Lin Yu had a reason for stopping the girl from saying her name.
Neither the bearded veteran nor the bookkeeper ghost had introduced themselves.
And from the "urban legends" Lin Yu had once read, he could draw a conclusion—
in this horror game, revealing your real name was an act of utter stupidity!
It was very possible that some ghosts' "rules" involved true names.
Therefore, never reporting your actual name… should be a universal rule across all horror games!
The bespectacled girl surnamed Li realized it as well, her pale face paling even further.
She gave a small nod and whispered,
"Thank you."
After this brief exchange, she seemed to trust Lin Yu a little more.
Soon, the two of them walked through the corridor and arrived at the inn's back door.
The back door stood wide open, revealing the inn's ground-floor hall.
The bluestone floor was splattered with the same dark, pungent bloodstains as the courtyard.
The counter and a few shabby wooden tables looked fairly ordinary. Beside them, three enormous wine jars stood without much oddity.
Only the wooden menu hanging above the counter was chilling—
each dish painted in bright red lacquer on black wood, with names like "Roasted Human Heart" and "White-Cut Two-Legged Lamb."
Even dishes that seemed normal in the human world—Couple's Lung Slices,Wife Cake—were terrifying in this setting.
The front doors of the hall stood open, a wooden "Open for Business" plaque swaying on them.
Beyond was a sea of pitch-black chaos.
The entire hall was empty.
No people, no ghosts.
Only Lin Yu and Xiao Li remained.
"What… what should we do now?"
Xiao Li instinctively asked.
Before Lin Yu could answer, a chilling female voice reverberated through the empty hall:
"Wait to serve the guests."
The voice made Xiao Li jump, her shoulders shrinking in fear as she glanced around.
But the hall remained empty.
"Was that… the proprietress speaking?"
she whispered.
Lin Yu stayed silent, deep in thought.
Just then, a gust of icy wind swept through the front doors.
A foul stench rushed inside.
Lin Yu looked up—
and saw a monstrous figure step through the doorway.
It was a mountain of a man, bloated and covered in scar-like ridges writhing across his body like centipedes.
Filthy rags barely covered his frame. His stomach jutted out, his skin bluish-black.
His face was grotesque—lips curled back, teeth and fangs jutting out in a savage snarl.
The instant he entered, his gaze fell on Lin Yu and Xiao Li.
"Gu-gu-gu…"
The sound gurgled from his throat.
Xiao Li nearly collapsed in terror.
"Humans?"
The guttural voice rumbled up from the creature's belly.
Drool dripped from his split maw, as though he were staring at the most delicious of meals.
Lin Yu's heart tightened, but he remembered the words of the proprietress and the bookkeeper.
He hurried forward with a forced smile.
"Honored guest, please, come in!"
Sure enough, disappointment flashed across the monster's features.
"So you're just the inn's waiter…"
With that, he lumbered to a table and sat down.
The small wooden stool groaned under the weight of the mountain of flesh.
The sound made Lin Yu's heart lurch—
if the stool broke, would the ghost use it as an excuse to lash out?
Or worse—treat it as damage to inn property?
"Bring me hot water. And a pair of bowls and chopsticks."
The fat ghost tossed two copper coins onto the table with a clink.
His voice was cold and commanding.
"Yes, right away."
Lin Yu headed toward the corner of the hall, where three coal stoves burned beneath kettles, with piles of tableware stacked on wooden racks.
Xiao Li hurried after him, knowing that slacking off—or slighting a guest—could be fatal.
The kettles hissed with boiling water.
The blackened teapots and utensils were covered in strange patterns…
patterns that looked disturbingly like human faces.
Lin Yu picked up an empty teapot—
And suddenly, a shrill, agonized scream erupted from it.
"Ahhh! Ahhh!"
"It hurts! Kill me! Kill me!!"
His heart jumped. His hand twitched in shock.
"Crash!"
The teapot slipped from his grip and shattered on the ground.
Xiao Li gasped, her face draining of color.
"Lin-ge… you… you broke the teapot!"
She stammered, panic written all over her.
"M-maybe… maybe we can just hide it? Nobody saw…"
Lin Yu glanced at her, feeling a flicker of warmth.
She was timid, but even in her fear, she was worried for him over something that had nothing to do with her.
But Lin Yu knew hiding it was impossible.
And as expected—
A rasping cough came from behind them.
"Cough… cough… Careless, careless, young man. First day on the job, and you already smashed a teapot…"
The bookkeeper ghost hunched toward them, his cloudy eyes gleaming.
"Why, that teapot was worth fifty wen."
Both Lin Yu and Xiao Li spun around. The old ghost stood right behind them, face twisted in greedy delight.
"You've only just begun working. Of course you can't afford to pay. Then… you'll pay with your right hand."
He reached out a skeletal claw toward Lin Yu's hand.
"Ah!"
Xiao Li screamed, convinced she was about to see Lin Yu's hand ripped clean off.
But at that moment, Lin Yu shouted back—
"Stop right there, you decrepit old ghoul!"
"Who said I can't afford it?!"
At the same time, his mind roared with desperate urgency:
System! Exchange fifty thousand ghost coins—deliver them in copper coin form, now!!!