If the hotel lobby appeared slightly dark, the staircase William followed the attendant to was nearly pitch black, devoid of any form of illumination.
Seeing William pause, the rat attendant explained:
"Please don’t mind, most Rat people prefer dark, damp environnts, which is why we don’t provide lighting in the hotel’s ’corridor’ areas and maintain their natural darkness.
There are many similar places inside Rat City, we hope you can get used to it.
Please follow , your room is on the fourth floor."
At this mont, a voice from behind called out, "teacher, do you need
to provide illumination?"
"No need, when in Ro."
William intentionally kept the fact about a Candle Puppet, which cost a whole one hundred thousand, albeit at a discounted rate, through a perfect transformation by the Duke’s Chamber of Comrce, hidden as it was bound to be a significant support for exploring the Abyss.
In William’s view, the ’Abyss’ could very well be so kind of living creature. Releasing its candlelight prematurely might startle the beast.
Moreover, with the level of darkness present, William could pierce through it with his own sight alone.
He had already glimpsed that there was sothing off about the ’gap’ in the staircase,
With walls bordered by densely grown black rat hair in the gaps, which upon closer inspection seed sowhat thicker, resembling not so much hair as the tails of rats.
When William’s leather shoes stepped over them, these tails would automatically retract.
Upon reaching the fourth floor, the whole floor’s horizontal corridor was similarly engulfed in darkness, with more rat tails growing from both sides of the corridor, so even sticking to the walls.
Finally arriving at the special-priced room.
The lock turned out to be a completely hardened rat corpse, which softened imdiately as the key was turned in its mouth.
Click! The mont the door opened.
A musty, rotten stench burst forth as the door opened, along with a multitude of rat tails withdrawing into the wall gap in an instant.
The rat attendant explained:
"The special-priced room is seldom occupied, so it might have a certain sll, I hope you don’t mind."
"It’s fine."
"Dear guest, if you encounter any issues during your stay, simply tap lightly on the headboard and voice your needs.
The ’ssenger rats’ within the walls will imdiately relay your needs to the hotel reception, and we will address your concerns as swiftly as possible.
Furthermore, we dine collectively here, and you may visit the Second Floor restaurant at any ti to enjoy our Rat City’s specialty als.
If there’s nothing else, I won’t disturb you further."
Click~
As the door shut, William also released Iron Chains to ensure complete lock down.
Igniting the only candle near the bedside, it provided a small amount of light.
The bedspread, moldy and even bearing nurous rat droppings, resembled a rat nest. The water flowing from the bathroom was a light green, barely suitable for showering.
"Teacher, there seems to be sothing wrong with this hotel," said the voice behind him.
"Hmm... it’s good that there’s a problem, as resolving it will accelerate our understanding of Rat City. If trouble cos, don’t hurry to light the candle;
I’ll handle it," he replied.
"Understood.
With your ability, teacher, you could easily spread your teachings on a large scale in this city, easily clarify the situation here, and even have a group of plague students at your disposal, potentially using them as cannon fodder to scout the Abyss beforehand," the voice continued.
"If I were to recruit students with no restraint, my essence as a teacher would probably be compromised. The rats here are too low and revolting, and even their brains ooze green rot.
More so, this city might already be under the influence of the Abyss. Without knowing the problem behind it, it is essential not to startle what lies beneath... There might be a brain out there stronger than mine that has already taken control of so of the rats."
"If I continued to educate them, they might have been able to understand my Madness Brain earlier, and might even have begun to influence
in reverse through the student’s brain."
"I’m sorry for not considering thoroughly... I haven’t stayed with the teacher recently and beca sowhat arrogant. I will try to correct this." Thirteen bowed his head, even feeling a drop of candle wax fall.
"Having your own thoughts is a good thing, but it’s better to refine and deduce your thoughts into a more detailed, accurate conclusion before speaking out~ Alright! It’s getting late, and it’s been quite hot along the way, I’m going to take a bath and go to sleep."
"Are you going to take a bath here, teacher?" As soon as Thirteen asked this, he felt he was perhaps speaking out of turn and hastily covered his mouth.
"Yes, why... do you want to join ?"
"No~ Not at all! My body isn’t suited for contact with liquid~ If the teacher wishes, I am also willing to cleanse together with you."
"Just kidding, just keep a good watch outside."
William, carrying a briefcase, walked into the bathroom and first ignited a white candle on the sink.
Who knew, the mont the fla spread.
Hiss! A hissing sound,
all the rat tails growing between the bathroom walls pulled back, emitting an uncomfortable cry as if the instant illumination burnt them, having been accustod to the darkness.
William didn’t bother with these ’rats in the walls’,
Instead, he opened the briefcase, gazing at the folded skin inside, an "Apostle Skin" from the Gatekeeper of the Skin Factory of imasurable value.
A month of life at the circus was too hectic, William hardly had the ti to deal with it, and now, although he had the ti, dealing with it in such a hotel was still troubleso.
"Taking out sothing like the Apostle Skin could easily startle the unaware, never mind... This skin can wait to be used en route, it might even serve as a good boost, there’s indeed no need to transform it into ’Black Death Skin’ right now."
Dressed down, William stood under the showerhead, pale green water washing over him, and the invading pathogens were still utterly defeated inside his body.
Everything was normal during the bath,
William placed both hands on the bathroom wall, silently sensing the situation within, a weird smile hanging on his face.
After finishing the bath.
The returned William didn’t mind the dirt, he just directly lay down on the bed which was like a rat’s nest.
Not only did he not isolate the mattress’s mold with gentleman’s clothes, he even took off his upper clothing, intentionally revealing his strong and aesthetically pleasing body.
This scene baffled Thirteen, feeling that the teacher had changed a lot after not seeing him for a month.
"Rest assured and sleep, teacher, I’ve already switched to a new candle, and it’s fine even if I don’t rest."
"Pretend to rest, act as if everything is normal."
"Oh, understood."
Thirteen, following the instructions, switched to ’standby mode,’ no light emitting from her skull, standing at the door like an accessory.
After being modified and upgraded by the Duke’s Chamber of Comrce, she wouldn’t emit any life signals in this mode, but her thought still existed, capable of perceiving everything around, very suitable for acting as a night sentinel.
Ti passed unknowingly,
as the humid and sultry room covered William’s exposed upper body with sweat, rolling back and forth on the bed,
squeak squeak~ it seed that nurous, even dense rats were scurrying inside the walls,
following that, myriads of black rat tails extended out,
this ti not just from the gaps in the walls, but directly piercing through the wallpaper, ceiling, and even from the bathroom as well!
Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of rat tails intertwined and coiled within the room, eventually forming an enormous black rat skull, large enough to swallow William’s body in one bite.
Thirteen, standing at the door, spotted the anomaly early on and was about to burn the candle to drive away and scorch this evil spirit when she suddenly rembered the words the teacher had cautioned earlier, ultimately choosing to turn a blind eye.
Until... Snap! The black skull woven from rat tails swallowed William in one bite.
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