13 The Moon Is High and the Wind Is Dark. When the Shadow Is Present

"Creak."

Qin Feng pushed open the old house's door. The sound of wood rubbing against each other could be heard. It seemed like nothing had changed since his last visit. 

"Ding Dong! House owner experience +1 (3/10)"

Qin Feng could not help but ask, "System, can you answer me?"

After a moment of silence, he gave up. Then, he began thinking to himself, 'Why did I gain experience for just coming home? I haven't done anything, right? Last time, I gained experience because I fished from the Myriad World Pond and picked up a pill from another world.'

It was really strange. The system did not really explain anything. 

Based on what Qin Feng heard earlier, he was seven points away from leveling up. Once he leveled up, would the old house follow suit? By then, would a conversation function be activated? If Qin Feng had to guess, this old house probably mutated because of the system. He kept wondering why he gained experience by simply returning home.

The system felt similar to those in games. Maybe it was something like daily check-in. There should be certain rewards for each day in addition to the experience points. This was Qin Feng's conclusion. He could not think of anything else.

...

At noon, Qin Feng sat by the pond and began fishing again. He should be able to catch something ordinary. After all, there was a seven days cooldown. 

After an hour, he stood up and headed to the storeroom instead. All he found was firewood. Qin Feng then went to look at the other rooms. Everything seemed perfectly normal.

In the end, Qin Feng decided to cook some food. He made a simple meat dish with some vegetables and placed it on the dining table. Ever since his attribute points increased, so did his appetite. Normally, two bowls of rice would be enough to fill him. However, today, he ate three times the regular amount. 

Once Qin Feng was done eating, he began working out. After warming up, he did some push-ups, pull-ups, and running with weights. The effects of such activities were minimal, but it was better than nothing. 

Qin Feng took out his phone and began searching for other ways to exercise on the internet. In this world, things were a little different. Searching for almost anything was easy, except when it came to martial arts. The information available was basic and had no value. Occasionally, some martial artists would be willing to reveal some valuable information, but they would be very vague about it.

Qin Feng felt that it was strange. This world already had plenty of skilled martial artists. Why did the federal government still try to censor matters related to martial arts? Was the public unaware of something? It was probably something that would cause a mass panic if publicized. Of course, this was only a guess. Nothing was guaranteed. Nonetheless, Qin Feng's desire to learn martial arts just kept growing! Only those who were strong could stand on top of the world.

In a blink of an eye, it was nighttime. A crescent moon could be seen high up in the skies. As a martial artist, Qin Feng needed to be disciplined. Hence, he took a nice hot bath and went to bed at nine o'clock. The moonlight shone through the window and onto Qin Feng's body. A still shadow was formed. 

Suddenly, the shadow moved! It sat down cross-legged and appeared to be absorbing the moon's essence. Time slowly passed.

Around midnight, something strange happened. The shadow actually ran away! It seemed to have a will on its own! Qin Feng was still sleeping soundly. He had no idea what took place.

...

At a certain martial arts temple, the shadow was hiding somewhere near a room.

The monk who was on sweeping duty did not notice it. This shadow did not move at all and only stared at the monk. Was it waiting for him to leave?

Ten minutes later, the monk had finished his duties. He closed and locked the door before leaving. As he left, the shadow quickly entered. It stood before the bookshelves with countless scriptures. 

This place was actually the Shaolin Martial Arts Scripture Depository. People all over the world were interested in the contents of those scriptures. 

The Shaolin Temple was filled with numerous experts. Not a single thief dared to challenge them. They could only look at the treasures and sigh silently. No one expected a shadow to trespass this heavily guarded place. After all, a shadow was not a living creature nor was it a matter or object. It was merely an area of darkness that formed when the light was blocked by something. 

Thus, if someone said a shadow was acting on its own, others would laugh and ridicule them.