Translator: Cinder Translations
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The name seems quite safe.
"Ahem..." The old man coughed violently a few times, so much so that Fatty worried he might cough up a lung.
Limping to the table, the old man fumbled to open a drawer, then grabbed something and slammed it onto the table with a clatter.
"Divide them among yourselves. There are only so many rooms, so make do with what's available. After all, the price is what it is," the old man said brusquely between coughs.
He leaned on his cane and awkwardly stepped aside.
On the glass tabletop were more than a dozen keys, looking very old, likely matching equally ancient locks.
Each key had a piece of white tape on the back, with a ballpoint pen scribbling the room number.
Picking up a key, Liu Guo frowned and asked, "What does this mean?"
The tape on the back of the key read 2803.
But no matter how you looked at it, the apartment building they were in didn't seem to have 28 floors.
The old man, holding a large teacup with one hand, swept his single eye over Liu Guo's face and rasped, "It's Room 803 in Building 2."
"Building 2?" Fatty asked in surprise.
The old man's single eye narrowed slightly, a glint flashing within. "Peace Apartments has three buildings: 1, 2, and 3," he said, pausing before adding with a twist of his ugly lips, "You'll be staying separately."
Banana Wolf pursed his lips and, looking at the old man, tentatively asked, "We're all friends here, very close. Could you possibly let us..."
"No," the old man interrupted impatiently before he could finish. "There are no empty rooms. Take it or leave it."
Naturally, no one wanted to argue with an NPC whose nature was unclear—whether human or ghost. They quickly divided the keys, but that's when the problem arose.
"Old man," Wei Jinting asked sideways, "why are there only 11 keys?"
"Hiss—ha—" The old man took a sip of hot tea from his large cup and, without looking up, said, "If there aren't enough, go find more in the drawer."
This was clearly not a good option, and no one moved. At this point, everyone except the man named Wu held a key.
Even those near him instinctively kept their distance, as if worried he might snatch one.
Wu walked over, took a key from the drawer, and then returned, his half-visible face calm as if nothing had happened.
Chu Jiu secretly glanced at his face, but he wore a hat pulled low, with bangs covering his eyes.
"Is there anything else we need to know?" Chen Yi asked before leaving, posing a crucial question. "Like whether we can leave our rooms, the range of activity..."
"That's up to you," the old man chuckled darkly. "But I suggest you don't wander around at night."
"Will something bad happen at night?" Yu Lan asked nervously, swallowing hard.
"Tap!"
"Tap!"
Almost instantly, the old man, leaning on his cane, stepped close to Yu Lan, his ugly face pressing near, a single eye filled with malice.
"Who?" the old man hissed lowly. "Who told you that something bad happens at Peace Apartments?! Who?!"
Yu Lan was stunned, nearly collapsing to the ground in fear. No one expected the old man to react so violently.
"N-no one," Yu Lan stammered, on the verge of tears. "No one..."
"It's all rumors!"
"Rumors!!"
"Those damned bitches!"
The old man's expression was exaggerated, his eye seemingly about to burst, with faint blood vessels appearing.
Seeing this, Liu Guo, Banana Wolf, and the others quickly pulled Yu Lan away, and the group hurriedly left the old man's room, running down the hallway back to their previous spot.
"Are you okay?" Chu Jiu comforted.
Yu Lan was gasping for breath, taking a while to calm down before thanking everyone.
Rubbing the key in his hand, Lu Huaxu, wearing black stockings, said, "I'm in Building 3. This is Building 1. Who's coming with me to Building 3?"
Not far from the lobby was an elevator, with a clear blue sign next to it indicating "1."
This was Building 1.
"Me."
"And me."
A few stepped forward, their keys starting with a "3." Wu, who had taken the last key, also stepped out.
Jiang Cheng and Fatty were in Building 1, so they stayed put.
Outside, the sky was gradually darkening. Those assigned to Buildings 2 and 3 said their goodbyes and left, not wanting to risk what might happen once it was fully dark.
From the old man's reaction, it was clear that Peace Apartments were anything but peaceful.
Fatty turned to say something to the doctor, only to find the doctor hiding behind him, silent and docile, as if a different person.
Curious, he glanced around. Three meters away stood Chu Jiu, who looked like a student, next to a tall, upright woman.
Behind black-framed glasses, the woman's gaze was cool, directed at Fatty.
After a moment—
"Have we... met before?" the woman named Chen Yi asked.
Fatty was taken aback. "We?" He looked at Chen Yi and replied, "No, I don't think so."
"Not you. I mean the one behind you."
"No!" Jiang Cheng immediately denied. "Miss, we've never met. If I seem familiar, perhaps we've connected on a spiritual level."
Chen Yi: "...Stop squinting and look at me properly when you talk."
Jiang Cheng licked his lips, his cross-eyes slowly returning to normal.
"It is you!" Chen Yi's gaze turned fierce.
"No, no, no," Jiang Cheng quickly waved his hands. "It's not me."
Fatty rarely saw the doctor so flustered in front of a woman and couldn't help but wonder about their history. It seemed there was quite a story.
Fate indeed!
"Last time at the Orchid Butterfly, you dared to trick me!" Chen Yi seemed to forget they were in a nightmare, instinctively reaching for her waist as if to grab her gear.
But she found nothing—handcuffs and such couldn't be brought into the nightmare.
After this back-and-forth, Fatty roughly understood.
Apparently, Chen Yi had been leading a vice squad when, during a chase, she got separated from her team and accidentally stumbled into a very discreet, high-end private room. Before she could draw her weapon, she found the situation already under control.
A line of disheveled men and women were crouched in the corner, being lectured by someone in a police uniform.
Seeing someone burst in, the person in uniform told Chen Yi to keep an eye on the suspects while they went to call for backup.
It was dark, and with multiple police units involved, Chen Yi assumed the person was from another team.
She agreed without question.
But after waiting and waiting, no backup arrived. Instead, she got a call from her captain asking where she was—they were ready to wrap up with the suspects in custody.
(End of the Chapter)
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