Chapter 32.2 ?

After a long silence, she finally said softly, “What if… it really is?”

“… Ah?”

Fang Xueqing looked over, puzzled. Xu Ming swallowed, knowing it was absurd, but still insisted,

“What if that candy-giving entity… really just wants to do good?”

She knew the idea was ridiculous, but it made sense of all the previously inexplicable things—

Why it took dozens of hours on the highway to get in, with only three people allowed at a time; why there were three rounds of circulation before entering the Butterfly Mansion, with no deadly rules set by the hotel despite having the chance; why it knew the candy would be taken by the butterfly yet still insisted on giving it out…

Because sometimes, these candies could save lives.

The endless highway and the prematurely appearing Magic Cube Mansion existed for one purpose.

To delay the living from entering the core area as long as possible.

They weren’t just buffer zones but two layers of weakly protective speed bumps.

That’s why the butterfly wanted to use scissors to shorten the cycle days—not to go head-to-head with the hotel. It just wanted to break the second speed bump to feed more efficiently.

“Simply put, a benevolent abnormal entity towards humans?”

Seeing the increasingly complex expressions of the other two, Xu Ming quickly summarized, trying to express her thoughts from another angle. While speaking, she couldn’t help but think of Gu Yunshu, the scattered corpses on the first floor of Hongqiang Company, and the blood-stained cleaning uniforms:

“They have certain powers and can interfere with the rules, but they choose to use this power to protect people as much as possible… perhaps not aiming to prey…”

“No.”

Before she finished, Fang Xueqing suddenly interrupted.

Xu Ming looked over in surprise and said after a pause, “Of course, this is just my personal speculation…”

“I’m not saying your analysis is wrong,” Fang Xueqing shook her head. “I’m talking about the wording.”

Xu Ming: “…?”

“Having acquired certain abilities yet choosing to stay in the urban legend area to protect humans as much as possible, such entities cannot be called dodders.” Ling Guang added from the side, “For them, we have another term.”

“…” Xu Ming became even more puzzled and thought for a moment before asking, “What is it?”

The response was another exchange of glances between the two.

After a while, Fang Xueqing spoke again, her voice low but very clear:

“For these kinds of entities, we usually call them—”

“Poplar.”

Soon, half an hour later.

Xu Ming finally left Fang Xueqing’s room, her head spinning as if she had just finished three brainstorming sessions.

Despite this, her mind was still very active. So active that on the short walk back to her room, she had already calculated many things.

When she opened the door, inside were Qiu Yufei waiting quietly and Gu Yunshu, who had returned from exploring Room 8307. Xu Ming went to the bathroom to heat a towel and applied it to her still aching joints through her clothes, asking about her findings in the meantime. It was no surprise that she learned Room 8307 was completely empty.

All traces of Tang Menglong had been cleared, and the whole room was as clean as if no one had ever lived there.

This made Xu Ming a bit sentimental. Noticing the hesitant look in Gu Yunshu’s eyes, she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong? Did you find anything else?”

“…Yes.” Gu Yunshu slowly said, “I don’t know if it’s important, but I found some powder.”

Xu Ming: “?”

“The kind of powder on butterfly wings.” Gu Yunshu said with certainty, “Sprinkled in the corners of the room. It’s everywhere.”

You mean butterfly scales?

Xu Ming raised her eyebrows slightly, finding it somewhat strange. But considering that Tang Menglong had already come into contact with butterflies, it didn’t seem so hard to understand.

However, in her mind, the blubberman let out a very obvious “hiss” at this, sounding as if having a toothache.

Xu Ming, disturbed by the noise, couldn’t help but frown as well. Gu Yunshu observed her expression and whispered, “So, is this very important?”

Xu Ming was taken aback by the question. She was about to say she wasn’t sure, but then she thought that Gu Yunshu must have a reason for asking…

So she nodded vigorously.

Sure enough, the next second, Gu Yunshu’s expression became even more conflicted.

Xu Ming wasn’t in a hurry, waiting quietly while enjoying Qiu Yufei’s free massage. After a while, she finally heard Gu Yunshu sigh softly.

“There’s one more thing I need to tell you,” she whispered. “Before this, I also saw a butterfly.”

“…” Xu Ming paused and instinctively straightened her body, “Tell me in detail.”

As soon as she spoke, she suddenly reacted and quickly asked, “Is this related to the time you were caught by the hotel staff?”

“…” Gu Yunshu responded with a difficult nod.

“I was in the corridor on the second floor,” Gu Yunshu said, perhaps feeling it was hard to say, her voice became even smaller, “At that moment, I suddenly saw a butterfly flying along the wall.”

The butterfly was very beautiful, with wings as big as palms, and its gorgeous patterns looked like a flowing rainbow. But it was only half a butterfly, the other half seemed stuck in the wall.

Out of vigilance, she stared at it for a while, then she felt dazed. When she regained clarity, she was already followed by several hotel staff.

Xu Ming: “…”

So, why were you in the second-floor corridor?

Xu Ming was a bit confused, but seeing Gu Yunshu’s difficult and embarrassed look, she figured this part was something she really didn’t want to talk about. So she didn’t press further, just confirmed that this had nothing to do with the hotel or the butterfly and let it go.

What concerned her more was the blubberman in her mind. Upon hearing that Gu Yunshu had seen a butterfly, it hissed again, but this time it didn’t sound like a toothache.

It sounded like an exposed nerve being hit by something cold.

Like when the dental nerve was exposed due to the tooth not completely treated, then it was hit with a mouthful of ice.

Xu Ming couldn’t help but ask it in her mind what was wrong. Surprisingly, the usually noisy blubber man was silent at this moment, and just said don’t rush and wait for it to smoothen itself.

Since Xu Ming had a lot to think about herself, she ignored it and turned to Qiu Yufei and Gu Yunshu, briefly explaining the results of the brainstorming with Fang Xueqing and the others. After finishing, she noticed it was getting late and quickly sent the two away.

——She still had half of burntmen labels to attach. She had a meeting with the fake domain master tomorrow and didn’t know what the outcome would be, so it was better to use the time now to finish labeling everything.

Qiu Yufei might be scared by this, so she let her return to her room, feeling reassured with Gu Yunshu accompanying her.

The other two naturally had no objections, getting up to leave, one heading for the door and the other for the window.

Watching Gu Yunshu’s departing figure, Xu Ming suddenly had a thought. Before she knew it, she called her back.

Gu Yunshu had already climbed onto the windowsill. She turned her head calmly, quietly waiting for Xu Ming’s next words.

Xu Ming paused again, remaining silent for a moment before finally sorting out her thoughts from the chaos.

“By the way, do you still remember your time in Hongqiang?” She chose this as an opening.

Gu Yunshu’s expression remained blank as she tilted her head.

“I remember some, but I’ve forgotten a lot,” she replied honestly.

Dead people’s memories are usually poor, and she had “died” once more than others.

Xu Ming frowned but continued to ask, “Do you remember helping others in Hongqiang?”

“…” At these words, Gu Yunshu’s usually indifferent expression showed rare fluctuations, and she nodded lightly.

“Yes, I remember that.”

“I think you guys were amazing,” Xu Ming said sincerely, leaning forward, “Can I ask what you were thinking at the time? Or the reason…something like that?”

She asked seriously but felt her question was redundant. Unexpectedly, Gu Yunshu tilted her head again, seemingly in deep thought.

After a while, she spoke softly.

“Nothing special.” She said, “Death is very unpleasant. Death without freedom is even more unpleasant.”

“So, I wanted to see others live as much as possible. That’s all.”

Xu Ming: “…”

Indeed, my question was redundant.

Xu Ming thought silently, nodding and thanking Gu Yunshu. After watching her for a moment to ensure she had no further questions, Gu Yunshu climbed out the window, crawling along the wall like a human spider, and disappeared swiftly.