Chapter 101: The Same Nightmare

 Chen Jinfa clapped his hands.

 The door swung open, and several beautiful women of various styles entered, carrying massage oils and wearing gentle smiles.

 Tiger's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

 "Not sure what Master Lu and Brother Tiger prefer, so I called a few. Don't hold back, pick any you like," Chen Jinfa said, cigarette dangling from his mouth.

 "No, no, thank you, Brother Fa, we don't need this," Lu Fei quickly waved his hands.

 Tiger swallowed hard. With his boss speaking up, he could only follow suit and shake his head.

 "Master Lu being polite means you don't see me as a brother," Chen Jinfa said loudly. "If you don't like this group, I'll get another until you're satisfied!"

 "Really, Brother Fa, we're not into this sort of thing," Lu Fei replied with a wry smile.

 "True, these are just ordinary faces; how could they catch Master Lu's eye?" Chen Jinfa waved his hand, signaling the women to leave, and stood up from the recliner.

 "Rest well tonight, Master Lu. Tomorrow, I'll make new arrangements!"

 With that, he and Ah Long left without giving Lu Fei a chance to refuse.

 "Ah, what a pity," Tiger muttered, the lingering scent of massage oil in the room, with a look of regret.

 "Should I call Brother Fa back?" Lu Fei asked, glancing at him.

 "Not necessary. I'm a proper person!" Tiger blushed, jumped into bed, and covered himself with a blanket.

 Lu Fei chuckled.

 After a busy night, exhaustion quickly set in. The lights went out, and he soon fell asleep.

 He didn't know how much time had passed.

 Half-asleep, Lu Fei felt a chilling sensation, as if he had plunged into icy water. His body kept sinking, and the cold water gradually engulfed him.

 He felt suffocated, unable to breathe, struggling desperately to rise to the surface, but his body seemed frozen and wouldn't move.

 Just as he was about to sink into endless darkness, a surge of warmth suddenly rushed from his dantian.

 The cold water receded instantly.

 Lu Fei sat up abruptly, gasping for air.

 "A dream?"

 The soft night light cast a dim glow. Lu Fei wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, a deep unease in his heart.

 "Why such a strange dream?"

 He then heard a noise from the other bed.

 Turning to look, he saw Tiger wrestling with his blanket, kicking his legs wildly.

 "Tiger!"

 Lu Fei jumped out of bed, yanked the blanket away, and slapped Tiger's forehead to wake him up.

 "Tiger, what's going on? Why are you covering your own face?" Lu Fei frowned.

 "What?" Tiger, drenched in sweat and his face flushed, gasped for breath.

 "I covered myself? I had a dream where I fell into the water and almost drowned…"

 "That's odd. I had the same dream!" Lu Fei's heart sank.

 Both having the same dream was no coincidence.

 "What the… Is there something creepy in this hotel?" Tiger leaped out of bed, grabbing his ghost head saber, eyes scanning the room.

 "With the saber here, nothing would dare act up even if there were. It's probably something else." Lu Fei walked to the window, pulled back the thick blackout curtains, and peered down at the construction site.

 By then, the city was deep into the night, most neon lights had gone out, and only the street lamps kept their lonely vigil.

 The site below lay dark and silent; it was impossible to discern anything from a distance.

 "I wonder if Brother Fa is alright…"

 Concern bubbled up in Lu Fei's chest as he reached for his phone to call Chen Jinfa. Just then, there was a loud, urgent knocking at the door.

 "Master Lu, are you awake?"

 It was Chen Jinfa, his voice anxious and shaky.

 Tiger opened the door immediately.

 "Brother Fa."

 "Master Lu, something's wrong. Ah Long and I just had the same dream…" Chen Jinfa rushed in, his face tinged with fear. Ah Long followed, looking equally unsettled.

 "Did you dream you were falling into water, almost drowning?" Lu Fei asked.

 "Yes! Exactly that!" Chen Jinfa's eyes widened in shock and awe. "Master Lu, you're incredible, even guessing that!"

 "It's not a guess. Tiger and I had the same dream too," Lu Fei replied with a bitter smile.

 "What?" Chen Jinfa and Ah Long exchanged looks, stunned. "Four people, the same dream?!"

 "This can't be a coincidence! It must be related to the construction site," Lu Fei nodded.

 When leaving the site earlier, he'd heard a bubbling sound like water. Water had also appeared in the dream—clearly connected.

 "Is there really still something wrong with the site?" Chen Jinfa hurried to the large window, peering outside, but after a moment, saw nothing unusual.

 "Master Lu, what could it be?"

 "I'm not sure yet. It's not safe to investigate at night. I'll check it out in the morning," Lu Fei said honestly.

 The worst had happened. Breaking the soul-locking stakes had released whatever was haunting the site.

 Luckily, dawn was only a couple of hours away.

 No one dared sleep. Chen Jinfa and Ah Long stayed in Lu Fei's room, worrying aloud and chain-smoking.

 One crisis after another.

 Would his project ever move forward smoothly?

 Was this just an unlucky year? Maybe a visit to the Temple of Guan Yu was in order…

 They stayed awake until first light.

 As soon as morning came, the four left the hotel and headed straight to the construction site.

 Even from across the road, a faint metallic scent lingered in the air.

 "What's that smell? It can't be coming from the site, can it?" Chen Jinfa's face darkened.

 Entering the fenced-off area, the metallic scent only grew stronger.

 The source seemed to be coming from the foundation pit.

 The group hurried over, eager to see what was going on.

 As they reached the pit and looked inside, their scalps prickled in horror.

 "My god! What is this?"

 Chen Jinfa stepped back, his face pale with fear.

 At the bottom of the pit lay a layer of dark red liquid, reeking of blood!

 In certain areas, bubbles rose to the surface, and the liquid level was slowly rising.

 From above, it looked like a pool of blood!

 "Could we have hit an underground water source or a broken pipe?" Chen Jinfa clung to a sliver of hope.

 Lu Fei grabbed a long stick, dipped it into the crimson liquid, and lifted it to sniff. His expression shifted immediately.

 "Not good! This is blood!"

 "Blood?" Chen Jinfa looked disbelieving. "Where could so much blood come from? Did many people die here? Even if there were bodies buried, they'd decompose into foul-smelling fluids, not blood!"

 "Stay calm, Brother Fa. This is definitely related to the site's original hauntings," Lu Fei said, regaining composure. "First, we need to figure out what this blood-like liquid is before we can deal with it."

 "How do we even start?" Chen Jinfa steadied himself, looking at Lu Fei.

 Lu Fei squatted by the edge of the pit, eyes fixed on the bubbling areas. After a moment's thought, he said, "We should test it with a few live animals to assess the situation."