Chapter 42 Mad Dog Hotel
Lu Qi walked on, lost in thought.
She saw the traffic light; it was red, so she stopped.
Pedestrians gathered around her.
A young girl, hands in her down jacket pockets, asks her boyfriend what time the movie starts; a college student pulling a suitcase wears headphones and scrolls through his phone; a grandfather leads a child by the hand, carrying a chicken.
She could see and hear, but the whole world was covered in a layer of white paste, blurry and hazy.
The green light came on, and they crossed the road. Lu Qi also started walking slowly forward.
She didn't know where she was going; she just saw the road and walked forward, stopping whenever she saw a traffic light.
She had been walking for a long time, and had even taken a bus once along the way.
For no particular reason, the bus stopped in front of her, the doors opened, and she got on.
After getting off at the terminal station and passing through the traffic light, Lu Qi stared blankly at the intersection in front of him.
It looks somewhat familiar.
Where is this?
Where is she going?
What happened to her...?
Bang--
She heard someone shout, "Hey, are you alright? Wake up, wake up!"
"Are you alright, young lady? Someone call an ambulance!"
The white paste brushed onto the world grew thicker and thicker until it was completely white, like a heavy wall covering her consciousness.
She could see nothing and felt nothing.
...
As a water retriever, this was Lulu's first time entering natural waters.
During Lulu's paralysis treatment, when she was still unable to walk very well, Lu Qi bought an inflatable swimming pool.
She would find a warm day, unfold the swimming pool under the big sycamore tree behind the apartment building, and swim in it.
Lulu only swam for two months before the small pool became too small for her to swim in, and she even had difficulty turning around.
When Lu Qi put the swimming pool back into the closet for the last time, she gently said to it, "Wait a little longer, Lulu. In two years, after your virus is cleared up and I can take my driver's license test, we'll go to the swimming pool in the city every week."
Lulu is really looking forward to it.
Because of this sentence, when Lulu saw the promotional material for the indoor swimming pool in the training hotel, she felt a strong sense of belonging:
He wants to take over this place; it should be his and Lu Qi's home.
A little after three o'clock, Lulu returned to shore carrying a bucket of water.
He passed by the plum blossoms again.
Yesterday, around this time, Lu Qi stood on the flower path, the sparse, slanting shadows of the flowers illuminating her.
Plum blossoms surrounded her, and when she looked up at him with eyes filled with their reflections, his figure was cast amidst the elegant and serene plum blossoms, bathed in the intoxicating afternoon winter sun.
Lulu often felt that Lu Qi's perception of him was that he was taller and more handsome than he actually was.
This is not an illusion; at its ugliest, it is emaciated, partially paralyzed, and its hair is as dry and brittle as straw.
When a puppy turns into that state, even its mother would choose to abandon it. But Lu Qi picked it up and said, "Where did this little angel come from? So cute. You've run into my home, so you can never go back to heaven. You'll stay by my side forever."
Lulu still doesn't understand why Lu Qi loved him so much.
She loved him deeply without reason or regard for cost.
He was just a dog, and could never repay even a fraction of her kindness.
Lulu felt ashamed and pained by his shallow love. He felt sorry for Lu Qi, that his love for her was far from enough, and he constantly reminded himself to love her more.
Lu Qi, Lu Qi, Lu Qi... He loves her, he wants to see her immediately.
The exhilarating feeling of swimming in the sea and the sense of accomplishment from successfully catching fish were all combined with the excitement of meeting Lu Qi.
Lulu generously applied all positive associations to Lu Qi, and attributed all the things she perceived while with Lu Qi to positive associations.
The bright spring sunshine and the birdsong and fragrant flowers are all thanks to Lu Qi's existence in this world;
The continuous rain and dampness gave Luqi a cool and refreshing fragrance;
The wind was biting cold; those were the days when he met Lu Qi, the most dreamlike and miraculous time of his life.
The world exists because of Luqi, and Lulu can't wait to see her and present the fish to her.
He stepped happily into the hotel, returning to his and her home.
The moment Lulu stepped into the hotel, a familiar scent filled her nostrils.
It smelled like Lu Qi during her heat, a hundred times stronger than usual.
Lulu was stunned for a moment.
He handed the fish to the front desk and followed the sweet, bloody scent deeper into the area.
He stopped outside the control room.
"Lu Qi?" Through the half-open door, Lulu was suddenly filled with fear. He felt a chill for no reason, and the wounds that had been hurting him constantly since his death flared up at the same time, bursting out with intense pain as if in resonance.
He called out again in a weak voice, "Lu Qi, are you in there?"
"Lu Qi?"
There was no response.
The security guard glanced at Lulu, then blankly looked away.
Lulu composed herself, took a step forward, and gently pushed open the door.
In an instant, the stench of blood, almost tangible, mixed with the bittersweet smell of chocolate, rushed into Lulu's nostrils.
He stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the female corpse on the ground.
Her face was covered in blood, and she lay curled up on her side on the ground, her dilated pupils facing the door, directly in Lulu's direction, with empty chocolate cups and half-eaten chocolate bars scattered around her.
The rich, oily smell of chocolate washed over Lulu's vomeronasal organs.
He stared into the eyes of the unseeing female corpse, her pale, blood-stained face bearing the marks of her death.
Lu Qi is dead.
She would rather commit suicide than stay in the home he had prepared for her.
The setting sun shone on the cold corpse, and the young man's golden eyelashes trembled.
Two streaks of bloody tears crawled from his dark, unblemished eyes, leaving black and red cracks on his handsome and noble face.
His hind limbs suddenly lost their strength, and his knees slammed onto the floor.
Lulu lowered her head, clutching her hair with both hands, her eyes unfocused as she stared at the bloodstains spreading across the tiles.
Lu Qi, Lu Qi Lu Qi Lu Qi Lu Qi Lu Qi Lu Qi... Lu Qi!
sieve--
Outside the hotel, a strong wind swirled fallen leaves.
A sudden strong wind blew in thick clouds, obscuring the sky and darkening the daylight to the point of darkness. But it was daytime, so there were no lights.
Lulu grabbed the roots of her hair and ripped out dozens of strands.
His blond hair fell to the ground in a flurry, and he mechanically trembled as he plucked it out again and again.
He tried to calm himself down, but even tearing his scalp off, Lulu couldn't find any relief.
Plucking hair is painless and doesn't relieve the immense pressure. Long, slender fingers flick out sharp nails, which pierce into the cracks in the skull, scratching directly at the brain inside.
Calm down, calm down, relax...
Lulu knelt on the ground, rubbing her soft brain.
The crack left in the skull was too small, so he grabbed the crack with both hands and pried it outwards with force—
He broke off half of his skull, and the brain matter, pierced by his fingernails, flowed out sparsely.
Lulu looked up blankly, her cheeks covered in blood and tears.
Pain is ineffective; it cannot relieve his stress or make him feel at ease.
He saw Lu Qi's empty neck amidst the thick black blood and red and white brain matter.
ah……
With a squeeze of her fingers, Lulu crushed the piece of skull she had broken off.
He was so careless; he hadn't given Lu Qi a promise after all this time.
Lu Qi did not receive the collar, and therefore did not know that he had a home.
She felt a lack of belonging because he hadn't given her a reliable collar in time.
This discovery was like a lighthouse shining on a sea of suffering, guiding Lulu in the right direction.
Strength was slowly injected into her weak hind limbs, and Lulu stiffly got up from the ground.
He staggered toward Lu Qi's body, tilted his broken head, and stared at it for a while.
As he watched, he couldn't help but open his mouth and exhale, releasing puffs of hot white mist.
So cute!
Lu Qi's body was as beautiful and moving as an angel's.
He carefully picked her up and excitedly licked the dried blood from her face.
She was so sweet that even the bitterness of the chocolate couldn't mask the deliciousness of the blood.
Bang--!
At the entrance of the hotel, a camphor tree was broken by a hurricane.
A storm arose at sea, marking the first rainy day since the beginning of the Fivina Ghost Stories.
Holding the cold female corpse, Lulu walked out of the control room.
He stood in front of the elevator, which slowly descended from the 12th floor.
With a ding, the elevator doors opened in front of him.
A nervous couple huddled together, peering out the window. They were coming downstairs; the man was holding a baseball bat, and the woman was gripping his arm.
As soon as the door opened, the two of them went straight to Lulu, whose head was shattered.
Red and white tissue fluid mixed with brain matter flowed out of the rupture. He smiled at them, and the girl immediately screamed and frantically pressed the close button.
Lulu stepped forward and stood inside the elevator's infrared sensor.
The elevator doors that had just popped open slid to the sides, and Lulu stared at the two people inside, still holding Lu Qi in her arms.
He wanted to find a place to temporarily settle Lu Qi, but he couldn't bear to leave her on the ground.
Lulu thought for a while, and starting from her chin, a black and red vertical slit appeared in the middle of her body. Inside the slit was nothingness, except for the writhing of dark, sticky substance.
He lifted Lu Qi and placed her into the crack in his body.
The body will disappear after 24 hours.
The minor aftereffects left Lulu with extremely poor digestion; within 24 hours, he was unable to devour Lu Qi, and could at most only melt a little of her exposed skin tissue.
The couple, huddled inside the sedan chair, stared blankly at the supernatural and terrifying scene before them.
They watched helplessly as a woman was enveloped by a man's torn body, and then restored to normal.
Lulu took a deep breath, clenched her fingers, and the muscles on her forearms bulged.
The feeling of being filled with Lu Qi was wonderful; he felt one with his master, which made him feel excited, happy, satisfied, and extremely confident and powerful.
He stepped forward, raised his strong arm, grabbed the man by the neck, and slammed him to the ground.
The elevator doors closed with a loud thud inside the elevator car.
"Ah!!!" The man screamed in terror, wildly swinging his baseball bat. The bat struck Lulu, and he was sure he hit her, but the monster choking him was completely unaware and felt no pain.
He bent over, brain matter spilling from his fractured skull, his dark eyes reflecting the man's flushed, purplish face.
The girl was paralyzed with fear in the corner, staring wide-eyed at the blood-covered monster who was pressing down on her boyfriend's neck with one hand and tearing open his clothes with the other.
He straddled him, sitting on the man's kicking feet.
The shattered human head twisted and deformed, eventually manifesting as the head of a golden retriever.
It lowered its head, glanced at the man's neck, but did not attack any vital points. Instead, it opened its long mouth and bit the man's soft abdomen.
Sharp teeth pierced through the flesh, and the man immediately let out a terrible scream of pain.
The light golden dog's head swung back violently, tearing off a chunk of flesh, exposing the internal organs in the air, which throbbed softly.
Blood and flesh flew about in the small elevator car, and the sticky chewing sounds gradually drowned out the man's wails. His flailing limbs slowly turned into convulsions, and finally came to a standstill.
The girl covered her mouth, unable to make a sound.
Suddenly, a sharp alarm blared throughout the hotel.
The lights inside the elevator suddenly turned scarlet.
The elevator doors suddenly opened, and Lulu stopped moving, slowly raising her head from inside the man's abdomen.
His light blond hair was tinged pink, a small piece of liver hung from the corner of his mouth, and his long tongue licked away the blood from his nose, but could not erase the strong fishy smell.
Two security guards appeared at the door, their empty black eyes locking onto the corpse and Lulu straddling it.
The uniformed security guard brought the girl back to her senses, and she scrambled out on all fours, fleeing the murderous elevator in a panic.
Lulu turned around indifferently and met the eyes of the two security guards behind her.
He scraped the blood from his lips with his thumb and slowly licked his blood-stained arm.
This arrogant face-washing action enraged the security guard, who clearly disregarded law enforcement. Under the black smoke, the security guard transformed into a huge black dog.
Without any warning roars, having confirmed their target, the two giant dogs stood guard at the elevator door on one end and charged at Lulu on the other, pouncing on his upper body.
Unlike Lulu killing the Shiba Inu, killing a stray dog and killing a person are two different things. The former is harmless, while the latter would alert the hotel's security system.
Even the rule-makers must abide by the rules, but Lulu doesn't have time to turn people into dogs one by one.
Living people can leave the ghost stories by dying, but Lulu, who died seven years ago, cannot die again.
To leave the ghost story and find Lu Qi, one must possess the power to break the rules.
With a slight upturn at the corner of its lips, the golden retriever bared one of its canine teeth.
He turned around and faced the two black-backed birds.
He needs more power.
An angel ran to his house, and he needed the strength to keep her there.
...
"hiss……"
"Oh, you're awake?"
Before Lu Qi could even open her eyes, the intense dizziness forced her to gasp for breath.
It took her a while to finally be able to open her eyes.
The nurse had just removed the IV from the back of her hand. "How are you feeling?"
Lu Qi watched her remove the needles and asked in a hoarse voice, "What's wrong with me?"
"You collapsed on the roadside and were brought here," the nurse said. "Low blood sugar, nothing serious."
She fainted?
Feeling a little dizzy, Lu Qi subconsciously thanked them first, "I'm sorry to have troubled you."
"Lie down a little longer," the nurse said. "Press the call button if you need anything."
"OK, thanks."
Lu Qi stared blankly at the hospital ceiling.
She has low blood sugar, but she has never fainted.
Is it because I was particularly busy at work today and didn't eat much?
Lu Qi suddenly couldn't remember what she had done that day.
She thought for a while, took out her phone, and planned to look at the work group to recall.
In the latest news, Dean Lü posted the duty roster for the Chinese New Year, and the doctors and assistants all replied "received". Lu Qi also replied "received".
She had just sent the message when Dean Lü's message arrived.
"Xiao Lu, how's the training going? Are you coming back today?"
Training?
Lu Qi paused for a moment, glanced at the date on her phone, and her memories flooded back. She remembered that she had just finished a training session in the province.
She replied to Dean Lü, "I just got back."
"Can you come to work tomorrow? The hospital has been so busy these past two days while you were gone."
Lu Qi frowned. Only two days? She felt like she had been gone for a long time.
"Okay, Dean." She agreed first, and the dizziness in her head subsided considerably. Lu Qi got out of bed and prepared to go home.
After settling the medical bills at the front desk, Lu Qi went to the restroom before leaving.
As she lifted her coat, she suddenly noticed words on the inside of the garment.
There were three lines of small characters, each of which was blurred and completely illegible. Only four characters, "露" (lu), could be vaguely discerned.
Although the words were completely blurred, Lu Qi recognized that the four characters for "dew" were written with great force, as they were her own handwriting.
Why would she write on her clothes?
Lu Qi should have gone to the dry cleaners first, but seeing the three characters for "exposed" made her feel inexplicably depressed, agitated, and impatient, as if there was something important that urgently needed to be done.
This anxiety and urgency was mixed with a touch of bitterness and sadness.
dew.
What's wrong with her...?
Lu Qi left the hospital, walking along the sidewalk with her eyes down.
The cold wind tousled her hair, and her teeth chattered from the cold.
It's so cold. She remembered that just two days ago it was as hot as late spring.
Lu Qi sniffed, her nose stinging from the wind, wondering if her low mood was due to the season. Every winter, she couldn't help but think of past misfortunes.
I don’t know why, but I’m in a particularly bad mood this year. Before, I was only touched by Dr. Lü’s hand, and I couldn’t stand it, so I ran back home.
Lu Qi sighed in frustration.
What on earth is she doing...?
The weather wasn't good today; it was gloomy. By the time Lu Qi walked onto the overpass, it was already dark.
It was about to rain, and most of the vendors on the overpass had already left, with only a few still operating.
One of the streetlights at the end of the street was broken. Lu Qi walked past, paused, and turned to look back.
Under the broken streetlights, in the shadows where the two lights in front and behind failed to illuminate, stood a petite girl.
She was wearing a gray hoodie, with half her face hidden under the hood.
Lu Qi couldn't see her eyes, but he had a feeling that she was looking at him intently.
The girl clutched her pants with both hands, looking uneasy.
Lu Qi stopped and looked at the girl for a while. Finding that the girl had no intention of talking to her, she continued walking with a puzzled look and went down the overpass.
She was probably overthinking it; they didn't know each other, and the other person was probably just waiting for a friend.
Once Lu Qi's figure had completely disappeared, he slumped his shoulders, dejected and hanging his head.
She's too timid; she can't even talk to humans.
She hesitated, watching Lu Qi enter the residential area. At this distance, she could catch up at any time.
But she still didn't dare...
After struggling with the decision for a while, the girl turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared from the spot.
It was too difficult to talk to humans, so she chose to go back and work on the cracks in the barrier.
Two minutes after she disappeared, a blackish-red viscous mist appeared in mid-air, unnoticed by anyone.
Lu Qi returned to her rented apartment. Although she had only been away for two days, she had a feeling of having been away for a long time.
One of the hallway lights was broken, and in the dim light of the day, she rummaged through her bag for a long time before finally finding her keys.
Lu Qi felt like something was missing. After thinking for a long time, she realized that she hadn't entered the building alone in a long time.
Since they started dating, Xiaolu would always walk him downstairs, but she didn't see him today.
Has he already gone home?
When did they separate after returning from the hotel?
I turned the lock on the door, and the room was pitch black.
Lu Qi rubbed his hands and turned on the wall light. The moment the room was illuminated, Lu Qi froze on the spot.
Her mind went blank as she stared in shock at the new addition to the entryway—
A tall golden retriever stood at the door, facing her with its tongue lolling out and a smile.
It overlaps perfectly with the golden retriever photo in the cabinet behind it, with identical ears, eyes, and muzzle.
Lu Qi loosened her bag, walked towards it in a daze, and murmured as if in a dream: "...Lulu?"
"Woof," the beautiful golden retriever responded.
She hurried forward, wanting to touch it, yet afraid of disturbing it.
"Lulu? Lulu!" She stopped in front of the big dog. "You're back? Am I dreaming...?"
A strong, pungent stench of blood assaulted Lu Qi's nostrils, making him feel uneasy. Lulu shouldn't have such a dark and murky smell.
But its gorgeous light golden fur, elegant and soft drooping ears, and loving, moist eyes all tell you: it is her puppy, it is her Lulu.
Lu Qi squatted down wistfully, wanting to ask where it had gone and how it was doing. A myriad of emotions welled up in her heart, tangling into an indescribable bitterness.
Before she could speak, black and red slick bubbles suddenly rolled out of the golden hunting dog.
Its body was stretched and twisted until it became a blurry human shape.
The light bulb suddenly exploded, plunging the room into even deeper darkness.
Lu Qi was shocked. The next moment, a cold metal chain tightly gripped his neck.
She instinctively pulled, and her fingers touched a familiar shape.
The thing around her neck was a large dog-specific metal chain.
"Yes, I'm back, Lu Qi." A gentle, smiling voice brushed past her ear, and amidst the metallic clatter of chains, she was embraced by a strong male body.
"ah!"
Lu Qi cried out in surprise as his ear was bitten hard by teeth. As soon as he made a sound, the chain around his neck tightened.
"Shh." The beautiful voice deepened, carrying a hint of warning, "Be polite, don't shout in the apartment building."
He bit her as if to teach her a lesson, then gently licked the teeth marks on her ear. "Be good, I'll take you home right away. When we get home, you can call me whatever you want."
The streetlights in the distance shone dimly into the room.
A dim light refracted through the glass display case containing the photo albums.
Lu Qi's pupils contracted slightly as she saw herself being strangled and the young man standing behind her in the reflection of the glass.
He gripped the chain, inhaling the scent of her chained neck with rapt attention, his face flushed with excitement.
For a moment, half of the young man's face in the glass was a bloody mess, with pieces of bone and flesh falling down.
The light and shadow flickered, and in the blink of an eye, his face returned to normal, as if it were just an illusion that Lu Qi had experienced while suffocating.
-----------------------
A note from the author:
Lu Qi: You should be a dog that knows how to be considerate of others, okay?
Lulu: Okay, Lu Qi.
Then, putting himself in her shoes, he chose his favorite collar and put it on her.
——
Lu Qi after losing her memory: Help! I'm suffocating!
Lu Qi before amnesia: Don't worry, everything is under my control.
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