Chapter 394: This Turbulent World
Arriving at the room I had booked for myself, I closed the door and plopped down on the hard single bed. It’s really hard to imagine that sleeping on this would be comfortable.
Indeed, it’s difficult to transition from luxury to frugality. The hotel I stayed in before in Ninglan New City at least catered to guests, but this place seems like it’s simply going through the motions. No wonder this inn has so few people; I hope they go out of business soon!
After confirming that there were no issues here, I also set up some solidification spells and rune engravings.
I originally thought about using soundproofing spells, but considering that it would cut off my perception of the outside world, I decided against it. I’m not particularly worried about threats, but Qiu Ruxin might not feel the same way.
After much thought, I opted not to use the soundproofing spell; surely, there wouldn’t be too much noise early in the morning.
Now, after this busy period, it was already nearly morning. Therefore, I didn’t rush into studying the summoning spell but instead meditated as planned. As for body cultivation, there wasn’t much space here, and practicing outside would attract attention, so for the sake of caution, I decided against it. I didn’t want to get too involved in bloodshed.
Moreover, when I went out just now, I noticed some abnormalities in my own cognition regarding killing those guys. I felt nothing unusual—no disgust, no nausea, no physical discomfort, etc. This was a stark contrast to Qiu Ruxin.
It seemed like… I hadn’t really killed many people?
Except… during the exchange competition, but that wasn’t genuine killing. Even in Ninglan New City, I don’t think I killed many people in the true sense. However, since coming here, I inexplicably…
“Hehe… I’m really overthinking.” I slapped my forehead, why bother thinking so much?
I should keep a calm mindset. My arrival here is likely the world’s fault. If it were an Extraordinary Witch or even the Academy Head, this world might have been wiped out instantly.
From a higher perspective, what does it matter if I k*ll a few who covet my body? Would I face the legal consequences of this world?
After casting these distracting thoughts aside, I took out the small incense burner I had purchased earlier, lit the incense, and began to meditate.
Meditation is foundational; it cannot be disregarded.
Time passed little by little. Though meditation allows me to perceive the passage of time in the outside world to a certain extent, it’s generally not very obvious. The duration of meditation typically depends on the amount of incense I have.
Since incense significantly affects the quality of meditation, once the incense burns out, I generally have a sense of how long I have meditated.
While meditating, I also realized something: even in other worlds, I can still use the Primordial Dream World for meditation. So, the scope encompassed by the Primordial Dream World, governed by that great Primordial Witch… is it a bit too vast?
This was my first deep understanding of the Primordial Dream World, but it wasn’t enough. I only knew that even in unfamiliar worlds, the Primordial Dream World could still envelop me. So… just how large is the area explored by witches in the Void?
After musing on this, I continued meditating, feeling my mental power gradually increase. This sensation was truly marvelous.
“Boom——!”
Accompanied by a horrifying explosion outside the inn, the aging building shook, followed by a series of crackling sounds.
I suddenly opened my eyes, a flash of shock passing through them!
“Bombs? Firearms?” I instinctively spoke.
The sounds outside were nothing but gunpowder explosions and gunfire, right?
But… how is this possible?
Qiu Ruxin had told me that this world hadn’t developed gunpowder and such things. She herself didn’t have much awareness of that concept. Even if there were firearms, they would be propelled by Earth Energy, not by the explosion of gunpowder.
So how could this unexpected event not shock me?
Could it be that Qiu Ruxin lied to me?
The likelihood of that was low, but regardless, I opened the door and headed straight for Qiu Ruxin.
With such a huge commotion, she couldn’t possibly be sleeping soundly. Perhaps I could take this opportunity to ask her properly.
“Qiu Ruxin.” I pushed open the door and saw Qiu Ruxin curled up in bed.
“Yang Yuelan… sister…”
At that moment, Qiu Ruxin was in a state of panic, only instinctively poking her head out upon seeing my arrival.
“Y-You… who are you?!”
Even though she was still under the covers, her instinctive reaction to the unknown was to prepare for defense.
“It’s me.” I waved my hand to dispel the disguise spell, watching as Qiu Ruxin visibly relaxed. It seemed she had instinctively taken me as her reliance or support in this danger.
“Just call me Sister Xiao Han; it sounds smoother that way.” I closed the door and sat beside her on the bed.
“Okay, Sister Xiao Han…”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m… thank you for your concern.”
“Hmm.” I nodded and looked outside at the ongoing sounds, “Qiu Ruxin, do you know what’s happening out there? You should know, right?”
After all, if she didn’t know, she wouldn’t be this frightened.
But now, my only source of information was Qiu Ruxin, and I had no way around that.
After calming her for a while, and as the explosions and gunfire receded, Qiu Ruxin finally eased up.
“It’s okay now… can you tell me what that situation is, Sister Xiao Han?” I didn’t press her urgently about why she hadn’t told me that this world has such deadly weapons.
After all, such weapons would instinctively terrify me as well. My reaction speed isn’t quick enough to react the moment bullets are fired at me. Perhaps in a direct confrontation, relying on my mental power, reaction speed, and the self-awakened body cultivation, I could face it without fear. But a sneak attack would be a different story.
“Those… those guys… are monsters… invaders; they are devils!”
“Invaders? Can you elaborate a bit more?” I inquired.
“I’m sorry… I… I got a little too emotional.” After coming back to herself, she hurriedly collected her emotions. “Those guys are organized and are called Explorers, or… Excavators. Moreover… they have powerful abilities similar to the magic spells you speak of, Sister Xiao Han.”
“Explorers…” I had heard Qiu Ruxin mention this term before. At that time, she asked me if I was an Explorer, but unfortunately, I hadn’t paid much attention to that information and didn’t expect to encounter it so soon.
“Then how did they have firearms? Where did they get those weapons?”
“I… don’t know. Their weapons are terrifying… it’s as if they just appeared out of thin air.”
“Appeared out of thin air.” With this information, I had some understanding.
This likely indicates that they have storage equipment, or perhaps it’s a spell for summoning firearms?
“Then you call them invaders because they invaded from outside this world?” I asked tentatively.
After all, if they are from a technology tree that doesn’t belong to this world, it naturally means they are invaders from other worlds. I didn’t expect this world to be so troubled.
“I… don’t know, but they are all people from our world, that much is true… only, they suddenly changed as if they were different people, suddenly acquiring those abilities and acting with impunity…”
“Ah? They’re locals of this world?” This answer made my pupils constrict. They aren’t invaders from other worlds?
No, no, no, that’s not right!
A person can’t suddenly change like a different person and still master those methods, so… is it possession?
Or is it consciousness occupation, or body control?
However, one thing is certain: this is most likely an invasion from other worlds, but the methods are somewhat beyond my expectations.
“Sort of… yes.” Qiu Ruxin said, lowering her head.
“I remember you said your home was destroyed by these guys, right? Doesn’t your country take action?”
“The country… how could they intervene? They even publicly stated not long ago that they would let these guys run rampant on Lanas Island… those in power won’t care about the lives of people like us at the bottom!” Qiu Ruxin’s tone was extremely agitated as she said this, and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Alright, alright, you won’t be in any trouble now.” I could only comfort her like this.
“Try to sleep a little more; take this chance to rest some more.”
“I… can’t sleep anymore…” Qiu Ruxin said softly.
“It’s fine; just lie in bed. Even if you just close your eyes to rest, you haven’t slept for long, your spirit needs proper rest.”
“Mm…”
Qiu Ruxin obediently closed her eyes, but she just couldn’t fall asleep.
I quietly watched from the side. I must say, my goodwill towards this world diminished once again. The nations of this world… are they just useless?
Allowing those guys to run rampant in the streets, do they really think this is a free country? Shooting battles every day?
Moreover, those who lost their homes don’t even have shelters. Even a tent or basic supplies would suffice; Qiu Ruxin shouldn’t have to suffer this much.
Walking this way, I had indeed seen many beggars by the roadside in this world, likely for this very reason.
“I… still can’t sleep.” After struggling for a long time, Qiu Ruxin finally opened her eyes and spoke to me.
“Can’t sleep? Since you can’t sleep… why don’t you tell me a bit about your world? I want to continue understanding your world. Just close your eyes and talk; I’ll be here listening.”
Seeing that Qiu Ruxin really couldn’t sleep, I also got up and brought a chair to the bedside to sit down.
However… it still felt strange. The sleepless person needs to tell “stories” to put the other to sleep, but there was no choice; I also needed to understand this world.
“Mm…” Qiu Ruxin nodded, her tone gentle, “Then what does Sister Xiao Han want to know?”
“Just tell me about those Explorers; why are they called that?”
“Why… I don’t know, but many countries, even large nations, officially name them Explorers. As for what they are exploring, I’m unsure.”
“Officially named?” I nodded to show I understood. This at least indicated that those invaders had interacted with the higher-ups of this world. Perhaps they even reached some sort of agreement.
The small country I’m currently in, Lanas Island, had just recently completely opened its doors to these Explorers, possibly out of pressure from other nations.
“Yes, but… I’ve heard that those guys also call themselves Excavators.”
“Excavators… Explorers, self-described, officially named… interesting. Excavators, is it meant to dig up the secrets of your world?”
“I don’t know…”
“That’s fine; I’m not expecting you to know this information. I’ll check it myself later,” I said with a smile.
However, clearly, Excavators was their true designation, revealing their intentions blatantly, while the upper echelons of this country adorned their reputation with such titles.
That indeed piqued my curiosity.
Next, I also asked Qiu Ruxin about some other matters, like how long these Explorers have been around, their combat capabilities, threat levels, moral standards…
After a bit of inquiry, I gained some basic knowledge about these outsiders.
Firstly, these Explorers have existed for decades; the exact time is no longer traceable. At first, they were active as individuals, occasionally causing big incidents that led to social unrest. Later, their anomalies caught the attention of various countries, which knew that these Explorers had gained momentum, to the extent that their influence was powerful enough to establish a nation within a country…
This thoroughly trampled on the bottom line of that country, which then ignited a prolonged world war lasting three years, involving nearly half of the world’s nations. Most participating nations were instigated by the Explorers within their own borders.
I specifically questioned about their motives, such as why they sought nation-building and instigated wars. After all, if something doesn’t carry benefits, it isn’t worth sparking such mass calamities, let alone igniting a world war.
However, this world war escalated fast and settled just as quickly, lasting only three years without any nation declaring victory.
Afterward, these Explorers spread across various worlds. Originally, Lanas Island hadn’t been part of that world war; it was a neutral country. But now, under compelling circumstances, it recently opened up the permissions for those Explorers to enter and exit freely.
I listened carefully from the side, pondering other possibilities, since all of this was relayed through Qiu Ruxin, carrying her extreme biases.
During our mental communication, I could feel her intense clash between objective facts and personal biases.
Perhaps due to her prior afflictions at the hands of those Explorers, she had a strong prejudice against them.
However… if we consider both that they are outsiders and that Qiu Ruxin is a Child of Fortune, this might also exclude the possibility of it being a deliberate arrangement by the world’s will or the script.
But one point also intrigued me. From what I gathered about those Explorers, if they are indeed outsiders, they should also be rejected by the world’s will, thus should carry misfortune curses.
However, Qiu Ruxin said they are not that unfortunate.
So… based on the information now available, if the script indeed stirs up opposition between natives and outsiders, then in terms of misfortune curses, Qiu Ruxin appears more like the outsider!
Yet she possesses a Fortune Seed, which is the point of suspicion.
Teacher Ji mentioned that Fortune Seeds cannot be transferred. Even if they could be, they wouldn’t be accessible to me at this stage, yet it was evident that Qiu Ruxin was not following that norm.
But with these speculations and guesses, I could only bury them in my heart while I continued listening to Qiu Ruxin recounting some of the common knowledge of this world.
Until… I heard something peculiar.
“Wait, stop for a moment. What did you just say? A huge rift opened in the sky, and demons flooded into your world?” I suddenly interrupted and asked.
“Yes, this matter is very serious. It seems… during the final stages of the world war between various countries and the Explorers, many people speculated that it was the arrival of these demons that hastened the cessation of the conflict, a unified defense against them.”
“Demons… Abyss Demons?”
I didn’t care how this world aligned against outsiders; I only cared about these demons. Are they the Abyss Demons I know?
