Chapter 65: The “Ordinary Person” Who Creates the Initial Scene Spring Breeze Charm
On this night, beneath the Huacheng River Crossing Bridge, in the third archway on the south bank.
The archway under the bridge had become a shelter for many homeless people for a long time, with many illegal structures built haphazardly.
While they were called buildings, in reality, they were just makeshift shacks made from iron sheets and wooden boards, barely providing shelter from wind and rain.
After the sun began to exhibit anomalies and the number of urban legends surged, this place was completely abandoned; the tilted shacks remained, but their residents had long since disappeared.
This left Gu Qiqi with a great opportunity.
By hunting the urban legend known as the “Old Black Man,” who had originally considered the shacks under the bridge as his lair, this place became her “lair.”
The night was deep, with embers from a dying campfire floating in the air.
Two pieces of iron sheet were propped up by wooden beams against the wall; although there was no door, it could be considered a shelter from the wind and rain.
Under the makeshift shelter, Gu Qiqi sat cross-legged on a sofa she had scavenged from a second-hand market, meticulously counting the little money she earned from odd jobs over the past week.
She pulled out crumpled bills from a sack beside her, sorting them by denomination and then stuffing them into a piggy bank.
Though it was just a rusty paint bucket transformed into a piggy bank, and it didn’t hold much, Gu Qiqi treasured it dearly. She had even carefully welded four little legs and a pair of ears onto it, trying to make it look like a little pig.
“Seventy… eighty… eighty-two… eighty-two yuan one…”
After a week of odd jobs and deducting daily expenses, Gu Qiqi had saved two hundred eighty-two yuan and three jiao, a small amount that she was quite satisfied with.
However, that heap of loose bills, along with ten coins, made the system feel like she was being pathetic.
“Gu Qiqi, didn’t I tell you before? You are the protagonist, the savior! How can you do odd jobs? That’s just too low-profile! In the future, when you achieve great things, this will be part of your dark history!”
“No one will know anyway!” Gu Qiqi said impatiently, “There haven’t been any tasks lately. If I don’t do odd jobs, I’ll starve to d*ath!”
The system, “…”
It wanted to say, you eat so much, only the cheapest takeaway costing ten yuan per box, and can easily eat thirty to fifty yuan in one meal; it’s a miracle you aren’t starving!
But considering the girl’s pride, it held back.
“Speaking of tasks, Gu Qiqi, the school anniversary is approaching. Are you ready?”
Gu Qiqi nodded seriously, patting the paint bucket piggy bank, “Of course, of course! I’ve saved almost five hundred yuan. That’s enough to buy a cheap dress!”
“I…” the system hesitated, then after a few seconds of silence, continued, “I meant, have you arranged to infiltrate Ma Zhen’s laboratory and come into contact with that set of bamboo slips?”
“Eh?!” Gu Qiqi tilted her head, her expression seemed to say, “Is there such a thing?”
“d*mn it, I knew you’d forget! If you haven’t come into contact with that set of bamboo slips before the moonlight night, you can’t enter that space!” the system suppressed its anger, “Fortunately, there’s still time.”
“Ugh!” Gu Qiqi pouted in grievance, “What do you mean? I clearly told you to remind me!”
The system awkwardly replied, “I… I forgot too…”
“Eww—!” Gu Qiqi hissed in disdain, “System, you’re so dumb!”
“…” The system was momentarily at a loss for words, unsure how to retort.
It wasn’t just because a terrifying figure had appeared in your school recently, always lurking and watching.
Who knows what their purpose is? Is it also related to that set of bamboo slips?
If that’s the case, it would be troublesome! The system thought; the trajectory of fate is becoming more and more different from its memories, becoming intricate and unstable, leaving one feeling insecure.
“System?”
“I’m here.”
“What exactly is in the place indicated by those bamboo slips?” Gu Qiqi asked in confusion.
The system pondered for a few seconds and slowly said, “One hundred sacrifices, ten marauders, one deceased god, a god-man opening the heavenly gate, the gate opens, reading the celestial records; who cares, life after life, from dawn till dusk.”
“What?!” Gu Qiqi looked confused, “System, even though you’re not human, I am! Can you speak in human language? Otherwise, I won’t understand!”
Clearly, it’s your brain that doesn’t work! The system silently cursed, then responded, “In short, there was a group of people in ancient times, following the orders of their king, taking a hundred young boys and girls to the mountains to find immortals. After finding immortals, they became obsessed with the books given by the immortals and couldn’t leave in time, ultimately getting trapped in a strange place.”
“And then?” Gu Qiqi pressed for more.
“You don’t need to know it that clearly.”
“When the time comes, you just go in and find the formula I told you about; after you find it, write it down and get out quickly.”
“System…”
“Mm?”
“Why don’t I just take the formula directly? What if I can’t remember it, or remember it wrong?” Gu Qiqi said slowly.
“The bamboo slips can only allow your projection to reach that strange place; you can’t take anything from inside, so you have to memorize it!”
“System…”
“Mm?”
“Are you lying to me?” Gu Qiqi pouted.
“…” The system fell silent for a few seconds, its tone becoming mechanical and cold, “Hello, host. I’m just an emotionless system and don’t know what deception is, nor would I deceive.”
Gu Qiqi opened her mouth but stopped talking, pulling out her phone to search for shops selling dresses online.
Many girls have fantasized about wearing beautiful skirts to attend a fairy-tale ball, preferably encountering a prince at midnight.
Gu Qiqi was no exception.
“Why do you always think about meeting a prince? I understand now; do you think only wealth like a prince can sustain you?” The system finally seized the opportunity and made a counterattack.
Gu Qiqi pouted, “You wouldn’t understand! You’re just an emotionless system. You can’t comprehend what we girls are thinking!”
The system, “…”
……
At midnight, under the cover of night, Lin Yiqi stealthily climbed onto the roof of the Huacheng University library, and in the corner of the small garden, she found the girl who was staring at the moon in a daze.
As soon as Lin Yiqi stepped into the small garden on the roof, the girl noticed her presence, turned around, and through the small hole in her mask, one could see her eyes arcing in two curves.
“Hey, you’re here? I haven’t seen you for several days.”
“…” Lin Yiqi hesitated for a moment, then paused for a few seconds before explaining, “These days have been moonless nights, and the activities of the Siye Society have been too frequent; I can’t go out conveniently.”
“How is your investigation going? Have you found any traces of that person?”
The girl shrugged and sighed, “I haven’t found anything; I’m starting to doubt your intelligence might be wrong. If it doesn’t work out, should I go to Shihhekou Middle School to take a look?”
Hearing this, Lin Yiqi was shocked, “No! If you really can’t find her… just go back first? Contact me when I find her traces.”
It was hard enough for Lin Yiqi to invite such a powerful being; she certainly didn’t want to give up so easily, but the girl couldn’t stay away from the Peach Source for too long; she was running low on resources to support this powerful being.
Although the girl didn’t need to consume flesh or the core of an urban legend like most urban legends do, she was usually worshipped by thousands of people and urban legends in the Peach Source. Even though she was very restrained, the daily offerings she needed were something a single person couldn’t bear.
So, Lin Yiqi could only suppress her resentment towards Luxianbei for now.
It wouldn’t hurt to endure a bit, but not enduring would require spending a dozen pounds of grains, livestock, and fruits every day.
“Tsk, I don’t know what you’re afraid of! It’s just Zigu, what could she do to me?” The girl scoffed.
Lin Yiqi, “…” Of course, Zigu wouldn’t dare to act against you, but if you rashly enter her domain and anger her, the one who’ll be in trouble is me!
Seeing that Lin Yiqi fell silent, the girl stood up and brushed off the dust from her pants, “Alright, since you’ve decided, I’ll head back now, but…”
As she spoke, a trace of a smile appeared in her eyes, “I found something interesting at your school yesterday. Before I leave, I need to check out who is making the Initial Scene Spring Breeze Charm.”
“The Initial Scene Spring Breeze Charm?” Lin Yiqi was slightly taken aback, “I didn’t expect that there are still ordinary people who can make such charms now, but…”
Thinking of the urban legends hidden within the school, she nodded slightly, “Well, I guess it’s understandable.”
Having spent a long time in such a large school, Lin Yiqi had indeed seen many things that ordinary people wouldn’t understand.
For instance, the giant odd fish that often appeared on the playground, or the headless ghost that took pleasure in scaring boys, as well as the grotesque things hidden below the surface.
“Hey, see? You also find it interesting, right? I thought people in this world had long forgotten how to create the Initial Scene Spring Breeze Charm!”
“When was the last time someone made one? Let me think…” the girl poked her chin slightly exposed under the mask with a finger, pondering for a few seconds, then said, “Warring States, no wait, Western Han… oh my, too long ago, I can’t remember!”
“In short, since you’re fine for the time being, I’ll go find that person now!”
“Have you already found them?”
“Hehe!” The girl smiled meaningfully and pulled out a damaged charm, waving it in front of Lin Yiqi, “I did a little divination; while I’m not as good at it as that Zigu guy, most of the time, my divination results are quite accurate.”
Lin Yiqi, “…” Wouldn’t it be accurate? Unless this is a desert with no vegetation. Oh, if only that white-haired guy could leave something behind so I could divine it.
While Lin Yiqi was thinking, an azure light suddenly emanated from the girl in front of her. Under the dazzling brilliance, her figure quickly shrank and in the blink of an eye transformed into a glossy and shining magpie.
Seeing this, Lin Yiqi looked puzzled, “What are you…”
“Ah! I think the person making the Initial Scene Spring Breeze Charm should be an ordinary person with some understanding of spirit energy, or they wouldn’t be foolish enough to use the core of an urban legend as material,” the girl explained.
“Since I’ve decided to find him, I have to change into a more ordinary appearance that people can accept!”
Looking at the scene of the magpie speaking human words, Lin Yiqi twitched her lips.
Honestly, in this form, I doubt ordinary people would accept you. Lin Yiqi thought, but then she recalled the girl’s other forms and felt that this was probably the most acceptable form she had.
