Chapter 369: Small Test of Skill

The woman in green dragged the handsome young man by his ear, returning to their room amidst his wails. This drew sidelong glances from the other guests who hadn't yet left, their gazes filled with schadenfreude as they looked at the young man.

No one noticed anything unusual about the innkeeper. In the eyes of the crowd, he simply stood quietly, calculating his accounts, perhaps estimating how much it would cost to repair the third floor.

Bang—!

As the woman in green forcefully shut the room door, the curious onlookers dispersed, and the hallway fell silent once more.

The moment they entered the room, the handsome young man, who had just been wailing in pain, suddenly became serious, appearing completely different from the passionate youth who had just been vociferously arguing for his basketball dream.

He glanced at his Senior Disciple behind him.

“Ruyu, was Master’s ear nice to pinch?” His tone was subtly nuanced.

The Senior Disciple pondered seriously for a moment, then confidently replied: “A bit old.”

Master: ???

Under the handsome young man's almost murderous gaze, the Senior Disciple gave an awkward smile and retracted his hand.

“Master, you asked me to go along with your act… I just got into character, involuntarily…”

“Alright, alright, my good disciple, you’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, haven’t you?” the handsome young man grumbled. “I should’ve known to ask Fourth Disciple to act with me… You manipulative fellow, I knew your eagerness meant trouble!”

“Master, you’ve misunderstood me, I truly just wanted to help Junior Disciple…”

The Senior Disciple’s smile was like a spring breeze.

The handsome young man snorted coldly, walked to the window, and glanced down. He then spoke unhurriedly, looking at the innkeeper standing there like a statue.

“He still has some innate wisdom…”

“He actually comprehended it?” the Third Disciple asked in surprise. “Even with Master deliberately guiding him, his comprehension is quite astonishing… not even inferior to Fifth Disciple.”

“He’s different from Fifth Disciple. Fifth Disciple has a natural, albeit clumsy, wisdom, but this junior disciple… he truly possesses extraordinary comprehension,” the Senior Disciple couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

“Originally, I only intended to give him a hint and let him ponder over it for a few days, hoping he might figure it out. I never expected him to comprehend it on the spot. Master, you’ve found a treasure.”

“Hmph.”

The handsome young man lay on the bed, silently rolling his eyes. “Isn’t it because Master’s acting was good?”

“Naturally, Master’s acting truly cuts deep,” the Senior Disciple immediately praised with a chuckle.

The handsome young man couldn't be bothered to waste words with him. Casually playing with his hair, he spoke indifferently:

“Weaving fate… interesting.”

“Weaving fate?”

Mójiao murmured these two words. “It doesn’t seem related to our Soul Sketching, does it? What is Weaving Fate?”

“You’ll see for yourselves, he’s almost mastered it,” the handsome young man waved his hand.

“The real show is just beginning…”

Chen Ling stood behind the counter, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the words “Weaving Fate” on the paper.

The third-tier skill required Chen Ling to designate a character and influence the surrounding environment through that character’s conviction… And the role Chen Ling chose to play was himself.

Conviction, conviction…

Chen Ling slowly closed his eyes. At this moment, he felt as if he was back in the pre-cataclysm theater, standing beneath a vast and magnificent stage, his gaze scrutinizing everything upon it.

In his mind, one character after another performed on the stage: their movements, props, lighting, costumes… The countless details that made up a performance seemed to float before his eyes like threads, weaving together in an orderly fashion as his pen tip descended.

A performance gradually came to life under his pen.

Chen Ling suddenly opened his eyes!

He flipped the ledger back to a blank page and swiftly wrote down a few lines.

Time: Afternoon, 1:30 PMScene: InnCharacters: Umbrella Painter, Mysterious Ant Painter, Transient Painting Member A, Chen Ling, Passerby A, Passerby B, Passerby C…△ Chen Ling, disguised as the innkeeper, began cleaning the inn as usual to avoid suspicion. He swept up the glass shards from Room 309 that had splattered into the courtyard, along with other charred objects that had flown out, and dumped them all into the kitchen trash can.△ The accumulated, melted glass shards, ignited the trash can under the strong afternoon sunlight. The fire spread through the kitchen, and a gas cylinder, whose valve had been left slightly open due to oversight, was also ignited by a stray flame…

Outside the inn, at a teahouse.

Lin Xi swirled the teacup in her hand, watching the rippling surface, her thoughts already drifting far away.

“The results from the police inquiry are out. We can confirm that those who left earlier were indeed the guests themselves. They likely just checked out early because they feared the explosion,” Old Lu said, pushing open the teahouse door and walking straight in to sit down.

Lin Xi’s hand paused slightly, and a look of disappointment appeared in her eyes.

“Could it be that we were wrong? That madman isn’t hiding in the inn?”

“What’s the situation at the inn now? Anything unusual?” Feng Gui, who was nearby, suddenly asked.

“Nothing,” Old Lu shook his head.

“Just that group of guests had a falling out with the innkeeper, and then a kid was playing ball in the courtyard and argued with his sister. All other guests in their rooms seem normal.”

“Damn it… If that guy isn’t in the inn, where else could he be hiding?”

“How much time do we have left?”

“It’s 1:29 PM now. We have over twenty hours left. Even if we turn Willow Town upside down, it would take less than ten hours. There’s still time.”

Lin Xi and Feng Gui were pondering their next steps, while Old Lu had to divert his attention to monitoring the inn. Just then, his eyes narrowed slightly.

“What’s wrong? What did you see?”

“Nothing… just that the innkeeper, who was calculating accounts for ages, finally moved.”

“Moved? Anything unusual?”

“No, he picked up a broom and started sweeping. He’s probably going to clean up the explosion debris first.”

The two immediately lost interest and continued their discussion. However, just a few minutes later, a sudden blast echoed through the sky!

Boom—!!

Like thunder exploding on the ground, thick smoke billowed from the inn in the distance. All pedestrians nearby looked in that direction with surprise!

“The inn?!”

“What happened?”

“Did that madman strike again?!”

The three instantly sat upright in the teahouse, looking at the burning flames within the inn in astonishment. Then, the other two simultaneously looked at Old Lu.

“That’s not right… Everyone was under my surveillance, and no one made any strange moves. Where did this explosion come from?” Old Lu was suddenly bewildered.

“Perhaps that madman has a way to bypass your surveillance? That would explain it!”

“He probably didn’t turn into someone inside the inn, but has been hiding somewhere all along, which is why you didn’t detect him…”

“Damn it! Quick, to the inn!!”

The three of them looked utterly grim and rushed towards the inn at top speed!

A gentle breeze swept across the inn's counter. The ledger subtly turned a page, and as the words on the paper glowed faintly, the three characters returned to the stage, just as the story had been written.

Back from a business trip, triple updates resume tomorrow~

Novel-relatedThe most bookmark-worthy 114 Chinese site.