Duosheng Danyuan

Lin Xu's experience was not complicated. Like Su Wanqing, he also encountered family members in real life. Under the onslaught of his wife and children taking turns entering the room and inviting him out, he locked himself in his room and pondered his situation.

Then, at 8:30, the alarm clock that Lin Xu had set yesterday suddenly went off, and like Su Wanqing's, it couldn't be turned off no matter what she did, even after removing the battery.

So, at that moment, he opened the door and met me, who had also just come out of the room.

"Is it really that simple?" Su Wanqing asked doubtfully.

"Um."

"Impossible," I shook my head and looked at Lin Xu. "We're not children, and you should know that you've been acting strangely ever since you left the room. I don't want to doubt that you're lying, but I believe you definitely didn't finish what you were saying."

"Yeah, Brother Lin, I also feel like you're really down. What happened?"

"..."

After another moment of silence, Lin Xu finally spoke: "What I said was indeed what happened at Jingxi Lodge."

"So, something else happened to you elsewhere?" Su Wanqing asked tentatively.

"Um..."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Some more realistic illusions."

"What exactly do you mean?"

"...I don't want to talk about it, not for now."

"All right."

"Brother Lin, don't be too sad. We will definitely get out of here." Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Su Wanqing said softly to comfort him.

"Yes, I will." Lin Xu nodded.

"Let's discuss it," Su Wanqing suggested, changing the subject.

"no problem."

"Yes, but we need to be mindful of the time. Elder Jianshan said he'll call us to begin our practice at 9:00 AM. It's already 9:00 AM."

"Mmm." "Okay."

The three of us nodded to each other, and then each took turns recounting the other's story before we began our discussion.

"Brother Gu, from your description, your alarm clock didn't go off?"

"It's not that it didn't ring, it's that I didn't hear the alarm clock."

"But you weren't woken up by the alarm clock either."

"Um."

"Do we imagine that we're never woken up by an alarm clock?"

"It's hard to say. You and I both experienced the alarm clock ringing while we were fully awake, except for Brother Changfeng."

"It's alright. Once everyone gets together, we can ask each other and find out if anyone else has experienced something similar."

"Hmm. But more than that, I'm curious about when we'll wake up."

"time?"

"Su Wanqing, you just said that you believed the illusions occurred because you didn't get eight hours of sleep as per the rule, right?"

"Yes. But from what you two are saying, it seems that hallucinations are something everyone experiences and have nothing to do with eight hours of sleep."

"Indeed, the appearance of hallucinations is not related to eight hours of sleep, but what about other things?"

"Others? Brother Gu, do you mean to say that our awakening time is linked to our sleeping time?"

"I think it's like this."

"That's possible. Do you remember what time you usually go to bed? I go to bed at ten o'clock."

"I went to bed around the same time, but as for the exact time... I think I fell asleep immediately."

"You can't judge it that way. The human body's perception of time decreases exponentially as consciousness fades. In other words, the closer you get to falling asleep, the less sensitive you become to time. We can't judge when we fall asleep based solely on our own judgment."

"But if that's the case, your guess can't be confirmed."

"Indeed, but aren't there plenty of things about this place that can't be verified?"

"well..."

"I think Brother Gu makes a good point. Until more information comes out, we can continue to reason based on this hypothesis, what do you say?"

"This is the only way we can do it."

"If the logic behind the eight-hour sleep rule is truly to force us to sleep for eight hours, then the emergence of the sixth rule is no longer abrupt."

"What do you mean?"

"I know what he means, Su Wanqing, are you having trouble sleeping?"

"Huh? No, I'm the type who falls asleep the moment my head hits the pillow."

"That's true. At your age, you're definitely not at the point where you should be troubled by insomnia. The sixth rule is very clear: people with sound minds and souls always suffer from insomnia. Although it also says that this is a blessing, under the constraints of the fifth rule, the meaning is quite obvious."

"You mean, we might experience insomnia in the future?"

"It's not just a matter of insomnia. The rules require us to get up before 9 a.m., but they also require us to get eight hours of sleep. What do you think will happen if we're still awake after 1 a.m.?"

"Oh my god... that would definitely break the rules, and there would be no way to fix it."

"That's right, which is why the sixth rule exists to avoid this situation."

"It's very likely that only in this way will the existence of Rule Six not seem abrupt."

"Indeed, this sixth rule is less of a constraint and more of a path to survival hidden within the rules! Perhaps when we suffer from insomnia, if we damage our soul through certain means, we can stop insomnia and get a full eight hours of sleep?"

"That was the only option left. To be honest, if it weren't for a last resort, I couldn't imagine myself becoming like those senior brothers and sisters from yesterday, practically a walking corpse!"

"It's not necessarily true that losing one's soul will lead to the same fate as them; it's too early to say."

"Try to go to bed early. I think if we have no other choice, we should use the method that Brother Gu taught us."

"Huh?" Lin Xu asked blankly.

"The way to combat insomnia that Brother Gu mentioned yesterday is to strangle yourself."

"Uh..." Clearly, Lin Xu had already taken my suggestion from yesterday as a ridiculous joke and completely forgotten about it. Now that Su Wanqing brought it up again, Lin Xu was speechless for a while. "It's a solution, worth trying when you're at your wit's end."

"Hehe, compared to having your soul mutilated, strangling yourself isn't such an unacceptable thing, right?" Su Wanqing laughed.

"That's true." Lin Xu also smiled and sighed.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock knock!" Suddenly, a rhythmic knocking sound came from the living room door.

"Who?" I asked.

"They're the people who came with us," Lin Xu explained. "It was Chen Yu's suggestion yesterday to use a special knocking sound to distinguish the enemy from us."

"Really? Then go open the door." I nodded.

"Wait a minute," Su Wanqing said, stopping Lin Xu as he was about to get up, her voice filled with worry. "I've read in novels that some monsters can read other people's memories! What if the guy outside is an imposter who's read memories?"

"This..." Lin Xu's face immediately showed difficulty upon hearing Su Wanqing's words. Indeed, Su Wanqing's concerns were quite normal, and in this fantasy world set in the realm of cultivation, it wasn't exactly an obscure or unorthodox method.

"...At least, the rules don't mention any precautions in this regard. Moreover, Rule One clearly states that Jingxi Lodge is absolutely safe." After a moment's thought, Lin Xu spoke.

"That's true... but you should still be careful."

"Knock, knock, knock, knock knock!" The knocking sound came from outside the door again.

"Why don't we go with you? Three heads are better than one!" Su Wanqing said, standing up abruptly.

"Zhuge Liang wasn't exactly a military general, was he?" Lin Xu shrugged and complained, but a smile also appeared on his lips.

No one feels bad when someone genuinely cares about them.

"Su Wanqing is right, let's go together," I said.

"Alright then." Seeing that I said the same thing, Lin Xu nodded and agreed to the suggestion.

So the three of us walked together toward the entrance.

Lin Xu opened the door, and I stood behind him, protecting Su Wanqing.

"Why did it take you so long to open the door? I thought you wouldn't be able to hear me knocking from the outside in this godforsaken place," a dark-skinned boy asked from outside.

"We were chatting and were a little late. Wang Hao, right? Come in." Lin Xu looked around and, after confirming that Wang Hao was the only one there, quickly invited him into the hut and closed the door behind him.

"You just said 'also'? What do you mean?" Before even sitting down on the sofa, Su Wanqing looked at Wang Hao with a puzzled expression.

"Well... that's why I came to find you. Something happened to Chen Yu."

"What?" The three of us exclaimed in unison upon hearing Wang Hao's words.

Chen Yu got into trouble? How could it be Chen Yu? This is completely unexpected. I never imagined that the first blood among us would be that big guy who was charging ahead yesterday... But then again, always charging ahead, he'd be the first to be hit if something happened...

"Yeah, it's past nine o'clock, and he still hasn't come out of his room." Wang Hao said with a sigh.

"Did you knock on the door?" I asked.

"Of course. That's why I said I thought knocking on the doors of these huts wouldn't be heard. After all, Rule Four states that the huts of the Tranquil Abode are all independent."

"Did you run into some rules?" Lin Xu asked.

"Of course, huh? Didn't you guys run into any?" Wang Hao looked around at us with a blank and somewhat puzzled expression. "Really?"

"I encountered it," Lin Xu explained, pointing to the rules by the window.

"Oh, I knew it." Wang Hao said, clearly relieved.

"You don't seem very worried?" Su Wanqing asked, puzzled.

"I wouldn't say I'm not worried," Wang Hao said casually, scratching the back of his head. "But isn't the Tranquil Abode absolutely safe? So neither Qian Zhe nor I are too worried. Even if we break the rules, nothing too serious should happen."

Hearing Wang Hao's words, the three of us paled to some extent, looking at the fool before us with varying degrees of pity. It seems not everyone can immediately be sufficiently wary of this world...

"Uncle Wang Hao, do you know about the strange tales of rules?" Su Wanqing asked softly.