Chapter 91: Luolimasi Behind the Door

Chapter 91: Luolimasi Behind the Door

"I'm here for you, Luolimasi."

Su Bai's voice was gentle, imbued with a warmth many would find hard to resist—a tone perfectly suited for the cunning merchant he might one day become, running the Mist Shop.

"Who are you? You're not him. Your footsteps are different from his."

The woman behind the door did not deny Su Bai's address, confirming his suspicion: the woman imprisoned behind the heavy metal door on the hidden sixth floor was very likely Luolimasi, the beautiful woman who had married the hotel owner.

If the notebook's records were true, then the day after Luolimasi and the hotel owner married, they sealed off the entire hotel and never emerged again.

Su Bai ran his hand over the metal door, marked by the passage of many years, wondering how long Luolimasi had been living—or rather, imprisoned—behind it.

Where was her husband? Where had the hotel owner gone? Was the hotel owner the "him" Luolimasi referred to?

Su Bai had many questions, but he had no intention of pressing Luolimasi about "him." Instead, he continued, "Someone is very concerned about you and asked me to find you."

The woman on the other side fell silent for a moment, and Su Bai faintly heard the sound of chains dragging across the floor.

"Is it... Garan?"

Garan? This was the first time Su Bai had heard the name, but he replied calmly, "I don’t know who that person is. I’m just the one hired for the task, but I know he’s very worried about your current situation."

"Then it can’t be Garan." Luolimasi's voice trembled with tears. "Garan must have abandoned me. He was so angry; no matter how much I begged, he refused to see me again. He must have left the hotel, gone somewhere far, far away—somewhere he can’t see me..."

Su Bai listened carefully to Luolimasi's words. It seemed the "Garan" she spoke of was the missing hotel owner. According to the notebook, the hotel owner had locked both himself and Luolimasi inside the hotel, but now he was nowhere to be found, and even Luolimasi claimed he had left.

Moreover, Su Bai felt that Garan and the enigmatic, snarky manager were not the same person. The Garan in the story seemed more like an ordinary person compared to the manager.

"There must be others in this world who care about you," Su Bai continued, trying to stabilize Luolimasi's emotions while gathering more information. He himself was curious about the manager’s reason for sending him into the hotel—was it merely because this game scenario had spiraled out of his control, or was it because the manager’s identity was connected to Luolimasi’s origins?

Luolimasi behind the door fell silent again. Judging by the sound of chains dragging, she seemed to be struggling with something.

"I don’t know," Luolimasi's voice came after a long pause. "For Garan, I left my clan. I’ve decided not to love anyone but Garan, so no one else will love me anymore."

Clan?

Su Bai caught the key word in Luolimasi’s words but remained composed. "There must be someone. After all, such golden hair is rare."

On the wall behind the hotel lobby’s front desk hung a large oil painting. It depicted an incredibly beautiful golden-haired woman, her eyes closed, her lower body hidden in a sea of white roses, like a spirit born from the flowers.

That must be the hotel owner’s beloved wife—Luolimasi.

"Appearance?" Luolimasi’s voice held a note of confusion. "I don’t care about appearance, but Garan seemed to care a lot. I don’t understand. Just like I don’t care that Garan’s clan lives less than a hundred years, but Garan cared deeply. I don’t understand that either."

"Why does Garan care so much about the length of life? My clan lives for a very long time. Our love might have been unfair to Garan, but I told him—as self-punishment for loving a short-lived species—I vowed he would be the only love in my long life. Even after his life ends, I will love and miss him forever. Isn’t that enough?"

Luolimasi’s words contained too much information. Su Bai silently processed what she had said. According to Luolimasi, she and her clan had long lifespans, while Garan was an ordinary human who lived less than a century. So when Garan learned that Luolimasi was not only from a different species but also from a clan with an extremely long lifespan, he couldn’t accept it and ultimately chose to leave.

Perhaps Garan couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to accompany Luolimasi for her entire life, or perhaps he couldn’t accept aging while Luolimasi remained young and beautiful forever. But Garan likely hadn't known this when he married Luolimasi.

Su Bai even suspected that Luolimasi had revealed her identity to Garan on their wedding night, leading him to suddenly seal off the entire hotel. However, there wasn’t enough information for Su Bai to know what happened after Garan closed the hotel. Why was the sixth floor sealed? Why was Luolimasi locked behind a metal door? Why were there occasional sounds of chains dragging behind the door?

"The person who sent me to find you might be from your clan," Su Bai continued, probing.

"Absolutely not!" Luolimasi’s voice grew agitated, accompanied by the sound of chains. "No one but Garan will ever love me. Even that later person... even though he said I was the most beautiful existence in the world, I know what he really wanted was my..."

Luolimasi’s agitated voice cut off abruptly, and she said no more.

The "he" Luolimasi had initially referred to was indeed not Garan but someone else who appeared later. Su Bai thought it over and felt that person was likely Peng Zhen or one of Peng Zhen’s accomplices.

"Actually, I’m quite good at fulfilling others’ requests," Su Bai continued, trying to soothe the increasingly agitated Luolimasi. "How about I help you find Garan?"

To Su Bai’s surprise, his words failed to comfort Luolimasi but instead made the sounds behind the door and the dragging of chains even more frantic.

"No, no, no! Please, don’t go find Garan! Don’t... don’t let him see... me like this." Luolimasi began to cry again, heartbroken. "At least not now."

"Not now? Then when should I help you find Garan?" Su Bai moved closer to the metal door, pressing Luolimasi for the first time.

Though it was unclear how long Luolimasi had been imprisoned behind the door, her nature didn’t seem filled with hatred or resentment. The strongest emotion Su Bai could sense from her words was her profound love for Garan.

"He... he said that if I continue to help him, if we just continue the experiments a little longer, he will surely develop a drug to extend Garan’s life. That’s what Garan always wanted." Luolimasi’s crying grew closer, as if she were pressing against the metal door, pleading with Su Bai. "If he really creates such a drug, please make sure to deliver it to Garan."

"Who is this 'he' you speak of? Only if I know his identity can I possibly find out if he’s created such a drug." Su Bai struggled to keep his voice calm, not revealing his true intentions.

"Him? He’s a man named Cheng Xun."