Seeing the sudden progress of the quest, something that he hadn't even pursued, excited Han Xuhan. It seemed that although this quest was graded at a Hard level difficulty on the system panel, completing it would not be too difficult compared to Moderate level quests.
Unlike his earlier tasks, he already had a lead from the start, thanks to Xuanyuan Zhou's unintentional help. He now knew that the secret his system wanted him to dig out of Xiao Wu's life was connected somehow to the Beasthaven Sect!
He made a mental note to investigate this sect in his free time. There would probably be some precious information in the archives. It was considered one of the most powerful sects on this planet, after all.
"Hey, why's this class not starting?" Xiao Wu asked suddenly, as if he had just realized this. Han Xuhan shrugged, unable to provide an explanation.
Xuanyuan Zhou did the same, but there was an ambiguous smile on her face that told Xuhan that she might have a guess which she didn't want to say out loud.
He couldn't muster up the energy to poke the explanation out of her.
Eventually, the lecture period came to an end with the sect's strangely loud bells ringing three times in a row. There was one more class to be held, scheduled for the evening. So the disciples weren't in a rush to leave.
However, after a few minutes, the first group of disciples intending to leave the guest hall made a strange discovery.
"Hey! Where's the door?"
"I clearly remember we entered the hall from this corner!"
"How did a brick wall appear here?!"
The commotion attracted everyone's attention immediately. The entire class gathered in that corner of the hall, unable to believe their eyes. The massive double-doors they'd pushed open half an hour ago had been replaced by a blank wall.
Clearly, this was the result of someone using a mystic art; an illusion-creation type, to be precise! This conclusion was reached by all within seconds.
"The door we used couldn't have been false, since we all felt it, pushed it, and managed to enter this hall. That means this brick wall must be a fake!"
Saying so, a bold disciple charged towards the wall like a maddened bull.
Bang!
"Hnghhh!"
Seeing him crumble to the ground after a gruesome collision against the wall, everyone in the crowd reached the conclusion that the wall was very much real, solid and stalwart like any ordinary brick wall.
"There are no other doors in this hall. So how do we get out?"
This question weighed on their minds heavily. The oddity of the scheduled class not being held also became entangled with this mystery.
It didn't take a genius to guess that both unusual incidents may have a connection. But figuring out this connection was a task beyond their inexperienced minds.
"Hey, do you feel like this room is getting darker?" Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, sending another wave of panic among the disciples.
Sure enough, those who had a small cultivation base began to confirm this observation. Even Xuanyuan Zhou chimed in.
"The skylights! Look at them! You can see the sunlight outside getting dim!"
Han Xuhan and Xiao Wu fought their way out of the corner of the hall and stood next to her, both of them attacked by the same anxiety as the rest. But Han Xuhan's method of dealing with the anxiety was unique from others.
Instead of focusing on the ceiling, he kept his focus on Xuanyuan Zhou's face from a corner of his vision. Although the skylights were now so dim that it felt like the final moments of a dusk, he could see the faint smile flashing across her face as she observed the panicking disciples around them.
Immediately, his heart calmed down. Xuanyuan Zhou was his 'master.' If she could be so complacent in the face of these frightening developments, he had nothing to worry about as her attendant.
The skylights eventually turned pitch-black, plunging the massive guest hall into a thick darkness. Noise erupted chaotically as everyone began to shout and speculate, as if fearing that the darkness would become worse somehow if they stayed silent.
Just then, Han Xuhan felt a gentle palm on his shoulder, and a warm breath blowing across his ear.
"Attendant Xuhan, remember your duty~"
Before he could process what she meant, he sensed her move away. So he chased after her in the dark, bumping into people repeatedly like a blind man. Xiao Wu chased after him, with no clues as to what they were doing.
Han Xuhan bumped into a wall just after half a minute. He had kept track of her footsteps even under all the chaos, having become familiar with the rhythm by now. He was sure that this was the spot she had reached, but he couldn't sense anyone nearby.
Did this girl vanish in thin air somehow?
His mind began to race, recalling the words she had left behind.
"Remember my duty? An attendant has a lot of those, but I do have a special status in our relationship. The only time she tried to enforce a duty on me was this morning, after she woke me up for the assembly..."
The more he thought about it, the more sure he became that Xuanyuan Zhou had left him a clue about something she wanted him to do.
"She specifically told me that, as an attendant, I should wake up earlier than her and visit her hut in order to accompany her to the assembly. This is the only duty she has tried to establish. How does it apply to this situation?"
After deliberating for a couple of minutes, Han Xuhan could only give up on the possible inferences.
If he wanted to draw allegories, he could bring out quite a few of them. For example, this darkness in the hall could be compared to the night. What would waking up early mean in that case?
This morning, Xuanyuan Zhou had woken up earlier, he recalled. And here, it was also Xuanyuan Zhou who had disappeared from the hall. If both facts were taken under another allegory, then what did he need to do as her attendant?
"...She bumped into this wall. If an attendant's duty is to follow and accompany his master, must I do the same?"
This was the only definitive guess he could come up with. So without further ado, Han Xuhan started bumping into the wall in front of him at various speeds.
Sensing his inexplicable activity, Xiao Wu's concern rose.
"Brother Xuhan, what are you doing?"
"Trying to mimic what Xuanyuan Zhou did."
"If she kept bumping into walls like that, she'd be unconscious by now."
"Exactly. But do you see an unconscious Xuanyuan Zhou lying here? What could that imply?" Han Xuhan retorted.
"...."
He didn't know what conclusion Xiao Wu silently reached, but he started copying him as well!
"Since bumping in this spot isn't achieving a result, maybe we're hitting the wrong spot. Let's slowly move across the wall and keep bumping at it at every step, brother Wu. I'll take the left direction, you take the right," Han Xuhan instructed him.
This instruction wasn't born from his goodwill towards Xiao Wu. He just didn't want to do all the work himself, ahem...
First step, bump; second step, bump; third step... fifth step... tenth step...
Suddenly, as he gently bumped into the wall on his sixteenth step, bright sunlight flared in his vision. Even though he had to put a palm over his eyes, the brief glimpse of what lay ahead made him certain...
He was now standing outside the guest hall!