Chapter 43
Chapter 43
“What?” Lin Zhu tilted his head, unable to catch Cheng Miao’s whisper.
“Nothing.” Those were concerns for later. There was no need to dwell on them now. “The settlement still hasn’t appeared. Are we waiting for Li Cheng’s group?”
Lin Zhu had no idea. This was his first mission with separate group objectives. They did not wait long before curses suddenly rang through the darkness.
“Fuck, that scared me to death. I thought I was really going to die back there.”
“Qi, are you all right?”
“Of course not! I had several holes in me, and they hurt like hell. They’re gone now, though.”
“Ahem. You finally made it.” At the sound of Cheng Miao’s voice, Jiang Qi seemed to yelp before hastily changing the subject. “Oh, Miss Cheng. You’re still here.”
“I thought we’d each receive separate settlements. Apparently, we still settle together.” Cheng Miao listened absently to their discussion. All she wanted was somewhere to rest.
Then she remembered that she wanted the complete story. “Did you destroy both flower demons?”
“We did. They were rather pitiful, honestly. From what Madam Chang said before she died, after the Chang brothers built their fortune with their wives’ money, they began to suspect the women weren’t human. They took mistresses outside and even had children with them.”
“When the two wives discovered the truth, their husbands were discussing whether to report them to the authorities. Madam Chang used Master Chang’s only son to feed her flowers, while the Second Madam poisoned her husband and spent every day guarding a living corpse.”
Jiang Hao sighed, then added, “In the end, both women killed themselves.”
Cheng Miao did not know how to react. A heavy discomfort lodged in her chest.
[Ding! Congratulations to players Cheng Miao, Lin Zhu, Li Cheng, Jiang Qi, Zhang Hui, and Jiang Hao for clearing World Within the Book: Secrets of the Chang Residence. Reward: 500 Travel Coins.]
[Player Cheng Miao made the greatest contribution to Secrets of the Chang Residence. Reward: 300 Travel Coins.]
[Player Cheng Miao received an A performance rating in Secrets of the Chang Residence and achieved 100% side-plot completion. Reward: 700 Travel Coins.]
[Player Cheng Miao earned a total of 1,500 Travel Coins from the Dormitory instance Secrets of the Chang Residence. Remaining balance: 2,107 Travel Coins.]
[Player Cheng Miao’s Item, Fishbone Dagger, has been upgraded to Enhanced Fishbone Dagger.]
Cheng Miao fell silent. What a halfhearted name.
[Settlement complete. Please confirm return point: Parrot Guesthouse.]
“Confirm.”
[Transmitting…]
Cheng Miao blinked. She now stood on a dirt road bordered by tall rice plants. Night lay thick across the sky, with a hazy moon hanging crookedly in the distance.
She looked back. The narrow road stretched far away. Directly before her stood a white three-story building, no different from the small Guesthouses found in an urban village.
Red paper reading WELCOME had been pasted to the glass door. A solitary streetlamp stood beside the road, casting a weak oval of orange light.
“A guest!”
Cheng Miao heard wings flutter overhead. A beautiful budgerigar flew down from the building’s second floor.
She instinctively raised an arm, and the bird landed directly on it. Two beadlike eyes examined her.
“A pretty girl. I like you.”
Cheng Miao’s brow twitched. She drew a stiff card from her pocket. “Parrot Guesthouse.”
“Don’t rush. Let’s get acquainted.” The parrot tilted its head and affectedly cleared its throat. “I’m Brother Parrot, the owner of this Guesthouse. I like pretty young ladies, and I like handsome young men even more. I like colorful things, but my favorite food is young people…”
The barrage made Cheng Miao dizzy. Keeping one arm raised beneath the bird, she rubbed her temple with the other. “Boss, can we talk inside? It’s windy out here.”
Brother Parrot spread one wing and inspected its perfectly still feathers. “Is there any wind? Fine, if you say there is. You have a check-in voucher, so of course I’ll let you inside. What’s the rush? Still, I suppose a pretty young lady deserves to make a few extra demands…”
As Brother Parrot fluttered into the air to lead the way, defeat briefly cracked Cheng Miao’s expressionless face.
She had thought a talkative parrot might reveal useful information. She never imagined it would be this talkative.
The glass doors opened automatically and closed after Brother Parrot and Cheng Miao entered. She looked around. It was an ordinary Guesthouse front desk, with shelves of merchandise behind the counter that doubled as a Grocery Store.
Harsh white lights bleached the entire room. Faint voices from other players drifted down from upstairs. Combined with the bubbling water boiler beside the stairwell, they eased some of Cheng Miao’s unease at arriving somewhere new.
Brother Parrot landed on the counter, picked up a pen in its beak, and began writing in the open guest register. “Standard room or single room? They cost the same, but I recommend the single. It comes with an extra table and chair. Both have private bathrooms, although the hot water isn’t reliable. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
“Solar water heater?” Cheng Miao had grown so accustomed to bantering with the cockroach brothers that the joke slipped out before she could stop it.
“Hey, you’re funny! Ha ha ha, you’re killing me…”
The corner of Cheng Miao’s mouth twitched as Brother Parrot rolled onto its back atop the counter, laughing.
“I’ll take a single room.” Cheng Miao remembered something and added, “If I need to switch room types later…”
“I like you, little lady. I’ll let you switch for free. Check out or renew after midnight. Five hundred Travel Coins per night.”
So expensive. Cheng Miao’s hand trembled as she wrote her name in the register. She flipped through the pages but saw no familiar names. “Boss, does every guest have to register?”
Brother Parrot flew behind the counter and returned with a ring of keys in its beak. “Of course. This is a legitimate Guesthouse. You just came from a Dormitory, didn’t you? Those places aren’t very legitimate. All kinds of crimes happen there. I heard a Front Desk attendant once tried to eat someone right in front of the other guests. Completely uncivilized…”
Bracing one hand against the counter, Cheng Miao inhaled deeply and interrupted its endless chatter. “Boss, several teammates may arrive later. When they do, we…”
Brother Parrot showed no irritation at being cut off. It nodded its tiny head. “Don’t worry. My service is professional.”
Cheng Miao decided she would have to trust it.
“Oh, right. We don’t have a restaurant. If you want to eat, come downstairs and serve yourself.” Brother Parrot flicked one small wing. Cheng Miao noticed a sign on the wall: CAFETERIA, TO THE RIGHT OF THE FIRST-FLOOR FRONT DESK.
“Food is available at all hours, but it comes in different grades. Check the cafeteria for details.”
Cheng Miao scuffed one toe against the floor and hesitated before asking, “I probably won’t see my previous Front Desk attendants again, will I?”
Brother Parrot crossed both wings over its chest. “Wow, you want to see them again? You’re so kind. Players who come here are always afraid of me and never chat. It’s not as if I’d eat them… Well, I would, but I would never harm anyone with a check-in voucher! Which Dormitory did you come from?”
Cheng Miao’s eyes flickered, but she did not answer. If the cockroach brothers and Brother Parrot were enemies, it might not be able to harm her, but she had no desire to keep scheming after leaving an instance.
Brother Parrot was frighteningly perceptive. Seeing that she did not intend to say, it nodded. “I understand. If Front Desk attendants get along, they can visit one another. You may still meet them again.”
Cheng Miao thanked it politely, took her key, and climbed upstairs according to the room number. Left alone on the counter, Brother Parrot preened its feathers. “It’s been such a long time since I enjoyed a conversation that much…”