Minute by minute, ti kept passing, hours went by as they waited.
"It’s been so long, and there’s no sound from outside. Do you think we might have been mistaken? Could that thing have left already, and we just can’t hear it?" Chu Jun said.
"It’s possible," Li Xiu nodded in agreent.
"Should we open the door a crack and take a look outside?" The silent waiting was unbearable. Chu Jun was struggling to hold on.
"Let’s wait a bit longer," Li Xiu said, maintaining his posture with his ear pressed against the door, expressionless. "If you’re tired, you can sleep for a while. I’ll wake you up later."
"Alright," Chu Jun said as he lay down beside him. But he tossed and turned, unable to sleep, his mind a chaotic ss, unsure of what he was thinking.
At so unknown point, Chu Jun fell into a hazy sleep, dreaming of a nightmare where a tsunami from the Black Sea engulfed Black Death City, subrging him in seawater, his body corroded by black water.
He desperately tried to swim to the surface, but his foot was entangled by sothing. Looking down, he saw a vengeful ghost under the water, grasping his foot with its bony, blood-red hand, pulling him down.
Terrified water ghosts surrounded him, dragging him down relentlessly.
"Ah!" Chu Jun awoke with a start, leaping up to find it was just a dream. There was no black water flooding the city, and no terrifying water ghosts.
The furnace on the long street still burned brightly, the charcoal occasionally crackling, while Li Xiu remained in his position listening intently at the city gate.
Chu Jun wanted to say sothing as he looked at Li Xiu, but Li Xiu made a gesture for silence.
Chu Jun swallowed his words, seeing Li Xiu motion for him to co closer. Chu Jun quickly moved over, pressing against the city gate to listen intently.
Soon, Chu Jun heard a sound like footsteps on sand, very faint, almost inaudible to anyone without the enhanced hearing of a Trial Taker.
Listening closely for a while, Chu Jun felt as though soone was stepping on sand, moving away from the gate.
"That was close, there really is sothing outside," Chu Jun thought with relief. If it hadn’t been for Li Xiu’s caution, he might have opened the door earlier, with unthinkable consequences.
Only when the footsteps were completely gone did Li Xiu lower his voice to speak to Chu Jun, "Whatever was outside has moved away."
"What on earth was it?" Chu Jun asked quietly.
"I don’t know, but it’s definitely sothing bad. Even if it’s human, it’s not soone good," Li Xiu replied.
Chu Jun nodded and asked Li Xiu, "How long did I sleep?"
"About seven hours, give or take a minute or two," Li Xiu answered.
Chu Jun looked at Li Xiu in shock and said, "So you’ve been listening here for over ten hours? How can you be sure there’s sothing outside?"
"I didn’t know, that’s why I needed an answer. If we left earlier, we could never be sure, unless we opened the door the next ti we ca, which would be too dangerous," Li Xiu said.
Chu Jun looked at Li Xiu with a complex expression. To stand in front of the city gate, unmoving and listening for more than ten hours for an answer that might not exist, showed a terrifying amount of patience.
But as Li Xiu said, without a way to confirm if sothing was outside, it would be too dangerous to open the door next ti they visited Black Death City.
"You rest for a while, let take over," Chu Jun said to Li Xiu, now calr thanks to Li Xiu’s influence.
Li Xiu nodded, laying down beside the door and closing his eyes to sleep.
Chu Jun quickly pressed his ear against the city gate, listening carefully, while activating his Inspiration Skill to sense if any demon spirits appeared outside.
After listening for a while, with ti passing indistinctly, Chu Jun felt increasingly uncomfortable.
Remaining motionless was more uncomfortable for him than doing hard labor, Chu Jun would rather run continuously than stay still like this.
Life is in movent, a natural instinct of life. Except when sleeping, making a person do nothing and stay still is far more uncomfortable than physical labor.
Moreover, Chu Jun was naturally restless, making the stillness unbearable.
"How did this guy manage to stay still for over ten hours? I should have been here less than an hour, but I already feel terrible," Chu Jun thought as he looked at the sleeping Li Xiu, wanting to move around, even just take a few steps or stretch.
In the end, Chu Jun gave up the thought, enduring his inner restlessness and continued listening for any sounds outside.
The longer ti passed, the more uncomfortable Chu Jun felt. He seed to hear his own heartbeat, feeling his blood vessels pulsate, and itched as though bugs were crawling on him.
He knew it was all psychological, just the urge to get up and move.
The worst part was not knowing the ti, how long he had been listening, or how much longer he had to listen, which was the most tornting.
"Li Xiu..." At so point, Chu Jun, unable to bear it any longer, softly called out, trying to wake Li Xiu to replace him for a while, to move a bit.
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