I Return From Hell

Chapter 151: Chapter 144: One Room, Three Ghosts

That single cry of ”darling” almost made the backpacker drop dead on the spot.

”Ah!”

Just as he was about to scream, the Ancient-dressed Woman’s voice whispered in his ear, ”My dear husband, don’t be afraid.”

In the next moment, she appeared before him as if she’d used Instant Teleportation, silencing him with a kiss.

The backpacker’s eyes widened. He finally realized something was wrong. He struggled frantically, but it was useless. Soon, he felt all the strength in his body draining away.

His entire body went as limp as a wet noodle, draped over the Ancient-dressed Woman.

No.

To be precise, he was hanging from the Ancient-dressed Woman’s mouth.

He looked toward Little Mumu, hoping his girlfriend would notice something was wrong and save him.

Unfortunately, Little Mumu was still focused on brushing her teeth and didn’t notice him at all. His consciousness began to fade. Through the mirror, he saw the Ancient-dressed Woman becoming more vibrant and full of life.

But as for himself: his face was deathly pale, his eyes were sunken, and the space between his eyebrows had turned dark. In just a few minutes, he had become so emaciated he was unrecognizable, looking like he had one foot in the grave.

It was truly a terrifying sight.

In the next instant, his consciousness plunged into darkness, and he became a mummified corpse.

From beginning to end, Little Mumu had no reaction whatsoever. After she finished brushing her teeth and tidying up, she returned to the room.

The backpacker, who had been following right beside her, reached out to undress her, and she didn’t resist.

Soon, she felt that something was wrong. Her physical condition was deteriorating, and her spirit was growing weaker and weaker.

’How could this be?’

Just as she felt herself about to fall asleep, the cool sensation on her eyes and ears suddenly vanished.

And then...

...she saw a man who looked just like an ancient scholar lying on top of her.

A little boy, who looked to be one or two years old, was squatting beside them, curiously sizing her up.

”Who... who are you...”

Little Mumu screamed in terror, her heart about to leap out of her chest!

Her body surged with an overwhelming will to survive.

She actually managed to break free from her paralysis and bolted for the door.

”Hm?”

Seeing this, the scholar was quite surprised.

His figure flickered, and he became a blur, appearing in front of Little Mumu to block her path.

”AHHH!!!”

Little Mumu’s mouth opened wide, letting out a high-pitched scream.

But the sound had barely escaped before the scholar’s mouth covered hers.

He took a sharp breath.

THUD.

And just like that, Little Mumu died in terror.

Turning into a mummified corpse.

She collapsed to the ground, motionless.

The scholar ghost stood up, took the little boy’s hand as he walked over, and said, ”Come on. Let’s find our next prey who can’t control their lust.”

The Ancient-dressed Woman walked out of the bathroom, her appearance completely transformed. Her cheeks were rosy, her eyes were normal, her livor mortis had vanished, and she looked more like...

...a living person.

...

...

”There are ghosts downstairs.”

Xia Yu’s eyes narrowed. After her power advanced to the First Grade Spiritual Ability Realm, she could sense the fluctuations of Spiritual Energy from a ghost’s appearance much more clearly. ”And there’s more than one.”

She didn’t rush to act.

Originally, she had planned to use the people here to figure out the ghosts’ killing patterns or to find a lone, weaker ghost to kill with Little Flower’s help.

But now, three ghosts had appeared downstairs all at once!

She instantly dismissed the idea of confronting these three ghosts.

”Hm?”

”There’s another ghost!”

To Xia Yu’s surprise, in the next second, she sensed yet another ghost. ”Its power is average. Let’s go!”

With that, her figure flickered and she dashed out of the room.

Little Flower followed close behind.

「Meanwhile.」

In the room at the far end of the second floor.

This was a temporary break room for the inn’s staff, currently occupied by the receptionist, Yu Xia, and the cleaning lady.

”Yu Xia.”

The cleaning lady looked at Yu Xia, who was leaning over the desk working, with a worried expression and warned, ”You’ve already broken a taboo.”

”A taboo?”

”The second taboo on the flyer. It clearly says not to work while sitting at the desk. You’ve already broken it.”

”Tch.”

Yu Xia scoffed. ”You actually believe that stuff?”

”It’s all a trick. Just a way for the boss to lure people to our inn.”

”No, it’s not.”

The cleaning lady waved her hand, insisting, ”Someone really did break a taboo and ended up in the hospital the next day.”

”They were all plants.”

Yu Xia looked at the cleaning lady as if she were an idiot. ”Auntie, times have changed. Sometimes, what you see and hear isn’t necessarily true.”

”You have to learn to pick out what’s useful to you from the flood of information.”

”Otherwise, you’ll start to feel like the whole world is fake.”

She said this in a lecturing tone.

”The sudden power outage and loss of signal... I just feel like something’s wrong.”

The cleaning lady pursed her dry lips and glanced around fearfully.

”It’s probably just another one of the boss’s new tricks. Forget it... you wouldn’t understand even if I explained.”

Yu Xia waved her hand dismissively. ”Auntie, it’s chaotic out there. The guests are probably complaining. Go and calm them down, and while you’re at it, see what the boss’s new trick is.”

”Tell me when you get back.”

”You...”

The cleaning lady wanted to say something more to persuade her.

”Go on, go on.”

Yu Xia got up and pushed the cleaning lady out.

But just as she was leaving the room, the cleaning lady suddenly turned her head to look toward the desk and asked, ”Yu Xia, do you know who put that little card in the corner?”

”No idea.”

Yu Xia shook her head impatiently. ”It was probably someone the boss sent. Just go already.”

”It was me.”

The cleaning lady smiled and closed the door herself.

???

’She’s nuts!’

’I can’t believe this old hag.’

Yu Xia was stunned for a moment. Then, she felt that the cleaning lady was acting very strangely, almost abnormally. The thought of having to share a room with her made her feel vaguely uncomfortable.

’Whatever.’

’Worst case, I just won’t stay here anymore. I’ll talk to the boss and get a different room.’

She muttered to herself, returned to her desk, turned on her flashlight, and started folding paper stars.

Her best friend’s birthday was coming up, and Yu Xia planned to fold 1,314 stars for her. She also wanted to take the opportunity to persuade her friend not to focus all her attention on men.

’Boyfriends are nothing compared to a best friend, right?’

”856.”

”857.”

...

”Hm?”

She had only folded a few more when her neck started to hurt.

’Is there something wrong with my neck?’

’Is it from burying my head in folding these stars and always being on my phone lately?’

Yu Xia frowned but ultimately grit her teeth and decided to fold another hundred. Her best friend’s birthday was just around the corner, and she had to finish them as soon as possible.

She shook her head, stretched her neck, and reached up to massage it a couple of times.

’Let’s keep going.’

Her neck felt a little better, so she continued folding the stars.

But after folding for just a little while longer, her neck hurt even more. And it was a rhythmic, tapping kind of pain.

It was as if someone was tapping on her cervical spine.

For some reason, Yu Xia thought of the cleaning lady. A strange fear crept over her, and she couldn’t stop herself from turning around to look...