Chapter 108: The Human Skin Drum (12)

Once the largest monster in the Old Wang Hostel was slain by her, the anomalies throughout the establishment slowly returned to their normal state. The viscous green liquid in the hallways also gradually faded away.

The hostel owner and the front-desk clerk reappeared. However, their sudden emergence felt rather suspicious, as if they were trying too hard to hide their guilt.

"What happened to this building?" the owner asked, feigning a sleepy demeanor. "Why did you all run outside? Were you the only one left in the building? I don't know who pried open the lock on the front door either. Let me tell you, your Qinghong tour group booked this entire building, so you’ll be the ones paying for the repairs!"

"We'll see," Tang Mu replied with a calm expression. "We can pay for the damage, but you need to give us a proper explanation. What is going on with the monsters in this building? We spent so much money to come here for a vacation, yet you can’t even guarantee our basic personal safety. If word of this gets out, who would ever stay here again?"

Get out? Where would it even go?

But the NPC knew better than to say that out loud. So, he continued to act his part. "Monsters? What monsters?" He stretched his neck to peek into the lobby. "There's nothing here."

During the time he spent deliberately loitering at the entrance, the viscous green liquid in the room had already vanished without a trace. It looked as if he had been stalling on purpose, waiting for the substance to disappear.

"Hey, little girl, you need to have a conscience when you speak! Our place may be small, but our service follows the standards of a five-star hotel. You can’t just open your mouth and start spreading rumors! Besides, it’s perfectly peaceful these days; where would any monsters come from? Have you been reading too many science fiction novels?"

Tang Mu, having failed to find justice and instead being met with a counter-accusation, nearly laughed in frustration. "Fine, playing dumb, are we?"

The red thread bell in Tang Mu’s hand instantly activated, wrapping around the owner's wrists and ankles. "If you refuse to tell the truth and insist on playing the fool, I’ll throw both of you into the Luo River. I’d like to see if you still have the leisure to spout this nonsense when you’re feeding your own flesh to the river."

Seeing that Tang Mu was serious, the owner and the clerk immediately crumbled. The clerk betrayed the owner first, rushing to reveal the village's secrets without even waiting for Tang Mu to set the owner free.

"Miss Tang—no, Ms. Tang! We had no choice but to be accomplices. We aren't with the villagers. But we have to stay inside the hostel, or the villagers will make trouble for us. Once we leave the hostel, especially at night, the mutated villagers extend countless fleshy, tentacle-like threads from beneath their tightly wrapped clothing to strangle living people! It’s terrifying! That’s why we kept the doors locked—to prevent them from invading with those fleshy threads!"

"Every night, we keep the doors bolted out of sheer necessity," the clerk added. "We really didn't do it on purpose!"

"Not on purpose?" Tang Mu frowned, her voice rising. "I think you knew full well that the green vines in the rooms would mutate, so you hid away while they attacked the guests. You only reappeared once they returned to normal, didn't you?"

At the mention of the mutated vines, the clerk’s expression shifted dramatically. She stammered for a long time, hesitating, before vaguely adding, "This was originally a piece of information that required payment..."

"Fine, I’ll throw you out of the hostel right now." A few strands of thread detached from Tang Mu’s wrist and coiled around the clerk’s limbs, clearly intending to toss her from the fourth floor.

Terrified, the clerk didn't even dare to ask for payment anymore; she hurriedly spilled the truth to save herself. "Wait, wait! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!"

She poured everything out in a rush. "We built an underground room on the basement level with no windows and only a secret door. We even lined the perimeter with black bamboo strips from the Black Bamboo Forest to prevent the mutated vines from invading."

"The vines usually mutate from 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM. Every time they mutate, they must be fed before they calm down. To avoid being eaten ourselves, the owner and I have been constantly accepting new travelers."

"Don't even try to spout nonsense about why we didn't just throw the vines out!" the clerk blurted out, rushing to speak before Tang Mu could interrupt. "These vines are the bane of the mutated villagers. As long as they are here, those creepy villagers don't dare enter the hostel."

"But now that the Vine King is dead and the others have disappeared, our little hostel has lost its only protection against those monsters. They haven't realized it yet, but once they do, it won't just be you—the owner and I will be killed by them too!"

The clerk was on the verge of tears, but Tang Mu felt no sympathy for her. After all, the owner and the clerk were using the lives of tourists to satisfy the hunger of the Vine King in order to protect themselves.

"And what about that pregnant man?" Tang Mu looked at the owner, signaling him to speak. She threatened him with her gaze, implying that if he couldn't provide useful information, he would be a useless waste—and useless people had no need for survival.

"He was just unlucky," the owner sighed. "He could have waited for the Mother’s messenger to arrive and claim the child in three days. But the Vine King had just finished eating and got hungry again. That man’s belly was too large, and he was too pregnant to walk, so the Vine King found him, mutated him, and devoured him."

"Actually, this is your own fault. Who told you to be disrespectful to the Mother?"

Having gathered enough information, Tang Mu couldn't be bothered with these two selfish individuals any longer. She stepped toward the first floor.

The owner and the clerk watched her, unable to believe their eyes that she would walk to the first floor to send herself to death. They didn't dare question her sanity, and even if they did, they were too afraid to voice it.

"Um..." The clerk wanted to warn Tang Mu that it was best not to go to the first floor at this hour, but she was immediately silenced by a glare from the owner, who signaled for her to shut up.

Returning to the first floor, Tang Mu checked the scene outside the hostel. It was quiet—eerily quiet. The tourists who had run out seemed to have vanished into thin air; as far as Tang Mu could see, there was no movement or sound at all.