After ending the call with Old Qi, Chen Chuan checked the area on his boundary credential and found, through related links, that the incident had actually made the news yesterday. That was quite rare.
Hongsheng District was the least scrutinized area in Center City, synonymous with age and decay. It was home to a large population of unregistered residents and overrun with gangs of all sizes; even the city patrol team rarely came here.
Consequently, it was one of the areas where urban legends appeared most frequently. In the past, the Golden Shrimp crew had their headquarters established here. However, the street causing trouble now was located in the southeastern part of Hongsheng District, extending inward toward the center of the city. Perhaps that was why it had drawn attention.
Yet from what he knew, no matter how much attention it received, one could not count on anyone coming to resolve it. Squashing the news directly would be easier than actually dealing with the problem.
A mass disappearance, if truly the work of an urban legend, indicated that it was growing increasingly powerful. If left unaddressed now, it would not be long before it caused casualties on an even greater scale.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to head over and handle it.
He prepared what he might need, putting items including ritual materials into a carrying bag. Changing into plain clothes, he went downstairs to get his car and drove toward the site of the urban legend.
Along the way, Old Qi sent over a photograph of the missing colleague. It showed a capable-looking woman in her thirties with short hair, wearing glasses and a clerk's uniform. She had gone missing because a client hired her to retrieve a guest registry from the previous year at the hotel.
Because the client offered a generous sum, and past experience suggested there was practically no danger so long as one did not check in, Old Qi's colleague had accepted the assignment.
Little did anyone expect that the hotel was no longer safe merely by avoiding an overnight stay. Now, once inside, no one came out. She had walked straight into a trap.
Given that ten to fifteen days had already passed, he did not hold high hopes for her survival.
Around two in the afternoon, he drove along the main boulevard to the edge of the area and discovered a pile of obstacles placed in the middle of the road, though they failed to completely block the broad mouth of the street.
Slowing down, he slipped through a gap on one side. Once past the barricade, his field of view opened considerably. The street was deserted, clear from one end to the other, save for a few shifty figures lurking around building corners and narrow alleys.
They appeared to be gang members. He paid them no mind, driving straight in, and soon caught sight of the hotel.
Noticing there were no parking spots ahead and that the ground nearby was strewn with clutter and garbage, he parked instead in a deserted lot about a hundred meters away.
Carrying the Xuejun Saber, he stepped out of the vehicle, locked the door with a twist, and walked toward the hotel.
At first, he sensed nothing out of the ordinary, but when he had drawn to within thirty or forty meters—
"Hey! Don't go in!" a voice shouted from behind him.
Chen Chuan halted and turned to look. On one side of the street, up in a residential building, a child with a dirt-smudged face had called out to him. But as Chen Chuan's gaze turned his way, the boy ducked his head back inside.
Old Qi had told him the place was deserted, yet as he drove in, he could clearly feel many eyes watching him. Only as he approached the hotel did those stares gradually taper off.
On second thought, it made sense. How could ordinary people here simply abandon their shelter? Those capable of fleeing outside were likely only the ones with a bit of wealth.
He turned and called back, "I'm here to resolve this."
With that, he continued walking forward. But a moment later, just as he was about to step through the hotel's entrance, the boy shouted loudly again, "Don't try to fix it!"
Chen Chuan considered this and could roughly understand the logic. An anomaly here was certainly dangerous, but perhaps because of its presence, fewer people came to exploit and control them. Yet if it truly was an urban legend, its reach would only keep expanding, and the people hiding here would all be swallowed up sooner or later.
Alternatively, they might wait until authorities came to handle the problem. But compared to solving the issue, dealing with the people was far simpler and cheaper. Once the people were gone, the urban legend would naturally vanish as well.
He replied, "Stay where you are and don't wander around."
As he spoke, he stepped onto the hotel stairs, walked up a few steps, and pushed open the glass doors. Almost the instant he crossed the threshold—
Inside, he took a look around. The lobby was completely devoid of people. The half-drawn curtains and old chandeliers were immaculate and dust-free, as though meticulously wiped clean, and the floor tiles gleamed like mirrors.
Dining tables in the lobby stood neatly arranged. Coats still hung over the backs of chairs, and the bowls, chopsticks, and dishes looked as though they had just been served. He even spotted a half-sliced cream cake, its sweet fragrance still lingering in the air.
Yet the anomaly had begun nearly a month ago. In this weather, food left out for so many days should have rotted long ago, yet here it appeared as fresh as ever.
He touched his boundary credential. Under the intense blurring effect, it was already unusable, exactly as expected.
He first walked around the first-floor lobby. Beyond the traces left by guests, there was nothing else, so he decided to inspect the upper floors.
He noticed that the elevator lights were still on and operational, but after a moment's consideration, he chose not to enter it and took the stairs instead.
Not long after he entered the hotel, five vehicles drove into the street. The passengers had hair styled like patches of moss and dyed in garish colors—unmistakably members of the Moss Gang.
After driving partway down the street, the vehicles stopped. A gang leader sitting in the front stood up and waved toward an alleyway. Two men immediately ran out. He placed a cigarette between his lips, and a lackey beside him promptly flicked a lighter. Taking a drag, he asked, "Any movement these past two days?"
One of the men answered, "Boss, those scumbags are behaving themselves. No one dares cause trouble. Just now, though, a car drove in, looking like it headed straight for the hotel."
The gang leader looked surprised. "Someone actually went in there to throw their life away?"
A lackey beside him chimed in, "Boss, probably someone from an agency. Those bastards aren't afraid of dying as long as the pay is right."
The gang leader spat out the window and sneered. "Doesn't matter where they're from. If they want to die, let them. We follow orders from above—not a single soul who goes in gets back out." He pointed his finger. "You lot, make sure the barricade at the intersection is properly set up."
"Right away, Boss."
Watching the gang members get to work, a trusted subordinate asked, "Boss, we're just keeping watch here, but how long do we have to stay on this?"
"At least two months."
The gang leader exhaled a leisurely puff of smoke. "The city is holding an arena tournament soon, and a lot of people from other Center Cities are flooding in lately. If trouble breaks out here, the municipal officials will lose face. The big boss said as long as we keep this place locked down, the boys will all get a bonus afterward."
The subordinate looked toward the twelve-story hotel ahead, which counted among the tallest buildings on this street. "Say, Boss, if that hotel is cursed, can't we just blow the building up? Wouldn't that save a lot of trouble?"
The gang leader shot him a glance. "Blow it up? Are you going to do it, or am I? Haven't you heard people say that anyone who walks up to the door goes in like they've lost their soul?"
"Is it really that wicked?"
"That wicked!" The gang leader finished his cigarette, seemed to spot something, and gestured to a few lackeys. "Come take a look with me."
They walked over to the armored vehicle parked in the lot. The gang leader circled it, clicking his tongue in admiration. "Only a few days, and a new car shows up? Grab a few guys and let's haul it back."
Just then, a lackey spotted a child peeking at them from across the way. He raised his gun, took aim, and made a "bang" sound with his mouth. The boy instantly jerked his head back, prompting a burst of laughter from the crew.
One of the lackeys examined the car and said, "Boss, this must belong to the guy from the agency. To take this kind of job, he can't be simple."
The gang leader scoffed, "Are you out of your mind? Does anyone who walks into that hotel come out alive? Hurry up and get this thing out of here."
Several lackeys fiddled with it for a long while but found no way in. One of them looked up and said, "Boss, this is a modified armored vehicle. The glass is reinforced bulletproof, and the lock is a high-resistance dial. We can't pry it open."
Refusing to believe it, the gang leader walked over to inspect the lock and couldn't help cursing. The lock before him was merely a rotating dial recessed by a shallow two millimeters.
This car, modified by Youxing, did not have a standard lock. It had been customized to his own traits: unless one possessed sufficient finger strength and jin, turning the lock was out of the question. Naturally, it posed no problem for Chen Chuan, who could open it with a casual twist, but an ordinary person couldn't even get a grip without specialized tools.
"I don't buy it. Damn it, go find a truck and tow it away with cables!"
Inside the hotel, Chen Chuan moved from the first floor all the way up to the twelfth, finding every room and corridor utterly deserted. Yet the scene looked frozen in a single instant, as if the occupants had stepped out only moments before.
Moreover, ever since entering the building, he had felt a sensation of being watched.
By now, he had checked almost every area, including the rooftop, leaving only one place uninspected: the basement level.
This was an older building without an underground garage. According to the floor plan, the basement was used to house backup generators and cold storage.
He descended the stairs, pushed open a pair of fire doors, and walked down into the basement.
Chapter 330