Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou knew that despite Daoist Buyu's heroic display, this battle was bound to not end so easily.
In truth, the best option would have been for Daoist Buyu to take the two of them and flee. His decision not to do so indicated he had no confidence in protecting them from an awakened ancient Body Integration cultivator.
Lu Yang performed a set of Eldest Senior Sister Imitation Fist, attempting to summon Eldest Senior Sister. To his dismay, he found he could not mobilize his spiritual energy at all, unable even to transform.
So the Lu Clan Imitation Fist really was a spell technique after all.
Meng Jingzhou tested his current condition. "Although we can't use magical power, our physical strength hasn't changed much."
That was at least some good news.
"What time is it now?"
Lu Yang recalled what the second rule stated: [From the Hai hour to the Chen hour, closed-door thatched cottages and closed-door inn rooms are absolutely safe; all other places are dangerous.]
From the Hai hour to the Chen hour meant nine at night to nine in the morning.
"It was the Hai hour when the car crashed. There's no one on the streets now; everyone must have gone home. We have to find a place to stay the night, or head to an inn!"
There were several thatched cottages nearby with lights on. Meng Jingzhou knocked on a door and said politely, "Hello! We are cultivators who accidentally wandered into this place. Could you please open the door and let us stay for the night? We'll reward you handsomely—gold, spirit stones, whatever you like!"
Meng Jingzhou tried several houses in a row, but not a single one opened up.
Lu Yang stopped him. "Don't waste your breath. Did you forget the sixth rule? If you hear knocking, under no circumstances are you to open the door. We definitely aren't the only ones in Buyi Town. There are ordinary townspeople too, and they have to obey the rules as well."
[Rule 19: The townspeople of this town must not reveal anything about this town to outsiders.] This indicated Buyi Town had original residents.
Meng Jingzhou was about to say something more when Lu Yang hushed him, signaling for silence.
A rapid pitter-patter sounded not far off. The footsteps were heavy, and the breathing was spaced out and deep, indicating a massive physique. Judging by the frequency of the footfalls, it seemed to have four legs, or perhaps even more. Lu Yang had no idea what kind of monster it was.
Lu Yang could even see the monster's shadow cast around the corner.
"Run!" Lu Yang whispered, and he and Meng Jingzhou hurriedly fled.
Before knowing their opponent's realm and abilities, they could not recklessly confront such a foe.
The two ran along in the direction the monster was heading; the creature didn't spot them, and they soon gave it the slip.
The two halted, quietly listening for nearby movement. Only after confirming there were no monsters around did they cautiously make their way down the street, eventually finding an inn.
The inn was bright with lights. Inside, a person dressed in white lay lazily propped on the counter, while two men dressed as itinerant merchants were discussing which room to take.
"Finally found an inn, I'm exhausted. Two Heaven-rank rooms, please." An itinerant merchant slapped a silver ingot onto the counter.
His companion hastily stopped him. "Did you forget what that sheet of paper said? We can't stay in Heaven-rank rooms!"
"You actually believe that paper?"
"Better to believe it than risk it." The companion took back the silver ingot. Having read that white sheet of paper, he felt deeply unsettled. He felt this town was far too bizarre, and they absolutely had to leave first thing tomorrow morning.
Putting on an apologetic smile, he said to the person in white, "Pardon us, we'll take two Earth-rank rooms instead."
The person in white took the silver with no intention of giving change, directly handing them three keys. "One group can only rent one room. There are only three keys in total for Earth Room Three, so you get them all."
The itinerant merchant frowned. This inn was an outright rip-off; how could a single Earth-rank room be worth that much money?
Lu Yang cautioned the two of them, "You must obey the rules on that white paper."
The merchant's companion remembered the rule warning not to easily trust strangers' words. Unable to fathom Lu Yang's intentions, he hurried upstairs.
Meng Jingzhou was just about to ask for an Earth-rank room when Lu Yang picked up the brush and paper on the counter and yanked Meng Jingzhou behind him.
Realization dawned on Meng Jingzhou. He remembered Rule 15: [Inside the inn, ask the innkeeper if there is an issue. Outside the inn, ask the medicine shop owner if there is an issue. However, you must not speak to them.]
Lu Yang wrote on the paper: *Are you the owner of this inn?*
The innkeeper wrote: *Yes.*
Lu Yang pulled out a silver ingot and wrote: *Open an Earth-rank room where no one has died.*
The innkeeper produced three keys marked "Earth Room Four."
The two exchanged a glance and walked up to the second floor. They noticed there were ten rooms in total on the second floor; eight of the room doors were black, while only Earth Room Three and Earth Room Four were brown.
Earth Room Three belonged to the merchants, and Earth Room Four belonged to them.
The two stepped inside. Only after sitting down on the bed did they finally let out a sigh of relief, realizing their hearts were pounding fast.
"Did your family never tell you about things like this?" Lu Yang asked.
"Not at all! I didn't even know that the ability of the Body Integration stage was modifying reality and establishing rules. Look at those Body Integration elders in my family—all they do all day is raise birds, grow flowers, fish, and yell at people on the street. None of them look like they possess this kind of power!"
Lu Yang deeply agreed; he hadn't seen the elders of the Dao Seeking Sect show such terrifying might either.
If someone claimed Eldest Senior Sister possessed such ability, however, he would believe it.
At the very least, her imposing aura matched the power.
Footsteps sounded—light footsteps, likely human.
A knock sounded on the door across the hall, accompanied by a gentle voice adopting a very humble tone. "Honored guests, are you asleep? The owner accidentally gave you all three keys, so I can't unlock the door. I have freshly prepared dinner here, free of charge. Could you please open the door so I can bring it in for you?"
The guests in Room Three weren't fools. Knowing how bizarre this was and strictly adhering to the rules, they did not answer.
Seeing that the guests wouldn't open the door, the knocking grew heavier and heavier, clattering so loudly that the entire hallway could hear it.
"Guests, open the door!"
"Open up!"
"I told you to open the door, did you hear me?!"
"Don't make me smash this door down!"
The visitor shed all pretense, violently pounding on the door. Fortunately, the door was of solid quality and wasn't battered open.
Seeing that the merchants wouldn't take the bait, the visitor reverted to the initial gentle tone. "Then I'll leave the food by your doorstep."
The merchants still did not respond.
The visitor repeated the same trick, knocking on the door of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. It began with gentle knocks, which gradually grew louder as the visitor made less and less effort to disguise its true nature.
Still, no one fell for it.
Footsteps sounded, and the visitor departed.
"Wait, no. Those footsteps were too brief. It doesn't sound like it went downstairs or upstairs at all. It's still on the second floor!" A chill ran down Lu Yang's spine.
An image sprang to his mind: the creature pressing both hands against the corridor walls, clinging to the ceiling, waiting for the merchants to let their guard down and sneak open the door to fetch the food, at which point it would drop from above and pounce on them...
Whether the merchants shared Lu Yang's suspicion or were simply cautious by nature, they showed no intention of opening the door.
"Let's sleep." Meng Jingzhou yawned. The rules stated they had to go to sleep before the Zi hour—that was, before eleven at night.
He pulled a quilt from the wardrobe, spread it on the floor, and took the initiative to sleep below.
He then blew out the candle, plunging the room into darkness. Thin moonlight from outside filtered through the paper window, casting faint light into the room.
Meng Jingzhou glanced out the window, and his heart nearly stopped.
A dark humanoid silhouette appeared outside the window, swaying side to side as if gripping the windowsill and straining its neck to peer inside.
The problem was that they were on the second floor—just how tall was this thing?!
"Check if the window is latched!" Lu Yang yelled abruptly. He suddenly remembered the rule stating they must not open the window!
After entering, they had only thought to lock the door and had completely forgotten about the window. They didn't even know whether the window was just pulled shut or actually latched!
Moving with lightning speed, the two found that the window was indeed unlatched. They slammed the latch home just before the creature outside could knock on the window.
Watching the dark humanoid silhouette through the paper window, their hearts thudded wildly in their chests.
Without further mishap, the two survived their first night.
Chapter 131