...
Having made up her mind, Dugu Yan even deliberately gave the two heads peeking out in the distance a provocative look, then confidently reached out, grabbed the doorknob of Xuan Hao's room, and twisted it downwards with force.
"Click".
The doorknob made a very crisp striking sound.
However.
The door was closed.
Dugu Yan was stunned for a moment, then, not believing it, twisted it twice more and even pushed it in a little further.
"Click, click..."
It remained completely still!
The door was locked from the inside by that bastard Xuan Hao!
Dugu Yan, who had been so imposing, froze instantly.
In an instant, the two gazes in the corridor that were originally full of hostility turned into extremely subtle "gloating".
Even without hearing the laughter, Dugu Yan could sense that Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu were definitely laughing at her in their hearts.
"That damn bastard..."
Dugu Yan gritted her teeth in anger, cursing silently in her heart.
What do we do now?
Break down the door?
With her Soul King strength, kicking open this ordinary wooden door would be a piece of cake.
But that would be too much noise, not only waking up everyone in the hotel, but also making her look like an extremely rude shrew, which would be a disgrace to her status as Miss Dugu.
Should we knock on the door?
Regardless of whether Xuan Hao would open the door, even if he did, knocking on the man's door under the intense gazes of these two young girls would completely change the nature of what was originally an extremely ambiguous and romantic "night raid," turning it into something as awkward as a routine room check.
Standing outside the door, hesitating for a full half minute, Dugu Yan's cold and beautiful face turned pale and then red.
Ultimately, considering both her pride and embarrassment, Dugu Yan took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the urge to kick the door down.
She turned her head and glared fiercely at Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu, her eyes seeming to say, "You two little brats are lucky today."
Then she snorted coldly, turned around with extreme resentment and helplessness, and strode back to her room.
"Bang!"
As Dugu Yan's door slammed shut, Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu breathed a sigh of relief, then withdrew their heads and closed the door tightly.
...
Inside the room separated by a wall.
Lying on the bed, Xuan Hao used his mental power to take in the "silent battle" outside the door.
Seeing the three girls eventually return to their respective rooms, the terrifying predicament that had sent chills down his spine was finally averted.
"call..."
Xuan Hao let out a long breath and wiped away non-existent cold sweat from his forehead with great relief.
Thankfully, I was extra careful before going to bed tonight and locked the door from the inside.
Otherwise, a fight might break out in this room tonight!
...
The next morning.
The sun was shining brightly, and a gentle breeze was just right.
Xuan Hao was able to sleep soundly because he wisely locked the door last night.
He finished washing up early and, feeling refreshed, knocked on each of the girls' doors, calling them downstairs to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
However, as everyone gradually took their seats at the dining table, Xuan Hao was stunned when he looked at the people in front of him.
Aside from the obedient and hardworking Na'er and the still aloof Zhu Zhuqing, whose eyes were somewhat evasive.
Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and even Dugu Yan, these three people were in extremely poor condition!
They all had very obvious dark circles under their eyes, pale faces, and unfocused eyes, and every now and then they would cover their mouths and yawn loudly.
His listless appearance made him look as if some monster had been draining his life force all night, and he might fall headfirst into the congee with preserved egg and lean pork in front of him at any moment.
"no..."
Xuan Hao's hand, holding chopsticks, froze in mid-air.
He looked at the three women with utter confusion and asked, "What's wrong with you all?
Did you go to Soto City to steal in the middle of the night?"
"No...no!"
Ning Rongrong's hand holding the bowl trembled violently, and she avoided Xuan Hao's gaze with extreme guilt. She gave a dry laugh and forced out an excuse:
"I...I just had a sudden burst of inspiration last night, so I've been diligently practicing in my room, and before I knew it...I forgot to sleep.
Yes, I forgot to sleep!"
"Mmm-hmm-hmm!"
Upon hearing this excuse, Xiao Wu immediately nodded frantically like a chick pecking at rice, even her rabbit ears drooping listlessly.
"Me too! I'm also training hard!"
"..."
Listening to their extremely perfunctory excuses, Xuan Hao felt that his intelligence had been severely insulted.
Cultivation? Forgot to sleep?
Are you kidding me?!
In the world of Soul Masters, there are indeed many extremely diligent Soul Masters who have the habit of "replacing sleep with meditation".
Because deep meditation can also put the body into an extremely relaxed dormant state, thereby achieving the effect of restoring physical strength.
While using meditation to replace sleep for extended periods can indeed accumulate some mental stress, it at most makes one feel mentally tense and creates a sense of "mental fatigue."
For the physical body, meditation is definitely a form of rest!
And what about these girls in front of me?
Sunken eyes, unsteady gait, constant yawning... This isn't just mental fatigue; it's clearly the physical aftereffects of pulling an all-nighter without sleep!
However, with a little thought, Xuan Hao quickly guessed the trickery involved.
Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Dugu Yan.
He could see the whole chaotic scene of those three girls' "night raid" in the corridor last night with his mental power.
Clearly, after returning to their respective rooms, none of the three were satisfied with the other, and each was afraid that someone else would sneak into their room and "steal the tower" the moment they fell asleep.
So, the three girls, each with their own ulterior motives, decided to stay up all night and all crouched down by the door to act as "door gods," guarding and watching each other, enduring the entire night!
Although this behavior was extremely bizarre and childish, Xuan Hao could barely understand it.
but...
Xuan Hao's gaze suddenly passed over the three of them and landed on Ye Lingling, who was sitting in the corner, sipping hot milk with her head down.
"Lingling".
Xuan Hao frowned slightly, looking at Ye Lingling's eyes, which were hidden under a black veil and were equally exhausted, even more haggard than Ning Rongrong and the others.
He asked with some concern, "What's wrong with you?
Are you feeling unwell because you've just arrived in Soto City and are experiencing some discomfort due to the change in environment?"
"ah?!"
Suddenly called out, Ye Lingling trembled like a startled rabbit, almost knocking over the milk cup in her hand.
Her fair cheeks flushed crimson instantly. She waved her hands repeatedly, whispering guiltily, "No, no... I'm fine, I'm perfectly healthy..."
Seeing Ye Lingling's extremely guilty and even somewhat flustered appearance, Xuan Hao's doubts deepened.
In fact, what Xuan Hao didn't know was that last night's "silent battle" was far more complex and absurd than he could perceive with his mental power!
After Dugu Yan angrily slammed the door and went back to her room, the corridor was indeed quiet for a while.
However, Ye Lingling, who lived next door to Dugu Yan, had already noticed the commotion outside.
Last night, she hid behind the door and clearly heard the sounds of Dugu Yan, Ning Rongrong, and Xiao Wu.
By the time it was completely quiet outside, it was already well past midnight.
Suddenly, Ye Lingling felt an extremely bold, even "rebellious," impulse.
Yan Yan and the others failed, does that mean... it's absolutely safe outside Xuan Hao's door now?
However.
Just as Ye Lingling stepped out of the room...
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
In the corridor, three other doors that were originally closed were suddenly opened at the same time, as if they had made a pact!
Dugu Yan, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu!
These three "radars," who hadn't slept at all and had been secretly observing from behind the door, almost instantly poked their heads out.
Six extremely sharp and wary eyes locked onto Ye Lingling, who had just poked half her body out and was standing there dumbfounded!
At that moment, it was as if the air in the corridor had been sucked out instantly.
Ye Lingling froze on the spot, her mind blank, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into!
Dugu Yan and the other two looked at each other in surprise.
No one expected that Ye Lingling, who usually seemed the most obedient and least threatening, would also have such a "stealing the oil from the rat" mentality, wanting to take advantage of everyone's fatigue to carry out a "secret operation"!
And so it was.
To prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation, this extremely absurd scene unfolded.
The four girls, each with their own hidden agendas, were unwilling to back down, and none of them dared to go back to their rooms to sleep.
They stood there, each in their own doorway, gripping the doorframes with both hands, staring at each other.
The four people's gazes clashed fiercely in the middle of the corridor, wary of each other, standing stiffly like a row of statues in the cold wind...
I stayed up until dawn!
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