Dimensional Hotel
Chapter 376: Heading to the Border

Chapter 376: Chapter 376: Heading to the Border

Outside the teahouse, the night rain was continuous. The wet ground reflected the streetlights, and the illusory scenes of the Immortal Mountain’s auspicious clouds floated above distant tall buildings. Spirit cranes fluttered gracefully between the neon lights and rain clouds, while ornate flower boats slowly glided between the buildings. Silk and bamboo music drifted through the rain, portraying the cityscape from a distant Alien Planet, separated by a misty screen at the edge of the rain shelter, appearing both tangible and remote.

The black-clothed Cultivator held a cup of hot tea, not noticing that the tea had sat on the table for a long time without cooling at all. He was recalling and contemplating in a daze, answering one question after another posed by True Man Yuanling.

"...We don’t know who that ’enemy’ is. The Lord said it has left, but sometimes he suddenly flies into a rage, claiming that thing is always lurking around, hidden in the shadow of the Constant Star, concealed between the orbits of various stars. He says people are blind, never seeing the danger right in front of their eyes...

"The Emperor’s Legacy... hidden in a very deep place, must pass through layers of illusions, unable to directly reach from the real world, yet there are many cracks leading to that depth in the real world. Taiyou? Yes, Taiyou exists, and there are also cracks on the Taixu Spirit Hub, Han Guang and Handing stars, but the passages there are not very stable.

"Yes, distributed across the entire Feiyu Star Domain..."

The sound of rain became more intense, the night rain turning into a storm on the street outside the shelter, almost raging into a tempest. The torrential rain poured down from the sky like an inverted ocean, hitting the teahouse’s rain shelter with thunderous noise, blurring the distant scenery. In the rain, the flower boats, canopy boats, and mechanical birds flying through the city were no longer clear, and even the towering, neon-lit buildings transformed into increasingly abstract, vague silhouettes within the rainfall.

The entire world seemed to consist solely of this Alien Planet’s stormy landscape; amidst the boundless darkness, only the storm continued to fall, turning the small teahouse and its rain shelter outside into the sole "footing" in the world. In this increasingly unsettling environment, the black-clothed Cultivator’s answers became more incoherent.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly stopped his rambling discourse and raised his head, staring blankly outside the rain shelter.

"The rain is getting heavier," he muttered to himself, "this rain seems to have been falling for a long time... You came from outside the rain, do you know what places in the world without rain look like?"

True Man Yuanling seemed not to hear the other’s words, instead taking the opportunity to further guide: "Is it like this where Elder Yun Qingzi currently resides? Does he also live in ’Shuji’?"

The black-clothed Cultivator’s brow furrowed gradually, as if recalling this matter itself brought great strain to his thoughts. Accompanying his difficult recollection, the storm outside the teahouse echoed with distant and low thunder.

"The Lord... is not in Shuji, but nearby. It really does keep raining there as well; he... he occasionally goes to Shuji, but never..."

An especially loud thunderbolt suddenly exploded, and strong flashes and roars tore apart the storm and the long night outside the teahouse; in the lightning, the fleeting urban landscape of the Alien Planet teetered precariously.

The black-clothed Cultivator abruptly halted, his face turned pale from the lightning, and then his eyes violently trembled.

In the next moment, Yu Sheng seemed to hear a roar amid the abrupt thunder, as if he saw a pair of angry eyes glaring from the lightning under the night sky, and a terrifying pressure descended from the storm, straight towards the teahouse.

But True Man Yuanling had anticipated all this long before the interrogation began; he knew the black-clothed Cultivator’s mind had been restricted by a great ability, and as the "Heart Examination" deepened, no matter how intricate the setup of the Heart Inquiry Pavilion was, the triggering of this restriction was inevitable. So, when he saw Yun Qingzi’s lingering thought appearing in the depths of the black-clothed Cultivator’s mind, he immediately launched a palm strike!

This palm strike was directed at the air, yet it seemed to shake the entire space; instantly, the interior and exterior of the teahouse trembled fiercely, and then the boundless night rain vanished with a roar. The Alien Planet city’s street scene briefly appeared, and then the neon-lit buildings silently receded and collapsed, reverting to the initial misty rain forest and muddy paths, which then retreated to become boundless swamp.

The teahouse transformed again into a simple roadside tea stall, and Yuan He and Yuan Hao, sitting in a corner, rose simultaneously, pointing a curse outside the shelter—

In the misty rain outside the tea shelter, a vague silhouette emerged as though "shocked" out by the three brothers, and Yun Qingzi’s lingering thought unexpectedly surfaced.

This vague silhouette glanced towards the tea shelter, and although it was merely a detached thought from the main body, this gaze still made everyone feel an almost tangible sense of oppressiveness.

Whether an illusion or not, Yu Sheng always felt that this silhouette’s gaze finally landed on him.

... Could such a "Prohibition" still recognize me?

Yu Sheng was momentarily shocked, but before he could respond, he saw the silhouette in the misty rain dissipating slowly.

The black-clothed Cultivator sitting across the table shook slightly, his previously dazed eyes gradually regained clarity: although Yuanling and the others shielded him from the devouring of the mind restriction, that moment of impact inevitably jolted him to "wake up."

"The rain has finally stopped..."

The black-clothed Cultivator muttered to himself, and thus the decades-long illusion of confinement created for him by the Heart Inquiry Pavilion silently receded.

The misty, rain-drenched scenery and that small roadside teahouse disappeared, and the surroundings once again became that empty prison cell with only a bed. The black-clothed Cultivator sat on the bed, while Yu Sheng, Erin, and True Man Yuanling stood facing him.

"It seems that your ’benefactor’ doesn’t trust you much either," True Man Yuanling casually remarked, "The prohibition he left in your heart is quite formidable."

The black-clothed Cultivator remained silent for a few seconds. In the moment of waking up, he already knew what had happened and realized that he had already said a lot of what he shouldn’t have. His face visibly darkened, but after a brief silence, he merely shook his head: "...we are all willing."

"Still pretty stubborn," Erin muttered while sitting on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, then folded her arms in a cocky manner, "I was slow to react just now. If I had been quicker, I would have tied up that shadow that popped out last, and we would have interrogated it directly."

"You’re pretty stubborn too," Yu Sheng glanced sidelong at the little puppet, "You were shaking like a leaf when that shadow appeared just now."

Erin immediately got angry and embarrassed: "I, I was filled with battle spirit! Do you understand battle spirit!"

The black-clothed Cultivator sitting on the bed, however, ignored the commotion around him. He was surrounded by an aura of self-abandonment, and suddenly he sighed: "I’ve already told you everything I know, you can deal with me as you wish now, kill or slice as you please."

"That won’t do. Qianfeng Ling Mountain is a reputable and proper sect. Even if we judge you, we must first clarify other charges and punish according to crimes," True Man Yuanling said blandly, then shifted the conversation, "Besides, have you really ’told everything’? It doesn’t seem so."

The black-clothed Cultivator looked up, glaring angrily at True Man Yuanling: "What else do you want to ask?!"

"For instance, from which ’entrance’ did you enter that Exotic Realm, how many entrances does that Exotic Realm have, and where they’re located, whether you have a way to stably enter specific ’scenes’ in that Exotic Realm, how many of you there are in total, and what’s your next plan," True Man Yuanling’s face was stern and his tone serious, "These are the main points for next."

Listening to this series of questions, the black-clothed Cultivator’s body visibly tensed, but he still bit his lip and remained silent.

True Man Yuanling was not surprised by this, merely nodding expressionlessly: "Mm, if you answered everything I asked, it would save a lot of trouble, but it wouldn’t look good on you; some procedures have to be followed."

The moment the word "procedures" left his mouth, the black-clothed Cultivator’s face twitched noticeably. Then True Man Yuanling turned his head toward the door: "Linlang, send someone to prepare the next round of pills, make sure Young Master takes his medication on time this afternoon."

A young woman’s voice responded from outside: "Yes, Master."

...

Moments later, Yu Sheng, True Man Yuanling, and the others left the "prison cell" and returned to the courtyard outside the Heart Inquiry Pavilion.

Even when they were outside, Erin kept turning her head back to look.

Yu Sheng found it strange: "What are you looking at?"

"That guy’s expression at the end was a bit desperate," Erin muttered while clinging onto Yu Sheng’s shoulder, "I think he initially wanted to hold out for the beauty strategy—but didn’t expect this place to be a pill factory..."

"Your logic never makes sense!" Yu Sheng nearly burst out laughing, raising his hand to pull Erin back, "Alright, stop looking, there won’t be any more results today."

Only then did Erin reluctantly withdraw her gaze, while True Man Yuanling, who had been appearing thoughtful since earlier, suddenly broke his silence: "This interrogation confirmed many of our previous speculations."

"Yes, for instance, about Yun Qingzi," Yu Sheng exhaled, "It really is this ’elder’ behind the scenes guiding this. Shall we find a way to locate him next? Otherwise, with his mental state... it seems like he’s going to cause a big event."

True Man Yuanling did not speak, instead silently looking at his Senior Brother (Master Uncle to Xuan Che).

The latter was taken aback: "Why are you looking at me?"

"You’re familiar with the area around Shuji," True Man Yuanling said, "Although that Evil Path Cultivator mentioned that Yun Qingzi is not in Shuji, he is nearby. Coupled with the illusions guided out during the final stages in the Heart Inquiry Pavilion, do you have any insights on this?"

Yuan Hao pondered for a moment before speaking thoughtfully: "I have been to Shuji a few times. It’s a planet where it rains continuously near the equator, while the polar areas are quite dry and cold. But if you ask if there’s another place suitable for seclusion and where it rains constantly near that planet... I really don’t know."