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Once off the car, Gu Xi looked around. For some reason, in his eyes, this city always had a feeling of being shabby, desolate, and grim.

In the Maple Leaf Park the driver pointed out, the trees were twisted, the paths sinister, and even in broad daylight, there were hardly any people around in the park.

Nearby lodging houses were all quite old, with white lanterns hanging in the yards, and shrines placed in front, offering stones or stakes with clear water.

As for the abandoned old campus of an unknown school, Gu Xi always felt like there were dark clouds swirling over the building's rooftop.

Gu Xi speculated, for such a large campus to be abandoned, there's a very high chance something unresolved had happened.

From Gu Xi's years of novel experience, death was the most basic assumption.

Where on earth did this driver drop him off?

Just as Gu Xi was about to turn and ask, the driver raised his left hand.

"Sorry, I have to hand over my shift, I'll take off first."

With that, he got into the taxi, not waiting for Gu Xi to say more and drove off just like that.

This comedic situation left Gu Xi speechless.

Gu Xi clearly saw that the driver didn't have a watch on his hand.

He had no idea whether the driver had deliberately set him up or if he genuinely had something else to do.

Since he was already here, Gu Xi had no intention of running around anymore. He thought for a moment, scanned the nearby lodging houses, and selected the one that looked the cleanest to approach.

"Don't knock, just come in."

Just as he reached the front of the lodging house, a small speaker set up by the door crackled to life.

Gu Xi hesitated for a moment, still unsure, when the speaker spoke again: "What are you standing there for, don't knock, just push the door open."

Hearing this, Gu Xi understood what was happening, and he pushed open the gate and went right in.

As he stepped into the courtyard, Gu Xi felt like the surroundings seemed somewhat brighter.

Simultaneously, the ubiquitous gaze of the Great Guanyin no longer seemed to fix on him.

Before Gu Xi could figure out what was going on, the door of the small building opened, and a young woman in her twenties wearing a kimono walked out.

This woman was fairly presentable, and after seeing Gu Xi, she turned around graciously before saying, "Are you here to rent a room?"

"Yes, I..."

"I have four rooms in total, but since it's just me here, I only rent out one room.

But rest assured, my lodging is quite cheap, one hundred thousand a day, which includes three meals a day, daytime security, and Warring States night guards.

Typically, I'm responsible for laundry, grocery shopping, etc., you just stay here comfortably."

Hearing this woman's enthusiasm made Gu Xi feel a bit uneasy.

"What's wrong? Is my offer not good enough?

Let me tell you, I can't lower the price anymore, I have a Level 3 Knocking Ghost here, so anomalies below Level 5 won't enter my yard.

Plus, I have five hundred Stone Ancestor Soldiers at my shrine, ensuring the Warring States battles at night won't affect our courtyard.

Maintaining these costs money, I absolutely won't lower the price from a hundred thousand."

"Alright, one hundred thousand it is. I want a room where I can't see the Great Guanyin Statue."

Seeing the woman getting more excited, Gu Xi quickly said, "As long as there's such a room, I'm staying."

The woman smiled immediately: "There is, and there are several such rooms. Let me show you."

But Gu Xi wasn't in a hurry. He opened his briefcase, took out the money inside, and counted it seriously.

"I have only two hundred and twenty thousand now, I'll rent for two days first, then we'll see."

"Okay, please follow me, I'll show you to the room."

With that, the woman took Gu Xi's hand and led him towards the building's front door.

As they walked, the woman introduced herself.

"I'm Wudou Minami, this is my family's house, it's been here for over eighty years, and my grandfather personally requested the Stone Ancestors, you can trust their power.

These flowers were planted by my father, they also have some spirituality, and when the Stone Ancestors can't hold off enemies, they can transform into a city wall to protect us for a night.

My house has two floors, the first floor is the living room, kitchen, and there's also a hot spring bath, one guest room, and upstairs there are three bedrooms. Among the four rooms, only the one on the east side of the second floor can avoid seeing the Great Guanyin Statue."

"Alright, I'll take that room then."

Gu Xi was only concerned with not seeing that massive Guanyin Statue every time he looked up.

As for where he stayed, or how comfortable the room was, he didn't care at all.

"By the way, you mentioned before, you have a Level 3 Knocking Ghost, and below Level 5 won't enter the yard, what does that mean?"

"Guest, you're from out of town, right? You might not be aware of our situation here, but our anomalies are divided into two types: one that roams outside and one that has a fixed territory.

Generally, roaming anomalies won't intrude on other anomalies' domains.

So usually, households keep an anomaly, and as long as you don't violate the anomaly's taboos, it can ensure the family's safety.

The Knocking Ghost in my house serves this purpose, its taboo is simple, don't knock on the door. If you knock on the door in its territory, it will appear behind you, and after three knocks, you'll be dragged into a door no one has ever seen, never to be seen again.

So absolutely never ignore the taboos, breaching them will result in even the Great Guanyin being unable to save you in this city."

Listening to Wudou Minami's words, Gu Xi thought about the Order Mage he saw in front of the station.

This kind of world seems perfect for that profession, at least during the day they're most suitable.

As for the night situation, Gu Xi hasn't experienced it and is unsure about the room's view.

Thinking about this, Gu Xi straightforwardly asked.

"I won't break these taboos, but I'd like to ask if there are anomalies that disregard boundaries and just invade without concern?"

"There are, but doing so would trigger reactions from the larger anomalies in the nearby streets, possibly becoming a common enemy of the street anomalies. General anomalies wouldn't do something like that."

After listening to Wudou Minami's explanation, Gu Xi sighed inwardly.

But you also said it's generally, that means Order Mage cases are exceptional and hard to control.

It's likely that current Order Mages are trying to interact with anomalies of different levels, preparing to absorb them to enhance their own power.

Seeing Gu Xi's expression changing from light to dark, Wudou Minami couldn't help but ask.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, I'm wondering where you usually sleep."

At this, Wudou Minami's face turned slightly red, and she lightly tapped Gu Xi, "Of course, I'll sleep wherever you sleep!"

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