Old King showed a mysterious smile, shook his head, and didn’t answer. Instead, he said, “This problem is even trickier than I imagined. The complexity of the space-time node is beyond my comprehension, and I still don’t know the reason. But we can start with you, improving your mental strength and resistance to cope with this situation.”

He then took out a card the size of an ID: “This is what I said I’d give you last night. Although it’s quite old, I’ve barely used it, so it’s still in good condition. It’s an item used by mages to assist with meditation, helping a person quickly calm their mind, eliminate distractions, and even help ordinary people sleep better. But it seems it’s no longer enough for your situation.”

William Clark took it in a daze. The card was very thin, even thinner than an ID or bank card, about the size of a playing card, but very hard, with a brass color all over.

“The magic array I set up in the hotel last night clearly didn’t work for you either.” Old King shook his head. “Next, I’ll teach you a meditation technique. It can enhance your mental strength, make your brain stronger, improve your recovery, and during meditation, help you quickly regain a good mental state, as well as increase your resistance to external invasive forces. And this card happens to help you enter the meditative state better.”

“No problem!” William Clark nodded solemnly and seriously, then looked straight at Old King and said, “Thank you so much!”

He felt that this meditation technique was definitely not that simple!

Maybe it hid the secret to becoming a god! Maybe it was the legacy of some ancient emperor!

So, he began the process of learning the meditation technique.

This was also his first real contact with magical civilization—what Old King did to him before didn’t count.

The meditation technique was unexpectedly simple, but William Clark felt this fit the principle that the greatest truths are the simplest, so he didn’t underestimate it and instead studied even more earnestly. As a result, his learning speed even exceeded Old King’s expectations.

Just as he was about to succeed in the first step of trying the meditation technique for the first time, he suddenly heard a knock at the door from across the hall.

“Knock, knock, knock…”

Then came Emily Clark’s cool voice: “William Clark, get up! Don’t tell me you’re still lazing in bed!”

“Uh.” William Clark was embarrassed. “Are regular single rooms really this poorly soundproofed…”

He glanced at Old King, and Old King looked back at him.

Should he go out or not?

At that moment, Emily Clark’s voice came again: “William Clark, open the door! Are you pretending not to hear me? It’s already ten o’clock. If you don’t open up, I’m coming in myself!!”

Actually, her voice was quite soft, hardly disturbing anyone, but the hotel was just too quiet in the morning.

“……” William Clark was helpless.

When he opened the door and left Old King’s room, he saw Emily Clark standing there with a master key card, about to swipe open his room. She was also holding a bag of soup dumplings and a tube of soy milk.

Immediately, Emily Clark froze.

The two stared at each other.

One was wearing sports shorts and a white T-shirt, sweat making her hair stick to her forehead, cheeks slightly flushed—obviously just back from a morning run.

The other was in big shorts, bare-chested, flip-flops, hair messy, dark circles even deeper than yesterday, looking even more haggard and exhausted than before he’d rested—clearly… just drained by the female ghost from Lanruo Temple.

Emily Clark instinctively took a step back, looked at the room number above, then at the one next door.

No mistake!

The two were speechless.

After a long while, William Clark broke the silence, awkwardly saying, “Just… just got back from a run?”

Emily Clark just stared at him blankly, not answering at all. When she came to her senses, her first move was to tiptoe and crane her neck to look past William Clark into the room—

An old man with completely white hair!

The expression on her face shifted from dazed to shocked. She stared fixedly at William Clark for a long time before shoving the dumplings and soy milk into his hands, saying, “Brought you breakfast…”

Before William Clark could explain, she turned and left!

After two steps, she turned back: “Oh right, the dumplings and soy milk are seven-fifty, plus what I ate… it’s thirty-eight-fifty in total, WeChat me the money!”

With that, she quickened her pace.

William Clark opened his mouth, but couldn’t say a word before her figure disappeared at the end of the hallway.

Chapter 8: An Old Hand

William Clark returned to his own room, feeling mentally drained. He sat in a daze for a while before washing up, then ate breakfast and changed clothes to go downstairs.

That couple was just leaving at this time too, standing by the front desk talking to Emily Clark. The girl looked inquiring, while the boy kept sneaking glances at Emily Clark, but with a noticeable shyness.

William Clark walked over, nodded to them, and asked with a smile, “Heading out for some fun?”

“Yeah, we’re just asking how to get to Du Fu Thatched Cottage by subway.” The girl turned to him with a sweet smile. Just like guys like looking at pretty girls, she liked looking at handsome guys too. “But we’ve got it figured out now.”

“That’s good.” William Clark nodded.

“Hmm, looks like you didn’t sleep well last night!” The girl immediately noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

Hearing this, William Clark looked embarrassed, while Emily Clark couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth.