Chapter 139: Melts in water, yes, like a marshmallow!

Chapter 139: Melts in water, yes, like a marshmallow!

Ji Xingchen trudged through the darkness.

The ground beneath was damp and uneven, with the constant sound of dripping water. Here, ordinary people could only hear, but see nothing at all.

It was evident that the person leading Ji Xingchen was no ordinary man. He moved with ease in this environment, even chatting casually in the dark, “I wonder how your friend managed to find this place and even entered.”

Ji Xingchen remained silent.

The man continued, “This is where we source water for the hot springs. There’s a small opening, rarely visited and underground. I'm surprised they ventured in. It’s pitch-black, slippery, and flooded. Quite dangerous.”

In a detached tone, Ji Xingchen responded, “Perhaps out of curiosity.”

Earlier on, he had followed the hotel manager to the surveillance room. The security guard enthusiastically showed him footage of his friend, suggesting they might have entered this cave.

They had been walking for quite some time, making it seem much larger than the “small cave” the guard had described.

Perhaps to dispel any doubts, the security guard kept up the conversation.

However, if the guard had looked back, he would have seen no sign of suspicion, panic, or fear on Ji Xingchen’s face, which remained expressionless behind his glasses.

Unfortunately, the guard never looked back, continuing to loudly express his thoughts, “Some just don’t get it; don’t act recklessly if you don’t want trouble...”

Ji Xingchen remained quiet, lost in thought, and continued following the guard.

——

In stark contrast to Ji Xingchen’s calm journey, the hotel lobby was buzzing with excitement.

The lady in red hung up the phone and glanced at Bai Wan.

Bai Wan looked towards the Eastern Mountain Hot Spring Hotel's office building, voicing her concerns, “Is Ji alright? Aren't you worried? He’s so clueless…”

The lady in red seemed indifferent to Bai Wan’s worries. In fact, she appeared perplexed by the concern. However, her puzzlement quickly faded, replaced by excitement, “I smell blood! Over where we just were!”

Catching the scent of blood, the lady in red dashed off, pulling Bai Wan along. Bai Wan hurriedly held onto her hat to prevent it from falling.

The two ghosts bolted away. Just as they left, a figure emerged from behind the bushes.

He still wore the white of a chef, but that pristine coat was now marred with pale red bloodstains, which stood in stark contrast to the brighter red stains from before.

The previous vibrant red stains seemed to have been diluted by the newer ones. As he rose, a pale liquid oozed continuously from his neck.

His expression suggested he was enduring something, but it wasn’t pain. If anything, he looked exhilarated. Wiping the pinkish fluid from his neck, his lips twisted into a mad grin, "Though I'm not sure what you've done, you won't make me like you."

The skin around his neck quivered, appearing as though it might melt and drop. It gave him the appearance of an elderly person, with skin sagging abnormally, his eyebags nearly sagging to mid-face. Despite the melting, he still looked eerily human.

He still clutched a knife. The hand holding it was also melting, its flesh seemingly fusing with the knife handle, but his grip remained firm.

A droplet of the pinkish fluid trickled down from the melting skin on the knife handle, sliding along the blade's edge before dropping to the ground.

He hoisted the knife, flexed a bit, and followed.

Outside the hotel lobby, a group of melting figures, like characters from a nightmare made real, rushed out. Leading them was Zhong Yi’s uncle, Zhong Jingzhu.

Though those chasing him might not be called humans anymore, Zhong Jingzhu remained composed. His experiences, which allowed him to bring Zhong Yi here, clearly were not ordinary.

After all, even the old master Zhong had been bested here. Those chosen were undoubtedly the strongest of the Zhong family. Zhong Jingzhu and Zhong Yi were among them. Zhong Yi, considered the heir, coming here after the elder's incident seemed natural.

Yet, Zhong Jingzhu was usually low-profile but highly efficient. Even Zhong Yi's father, the eldest son Zhong Jingsong, could not rival his accomplishments.

But true to his name, Zhong Jingzhu never sought fame or wealth, so he was lesser known.

In the midst of this chaos, upon emerging, he quickly surveyed the situation and dashed towards the outdoor hot springs. Just then, a ghostly figure with two male students emerged from the same area.

The groups collided head-on. The recently calmed students were thrown back into panic and fled.

"Don't go that way! It's a dead end!"

Seeing the students about to retreat back, the ghost-faced figure shouted urgently.

"Get inside!" Zhong Jingzhu’s demeanor had shifted entirely. Despite his gentle appearance, there was an authoritative edge. He shoved one student back in, then repeated calmly, "Inside!"

The students, dazed and overwhelmed, stared at the monstrous figures. Their legs gave out, and as one started to fall, Zhong Jingzhu caught him, dragging him into the dressing room of the outdoor hot springs.

The ghost-faced figure reacted, realizing the situation. Even if they were to climb a wall and fall into a freezing river outside, it would be better than being encircled by these creatures.

He quickly dragged the other student inside. Once both were in, they slammed the door shut, leaving the pursuing monsters outside.

With a loud thud, the terrifying pursuers were barred entry.

"What are those things? Can this door keep them out?" Ghost Face asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure." Zhong Jingzhu swiftly moved towards another door. After a brief pause, he added, "They might be human."

"Human?" Ghost Face echoed, "You're telling me they're still human looking like that?"

Zhong Jingzhu hesitated for a moment before replying, "They were once employees of this hotel. Even the receptionist is among them. We've interacted with them, even interviewed some of them before."

Ghost Face remained silent for a moment.

Watching the multitude of monsters emerge, Ghost Face initially thought Zhong Jingzhu had released them from their containment. A flurry of thoughts crossed his mind, even imagining that the Dongshan Hot Spring Hotel might be breeding monsters to lure tourists as prey. To his astonishment, those abstract faces turned out to be actual humans.

Reflecting on it, he did recognize some familiar uniforms—the hotel receptionist, a cleaning staff, and even a waitress he had secretly watched enjoying the hot spring.

It seems they've all turned into such creatures.

"But who are you?"

As they fled from the changing room's exit, Ghost Face looked back only to hear Zhong Jingzhu's voice posing the question. Zhong Jingzhu's tone was neither aggressive nor suspicious, as if inquiring about a mundane matter.

Ghost Face stiffened up. Having an instinctive fear of exorcists, he quickly responded, "I'm a tourist, just here to take photos. I happened to run into them!"

Ghost Face glanced at the two male students, who, despite their shaky legs, vigorously nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes! He even saved us earlier. We almost escaped over the wall, but he took us to the sauna to warm up before bringing us out. It was indeed helpful."

Ghost Face looked expectantly at Zhong Jingzhu, hoping he would believe the story. However, Zhong Jingzhu showed no signs of doubt and casually remarked, "I suspect the hot spring here might be useful for them."

"What do you mean?" one of the students asked eagerly.

"Can we please leave? Let's just climb over this wall and get out of this hellhole, Uncle!" the other student pleaded in fear.

Zhong Jingzhu did not directly address their concerns but murmured to himself, "Though it seems we can exit and it looks just like the outside, I fear that even if we try climbing over, we might find ourselves back where we started or face an invisible barrier. It's a classic ghost maze scenario. Trying to escape might lead to death."

Ghost Face felt disoriented by this revelation. His initial plan was to help the two students escape by climbing the wall. With the presence of Chi Shen, he wasn't concerned about the others. But after hearing Zhong Jingzhu's words and from his perspective as a ghost, he felt that if they were allowed in, it wouldn't be easy to leave.

"We need to find their weakness. They seem to be constantly melting. Perhaps diluting them with water will incapacitate them for good."