too modern and fantastical in ghost stories.
Lulu raised an eyebrow. "You think this is just a TV show?"
Lu Qi lowered her eyelids slightly, "There are no ghosts or gods in this world..."
“And, this might not be the best way to put it—but trading a cute VIP head for a middle-aged man’s head…” she hesitated, “well, it feels more like Disney than horror stories.”
Horror tales should at least feature fish heads and sheep heads.
Lulu pressed her cheek against hers. "Perhaps the owner of this ghost story hopes you like it here."
“Why should He?” Lu Qi chuckled. “Does He like me?”
“Of course,” Lulu said in a gentle, soft voice. “You are the best little girl in the world, and everyone will love you.”
“How old am I?” Lu Qi choked, “What little girl… don’t you find it cheesy?”
Lulu tilted her head.
Even after he grew up, Lu Qi would still hold him and tell him in the sweetest voice that he was the best puppy in the world and that everyone would love him.
Lulu didn't find it cheesy; he didn't even call her "little girl baby."
Lu Qi was both amused and exasperated by him. She nudged Lulu and looked at the manual on the coffee table.
After she shared the information with Tian Miaoying, Lü Shian and Huang Zhenyi changed their manuals.
She walked over, opened the book containing her own and Lulu's stories, and sure enough, things had changed.
On the second and third pages, Lu Shi'an and Tian Miaoying's rules appeared. Lu Qi turned to the next page and was suddenly startled.
Page four is not blank; new content has appeared:
[IV. The hotel's public address system is used to announce important notices and is centrally controlled and managed. Guests are not permitted to use the hotel's public address system except to locate missing persons.]
Lu Qi's eyes shifted slightly.
If this is truly a world of ghost stories, then the rules are extremely important; we need to find a way to collect the rules from the other rooms.
As they were contemplating tomorrow's actions, a strange alarm suddenly blared throughout the hotel.
The sound wasn't shrill; as a veterinarian, Lu Qi recognized it immediately—it was the alarm from the heart monitor when the heart stopped beating.
The calm, sustained note, like a straight, thin line, traveled through the entire hotel.
Lu Qi suddenly turned around and looked at the wall clock:
22:30
Suddenly, her waist tightened as Lulu grabbed her and pulled her into her arms.
He held her tightly from behind, his arms pressed against the back of her neck, his breathing heavy, and all the muscles in his body tense.
"Xiao Lu?" Lu Qi asked in surprise, wanting to turn around and look at him.
He buried his face in Lu Qi's neck, hiding his face from her, and whispered hoarsely, "Lu Qi, let me hug you, let me hug you..."
Lu Qi was about to ask him what was wrong when she suddenly heard a scream.
The sound came from outside the window. She patted Lulu and went to the French windows to check.
Lulu continued to circle around her, following closely, like a male penguin carrying its baby in its pouch as it walks.
Lu Qi walked to the French windows. Outside, the lights were dazzling, and she wondered if it was just her imagination, but the streetlights seemed even brighter.
Hundreds and thousands of lights illuminated the night, making it as bright as day.
Apart from the distant sea, there was almost no darkness in sight.
Under such dazzling light, Lu Qi was able to clearly see the situation downstairs.
dog.
Huge, nearly human-sized dogs gathered in front of the hotel entrance.
Even when viewed from the 26th floor, their shapes are terrifyingly large.
A dozen or so giant dogs were lowering their heads and tearing at something on the ground.
The piercing screams were incessant, indistinguishable as male or female, and there was definitely more than one voice.
The giant dogs were too big, blocking Lu Qi's view. He couldn't see the whole scene below, nor could he see if they had collars around their necks.
In a fleeting glance, she saw a hand reaching out from the giant dog's thick fur.
It's a human hand!
The white forearm stands out conspicuously and looks out of place against the gray-black dog fur.
Is it a recording? Or a prop?
Lu Qi's pupils contracted sharply. His hand clenched in mid-air with difficulty, his fingers flexing and extending, but he failed to grasp at any lifeline. Instead, the giant dog nearby bit off his hand.
The hand disappeared into the pack of dogs, leaving only a small section of the forearm. Soon, that half of the forearm was also devoured by the dogs.
Twenty-six floors away, one shouldn't have been able to hear anything. The shock of the scene was so horrific that it stimulated the brain. The sticky chewing sounds and the heavy breathing and growling of the large dog made Lu Qi feel as if he were there, experiencing the fear of being torn apart and devoured alive.
After about two minutes, the giant dogs that had gathered together dispersed a little.
They didn't leave completely; they tilted their noses up and looked around for something.
After sniffing for a while, the giant dogs lowered their heads, flicked their tails, and then their enormous bodies melted like mud and merged into the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the pack of dogs turned into mud and water.
The white marble floor in front of the hotel absorbed them.
Under the soft glow of the lights, the small square in front of the hotel was empty. There were no dogs, no people, no corpses, only some scraps of cloth, stained with blood, stuck to the floor.
"Don't go out." A hoarse breath sprayed onto the back of Lu Qi's neck, making her shudder. Her hair stood on end as she touched something cold and slippery.
Lulu licked the back of her neck where the hairs were standing on end, as if soothing a frightened puppy.
“It’s dangerous at night,” he whispered in her ear, warning her, “You must not go out, sweetheart, you must be good.”
-----------------------
Author's Note: Second update complete √
[A ghost story featuring a dog named Fury—even in ghost stories, this feels too modern and fantastical.]
The puppy loves you; the puppy turned the strange rules into the Fury Theme Park.
Lu Qi: Baby, you are a fluffy angel, the cutest and most amazing little dog in the world. Your fur is as beautiful as gold, and your smile is as sweet as chocolate. Everyone loves you, and we will be together forever~
Lulu: Woof!
-
Lulu: You are a cute little girl, everyone likes you.
Lu Qi: ...You're an adult, how could you say such things? Don't you feel ashamed? Stop saying such cheesy and greasy pickup lines.
Lulu: ?
[Swallow's Quick Guide to Humanity]
Lulu: She often says I'm the best puppy in the world. How should I praise her back?
Swallow: How do you want to praise me?
Lulu: "You are the best little person in the world," is that what you're saying?
Hmm... isn't "小人" ambiguous? Shouldn't it be "You are the best little woman in the world"?
Swallow: ...There's nothing wrong with it, but something's not right.
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