Seeing the slowly opening door, Liu Da jumped in fright and retreated several steps in quick succession, stopping only when he was over five meters away from the entrance.
His eyes stared intently at the door ahead, his body tense.
At the slightest sign of anything unusual, he would immediately flee.
An Miao and Chang Sheng also closed in on Liu Da at the same time, everyone standing on high alert.
The door opened.
A sliver of light shone out from inside.
Then, a lantern appeared before their eyes.
And finally, the person carrying the lantern.
This person had long hair draping over his shoulders and a handsome face, looking just like an elegant gentleman from ancient times.
“You three, were you the ones knocking just now?”
The person who had come to open the door was, of course, Feng Xingyun.
Actually, he could have brought a flashlight, but to create a spooky atmosphere, he had chosen a lantern instead. Besides, he was more accustomed to using it.
After a brief observation, the three players quickly made their judgment.
This was a living person.
As for why there had been no sound of footsteps just now, that was actually easy to explain. Many accomplished seniors in cultivation also walked without making a sound.
Although the man before them was young, he might very well be a powerful expert.
Liu Da let out a sigh of relief, his wildly pounding heart gradually calming down.
“Hello, we got lost. We saw an old residence here and came over to check it out. Would it be possible for us to stay the night?”
Feng Xingyun thought about it, sizing them up with some hesitation before finally nodding.
“It is possible, but please stay in the guest room and do not wander around. The young master is currently resting. If there is anything, we can discuss it tomorrow after daybreak.”
Young master?
They did not ask about the situation of this young master he spoke of, but gladly accepted the condition.
“No problem, we won't wander around.”
Feng Xingyun stepped aside to make way. “Follow me.”
The three followed him into the old residence and were brought to the guest rooms, which were the same wing rooms where the old Daoist and Lin Xiaolei had previously stayed.
This was a small courtyard with several rooms, more than enough to accommodate them.
Feng Xingyun opened the door, walked inside, and casually switched on the light.
The bright white light illuminated the darkness, revealing a cleaned room with a rather modern atmosphere, complete with an attached bathroom.
The three of them looked around and felt it was quite decent.
Feng Xingyun stood at the doorway. “You can stay here. If you want to sleep in separate rooms, there are other rooms next door that you can use as you wish.”
“However... this old residence hasn't been lived in for a long time.”
“The young master and I have only recently returned. We've only tidied up this one guest room. If you want to stay in the other rooms, you'll have to clean them yourselves.”
Liu Da quickly waved his hands.
“It's fine, it's fine. We can just stay here.”
Feng Xingyun nodded. “Then please rest. I won't disturb you further.”
With that, he left the small courtyard of the guest rooms with his lantern. He didn't linger outside, returning to his own quarters in a perfectly natural manner.
Zuo Lin'an had told him before.
Once the dungeon started, he had to perfectly play the role of a steward.
He couldn't spy on the players at will, speak of the dungeon's secrets in empty places, or casually discuss the players' situation with Zuo Lin'an.
After all, before the players actively exposed themselves, even if Zuo Lin'an was the dungeon boss, he couldn't know their talents or the types of specter items they held in advance.
Of course, this 【Paranormal World】 was even more complex, with countless cultivators.
All sorts of strange and bizarre things emerged in endless succession. Perhaps... there was an ability that allowed for eavesdropping from a distance?
Just like the old Daoist's Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth earlier, as well as the sneak attack in the dark that had caught Feng Xingyun—a Xiantian Rank expert—off guard.
All of this made Zuo Lin'an heighten his vigilance.
After Feng Xingyun left, Chang Sheng placed his newly completed, palm-sized human puppet on the table and began forming hand seals with both hands.
His technique looked extremely complex, and the intricate mechanics within were completely incomprehensible to outsiders; even if a layman memorized the hand movements, they wouldn't be able to replicate it.
Soon, a faint, tiny green glow appeared at his fingertips.
Letting out a soft sigh of relief, Chang Sheng tapped this weak light onto the center of the puppet's forehead, and the speck of light quickly sank into it.
Immediately after, the mini puppet suddenly twitched.
As time passed, it began to stiffly move its body.
After about two or three minutes.
The mini puppet's movements became incredibly agile; it could run, jump, perform backflips, and even climb walls.
Zuo Lin'an, who had been secretly watching from the shadows, felt that this tiny puppet was somewhat similar to the Paper Puppet Technique the old Daoist had used earlier.
Of course, despite the similarities, the puppet was undoubtedly superior in every aspect.
Particularly the Puppet Vitalization Art they had mentioned earlier.
Seeing that nothing had gone wrong with his puppet, Chang Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he indeed possessed a high talent for making puppets.
A puppet assembled from such crudely made parts could actually be successfully vitalized.
Although the effect of this vitalization was quite poor, it was sufficient to handle the current situation.
“I'll send it out first to investigate this old residence. If there are any issues, we can prepare in advance.”
Liu Da admired the puppet for a moment, finding it highly fascinating.
This was the first time he had ever seen a puppet from such a close distance.
“Alright, thank you for the trouble.”
Soon, under Chang Sheng's control, the tiny puppet slipped out through the crack under the door and disappeared into the darkness outside.
He closed his eyes, devoting his entire focus to controlling the puppet.
An Miao and Liu Da remained silent, waiting quietly.
The two of them also subtly shielded Chang Sheng in the center, just in case an unexpected event occurred and they couldn't protect him in time.
Meanwhile, Chang Sheng controlled the puppet without any distractions.
This residence was quite large. It was clearly unrealistic for him to thoroughly investigate and search the entire place with just a single mini puppet.
Thus, he merely had it do a general sweep around.
In the end, he directed the puppet to return and stand guard outside the guest room.
Chang Sheng opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath.
“I didn't find anything. The specter might not appear for now, or perhaps it's not in the residence at the moment.”
Hearing this, Liu Da and An Miao also breathed a sigh of relief.
“It's fine. The dungeon has only just begun, so the specter shouldn't start killing people yet.”
An Miao suddenly thought of someone.
“What about Tang Yuanhuai?”
“He still hasn't found this old residence. Did he run into a specter in the withered forest?”
Liu Da frowned slightly. “Don't worry about him.”
He then looked up at the light above, feeling it was a bit too bright.
He walked to the door, turned off the main light, and switched on a small bedside lamp instead.
Although the room became much dimmer, in this eerie old residence, excessively bright light would instead make him feel slightly uneasy.
Chang Sheng casually picked up some wood materials he had brought in earlier.
He selected the most suitable piece and began crafting his second puppet.
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