Chapter 98
Chapter 98
Jiang Li was caught in a dilemma.
No matter which option she chose, it was a trap!
At that moment, Red Infant, who was sitting opposite the Old Man, looked at Jiang Li and mouthed a warning:
“Mommy, he deliberately kicked his slippers under the bed just now.”
Red Infant pointed his index finger toward the space beneath the bed.
Jiang Li’s gaze turned cold.
So, there was something wrong with the area under the bed.
She absolutely could not agree to his request…
“Attendant, help me find my slippers under the bed! Did you hear me?!”
The Old Man’s voice rang out, urging her.
His tone was impatient as he gripped his cane, thumping it against the floor-*thump, thump*.
As the silence from Jiang Li stretched on, the Old Man’s anger began to flare. His expression gradually became agitated.
The Old Man was about to snap…
Once he lost his temper, it would be too late!
Jiang Li’s chest tightened, her mind racing at lightning speed.
Seeing the Old Man’s brow furrow and his mouth open to unleash his fury, Jiang Li quickly spoke up to interrupt him.
“Sir, please wait a moment! I need to go put these towels away.”
Jiang Li hurried out to the cleaning cart parked outside the door.
She lingered outside for a moment, stalling for time.
If she remembered correctly, the hotel’s cleaning carts were always stocked with “living supplies.”
These included bottled water, tissues, clean bedsheets, pillowcases, and so on.
Naturally, they also included standardized hotel slippers.
Jiang Li bent down, working quickly to check the cart. Finally, in a small storage cabinet on the bottom shelf, she found a pair of large-sized slippers.
She hurriedly tore off the packaging and brought them into the room.
The Old Man was blind.
By exploiting this fact, Jiang Li could create a third option!
Jiang Li walked around the edge of the bed, putting on a show of searching. Then, she quietly placed the slippers about a meter away from the Old Man.
“Sir, I found your slippers. They weren’t under the bed; they’re right here by your feet.”
Hearing this, the Old Man clearly faltered for a second.
He reached out with his cane and poked around twice. Sure enough, he felt the slippers.
The Old Man’s expression turned to one of disbelief.
He stood up and reached down to feel them with his hands.
The texture confirmed it-these were indeed his slippers.
“How did they get here…” The Old Man muttered suspiciously, clutching the slippers as he felt his way back onto the bed.
Seeing his reaction, the heavy weight in Jiang Li’s heart finally dropped with a thud.
Her “bait and switch” tactic hadn’t been exposed.
The crisis was averted.
Rule 2 of the 5th Floor Rules stated:
[Do not agree to any requests from the Room 501 Guest.]
Throughout the entire process, Jiang Li had never uttered a single word that explicitly “agreed” to look for his shoes under the bed.
Therefore, she hadn’t violated the rules.
At the same time, she had satisfied the Old Man’s need for slippers, making it easier to earn a “positive review.”
Most importantly, Jiang Li had avoided the potentially dangerous area “under the bed.”
Only now could she be considered to have successfully navigated this crisis.
Jiang Li let out a soft sigh of relief. To prevent the Old Man from causing more trouble, she finished the cleaning work as quickly as possible and prepared to take her leave.
Before departing, Jiang Li took out a Score Sheet and approached the Old Man.
“Sir, the cleaning is complete, and I’ve found your slippers. On a scale of 1 to 10, please provide your evaluation of my service.”
The Old Man remained silent for a moment.
After a long pause, he spoke: “8 points.”
Hearing this, Jiang Li flashed a professional smile.
“Thank you, sir. I wish you a pleasant stay.”
Jiang Li turned and gently closed the door behind her.
On a scale of 1 to 10, a score of 8 or higher counted as a positive review.
Jiang Li had won her first battle!
Next, she needed to find a way to get the Old Man to leave. To persuade him to depart the hotel, she would likely need to resolve his “heart’s knot.”
But what exactly was his lingering obsession?
Or rather, was there something in the hotel binding him here, forcing him to stay?
Jiang Li remembered the line of blood she had seen on the mirror while cleaning the bathroom earlier:
“They like to play ‘123 Wooden Man’. Beat them; it is your only chance to get out.”
What did that mean?
The “they” in that sentence definitely didn’t refer to the Old Man.
If it wasn’t the Old Man, then who could it be?
Back in the corridor, Jiang Li pushed her thoughts aside. Accompanied by Red Infant, she pushed the cart and began to leave.
Jiang Li walked down the corridor for a long time.
However, the red-carpeted hallway seemed to have changed.
It felt like it had become… endless.
The two elevators were clearly visible ahead, yet she simply couldn’t reach them.
It was very much like a Ghost Wall.
Suppressing the suspicion in her heart, Jiang Li turned around.
This time, she headed toward the Hot Spring Pool, the opposite direction of the Elevator Entrance.
Miraculously, walking toward the Hot Spring Pool worked fine.
But walking toward the Elevator Entrance was impossible.
Jiang Li tried heading toward the Elevator Entrance once more.
However, the furthest she could go was the middle of the corridor, right in front of Room 501. She couldn’t pass it.
If she continued walking forward, every door she passed would turn into Room 501.
Jiang Li found herself constantly wandering in the exact center of the corridor, unable to reach the end.
Was this the reason the Old Man was trapped here?
Just as Jiang Li was speculating, the sound of locks clicking open-“clack, clack”-echoed through the corridor.
Many doors opened simultaneously, with the exception of Room 501.
Inside Room 501, however, a rapid alarm clock began to ring.
“Ringgg! Ringgg! Ringgg!”
Was there something special about this time?
Why did the Old Man set an alarm?
Jiang Li glanced at the electronic screen in the corridor.
It showed the current time as 10:10.
Jiang Li hadn’t figured it out yet when the ceiling lights in the corridor began to go out, one by one, for some unknown reason.
Snap, snap, snap.
The corridor was quickly plunged into darkness.
Immediately following the darkness was a chorus of Aberration laughter, cackling and strange.
Standing in the pitch-black corridor where she couldn’t even see her own hand, Jiang Li heard countless footsteps approaching her.
There was no time to think.
She quickly pulled out her flashlight and clicked it on, illuminating the darkness before her.
After seeing what was in front of her, Jiang Li’s heart skipped a beat.
Right before her stood a faceless thing, its claws reaching out toward her face.
This Aberration looked very much like a Wooden Mannequin.
These Wooden Mannequins had the height and limbs of a human, but lacked any facial features.
The Wooden Mannequin in front of her froze in a bizarre posture the moment the light hit it.
They could not move under the light.
However, from the mass of unlit darkness behind Jiang Li, the sound of numerous footsteps continued to approach.
These Aberrations were all closing in on Jiang Li!
Wait…
The bloody words from the mirror flashed through Jiang Li’s mind.
[They like to play “123 Wooden Man”. Beat them; it is your only chance to get out.]
In other words, to get out of this corridor, she had to win this game of “123 Wooden Man”.
Jiang Li’s brain quickly processed the information.
These Aberrations stopped when they hit the light. But in the dark, they would attack.
As for their method of attack…
Jiang Li looked at the direction the Wooden Mannequin was reaching for. It was her Eyes.
If caught, they would scratch your Eyes!
Jiang Li instantly understood why the Old Man’s vision had been getting worse and worse.
It was because he had tried to leave time and time again, only to have his Eyes scratched by these Aberrations every time.
The ultimate result was blindness.
And a blind person could never possibly leave this hotel.
Because a blind person couldn’t see, they could never win this game.
That was why the Old Man was trapped here, unable to escape.