"What's going on?"
Tongguan and Chang Nian, unfamiliar with the situation in Branch Seven, asked as they ran.
Ji Li didn't look back, answering quietly:
"There are four ghosts in the hotel. A few days ago, we discovered outside ghosts trying to collude with the ones inside. That's why extra surveillance was set up on the second floor just now."
Tongguan felt a chill. He had never experienced outside ghosts linking with those inside, nor even encountered any beyond the hotel tasks. This was far beyond his expectations.
When Ji Li reached the second floor, the dark corridor was silent. The ghostly tenants made no sound.
Because of the iron plates covering the windows, the broken shards of glass had scattered outside. At least on the surface, the second floor looked as though nothing had happened.
After searching for a while and finding no abnormalities, Ji Li lifted his head and asked the air:
"Hotel, did you see anything happen?"
**I'm sorry, Mr. Ji Li.**
**There is nothing unusual inside. The disturbance came from outside, beyond my authority to observe.**
The sweet female voice was the hotel's will—it could not lie.
Still, Ji Li sensed something strange. It was as if something intangible had shifted, inside and out. He couldn't identify it, only endure it.
And when the hidden plot finally surfaced, the price would be many times more brutal.
"Why hasn't the new task arrived?"
Tongguan was growing restless. Since arriving at Branch Seven, it seemed all his experience was useless.
First, although three newcomers were supposed to arrive together, Li Xing had appeared two minutes later.
Now the task was inexplicably delayed, contradicting the six previous missions he'd lived through.
And then came the revelation that Branch Seven even had outside ghosts lurking at its windows, ready to collude with the tenants inside.
He turned slowly, fixing Ji Li with his star-bright eyes and said softly:
"I feel like something's wrong with this task…"
Ji Li lifted his head and met his gaze. Then he glanced around. "Where's Li Xing?"
Yu Guo poked his head out. "Downstairs!"
When they rushed down, Li Xing was bent over the memorial portraits with a magnifying glass, acting strangely.
Tongguan tightened his grip on Chang Nian's hand and whispered, "Do you see anything unusual about him?"
She flicked her ponytail, her delicate face drawn in thought. After a pause, she replied:
"Utterly ordinary. Nothing special.
I know what you're suspecting. But for now, he hasn't done anything unreasonable."
Tongguan fell silent, murmuring under his breath:
"Li Xing arrived late. The task email is late. There might be some connection.
Unlikely… but not impossible."
Meanwhile, Ji Li was whispering with Fang Shenyan.
"Li Xing came almost three minutes later than Tongguan and his wife. He must have some special trait, but I can't see through it."
Fang adjusted his glasses, the reflective lenses concealing his expression.
Ji Li nodded.
"The task email should've been issued two hours ago. But it hasn't.
I suspect the hotel is waiting for something."
Though far apart, both Ji Li and Tongguan's suspicions converged on the same point.
Li Xing and the delayed task email—there was likely a connection.
The difference was, Ji Li leaned toward the hotel being the cause, while Tongguan focused on Li Xing himself.
"In that case…" Yu Guo muttered, leaning back lazily in his chair.
Ji Li turned, grabbed his hotel phone from the table—and froze.
He had picked it up with his right hand this time. Yet, inexplicably, the pinky of his left hand twitched.
Suspicion flickered in his eyes. He glanced at his left hand. It lay still and obedient.
On the table, six phones belonging to the six staff were lined neatly. Ji Li shook his head, striding quickly toward Tongguan.
Tongguan and Chang Nian returned to the solid wood table at the same moment.
When they met, both spoke in unison:
"No need to wait any longer!"
Ji Li nodded without surprise; he had long suspected Tongguan was extraordinary.
Someone who could lead staff to upgrade the branch to Two Stars unscathed clearly surpassed Ji Li's own ability.
Tongguan said quietly, "We can only wait and see."
Ji Li turned to Fang Shenyan and Yu Guo: "Return to your rooms and rest. Prepare for the next task."
...
All afternoon, every staff stayed in their rooms, ready for the new mission.
Ji Li was communicating with his other two personas about the strange developments;
Fang Shenyan moved a chair to sit before his door and closed his eyes to rest;
Yu Guo still clutched his streaming phone, arguing with the platform about unbanning his account.
Tongguan and Chang Nian's situation was more complicated—they were arguing.
Chang Nian's temper was fiery, the opposite of her delicate appearance; she was loudly scolding Tongguan. Tongguan, clear-headed but blunt, would ignite just as quickly.
The couple quarreled almost daily.
Everyone was busy. In the farthest room on the third floor, Li Xing was the same.
He had the curtains drawn and the lights off.
Li Xing sat at the desk, his face lit by the cold glow of a computer screen, flickering. His once-lively features looked stiff and rigid, but his fingers were unusually nimble, tapping out lines of black text on the hotel-issued phone.
"It's coming… it's coming…"
Li Xing's expression had slipped into madness; with each keystroke, the strange light in his eyes grew brighter.
At one moment, his pupils even flushed red.
After typing the final character, Li Xing seemed to lose all strength. He slumped back, head falling against the chair, half-asleep, motionless.
*Ding dong!*
The faintly glowing phone lit up with a message as he relaxed:
Recipient: **Acting Manager Ji Li, Tianhai Hotel Branch Seven**
*Starting October 26, 2015, at exactly 10:00 p.m., duration 12 hours.*
*Upon discovering this…*
But the message vanished before the content could fully display, immediately replaced by a new message that overlaid it:
Recipient: **Acting Manager Ji Li, Tianhai Hotel Branch Seven**
*Please arrive at Broad Valley Commercial Building in this city at 10:00 p.m. on October 26, 2015.*
*Do your utmost to protect the 43 current workers inside the building and prevent them from being killed by ghosts.*
*Time limit: six hours. Do not leave the building during this period.*
*If protection mission is not completed within six hours, I will lift the restrictions on the ghosts and everyone will be killed without exception.*
You can read Eerie Overseer ahead by 30+ chapters ad-free and for free at htt ps://ravenarchives. com/book/eerie-overseer]. Bulk uploads are a bit tricky, so updates here might be irregular, but they'll keep coming.