Chapter 143
Chapter 143
Jiang Li nodded. “Yes, but not entirely. I also wanted to ask you… about the Clear Spring Hotel.”
Boss Shi placed an object that looked like a remote control onto the dining table.
As if he had guessed Jiang Li’s intention, he walked to the window and pushed open the small wooden shutter on the side of the cabin.
He then beckoned her over, signaling Jiang Li to come closer.
Jiang Li walked to the window in confusion and glanced outside.
Outside the cabin, the mist had already vanished.
Through the wooden window, Jiang Li saw that in the distance, where the Clear Spring Hotel had originally stood, demolition and construction were now underway.
A large sign that had been torn down was lying on one side of the concrete ground.
On the dust-covered plaque, four large characters were written: “Shengde Middle School.”
Meanwhile, the dilapidated Bus Shelter across from it looked about seventy percent new at this moment.
“This place used to be a middle school?” Jiang Li looked at the mysterious Boss Shi.
Boss Shi nodded with a smile. “A closed boarding school situated halfway up the mountain.
Later, due to poor management, the school went bankrupt and was converted into a hot spring resort hotel.”
“Was Han Xueping a student here before?” Jiang Li asked Boss Shi.
In Jiang Li’s mind, the image of a chubby little girl with straight bangs, wearing a school uniform and squatting in a corner crying, surfaced.
She had felt the little girl looked familiar back then.
Thinking back now, wasn’t that exactly how Han Xueping looked during her middle school years?
It was just that Han Xueping had been quite fat back then, looking completely different from how she appeared when they met at the Clear Spring Hotel.
Boss Shi looked slightly shocked. “That’s a very accurate guess.”
Boss Shi closed the window and went to the side to pour a cup of tea for Jiang Li.
“Han Xueping was quite famous, though she only became famous after she died.” Boss Shi slowly picked up the teacup and politely handed it to Jiang Li.
“Han Xueping died by jumping off the roof of the teaching building. Shengde Middle School’s bankruptcy had a lot to do with her suicide.”
Jiang Li took a sip of tea and listened intently as Boss Shi explained the beginning and end of the matter.
“As for why Han Xueping jumped, you should have seen the videos, right?” Boss Shi looked at Jiang Li.
What Boss Shi referred to were likely the videos playing on a loop on the computer screen at the hotel’s front desk.
The content of those videos consisted of Han Xueping’s accusations against the sinners on each floor.
The videos recorded fragments of the past where Han Xueping had been harmed by them.
Jiang Li pulled her thoughts back and nodded. “I’ve seen the videos.
Han Xueping suffered under their oppression for a long time. But that group of people who hurt her seemed to have completely forgotten their past crimes.”
Jiang Li had noticed this while serving those guests.
Those guests couldn’t remember the past; they only remembered their lives after being trapped in the hotel.
After driving Han Xueping to her death, these sinners must have lived quite comfortable lives.
Years later, they returned to the old site for a vacation at the hot spring hotel.
Everyone was doing well, except for Han Xueping, who had turned into an Aberration and remained trapped here, living in agony every day.
Originally, that experience had become a thing of the past.
Han Xueping had become an Aberration, lost weight, found a job, and yearned to be an ordinary worker.
Until… that group of carefree sinners came here at different stages of their lives to reminisce about their middle school days.
For all these years, the villains enjoyed their lives while Han Xueping remained trapped here the entire time.
The buried hatred was unearthed once more.
Han Xueping saw them living happy lives while she, after a tragic death, was stuck halfway up this mountain, forgotten by the world.
The resentment in Han Xueping’s heart finally couldn’t be suppressed and exploded.
She resigned from her position as the Elevator Attendant and meticulously crafted a cage within the Clear Spring Hotel.
She continued to lurk in the hotel under the false identity of an “Elevator Attendant.”
She traveled between the floors every day just to watch those sinners sink into misery day after day.
Originally, this revenge plan could have lasted forever.
Han Xueping was even willing to pay the price of her own freedom to be imprisoned here eternally.
But all of this was shattered by the Ghost Face Organization.
The task assigned to Jiang Li by the Ghost Face Organization for this Instance was to release all the sinners within the hotel.
This forced Jiang Li to stand on the opposite side of Han Xueping.
Perhaps the ultimate goal of the Ghost Face Organization was to provoke Han Xueping, causing her to take Jiang Li down with her in a fit of resentment.
The heavier the resentment, the more powerful the Aberration Power became.
Everything orchestrated by the Aberration World was designed to deepen Han Xueping’s hatred for this world.
And Jiang Li, unconsciously, had fallen right into this conspiracy.
The only solution was to find Han Xueping, redeem her, and help her resolve her inner turmoil so she would leave the hotel.
Perhaps only then could the collapse of the Clear Spring Hotel be avoided, allowing Jiang Li to finally break the deadlock.
“Can I find Han Xueping after reversing time?” Jiang Li asked Boss Shi.
Boss Shi shook his head. “Time cannot be reversed.”
Seeing Jiang Li’s confused expression, Boss Shi said solemnly:
“The Time-Space Converter can only send you to a ‘Parallel Space-Time.’ The harm Han Xueping suffered in this timeline has already happened; it cannot be undone.”
Jiang Li felt a slight pang of regret.
Now, her only hope was to find the Han Xueping of a parallel world and prevent the tragedy from occurring there.
She didn’t know if doing so would truly dissipate Han Xueping’s resentment.
An Instance would never block off every possible path, so this remaining method should be the key to breaking the deadlock.
“The Time-Space Converter is very simple to use.” Boss Shi placed the Converter in Jiang Li’s hand.
“As long as you can find the critical door, press the red button on the Converter at the same moment you open the door to enter. Behind that door will be the other world you wish to reach.”
Just as Boss Shi finished speaking, his wife slowly woke up.
“Young Lady, you should head out now. Remember to bring the Converter back before 10:00 PM tonight. I need to log it and turn it over to the organization.”
As soon as Boss Shi said this, the Cabin reverted to a heap of broken wooden frames within a few short seconds.
In an instant, Boss Shi and everything in the room vanished before Jiang Li’s eyes.
Jiang Li stood where she was, holding the Converter.
Only the Mist-Treading Lantern by her side remained lit, its glow dispelling the fog that surged in from all directions.
Jiang Li had returned to the original timeline.
Carrying the Mist-Treading Lantern, Jiang Li returned to the “Instance Center” of the Clear Spring Hotel.
The next step was to find the door.
A door that served a “critical function.”
Jiang Li tried pressing the red button on the Converter before entering the large iron gate of the Clear Spring Hotel.
Unfortunately, nothing happened.
Beyond the iron gate, it was still just the Clear Spring Hotel.
This only proved that the large iron gate at the hotel entrance was not the critical point.
But where… where could the critical door be?
While Jiang Li was deep in thought, the hibernating Cobra inside the Clear Spring Hotel woke up for some unknown reason.
The Cobra hissed twice and slithered out of the hotel building.
Jiang Li bent down to pick up a stone from the ground, watching the Cobra warily.
The Cobra slithered around Jiang Li twice before rearing its head. Its mouth opened and closed as if it were trying to tell her something.
Jiang Li stared intently at the flickering tongue, not daring to relax for a second.
“Don’t be afraid, Mommy. The little snake says it wants to take you somewhere.”
Red Infant, perched on Jiang Li’s shoulder, translated for her.
As soon as the little guy finished speaking, the Cobra nodded, seemingly agreeing with Red Infant’s words.
Immediately after, the Cobra turned around and slithered slowly along the ground.
The little snake guided Jiang Li to the back of the Clear Spring Hotel building.
A “Safe Staircase” that had never appeared throughout all these days finally manifested… after a section of an old wall crumbled away.