Chapter 87 The Burning Night
The female shop owner's account infuriated all the team members.
How could there be such a beastly man in this world, treating his own daughter like this!
He was incompetent and failed the exam, so he traded his daughter's life for his future, and then abandoned his wife to enjoy wealth and luxury all to himself.
Leng Qiuchan, unable to bear it any longer, asked the female shopkeeper, "What happened to that scoundrel? Has he ever come back to your town?"
"He came back once, but I can't seem to remember what he did that time or when he left."
"Waaah! My head hurts so much!" The female shop owner remained silent for a long time before speaking, and soon she covered her head again, showing a pained expression.
“Senior Sister Leng, those memories must be very painful for this shop owner, so please don’t ask her anymore,” Achen said, tugging at Leng Qiuchan’s sleeve.
The female shop owner quickly recovered, her charming smile returning, and she patiently explained the cosmetics and face powders in the shop to them.
The male students were embarrassed by her words, so they took out spirit stones from their storage rings and bought a bunch of cosmetics to give to their female relatives and friends when they went home to visit them.
Leng Qiuchan bought even more. She felt a lot of sympathy for the female shop owner, and because of her previous impulsive question, which had reminded the shop owner of painful memories, she felt an urge to buy everything in the shop.
Seeing how generous they were, the female shopkeeper smiled even more broadly and personally led them to the largest inn in town—Donglai Inn.
Although Donglai Inn cannot compare to the grand inns in big cities, it is clean, tidy, and quiet.
After all, this is just a small town, and most of the people coming and going are locals, as well as some people from nearby villages who come to the town for the market.
Today was market day, and the town was exceptionally lively. After washing up at the Donglai Inn, Ah Chen and the others went to stroll through the market.
Everyone looked around very carefully, but no matter how they looked at it, it seemed to be just an ordinary small town with nothing special about it.
However, a light mist always lingered around the edge of the town, and no matter which way they went, they would always end up back on the town's only main street, unable to find a way out.
"Why don't we stay here for the night and continue our search tomorrow?" Ah Chen suggested.
“Yes, I agree. Some things are often well hidden during the day, but they will be revealed at night,” Jin Liudao said.
"Yes, I agree. We've been walking around all day and are exhausted. It's good to go back to the inn to rest and recharge," Nie Xiaoxiao said.
"Aren't you worried that some terrible creature might appear at night?" Meng Hanhai asked.
“Even the most terrifying existence is better than a fog of mystery, isn’t it?” Achen said.
“That makes sense. Then let’s take turns on night watch tonight, so we don’t get attacked by anything,” Meng Hanhai said.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. Let’s change groups every hour, with three people in each group. We can skip the girls,” Achen said.
“Alright, you, Junior Brother Jin, and I, the three of us will each take two people on night watch,” Meng Hanhai said.
“Okay, then you’ll be in the first group, responsible for the Zi hour (11 PM to 1 AM), I’ll be in the second group, responsible for the Chou hour (1 AM to 3 AM), and Senior Brother Jin will be in the third group, responsible for the Yin hour (3 AM to 5 AM),” Achen said.
As for after 5 a.m., it gets light, and there's no need for anyone to keep watch at night.
Before Meng Hanhai could even begin selecting his team, Ni Zhiyong quickly came over and volunteered to be in his group. Meng Hanhai then had to choose another combat-oriented student, making it a trio.
Ah Chen chose Ge Hui from the combat system and Kang Yi from the weapon crafting system; both of them are quite powerful.
His intuition told him that the time when problems were most likely to occur was during the Chou hour (1-3 AM), which was also when people were most tired. So, as the team leader, he chose this time to take the night shift.
Having made the arrangements, everyone ordered food at the inn early and returned to their rooms.
The food was just for show; it was all stored in a storage ring, and no one dared to eat it.
After all, the old woman said that this place is Guixu, a place where vengeful spirits gather.
In such a strange place, who knows if the food in the inn is poisoned, cursed, or even tainted?
Everyone went to bed early to rest. Although they couldn't fall asleep, they could at least close their eyes and relax.
As night fell, the town became exceptionally quiet. The hour of midnight passed smoothly, and Meng Hanhai came over to call Achen and the other two to take their place.
Ah Chen and the others got up and went to the corridor of the guest rooms, only to see a person leaning against the railing. He immediately became alert, but then heard a familiar voice laugh and say, "I'll keep you company on night watch."
"Senior Sister Nie, why aren't you sleeping properly in the middle of the night? Why are you standing here in the cold wind?" Achen said.
"I've done some calculations and I know that demons and monsters love to roam during the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), so I've come to lend you a hand!" Nie Xiaoxiao said.
"Me too!" Leng Qiuchan also walked over from the end of the corridor, followed by Lin Zixia and Cui Yanyan, two girls from the Puppet Department.
Seeing this, Lele, who was hiding in the darkness, yawned and quietly went back to her room to sleep.
Their little Chen is so popular, it seems she doesn't need to worry about him.
The night breeze was cool. Achen took out the crocodile egg custard that Uncle Bo and Hua Jingyi had made for him when he visited his relatives last time, and gave each person a small bowl.
The hot, fragrant, tender, and smooth steamed egg custard was so delicious that everyone exclaimed in surprise as they took a bite.
Nie Xiaoxiao glared at him and said, "You, Achen, you actually hid such delicious food and didn't even give it to me to eat. I even told everyone that you were someone I had my back!"
“If we had taken it out earlier, we wouldn’t have anything to eat now,” Ah Chen said matter-of-factly.
As soon as he finished speaking, the dark town suddenly became as bright as day!
"Fire! A huge fire!" Leng Qiuchan exclaimed.
Everyone could see that the entire town was engulfed in flames, as if it had been doused with tung oil, and all the buildings in the town were ablaze.
The lobby on the first floor of the inn beneath them was also not spared, with thick smoke billowing and flames shooting into the sky.
"Quick! Let's go put out the fire!" Ah Chen was the first to rush out, unleashing his self-created laundry technique.
But after casting the Washing spell, he was surprised to find that the spell passed right through the flames, as if it couldn't touch them at all.
"This fire is strange! I'll go check it out. You all stay where you are." He gave the instructions and teleported directly towards the area with the most intense fire.
He went straight into the fire and discovered that it was actually an illusion, visible but untouchable.
Inside the fire, the shop owner, the waiter, and the guests were all struggling in the flames.
Some of them carried buckets of water, while others held basins of water, and poured them onto the sea of fire, but the fire only grew bigger and bigger and couldn't be stopped.
Ah Chen teleported back to the cosmetics shop owned by the female shopkeeper from earlier that day, only to find it engulfed in flames as well.
The female shop owner had just run out of her shop when she saw a man in fine clothes standing at the entrance.
As soon as she saw the man, she rushed over and shouted, "Mo Lang! I saw you during the day with your new wife, checking into the Donglai Inn and hosting a banquet for many of the town's celebrities."
I know you look down on me because I'm a woman who owns a cosmetics shop, and that a divorced wife like me would damage your reputation, so I didn't bother you.
I never expected that when the fire broke out at night, you would leave your new wife behind and rush to save me.
"Don't worry, just for the sake of you coming to save me tonight, I've decided to forgive you and never hate you again."
The next second, the woman let out a scream, clutched her stomach, and staggered back a few steps.
A dagger was plunged deep into her abdomen, and blood stained her hands.
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