The house had been built in an inconspicuous corner, with no other houses around it. It stood there all alone.
When Xing Lan noticed it, she blinked her sparkling eyes, then chuckled and pulled Hela toward it.
"I'm telling you, Hela, in a situation like this, a place like that is bound to hold a great opportunity. Maybe we've stumbled across a retired elder with unfathomable strength." With that, the two arrived at the front gate.
A large notice was posted on the gate. "Three hundred a month, fifteen a day. Wow, that's cheap!"
Seeing the affordable price, she knocked on the iron gate without hesitation.
The muffled knocks rang out from the iron gate, sounding eerie and terrifying in the silent night.
Before long, slow footsteps approached, and the iron gate opened a crack.
The old woman who had opened it watched the two of them through the gap.
Seeing that the person who had opened the gate was indeed an elderly person, just as she had said, Xing Lan couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from rising. Somewhat excited, she said, "Hello, ma'am. Is what it says on the gate true? Can the two of us rent a room?"
The old woman looked Xing Lan and Hela up and down, then frowned slightly. In a somewhat raspy voice, she asked, "Why have two young girls come to spend the night in a place like this instead of going home in the middle of the night?"
Xing Lan scratched her head, a little embarrassed. "Uh, I didn't want to either, but I had no choice. We stayed out too late having fun, and my phone ran out of battery. I don't know the way, and I don't have much money on me, so we can only stay here with you."
The old woman stared at them and thought for a moment before speaking slowly. "I can let you in to charge your phone. Once it's charged, hurry up and leave."
"Ah! Please don't, ma'am." Startled, Xing Lan hurriedly pressed her palms together in supplication. "It's already so late, and besides, we've walked a long way. We're really tired now. Please be kind and let the two of us stay one night."
"Please... please." Even Hela, standing beside her, spoke up to plead.
The old woman looked at the persistent pair and sighed softly. "Follow me." Then she turned and walked back inside.
"Really? Thank you, ma'am!
"Yay! That's great, Hela! We don't have to sleep on the street!" Xing Lan hugged Hela and jumped up and down excitedly, then took her hand and followed the old woman, closing the gate behind them.
Bent at the waist, her hands clasped behind her back, the old woman slowly walked to the entrance to the basement.
The two women followed her, looking around curiously.
There was nothing special in the courtyard, just a two-story house and the basement storage area in front of them. The courtyard itself was quite large, though, about the size of two basketball courts.
The old woman took out a key, unlocked the iron-barred gate, and slowly walked inside.
"You two will stay here." The old woman pointed a withered finger at a room, then slowly walked back out.
"Ma'am, if we stay in one room, how much will it cost for the two of us?" Xing Lan tilted her head and looked at her.
The old woman continued toward the exit without even looking back. "I already said it's fifteen a day to rent a room. Just give me fifteen tomorrow." Then she went out and locked the iron-barred gate again.
"Hey, ma'am, why are you locking the gate?" Xing Lan asked in surprise. But the old woman walked away as if she hadn't heard her.
Watching her leave, Xing Lan's lips curled into another smile. "So mysterious. There's bound to be treasure!
"Come on, Hela, let's go inside and search the room thoroughly!"
Xing Lan pushed the door open and went in. The room was small and simple.
There was only a table, a chair, a bedroll on the floor, a lamp, and a mop by the door.
"Come on, let's look carefully. There might be a powerful [Strange Artifact] or a peerless cultivation technique tucked away in some nook or cranny." Xing Lan lifted the bedroll, carefully examined the floor and then the bedding in her hands, before putting it back and continuing to search elsewhere.
Hela joined her in the search, though she was quite bewildered.
"That's not right..." Xing Lan rubbed her chin, puzzled. "We've turned this room upside down, even searched inside the mop, so how come there's nothing?" Looking at the room the two of them had left in a complete mess, Xing Lan fell into thought.
Suddenly, she noticed that Hela seemed to be staring at the doorway.
"What's wrong, darling Hela?"
Hela didn't answer. She just slowly raised her right hand and pointed at the doorway. "Out..."
"Hm? Is something wrong outside...?" Xing Lan looked toward the doorway. Suddenly, her eyes lit up again, and she excitedly threw her arms around Hela.
"That's right! How did I not think of that? There are so many rooms, but she only let us stay in one. Obviously, she doesn't want us going into the other rooms.
"Maybe the treasure is outside. Hela, I love you to death!" With that, Xing Lan planted a kiss on Hela's cheek.
Xing Lan let go and went over to open the door. "Hurry up, Hela." Hela nodded and followed her.
Xing Lan opened her right hand, and several glowing stars appeared in it, lighting up their surroundings.
After searching for a while, Xing Lan opened the door to the room next door and poked her head inside. It was about the same size as the room they were staying in, but more run-down and even more sparsely furnished. Apart from a table that was nearly falling apart, there was nothing else.
Xing Lan pulled her head back and sighed. At that moment, it suddenly occurred to her that rummaging around in someone else's rooms as she pleased seemed a little impolite.
Although she had paid the rent and rented a room for the night, she had only rented the one they were staying in. The other rooms had nothing to do with her.
After wrestling with herself for a moment, her sense of morality finally won out over her curiosity.
"Forget it, Hela. Let's stop rummaging around and get some sleep. We still have to help tidy up the room." Xing Lan turned and took Hela's hand, ready to go back, but Hela stood motionless, her gaze fixed on a rolling shutter door in front of her.
Noticing Hela's strange behavior, Xing Lan asked, "What's wrong?"
Hela slowly parted her lips. "There's... a big... head..."
"Huh?" Xing Lan looked suspiciously at the rolling shutter door and suddenly felt that something wasn't quite right either.
Her expression gradually grew serious, and she slowly walked toward the shutter.
Clang! Clang!
A strange noise suddenly came from behind the shutter, giving Xing Lan a fright.
"Hey, is someone there?!" Xing Lan shouted in that direction, but the only response was the same strange noise.
Xing Lan's brows slowly knitted together, and a small crescent moon gradually appeared over her right hand.
Clang!
The shutter suddenly began to rise, the metallic clatter of its mechanism echoing through the basement. Xing Lan's body trembled, and she fixed her eyes on what lay ahead.
When the shutter was halfway up, a withered yet enormous hand suddenly reached out of the darkness and grabbed at Xing Lan.