Rose Hotel 6

Su Yuye looked toward the distant high-rises and suddenly flashed a complex smile. "It's mine... I suppose."

She remained silent for a long while. Su Man said nothing either, quietly keeping her company as she gazed lost in thought at the night view, until Su Yuye spoke again.

"Do you know the legend of the hexagram?"

Su Man shook her head.

Su Yuye remarked with a touch of melancholy, "About the hexagram, someone once told me that it could help a person realize any wish... I used to take it as a joke. I never expected that some people actually believe in it, though I suppose that isn't so strange, is it?"

Her words were disjointed and rambling, but she clearly had no intention of explaining further.

"How could a hexagram help someone realize a wish?" Although Su Man did not believe it either, she asked anyway; if Su Yuye was bringing this up now, it had to be relevant.

"How? I don't know, because I didn't believe it, so that person never told me." Su Yuye ran a hand through her hair. "But I do know that once the hexagram takes effect, anything related to it will bear a hexagram mark."

She sighed softly, her smile tinged with exhaustion. "Suddenly, I'm not sure if coming back this time was the right choice."

Su Man was not one for comforting words, so she simply said, "I don't know what is right or wrong. I only know that if you follow your heart, and your heart tells you it is correct, then it is correct—even if it comes at a great price."

Su Yuye looked at her and chuckled. "I always said you were a unique person. The way you put it, everything suddenly feels clear. You're right, why worry about right or wrong? In fact, I think I already had the answer."

Noticing Su Man leaning over the railing to look down, she warned, "Be careful not to fall. To keep thieves from climbing up, the roof of the second floor is fitted with sharp iron spikes."

She added with a playful tone, "There would be no saving you if you fell."

The two exchanged some idle chatter. Having been on the road all day, Su Yuye was finally exhausted and decided to return to her room to rest. Su Man had a phone call to make to confirm a few things, so she stayed behind.

As Su Yuye opened the balcony door, a gust of wind swept in, blowing her hair aside. At the base of her neck, a conspicuous hexagram flickered with a faint, shimmering light.

Su Man’s eyes glinted, and she called out to her, "Su Yuye, if you need my help, you can tell me."

Su Yuye touched her neck as if sensing something, but then smiled as if she had discovered nothing. "I know, thank you. But I’m doing quite well; there’s nothing I need help with."

Hearing this, Su Man nodded and said no more. Everyone has their own destiny; having asked that one question, she had done all she could.

***

After Su Yuye left, Su Man called Kang Fu. Lin Hui had gone missing again, so she could only approach the matter through Kang Fu. However, she found dealing with him quite troublesome, knowing he would likely just deny everything.

As expected, when she brought up the letters, Kang Fu’s first reaction was to claim Su Man was wronging him.

"I have never corresponded with any other woman!" If not for the screen between them, Kang Fu might have lost his composure and confronted her face-to-face. "My only woman is Bei Jia! I have never done anything to betray her."

Su Man remained calm and asked, "Can you come here, then? If your conscience is clear, why not confront Lin Hui in person? Perhaps there is a misunderstanding between you two."

A misunderstanding was the most likely possibility Su Man could conceive after ruling out other options.

But Kang Fu suddenly hesitated. "I know you might suspect me again for saying this, but really... I... I cannot go there."

"Let me explain."

Kang Fu continued, "This isn't just about me." He sighed. "I once helped a master of the mystic arts, and to repay me, he promised to perform one divination for me."

The result was that he must never go to the Rose Hotel.

Yes, the master had even named the hotel, which was why Kang Fu believed it so firmly.

"The master said that if I go, I will certainly die," Kang Fu said. "If I were alone, I wouldn't be afraid and wouldn't believe it. But I'm not alone anymore; I have Bei Jia. We are getting married soon. Bei Jia is quite naive; if I died, I can't imagine how she would live on."

"So, Ms. Su, regardless of whether what the master said is true, I cannot risk going there."

Seeming to realize that his lack of cooperation would waste time, he increased his offer. "Money is no object. We previously agreed on 100,000 Horror Coins, but if you can really help me deal with that woman, I can give you 1,000,000."

One million?

At this figure, Su Man paused. They had discussed the task content before, but she hadn't bothered to check the reward. Now that it was mentioned, she became interested.

This was even more than the main quest reward, which was only 1,000. She immediately decided that even if she didn't complete the main quest, she would finish the task for Kang Fu.

The light screen appeared just in time to stop her dangerous thoughts: *Player, you must not have such dangerous ideas. You are a player; you should strive to complete the tasks I assign you. You must work to occupy your own territory; you have to believe that the benefits of occupying territory will definitely manifest in the future.*

"Will there be 1,000,000?" Su Man countered.

*There will be benefits.*

"Will there be 1,000,000?" Su Man asked again.

*...No.*

"Understood."

What she understood, the light screen did not dare to ask further; it feared it could not bear the answer. As long as it didn't know, everything could pretend to have never happened.

"Mr. Kang, I believe in your character," Su Man said, despite her true thoughts. "I will do my utmost to help you."

After hanging up with Kang Fu, Su Man looked at the night view outside again. In truth, she still couldn't see anything, but inexplicably, she sensed a kind of prosperity.

Money was truly a wonderful thing; no one ever complained about having too much. It was just a matter of whether her conscience could handle the 1,000,000.

Though she said that, she had already reached an answer: her conscience could handle it just fine. When profits reach 300%, one can trample over everything in this world, and besides, this was a venture with no capital investment on her part.

A breeze blew by, and she offered a smile. She was about to become wealthy. Indeed, money was the thing that gave her the most peace of mind.

As for failing the quest? Impossible. As long as she wanted it, such a thing would never happen.

She had never wanted to save the world; there were too many grievances in this life to expect her to resolve them all.

Feeling lighthearted, she went downstairs, intending to return to her room, when she suddenly heard a sound coming from Su Yuye's room nearby.