If You Want to Eat, Can't You Get It Yourself?!

The people outside the door stared at her in confusion. Song Weishi shouted, "Run!"

Though they couldn't tell what was wrong, Wang Jie and Xiao Li followed without hesitation. When it came to sensing danger, they trusted Song Weishi almost unconditionally.

Manager Zhao was yanked along, still dazed, running on instinct while asking, "What's going on?"

Song Weishi didn't answer. Her mind raced, searching for somewhere to go. The second floor was definitely out of the question. They needed to head upstairs first.

Behind them in the kitchen, the people crowded around the couple noticed the child's transformation and sensed something off. They backed away one by one.

Their instincts for danger weren't sharp, but seeing something this unnatural was enough to stir fear in anyone.

The boy swelled to his limit, thick slime oozing from beneath him. The man shrieked as he lifted his hand, now coated in murky mucus, and shoved the child away from his chest.

Liu Tong stared at him in shock, catching the child who had swollen larger than her own body. The sticky feel of him in her palms made her queasy. Before she could react, Xiao Qi's eyes snapped open.

He stared at her with a dark, hollow gaze, then opened his mouth, revealing rows of jagged teeth packed tightly together. "Mommy, I'm so hungry, Mommy!"

The voice was still a child's, but it sent a chill down everyone's spine.

Every single person took a step back in unison. In that instant, Xiao Qi lunged. His mouth opened impossibly wide. For the first time in her life, Liu Tong got a clear view of the inside of a human throat.

He swallowed her head in one bite. Liu Tong didn't even have time to struggle. Her hands, which had been cradling the child, went limp and dropped. Xiao Qi sucked at her neck like he was drinking juice, and her body shriveled rapidly.

Screams erupted all around. Everyone scrambled to escape.

The child, having devoured its mother, had lost all humanity and turned into a monster. The father didn't spare them a second glance. He crawled and stumbled after the crowd, fleeing for his life.

They scattered in every direction, all rushing for the exits.

Song Weishi led the charge. Fortunately, they had Manager Zhao with them, which made things easier.

They quickly reached the second floor. There was a game room here with decent defenses, just enough to hide in.

The keys were also on Manager Zhao. The four of them collapsed on the floor, hearts still racing.

"What happened? What's going on?" Wang Jie panted.

Song Weishi said, "I think I saw that kid turn into a monster. How can a person swell up like that? His body looked like it was about to explode."

They had indeed heard the screams from behind, so they didn't doubt her much.

Manager Zhao stood up, looking confused. She'd been dragged along and hadn't had time to think about what was really happening.

Only now did she realize something serious was going on. "What? What monster? Xiao Song, are you sure you didn't see wrong?"

The girl's face was pale, trembling uncontrollably, and her eyes welled up with tears that might spill at any moment.

As an elder, she preferred to stay cautious about such matters. She couldn't just believe everything the girl said.

Song Weishi nodded, looking at her earnestly. "It's real."

She knew that people who hadn't seen something with their own eyes found it hard to imagine what was happening.

Not everyone trusted her the way Wang Jie and Xiao Li did.

Manager Zhao stood up, brow furrowed. Out of professional duty, she still wanted to go down and check.

Even though that family of three weren't hotel guests, if something happened to them inside the hotel, the implications were different.

If rescue teams arrived, she'd need to be able to explain the situation clearly.

"No, I have to see what's happening down there."

She headed for the door but was stopped by the three inside. Wang Jie looked at her disapprovingly. "Sister, I know you're the hotel manager, but your own safety matters too. Xiao Song already said it's dangerous. Don't go down yet. You can always help later."

Wang Jie glanced at Song Weishi, seeking approval, but to her surprise, Song Weishi didn't try to stop her. "You can go, but I don't think you need to see it yourself. Ask someone."

Both of them turned to her in disbelief.

Song Weishi continued, "Also, we need to move some supplies up here. We can't stay down there anymore."

A look of understanding crossed their faces. All their supplies were still downstairs for easy access, so they did need to bring some up.

After some discussion, they rested for a bit and then headed out again.

The moment they opened the door, they saw a furtive figure lurking outside the game room. All four of them tensed. Manager Zhao shone her flashlight on him.

She reached out and slapped him on the back, making the man jump.

"Manager Guo, what are you doing here?"

"Damn it! You scared me to death, Manager Zhao! Can't you make some noise when you walk?"

She waved the flashlight at him and rolled her eyes. "I already had the light on you—you knew I was coming. What's the situation downstairs? Why is everyone running up here?"

A few people were huddled around him, all staring at them in terror.

Song Weishi scanned every one of them. Aside from being severely shaken, they all seemed normal.

She let out a quiet breath and instinctively touched the dagger at her waist.

It was something she'd taken from the Garden of a Hundred Herbs. It had been useful, so she'd kept it for self-defense ever since, never letting it out of her sight.

Manager Guo's thick brows furrowed. Recalling what he'd just seen sent a chill through him. He shuddered. The usually sharp-tongued man stammered, "That family of three downstairs... the woman's son suddenly turned into a monster and bit—bit his mother's head."

By the end, his voice was thick with tears. Who wouldn't be scared after seeing something like that?

Quite a few guests had wet themselves on the spot. It was already impressive that he'd managed to crawl upstairs and bring other guests along with him.

Manager Zhao listened in shock, unable to believe what she was hearing.

She wanted to ask if he was sure, but the other guests were trembling like leaves. Looked like it was true.

Manager Guo rubbed his own arms and asked, "So what do we do now? You've got the key to the game room, right? Can we get in there?"

Manager Zhao pulled a set of keys from her pocket and jangled them. Everyone behind her jumped to their feet in excitement. Manager Guo reached to grab them, but Song Weishi took them instead.

Manager Guo blinked, confused. "Little girl, what are you doing? Those are hotel property. Give them here."

Song Weishi shook her head. "So you're just going to hide in there?"

Manager Guo stepped forward with an air of righteous indignation. "Of course! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there? That monster will be up here any minute. What are we supposed to do—stand outside and wait to die?"

The others behind him sent her accusatory looks, closing in around him, lending him their silent support.

Song Weishi's face turned cold. "I'll give you the key, but we're going downstairs to get supplies. You should come too. Otherwise, whatever we bring back up, don't expect to use any of it."

The group's eyes darted around, clearly not intending to go down. These guests always treated themselves as customers, expecting Manager Zhao to handle everything. And that had been the pattern for days now.

Manager Guo, with seniority on his side, had been pawning off all the dirty work on her while he reaped the benefits.

Manager Zhao's situation wasn't much different from what the original Song Weishi had faced.

Song Weishi had no patience for that kind of behavior. And Manager Zhao was done playing the thankless martyr. She shot Song Weishi a grateful look and, when Manager Guo's gaze turned to her with silent questioning, she didn't budge an inch.

"What do you mean? We have to go get it ourselves?"

"What kind of hotel is this?!"

"You're just grabbing a few things, what's with the attitude? It's not like we didn't pay."

Only two people were speaking, but the others stayed silent, tacitly siding with them. Manager Zhao watched them, feeling a deep chill in her heart.

She'd been serving a bunch of animals this whole time. Always the one to take point, and these people acted like her risking her life was nothing.

She'd always been easygoing, but she took a deep breath, steadied herself, and said flatly, "Then you can deal with it yourselves. Here's the key to the next room. If you want something, go get it."

The two loudmouths were stunned. They'd banked on her being a pushover, thinking that pressure would work. After all, what could one woman do against a group like this?

But under that pressure, she'd simply walked away from the whole mess.

Meanwhile, Manager Guo, who had been silent, suddenly grew bold and started screaming at her. "Manager Zhao! Do you want to get fired? Is that how you talk to guests?! You—"

Before he could finish, Song Weishi smacked him in the face with the sole of a shoe.

It was the same shoe she'd used on Director Zhang. She'd found this leather shoe to be pretty handy, and quite effective too.

One hit sent Manager Guo, a burly man, flying to the ground. He was too dazed to say a word.

Manager Zhao had been about to step forward and argue, but when Song Weishi struck, she felt her heart rate settle. She felt like her chest—which had been tight with anger—had suddenly unlocked.

She'd wanted to punch that bastard for ages. If the boss hadn't been decent to her, she would've left long ago.

Still not satisfied, Manager Zhao stepped forward and added a couple of kicks of her own.

The others, seeing Manager Guo down, immediately went quiet. These people were bullies at heart—they never picked fights they couldn't win.

No one even helped him up. They just grabbed the keys from the side and left.

The four didn't linger either. They made their way downstairs, growing more alert with every step toward the kitchen.

Manager Zhao led the way, her heart pounding, but she still shielded the three behind her. She shone her flashlight toward the kitchen from a distance. The white door was sealed tight, not a hint of shadow behind it. It looked as if someone had shut it on their way out.