Chapter 40.1 ?

Seeing Qiu Yufei, Xu Ming’s brain went blank for a moment.

She struggled to get up, looked around, and found herself on a bus. The surroundings were empty, with only her and Qiu Yufei left.

…Right, she remembered. She had come to experience the hotel with Qiu Yufei. An immersive horror hotel…

Xu Ming thought silently, got up, and prepared to get her luggage. But her arm was pulled forcefully by Qiu Yufei, who then handed something to her with a serious expression.

Xu Ming looked down in confusion, only to see that what Qiu Yufei was holding was an Urban Legend Demolition Office badge.

Then, Qiu Yufei flipped the badge, revealing a piece of hint paper clipped behind it.

? Don’t believe what you see. Don’t enter the hotel. Find Mingming, get off the bus together, and join the others to find a way to leave. ?

The signature was Urban Legend Demolition Office.

Xu Ming: “…”

She looked up suspiciously, meeting Qiu Yufei’s tense gaze.

Just as Xu Ming’s brain started to work furiously, trying to understand the current situation, she suddenly heard the blubberman’s voice in her mind.

“Yo.” It sounded lazy, as if it had just woken up, “You’re out already? Efficient.”

Xu Ming: “…?”

Great, at least there’s someone here who understands the situation.

So without hesitation, she got off the bus with Qiu Yufei. Looking up, she saw a hotel outside the bus, with a deliberately old-looking exterior that looked like a dilapidated building. The conspicuous four big characters on the outer wall read “Magic Cube Mansion”.

Xu Ming gazed at it from a distance, frowning slightly. Looking more closely, she saw that the hotel door was closed, with two staff members standing outside talking to another customer with yellow hair, seemingly persuading them to leave. Another girl in a gothic dress was standing alone not far away, bored and scrolling through her phone, seemingly waiting for something.

A piece of paper was pasted on the closed glass door. Xu Ming approached and found a few lines of printed text:

? This store is preparing for a joint event with the special charity organization [Urban Legend Demolition Office].

? To cooperate with the event, the main store area is temporarily closed. Guests who have not checked in will be transferred to the branch area.

? The bus to the branch is about to arrive. Please remain calm and wait patiently. ?

Xu Ming: …

I understand the logic. But can someone explain why there’s an Urban Legend Demolition Office here?

When did she organize a joint event? How come she didn’t know?!

Xu Ming was stunned again. At this moment, the staff member explaining the situation at the door noticed her. For some reason, they acted as if they were very familiar with her, with one of them even waving at her.

Xu Ming, more confused than ever, raised her hand to wave back, pretending she understood everything.

Meanwhile, she was frantically shaking the blubberman in her mind, asking for specific details.

The blubberman, rarely annoyed by her noise, yelled for a while before finally starting to explain. Xu Ming had only heard half of it when she saw a familiar figure come out from behind the hotel, accompanied by a hotel staff member, seemingly having a friendly conversation.

…It was Gu Yunshu.

Gu Yunshu was holding a cup of juice, apparently provided by the hotel. The thin straw extended under her mask, sipping loudly as she seriously nodded to the person beside her.

Seeing Xu Ming, her eyes lit up noticeably, and she immediately waved a small hand at her. Xu Ming instinctively waved back, under Qiu Yufei’s confused gaze, and quickly walked over. As she got closer, she heard Gu Yunshu speaking seriously to the person next to her.

“…Yes, it’s called Hongqiang. I used to work there.” Xu Ming heard Gu Yunshu say, “I died there, and after Hongqiang was demolished, I transferred to the Demolition Office.”

“Benefits don’t matter much. The main thing is our director is very nice, and I like it a lot.”

Xu Ming, who inexplicably received a compliment: “…”

So what’s this got to do with me?

And why was the person opposite nodding in agreement? Have we met?

Xu Ming was silent again, while the blubberman’s unceremonious mocking laughter sounded in her mind.

Fortunately, Gu Yunshu had a conscience. Seeing Xu Ming’s confusion, she immediately came over, pulled her aside, and started explaining in a low voice. Although she stammered a bit, with the blubberman’s supplement in her mind, Xu Ming finally figured out the situation.

At least one thing was certain for now.

The hotel’s instructions were reliable. The arriving bus could be taken.

With this confirmed, Xu Ming felt much more at ease. Especially after discovering that there was indeed a strange half egg-like object in her bag.

It was the other half of the root given to her by another entity related to this urban legend.

Although curious, now was not the time to study this thing. So Xu Ming put it aside for now and turned back to comfort the nervous Qiu Yufei. After waiting for about twenty minutes, the bus finally arrived. Out of caution, Xu Ming was the first to get on and take a look. Seeing the driver, she paused slightly.

He was a middle-aged man with a blank expression, also wearing the hotel’s uniform.

For some reason, he looked familiar.

“You’ve seen this person before.” The blubberman reminded her in her mind, “He came to your room to fix the air conditioner.”

“…Oh.” Xu Ming suddenly understood, nodding kindly at the driver, “Master, fixing the air conditioner?”

Driver: “…”

He silently glanced at the steering wheel in front of him, unsure how to answer this question.

On the other hand, Xu Ming seemed to realize that her greeting was a bit ambiguous, sounding overly enthusiastic. She awkwardly smiled, waved to the back, and turned to walk into the bus.

Soon, others followed suit. Xu Ming and Qiu Yufei sat in a row, and the gothic girl and the young man with yellow hair also got on the bus. Gu Yunshu sat alone in the back corner, carefully hiding her face with the mask.

The bus started. The hotel outside the window gradually receded. Xu Ming instinctively looked out the window, trying to stay awake, but eventually fell asleep with the gentle sway of the bus.