Chapter 213: The Police
“Hey, don’t you think there are a lot more police around here than usual?”
After the afternoon exam, Wang Ruoyan, who was walking with Li Mu, asked curiously.
Li Mu knew the real reason, but still made something up.
“Well, it’s normal for there to be police near the exam center, right? If students are late for the summer exams, the police even help take them to the test.”
“True!”
Wang Ruoyan nodded, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the police officers. Each one of them looking cool and giving off a strong sense of safety.
“Ruoyan, your drool is about to fall.” Chen Li reached over and wiped the corner of Wang Ruoyan’s mouth. “You’ll scare the officers if you keep staring like that.”
“Really?”
Only then did Wang Ruoyan look away unwillingly. She wiped her face and grumbled at Chen Li, “I wasn’t drooling.”
Li Mu didn’t bother paying attention to their joking around. She just looked at the police around the hotel, all standing alert.
She had a feeling… this whole area might be surrounded by the police.
If it weren’t for the fact that things like ghosts can’t really be reported to the police, they probably would have already set up barriers and blocked off the place.
She stepped through the hotel’s front door and looked around. The staff in the lobby all had slightly nervous looks on their faces. But when they saw the girls come in, the greeter still bowed politely as part of her job.
“Welcome.”
Li Mu looked away from the greeter and followed her two roommates into the elevator to head back to their room.
“Li Mu.”
Out of nowhere, Yu Fan suddenly showed up and called out to her.
“What is it?”
“Wanna go out for a bit?”
Li Mu was about to say no when she saw Chen Yi standing behind Yu Fan. She quickly walked over to him.
“I’ve got something to do with Yu Fan.”
“Another date? Consider the feelings of your single dorm mates,” Wang Ruoyan teased with a laugh, patting Li Mu’s shoulder. “Go on, go on.”
Ignoring the joke, Li Mu jogged over to Yu Fan, then waved goodbye to Wang Ruoyan and Chen Li, who were waiting for the elevator.
Once the other two were gone, Yu Fan and Chen Yi led Li Mu deeper into the hotel.
“What’s the deal with this hotel, really?”
After talking to the manager at noon, Li Mu still didn’t fully believe the ghost’s story, but she had felt a sense of kindness from him. Now she couldn’t wait to ask Chen Yi.
“Was what the manager said true?”
Chen Yi led her to an empty hallway on the first floor. Only then did he turn around with a serious expression.
Seeing his face, Li Mu’s heart sank. “So… I was lied to?”
“Most of it was true,” Yu Fan jumped in. “But think about it, how could a ghost open such a big hotel all on his own?”
Li Mu paused. She hadn’t really thought about that before.
But it made sense, opening a hotel from nothing is super rare even for a living person with money and resources, let alone a ghost with none of those things.
“The manager has a record with the police,” Chen Yi said as he lit a cigarette.
“About thirty years ago, that ghost was active. He was really clever. Because technology wasn’t advanced back then, the police couldn’t figure out what his obsession was or even who he was when he was alive. All they knew was that he went around killing rich people and taking their identities.”
“He hated rich people?” Yu Fan scratched his head.
“Not just that. While pretending to be those rich people, he secretly moved a lot of money. Then he vanished. Only in recent years did he show up again, by opening this hotel.”
"Also, the source of the hotel's corpses is also worth investigating. The police have uncovered some leads, one of which points to two employees at the suburban crematorium who, in order to sell bodies, would get homeless people drunk and swap them out for cremation..."
Li Mu’s face changed. “That’s so cruel!”
“All the other body sources were illegal too. Some might’ve been even worse... The hotel has over twenty ghost employees, and they all have to change bodies at least once a month.” Chen Yi frowned, his face looking a bit dark.
“But the ghosts working under the manager really don’t seem to know about the crimes, and they don’t have criminal records. Plus, the manager has kept his word. He protects and controls them like he said he would.”
That made things more complicated.
Li Mu and Yu Fan exchanged a look, then silently watched as Chen Yi took a puff of smoke.
She frowned and waved away the smoke in front of her. Yu Fan saw this and quickly walked over to open a nearby window.
“Alright, you two go study. You still have exams tomorrow.”
Chen Yi was just giving them a regular update. After all, they were the ones who reported the case.
“Need our help?” Yu Fan asked.
“No need. The manager seems very cooperative. He already explained everything he could this afternoon.”
After Chen Yi walked away with his cigarette, Li Mu still looked a little worried and asked Yu Fan, “If the manager gets arrested… what will happen to all those ghosts?”
Yu Fan casually put an arm around Li Mu’s shoulder and joked, “Don’t worry, the police will handle it. Your job now is to go have dinner with your boyfriend.”
Before Li Mu could say no, Yu Fan added, “I’ve asked you out every day lately and you’ve ignored me. My heart is broken, okay?”
“But we have exams…” Li Mu mumbled, then glanced nervously down the hallway. “Don’t do that. It’s not good if classmates see.”
“Oh please, like they don’t already know.” Yu Fan took his hand off her shoulder. “Even if they haven't figured it out, it’s still normal for close friends to walk like this, right?”
"Alright, if you're okay with it..." Li Mu reached for Yu Fan's hand and held it.
“Li Mu?” Seeing Li Mu being proactive, now it was Yu Fan's turn to be shy and look around nervously.
“What's wrong? Are you embarrassed to hold your girlfriend's hand? Let's go.” Even though she said that, her fiery blush that painted her face betrayed the words coming out of her mouth.
Just as she turned her head, she saw a hotel worker coming out of a nearby room.
The staff member seemed distracted, looking down at their phone. They turned a corner and, bam, walked right into the doorframe.
As expected, their head fell right off.
The ghost staff quickly bent down to pick up the head, but then noticed Li Mu and Yu Fan standing in the hallway. The whole body froze. Then the head on the floor awkwardly yet politely greeted them.
“D-Do you two need any help?”
Li Mu turned away with a blank face. “Let’s go. Time for dinner.”
Just thinking about how all the hotel staff could accidentally lose a head or drop an arm made her want to laugh.
Yu Fan gave the ghost a helpless smile, then quickly caught up with Li Mu.
“There’s a good restaurant nearby. But at this time, we might have to wait in line.”
“I don’t want to wait.”
“Then how about we check out the mall nearby? You could get some new clothes. What kind of girl only has a few outfits?”
“It's better to save up to buy a house.”
Yu Fan laughed even more warmly. “Come on, we helped report this case. We’ll probably get a reward. Don’t worry about the money, buy what you like.”
Li Mu thought for a moment, then couldn’t help asking again, “If the manager is arrested… what will happen to the hotel staff?”
“The police definitely thought of more than you did.” Yu Fan playfully tapped her nose. “They’ll figure something out.”
“Yeah…” she mumbled, “I just feel like the ghosts here are actually pretty nice.”