Chapter 394: This Turbulent World
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 394: This Turbulent World
I entered the room I’d booked for myself and sat down heavily on the rock-hard single bed. It was truly difficult to imagine anyone finding this comfortable to sleep on.
It really is hard to go from luxury to rags. The hotel back in Ninglan New City was at least designed to receive guests, but this place felt like it was meant to insult them. No wonder the inn was so empty; I hope they go out of business soon!
After confirming there were no immediate issues, I set up some solidification spells and rune engravings.
I had originally considered using a soundproofing spell, but then I realized it would cut off my perception of the outside world. I wasn't particularly afraid of any threats to myself, but the same couldn't be said for Qiu Ruxin.
After some deliberation, I decided against the soundproofing. It was early morning, after all; surely no one would be making too much noise.
By the time I finished my preparations, morning had practically arrived. I didn't rush to study that summoning spell. Instead, I followed my schedule and began to meditate. As for body tempering... there wasn't enough space here. Practicing outside would draw too much attention, so for safety's sake, I decided not to go looking for trouble. I didn't want any more blood on my hands.
Besides, during that brief time I spent outside earlier, I noticed something abnormal about my own cognition: I felt absolutely nothing about killing those guys. No nausea, no urge to vomit, no physical discomfort—nothing. It was a stark contrast to Qiu Ruxin’s reaction.
I don't think I've... actually killed many people, have I?
Aside from the exchange competition—but that wasn't real killing. Even in Ninglan New City, I don't think I killed many people in the literal sense. Yet, after arriving here, I had somehow...
"Heh... I'm overthinking it." I slapped my forehead. Why dwell on it?
I needed to keep a level head. Being here was most likely the world's fault. If a Transcendent Witch or even the Academy Dean had come here, this world would probably have ceased to exist by now.
From a higher perspective, what did it matter if I killed a few thugs who lusted after my body? Was I supposed to face this world's legal system?
Tossing these stray thoughts aside, I took out the small incense burner I carried with me, lit some meditation incense, and began to meditate.
Meditation was the foundation; it couldn't be neglected.
Time ticked by. While meditation allowed for a vague sense of the passage of time, it wasn't very precise. Usually, I measured the duration by the amount of incense I used.
Since the quality of the incense significantly impacted the quality of the meditation, I knew it was time to stop once it finished burning.
During my meditation, I realized something: even in another world, I could still use the Primal Dream to meditate. Just how vast was the range of the Primal Dream controlled by that Great Witch, the Primal Witch?
This was the first time I’d gained such a profound understanding of the Primal Dream, yet it still wasn't enough. I only knew that even in a foreign world, the Primal Dream could still reach out. Just how much of the Void had the witches explored?
After a brief moment of wonder, I continued my meditation, feeling my mental power rise bit by bit. It was a truly marvelous sensation.
BOOM—!
A terrifying explosion erupted outside the inn, shaking the dilapidated old building. A series of sharp, crackling sounds followed.
Inside the room, I snapped my eyes open, a flash of shock crossing my gaze.
"Bombs? Firearms?" I muttered instinctively.
Those sounds outside—they were clearly gunpowder explosions and the rhythmic discharge of guns.
But... how was that possible?
Qiu Ruxin had told me that this world hadn't developed gunpowder yet. She didn't even have much of a concept of it. Even if there were firearms, they were supposed to be powered by ley energy, not chemical propellants.
How could I not be shocked by this anomaly?
Had Qiu Ruxin lied to me?
The possibility was slim, but regardless, I threw open my door and headed straight for her room.
With such a massive commotion, there was no way she was still sleeping soundly. Perhaps I could use this opportunity to get some real answers.
"Qiu Ruxin." I pushed the door open and found her curled up on the bed.
"Sister... Yang Yuehan..."
Qiu Ruxin was in a state of total panic. She only poked her head out from under the covers when she saw me enter.
"Who... who are you!"
Even though she was still under the blankets, her instinctual reaction to the unknown was to brace for a confrontation.
"It's me." I waved a hand to dispel the disguise spell. Seeing her visibly relax, it was clear that in her state of danger, she had subconsciously begun to view me as her protector or benefactor.
"Just call me Sister Xiao Han. It rolls off the tongue easier." I closed the door and sat on the edge of her bed.
"Okay, Sister Xiao Han..."
"Are you alright?"
"I... I'm fine. Thank you for asking."
"Mhm." I nodded and looked toward the window, where the noise continued. "Qiu Ruxin, do you know what's happening out there? You must know something, right?"
After all, if she didn't know, she wouldn't be this terrified. But for now, she was my only source of information.
After I comforted her for a while and the sounds of explosions and gunfire drifted further away, she finally began to recover.
"It's okay now... Can you tell me what that was?" I didn't press her immediately on why she hadn't mentioned the existence of firearms.
Such lethal weapons triggered an instinctive fear in me as well. My reaction speed wasn't yet fast enough to dodge a bullet mid-flight. In a head-on confrontation, with my mental power, reflexes, and the physical stats of a self-awakening body cultivation practitioner, I might be fearless—but an ambush was a different story.
"Those... those people... they're monsters... invaders. They're devils!"
"Invaders? Can you be more specific?" I asked.
"I'm sorry... I'm just a bit emotional." She quickly reined in her feelings. "They're an organized group called Explorers. Or... Secret Diggers. And... they have powerful abilities, similar to what you called magic... or spells."
"Explorers..." I remembered her mentioning that word before. She had even asked if I was one. Unfortunately, I hadn't paid much attention to it then. I hadn't expected to encounter them so soon.
"Then how do they have firearms? Where did those weapons come from?"
"I... I don't know. Their weapons are terrifying... it's like they appear out of thin air."
"Out of thin air." With that information, I had a better idea of what was going on.
It meant they likely had storage equipment, or perhaps a summoning spell for firearms.
"And you call them invaders because they came from outside this world?" I asked tentatively.
Since they didn't belong to this world's technology tree, they were naturally the result of an interdimensional incursion. This world really was plagued by misfortune.
"I... I don't know. But they are people from our world, that much is true... It's just that they suddenly change, as if they've become different people. They suddenly gain those abilities and act with total disregard for anything..."
"What? They're locals?" My pupils constricted at her answer. They weren't invaders from another world?
No, no, that wasn't right!
A person doesn't just "become someone else" and suddenly master those kinds of techniques. So... was it possession?
Or perhaps consciousness possession, or even body control?
Regardless, it was highly probable that this was an invasion from another world, just using methods that exceeded my expectations.
"More or less... yes," Qiu Ruxin said, lowering her head.
"I remember you saying your home was destroyed by these people. Doesn't your country do anything about it?"
"The country... how could they? They even publicly announced recently that they would let these people do as they please on Lanas Island... Those in power don't care about the lives of us bottom-layer people!" Qiu Ruxin’s voice grew heated, and tears began to well in her eyes.
"Alright, alright. You'll be safe now," I comforted her. "Try to get some more sleep while you can."
"I... I can't sleep anymore..." she whispered.
"It's fine. Just lie there, even if you just close your eyes to rest your mind. You haven't slept long; you need to let your spirit rest."
"Mhm..."
Qiu Ruxin obediently closed her eyes, but sleep eluded her.
I watched her silently. I had to admit, my opinion of this world had dropped once again. Were the governments of this world... completely useless?
Allowing those thugs to run rampant in the streets—did they think this was some "land of the free" where gunfights were a daily occurrence?
Furthermore, people who had lost their homes didn't even have resettlement housing. If they had provided even basic supplies like tents, Qiu Ruxin wouldn't have suffered like this.
On my way here, I had indeed seen many homeless people on the streets. This was likely the reason.
"I... I still can't sleep." After struggling for a long time, Qiu Ruxin opened her eyes and spoke to me.
"Can't sleep? Well, if you can't... then tell me a bit more about your world. I want to keep learning about it. You can just keep your eyes closed while you talk; I'll be right here listening."
Seeing that she truly couldn't rest, I stood up, pulled a nearby chair to the bedside, and sat down.
Still... it felt a bit strange. The person who couldn't sleep was telling "stories" to the person who was supposed to be soothing them. But there was no helping it; I needed to understand this world.
"Mhm..." Qiu Ruxin nodded, her voice low and slow. "What does Sister Xiao Han want to know?"
"Tell me about those Explorers. Why are they called that?"
"Why... I don't know. But many countries, even the official governments of the great powers, call them Explorers. As for what they are exploring, I'm not sure."
"An official designation?" I nodded. This at least suggested that the invaders had made contact with the top levels of this world, perhaps even reaching some kind of agreement.
This small nation on Lanas Island had only recently opened its doors to these Explorers, likely due to pressure from other countries.
"Yes. But... I've heard that those people also call themselves Secret Diggers."
"Secret Diggers... Explorers. Self-proclaimed versus official titles... Interesting. Secret Diggers—does that mean they want to dig up the secrets of your world?"
"I don't know..."
"It's fine. I didn't expect you to have that kind of information. I'll investigate the rest myself later," I said with a smile.
It was clear that "Secret Diggers" was their true title. They were broadcasting their goals without any pretense, while the high-ranking officials of this world used a euphemism to polish their reputation.
It was certainly intriguing.
Next, I asked Qiu Ruxin about other things: how long these Explorers had been around, their combat strength, their threat level, their moral standards...
Through my questioning, I formed a general picture of these outsiders.
First, these Explorers had existed for decades. The exact start date was impossible to trace. In the beginning, they were just active individuals, occasionally causing major incidents that stirred social unrest. Later, their anomalies drew the attention of various nations. By then, the Explorers had already built up enough momentum and power to establish a "state within a state" in certain countries.
This had crossed a line. Using the Explorers' declaration of independence as a fuse, a three-year world war erupted. Nearly half the world's nations were dragged in, mostly because the Explorers within their borders had fanned the flames.
I specifically asked about their motives—why build a country, why start a war? After all, if there was no profit involved, it wouldn't be worth such a massive conflict.
But the world war ended as quickly as it began. It lasted only three years before fizzling out. None of the nations even celebrated a victory.
Afterward, these Explorers spread across the globe. Lanas Island hadn't participated in the world war; it had remained neutral. But now, out of necessity, it had recently granted these Explorers the right to enter and exit freely.
I listened carefully, considering other possibilities. After all, this was all filtered through Qiu Ruxin’s perspective, which was heavily biased.
Through our consciousness communication, I could feel the clash between objective facts and her personal prejudices. Having been victimized by them, her bias against the Explorers was extreme.
However, considering these were outsiders and Qiu Ruxin was a Child of Destiny, I couldn't rule out the possibility that this was a deliberate arrangement by the world's will or the script.
There was one more thing that piqued my curiosity. I had learned about the Explorers indirectly from her; if they were outsiders, they should be rejected by the world's will and burdened with a bad luck curse.
But Qiu Ruxin indicated they weren't particularly unlucky.
Based on the information I had now, if the script was trying to provoke conflict between the natives and the outsiders, then based on the bad luck curse alone, Qiu Ruxin looked more like the outsider!
Yet she possessed a Luck Seed. That was the real mystery.
Teacher Ji Niang had said that Luck Seeds couldn't be transferred—or if they could, it was beyond my current level of understanding. Yet Qiu Ruxin clearly wasn't that kind of existence.
I kept these guesses and deductions to myself and continued listening to her explain the common knowledge of this world.
Until... I heard something very strange.
"Wait, stop for a second. What did you just say? A massive rift opened in the sky, and demons came pouring into your world?" I interrupted suddenly.
"Yes... it was a very serious event. It happened near the end of the world war between the nations and the Explorers. At the time, many people guessed that it was the arrival of those demons that accelerated the end of the war, forcing everyone to unite against a common enemy."
"Demons... Abyssal Demons?"
I didn't care about the world uniting. I only cared about whether these "demons" were the Abyssal Demons I knew!