Chapter 132: Perils on Every Side

"I was scared to death yesterday!" Meng Jingzhou recalled the previous night's ordeal, a lingering dread still clutching his heart.

Lu Yang maintained a cooler composure. "Let us first familiarize ourselves with the rules. Once we know them, there will be nothing left to fear."

Meng Jingzhou nodded in agreement.

The two of them double-checked the twenty-one rules, ensuring their memories held no discrepancies before they finally felt at ease.

"What hour is it now?"

Just then, the clanging of a gong echoed from outside, followed by the night watchman crying out in a resonant voice, "The hour of Si has arrived!"

The pair hurriedly made their way downstairs.

On the ground floor, two traveling merchants holding saddles were venting their fury at the innkeeper. "We left our horses in the backyard stable yesterday, so why is it that only a single saddle remains today!"

Lu Yang recalled the colossal monstrosity he had encountered the previous night; it was highly probable the creature had devoured the horses.

No whinnying had been heard during the night, meaning the beasts never even had a chance to resist—truly a terrifying monster.

Paying no further heed to the merchants, the two ran out of the inn.

The Immortal Fairy offered a quiet warning, "Those two merchants possess a heavy aura of malice, and they are haunted by wronged spirits. They are no mere peddlers."

Lu Yang nodded, signaling that he had taken note of it.

A medley of aromas drifted through the street as the eateries opened for business, steaming with piping-hot dishes that tempted the appetite. Strangely, however, the shops were completely deserted, and inside one of the steamers stood a small wooden plaque that read: "Meat Buns."

The townsfolk of Cloth-Gown Town, clad in coarse brown linen, had long grown accustomed to this; they simply took their breakfast, sat down to eat, and steered clear of the meat buns.

Lu Yang and his companion followed suit, enjoying a satisfying meal of three sesame flatbreads and a bowl of soy milk.

Lu Yang noticed that the people were eating at a frantic pace, with some even consuming their food on the move, seemingly in a desperate rush.

A sudden commotion erupted at one end of the street as a crowd fled in panic. Upon seeing this, those who were still eating abandoned their meals without a second thought and joined the flight.

"Let us run too!" Lu Yang snatched up his flatbread and bolted.

The two ran until they reached the far end of the street, then turned to see what had just transpired.

A band of men dressed in black garments was marching forward—perhaps a few dozen of them—each with a blade tucked into his waist.

"You there, halt!" a black-clad man barked at one of the fleeing locals, who instinctively turned his head, causing his neck to twist a full three hundred and sixty degrees until his head hung limp against his chest.

The black-clad men burst into roars of laughter at the sight. They seated themselves at the entrance of the eatery, lifted the lid of the steamer, and began devouring the meat buns, their mouths glistening with grease.

The dead man's head lifted, twisted back around, and returned to normal. Acting as though he had entirely forgotten what had just occurred, he leisurely strolled away from the scene.

"Those are the government yamen runners. The rules state we cannot eat the meat buns, yet they can, which means the rules they must abide by are different from ours," Lu Yang analyzed in a low murmur.

"There are many varieties of breakfast available, yet all the runners chose the meat buns, indicating that meat buns are all they can eat."

"Furthermore, the rules dictate that one must not turn one's head. It seems doing so will literally snap it off!"

The two exchanged a meaningful glance and decided to depart, keeping as much distance from the runners as possible.

"At man's beginning, his nature is fundamentally good. Natures are mutually close, but habits drive them far apart..." As they passed the private schoolhouse, the clear cadence of reading drifted out—the voices mature, sounding as though a group of adults were reciting the Three Character Classic.

Yet Lu Yang distinctly remembered the rules stating that the schoolhouse had been abandoned for many years, that the town possessed no schoolmaster, and that only the barking of dogs should echo from within, never the sound of reading.

This was utterly unnatural.

The two quickened their pace to leave, only to have their path blocked by a man dressed in grey attire. "You two look unfamiliar. Could it be that you hail from elsewhere?"

Rule Nine: Those clad in grey robes are schoolmasters. If you encounter a schoolmaster, regardless of what they say, you must pretend you did not hear them.

Rule Ten: You must not lock eyes with a schoolmaster. If you lock eyes with a schoolmaster, you will turn into a black dog.

The pair reacted instantly, lowering their gazes and walking straight ahead, neither looking into the schoolmaster's eyes nor listening to a word he said.

The schoolmaster was relentless, keeping pace beside them as he spoke, "I see that your garments are extraordinary, meaning you must possess cultivation. Could it be that you also believed the rules written upon the white paper?"

"The rules on the white paper are not entirely true; parts of them are meant to deceive."

"In truth, the lord who laid down the rules of this place harbors no ill intent. He merely wished to protect himself, which drove him to this desperate measure. Upon learning of your arrival, the lord specifically dispatched me to assist you."

"I possess a method to leave this town, though the price is that you will lose all memories of what transpired within it."

"So long as you recite the Three Character Classic inside the schoolhouse for three days, you will be able to leave! I do not deceive you; listen to the voices within the schoolhouse—just yesterday, someone managed to leave the town with my aid."

The schoolmaster suddenly lunged ahead of them, bending down to force his gaze into Lu Yang's eyes.

Lu Yang squeezed his eyes shut and kept walking forward. Before closing them, he caught sight of the lower half of the man's face: it was entirely devoid of skin, leaving the raw, red muscle exposed in a deeply gruesome display.

Seeing that the two ignored him completely and simply kept their heads down, the schoolmaster was forced to give up, shouting after them, "This is your only chance to leave the town! You will regret refusing my aid."

Within the spiritual space, the Immortal Fairy spoke up, "Lu Yang, do not believe his words. Only a fraction of what he says is true."

"A fraction?" Lu Yang was somewhat surprised; he had assumed the man was spinning pure falsehoods.

"He does indeed possess a method to let people leave the town, but not in the form of a 'human'—rather, in the form of a 'black dog.' Last night, I witnessed him releasing several black dogs."

"And just before he encountered you two, someone locked eyes with him. Afterward, that person developed a splitting headache, their eyes turned bloodshot, black fur gradually sprouted from their arms, and they walked right into the schoolhouse."

A chill ran down Lu Yang's spine; the schoolmaster's abilities were exceedingly troublesome and would not be easy to deal with.

"To the tailor shop," Lu Yang muttered, having formed a few hypotheses that required verification.

The two visited every tailor shop in Cloth-Gown Town, but none sold black, white, or grey garments, nor did they possess any fabric of those colors.

While wandering the town, a particular problem dawned upon them: "Where is the ancestral hall?"

The rules stated that the ancestral hall was safe, yet they also claimed a monster resided within it. With such a contradictory premise, that location was bound to be extraordinary.

However, even after a full circuit of the town, they failed to discover its whereabouts.

By now, darkness had fallen, and as the hour of Hai approached, the two had no choice but to return to the inn.

"Welcome back safely, honored guests. Our establishment is very secure, so there is no need for you two to be so tense—I shall ensure your safety." At the entrance of the inn, a smiling waiter greeted them. The waiter possessed no sclera; his eyes were entirely black, looking as though they could perceive things invisible to ordinary men.

The hairs on the duo's arms stood on end—this voice was identical to the one that had been knocking on their door in the corridor last night!

It had been him all along!

"Waiter, the time has not yet come. Return to your room!" The innkeeper emerged and drove the waiter away.

The waiter glared intently at the innkeeper. The two locked gazes for a long moment before the waiter finally retreated, filled with reluctance.

Lu Yang noted that the waiter headed toward the third floor—the location of the premium guest rooms.