Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

(TL Note: Extra free chapter because I forgot to upload it when scheduling and I’m too lazy to reschedule everything so congrats)

When the two returned to their room, they encountered the two merchants from yesterday. The previously overbearing merchants were uncharacteristically friendly today, even inviting them to sit for a while. Lu Yang, not wanting to have too much contact, declined directly.

After being refused, the merchants didn’t seem annoyed and closed their room door.

The sound of gongs rang out again, with the night watchman announcing, “The hour of Hai has arrived.”

The regular footsteps returned, and the inn’s waiter with pitch-black eyes wandered the hallway.

The waiter gently knocked on the opposite room’s door: “Dear guest, are you there? Please open the door.”

Just when they thought it would be like last night, with the merchants resolutely not opening the door and the waiter’s knocking growing louder to a deafening level,

Creak—

The opposite door was opened.

“Hurry up, close the door! Don’t drag me down with you if you want to die!”

“Why can’t the door be closed!”

Although there were supposedly two merchants, from beginning to end, only one was speaking. The other didn’t make a sound, which was very eerie.

“Don’t, don’t come any closer, ah—”

A blood-curdling scream came from the opposite room, followed by silence.

“What happened? The merchants aren’t foolish, why would they willingly open the door?” Meng Jingzhou felt a chill in his heart.

Lu Yang pondered for a moment, considering a possibility: “Do you remember the person killed by the enforcers this morning, how he came back to life looking no different from a living person?”

“The rules mentioned, 【It is normal for corpses to move】, but they never said anything about corpses coming back to life!”

“Was the person who came back to life this morning really still himself?”

Meng Jingzhou’s eyes widened: “Are you saying… one of the merchants died, but the companion didn’t realize it?”

Lu Yang nodded: “Exactly.”

Meng Jingzhou felt a shiver down his spine, thinking they had seen many people in the streets today, assuming not many had fallen victim. It now seemed that the streets during the day might be filled with the living dead!

Loud knocking resumed, this time at Lu Yang’s and Meng Jingzhou’s door.

“Help, save me! The waiter is trying to kill me!”

“Open the door, quickly!”

“Please, have mercy, save me. I can give you gold, spirit stones, even the location of secret realms!”

“Don’t kill me—”

Then came the sound of an axe cutting into flesh, hitting bone, accompanied by the merchant’s screams.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou exchanged glances, both deciding not to open the door. The room across had just been silent, and now someone was crying for help again—something was off, bizarre, and strange.

Moreover, Lu Yang learned from Everlasting Fairy that the two merchants were not good people; there was no need to save them.

The merchant’s voice vanished, replaced again by the waiter’s gentle knocking: “Dear guests, are you there? Please, open the door.”

“Dear guests, are you there? Please, open the door!”

“I’m telling you two to open the door!”

“Open the damn door for me!”

Like the previous night, the knocking grew louder, audible throughout the inn.

Whether it was the quality of the door or restrictions set by the rules, the waiter did not succeed in breaking it down.

Lu Yang heard the waiter ascending the stairs, likely heading directly back to the rooms marked with “heaven.”

No monsters appeared outside the window that night, ensuring their safety.

The next day, upon leaving the inn at the hour of Si, Lu Yang noticed the door opposite theirs had turned from brown to black. The two merchants emerged from the room, cheerfully greeting Lu Yang.

【Rule 16: Do not speak or eat anything after entering a black door】

Lu Yang’s gaze sharpened; the two merchants were no longer bound by the regular rules.

Meng Jingzhou couldn’t help but ask, “Who was crying for help last night?”

The two merchants appeared confused, their expressions seemingly genuine, “Crying for help? Who cried for help?”

Unable to gauge the merchants’ situation and unwilling to delve deeper, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou quickly left.

During the day, the two followed the enforcers from a distance, discovering that the enforcers only ate once a day, and it had to be meat buns.

Meng Jingzhou once stole a meat bun and found that besides meat, there appeared to be nails and hair inside.

After eating, the enforcers would walk through the streets, herding the crowd like ducks. The unfortunate ones who inadvertently turned their heads would instantly die and then come back to life.

“Did you notice? The enforcers roamed around the town but never went near the private school!”

Lu Yang spread out a map they had drawn while exploring the town yesterday, marking the crash site, the inn, the private school, the tailor’s shop, the apothecary, and the official residence.

The drawing was rough, but the good news was they could understand their own work.

“It seems their rules are not uniform, not ironclad!” Meng Jingzhou laughed, noting this as good news, depending on how they could use this information.

Walking on the street, they noticed through paper windows that there were figures moving inside the thatched cottages.

The rules demanded 【Rule 3: You must leave the thatched cottages and inns by the Si hour (9am-11am), and cannot return until before the Xu hour (7pm-9pm)】, so what could be inside the cottages?

“It seems there are many rules of this town we are not aware of.”

Different identities require adherence to different rules, making Lu Yang think the ancient Unity Stages had too much free time.

“Fairy, can you see what’s happening outside? How’s my master doing in the fight?”

Everlasting Fairy marveled, “Your master has a profound understanding of swordsmanship. Facing four opponents alone, he’s not at a disadvantage.”

Lu Yang nodded, reassured.

Returning to the inn, Lu Yang wrote a line on a piece of paper and handed it to the innkeeper: Are you from outside?

Meng Jingzhou, understanding Lu Yang’s intent, knew the rules stated locals couldn’t reveal anything about the town to outsiders, but the innkeeper could, indicating he wasn’t a local.

The innkeeper was surprised by Lu Yang’s question and wrote back a “Yes.”

Lu Yang wrote: Ordinary person or cultivator?

The innkeeper wrote: Qi Cultivation Level 9.

Lu Yang wrote: How did you become the innkeeper?

The innkeeper wrote: I can’t say.

Lu Yang wrote: Do you have to follow different rules from us? What are they?

The innkeeper wrote: I follow the 【Commoner Town Inn Rules】, I can’t tell you the specifics.

Lu Yang then wrote: Do you want to leave?

The innkeeper’s hand trembled: Yes.

Lu Yang took out his identity jade card: We are disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect, who stumbled into this place and also wish to leave.

Knowing they were Dao Seeking Sect disciples, the innkeeper became more agitated and wrote with trembling hands: What do you need?

Lu Yang wrote: Take off your white clothes.

The innkeeper was taken aback by Lu Yang’s request, not expecting this.

His rules stated 【Within the rules, fulfill the guests’ requests as much as possible, except those against ethics】, and did not mention not taking off clothes.

The innkeeper took off his white clothes and handed them to Lu Yang.

Lu Yang kept the clothes and returned to their room with Meng Jingzhou.

“After two days of knocking, it’s our turn today!” Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou laughed coldly.

(End of the chapter)