The glass in the window was blurry, and the light from outside struggled to get in, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in the room.
The three stood in the room, looking at each other, a sense of foreboding spreading through their hearts.
"Mother, this hotel smells terrible, shall we go to another one?" Ma Lihua said with a look of disgust, her brows furrowed tightly, her small nose twitching slightly, as if the stench was trying to force its way into her nostrils.
This made her particularly unhappy.
Ma Linghua looked around, a hint of hesitation on her face.
They were exhausted from their journey, and there seemed to be no other place to stay nearby.
“Pear Blossom, do you think your mother doesn’t want to move? Look around here, is there anywhere else we can live?” Ma Hehua’s voice was tinged with helplessness.
In the hotel lobby, the dim yellow lights flickered as if they would go out completely at any moment.
The stench seemed to come alive, spreading from every corner, intertwining and swirling in the air.
Ma Lihua covered her nose, her eyes filled with reluctance. Her gaze fell on the wall, where most of the plaster had peeled off, revealing the blackened wall underneath, as if it had been corroded by something.
"But Mom, this smells awful! I feel like I'm going to get sick if I stay here any longer!"
Ma Lihua stamped her small feet, about to speak, when the innkeeper's hoarse voice, like a broken bellows, came over: "Gentlemen, don't be picky. This is the only inn for miles around. If you don't stay here, you'll have to sleep on the street."
The boss's deep-set eyes gleamed with an eerie light, appearing particularly sinister in the dim light.
As he spoke, he kept rubbing the badly worn countertop with his withered fingers.
Ma Lihua couldn't help but shiver and moved closer to Ma Linghua.
Ma Linghua sighed, patted Ma Lihua on the shoulder, and said, "Alright, Lihua, let's just make do here for tonight. We'll look for another place tomorrow."
Although Ma Lihua was unwilling, she knew she had no other choice. She could only pout and carefully follow Ma Linghua toward the room that reeked of decay. With each step she took, her disgust grew.
"Cough cough cough..."
Ma Lihua lay weakly on Ma Hehua's back, her delicate coughs sounding particularly clear in the gloomy environment.
Ma Hehua held Ma Lihua tightly, her eyes filled with worry.
“Tomorrow, there will be a chance for the nine stars to align. Lotus, you are not allowed to go anywhere tonight. He is coming.” Ma Linghua’s voice was low and serious.
"What's here?"
Ma Hehua pressed on with curiosity, her determination to get to the bottom of things showing no sign of waning.
"The owner of this hotel is the 'Five-Step Snake,' a ruthless man from western Hunan."
Ma Linghua spoke slowly, a serious expression on her face.
Back then, Ma Linghua's encounter with the five-step snake was a truly thrilling scene.
The old man, though unremarkable in appearance, was full of tricks.
His body was hunched over, yet he moved with the agility of a ghost. His eyes were as deep as an icy pool, revealing a chilling ruthlessness.
When they first met, the five-step snake slowly emerged from a dark corner, toying with a strange bone necklace in its hand.
The necklace made a "click-clack" sound in his hand, as if it were a prelude to death.
He wore a half-smile on his face and muttered some incantations that no one else could understand.
The surrounding air instantly turned icy cold, as if countless invisible hands were pulling at people.
The figure of the five-step snake appeared and disappeared intermittently, sometimes appearing to Ma Linghua's left and sometimes flashing to her right. A dagger gleaming with an eerie light appeared in his hand, slicing through the air with a sharp whistling sound.
Ma Linghua was also on high alert, tightly gripping her ritual implements in her hands.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, her eyes fixed intently on the five-step snake's every move. The auras around the two collided, creating visible ripples.
The five-step snake would occasionally let out a strange laugh, the laughter echoing in the empty space like a summons from hell, each note striking at Ma Linghua's taut nerves.
This is the kind of scoundrel that everyone in later generations would fear. It's hard to know whether encountering him is a good thing or a bad thing.
What, are you all afraid of me?
A hoarse, low voice rang out.
“It’s broad daylight, and you suddenly did that. We were all scared!” Ma Linghua said, staring at him.
The hoarse, deep voice of the five-step snake echoed in the air, like a summons from hell. Its figure appeared and disappeared in the light and shadow, like a fleeting ghost.
His face wore a seemingly kind smile, but that smile was like a frozen lake in winter, seemingly calm, but actually concealing a hidden secret.
Those eyes were long and deep, like two bottomless pools of black water, and the occasional flash of cold light could freeze a person's heart instantly.
The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes looked as if they had been carved by the years, and each line seemed to hold an untold story.
The Five-Step Snake's clothing appears casual, yet it exudes an eerie aura.
A tattered black robe was loosely draped over his body, stained with some unknown dirt and torn in several places, revealing equally tattered clothes underneath.
A rough hemp rope was tied around his waist, with some strange little objects hanging from it, some of which looked like animal teeth and others like ancient rune carvings.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com