'What? Do you have a better solution? Please pitch Mr. Crow using your vast intelligence to enlighten this foolish one.' Lana winced at the pain. Who said crows were fragile animals? When they clamp on something, it is as agonizing as a dog biting!
Mr. Crow resisted the urge to use his beak to peck her head and see if it was filled with venom.
Yet even after thinking long and hard, he couldn't come up with any alternative plan... he had to admit... Lana was indeed correct.
Hotels? Off the chart.
Friends? Some might help out of necessity, but they will eventually be forced by the Almond family.
Parks? Gardens? They don't allow people to stay inside after 10 pm. And since Lana hasn't reached the Yellow Rank, she couldn't even hold her breath to hide her presence.
Cemetery? A good idea, but the ghost there might be more powerful than in any other place.
Seeing Mr. Crow silent, Lana rolled her eyes when her eyes met a pair of pitch-black eyes.
"Hello, I am Mathilda Ferns. I would be eternally grateful if you could solve my case."
'Miss, even I will be grateful if you just back out.' Lana silently thought, yet a smile was plastered on her face.
"Sure. Sure. By the way, my name is Lana. Just tell me your address."
"Oh! Right! It's..."
After confirming the minor details, Mathilda left, leaving behind Lana and Monk Anaro.
"I will show you your room." Monk Anaro, like an amiable, elderly man, led the way; his slow and steady steps hardly made any sound.
Lana jogged up to catch up with him and asked like a curious student, "Monk, do you have divination power?"
If he did... it wasn't a surprise that he could guess that she was there for free lodging.
"Hm." Monk Anaro touched his long beard thoughtfully. Lana resisted the urge to touch the beard and averted her gaze.
On the way she made some small talk to prevent any awkwardness, and to her relief, Monk Anaro played along.
Soon they stopped by a room with a wooden door. There was some ancient scripture carved on the wooden door, making it look mysterious and safe.
"Here. You can settle your stuff in the room."
"Thank you, Monk." Lana bowed her head in gratitude; for some reason, the air, though cold, didn't seem chilly.
"Hm. Sleep tonight. Sometimes resisting the memories can cause the restlessness to magnify." Monk Anaro's eyes flashed with pity as he stared at Lana.
"You are so thoughtful! Rest assured! I will sleep well." Lana replied with a huge grin, as if she were unaware of the hidden meaning in his words.
"Child, in case you can't hold it in, just come to me." Monk Anaro ignored Lana's attempt to brush off the matter.
'So cryptic. What is he even talking about? Sleep? Hm... now that I think about it... this woman hasn't slept since the day she had awakened her mystic superpower.'
Strangely enough, Mr. Crow frowned when he remembered how Lana hadn't slept. She was cultivating for 8 days straight; before that, she had drunk the herbal soup, and that night too, she didn't sleep. It was the first day he had met her; he had knocked her out.
But how did the monk know Lana hadn't slept for days? Even he didn't notice it.
"Mr. Monk, I would have been moved to tears if I were your real daughter." Lana even dramatically wiped her imaginary tears, making Mr. Crow's lips twitch.
Monk Anaro only shook his head in dismay. "I will leave, young lady. Remember my advice."
With that, his robe fluttered in the wind, while the sound of steady and calm steps sounded like a horror movie's intro scene.
Lana shuddered, rubbing her arm to dissipate the chill.
Without hesitation, she focused her attention on the room.
Touching the dirt-covered door, goosebumps rose on her body. Suppressing the slightly creeping disgust, she gave a light push.
Lana closed her eyes and stepped back slightly from the door, expecting a filthy room; however, no dust assaulted her as she had anticipated.
Instead, what greeted her was the sight of a neat and clean room. There was a bed with a white mattress and a open cupboard, though the room was practically empty and compact; the moonlight flittering out of the window added a dreamy touch.
The main reason was the Lunacite stone. It had a luxurious touch to it and even made a room as minimalistic as the one in front of her appear high-end and aesthetically pleasing.