Chapter 140: Yin Yuan Opens a New Lock: The Haunted House's Terror

Louis simply stayed in the room, constantly monitoring her condition.

Yulencar walked up and leaned against the door, watching Emma. “Maria called me this morning—she said they went to see Jiali. She’s been bullied by some people at school; a pipe burst in the bathroom, causing injuries and deaths, and Jiali was sent to the hospital.”

“They won’t be back for lunch.”

Louis glanced at Yulencar and, knowing her well, asked directly, “What are you planning to do?”

“Of course revenge—I left, and now they treat me like nothing. I must make Krista understand that some people she can’t afford to provoke!” Yulencar’s expression turned slightly grotesque.

She had never been a well-behaved girl—not even in front of Louis. Now, she had earned respect by demonstrating her value and ability. And now, someone was openly retaliating against someone she had publicly vowed to protect, because of her.

This was slapping her face. If she didn’t retaliate, she wasn’t Yulencar.

“Mm.” Louis nodded in approval.

In his eyes, this was just a trivial matter—whatever.

Besides, Jiali was at least his neighbor; if she was bullied, helping out was reasonable.

“How’s your cultivation going?” Louis asked casually.

“I’m not as fast as Emma—her progress clearly outpaces mine. I’ll probably need more time.”

“Don’t rush. Take it slow.”

Time passed slowly amid their casual chatter.

Louis suddenly paused. “Let’s go get some food.”

Yulencar froze, then understood, and together they went downstairs, fetched some food, heated it, and brought it up.

Just as they set it down.

A low gurgle sounded.

Emma opened her eyes immediately, her small nose twitching as she spotted the steaming food—her eyes instantly gleamed green.

She jumped up, barefoot, and dashed across the wooden floor with loud thumps, devouring the food with zero ladylike decorum.

Only after eating an entire roasted chicken did her pace slow. She washed her hands, brushed her teeth, then went back to shoving cake into her mouth.

While shoving in another piece of cake, she bragged to Louis and Yulencar, “Breaking through feels amazing—I feel like a whole new person, way more energetic.”

She kept glancing at Yulencar—her meaning was obvious.

Yulencar’s face remained calm, but her fists clenched tightly.

Calm down, calm down—Louis is still here. Yes, because Louis is here. Otherwise, I’d have smashed that smug dog’s head to pulp! It’s definitely not because I might lose!

Seeing Yulencar’s forced composure, Emma laughed harder.

Then, as if remembering something, her eyes flickered. She moved behind Louis, pressed her body against his back, wrapped her arms around him, smeared a glob of cake on her finger, and held it to his lips.

Her head rested against his other shoulder, her black hair releasing the scent of shower gel; her soft, cool cheek pressed against his face, while her other hand plucked strands of hair and brushed them lightly against his ear. Emma’s eyes crinkled with delight.

Yulencar’s eyes narrowed too. She sensed this girl wasn’t about to say anything good. Louis also felt a sudden unease.

Sure enough, the next second, she spoke words straight out of a tiger’s mouth.

“Now that I’ve broken through, can we sleep together?”

“I was the first. Unlike someone else—who’s wasted all this time on useless things.”

Yulencar’s cheek twitched. Fuck! I really want to hit her!

Though this kind of passive-aggressive teasing was low-class, coming from Emma, it somehow made her unbearably angry—her belly full of fire!

Especially seeing Emma flaunting herself here, teasing Louis—it made her feel suffocated.

Should I spend more time on the Jade Maiden Art and Qi Gong?

At this moment, Louis also felt utterly helpless. What could he say? What should he say? He didn’t know!

Besides, Emma needed better food. Though her weight on his back wasn’t uncomfortable, the cake on her fingers and the cheek-rubbing motion made his skin itch.

Seeing Louis silent, Yulencar snorted, said nothing, and walked out—though whether intentionally or not, she shut the door behind her.

Watching Yulencar flee in defeat, victorious Emma licked her lips—but didn’t let go of Louis. Instead, she shoved the cake on her finger into his mouth.

She blew gently against his ear.

Damn, this was brazen!

Louis glanced at her, exerted force with both hands, and flipped her over.

Emma was already very beautiful now.

Long black hair, a sharply defined, refined face—especially her aura: cold, with a hint of cunning, a smug smile on her lips, her gaze seeming to look down on everything, stirring forbidden thoughts.

Her figure wasn’t voluptuous, but her aura was strong, her face stunning, and the black hooded outfit only enhanced it.

Well, what to do next was now clear.

…

Louis had once learned a lock-picking technique from Lu Ban called Blood Gold Hinge, which helped him open the manor’s gate—but now he felt this technique was still too limited.

Fortunately, Louis seemed to have an astonishing talent in this area, self-taught, and had now developed a more powerful, newer, and more versatile lock-picking method.

Generally, unopened locks are harder to pick—requiring caution, even lubrication.

But this lock was different—hard-headed, even more brutal than Louis himself.

Fortunately, Louis wasn’t weak. After a brief familiarity, he picked it effortlessly, while the lock itself began to struggle.

New locks are new locks—even hard-headed ones. This one, for instance, started whimpering softly.

Louis, as a novice eager to learn lock-picking, though fond of it, refused to give up. After comforting it, he began studying its internal structure carefully.

To accumulate experience—for future mastery of more locks.

Soon, Louis learned two lock-picking methods. Two!

One was standard picking. The other was reverse picking.

The difficulty wasn’t high, but the compatibility was excellent—the lock opened with satisfying ease.

Especially since this lock was stubborn—even when crying, it refused to surrender. This made Louis study longer. There was no choice: dealing with such a unique new lock demanded full attention, meticulous, careful study.

Hours passed.

Louis’s key touched the lock core again. He turned it gently—click.

The lock opened.

Louis propped himself up with one hand, moved the other randomly, eyes vacant, savoring the lock-picking process to accumulate experience.

Emma lay limp, silent.

Or perhaps, unable to speak.

…

Actually, there were some sensations during lock-picking that could only be felt, not described. Now, as Louis recalled them, he found them deeply satisfying.

Like that cool, icy sensation.

That was what was called Yin Yuan.

Louis felt the Yin and Yang Qi swirling wildly within him. He crossed his legs and began guiding them actively.

Yin Yuan is a special byproduct of dual-cultivation techniques, referring generally to Yin essence. When properly harnessed, it effectively promotes Qi circulation and facilitates the transformation of Qi into Shen, breaking through cultivation barriers.

Now, Louis was guiding the Yin and Yang Qi within him, aiming to transform Qi into Shen and break through the bottleneck.

At this moment, the Image of the Divine Lord appeared in his mind.

Vast, boundless, overwhelmingly majestic.

Buddhist, Daoist, Confucian.

Three forces strangely fused. Louis used this as his target for transformation.

The mental discipline he had honed day and night now paid off. Though each mental construction brought unbearable headaches, his unyielding spirit and the endless support from within kept him going.

Gradually,

In his mind, within the Niwan Palace, a space began to open. The Image of the Divine Lord emerged—but the figure within was blurred, faintly resembling Louis’s face, yet utterly different.

Sometimes a Confucian hat. Sometimes a shaved head. Sometimes long hair.

Finally, it settled into one form: the Sovereign.

As the four forms rotated, they grew clearer.

When fully formed, Louis would break through to the Yin Shen realm.

…

As Louis broke through,

Jiali had already returned to the apartment. Maria, Madison, Su, and others had arrived too.

Madison looked at the gloomy surroundings and frowned. Good. She had already decided: she would never come here again.

At that moment, a friendly-looking Mexican woman spotted them, blinked, then smiled. “Jiali?”

“Are these your friends?”

“Yes, Aunt Amber, these are my friends. They came to keep me company.”

Though Jiali subtly disliked this woman, the woman had never done anything evil—on the contrary, she had been kind to her and her mother. Jiali naturally wouldn’t speak harshly.

“Haha, good! Jiali has many friends!” Amber’s gaze unconsciously swept over the three.

“New guests—all women. Let me prepare tea for you. Enjoy yourselves.”

After speaking warmly, she turned to leave—when Jiali suddenly asked, “Aunt Amber, did you see my mom today?”

“I tried calling her, but the line’s dead.”

“Oh, Margaret? I helped her get a new job. She probably went there today. The signal’s bad there, so she didn’t answer your call. Don’t worry—she should be back tonight.”

“Oh, I see. Thank you, Aunt Amber.”

After she left, Madison said, “The environment’s not great, but the landlord’s pretty warm.”

“By the way, what did she mean by ‘all women’? It sounded… odd.”

"Oh, the apartment owner said this is a women’s mutual aid space, so most of the tenants are women, but I always feel she has another motive."

"Never mind, maybe I’m overthinking it. Come in, both of you."

Maria was suspicious; years of being bullied had taught her that no stranger would be this friendly!

If they were, there must be something wrong with them!

(End of Chapter)