Roles Reversed

When the Hai hour arrived, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were the only two guests left in the entire inn. Holding an axe, the waiter came down from the third floor. Fresh blood, not yet congealed, dripped from the blade drop by drop—whose it was, no one knew. A smile curled at the corner of his lips. Although he had stumbled into this small town by mistake and been forced to follow its rules, the rules were not without opportunity—an opportunity to unleash his true nature. He had already forgotten how long he had been in Buyi Town, nor could he remember how many people he had killed. These two were lucky. Buyi Town was full of pitfalls everywhere, yet they had not fallen into a single trap and had survived until now. The previous batches of guests had not been so fortunate; unfamiliar with the place and its paths, and refusing to believe the rules, they had soon been completely wiped out. Of the ten Earth-rank rooms, nine doors turning black were proof enough—and that was not even counting the fools who had gone to the third floor to stay in the Heaven-rank rooms. The luck of these two newcomers was about to run out. He decided he would keep knocking on their door tonight, all the way until morning. Even if he could not kill them, he would torture them. "Strange. For the past two days, Earth-rank Room Four had its light on. Why isn't it lit today?" The waiter quickly figured out why and sneered. "Think I'll spare you just because of that? Naive." He adjusted his tone and lightly tapped on the wooden door. "Dear guests, please open the door. Perhaps there's some misunderstanding between us." The waiter paused, then spoke in an even calmer, more trustworthy voice: "Dear guests, please open the door. Perhaps there's some misunderstanding between us." As usual, there was no answer. Suddenly, a hand shot out of nowhere and seized his ankle. "Who's that?!" He jerked his head down and saw that, at some unknown point, a dog hole had been carved out at the base of the wall of Earth-rank Room Four. A pale hand jutted out from the hole, clamped tightly around his ankle. The hand was astonishingly strong. With a fierce yank, it pulled him off his feet. *Clang—* The waiter crashed to the floor, his axe flung aside. He scrambled frantically outward, desperate to break free, but the grip's strength far exceeded his imagination—he could not break loose! In the past, he was always the one dragging others. When had he ever been dragged?! *I'm going to die!* An absurd sense of dread welled up within him! But how could this be? He was the hunter, and the guests were the prey! *No, this is possible!* The waiter recalled the second rule. [From the Hai hour to the Chen hour, thatched cottages with closed doors and inn rooms with closed doors are absolutely safe. Anywhere else is dangerous.] Earth-rank Room Four was still shut, making it an absolutely safe place for the guests. If he was dragged inside, his fate would be horrific! The waiter dug his fingers into the floorboards with all his might, like prey halfway down the gullet of a giant python trying to escape. He shrieked at the top of his lungs, "Help! Help! Save me!" He shouted with heartfelt sincerity. Unfortunately, no one was there to save him. The [Buyi Town Inn Rules] had no rule about saving the waiter. Just as more than half his body was dragged inside, both his hands braced fiercely against the walls on either side. With a violent surge of force, he finally broke free. Not even pausing to retrieve his axe, the waiter scrambled limpingly back to the Heaven-rank rooms. "He got away?" Meng Jingzhou said, somewhat exasperated. The other party's strength was surprisingly massive; even after crushing the man's ankle, he had failed to keep hold of him. No matter what, the two of them were going to deal with this annoying waiter tonight. Every single night, he refused to sleep and just banged on doors like a lunatic. Go ask around—when had two dignified Demonic Cult Branch Masters ever suffered such bullying?! After two days of observation, the two had already understood the inn's rules and swiftly devised a plan. Lu Yang had first used the Green Blade Sword to dig a hole at the bottom of the wall, sized to the waiter's body. By taking advantage of the rule that "a room with a closed door is safe," they ensured that once they dragged the waiter inside, he could not harm them, and the initiative remained firmly in their hands. "Prey with vitality is what makes it fun!" A cruel smile curled at the corners of Lu Yang's mouth, his sinister voice echoing through the room. Two dark figures walked out of Earth-rank Room Four. One held a sword, while the other was empty-handed. The empty-handed one picked up the dropped axe. The sword tip scraped along the floor, producing an irregular grating hiss, while blood dripped from the axe with steady, wet clicks. Brandishing murder weapons slick with blood, the two dark figures prowled through the inn. Second floor... nothing. That meant the third floor. There were four rooms in total on the third floor, all Heaven-rank. The shadow holding the sword knocked on the door, speaking in a gentle voice: "We heard there's free dinner here. We're hungry and want to eat. Please open the door." Seeing no movement from Heaven-rank Room One, Lu Yang grew a little impatient and pounded heavily on the door. "Open up! We want to eat! What kind of customer service is this?!" "There's a misunderstanding between us. Open up, let's have a good chat!" "Open the door! Open it quickly! If you don't open up, I'm smashing it down!" The pounding was tremendous, audible throughout the entire inn. Lu Yang kicked open the door to Heaven-rank Room One. It was completely empty. He tried to step inside, but was blocked by an invisible force, unable to enter. [Rule 5: Do not enter the Heaven-rank rooms.] Hiding in one of the rooms, the waiter trembled with fear as he heard the commotion next door. "D-Don't be afraid. The rules say [Do not enter the Heaven-rank rooms]. They can't come in, they can't come in." The waiter muttered repeatedly that they could not enter, though his heart was completely devoid of confidence. Heaven-rank Room Two and Heaven-rank Room Three were both kicked open by Lu Yang, with no sign of the waiter. "That leaves Heaven-rank Room Four!" Without a second thought, Lu Yang kicked it open, and sure enough, saw the waiter curled into a ball in the darkness. "Come out! I'll spare your life!" Meng Jingzhou threatened with fierce bluster. Seeing Meng Jingzhou putting up a front, the waiter was relieved and burst into loud laughter. "Haha! As expected, you have to follow the rules too!" Only he could decide who entered and who did not enter a Heaven-rank room, and inside a Heaven-rank room, he had an absolute advantage. No one could harm him! Just as the waiter was pondering whether to pull the two inside, Lu Yang unhurriedly produced a wooden plaque from behind his back. The moment the waiter saw it, his expression transformed into sheer terror. Carved on the wooden plaque were the words: Earth-rank Room Four. Lu Yang had anticipated this possibility and had previously tested swapping the door plaque of Earth-rank Room Three with that of Earth-rank Room Four. The black door of Earth-rank Room Three had turned brown, proving it had become "Earth-rank Room Four." This method worked. Lu Yang replaced the door plaque of Heaven-rank Room Four with Earth-rank Room Four. The barrier vanished, allowing direct entry. One holding a sword, one holding an axe, both bearing terrifying smiles on their faces. Under the waiter's terrified gaze, the two stepped into the room and thoughtfully closed the door. This was now Earth-rank Room Four, which meant it was absolutely safe for them. Lu Yang kicked the waiter to the ground and severed the tendons in his wrists and ankles to prevent any escape. Meng Jingzhou slapped him across the face twice as interest for frightening them. Then, the two dressed him in the white clothing. "Speak! What do you know?!" [Rule 17: Do not lightly trust the words of strangers. People wearing white clothing only speak the truth.]