Again, Lin Jin was the first to exit the Visitation Hall. This time, instead of leaving completely, Lin Jin waited silently behind the door. There were two reasons for this. One was to listen in on his visitors’ discussion. Secondly, he suddenly felt like investigating something.
After a long wait, all visitors bid each other farewell and left. Lin Jin reappeared and jumped down to the first floor. He went over to the first three doors labeled one, two, and three.
The wooden token stolen from the Qiao family was number three, and the one stolen from Appraiser Yang Ming was number two.
He could confirm that the Demonic Appraisal Association was hunting for the visitor tokens that were left outside the museum. Lin Jin had a hunch that they must know what the tokens were for.
Sadly, even if Lin Jin was the Visitation Hall’s current Curator, he still couldn’t clarify their intentions.
“Perhaps I can open these three doors!” Lin Jin mumbled to himself.
He went over to door number one and tried pushing it. It wouldn’t budge. The wooden door felt heavy as if a thousand men were bearing down on it. Lin Jin already expected this, so he placed both hands on the door and started pushing hard.
It surprised Lin Jin when the door opened slightly after he utilized his pet beasts’ might. Stunned, Lin Jin decided to observe for any changes for a moment. Door number one showed no signs of reaction so Lin Jin decided to push again. Before long, he managed to open up door number one.
After the door was pushed open, he was greeted by a grayish aura of death emerged. There wasn’t a lot of the aura, and apart from that, Lin Jin did not notice any other irregularities so he didn’t mind it.
Inside the door was a mysterious area where the human eye could see. Apart from that slice, every other part of the space was pitch black.
Lin Jin had asked He Qing and the others before so he knew this was normal.
Lin Jin found nothing unusual inside door number one.
After a thought, he went over to door number three. This door’s token had long since been stolen by the Demonic Appraisal Association. Lin Jin wanted to see what laid inside so he started pushing the door.
He felt the resistance of weight on his palms.
Just like before, Lin Jin exerted more force.
His strength was unlike before. If his first pet beast was said to have given him a boost in strength, allowing Lin Jin to enjoy the might of three folds more than the average person, then his second pet beast had boosted his physical body, giving him a strength increase of at least ten folds.
It was a massive leap in power.
Blood-red aura began to surge around Lin Jin, enveloping him in a layer of crimson light. This added a layer of terror and mystery to his masked being.
Door number three began to creak from Lin Jin’s push. Right now, Lin Jin possessed the might of dragons and elephants combined.
Despite that, door number three still refused to budge, as if it had been soldered shut.
This turned out differently from door number one and Lin Jin was startled. He had just discovered something new.
Lin Jin continued increasing his strength until he finally reached the maximum point. The crimson light around him burned like flames and with this energy, Lin Jin should have been able to move mountains.
Finally, the unmoving third door opened up slightly.
Though it was only a tiny slit, Lin Jin saw it as a huge breakthrough. However, before Lin Jin could even start laughing, the situation took a sharp turn.
Traces of grayish aura of death began seeping out of door number three in volumes greater than door number one.
Having learned the Inhale-Exhale Technique before, the study of this cultivation had talked about the different types of energy this world possessed.
Among the most frightening of auras was the gray aura of death. If even the slightest bit of the aura was inhaled, one’s cultivation would come crumbling down immediately. The victim would be greatly weakened. Worst case scenario, they would die from exposure to the aura.
Lin Jin immediately held his breath.
Gray auras of death were rarely found. This was why Lin Jin found it strange that so much was seeping out from door number three.
The next instant, ash-gray fingers suddenly reached out from the open slit and grabbed the door, as if trying to help Lin Jin open up the stubborn door.
Lin Jin jumped in shock and he subconsciously retracted his energy.
The door began to shut. Although reluctant, the gray finger quickly pulled away.
Then, the door closed with a ‘clack’.
Lin Jin flung his sleeve, fanning away the aura of death that remained outside the door. The expression underneath his mask was grim.
“What were those ghastly fingers about?” Lin Jin mumbled to himself.
Lin Jin wouldn’t have panicked if he encountered this somewhere else, but he was here in the Visitation Hall. This was his turf, where he thought was the safest place in the world. To think that there were even hidden dangers here.
This won’t do.
No one could tolerate having a noisy rat in their house.
Lin Jin backed off from the door. Although he knew the door could block off what was on the other side, that moment still shocked him.
Only the unknown was most terrifying.
Subsequently, Lin Jin began to ponder. He recalled everything about the Visitation Hall from start to finish, leaving nothing out.
First, the Visitation Hall had been a door Lin Jin discovered inside the museum. He had officially activated the hall the moment he pushed it open.
Each door in the hall belonged to only one person and the hall would choose visitors from all over the world as their guests.
Even now, Lin Jin didn’t understand the selection mechanism or how the Visitation Hall managed to achieve this feat.
Before this incident, Lin Jin was like an ostrich. Even though he should have realized the danger that lurked behind something so mysterious, he still chose to believe in the Visitation Hall unconditionally, to trust the Museum of Deadly Beasts wholeheartedly.
Today, that false sense of security was shattered.
Just what was behind this Visitation Hall’s door number three?
Lin Jin was now dying to uncover the truth. After all, who could be sure that the thing wouldn’t just open the door on its own someday?
Anyhow, Lin Jin felt immensely threatened by those dried-up zombie-like fingers.
That wasn’t something good.
Lin Jin wasn’t being an alarmist. After all, if he could open the door on his own, that thing inside could probably do the same too.
Then, Lin Jin turned to door number two.
Today, he had tried opening doors number one and three. One was empty while the other contained a mysterious danger.
What did door number two hold?
Would it be empty like door number two, or would it contain another lethal threat?
After repeated hesitation, Lin Jin decided to give up on trying to open it. He had a hunch that door number two also held a terrifying threat.
This was because of the Demonic Appraisal Association.
Such an idea had surfaced in Lin Jin’s mind. The Demonic Appraisal Association had just stolen the Qiao family’s number three token and Yang Ming’s number two token.
Both doors must have something to do with each other.
What about token number one then?
