At that moment, the alley from last night had vanished.
In its place stood a wall connecting two buildings.
But the wall was clearly out of place. There was at least a zhang between the two buildings.
There was no need at all for a wall in that gap.
Li Qing's eyes held a thoughtful look as he glanced around. A teahouse came into view.
He walked over in a few steps. When the waiter saw him, he hurried forward, bowing and scraping.
"Please come in, sir!"
"Would you like the first or second floor, sir?"
"The second floor, by the window. I'd like to see the street."
"Right away! A table for one on the second floor!"
Li Qing took a seat by the window, ordered a pot of fine tea and a few side dishes, then looked toward the wall.
From above, he could see inside the wall. There were two courtyards belonging to two households, with another wall dividing them.
Li Qing couldn't help frowning. He felt there was something very strange about this.
"My memory can't be wrong. There are only two possibilities."
"Some kind of spell that can block other people's sight."
"Or that alley only appears at night, perhaps in some kind of mysterious space."
Lost in thought, Li Qing watched in silence.
Before long, evening came, and the teahouse had mostly emptied out.
Li Qing quietly left as well. He went to the opposite side of the wall and hid in another alley.
His eyes never left the other side as he waited in silence.
Two hours passed in the blink of an eye, and darkness had fallen completely.
There were hardly any pedestrians left on the main street, only the occasional passerby.
Lights shone in every home, and the air was thick with fragrant aromas as the city's residents started cooking dinner.
Time passed minute by minute, and before long, it was the middle of the night.
Suddenly, the wall opposite him underwent a bizarre change.
A hazy distortion appeared. The wall vanished, becoming a pitch-black alley once more.
Li Qing perked up, but he didn't act rashly. He continued watching in silence.
A short while later, a figure emerged from the street on the left and silently entered the alley.
Four or five more figures arrived one after another from different directions, soon streaming into the alley.
Li Qing observed them quietly. "They can all see one another, but none of them are arguing."
"That means if I go in with them, no one will pay me any attention."
Another hour passed. Li Qing saw at least a hundred figures enter.
He had already reached a conclusion. "About this many people came out last night, too. I can be sure this is probably a gathering place for a Dao Lineage."
"I'll give it a try and go in for a look."
By then, he had made all his preparations. He took a black robe from his backpack and pulled it over himself.
He held the Spirit Summoning Tablet in his left hand and wore the Hundred-Segment Steel Blade at his waist, ready to use spells and martial arts at any moment.
A layer of shadow enveloped him as Li Qing silently walked toward the other side.
He soon arrived in front of the dark alley. Even standing this close, he couldn't see anything inside.
Because he had cultivated, his eyesight had long surpassed that of ordinary people.
"Interesting!"
He took a step forward and felt as though he had passed through a wondrous membrane.
A wondrous world appeared before his eyes.
A bustling street, three zhang wide and at least several dozen zhang long.
Along both sides of the street, he saw shops—at least twenty or thirty of them at a glance.
His pupils contracted slightly. "So this is what the alley really is?"
A voice sounded beside him. "Don't block the entrance. Move aside."
The voice behind him startled Li Qing, and he quickly stepped out of the way.
A cultivator in a black robe emerged from behind him and headed straight toward the depths of the street.
Li Qing stopped casting his spell and, clad in his own black robe, walked down the street.
There were many personal stalls along both sides of the street. Most had a white cloth spread out, with several items displayed on top.
Some were animal hides, some were stones, and others looked like weapons—or perhaps magical artifacts?
All kinds of strange things.
He even spotted the mysterious transparent stone bead dropped by the ape-like creature he had once killed.
A little excitement stirred in Li Qing's heart. He began quietly observing the street and gathering information.
The street wasn't long, about thirty zhang.
There were fifteen shops in all, seemingly buying and selling all sorts of things.
The Treasure Hall, Spirit Herb Shop, Elixir Hall, Artifact Pavilion, Scripture Tower, and more.
People here traded using a peculiar kind of currency.
The coins were round on the outside and square in the middle, like copper cash. But a faint, wondrous fluctuation emanated from within them—the fluctuation of vital essence.
By eavesdropping, Li Qing learned that they were called Dharma Coins.
They seemed to be the primary currency, though he had no idea how they were made.
At that moment, Li Qing's gaze passed over a person selling goods. Something about him felt very wrong.
He had been watching the man in secret. The man wore a black robe that concealed his entire body.
A faint, intermittent stench surrounded him, a smell that made Li Qing's hair stand on end.
Suddenly, a bizarre tentacle shot out from beneath the man's robe. It was pitch-black and slick.
Goosebumps rose all over Li Qing's body.
The man seemed to notice someone watching him. He abruptly turned and looked at Li Qing.
"Friend, is there anything you'd like to buy? You've been looking for quite a while."
His voice was deep and resonant. He sounded like a strong, broad-minded man.
But Li Qing had already seen one of the man's limbs. He knew the man had probably undergone some kind of transformation.
"Looks like he broke a taboo."
A low voice came from Li Qing's mouth. "No, I'm just looking."
The man glanced at Li Qing. His exposed pupils contracted slightly. The next instant, his round pupils seemed to turn into the eyes of a beast.
Li Qing keenly caught the change in the man's eyes. Without hesitation, he cast Shadow Art.
The figure beneath Li Qing's black robe was engulfed in shadow, and a chill rose around him from within it.
A gaze like a venomous snake's fixed on him, seemingly searching for something.
Li Qing feigned calm, his expression unchanged as he walked toward the other end of the street.
He had learned just about all he could about this place. He had no intention of doing anything tonight.
He left in silence. Outside, the sky was still dark, and Li Qing quickly disappeared into the shadows.
Only a few breaths after he left, a figure followed him out.
A pair of strange eyes seemed to search the air for something.
Silently, the figure pursued the direction in which Li Qing had vanished.