Chapter 294: Chapter 294: The Midnight Waiter
While bathing in the hot spring, nothing unusual was noticed.

Nor did they hear the rumored cry of a woman coming from the woods, only the howls of one of the organization members that Winry had thrown into the woods.

As for the [Crooked Neck Tree] mentioned in the clue.

While Mia was in the hot spring, she had sent out six wolf spiders to search in the woods.

They found several crooked neck trees, but none of them matched the traits mentioned in the clue, growing in the shallow pond, with absolutely no leads.

It even made everyone wonder if they were looking in the wrong place.

However.

At first, when Mia gently put down the demon sword in the inn, she indeed felt a reaction… so where did the problem lie?

Midnight, twelve o’clock sharp.

The team had returned to their rooms to rest.

Men and women were separated by a paper sliding door.

Both female team members slept on the soft tatami bed in the bedroom.

Han Dong and Abe, on the other hand, were resting in the lounge.

Mia, in the bedroom, couldn’t sleep due to numerous thoughts.

Most of her consciousness was focused on the “Demon Sword”, after all, she had used up her ‘request’… she had to solve this strange tale, no matter what, and claim the Demon Sword entirely for herself.

“…How can you do this to the blond young man?”

With the help of her spider legs, Mia slid open the paper door silently.

However.

Everything seemed normal inside the lounge. Han Dong and Abe were sleeping in different positions.

They had no idea how long the event of fate would last, they needed to seize every chance to rest.

Just as Mia was becoming a little more composed and ready to sleep.

Because, she was too focused on what the two men were doing, she inadvertently heard some strange noises coming from the outside corridor… as if something was being cut.

The hot spring inn was open 24 hours a day.

Some guests liked to bath in the hot spring at late night when there were fewer people.

During the midnight hours in the hot spring area, three business associates were enjoying their leisure time in the hot spring during a business trip.

Amid the thick white fog.

Unbeknownst to them, a female attendant in a kimono was standing behind them.

Not to mention, the attendants in this hot spring inn were all quite good-looking… With a touch of light makeup, the blooming beauty of one in their early twenties was impeccable.

Also, between the loose kimonos, a tempting little gap could be seen.

The only thing different about the attendant this time was.

A deep rope mark was left around the slender neck of this female attendant …

Seeing this, the businessmen naturally were very interested and tried to ask if she provided some extra services.

Creak creak~

The beautiful attendant suddenly tilted her head back and made a strange sound.

Something seemed to be slowly coming out of her mouth.

It was a sharp tachi, with a ghost face mark carved on the handle, slowly coming out of the attendant’s mouth.

The three businessmen thought it was some kind of acrobatics show, they didn’t feel the ‘sense of horror’ in it.

When the attendant’s delicate arm grabbed the handle.

Her face showed an unnatural smile… her head, which had been tilted back, suddenly slumped down, her bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at the three businessmen in the hot spring.

Whoosh…

The hot spring pool was gradually dyed by some dark-color pigment.

Before the three businessmen could even make an expression of fear, only their bizarrely grimacing heads remained, floating on the hot spring like a flat boat.

If one were to look down at the hot spring area right now.

A kimono-clad, tachi-holding female attendant stood by each hot spring pool.

Meanwhile.

Inside the hotel.

The beautiful young attendants were knocking on each room door, one by one.

“What are you doing so late at night?!”

Many guests who were awakened appeared to be notably annoyed and were about to scold the attendant when.

The next second.

The angry expression on their faces was forever frozen.

A guest living deep inside the hotel was making a phone call in the corridor due to privacy issues, and happened to witness the horror scenes of the “night purge” in the hallway.

Despite turning pale from fear, this person still had control over his legs.

He immediately gathered his friends and escaped from the hotel window, running straight to the parking area.

However.

Just as this guest started the engine, he noticed through his rear-view mirror that a female attendant was sitting in the back area, smiling.

Next second.

A sharp blade pierced through the leather seat and his body.

Soon.

An attendant arrived at the door of the room where Han Dong and his team were staying.

Seeing that knocking was useless, she cut the wooden door open with a single stroke.

The spider web barrier was triggered.

Countless poisonous spiders swarmed from the room, inundating the female attendant, their fangs madly biting into her smooth skin.

But the next second…a strange phenomenon occurred.

The female attendant, who was bitten by a large number of poisonous spiders, showed no signs of harm. Instead, a cold substance oozed from her skin. The poison spiders that came into contact with it were immediately frozen to death and slipped off her body.

The attendant stepped into the spider-infested room, wrapped in this cold aura that seemed to come from the depths of a pond. She found no living persons, just an open window and footprints left in the mud outside the window.

Within a moment.

Three attendants who were patrolling outside followed the footprints with their swords in their hands.

A hot spring hotel, on the rooftop.

Team Han Dong, four people in total, were hiding on the roof using a technique to conceal their presence.

‘Little Demon Eye’ fully activated.

Covered in crow outfits, Han Dong, was scanning the entire hotel.

“There are 27 attendants in total… there are also some areas covered by a thick fog that I can’t see clearly.”

Han Dong’s expression was not very good.

“It’s strange. I carefully observed these attendants when I checked in… I didn’t notice anything unusual at all, they were just ordinary people at first. Why would they change so drastically all of a sudden?”

Mia spoke at this moment: “The ‘Spider Sealing’ I set up in the room has been broken… Not a single attendant has been killed, the spider venom is completely ineffective, and the effect of the curse is greatly suppressed.

These attendants can emit a strange chill from their bodies, even the spiders made of pure curse will be frozen to death.”

“No wonder Mr. Aha warned us, this incident should be considered the most difficult ‘Strange Tale’ in the current region.

Mia, make sure to keep the Demon Sword well hidden, once any aura leaks out, we will all be locked on.”

“I know.”

The Demon Sword was wrapped up with the Original Spider Silk, its aura completely sealed within.

Mia asked: “What should we do next… Do we need to deal with these attendants?”

“How to deal with them? Their powers are very strange, and their swordsmanship is very sharp… If we get surrounded, it will be dangerous! Even if we can really get rid of them, it would drain a lot of our physical strength.

Remember, the ‘Strange Tale’ hasn’t officially triggered yet… We haven’t even found the [Crooked Neck Tree] mentioned in the clues.

The ‘Strange Tale’ itself might possess the ability to infinitely create these attendants.

Our primary goal is to find the [Crooked Neck Tree], officially trigger the Strange Tale… before that, we should conserve as much physical strength as possible.

What we’ve seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg.”

The beautiful female attendants in kimonos, each holding a long sword, were patrolling around the hotel with a smile on their face.

Sometimes they would exhale frosty breath,

Sometimes a tongue long enough to reach the navel would pop out,

Sometimes their bodies would contort in strange postures.

What kind of Strange Tale might be waiting for Han Dong and his team?