After Zhao Rong arrived at the assistant’s door, he took a deep breath before pushing it open and walking in. The first thing he saw was the shorty, who had fainted inside the iron cage. Zhao Rong stepped forward to check the shorty’s nose and found that she was still breathing. He then went to the bathroom, fetched a bucket of cold water, and doused her with it. As he helped the dazed shorty up from the ground, he thought to himself, Could it be that this inn is really haunted?

The moment the shorty came to, she looked at Zhao Rong and screamed, "A ghost! There’s a ghost! Help me!"

Seeing that she wasn’t fully lucid yet, Zhao Rong slapped her across the face. "Dammit, it’s me! Look properly!"

When the shorty realized it was Zhao Rong, she immediately burst into tears. "Big Brother, don’t leave me! This room is really haunted! I saw it with my own eyes—a ghost’s hand reaching out from under the bed!"

Hearing this, Zhao Rong immediately set the shorty down and rushed over to the bed to investigate. However, when he lifted the bedsheet and looked underneath, he found it was completely empty. He turned back to the shorty and demanded, "Dammit, didn’t you say there was a ghost? Why is there nothing under the bed?"

The shorty explained, "Big Brother Zhao Rong, you don’t understand! This ghost is incredibly clever! When you lie down, turn off the lights, and fall asleep, it will stick its hand out from under the bed and tickle the soles of your feet or your armpits. But as soon as you wake up and turn on the light, the ghost vanishes without a trace. You can’t find it at all!"

Zhao Rong was perplexed. Could the ghost haunting this inn really be a highly intelligent one? Otherwise, how could it only appear when people are asleep with the lights off and then vanish the moment someone wakes up and turns on a light? Since this ghost sticks its hand out from under the bed after someone falls asleep with the lights out... why don’t I turn off the lights, lie in bed, and pretend to be asleep? Then, when the ghost reaches its hand out, I’ll grab it and drag the thing out from under the bed to see what it really looks like...

With his mind made up, Zhao Rong lay down on the bed and turned off the light. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

When the shorty, still locked in the cage, saw Zhao Rong lying on the bed seemingly unafraid of any ghost, she spoke in utter terror. "Big Brother Zhao Rong, can’t we please get another room? Even sleeping on the floor in the corridor would be better than staying in this haunted room!"

Zhao Rong cursed at her in irritation, "Dammit, you might be afraid of ghosts, but I’m not! I’m going to sleep now, so don’t disturb me. Otherwise, I’ll make you regret it!"

With that, Zhao Rong pretended to fall asleep, and before long, he began to snore loudly. The shorty, meanwhile, lay on the floor of the cage with her eyes squeezed shut, too terrified to look at anything.

Although Zhao Rong had his eyes closed and was snoring, he was only faking it. The moment he pretended to fall asleep, he had swiftly opened the Paradise Shopping Cart app on his phone and purchased an artificial intelligence eye. When he received the package, he opened it to find an object the size of a sesame seed. Following the instructions, he placed the tiny device on the center of his forehead. Amazingly, once it was in place, he could see everything around him perfectly, even with his eyes closed. Furthermore, this minuscule AI eye had infrared capabilities and functioned much like night-vision goggles. So, while it looked like Zhao Rong was sound asleep on the bed, he was actually observing his surroundings with perfect clarity.

While Zhao Rong lay in wait, using his third eye to catch any suspicious spirits, the assistant and the three women were in the room next door, too scared to sleep. They kept the lights on, staring at each other in alarm.

Miss Lili looked at the assistant disdainfully. "Assistant, are you even a man? You’re such a coward, running to hide in our room."

Yu Lan berated him as well. "Assistant, I’ve had enough of you! Can’t you learn anything from Brother Zhao Rong? From his fearlessness, his indifference to death, and his complete lack of fear toward ghosts?"

Xuelian teased him, "Assistant, if a man can’t even protect himself, how are you ever going to protect your future wife? If you ask me, you’re not even worth half of Brother Zhao Rong’s little toe."

When the assistant heard the three women comparing him to Zhao Rong, he boasted shamelessly, "Don’t you dare think I’m incapable! I’m telling you, even a man as badass as Brother Zhao Rong will be scared enough to piss his pants when that ghost’s hand comes out from under the bed in my room. If you don’t believe me, just wait. You’ll see him screaming and scrambling over here in utter disgrace!"

Miss Lili scoffed at his words. "You’re talking nonsense, Assistant. I don’t believe for a second that Brother Zhao Rong would be scared by a ghost. In fact, I believe not only will he be unafraid, but he’ll catch that ghost, drag it into our room, and give it a good beating!"

Yu Lan was even more confident in Zhao Rong. "Assistant, a filthy mouth like yours can only spew garbage. Just you wait for the good news of Brother Zhao Rong catching that fierce ghost!"

Xuelian also voiced her support. "Assistant, just you wait. Brother Zhao Rong is going to perform a miracle and come over here to put you to shame."

Listening to the women praise Zhao Rong while belittling him, the assistant said resentfully, "I refuse to believe he’s some kind of superman who can actually catch that wily ghost!"

Hearing his doubt, Miss Lili immediately stood up and challenged him. "Assistant, do you dare make a bet with me?"

The assistant snorted. "A bet? Fine. Who’s afraid of whom?"

Miss Lili pointed a finger at his nose. "If Brother Zhao Rong wins, you have to eat my stinky socks!"

The assistant glanced at Miss Lili’s beautiful legs and smiled. "No problem. If Brother Zhao Rong catches the ghost, I’ll eat your stinky socks immediately. But if he fails, you have to take off all your clothes and give me a nude dance."