Chapter 47: 90 Seconds

"Squawk! I did it! Success!"

After leading Zhu Jun to Room 301, Lanlan Zhang flew back to Room 403 just as Ji Linmo had planned, quietly staying with Qin Feng. Everything would wait until Ji Linmo returned. After all, he would surely make it through Room 301's evil ghost and deal with Zhu Jun.

Lanlan Zhang silently reassured herself. Though she might have to live as a parrot for the rest of her life, at least she had taken her revenge on the one who had tried to kill her.

But... why?

Lanlan stared blankly at her wings, the light in her tiny eyes growing dim. It was strange—she had gotten her revenge, yet felt no happiness at all.

Was it because she could never return to her human form?

She lowered her head, tears welling in her small eyes. If she hadn’t felt indebted to Ji Linmo for helping her, if she hadn’t secretly delivered him a note and been discovered by Zhu Jun, she wouldn’t have been driven to Room 302 and turned into a parrot.

If only... she hadn’t helped Ji Linmo. He was so strong; even without her warning, nothing would have happened. Why had she done such a foolish thing?

“Big sister, don’t you want to become human again?”

A clear, gentle voice like spring water sounded at her ear.

Who was it?

Lanlan nervously lifted her head and followed the voice, only to see Qin Feng, who had been lying on the floor sleeping, now wide awake and gazing at her with a bright smile.

“After all, you wouldn’t want to stay a parrot forever, would you?”

“Squawk! You... you’re talking to me?” Lanlan’s eyes shone with confusion.

Earlier that afternoon, this boy—who’d appeared out of nowhere—had seemed so dull-witted, incapable of holding a normal conversation. But now, here he was, speaking to her? And he even knew she was human?

What was going on?

“Of course, big sister. I’m talking to you—who else is here but you and me?” Qin Feng sat up on the floor, hugging his pillow.

“To be honest, I really hope you can return to your original form.”

Lanlan grew more bewildered. The boy before her now seemed completely lucid, nothing like how he’d been earlier.

She remembered that afternoon—he’d insisted on sleeping on the floor, and the man had had no choice but to let him, laying a pillow down. The boy had played and eaten on the floor like a stubborn child.

So he’d been pretending all along?

“You... squawk! Why are you saying this? You... you were pretending to be foolish, why...? Who are you really—”

“Big sister,” Qin Feng cut her off gently. “I know you became like this because you helped Ji Linmo.”

“So I’ve decided to help you.”

“Because I realized that your transformation has made Ji Linmo feel guilty. But all Ji Linmo’s emotions—including guilt—should be within my control. So I want to help you become human again, to relieve him of that guilt.”

Lanlan couldn’t quite follow the logic, but she was certain the boy was very strange.

“Squawk... who are you?”

“That’s not important,” he replied, approaching her with a calm, graceful manner. “What matters is what I’m about to say.”

“You must have entered Room 302 and drunk the pork rib soup the hostess gave you, right? That’s why you became this way. But there was a parrot in the room before you, and it disappeared afterward. Isn’t that curious?”

Lanlan, now in parrot form, didn’t speak. She stared intently at Qin Feng, urging him to go on.

He smiled and rapped his slender knuckles on the table.

“It’s the soup. If someone drinks it and turns into a parrot, that person replaces the previous one. The last parrot returns to human form.”

Lanlan’s eyes widened as a memory flashed through her mind.

It was true! When she’d been forced into Room 302, she’d seen a pure white parrot in the living room. Later, after drinking the soup and blacking out, she woke to find herself locked in a birdcage stained with blood.

The previous parrot must have turned back into a human—only to be killed!

“Squawk! Then what should I do...?”

“It’s simple,” Qin Feng replied, resting his hand gently on her tiny claw. “Go back to Room 302, steal a bowl of soup, and make the one who hurt you drink it. Then you’ll turn back.”

He smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, it’s not difficult. Ji Linmo will help you.”

Lanlan, driven by her desperate wish to become human again, felt as if she’d grasped a lifeline and hurriedly asked, “Then I... squawk! I want to do it now! I must find Ji Linmo!”

“Don’t worry, big sister,” Qin Feng soothed, his voice soft. “You’ll have your chance tonight.”

“Now, listen very carefully. Everything I’m about to say must be remembered exactly—don’t make a single mistake.”

“First, when you leave, you must wait at the elevator for ninety seconds before pressing the button to go downstairs. Not a second more or less. If you’re unsure, come back.”

“Then, when you go down in the elevator, as the doors open, you’ll meet Ji Linmo. Tell him the truth about the soup. After that…”

For some reason, Lanlan felt the boy before her possessed a kind of magic—she trusted his plan completely.

“To be safe, I’ve written down the steps for you,” he said, handing her a scrap of paper. “Don’t miss a single one.”

“Thank you! Squawk!” Lanlan’s mind was filled with hope and determination. She flapped her wings and flew out of the room.

Qin Feng watched the parrot fly away, then closed his eyes to nap as if nothing had happened.

“Damn that Ji Linmo! This is all his fault!”

In the dark, icy corridor riddled with cracks and drafts, Zhu Jun stomped the ground in fury. He wished he could tear Ji Linmo to pieces.

It was all part of Ji Linmo’s plan—especially that parrot! It was a deliberate setup! Zhu Jun’s face was so dark it seemed it might drip water.

Now, with his phone—his only clue—snatched away, he had no choice but to retreat. He trudged toward the elevator and pressed the button.

“Squawk, 78, 79, 7... Wait, what number was I on?”

On the fourth floor, Lanlan counted seconds in her heart. But, nervous, she lost track.

Oh no!

But it should be about ninety seconds by now, she thought, pressing the elevator button and stepping inside.

On the third floor, Zhu Jun pressed the button at the elevator door.

Unexpectedly, the doors opened immediately. Inside, there was no sign of the usual ghostly boy who ran the elevator—just a small yellow parrot, its claws on the floor.

It was the very parrot that had tricked him into Room 301!

Zhu Jun’s anger flared. He’d searched high and low, only to find her here! He might not be able to deal with Ji Linmo, but a mere parrot—surely he could handle that!