Records of the Halls of Ten Thousand Affairs: Chapter 18: Ghost Hotel (Part One)

Records of the Halls of Ten Thousand Affairs: Chapter 18: Ghost Hotel (Part One)

Xu Xin and Su Xiaoyu had already tidied up the mess in the hallway. Chen Jiu told them to find somewhere to eat first, and then the three of them split a single room since staying at a haunted hotel cost the same as any other, there was no reason to splash out on two.

After settling in, they went downstairs to find something to eat. It was already past seven in the evening. There was a small commercial area nearby, so they found a hotpot place and ordered a mid-range spread.

At the table, Su Xiaoyu pulled out her assignment book and quietly worked on homework while they waited for the pot to boil. Chen Jiu glanced at her across the table and remarked that kids these days were really something sitting in a restaurant doing schoolwork without a care in the world.

Having learned a thing or two about the general situation, Chen Jiu had a rough sense of what they were dealing with. She set down her chopsticks and gave it some thought, then said to Xu Xin that she needed her to go to a few specific places in the city tomorrow to pick up some supplies.

Xu Xin pulled out her phone and started taking notes. Su Xiaoyu looked up from her homework and asked hopefully if she could come along.

Chen Jiu said no.

Su Xiaoyu went back to her homework without another word. Chen Jiu watched her for a moment, then said, more gently, that it wasn’t a fun errand just a lot of walking around to pharmacies and supply shops. Su Xiaoyu would be bored.

Su Xiaoyu nodded and said she understood, she just wanted to help.

The old master had said: reading the winds and clouds, divining the fortunes of the living and the dead these were not things a child should be involved in too early. Learn first, rush nothing. Study, pass your exams, go to university.

From outside the restaurant, Su Xiaoyu could hear the sounds of other students her age laughing and shouting and goofing around. She lowered her head and kept writing.

That evening, the three of them went back to the hotel. Chen Jiu gave Su Xiaoyu a few quiet instructions: do not go to the seventh floor, do not wander the hallways alone at night, and if anything felt wrong, call out immediately.

Su Xiaoyu said she knew.

At the door, before going in, Xu Xin leaned over to Su Xiaoyu and whispered, “If you get scared at night, you can come sleep in our room, okay?”

Su Xiaoyu blinked and said, “I won’t get scared.”

Xu Xin nudged her. “You’re already trembling a little.”

Su Xiaoyu stiffened. “I’m cold.”

Xu Xin grinned. “It’s July.”

Su Xiaoyu said nothing. Then, quietly: “Fine. Maybe a little scared.”

“We’re right next door,” Xu Xin said, and patted her on the shoulder. “Come knock anytime.”

The hotel lobby was quiet. A few guests lingered near the front desk. Chen Jiu noticed a middle-aged woman in the corner, well-dressed, visibly agitated, speaking in a low but intense voice to what appeared to be hotel management. Her companion, a man, kept glancing around with a look of suppressed alarm, as though afraid of being overheard.

Chen Jiu slowed her pace.

Xu Xin noticed too, and fell into step beside her. “Guests who had a bad night?”

“Looks like it.”

They drifted closer without being obvious about it. The woman was saying something about what she saw. The manager was apologizing profusely. The woman said she hadn’t slept a single minute. Her husband cut in and said there was clearly something wrong with this place and he wanted a full refund and then some, and he would be posting a review.

The manager kept his voice low and composed, offering compensation, suggesting perhaps the room could be changed.

“Change the room?” The woman’s voice rose sharply, then she caught herself and lowered it again. “In this building? You think I’d stay in this building for another night?”

Chen Jiu stopped beside a pillar and watched them for a moment.

Xu Xin murmured, “Should we get involved?”

Chen Jiu considered it. Before she could answer, a woman in a hotel uniform approached from the side, apologized for the interruption, and asked if she was Ms. Chen.

Chen Jiu said she was.

The woman introduced herself as Miao Yin, the hotel’s duty manager. She said she had been hoping to speak with Chen Jiu, if she had a moment.

The couple at the front desk were still arguing. The manager handling them looked exhausted.

Miao Yin noticed Chen Jiu’s gaze. She said, quietly, that it had been like this since last night. Two separate rooms, two separate guests, both checking out early. She paused, then added that she had looked into Chen Jiu’s background after a mutual contact passed along her name. She said she hoped they might be able to talk.

Chen Jiu said that was fine. But she had two conditions: her companions’ accommodations would be covered by the hotel, and any expenses incurred in the course of the job would be reimbursed in full.

Miao Yin agreed without hesitation.

A couple walked in through the front doors just then, luggage in tow, looking cheerful, clearly expecting an ordinary stay. Chen Jiu watched them check in.

Miao Yin followed her gaze, and something flickered across her face.

Then she straightened, smoothed her expression back into professional calm, and gestured toward the corridor. “Shall we?”

The woman with the complaints at the front desk finally turned to leave, pulling her husband by the sleeve. As she passed Chen Jiu, she slowed, just for a moment. She looked at her one long, searching look.

Then she walked out the front doors without a word.