Locke and Hathaway walked on the empty streets of Mountain City.

The streets that were supposed to be brightly lit at night were extremely quiet. It felt as if the city was empty.

A cool night breeze blew past, accompanied by the sound of a gong.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Following that, Locke and Hathaway saw an old man with a hunched back appearing on the dark streets while beating a gong.

"Mountain City is no longer safe at night these days. Everyone should close their doors and windows. After the sun sets, try not to leave the house!" The old man used his hoarse voice to shout loudly.

Every time he shouted, he would beat drums and gongs and then shout again.

"Mountain City isn't safe at night..."

After hearing the old man's words, Hathaway frowned and whispered.

Locke used his big hand to pat the back of her soft hand and said confidently, "Don't worry, I won't let you get hurt."

Feeling the warmth of Locke's palm, Hathaway felt an unprecedented sense of security.

It felt as if with Locke around, she no longer needed to worry about anything.

"Okay!"

Hathaway nodded slightly, her voice as gentle as water.

"Let's go and get the details from him."

After saying this, Locke took her hand and approached the old man.

"Hello!"

Locke waved his hand and smiled: "We came to Mountain City for our vacation. Can you tell us why the city isn't safe these days?"

After hearing the voice, the old man with a hunched back looked at the two of them with turbid eyes. In the dark night, it seemed a bit strange.

In the next moment, he said bluntly: "I'm occupied at the moment."

Then, he turned around and continued to bang the gong. Before he left however, he threw in these words, "You should quickly find a place to rest. Don't blame me for whatever comes next."

"What's up with his attitude?" Hathaway was dissatisfied with the old man's response and pouted.

Locke's bright eyes stared at the old man's back for a moment before commenting, "Forget it, don't bother. Let's find a place to spend the night at."

Although Locke did not seem to care, he had his guard up.

Since the moment he entered the city, he felt that there was something wrong with Mountain City.

Under normal circumstances, very few cities would close their gates at night, and there was usually no curfew imposed.

A curfew meant that once night fell, civilians were not allowed to go out and could only stay in their houses.

If it was in a remote mountainous area where there were many Daemons wandering around, Locke could understand their reasoning.

Daemons in those regions were usually abnormally strong, after all.

However, Locke had already confirmed that there were no Daemons in the vicinity of Mountain City.

Even if there were, their strength was not that great. The guards could easily defend against them. There was no need to close the city gates or curfew.

The strange actions of the guards at the city gates and that strange old man had made Locke feel that the mountain city was full of strange things.

"There's a hotel in front. Let's stay there tonight."

Suddenly, Hathaway's ethereal voice made Locke snap back to reality.

He looked up and saw a neon-lit hotel on the dark street.

"Let's go and take a look."

Locke collected his thoughts and held Hathaway's hand as they walked towards the hotel.

At this moment, Locke felt that he should relax. They would only be in Mountain City for a day and would continue to tour the world the next day. Why worry about Mountain City's activities?

Not long after, Locke and Hathaway arrived at the hotel.

Although the lights were on inside the hotel, the door was closed.

Locke saw that the hotel did not have a sign that said it was not open, so he went forward and knocked on the door.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

Three crisp knocks rang out in the silent night.

"Creak ~"

After a long time, the hotel door opened.

A middle-aged man entered Locke and Hathaway's sight.

After he appeared, he did not immediately ask the two of them what was their intention. Instead, he looked around with a worried and frightened look.

Not noticing anything unusual, he made a relaxed gesture and asked, "It's so late. What's the matter?"

"Hello, we are outsiders. We just happened to be traveling here today. We hope to stay here for a night," Locke said politely.

"Outsiders?" The middle-aged man felt a bit surprised. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Wait a moment. I'll go and ask the manager."

Once he had finished speaking, he hurriedly closed the door and disappeared from Locke and Hathaway's sight.

Logically speaking, if they wanted to invite Locke and Hathaway, they should have invited them in first.

Even if they could not arrange accommodations for the two of them, as a service establishment, they should not leave their customers outside. This was a big taboo in the industry.

Fortunately, Locke and Hathaway had taken into account the abnormal situation in Mountain City and did not argue with the middle-aged man.

After a few minutes, the hotel door opened again.

This time, the middle-aged man was not the only one who greeted them.

There was also an old man with white hair and wrinkles.

"Please come in."

The old man stood in front of the middle-aged man and made an inviting gesture to Locke and Hathaway.

"Thank you."

After politely thanking them, he held Hathaway's hand and walked into the hotel.

The old man ordered the middle-aged man close the door, then lowered Locke and Hathaway to the front desk and asked, "What room do you want?"

Seeing that the old man had gone straight to the point, Locke cut to the chase as well. "A single room will do."

"Okay, give me a moment." After busily typing away, the old man then handed a crystal to Locke with a line of numbers engraved on it.

"Thank you." Locke thanked him again, took the crystal, and took Hathaway upstairs.

The crystal was called a Balance Crystal. It was very common in this world and had many uses.

After getting this thing in the hotel, Locke could understand that it was equivalent to a room card in the hotel in his previous life, but it had many hidden functions.

Then, he followed the number carved on the crystal and went to room "608".

After entering the room, Locke turned on the crystal lamp and closed the door.

"Why didn't you ask that old man just now what's happening in Mountain City?"

Hathaway asked.

Locke took off his coat and said: "He won't say anything. Just look at his attitude."

As he spoke, he hung his coat on the hanger.

"Moreover, we will leave Mountain City tomorrow. There is no need to care about what's happening here." Locke said as he walked into the bathroom, "Do you want to come?"

Hathaway's face instantly turned red, but she still nodded slightly.

...

"City Lord, the imperial guards reported that two Beastmasters entered the city just as the city gates were about to close."

In a dark space, a respectful voice sounded.

Following that, a sinister voice replied, "Two Beastmasters?"

After a moment of silence in the dark space, the demonic voice let out a burst of laughter.

"Hahaha! The heavens are on my side! We can begin our operation tonight."