Refining the Mountains and Rivers

East Zhou Duly looked at him. “Don’t even think about staying outside overnight. Although I have no idea what the danger is, everyone that tried to stay outside at night has already vanished. I don’t know where they are right now, but I believe you shouldn’t be curious about this.”

She glanced at the bed behind her and clenched her teeth, saying, “You wait here, I’ll be back.” She pushed open the door and it didn’t fully shut behind her. Qin Yu could hear East Zhou Duly speaking to the old man in the courtyard outside.

Her bitter pleading was eventually rejected in the end. This seemed to involve some bottom line in the Path of 10,000 Souls.

Qin Yu put away the gold coin and walked into the courtyard. “I have taken Miss East Zhou’s kindness to heart. I will think of another way, so goodbye.”

He turned to leave. But at this time, the old man’s eyes suddenly brightened. “You have a gold coin?”

Qin Yu’s expression sank. A cold light flashed in his eyes.

East Zhou Duly was also stunned. She knew what sort of terrifying consequences would occur once news of this spread out.

Uncle Cow didn’t say much more. After determining something, he looked over Qin Yu and curled his lips, “Since that’s the case, I can make an exception this one time. You can stay the night, but you must be in the same bed as that girl Duly. I don’t want to cause any trouble for myself.”

“Thank you Uncle Cow, thank you Uncle Cow!” East Zhou Duly was ecstatic. After expressing her thanks repeatedly she pulled Qin Yu back into the room, as if she were afraid he would go back on his word.

After closing the door behind her, her face was red with joy. “This is wonderful. Your living situation has been solved. You can continue staying here!”

Qin Yu rubbed his nose, an obscure look on his face.

East Zhou Duly soon thought of something. She flushed red and said, “Since this involves your interests and goals, I don’t think fellow daoist Qin would be so rigid, right? Or perhaps you have some dark intentions towards me?”

Qin Yu hacked out a cough and waved a hand. Weren’t these words just a bit too aggressive?

Seeing him behave like this, East Zhou Duly laughed inwardly. At the same time she also felt a bit disappointed.

It seemed that he really wasn’t interested in her.

Night arrived. The lively city fell into a deathly silence.

Uncle Cow had already locked the courtyard doors. After coughing a few times he returned to his room and turned off the lights to sleep.

It was pitch black outside. In the darkness, Qin Yu and East Zhou Duly seemed to remember Uncle Cow’s reminder.

Uncle Cow hadn’t been trying to make things difficult for them by having the two of them sleep in the same bed. Besides, the entire city had gone dark and there was no sound at all; it was obviously strange.

Qin Yu took a deep breath. It had already been awkward enough for East Zhou Duly to ask if he could stay here. He certainly wouldn’t force her to take the initiative to speak first.

“Miss East Zhou, we should go to bed.”

These words…while Qin Yu was doing his best to appear calm and composed, he still felt that they sounded somewhat off.

East Zhou Duly’s face flushed red in the darkness. While she had spoken about it casually, this was still the first time she had ever done anything like this in her life. She felt a little bit of fear and distress, but she didn’t dare to speak. She simply hummed in agreement.

She took the inside and he took the outside.

In the pitch black room, they could hear each other breathing. The bed they were sleeping on was uncomfortable too. Well, this didn’t have anything to do with the bed. With their cultivation, it wouldn’t make any difference if they slept in a sea of flames or a raging storm. Everything was in their hearts.

Even if Qin Yu never had any other thoughts towards East Zhou Duly before, it was inevitable that his heart would fluctuate in this sort of situation. This was simply human nature.

As for East Zhou Duly, if she could really become dual cultivating dao companions with Qin Yu, then while she might appear reserved on the surface, she would be filled with joy inside.

Luckily, this awkward situation didn’t last for long before it was interrupted by the sounds of knocking.

Bang –

Bang –

Bang –

Extremely loud knocking sounds could be heard from far away. In the dark silence, they were especially clear.

“Coming, I’m coming!”

It was Uncle Cow’s voice. There was a hint of restlessness in it. The courtyard doors were opened, but there was only the sound of a single pair of footsteps; those from Uncle Cow.

“There’s no problem here, you must have sensed wrongly!” Uncle Cow said, apparently giving an explanation. But soon, things developed in the worst possible direction.

Hu –

A dark wind blew in and the windows swung open. Although it was still dark outside and one couldn’t see anything, whether it was Qin Yu or East Zhou Duly, they both stiffened. A cold chill shot up their backs.

It seemed that there was something outside the window that was coming closer and peeking in.

Uncle Cow’s voice turned dry. “There’s a little girl living inside. She has already paid rent and I have reported it to the city. My lord, your actions can already be considered as going against the rules.

“She really does live here. Why would I lie about this? My lord, you should continue patrolling. Don’t make things difficult for little old me.”

It was still only Uncle Cow speaking. But the more it was like this, the more fear one felt.

The existence hiding in the darkness clearly didn’t believe Uncle Cow’s words. The cold wind blew with greater intensity. The windows and even the tightly shut door began to rattle and hit the walls.

East Zhou Duly bit her lips. She reached out and grabbed Qin Yu, tightly pulling into his chest.

“Don’t move and don’t say anything. The thing outside has already sensed us. This is the only way we can fool it.”

East Zhou Duly’s face was hot red and she did her best to restrain her thoughts. It was unknown what secret art she utilized, but her aura soon vanished.

At the same time, her body became much hotter. Qin Yu felt as if he were hugging onto a mass of flames.

This level of heat certainly didn’t trouble Qin Yu. On the contrary, it made it so he could clearly feel the softness pressed into his arms and just how elastic it felt.

Qin Yu took a deep breath and suppressed his impulses. In truth, he had an even better idea. If he released the sun and moon force field to conceal his aura, it should be enough to fool the unknown existence outside.

But before he could do it, East Zhou Duly had tightly hugged onto him. If he were to shove her away now it wouldn’t be giving her any face at all. Moreover, it would seem like he was trying to take some kind of high moral stand after already having profited.

My apologies!

Qin Yu thought to himself. Then, he restrained his senses, reducing the impact of her chest against him as much as possible.

The cold wind gradually faded and the door and windows stopped shaking. Uncle Cow’s voice sounded out, “My lord, you can see that I wasn’t lying, there really is only one person inside. If you had rushed in just now, you would have broken the city’s rules.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, I certainly understand that you are utterly loyal to your duty and you aren’t trying to make things difficult for me. Let’s just pretend that this matter never happened. My lord, please take care as you leave. My status is limited so it’s not good for me to walk around too much at night. I won’t be seeing you out.”

The courtyard doors closed and the lock clicked in place. Uncle Cow turned back around. When he passed by East Zhou Duly’s room, he humphed, clearly dissatisfied with the two people inside.

But he didn’t knock on their door. After returning to his room he fell silent.

East Zhou Duly had a red face as she came out from Qin Yu’s chest. She said, “It should be fine now.”

The rest of the night passed peacefully. When the first rays of light appeared, the city that seemed to have fallen asleep became lively once more.

The sound of Uncle Cow’s movements came from the courtyard. Qin Yu got out of bed and cupped his hands, saying, “I apologize if I offended you in any way last night.”

East Zhou Duly shook her head, not saying anything else about that. “This city is mysterious and there are many other secrets that we have yet to come into contact with. No matter what you do, you must be careful.”

Qin Yu’s heart warmed, “Miss East Zhou should do the same.”

As the two walked out, Uncle Cow’s complexion was indeed not good. When he glanced at them he couldn’t help but coldly humph again, “A young man and woman staying in the same room and same bed at night. I thought that would be the end of it, but I never thought such an unexpected guest would arrive. I was almost caught up in a great mess! If that lord from last night found you, not only would the two of you have been in trouble, I would have also encountered disaster!”

But even though he had a bad expression, Uncle Cow didn’t say anything else. He only impatiently waved his hand, sending the two people away as soon as possible.

Strangely, he never mentioned kicking Qin Yu out. This was somewhat beyond their expectations.

After leaving the courtyard, East Zhou Duly said, “Since he hasn’t chased you out you can continue staying there. After all, in this city it’s difficult to find a place to stay.”

Qin Yu thought for a moment and nodded. He didn’t bother going through the conventions of refusing before accepting. His time was precious and he didn’t want to waste it on figuring out his living situation at night.

Without accident, that abyssal being should be in the city. But just what was he trying to do?

There was also that night inspector hidden in the darkness last night. Although Qin Yu never saw its appearance, he could feel a fearful aura in the surging cold winds.

This city was much more complex than what he saw in the daytime.

The two people didn’t say much. After agreeing to meet up again before night fell, they turned and parted ways.

The reason for entering the land of inheritance was to obtain the Path of 10,000 Souls’ inheritances. Every extra day that they spent in the city meant more expenses for food and lodging. Everyone had a limited amount of money so no one could afford to delay.

Qin Yu walked down the long street, his eyes constantly sweeping around. Along the way, he saw many cultivators who came from the outside world just like him.

But in this strange city, everyone dreaded each other. Unless they were acquainted already, they would just glance at each other and distance themselves. There was no desire to communicate.

Everyone had money in their hands, and each coin represented another opportunity in this city. If one said they never had dark thoughts of stealing from others, that person would just be lying to themselves. It was just because of their scruples that everyone held back and didn’t wantonly attack others.

So it was best to stay further away from each other, lest they rouse the envy of others.

The city wasn’t large to begin with. Even though Qin Yu walked slowly, he was able to walk around every corner in about four hours.

Right now, he was standing deep in an alley somewhere in the south of the city. An unremarkable private school was in front of him.

The reason he knew it was a private school was not just the typical black and white walls and the unique architectural style, but also because of the plaque hanging at the door and the sounds of reading from within.

Qin Yu quietly waited outside. The courtyard doors of the private school were open. After a brief hesitation, he stepped inside.