Yu Daohén shook his head, unable to believe his eyes.
In their line of work, they had seen it all: man-eating ghosts, man-slaughtering demons, water ghosts dragging people to their doom...
But the scene before him still made his pupils constrict and his stomach churn.
"Hungry... I'm so hungry..."
Yu Daohén gripped his Kang Long Jian tightly, frozen in place. After a moment, he slowly raised his hand, his fingers tracing the Kang Long Jian, igniting a fierce flame.
With a resolute heart, Yu Daohén swung the Kang Long Jian, a fiery sword energy slicing towards the wooden chest.
*Boom!*
The fiery sword energy ignited upon contact with the wooden chest.
Under the flickering flames, the scene within the wooden chest was particularly chilling.
The face within seemed to feel no pain, showing no expression of suffering, still murmuring, "Hungry... hungry... I'm so hungry..."
Yu Daohén, seemingly unable to bear looking at the scene any longer, turned and left quickly.
On the fourth floor, Zhang Xiaoqiang, exhausted, looked at the evil entity, lamenting, "Am I, Master Qiang, really going to fall here today?"
The evil entity swung its sharp claws, lunging forward.
Just as Zhang Xiaoqiang, with no escape, prepared to use his last resort, the Yuan-consuming Finger, the evil entity suddenly transformed into a wisp of black smoke and dispersed into the air.
Seeing this, Zhang Xiaoqiang let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground, "Holy hell, Master Yu was just in time."
After resting for a while, Zhang Xiaoqiang got up and headed downstairs.
He was also curious as to how the evil entity had suddenly vanished into thin air, and how Master Yu had dealt with it.
Arriving on the first floor, Zhang Xiaoqiang saw Yu Daohén standing at the entrance of the hotel.
"Holy hell, Master Yu, thank goodness you were in time. I was just about to kick the bucket thanks to that thing," Zhang Xiaoqiang complained.
Yu Daohén didn't reply, his gaze fixed blankly on the corner of the first floor.
"Master Yu?"
Seeing Yu Daohén's pale face, Zhang Xiaoqiang felt something was amiss.
Master Yu's face was usually pale, but not this kind of pale.
This was the pallor of pure fright, as if an ordinary person had seen a ghost, a face completely drained of color by terror.
After a long while, Yu Daohén shook his head and slowly said, "It's nothing. That thing is dealt with."
"Master Yu, what did you see in there?" Zhang Xiaoqiang asked, puzzled.
Given Master Yu's strength and experience, what could he have seen to cause such a reaction?
"A face!" Yu Daohén replied, then fell silent.
Zhang Xiaoqiang, unable to contain his curiosity, turned and headed towards the basement in the first-floor corridor.
Upon reaching the basement, Zhang Xiaoqiang could already smell a burnt odor before he even entered. Enduring the stench, he walked in and turned on his phone's flashlight.
He saw a wooden chest, about a meter in size, burnt beyond recognition. Something inside had been burning, emitting an incredibly foul odor.
Zhang Xiaoqiang pinched his nose, his face contorted in disgust, and turned to leave.
It seemed there was nothing more to be seen here. He could only try to get it out of Master Yu, though seeing his current state, he doubted he would speak.
Zhang Xiaoqiang walked out of the hotel and looked at Yu Daohén outside, "Master Yu, since that evil entity is dealt with, we'll stay at the hotel for one night and hand over the keys to Boss Pang tomorrow."
Yu Daohén nodded. It seemed like the only option for now.
That night, Yu Daohén, uncharacteristically, fell asleep as soon as he lay down. He only woke up when Zhang Xiaoqiang called him the next morning.
After washing up in the bathroom, Zhang Xiaoqiang looked at the completely recovered Yu Daohén and teased, "Yo, Master Yu, you've recovered quite quickly?"
Yu Daohén shot him a glare, "Get lost. Once Boss Pang arrives, we'll return the keys and get out of here immediately."
Yu Daohén didn't want to spend another second in this place.
"But seriously, Master Yu, what did you see last night that shocked you to that extent?" Zhang Xiaoqiang couldn't help but ask.
Yu Daohén recalled for a moment and then spoke with a profound tone, "Mind your own business about things in society."
"..." Zhang Xiaoqiang was speechless and immediately started cursing,
"Do you think you're being funny?"
Around noon, Pang Kun arrived at the hotel entrance by car.
Yu Daohén and Zhang Xiaoqiang were already waiting at the entrance. They got into the car, and Yu Daohén returned the keys to Pang Kun.
Pang Kun intended to treat Yu Daohén and Zhang Xiaoqiang to a meal, but Yu Daohén politely declined.
They got out of the car at the entrance of the food city. Su Qing and the little girl Yu Yiyun had been waiting there for a long time.
After Pang Kun bid them farewell, Yu Daohén looked at the four or five paper bags in Su Qing's hands and then at Yu Yiyun, who held an ice cream in her left hand and a donut in her right, and shook his head helplessly, "Little girl, is it fun?"
Yu Yiyun nodded with a satisfied expression, "It's fun! There's so much delicious food inside: hamburgers, donuts, ice cream, pickled pepper chicken feet, spicy rabbit heads, beef skewers, tanghulu, crossing-the-bridge noodles, squid, roujiamo, fried ice cream..."
Yu Yiyun was about to continue when Yu Daohén interrupted her with a raised hand, "Alright, alright, Daddy understands."
Just hearing about so much food made Yu Daohén feel a bit apprehensive. Were children nowadays this big eaters?
Zhang Xiaoqiang beside him lowered his voice and teased, "Master Yu, can you afford such a cute daughter?"
Yu Daohén gave a wry smile, not responding. Yu Yiyun continued, "Oh, and Auntie Su also bought me many pretty dresses."
Yu Daohén looked at the paper bags in Su Qing's hands and said somewhat apologetically, "I'm sorry, sister-in-law, for causing you to spend so much."