I open a restaurant in Mysterious Recovery

Chapter 719 Heavenly Palace
"What do you mean by overthinking? Tell me."

At some point, Zhang Youhong walked over, her arms crossed, her gaze fixed on Zhang Xianguang with a cold expression, as if she wanted to see right through him.

Zhang Xianguang shook his head but didn't say anything more.

The messengers in the Ghost Post Office painting are quite capable; they also accumulated enough experience in capturing vengeful ghosts while in Da Hai City.

While such coordinated arrests are difficult at the moment, their teamwork is excellent.

After the ponytail robot brought the first wild beast, other robots followed one after another, and in just half an hour, there were already thirty or forty wild beasts in front of Lin Yuan.

Liu Qingqing, Tong Qian, and Guo Fan no longer had time to think about anything else.

It was already very late, and most of the staff at the Peace Hotel had gone to rest. Fortunately, Liu Qingqing possessed the same supernatural abilities as Zhang Youhong. Through her supernatural powers, she opened a "teleportation portal" and summoned a bunch of robots that continuously sent these beasts to the Peace Hotel.

After the fifty-fifth wild beast was captured, Lin Yuan finally called a halt. "That's enough for now. We've made up for our losses tonight. For Lao Zhang's sake, let's just accept this small loss."

Suffer?

Zhang Xianguang fell silent, feeling an urge to vomit blood.

Only Liu Qingqing and a few others, along with Zhang Youhong, had an air of entitlement. It wasn't until Lin Yuan left with the ghosts, satisfied, that Zhang Xianguang and Zhang Youhong returned to the house.

Zhang Dong's body still lies in the coffin.

After glancing at Zhang Dong inside the coffin, Zhang Xianguang closed the coffin lid, sat back down, and continued burning the yellow paper. Everything seemed to have returned to normal.

But not long after, Zhang Xianguang suddenly asked, "Did the Peace Hotel exist back then?"

Zhang Youhong looked at him with surprise and pondered, "What, are you questioning the confirmed information? If you really want to be sure, you can go there yourself. His power has recovered a large part and can open the passage to the Gengshen year. You can go and take a look."

“But if He has such power, why would He open the passage for the Gengshen year alone? Was there anything special about that year?” Zhang Xianguang raised his head.

The firelight reflected on his face, giving his cold, numb eyes a flickering quality.

Zhang Youhong sat beside the coffin, several incense sticks burning slowly. The smoke swirled around her, making her figure appear dreamlike and ethereal. Even her voice became somewhat ethereal, otherworldly: "Perhaps, that is the beginning. Or perhaps, that is the end. Don't forget, the path to godhood has already begun. If you have any doubts, you can hide away, but I will walk this path."

"You? Don't you think it's too late?" Zhang Xianguang asked back.

Zhang Youhong pursed her lips, a mocking smile playing on her lips. "It hasn't even officially begun yet. Or is it that you really haven't noticed anything?"

As she spoke, she raised her hand and gently stroked Zhang Dong's coffin.

Gazing at the crimson coffin, she murmured softly, "He...he's already seen the future. A future that even he acknowledges. Tell me, what kind of future would it be?"

Zhang Xianguang's pupils contracted sharply, then he suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly, "Yeah, such an obvious scene, and I didn't even notice it. Well then, let's do it together next time."

"Ha! We are different now."

Zhang Youhong scoffed and didn't respond further.

The room fell silent once more, but there was no further movement.

The night passed without incident until 9 p.m. on the third night, when Lin Yuan came over again, accompanied by Liu Qingqing, Tong Qian, and Guo Fan.

When the group arrived, Zhang Xianguang and Zhang Youhong had already reached the door and taken down the two white lanterns above the door with the character "奠" (meaning "offering sacrifice") written on them.

Today is the third night, which is the night for announcing the death.

It was indeed time for everyone, even the dead, to know about Zhang Dong's death.

"You should all come along too."

Upon hearing Lin Yuan's words, Liu Qingqing instinctively wanted to refuse, but seeing the unquestionable seriousness in Lin Yuan's eyes, she could only swallow her words of refusal, nod, and leave with Tong Qian, Guo Fan, Zhang Xianguang, and Zhang Youhong.

As for Ye Zhen?

He's still in the dense forest.

Last night, Lin Yuan called over the Ghost Post Office's "hunting team," but they only took away a few dozen ghosts, which was still quite a difference compared to the number of vengeful ghosts in the dense forest.

Therefore, it is still necessary to announce the death.

Lin Yuan did not go. He simply watched the two teams of funeral messengers depart, led by Zhang Xianguang and Zhang Youhong respectively, before entering the room.

As he entered, his originally ordinary figure began to undergo strange changes.

The most obvious thing is that his eyeballs have disappeared, and in their place is a thick and constantly flowing white mist, with the mist constantly gushing out as if it couldn't hold any longer.

The fog seemed very heavy.

After the tears flowed from his eyes, they fell directly to the ground, so much so that by the time Lin Yuan entered the hall, the floor was already covered in mist.

This ordinary mourning hall has become like a "fairyland" at this moment.

At this moment, only Lin Yuan and the red coffin containing Zhang Dong were in the hall.

The mist gradually spread throughout the hall, enveloping the red coffin and even attempting to enter it through the gaps.

The coffin was not completely sealed at this point, so the fog entered smoothly without much obstruction.

But when the mist came into contact with the corpse, something strange happened.

boom!
With a muffled thud, the red coffin lid seemed to be pushed two or three meters up by some terrifying force before landing to the side. At this moment, Zhang Dong, who had already died, actually sat up.

Even though he was sitting, Zhang Dong was indeed dead.

The one who sat up was just a corpse, without making a sound, but there was no sign of the vengeful spirit reviving; it seemed to be just some kind of conditioned reflex. Lin Yuan frowned and muttered to himself, "What a stubborn old man."

As they spoke, the corpse in the hole slowly and stiffly raised its hand and gently waved it in Lin Yuan's direction. The next moment, the movement of this hand was like an eraser, forcefully wiping away a portion of the white mist in front of it and pointing directly at Lin Yuan.

There is no wind.

The white mist ghost realm was still there, but in the direction where Zhang Dong's corpse waved, a quiet passage suddenly appeared, as if it had always existed.

Lin Yuan endured this blow in this passage.

He patted off imaginary dust from his body, and his eyes, which had returned to normal after the attack, misted over again as he slowly spoke:
"This method is not enough. Old Zhang, spacetime is not your forte. You can't completely overlay spacetime. You can't fight me with the eraser method."

Lin Yuan continued walking forward and soon arrived at Zhang Dong's corpse.

During this process, Zhang Dong's corpse launched a series of supernatural attacks, waving its hand almost every second, but Lin Yuan seemed to be largely unaffected.

However, the clothes had become a bit lighter in color.

Zhang Dong's corpse still tried to wave, but Lin Yuan gave him no more chances. The already turbulent White Mist Ghost Domain surged violently at this moment.

Behind Lin Yuan, the illusory image of the Peace Hotel appeared and disappeared, and his figure also became blurred at this moment. Even his voice became extremely cold and ethereal, like that of a high and mighty, otherworldly... immortal.
"As agreed, I'm just here to make some preparations in advance. After all, you are a god among men, and you deserve the respect you are due."

……

There is actually no fixed road leading out of the old house in the woods.

The path we're on now is merely the result of many predecessors walking it, which is why it looks like a path—at least that's how it is for Guo Fan.

He followed behind Zhang Youhong, his brows furrowed as he stared intently at the cheongsam-clad figure moving forward before him. He seemed lost in thought, his expression tense, as if he were not used to this situation.

"What are your plans now? Old Black isn't your best option."

Zhang Youhong's voice rang out, which made Guo Fan frown even more.

Under the light of the white lanterns, he spoke warily, "You're just a branch manager, are you planning to interfere in the affairs of the head office?"

His voice carried a hint of arrogance.

Those were members of the head office, and their pride in the branch stemmed from instinct, even from the depths of their souls.

Even if they don't usually have this attitude, or even think about it, it will still appear or be revealed unconsciously.

Zhang Youhong stopped and slowly turned around. Her smiling face held a gaze devoid of emotion as she looked at Guo Fan. "You're a smart man, otherwise you wouldn't have so resolutely chosen the Peace Hotel and abandoned the headquarters. It's the same now. Put away your pretentious arrogance. You should understand my value to the manager. After all, I'm the same kind of person as Meng Xiaodong and Zhang Bohua, and we're on the same level."

Guo Fan's expression was serious, a shadow of gloom flashing in his eyes, but he still did not speak.

Zhang Youhong didn't mind. She turned around and continued walking forward. "I asked you to come with me to report the death because I wanted to have a chat. If you're not willing to be honest, that's fine too. I have other options."

As the two moved forward, Guo Fan keenly noticed some rustling sounds coming from around him.

He was tense all over, but he didn't turn around, because Zhang Youhong didn't turn around either, as if she hadn't heard anything.

As Zhang Youhong just said, he is a smart man and naturally understands why Zhang Youhong wanted to "chat" with him, and also roughly understands the current situation.

That's precisely why he didn't dare to speak easily.

"We've come halfway, but the announcement of the death tonight will last at least six hours. We still have five hours, so I can wait patiently for your answer. But you must understand that the later it gets, the less I can offer. This isn't blackmail; it's simply the obvious thing to do."

Zhang Youhong's voice remained as cold and aloof as ever.

Guo Fan took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "My goal has changed. The basis for cooperation is helping me achieve my goal. Otherwise, someone as ordinary as me shouldn't even be worth your attention. Besides, forming an alliance with you would mean offending Liu Qingqing, whose position in the head office is higher than you think..."

“I spent some time inside her body, so I know the real situation better than you do. And you haven’t figured out one thing either: are the so-called Four Great Chefs really that important to Him? What kind of being do you think He truly is?” Zhang Youhong stopped for the second time and asked a question that struck right to the core.

Guo Fan sneered, "Are you trying to say that you understand Him better than I do?"

He joined the Peace Hotel much earlier than Zhang Youhong, and was immediately placed in the headquarters. Even though he was just a peripheral figure, he was still a driver for the "manager".

Moreover, in order to improve his status at the Peace Hotel, he would stay up every day to study the news about the Peace Hotel on the headquarters and the Ghost Rider website.

In private, I would also familiarize myself with everything about the "store manager" based on what I learned in my daily life, and analyze everything about him.

Without such efforts, how can one claim to be preparing to replace the "manager," becoming His approved next manager of the Peace Hotel and taking control of everything?
However, Zhang Youhong simply said, "You can't talk to a summer insect about ice. How can you understand the other's existence without reaching a sufficient level? Just like an insect, can it understand human thoughts?"

Guo Fan's face immediately darkened further.

He stared intently at Zhang Youhong, but Zhang Youhong seemed indifferent, simply gazing calmly at Guo Fan. This look gradually calmed Guo Fan down.

"So, that's why you chose me, thinking I'm easy to manipulate?"

"Of course not, it's just a mutually beneficial arrangement. I can help you quickly improve your level, even achieve a leap in your career. It won't be as terrifying as His, but it can help you get out of your current predicament and allow you to at least understand His meaning."

"So, you think you know Him very well?"

"At least I know more than you do. For example, even though there are still quite a few people in the store, and even though I have a good relationship with Liu Qingqing, I didn't choose her, but chose you instead."

Zhang Youhong looked up in the direction of the old house.

By this time, they were quite a distance from the old house, so much so that they couldn't see very clearly anymore. But Zhang Youhong still looked over and said, "Look, if it were you, could you have imagined that things would turn out like this?"

What's the situation?
Guo Fan turned around in confusion, but what he saw made his eyes widen in disbelief.

In the dark, almost invisible sky, the Peace Hotel emerged from the clouds, like... a celestial palace!
(End of this chapter)