CHAPTER 161: CHAPTER 29: THE KNOCK AT THE DOOR [FIRST UPDATE]

Thinking of how ruthless Si Lin and the others were when dealing with demon beasts and Demon Cultivators, Yun Ran instantly felt she was overthinking. At the same time, she couldn’t help but reflect on herself for starting to doubt Si Lin and the others’ abilities. This was simply too inappropriate!

A trace of frustration flashed in her eyes, and she felt somewhat relieved that it was quite dark around her, conveniently forgetting that cultivators could still see in the darkness.

"I’m fine now, Geng Geng, let’s rest early," she said directly as she lay down, speaking to Gu Qingqing.

Although Gu Qingqing didn’t understand why Yun Ran was no longer afraid, she didn’t think much of it and also lay down.

The two of them didn’t speak anymore, and the room gradually fell into silence.

As time slowly passed and the night grew deeper, if someone were to look down from above Wuyun City, they would find the entire city shrouded in darkness, with no light whatsoever, even the moonlight was obscured by dark clouds.

In the middle of the night, a sudden knocking sound at Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran’s door woke them from their sleep. Yun Ran instinctively wanted to speak, but Gu Qingqing, quick-eyed and deft, covered Yun Ran’s mouth. Gu Qingqing placed a finger in front of her lips, signaling Yun Ran to keep quiet.

Yun Ran only then realized they were in the very strange Wuyun City, quickly nodding to show she understood, prompting Gu Qingqing to release her hand from her mouth.

The knocking outside continued. Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran sat still on the bed, their eyes fixed intently on the door.

The thing outside, seeing that Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran weren’t opening the door, seemed to get a bit angry, increasing the intensity of the knocking. At the same time, a familiar voice came through from outside.

"Geng Geng, Yun Ran, why aren’t you opening the door? It’s me!"

Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran exchanged glances, both a bit surprised, because the voice clearly sounded like Zhuo Tingqiu’s, and even the tone was similar to how he spoke, yet they both knew this was definitely not Zhuo Tingqiu’s voice!

"Geng Geng, what exactly is outside?" Yun Ran asked Gu Qingqing through sound transmission, too afraid to speak.

"I’m not sure either, but it’s definitely not Little Qiuxiu. That waiter earlier said not to open the door, so let’s just pretend we didn’t hear anything," Gu Qingqing frowned slightly, responding to Yun Ran through sound transmission.

She had thought about using her Divine Sense to investigate, but feared alarming the thing outside, so she dared not make any move.

The creature outside continued to impersonate Zhuo Tingqiu, speaking continuously. Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran completely ignored it, acting as if they were deeply asleep.

The pounding on the door went on for about a quarter of an hour. With no reaction from the room, its voice grew louder, and the force of its knocking increased, making the door shake as if it were about to break, causing great concern for Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran.

Fortunately, the door held firm, and the entity outside finally left unwillingly, restoring silence to the room.

Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran didn’t move, instead waiting for a while to ensure the creature at the door had completely left. After exchanging glances, they were too awake to fall asleep again, so they decided to sit and cultivate.

About an hour later, the knocking resumed, this time softer, sounding like a woman was knocking.

Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran opened their eyes simultaneously, exchanged a glance, neither moving, turning their heads synchronously to look at the door.

The knocking was very rhythmic, causing both of them to feel exasperated.

After knocking for a while with no response from inside, the thing began speaking again.

"Gu Qingqing, it’s Lin Xian’er, are you asleep? I have something to tell you, can you open the door..."

Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran exchanged glances again, a bit startled.

Because this voice was also identical to Lin Xianer’s, yet they both knew, given their relationship with Lin Xian’er, she would by no means come knocking at this time. It could only mean the thing outside hadn’t done its homework well!

The voice outside continued, leaving Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran at a loss for how to react.

"Geng Geng, how does the thing outside know our names and voices?" Yun Ran asked Gu Qingqing through sound transmission.

"I don’t know, I’ve never encountered this situation before," Gu Qingqing shook her head, responding through sound transmission, "But it’s definitely not something good!"

Yun Ran agreed wholeheartedly, nodding as the two of them sat quietly on the bed, listening to the thing outside put on a performance.

Just like the previous creature, initially, it was gentle, but after realizing Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran weren’t falling for it, its actions became more violent, yet the door braved their worried gazes valiantly, blocking out the outside thing.

After a quarter of an hour, the knocking vanished. Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran, like before, confirmed there was no longer any noise outside before closing their eyes again.

An hour later, the door was knocked on once more, this time in Yue Zhao’s voice. Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran’s expressions became completely speechless. After exchanging glances, the two didn’t even want to communicate, closing their eyes and waiting for it to leave.

As before, a quarter of an hour later, the sound completely disappeared.

After half an hour, the knocking came again, and both Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran looked seriously annoyed, both glaring fiercely at the door as though they could glare through it to the creature outside.

This time the creature was even more aggressive than before, its knocking exceedingly violent, seemingly intent on breaking down the door. But though the inn’s door quivered, it still managed to hold. Once a quarter of an hour was up, the knocking immediately stopped.

By this time, the sky was beginning to brighten, and until the day was fully light, the door wasn’t knocked on again.

When sunlight streamed through the window onto their faces, Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran opened their eyes, exchanging glances with displeased expressions.

"This is the first time I’ve found daylight so lovable!" Yun Ran said looking at the window, her tone weary.

"If I ever find out what was last night, I’ll tear it apart with my own hands!" Gu Qingqing said through gritted teeth, speaking fiercely.

"Me too, I want to tear it apart right now! This Wuyun City is just too wicked!" Yun Ran nodded in agreement with Gu Qingqing, speaking of Wuyun City with gritted teeth.

The two got out of bed, stretched their bodies, changed clothes, washed up, and then walked to the door to carefully inspect it.

"This door looks quite ordinary, so why couldn’t those guys knock it down last night despite trying so hard?" Yun Ran looked at the door, very puzzled.

"Maybe the door is just a decoration; the real thing stopping them is probably some sort of rule. The rules don’t allow them to break in, and they must be invited from inside to enter!" Gu Qingqing gazed at the door, thinking aloud.

"It’s possible," Yun Ran pondered for a moment and nodded, "This place is really strange, feels like danger is lurking everywhere!"

"Let’s go, let’s find Senior Brother and the others." Gu Qingqing nodded in agreement with Yun Ran’s assessment, opened the door first, and walked out.

As soon as they stepped out, they saw the doors of other rooms opening as well.

"Senior Brother Si, Senior Brother Yue," Gu Qingqing greeted Si Lin and Yue Zhao on the left first and then turned to the right, "Senior Brother Jun, Senior Brother Si, Little Qiuxiu, Jun Wu, and Senior Brother Wu, good morning."

"Geng Geng, good morning," Yue Zhao was already beside Gu Qingqing by the time she said hello, reciprocating the greeting and, upon seeing her face, furrowed his brow, "Didn’t you rest well last night?"

"What happened to you last night?" Si Lin also noticed Gu Qingqing’s weary look, thought for a moment, and asked worriedly.

"Are you okay?" Nan Hua also joined them, his gaze scanning Gu Qingqing with equal concern.

The others gathered around, all looking at Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran with concern.

Gu Qingqing did not respond immediately. She turned around first, closed the room door, and checked it carefully, finding it intact without any marks, and her brows furrowed involuntarily.

"Did someone knock on your door last night?" As soon as Yue Zhao saw Gu Qingqing’s actions, he immediately reacted and asked with a frown.

"Yes, and it was more than one person. At first, they knocked once every hour, and then half an hour before dawn, they knocked again. They were very cunning, even mimicking your voices. The first was Zhuo Tingqiu, the second was Lin Xian’er, the third was Senior Brother Yue. If it weren’t for me and Geng Geng remembering not to open the door, we might have opened it already." Yun Ran explained the situation from last night while Gu Qingqing was busy.

Upon hearing this, the others were somewhat surprised.

"But we didn’t hear anything last night." Zhuo Tingqiu looked around at the others, a bit surprised.

"Neither did we." Nan Hua and Mu Chen said with the same serious expression.

Si Lin and Yue Zhao didn’t speak, but their expressions made it clear that they also encountered nothing last night.

Just then, the doors to other rooms opened, and seeing Gu Qingqing and the others standing at the door, they were a bit surprised.

"Qi Yu, did you hear any sounds last night?" Mu Chen, being more familiar with Qi Yu and the others, asked directly.

"No, we didn’t hear anything last night." Qi Yu and Qin An exchanged glances, a little unsure as they replied, "Did something happen?"

"We didn’t hear anything either last night." Zhao Yan also responded, and then stared at Yue Zhao and the others in confusion.

Qu Ye shook his head too; he slept alone in a room and heard nothing as well.

"Geng Geng and Yun Ran heard knocking on their door last night, and it wasn’t just once." Yue Zhao, with a stern face, recounted the experiences of Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran.

"What was that thing? Why does it seem like something we’ve never heard about?" Zhao Yan was a bit surprised, not expecting that thing to not only knock but also mimic Lin Xian’er’s voice.

"It’s something we haven’t heard of; if it weren’t for the innkeeper’s warning yesterday, Geng Geng and the others might have been in danger!" Yue Zhao glanced at Gu Qingqing, his eyes full of worry.

Not only could that thing knock on Gu Qingqing’s door, but the most dangerous part was that the others heard nothing. If Gu Qingqing had opened the door, even if something happened, they wouldn’t have realized it in time!

The others also understood the gravity of the situation; last night it was Gu Qingqing and the others, tonight it could be any of them. If they accidentally opened the door...

"I checked the door just now. Those things knocked so hard last night that it seemed the door would almost fall down, but when I checked again, there wasn’t a single mark on it." Gu Qingqing reported her findings with a pale face, even paler now.

Upon hearing this, Si Lin also went to check Gu Qingqing’s door and found it exactly as she said, with no marks at all!

Everyone exchanged glances, their expressions all grim.

"Wuyun City is not safe right now; everyone needs to be careful. During the day, everyone should go out and gather information. Given the uncertainty, try not to act alone, and regroup at noon in the inn to share what we’ve found." As the leader, Si Lin assigned tasks appropriately and reminded everyone to stay safe.

"Everyone take a talisman; this is a new one I’ve developed. If you encounter danger, just crush the talisman, and it will send out a distress signal visible throughout Wuyun City." Rong Ye took out a handful of talismans and distributed them while explaining their purpose.

After listening, everyone carefully put away the talisman. With the situation in Wuyun City unclear, this talisman was indeed a valuable item, crucial for saving lives!

After everyone received their talisman, Zhao Yan and the others left in groups, leaving Gu Qingqing, her six fellow disciples, and Zhuo Tingqiu’s group of three remaining.

"Senior Brother Si, I didn’t mention earlier that those things started knocking at midnight, did so every hour, and each time knocked for a quarter of an hour before leaving. They would mimic your companions’ voices, luring you to open the door. Initially, the knocking sound was gentle, but as it approached a quarter of an hour, it became more violent. However, as long as you don’t open the door, it won’t come in, and during this time, the door will seem very fragile as if it could be broken at any moment. But in reality, you don’t have to worry because they are not concerned about the door itself, but some rule!" Gu Qingqing set up a barrier and shared her discovery with Si Lin.

Hearing this, Si Lin was somewhat surprised and then frowned, "Can you sense what was knocking? Was it human or something else?"

"It’s definitely not human!" Gu Qingqing affirmed, "As for what exactly it was, I couldn’t sense it. To avoid detection, I didn’t use Divine Sense to probe."

"It’s better to be cautious," Yue Zhao comforted, noticing Gu Qingqing’s dissatisfaction, "You all did well; who knows what would have happened if you had opened the door."

"That thing is very formidable. I feel that if I don’t use the Word Spirit Technique, I might not be able to beat it!" Gu Qingqing said uncertainly after a moment of silence.

Si Lin and the others were shocked!

Although Gu Qingqing’s cultivation is only at the eighth level, with her skills, she might not necessarily lose even against a ninth-level opponent. Yet she feels she couldn’t beat that thing, suggesting that its cultivation might already be near the ninth-level peak or possibly beyond!