Chapter 7: Everything Has a Set Price
by LhaoziFollowing behind Lu Weiran, Pei Chiye finally got a clear look at the four characters on the inn’s sign: Hope Inn.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
“Is this a mirage?”
No!
Pei Chiye immediately dismissed the thought.
The building’s architectural style was far too distinctive. It was exquisite and brand-new, radiating a vibrant sense of life that inspired hope. It couldn’t possibly be an illusion reflected into the present world.
The closer he got, the more real everything appeared.
Pei Chiye even found himself breathing more quietly, afraid that the slightest disturbance might shatter the scene before his eyes.
“We’re here.”
Lu Weiran casually waved her hand. The tightly shut entrance opened on its own, without even a breeze to move it, and she walked straight inside.
Pei Chiye stood rooted to the spot, completely dumbfounded.
He had witnessed it with his own eyes. The little building seemed like a living creature recognizing its master, opening its doors to welcome its rightful owner.
She really had opened an inn!
Just who was this woman?!
After recovering from his shock, Pei Chiye stepped inside, curiosity getting the better of him.
The moment he crossed the threshold, waves of cool air greeted him.
The refreshing breeze enveloped his entire body, making even breathing feel easier. It was as though he’d been transported straight from the desert to a snowy mountain.
Pei Chiye looked toward the source of the cool air.
A brand-new air conditioner was mounted just ahead of the entrance, blowing directly toward him.
There really was… air conditioning.
This inn was so luxurious. So comfortable…
The interior and exterior seemed like two entirely different worlds, as though an invisible barrier surrounded the building and kept everything inside protected.
Lu Weiran smiled.
“Welcome to Hope Inn. I wasn’t lying, was I? It’s nice and cool in here, isn’t it?”
“You said… this was an inn!”
Pei Chiye’s eyes lit up. His hoarse voice rang out.
“I want a room.”
“Just a moment.”
Lu Weiran had expected this. Smiling, she picked up the scanner from the front desk.
“Let me register you first.”
It was the only registration method built into the inn.
She pointed the scanner at Pei Chiye’s forehead.
Beep!
His information was successfully registered, and the inn’s system automatically assigned him to Room One.
Lu Weiran glanced at the information displayed by the scanner.
[Room One]
Ability User: [Pei Chiye’s Profile Picture]
Level: ???
Talent: ???
[Notice: Insufficient Shop Privileges. Please Upgrade!]
An ability user!
As expected, anyone who could survive being trapped in a quicksand pit with injuries that severe couldn’t possibly be an ordinary person.
Lu Weiran’s eyes darkened slightly.
This world was far more complicated than she’d imagined.
Still, she didn’t regret taking the risk and venturing outside today.
She wasn’t someone who would simply sit around and wait for death. Going out had at least a fifty-percent chance of survival. Staying inside and doing nothing meant certain death.
Fortunately, she’d also managed to resolve the inn’s immediate food crisis.
Thinking of that, Lu Weiran put on her most polite customer-service smile.
“Room One is a single room. The rate is 50 points per day. How many days would you like to stay?”
Pei Chiye thought for a moment, considering how long it might take his teammates to find him.
“I’ll stay for three days to start.”
“All right.” Lu Weiran considered it briefly before continuing. “Three days of accommodation will cost 150 points. Add another 100 points for the trouble Mushroom and I went through to pull you out of that quicksand pit. That brings the total to 250 points.”
Pei Chiye was taken aback.
“Only 100 points? Isn’t that a little too little?”
To him, 250 points was practically pocket change.
After all, she’d saved his life!
If it had been anyone else, they would undoubtedly have demanded a much higher price or negotiated for some additional benefits. But this woman was practically doing charity work.
It was incredibly rare to find someone so kindhearted in the apocalypse. Pei Chiye couldn’t help but think more highly of her.
Then again, he reconsidered.
Anyone capable of running an inn in the middle of the desert surely wasn’t short on points.
He transferred the 250 points through his communicator, quietly committing her life-saving kindness to memory.
Once he returned to base, he planned to ask around at the various bases about this innkeeper. Why had she chosen to open an inn in the desert? Had she run into some kind of trouble? Was there anything he could do to help?
Lu Weiran, however, remained completely unconcerned.
“One hundred points is enough.”
From another person’s perspective, exchanging just 100 points for saving someone’s life might indeed seem ridiculously cheap.
But Lu Weiran wasn’t interested in being repaid.
She simply regarded him as another customer at her inn.
Back when she worked in the forest, she rescued injured wild animals without expecting anything in return. She had never expected those little creatures to repay her, either.
Now, she was a businesswoman running an inn. Compared with some vague, intangible debt of gratitude, she much preferred having clear, fixed prices.
After all, a great favor could easily turn into a great burden.
Some things were simply easier when everything had a set price.
Lu Weiran felt that rescuing people from quicksand pits could potentially become a long-term business venture.
She could consider this first rescue a trial run.
Ding!
A notification sounded, confirming that the payment had been received.
[Total Points: 250]
Her very first sale since opening, and the points had actually landed in her account!
Only then did Lu Weiran finally feel at ease. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about food for the time being.
She could finally say goodbye to those absolutely disgusting canned meat rations!
“Your registration is complete. Here’s the key card for Room One. Don’t lose it.”
The inn wasn’t very large. After pointing him in the right direction, Lu Weiran yawned, then headed upstairs with Mushroom.
She took a quick wash and went back to bed to catch up on some sleep.
Outside the window, a signal flare suddenly streaked across the sky, bursting with a sharp, crackling sound. Like petals of moonlight, its brilliant fragments spread out into a dazzling pattern.
Lu Weiran glanced up.
A signal flare.
She guessed Pei Chiye had launched it to notify his teammates, so she didn’t pay it any further attention.
Rescuing someone had taken a tremendous amount of physical and mental energy. She was drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she soon drifted into a deep sleep.
After firing the signal flare to alert his teammates, Pei Chiye took the key card for Room One and opened the door.
The first thing he saw was a soft, comfortable bed with fluffy pillows.
The room wasn’t very large, but it also had an air conditioner.
Pei Chiye immediately found the remote control and turned the temperature down to its lowest setting.
Ever since awakening his ability upon reaching adulthood, he hadn’t experienced such wonderfully cool air.
He took off his thermal protective suit, retrieved a crystal core, and sat on the bed to absorb its energy and recover from his injuries.
Dawn slowly broke. The night passed without incident.
Only after the wounds on his back had mostly healed did Pei Chiye emerge from his meditative state. He exhaled the stagnant air that had been trapped in his chest.
He walked into the bathroom, picked up a towel, and turned on the showerhead—which he had assumed was merely there for decoration—intending to collect a little water to wipe himself down.
Instead, the showerhead suddenly burst into life, spraying countless fine streams of clear water.
Before he could react, he was drenched from head to toe, looking like a drowned rat.
Pei Chiye froze, still holding the half-wet, half-dry towel in his hand.
The wound on his back hadn’t fully healed and stung faintly. Blood mixed with the shower water, trickling down his body.
Could anyone really use this much water just to take a shower?
Had the innkeeper accidentally connected the drinking-water pipes to the shower?
In the desert, every single drop of water could mean the difference between life and death.
Pei Chiye hurriedly turned off the shower. He stood at the foot of the stairs, hesitating for a moment.
The second floor was obviously the innkeeper’s private quarters.
In the end, he still decided to knock on Lu Weiran’s door.
As he did, he clearly sensed a soft, invisible barrier of air surrounding the entire second floor, protecting it.
If he made even the slightest move to attack, those barriers would immediately reflect his attack back at him.
[Notice: Guest in Room One has entered the second-floor restricted area. Access denied!]
Knock, knock, knock…
Lu Weiran immediately pulled the blanket over her head and covered her ears.
When that didn’t work, she glanced at the clock on the wall.
Five thirty in the morning.
So whenever a guest approached her room, the system would send her an alert.
That meant she would know immediately if anyone came near the second floor.
It gave her an overwhelming sense of security, as though the inn were protecting her from every possible direction.
The irritation of being woken up so early dissipated considerably after receiving the system’s warning. Her mood improved as well.
She opened the door.
The moment it swung open, a handsome, sharply defined face came into view.
His clothes were half-wet, clinging tightly to his skin and outlining his firm, well-defined waist and abdominal muscles. Several faint scars were visible on his body.
He really did live up to his name, with a distinctly wild, untamed kind of beauty.
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