Chapter 141: The Final Battle

“Sir, there is something wrong outside…” The young-looking security guard at the hotel entrance said to Zhang Haoran with a terrified expression.

“What is wrong?” Zhang Haoran took a few more steps forward, and he only realized that things were truly wrong…

Outside the opened glass door of the hotel drifted clusters of Black Mist, layer upon layer, completely enveloping the area outside in darkness. Besides that, if you moved closer, you could hear sounds like wild beasts whimpering from within the Black Mist, sounding very creepy.

“Is it fog?” Zhang Haoran looked at the Black Mist outside the hotel door in confusion.

“Have you ever seen Black Mist like this before? So thick…” The young security guard asked Zhang Haoran nervously.

“Isn’t the air pollution in Guishe City too serious?” Zhang Haoran checked the time once more, hesitated briefly, then resolutely stepped into the Black Mist outside the hotel.

The hotel security guard watched Zhang Haoran’s back disappear into the Black Mist with great concern. After no one spoke, the surroundings became extremely quiet. The young security guard could even hear his own heartbeat, and… the eerie whimpering sounds coming from the Black Mist.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

With an extremely sharp scream, something burst through from outside the hotel door. The young security guard could not dodge in time and was struck directly by one of the objects. Startled, he lost his balance and fell backward, landing hard on the ground.

When he came to his senses, he realized that what hit him was a human arm…

Attached to the upper part of the arm were several pale, white bones, looking something like shoulder blades. Blood splattered all over the young security guard’s face and body.

The young security guard screamed and immediately threw the arm away. Once he sat up, he felt something wasn’t right and quickly looked beside him, finding that the tall northeastern man Zhang Haoran, who had just stepped outside, was lying next to him…

But now, Zhang Haoran only had the upper half of his body above the waist, and one of his arms was missing. His legs were scattered in two different places inside the hotel’s lobby.

Blood was everywhere.

“Help… me…” Surprisingly, Zhang Haoran was not completely dead. As the young security guard watched, Zhang Haoran suddenly opened his mouth and called out to him.

The young security guard screamed loudly and nearly passed out on the spot.

Another security guard and two front desk staff, hearing the noise, ran over. After clearly seeing what was on the ground, they all screamed in terror.

…

Both mobile phones and landlines could not make calls outside.

However, people within the same hotel could call each other using mobile phones or landlines. It was as though the entire hotel had turned into a deserted island, isolated from the outside world.

What isolated the hotel was undoubtedly the thick Black Mist outside the hotel’s main entrance. Of course, it was not only the main entrance—when the curtains in any hotel room were opened, the outside was all dense Black Mist. Within the endless darkness, faint terrifying sounds like wild beasts could be heard.

Besides the phones not working, the hotel’s electrical system and water supply were functioning normally.

…

Around seven o’clock, more and more people came down to the lobby, and panic began to spread…

“Everyone, do not panic! And do not approach the hotel entrance! I am a staff member of the State Security Bureau. I will try to contact the outside world and figure out what’s going on! Chaos will not help you survive! It will only put you in greater danger!” Liu Yin stood on the service counter and shouted into the chaotic lobby.

Perhaps the words “State Security Bureau” caught everyone’s attention; the noise and confusion in the lobby settled down a bit. But soon, more people stepped out of the elevators. Upon seeing the scene in the lobby and hearing what the earlier people said, the lobby quickly fell back into noise and chaos.

With Liu Yin and Zhou Ling coordinating, the hotel’s glass door was closed, all curtains were drawn, and Zhang Haoran’s body was covered with a white sheet to avoid causing greater panic among the crowd.

The hotel security guards and staff were arranged by Zhou Ling to form a line at the lobby entrance to block and persuade guests who tried to open the door and enter the Black Mist outside. Some stubborn, time-pressed guests became quiet immediately after hearing the young security guard’s story about Zhang Haoran and lifting the white sheet to see the blood and flesh on the floor, and they obediently retreated back into the lobby.

…

“It must be the work of the Death Killer!”

“Yes! Maybe we are already part of a live broadcast!”

“Didn’t Day Four already pass?”

“What are you security department guys even doing? What’s going on?”

“Why can’t I make calls on my phone?”

“My flight will be delayed!”

“I have an important meeting to attend!”

“…”

In a short time, the lobby grew noisy again. This time, however, it was only noise—there was no larger chaos.

…

“What’s happening? Has the Death Killer really come?” Liu Hui asked the Lü Yang beside her in alarm. It seemed she really had no recollection of what happened before in the Mysterious Domain of Lutou Mountain.

“Everything will be fine.” Lü Yang comforted Liu Hui. Of course, he knew what this was all about. His gaze remained fixed on a certain person in the lobby and did not shift away.

This was a Mysterious Domain.

The time for the final battle with the Death Killer was approaching.

A few more people stepped out of the elevators. Seeing them, the crowd started to whisper.

Lü Yang looked toward the people coming out and recognized one of them as the internet celebrity Han Cheng—the one who had repeatedly vowed in Guishe City media to fight the Death Killer to the end these past few days.

Ji Zhen had also mentioned him in the Mysterious Domain, saying something about changing faces, tearing faces, and such…

Lü Yang looked at Han Cheng expressionlessly, then glanced at Liu Yin standing on the service counter, and finally fixed his gaze once again on the person he had been watching all along.

“Mr. Han Cheng, what do you think about these strange events happening at the Jinda Hotel?” A reporter from a small tabloid, who had been trying to get close to Han Cheng, forgot all about the danger upon seeing him and even took out a recorder to attempt an interview.

“Mr. Han is not accepting interviews now.” Han Cheng’s assistant immediately directed several bodyguards to block the reporter trying to approach him, then turned to discuss quietly with Han Cheng.

It seemed that Han Cheng and his group were still unaware of the death in the lobby. They had probably intended to leave the hotel early while it was less crowded and hadn’t expected the lobby to be so busy right now.

Besides the somewhat foolish reporter, no one else paid much attention to Han Cheng. The focus of everyone in the lobby was on Liu Yin, who was standing on the service counter. They kept asking him what was going on, when it would be resolved, so they could leave, and so on.

The assistant tried to persuade Han Cheng to return to the elevator, wait until he figured out the situation, and then decide what to do next. But Han Cheng did not agree with his suggestion and insisted on staying in the lobby. He noticed that, apart from the reporter, no one else in the lobby was particularly focused on him.

Just then, the hotel security guards and staff who had been maintaining order by the door under Zhou Ling’s direction suddenly became agitated, and some screamed. Their screams immediately drew the attention of everyone in the lobby.

Outside the hotel’s glass door stood a young girl!

The girl looked about eighteen or nineteen, with long hair reaching her waist, dressed in white clothes and a white skirt, barefoot, holding a cat. Her face was pale, her lips very red, and she had a dazed expression. She seemed to want to enter the hotel but was blocked by the glass door.

“A ghost!!”

A timid staff member screamed, turned, and ran into the lobby. His yell spooked others by the door, and many rushed back into the lobby in a panic. Their shouts and movements caused a great commotion. Some curious people had been moving closer to the door while the frightened crowd scrambled further inside, pushing and shoving until someone fell to the ground and was trampled, crying out for help and screaming.

“There’s no such thing as ghosts! Don’t be afraid! Don’t panic! The hotel’s glass door is locked and very sturdy. Even if there were ghosts, they couldn’t get in!” Liu Yin stood on the service counter and yelled at the crowd.

Outside the glass door was the incredibly eerie Black Mist, which had earlier chopped a departing guest in half and thrown his body inside, and now a ghost-like woman in white wanted to enter—anyone would think the worst.

All the security guards and staff fled back into the lobby in a panic, standing at a distance to watch the glass door. Only one woman remained by the door, who looked at the girl outside with uncertainty.

After a while, the woman walked toward the glass door, took out a thin rod-like object, and prepared to pick the temporary chain lock on the glass door to let the girl into the hotel.

Ever since Lü Yang came downstairs, his gaze had not left this woman—the State Security Bureau investigator, Zhou Ling.

“Stop her! Don’t let her bring that Female Ghost inside!” someone in the crowd shouted. Several braver men, upon hearing this, hesitated, looked at each other, then rushed over together, grabbed Zhou Ling’s arms, and pulled her away from the glass door.

“Let go of me! She’s not a ghost, she’s my little sister Xiao Jing!” Zhou Ling’s face turned ugly.