Chapter 40.4 ?

Ten minutes later, they finally arrived at the real “immersive horror hotel.”

It was the hotel that Qiu Yufei had won a free experience from the lottery.

Qiu Yufei still remembered the incident at Magic Cube Mansion and felt an inexplicable resistance to this hotel. If it weren’t for not wanting to waste the high-speed train ticket, she might have turned around and left directly—even after checking in, she was still on edge and specifically asked the front desk to remove all horror elements from the experience package, even though it was a loss, she accepted it.

Xu Ming didn’t mind and let her arrange everything. After all, she was just tagging along, and the hotel itself wasn’t bad for accommodation.

Most importantly, she had more pressing matters to research than experiencing a 1600 yuan hotel.

“So… this counts as absorption, right?”

That night, in Xu Ming’s room.

Xu Ming sat cross-legged on the bed, staring conflictedly at the open rulebook in front of her; on either side of her were the blubberman curiously lying beside her and Gu Yunshu sitting properly on the edge of the bed.

Her bag was placed on the sofa, and there was no trace of the half-egg-shaped object. Instead, another page had been filled in the rulebook out of thin air.

On the page was a hand-drawn, half-broken cocoon. Below it was a simple description:

? A gift from a boutique hotel, an everlasting blessing. When you tell a lie, others will be more inclined to believe it; this blessing is only effective within the urban legend area. ?

… How should I say it, it’s really quite simple.

Compared to other skill descriptions, it’s so simple that it’s touching.

But this also became a point of confusion for Xu Ming.

“That butterfly looked so flashy. It could build secret rooms and brainwash people…” She said, trying to flip the page, “Why is the corresponding root skill so simple?”

The blubberman found it unsurprising.

“You only got half of it, so it’s naturally discounted.” It raised its head and yawned, “Besides, once the root is integrated into the rulebook, its effect will inherently weaken.”

As the saying goes, the blackened are invincible, the whitewashed are three points weaker.

Xu Ming: “…?”

“Well, it’s actually about establishing a connection.” The blubberman clicked its tongue and sat up straight, “It takes a long time for a non-human to integrate the root and use it, so why should the rulebook be able to fully exert its effect immediately after swallowing the root? That would be too unreasonable.”

Compared to non-human roots, it’s more difficult for humans to obtain a rulebook, but correspondingly, they have their advantages, such as being able to stack multiple root effects during the initial integration; and as long as a new root is integrated, the corresponding ability can be immediately acquired.

But this advantage is not overwhelmingly superior. In some aspects, there are still limitations.

“I’m not human, so I don’t fully understand the rulebook stuff. But as far as I know, some of the skills in the rulebook can be upgraded.” The blubberman yawned again, “Anyway, figure it out slowly yourself. Just be careful not to get robbed before you figure it out.”

Hearing this, Xu Ming suddenly thought of that strange man who once came to her building to count the floors. Unconsciously, she pursed her lips, saw that it was late, and decided to put the book away and go to sleep.

After all, she was really tired.

Gu Yunshu, upon hearing this, got up and went into the wardrobe very sensibly. Xu Ming looked at her with a subtle expression, wanted to persuade her to sleep outside, but then thought better of it.

In this hotel, she and Qiu Yufei had booked a king bed room, so they would sleep in the same room. Given that Qiu Yufei seemed a bit stressed now, having Gu Yunshu sleep outside might accidentally scare her.

Thinking of this, Xu Ming instinctively glanced at her phone and frowned slightly.

Speaking of which, it’s already this late… where is Qiu Yufei?

At the same time.

In the hotel’s sauna room.

As soon as she entered the hotel, Qiu Yufei took a nice shower. Still feeling unsatisfied, she informed Xu Ming and then went to steam in the sauna. Finally, at this hour, she felt comfortable.

The sauna area was on the third floor, while Qiu Yufei’s room was on the 12th floor. Wiping her forehead, she pressed the elevator button and saw a pretty girl inside adjusting her clothes. Seeing Qiu Yufei enter, the girl shyly smiled at her.

The girl was beautiful, dressed in a distinctive style—a black Lolita dress with matching accessories, looking like a delicate doll, quite pleasing to the eye.

Qiu Yufei couldn’t help but take a few more glances, accidentally meeting the girl’s gaze, but not feeling awkward, she straightforwardly said, “Your outfit looks nice.”

“Thank you.” The girl replied politely, and Qiu Yufei, in a good mood, continued, “I think I’ve seen your dress online…”

“It’s from the same collection as Mint’s.” The girl said casually while adjusting the lace on her sleeve, “The two outfits are a series but with different styles. Hers is Gothic, mine is Bavarian.”

“…” Qiu Yufei froze at her words.

In fact, she didn’t hear the rest of what the girl said—she only heard the first part.

“Excuse me.” Qiu Yufei swallowed nervously, staring at the changing floors, “The Mint you mentioned, is it…”

“Mint, from Magic Cube Mansion.” The girl glanced at her with a matter-of-fact tone, “You met not long ago, it’s not like you could forget so quickly, right?”

Qiu Yufei: … Just because I haven’t forgotten, you had to ask, thank you.

Seemingly noticing her stiffness, the girl couldn’t help but laugh softly, “Look at you, scared. Didn’t you already come out? What’s there to be afraid of?”

“I’m her friend, just don’t leave the room often because of health reasons. But I remember seeing you.”

“Oh… oh.” Qiu Yufei nodded, seemingly understanding, “I see.”

She then recalled what Xu Ming and the people from Anxin Gardening had said—after leaving the urban legend area, ordinary people’s related memories would somewhat be lost and blurred, or even misremembered.

Thinking about it this way, Mint did mention she came with a friend…

“Sorry.” Qiu Yufei apologized with a smile, “I can’t remember too clearly.”

“It’s okay.” The girl said, still adjusting her sleeve, “You didn’t see me, so it’s normal not to remember.”

… But didn’t you just say we met?

Qiu Yufei felt puzzled, watching the floor numbers change, feeling a bit anxious. As she fidgeted, her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of something overhead, and she felt a buzz in her ears, her whole body instantly stiffening.

——The entire interior of the elevator was lined with smooth metal walls. The reflections in all directions were very normal, except for the ceiling.

On the smooth metal ceiling, a faint reflection of the scene below could be seen. Beside her own reflection was the image of the strange girl, but now that reflection had its head tilted back.

Exaggeratedly tilted. The neck was almost completely bent backward, revealing the whole face, with the chin raised to an incredible height, like a flower pot completely turned over.

Almost at the same time, she heard a girl’s voice beside her.

She still kept her head down, her tone casual, yet with a hint of inevitability:

“I know what you’re wondering about. Don’t overthink it, I’m just saying I’ve seen you before.”

“You couldn’t have seen me.”

“Because I died a long time ago.”

Qiu Yufei: ……