When Zhao Rong heard that the hotel before him was haunted, his interest was piqued. He asked the old man, "Sir, is this hotel really as creepy as you say? Does a hand really reach out from under the bed after the lights go out?"

With a broom in his left hand and a dustpan in the right, the old man said earnestly, "I've been sweeping this street ever since I retired. Every time guests stay at this hotel, they get scared half to death and run out screaming in the middle of the night.

"At first, I didn't understand. I'd go over to comfort them, telling them there are no ghosts in this world, only aliens. But after sweeping this street for ten years, I run into no less than ten people every single day who say this hotel is haunted.

"Over ten years, that's tens of thousands of people. Do you really think all of them could be lying?"

Hearing this, Zhao Rong's eyes widened. He looked at the street sweeper, now convinced, and asked, "Is this hotel really haunted?"

When the assistant standing next to Zhao Rong heard the hotel was haunted, he immediately shook his head in fear. "Brother Zhao Rong, we need to find another hotel, and fast! If we stay here, we won't sleep well, not to mention we might run into a ghost. What will we do if we get scared to death in the middle of the night?"

Lili, frightened, added, "Since the old man says this hotel is haunted, let's not stay. We can just walk a little farther. We're bound to find another hotel within a few miles."

Yu Lan also said in terror, "I'm already scared of ghosts. If this hotel is haunted, I definitely won't be able to sleep."

Hearing that his assistant and the three women were all afraid of ghosts, Zhao Rong led the group onward to find another hotel. Before they had taken two steps, however, the old man sweeping the street called out with a suggestion. "Don't stay in that haunted hotel! I'll tell you what, walk 100 meters ahead, turn left and walk another 100 meters, then turn right for 100 meters. You'll see a place called the Wishing Hotel. That place isn't haunted, and it's cheap and comfortable. It's perfect for the six of you."

Following the old man's advice, Zhao Rong and his group soon found the supposedly wonderful Wishing Hotel. However, the moment they walked inside, they were hit by a foul stench. Not only was the Wishing Hotel smelly, but its sanitation was also abysmal. The lobby floor was strewn with trash, and the tables were covered in cigarette ash.

Ordinarily, Zhao Rong wouldn't even consider staying in such a filthy place. But right now, they were exhausted, and the other hotel was haunted. So, Zhao Rong decided to endure it. He said to the receptionist, "Miss, two rooms, please."

When the receptionist heard that a group of six wanted only two rooms, she looked at Zhao Rong with disdain. "Hey, you six are pretty cheap, aren't you? So many people, and you only want two rooms. If you ask me, you should get three."

Ignoring her sharp, mocking tone, Zhao Rong held his temper and explained, "Miss, it's not that we can't afford it. It's just that for our group, two rooms is the proper arrangement. If we were to get three rooms, the sleeping arrangements would become inappropriate."

The receptionist scoffed. "If you're broke, just say you're broke. Why put on airs? Fine, fine, I'll get you two rooms. Go on, you bunch of paupers."

With that, she booked two rooms for the group of six. When Zhao Rong went to pay, he was stunned to find how expensive the hotel was. A standard room for one night cost over 1,000 yuan. Although the rate was exorbitant, Zhao Rong endured it. He took out 2,000 yuan and handed it to her. "Here you go, Miss, two thousand in cash."

As the receptionist took the money, she began writing a receipt and said, "You'll also need to pay a 5,000 yuan deposit."

Hearing he needed to pay an additional 5,000 for a deposit, Zhao Rong finally balked. "Is this a five-star hotel or something? Why is the deposit so high?"

Standing beside Zhao Rong, the assistant curiously walked over to inspect a room. He wanted to see just how luxurious this hotel could be to justify such high rates and a steep deposit. However, the moment he stepped inside, he was utterly shocked by the deplorable conditions, shoddy furniture, and atrocious hygiene.

The assistant stumbled out of the room, retching. He said to Zhao Rong, who was still arguing with the receptionist, "Brother Zhao Rong, we can't stay at this Wishing Hotel! The rooms are disgustingly filthy. It's unbearable!"

The three women disagreed. "Are you serious?" one of them demanded. "You don't want to stay here? You want us to go back to that haunted hotel?"

Still gagging, the assistant replied, "Just go look inside any of the rooms and you'll see what it's like. I'm telling you, I'd rather stay in the haunted hotel than this one, which is so foul it could drive a person insane!"

Hearing the assistant describe the conditions so horribly, the three women went to see a room for themselves. The moment they stepped inside, they were hit by a stench worse than canned fermented herring.

Pinching their noses, they managed to say, "Oh well, smelly is smelly. It's still better than staying in that haunted hotel…"

But before they could finish, they saw that the beds were so broken they were unusable. They were old models from the 1940s, and the bedding on them was so filthy it was hard to look at. Yu Lan reached out and touched the bedding, and her hand came away black.

Even though the bedding was filthy and the beds were broken, the three women still tried to endure it. "The beds are broken and the blankets are dirty," they said, "but we can just sleep on the floor without any covers. We can tough it out. It's still better than the haunted hotel…"

However, before they could finish their sentence, they saw the bathroom and immediately started vomiting from disgust.

Lili retched as she spoke, "Damn it! I've stayed in countless hotels in my life, but I've never seen one where the bathroom doesn't even have a toilet and people just relieve themselves anywhere!"

Yu Lan also gagged and said, "I could maybe tolerate people just relieving themselves anywhere… but you can't just leave it uncleaned! The feces is piled up like a mountain! You can barely even set foot inside!"

Xuelian, also vomiting, added, "I can almost understand not being able to set foot inside… but I've never seen a bathroom so full of feces that you can't even get in the door. It's about to block the doorway completely!"