Chapter 20

Chapter 20: An Unexpected Guest and a Side Quest

[Translation By Divinity]

The following three days were a bittersweet mix of pain and pleasure for Dong Jianren. Every night was a test of his willpower.

Ever since Dong Jianren returned, Yiyi became even more attached to him. Every night, she would snuggle close as they slept, sometimes even wrapping her arms around him.

Each night, feeling her soft touch, Dong Jianren, a man in his prime, was in a state of constant tension.

Countless times, he wanted to give in to temptation, but seeing her innocent face, he would always sigh and back down.

Dong Jianren could swear on his character that he was a red-blooded man, but he also had a certain stubbornness. He felt that taking advantage of a girl who wasn’t mentally sound went against his principles.

Of course, every morning when he saw Yiyi waking up lazily, her alluring figure on full display, Dong Jianren wished he could slap himself and vowed to be an “adult” that night.

Just as Dong Jianren was almost convincing himself, ready to have his belated coming-of-age ceremony that night, an unexpected guest arrived at his home.

Seeing Officer Shi in uniform knocking on his door, Dong Jianren snapped out of his fantasies.

Officer Shi didn’t seem surprised at all to see Yiyi in his house.

“It seems you two are getting along well.”

Hearing Officer Shi’s words, Dong Jianren was taken aback for a moment, then asked, “Officer Shi, why do you say that?”

Seeing that Dong Jianren wasn’t faking it, Officer Shi first glanced at Yiyi, who was sitting there quietly, and then said, “After the incident you exposed and she was rescued, this girl was sent to the nearest welfare home because she had no relatives.”

Officer Shi paused, and seeing that Yiyi didn’t react, he continued, “After being sent to the welfare home, she repeatedly tried to escape and even injured several caregivers who tried to stop her, including some very strong male caregivers.”

Hearing this, Dong Jianren’s eyes widened in surprise. He looked back at Yiyi’s slender arms and delicate figure, his face full of disbelief.

“Officer Shi, are you kidding me? How could Yiyi possibly overpower those male caregivers? And she’s been with me for so long, she’s never shown any violent tendencies!”

Seeing Officer Shi nod without hesitation, Dong Jianren felt like his brain was short-circuiting.

Officer Shi then continued, “Later, I received a call from the welfare home, saying she had escaped. We searched everywhere and finally found her at your house.”

“In our understanding, people like her who are mentally unstable, have violent tendencies, and lack self-awareness should be directly admitted to a mental hospital.”

“However, when we arrived, we were surprised to find her in an unusually good mental state. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she’s normal. She can go shopping for daily necessities and even maintains politeness towards shopkeepers. After discovering this, we temporarily abandoned the plan to send her to a mental hospital.”

Listening to Officer Shi’s description, Dong Jianren felt like he was dreaming. Was this the same girl who clung to him like a koala every night?

Before Dong Jianren could finish his thoughts, Officer Shi spoke again.

“Of course, informing you about her situation is just incidental. The main reason I’m here is to consult you about something.”

Hearing that Officer Shi wanted to consult him about something, Dong Jianren felt even more surreal. His twenty-five years of simple life could be described as a blank sheet of paper. He was so hesitant about the girl who practically fell into his lap that it took him three days to mentally prepare himself. If anything was abnormal, it was only the recent events related to the live stream page.

Thinking of this, Dong Jianren frowned and suddenly looked up at Officer Shi, only to find the officer looking at him with an intriguing expression.

Realizing his emotions were showing, Dong Jianren quickly reverted to his usual jovial demeanor.

“You’re too kind, Officer. I’m just an ordinary citizen. How can I be worthy of your consultation? Feel free to ask anything.”

Seeing Dong Jianren return to his cheerful self, Officer Shi didn’t expose him. Instead, he calmly asked, “Are you aware of the missing persons case at the Ping’an Hotel?”

As Officer Shi’s words fell, a burning sensation, almost scorching his thigh, suddenly arose.

Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Dong Jianren’s heart sank.

“Ping’an Hotel? I don’t have any impression of it.”

Dong Jianren casually replied to Officer Shi while turning his body to face him. He then slowly took out his phone and glanced at it.

[Side Quest Triggered! Requirement: Go to Ping’an Hotel before 9 p.m. tomorrow. Failure to arrive on time will be considered a mission failure. Penalty: None]

[Side Quest 1: Find the missing guests. Quest completion reward: Nightmare Enhancement once. Mission failure: None!]

[Side Quest 2: Find and open Room 444! Quest completion reward: Lingluo Doll x1. Mission failure: None!]

Looking at the glaring red text, Dong Jianren had the urge to jump up and beat Officer Shi. If assaulting a police officer wasn’t a crime, he would have punched him in the face without hesitation.

Officer Shi didn’t mind Dong Jianren’s evasiveness and got up to leave.

“Alright, if you have any clues, feel free to contact me anytime. By the way, Ping’an Hotel used to be called Huayuan Hotel.”

Just as he was about to walk out, Officer Shi suddenly spoke and left a piece of paper with his phone number on the windowsill before leaving Dong Jianren’s house, leaving behind a gloomy-faced Dong Jianren.

He wasn’t familiar with Ping’an Hotel, but he would never forget the name Huayuan Hotel. Dong Jianren’s orphan status was thanks to this hotel. His parents disappeared after staying at the Huayuan Hotel.

Despite the police’s extensive search efforts, they were never found. The only surveillance footage showed the couple entering the hotel, but there was no record of them leaving.

In the end, the police could only classify it as a missing persons case. It wasn’t until five years later that the missing persons status was changed to deceased.

There was no penalty for this side quest, meaning there would be no harm if he didn’t go.

But the words “Huayuan Hotel” lingered in his mind, making his body tremble uncontrollably.

Sitting on the bed, Dong Jianren’s body shook, his hands clenched into fists. His mind kept repeating those words.

“Huayuan Hotel!”