Chapter Five: A Small Inn Where Our Paths Cross

“I don’t care whether the red mist has spread across the globe or not. I just want to know—what exactly is beneath that shroud of red? What is truly hidden within the places the red mist covers?”
“Aliens, it has to be, it must be!”
...
When the news ended, the crowd was thrown into panic.
More and more faces were now marked by an inexplicable terror.
Lin Yi frowned.
The area affected by the red mist had actually grown?
Just as some had speculated, would it eventually envelop the entire world?
...
Hastily grabbing a burnt skewer from the street vendor, Lin Yi made his way to a small inn called “You and Me Are One.”
The names of these little inns near the university always sounded rather suggestive.
Lin Yi, feeling a sense of urgency and with little money on hand, didn’t bother searching for a more upscale hotel. If that was out of reach, he figured he might as well find a place with decent soundproofing.
He’d heard from a few of his dorm mates that “You and Me Are One” was known for its good sound insulation.
But after checking in, Lin Yi was left dumbfounded.
From the next room, the moans and gasps were so obvious it was impossible to ignore.
Every room was “busy,” with almost none left unoccupied.
A barrage of question marks exploded in Lin Yi’s mind. Those dorm mates had clearly been messing with him—this was their idea of good soundproofing?
“Sorry, I forgot to ask—are you expecting a lady friend soon? Here’s a little umbrella. It’ll make sure you students have nothing to worry about. It’s cheap too, only ten bucks a pack. Want one?”
The innkeeper, a man in his fifties with a lecherous grin, chased Lin Yi up to the second floor from the front desk, waving a packet of condoms and speaking with a tone that left no doubt about his intentions.
“...”
Lin Yi.
He shot the owner a cold glance, took his key, and headed to room 207, closing the door tightly behind him.
The innkeeper curled his lip and turned to go downstairs.
“Tch, you can tell this kid is stingy, won’t even buy a little umbrella. His girlfriend’s in for a rough time. What if the two of them end up with a kid? So young, too…”
“But today’s weird enough, what with that red mist in the sky… Never mind, I’ll just hang a ‘Closed’ sign and lock the door tight. If anything really happens, I’ve got nothing to fear. Ha, that’ll teach you not to buy a little umbrella. I’ll do a good deed and keep your girlfriend from getting in!”
Heading downstairs, the owner happened to see a beautiful woman enter. He eyed her lasciviously for a while, then locked the door.
After making suggestive jokes with her for a while, he watched her head upstairs, then gleefully sat down at his computer to play a game of Dragon Sweeper.
Meanwhile, Lin Yi, just inside room 207, took out his phone to see if anyone online was talking about the red mist.
Sure enough, the internet had exploded; his messaging app was chiming non-stop.
I Am the Great Demon King Who Loves Garlic: Damn, this is getting freakier by the day. Now there’s blood-red mist in the sky—what else could happen? Everyone, be careful when you go out.
Big Baldy’s Springtime, Guess Guess: Be careful, all of you. Dorm bros, stay alert. You never know when trouble will find you in these times, and I still want to live a long life with you guys. Be careful, really—be careful.

Magic Girl Smiley, Smiley, Smiley: Old Seven from our dorm hasn’t come back yet. Old Seven, where the hell are you? Reply if you see this! Tagging Old Seven, tagging Old Seven.
...
Lin Yi hadn’t returned to the dorm, and was surprised to find his seven dorm mates frantically tagging him.
Lin Yi was the seventh in his dorm; seeing he was being tagged, he hurriedly replied.
Past Years Like Flowing Water: I’m fine, don’t worry about me. My childhood friend is here and I’m having dinner with him. Not coming back tonight.
As soon as he sent that, the group chat exploded.
Magic Girl Smiley, Smiley, Smiley: Damn, Old Seven, is this childhood friend of yours a beauty? Didn’t think you had it in you. I thought you were single! Turns out you’ve beaten me to the punch. Just you wait, just you wait.
I Am the Great Demon King Who Loves Garlic: Not fair! I’m better looking than you, Old Seven, my grades are better, and I’m richer. Why am I still single? Hey, Old Seven, I’ll trade you my looks, my money, my grades—just give me your girlfriend, deal?
...
Watching his friends’ banter, Lin Yi smiled, closed the messaging app, and turned to browse the forums for posts about the red mist.
There were plenty of threads, but most of the sensational headlines led to pages that had already been taken down.
Fortunately, deleted posts couldn’t outpace new ones being posted.
...
“We are the famous Eastern Mystic Monks. We are Mystic Monk One and Mystic Monk Two. Today is the day we make our name known to the world. The red mist in the sky? We made that! Don’t believe us? Fine, watch us show you why we’re claiming credit. Watch me transform!”
“Big Bro, if you transform, I’ll transform too! We two are the legendary Generals Heng and Ha, the creators of the red mist, peacekeepers of the world!”
After scrolling through several deleted threads, Lin Yi finally clicked on a video that, despite its adolescent absurdity, had miraculously survived the censors.
When Lin Yi saw the two so-called Heng and Ha Generals—one with yellow hair, one with red, both dressed like clowns—he was about to swipe away.
But then something made his eyes widen in shock.
In the video, the two self-proclaimed world peacekeepers and red mist creators, one tall and one short, one fat and one thin, no older than sixteen or seventeen, were laughing when, suddenly, a burst of fire shot from the mouth of the boy with yellow hair!
Meanwhile, the boy with red hair actually exhaled a thick cloud of red mist from his nose!
The comment section exploded:
“This is awesome, the effects are amazing. You can breathe fire and mist? I’m starting to believe you really are the Generals Heng and Ha. Come on, I’m the Jade Emperor, hurry up and become my underlings!”
“Nice, peacekeepers! I’m the local founder of peace. Please transfer five thousand to my account 12345678, and I’ll supply you with all the guns and ammo you need!”
“Uh… I’m Qin Shi Huang, and in all my years I’ve never seen powers like yours. Pay me ten thousand and you’ll become my right-hand men—my empire will be yours with a wave of my hand!”
...
“Stop joking, you above! Qin Shi Huang, really? And you, with your weapons—are you looking to eat lead or what? I’m from Wudaokou Mental Hospital. All you dreamers, come see me!”
As the comments scrolled by, the video was suddenly taken down.
Lin Yi frowned.
The red mist was eerie enough, and now it was clear the authorities were stepping in.
At first, Lin Yi had thought the video was fake, but now it seemed more likely to be true.
Quickly, he kept searching.

Suddenly, Lin Yi’s eyes lit up as he spotted the forum’s top trending post, freshly posted and already on fire: a video titled “A waft of corpse stench appeared beside my villa—Uncle Ying, save me!”
The barrage of comments was filled with alarm.
“Damn! Uncle Ying, help!”
“Aaaah… This is terrifying!”
“Ancient corpse resurrected? Drought demon? Flying zombie?”
“I give up… This is too damn scary!”
“OP, are you okay? Are you alive? Reply if you’re alive…”
...
There was no joking in the comments—only words of horror.
Lin Yi glanced at them, feeling a chill run down his spine.
At the start of the video, the camera focused on an elderly man dressed in ancient attire.
At first, the old man’s face was flushed with health, standing on the asphalt road of a villa complex, his retro clothes and ethereal white hair giving him the air of a kindly sage.
But in the next moment, the video began to shake—the person holding the phone was clearly terrified.
Suddenly, the old man’s face seemed to collapse in on itself, and with a series of sickening squelches, blood spurted from his features, turning his entire face into a mangled mess of flesh.
Soon, maggots appeared, wriggling in and out of the ruined flesh.
Inexplicably, the bloody face turned a bluish hue.
As if it had been dead for ages, greenish spots blossomed on the flesh, and gray moldy threads spread unchecked.
The maggots crumbled to ashes, and it was as if, in that single moment, the old man’s head—and his whole being—had endured the passage of countless years.
Gone was any trace of kindness; his eyes were now nothing but pitch-black hollows, the sockets rotten beyond recognition.
Suddenly, the old man charged toward the person holding the phone.
To call it running wouldn’t be accurate—he was hopping forward.
At that moment, paired with his ancient garb and the bizarre jumping movement, he looked exactly like a zombie from old movies!
Looking even closer, thanks to the high-resolution video, Lin Yi saw the old man’s fingernails were black and red, impossibly long—some even longer than his own palm.
As if that weren’t enough, the bloodied face, now discolored, was covered in dense patches of fine hair.
The hair and the moldy filaments were nearly indistinguishable, making his whole face look like a scarecrow’s.
His way of leaping, and the fur covering his body… It was absolutely terrifying.