Chapter 24: Named Tong Pass

Fang Shenyan’s tone remained completely unchanged as he spoke. After all, they were inside the hotel, and their status surpassed that of the ghosts, so there was no fear of attack.

"Holy crap, you’ve hit the jackpot."

Yu Guo, on the other hand, was so excited he looked ready to jump, blurting out the thoughtless remark.

The second personality sometimes shared the same temperament as Yu Guo, but the things he said were even more nonsensical.

"Tch, that Peeping Ghost is so ugly—I wouldn't even want it if it were paying me to be with it!"

Fang Shenyan adjusted his glasses and said softly, "The first day I discovered it, I took it back to the second floor, and it was quite obedient. But it came back the next day, and the same occurred on the third night. It’s so persistent that it’s actually becoming a bit awkward."

Ji Li frowned as he looked at Fang Shenyan. It wasn’t exactly rare for a Peeping Ghost to have such a fixation. However, for it to ignore the hotel’s rules and show up punctually every single day just to watch Fang Shenyan was something that exceeded Ji Li's expectations.

Normally, with Fang and Yu taking turns patrolling the second floor, the ghosts usually had no desire to wander out after being checked on.

Ji Li suddenly thought of Fang Shenyan’s left hand—the back of that hand bore a tattoo unique to the Peeping Ghost.

"Could it be because of this tattoo..."

He didn't voice his thought, opting instead to offer a casual reassurance: "Inside the hotel, it’s no matter."

He stretched, pulled a cigarette case from his coat, tossed one to Fang Shenyan, and walked toward the lobby with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

This time, six chairs had already been set up in the lobby, arranged in a circle. In the center sat a large desk. It seemed that as the hotel’s population grew, the level of service was also being upgraded.

Ji Li sat down without hesitation, choosing the nearest seat, while Fang and Yu took the chairs to his left and right. Three new employee manuals were laid out on the table. The group waited in silence for the clock to strike two.

...

As the clock in the lobby ticked to exactly two o'clock, a scorching white light appeared out of thin air.

Ji Li raised an eyebrow, watching quietly as the light faded to reveal two figures. They were a man and a woman, arriving together. They stood very close, appearing to be a couple.

The man was about 1.8 meters tall. Though not bulky, his posture was straight and lithe. His features were not particularly striking, but they were sharp and well-defined. In particular, an intangible, heroic spirit between his brows gave his otherwise lean frame a sense of absolute reliability.

Beside him stood a slender woman. Her thick, long hair was tied into a neat ponytail, and she wore utility-style clothing. She appeared quite young. Her gentle expression lacked any aggressive edge, but her attire and bearing gave her a unique, spirited air.

Yu Guo’s eyes lit up; this pair of newcomers was impressive. To him, their appearance alone was a massive improvement over the last group they had received.

Fang Shenyan, however, frowned. He looked at the man’s long, narrow phoenix eyes and noticed that the light flickering within them remained undimmed even under the influence of the hotel's obvious supernatural power. Furthermore, the aura emanating from the two was remarkably upright.

He hesitated, then leaned in to whisper to Ji Li, "Something about these two feels off."

Ji Li didn't need to be told; he had already sensed a strange, familiar quality to the energy surrounding these newcomers. Before he could speak, the man took the initiative, his gaze sweeping over the three of them before landing precisely on Ji Li.

"Are you the acting branch manager of Branch Seven?" the man asked, his voice low and magnetic.

The moment these words were spoken, Ji Li’s breath hitched for a split second, and both Fang and Yu gasped in surprise.

"How is this possible? How could he have that reaction?" The second personality was completely bewildered.

"Could it be that he was a hotel employee himself?" the third personality wondered aloud.

Ji Li narrowed his eyes. He didn't rise from his chair; instead, he reached out to pull a cigarette from his pack and offered it to the man.

The man smiled and shook his head, pulling his companion to a seat. He didn't take Ji Li’s cigarette, opting instead to pull his own case from his coat.

"My name is Tong Guan, and this is my wife, Chang Nian. We are from the Eleventh Branch of the Tianhai Hotel. I was the acting branch manager of that branch!"

"Hiss..."

Ji Li had never anticipated that the newcomers would possess such identities; they could hardly be considered "new." This man, Tong Guan, had a unique presence and bearing that clearly suggested he had survived countless ghost missions.

Ji Li had only just taken over Branch Seven and knew nothing of how many branches the Tianhai Hotel actually had. Hearing that Tong Guan had been the manager of the Eleventh Branch sent a jolt of alarm through him—just how vast was the influence of Tianhai?

Tong Guan looked around at the group. "I can tell that things at Branch Seven aren't much better than they were at Branch Eleven. A team of only three—you must have just taken over recently. No need to guess; Branch Eleven has been shut down."

Fang Shenyan adjusted his glasses, feeling that Tong Guan’s demeanor was quite different from their own. Everything about this man was too ordinary. Tong Guan truly resembled a regular person who had clawed his way up from the bottom yet managed to maintain his integrity. In contrast, none of the three currently in Branch Seven were exactly "normal."

"Why was it shut down?"

"I don’t know. I only know that my wife and I had just led our employees through the mission to promote to two-star status when Tianhai suddenly announced that Branch Eleven was closed. The six of us, including myself, were split into pairs and reassigned to other branches."

Tong Guan kept his eyes on Ji Li while answering Fang Shenyan’s question.

Ji Li pursed his lips and took a deep drag of his cigarette. Neither Tong Guan nor his wife, Chang Nian, were ordinary people. Tong Guan was composed and neither humble nor pushy, and Chang Nian’s conduct was leagues ahead of the previous newcomer, Ding Miaoxin. She remained silent, leaving the floor entirely to Tong Guan, clearly confident that her husband could handle the current variables.

"A man who successfully led his team to two-star status..."

Ji Li watched the man before him, who seemed gentle but possessed a mastery of discourse that was pushed to the absolute limit. He sighed internally, thinking that this would be a difficult person to deal with. He glanced at Fang Shenyan, who remained expressionless, only offering a slight shake of his head.

Ji Li knew that Fang Shenyan was worried about Tong Guan’s arrival. He gave a wry smile, exhaled a ring of smoke, and stood up slowly.

"Regardless of the circumstances, welcome to you and your wife."

Tong Guan stood up and met Ji Li’s gaze as an equal. The two men—one with a dark, sinister air, the other with a principled, upright nature—shook hands.

...

At that moment, Yu Guo, who had been silent until now, hopped off his chair and hurried to the center of the lobby, looking up and down.

"That’s not right. Weren't there supposed to be three newcomers? Where is the other one?"

No sooner had he spoken than a white light engulfed the spot where he stood. Ji Li looked over to see Yu Guo merging with the light, followed by a scream.

When the light faded, Ji Li’s expression turned strange. Yu Guo had been flattened by the third newcomer, who had materialized directly above him and was now standing on top of him, leaving Yu Guo howling in pain beneath his feet.