American Zombie Detective

It was a complex of buildings standing amidst a vast cornfield:

A motel and restaurant with a neon sign missing a few letters, next to which was a similarly dilapidated gas station with rusty pumps.

The hotel is a row of single-story bungalows with about ten rooms. Several muddy vehicles are parked in front, including a black luxury SUV and two inconspicuous pickup trucks.

Behind the motel were car repair sheds, huge barns, livestock sheds, and farm machinery parked nearby; clearly, the cornfields in the vicinity belonged to the motel.

"This is it! Thank God!" Walker parked the car and called to Qin Jin.

Qin Jin stopped the car and got out with Alessa. A strong wind whipped up cold raindrops that had already begun to pelt down. He looked around the place:

The hotel's wooden exterior walls had severely peeling paint, the windows were filthy, several doors looked like they were about to collapse, and the gas station's roof was leaking.

The only light source came from the hotel reception desk and the windows of the attached restaurant, which looked particularly eerie and isolated against the dark backdrop.

They pushed open the creaking wooden door of the hotel, and a smell mixed with musty and cheap disinfectant hit them.

Behind the counter, a thin, middle-aged man slowly raised his head, his face expressionless, wearing a plaid shirt stained with some unknown dirt.

"Need a room?" The tall, thin man's gaze slowly swept over the five people who entered, lingering on Alessa for a moment longer, sending a chill down their spines.

“Yes, three rooms,” Walker said quickly. “Two couples, and this gentleman and his…sister?”

He glanced at Aresa.

The tall, thin man didn't speak, but slowly flipped through the tattered register, picking up a broken pencil:

"Name. Three rooms? 50 yuan per night, cash. 20 yuan deposit."

Just as the tall, thin man was registering, Qin Jin's gaze drifted toward the corridor leading to the restaurant.

The corridor was poorly lit, but Qin Jin could clearly see an extremely large black shadow standing in the shadows of the restaurant. It was burly, nearly two meters tall, and had frighteningly broad shoulders.

He wore a stained apron and held a huge boning knife in his hand, the blade still tinged with dark red. His disheveled hair and thick beard almost completely covered his face, revealing only his small eyes in the shadows, which gleamed with a numb and cold gaze.

Aresa subconsciously moved closer to Qin Jin, her eyes darting around, while Yuanxiao in her arms stuck out her tongue and licked her lips.

"Alright." The tall, thin man's hoarse voice broke the stare as he handed over three old-fashioned brass keys with simple plastic tags.

"Number 3, number 4, and... number 1."

He handed key number 1 to Qin Jin, his cloudy eyes seeming to glance at Alessa again.

"Want something to eat? The restaurant's open, but it'll be sold out if you're late." He pointed in the direction of the giant butcher.

"No need, thank you." Walker quickly waved his hand, clearly frightened by the butcher. George and Ava also quickly shook their heads.

Qin Jin took the keys expressionlessly: "No need."

They took the keys and hurried to their respective rooms.

Qin Jin led Alessa toward Room 1, which was closest to the entrance. Just as they passed through the middle rooms, one of the doors opened, and the gaze of the young man sitting inside swept across Qin Jin's face.

Then, he was completely stunned!

Tong Jizong!

Tong Jizong's expression froze instantly, changing from nonchalant to extreme astonishment and a hint of unbelievable surprise!

He instinctively reached back to grab his gun, but his movement abruptly stopped. Just then, Alessa turned her head and glanced at him. Their eyes met, and her empty, gray-blue eyes looked particularly eerie in the dim light of the corridor.

Qin Jin naturally saw Tong Jizong as well, but he didn't stop walking as if he didn't see him. He opened the door to room number 1, led Alessa inside, and slammed the door shut.

When Tong Jizong came out, he only saw the closed door of room number 1.

He immediately turned and rushed into another room, his deliberately suppressed voice carrying a bloodthirsty madness: "Uncle! Uncle..."

Shortly after the door to room number 1 closed, an even more piercing noise, accompanied by tire slippage and engine roar, came from outside the hotel.

A black government vehicle, covered in mud, veered out of control and swerved into the open space in front of the hotel, screeching to a halt in the pouring rain, splashing mud and water everywhere.

The car door was pushed open with difficulty, and two equally disheveled men staggered out—

By a twist of fate, hearing officer Gleeson and his assistant James also end up in this run-down motel.

Gleeson was frighteningly pale, his hair was stuck to his forehead with rain and sweat, his lips were purple from the cold, and his glasses were fogged up. James also looked exhausted.

He leaned against the car door, panting heavily, his eyes filled with the despair of a long journey and an anxiety that was on the verge of collapse.

They were completely unaware of the Dodge Ram parked in the corner, and even less aware that Qin Jin was just a few steps away in room number 1.

The wind and rain roared wildly outside the door, as if trying to tear this isolated hotel apart. It was just past five o'clock in the evening, but the sky was already as dark as the dead of night.

Time passed slowly in the oppressive silence of the "Stone Hill" hotel and the sound of the torrential rain outside the window.

The cheap electronic clock hanging on the wall jumped from 6:59 to 7:00.

Inside room number 10, where Tong Zhenjiang was located, the atmosphere was as heavy as lead. Tong Jizong paced anxiously in the narrow space. It had been almost an hour since he sent his two men to gather information, but there had been no word from them.

"Something's not right, Uncle!"

Tong Jizong stopped in his tracks, his voice filled with rage and agitation:

"With such a small place, they should have been back by now. I bet... something's happened to them! That Qin guy is definitely not simple!"

Tong Zhenjiang sat cross-legged on the only relatively clean chair, closing his eyes to rest, but his furrowed brows and slightly throbbing temples betrayed his inner turmoil.

Qin Jin's appearance was a good thing, but the environment here was indeed somewhat strange and inexplicable. He slowly opened his eyes and, amidst the torrential rain and howling wind, issued his orders:

"No more waiting, let's go!" Tong Zhenjiang's voice was deep and decisive.

"Leave two men here. Jizong, you take the remaining five and split into two groups! You take three men and charge in from the front, while the other two go around from the back, block the windows, and open fire when the opportunity arises—that Qin guy is too dangerous, don't leave him alive, just kill him!"

Tong Jizong's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he nodded forcefully: "Understood!"

He immediately gave a low order, leaving two of the most alert men to guard the door of room 10, while he, along with five menacing-looking gunmen, yanked open the door.

Like wolves released from their cages, the four men crouched low and moved swiftly and silently down the corridor toward room number 1 at the far end.

The other two slipped out through the back door, their figures instantly disappearing into the torrential rain.

Tong Jizong rushed to the door of Room 1 and, without hesitation, kicked the wooden door that already looked flimsy!

"Clang!"

With a loud crash, the lock flew off and the wooden door was flung open!

Tong Jizong and three gunmen simultaneously rushed into the room, guns pointed at every corner.

However, the room was completely empty!

The filthy bed was completely untouched, the tables and chairs were neatly arranged, the windows were tightly closed, and there wasn't a sound coming from the bathroom—it seemed as if no one had ever been there at all.

The Qin siblings, along with the animal cub in their arms, vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.

Where are they?!

Tong Jizong was both shocked and furious. A sense of humiliation at being mocked and a strong sense of unease instantly overwhelmed him.

Just then, a heart-wrenching scream, distorted by its own tone, pierced through the torrential rain and came from behind the hotel!

The voice was filled with extreme pain and fear; it belonged to one of the gunmen who had just circled around to the back!

"Behind us!" Tong Jizong's scalp tingled. He led his gunmen around and rushed out of Room 1, around the outer wall at the end, and plunged into the cold rain and thick darkness.

Behind the hotel was a much larger area of ​​chaos:

Scattered among the objects were rusted car parts, discarded oil drums, and a huge repair shed with farm machinery. Not far away were dark barns, two wooden huts piled with miscellaneous items, and livestock pens with walls.

The screams had stopped. They wiped the rain off their faces and looked around, but saw nothing.

Suddenly, a pale white bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky—

Right next to the hotel, on the towering water tower, two thick slaughter hooks, like instruments of torture from hell, hung two figures high in the air!

One of them had a hook plunged deep into his eye socket, coming out through the back of his head, accompanied by blood, foam, and fragments of bone!

The corpse swayed slightly in the wind and rain, its face, pale from the rain, frozen with the extreme fear and pain of its dying moments.

The other one, a huge iron hook, was even more cruel, piercing through the lower jaw, through the mouth and upper palate, and straight to the top of the head!

Blood mixed with rainwater dripped continuously from the corpse's tattered clothes, pooling into a small dark red puddle on the ground before being washed away by the heavier rain.

It was those two gunmen he sent out to flank them! Their deaths were gruesome!