Rose Hotel 2

A cold breeze brushed past her, and Su Man turned her head instinctively, coming face-to-face with a pallid, ghastly visage.

Quick as lightning, before the female specter could strike, Su Man reacted with astonishing speed, parrying the attack with her dagger. Before she could discern any further details, the apparition vanished. If not for the words "Go die" still etched upon the mirror, it would have seemed as if nothing had occurred at all.

Su Man pondered for two seconds, then turned, locked the door, and headed downstairs. She went to find the elderly woman at the front desk.

"Ma'am, has there ever been a murder in Room 213?" she asked directly.

"213?" The old woman clearly had an impression of what had happened in that room. "Did I give you the key to that room? I must be truly senile; I told myself never to rent that room out..."

The old woman muttered to herself for a moment before sighing. "That room... a beautiful young girl used to live there. Distraught by love, she eventually hanged herself. It’s such a tragedy."

Hearing this, Su Man felt she had found the right lead. She took a photo of her client from her pocket—a quick snapshot she had taken earlier, just in case—never expecting to use it so soon.

"Ma'am, look, do you have any impression of this man?"

The old woman adjusted her reading glasses, squinted at the photo, then shook her head before nodding again. "He looks familiar, but I’m not sure if it’s the same person." Her voice dropped, as if afraid of being overheard. "He was the boyfriend of the girl who hanged herself."

"I heard that this man cheated on her," the old woman said, before shaking her head to dismiss her own words. "Then again, that might just be idle gossip. I don't really know the truth of it, but they were all such pitiful souls."

After a brief exchange, the old woman, clearly wishing to drop the subject, asked, "Young lady, would you like to change rooms?"

Su Man shook her head; to her, every room was the same. As she prepared to leave, she paused for a second and asked casually, "Ma'am, do you know the girl's name?"

"I vaguely remember her surname was Lin, and her given name was Hui."

Lin Hui...

At the mention of the name, the old woman stopped everything she was doing and said with sudden, startling gravity, "Come to think of it, I believe I just saw her. She went out."

Su Man froze. She saw her?

The old woman, having said it, found it unbelievable herself and tried to backtrack. "It couldn't have been Xiao Hui. How could I have seen her? I must have been mistaken. I'm getting old; my eyes aren't what they used to be."

But Su Man took her words to heart. Xiao Hui went out? She looked down at the photo of her client. Had Xiao Hui gone to find him? The client had previously mentioned that a woman had been following him.

Just as she was thinking this, the client called, right on cue.

"Didn't you say you'd handle everything? Are you even working? That woman has come to find me again!"

It was easy to hear the tremor of fear in the client's voice.

"I only just arrived and discovered she had already left. Sir, you don't need to worry; I’m coming over right now."

She needed to meet Lin Hui anyway, and gathering some information from the client wouldn't hurt.

Unexpectedly, her response triggered a barrage of dissatisfaction from the client. "What do you mean you 'just arrived'? What am I paying you for? Why are you so incompetent? What use are you to me? She’s at my doorstep—what am I supposed to do?!"

"Wait. Wait for me to get there," Su Man said patiently. Before he could launch into another tirade, she suggested, "If you can't wait, then go die."

Silence fell on the other end of the line.

After a long while, a stiff, subdued voice replied, "I'll wait for you." Then, perhaps to salvage a shred of dignity, he added stubbornly, "Hurry up!"

Su Man had assumed that a Domain of Obsession was fixed to a single location. She glanced back at the Rose Inn behind her; if this place was a Domain of Obsession, why was Lin Hui able to leave it? She felt that the light screen would surely be willing to enlighten her.

Fortunately, the screen confirmed that Domains of Obsession varied in nature. Su Man summarized it for herself: the domain acted more like a lair—an immortal lair. For someone like Lin Hui, even if she left the premises, she possessed no real lethality; her power was confined to the domain itself.

Less than two hours later, Su Man stood once again before her client's grand villa.

She hadn't expected to return so soon. The luxury of the villa before her rivaled even her own vacation home. A quick scan of her memory provided more insight: the owner of the villa was Kang Fu, a thirty-year-old Chinese returnee with a successful career and over ten businesses to his name—a famous bachelor.

His fiancée was a woman from a well-matched, prominent family named Bei Jia, a very famous actress. The news of their engagement had been met with blessings from everyone in the industry, all calling them a match made in heaven. In a week, they would hold a world-renowned "wedding of the century."

And, notably, Lin Hui had no place in that narrative.

Pulling herself from her thoughts, she rang the doorbell. Moments later, a panicked voice emerged: "Ms. Su?"

The gate swung open. Su Man walked in, faintly sensing that something had followed her through the gate, but when she turned to look, she saw nothing. She furrowed her brow, lost in thought.

As she reached the inner door, Kang Fu hurried to meet her. "Ms. Su, you're finally here! Did you see that crazy woman outside? She's been ringing the doorbell constantly! She’s driving me insane!"

Su Man shook her head; she hadn't seen anyone when she arrived. Meanwhile, she scanned Kang Fu carefully—he was definitely a player.

Kang Fu, seemingly oblivious to her scrutiny, continued his frantic rambling. "Ms. Su, you must save me. Bei Jia and I are getting married soon. We've worked so hard to be together; I don't want a random woman to ruin my fate with her."

Su Man didn't rush to promise him anything. She stepped forward, looked around the villa, and asked, "Mr. Kang, have you ever incurred any romantic debts?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Kang Fu looked so agitated he almost seemed ready to swear to the heavens. "Bei Jia is my first love. Aside from her, there has never been another woman!"

As he spoke, he felt the air grow increasingly cold. He couldn't help but shrink his neck and rub his arms vigorously.

"Ms. Su, why does it feel so cold?"

Su Man nodded. "Because there is someone behind you."