Chapter Sixty-Six: You Can Hit Me, But Don’t Hit My Face!
Luxianbei felt that he had recently contracted a strange illness, one where he was listless during the day and grew increasingly reckless into the night.
“It’s just ridiculous! I thought this kind of issue had disappeared ever since the sun started acting oddly!”
While complaining, Luxianbei got up, sitting on the bed and staring at Bai Xiaohua’s poster on the wall, lost in thought.
This must be the result of going out hunting urban legends every night some time ago, followed by devouring urban legends and making talismans, completely disrupting his routine.
And then there was that guy, Du Sixian, who occasionally appeared in his dreams to nag him—he had to bear some responsibility too.
He mentally counted the reasons for his insomnia and then began to worry about how to pass the long night ahead.
Going out to hunt urban legends wasn’t a good choice.
In the previous two instances, it was sheer luck that he had learned the locations of the urban legends, allowing him to succeed in the hunt. If he went out on his own, it would be like a headless fly flitting about, probably finding nothing, which would be no different from simply wandering around.
Moreover, he still didn’t know how to restart the transformation process after stopping it in the evening. If it got dark and he wanted to switch back, he might directly be handed over as a gift if he ran into an urban legend.
“Why don’t I…” Luxianbei glanced at the laptop on his bedside desk, “get up and write a paper.”
Thinking about the small paper that Professor Ma had assigned him regarding Jumang and the Dongyi tribes made him feel a headache coming on. Internally, he added Ma Zhen’s name to the list of “causes of insomnia.”
Professor Ma was really strict—so strict that it made Luxianbei want to curse. A paper of over ten thousand words had to be submitted within a week, or else grades would be deducted daily for late submissions. It was absolutely heartless.
This was exploitation, it was akin to nursing a sprout, it was personal vendetta! d*mn you, Professor Ma!
Despite his many complaints, after venting internally, Luxianbei still sluggishly got out of bed, walked to his desk, opened the computer, and sat down.
Such is the world of adults—there are many times when obligations must be faced despite reluctance.
“Yeah, I’m already an adult.” Luxianbei smirked slightly as he typed in the website and entered the homepage of Z Country’s Knowledge Network.
“Dongyi… Dongyi…” He muttered to himself while typing keywords into the search bar, and with a click of the mouse, more than two thousand research results appeared quickly.
Finding useful literature among more than two thousand results was akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. Luxianbei stared at the screen and pondered for a moment, then opened a webpage to look up information about Jumang.
“Jumang is a wood god and spring god in ancient Chinese folklore, overseeing the divine tree Fusang and the place where the sun rises, often depicted with bird forms, bird-bodied human faces, two dragons, and shepherds…”
“Hmm…” After reading the introduction about Jumang, Luxianbei pondered for a few seconds, went back to the Knowledge Network homepage, and added the search keyword “bird,” clicking confirm.
After adding the keyword, the search results sharply dropped to just over forty, making the task of finding literature much easier.
His gaze swept down the titles of various papers, finally locking onto one titled “A Brief Discussion on the Bird Totem Worship of the Dongyi Tribe.”
Starting from a basic level, this article might be suitable for preliminary reading, Luxianbei thought, and clicked the title to access the interface and download the article.
“…One significant distinguishing feature of Dongyi culture compared to other collective cultures is the bird totem worship…”
“Interesting?” Luxianbei muttered to himself, perked up, created a new document, and focused entirely on gathering materials and writing the small paper.
That was Luxianbei’s character—if he had no interest in something, he could forget it entirely, but once he invested himself, he would go all out.
“Wait a minute! Most Dongyi tribes worship Shaho and Fenghuang—what does that have to do with Jumang…”
“Wait, got it! Jumang, son of Shaho, plays an important role in spring rituals…”
In the midst of his self-talk, Luxianbei saw a passage in ancient text and immediately paused, waiting for a long moment before continuing.
In truth, writing a small paper wasn’t what gave him a real headache; after all, he was just a freshman. No matter how strict Professor Ma was, he couldn’t expect a high level of writing from him for a small paper.
What truly made him anxious were the various ancient texts he would encounter throughout the research process.
Heaven knows which sentence might attract the attention of some terrifying entity and lead to instantaneous demise!
This was a strong possibility!
Thinking this, Luxianbei skipped over those ancient texts and descriptions and continued reading.
“In legends, the divine statuses of Jumang, Shaho, and Taihao severely overlap and conflict. With the changes in history, the influence of the Dongyi tribes has gradually diminished, and they are occasionally seen in ritual ceremonies and New Year paintings now.”
“…”
After being exposed to various urban legends and the content of The Book of Siye, he had subconsciously begun to treat urban legends as a kind of idol.
The more believers there were in a certain urban legend, the greater the possibility of its existence in this world.
Conversely, outdated deities, if no one worshiped them, might have already faded away, right? Luxianbei thought, mumbling softly.
“What? So it’s just a has-been idol? No clout at all!”
“Whoosh—!”
As soon as Luxianbei’s words fell, he heard a whooshing noise beside him. His heart jumped slightly, and he looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a shadow flash, and a small stone hit him right in the forehead.
“You little brat, who are you calling a has-been?”
“Who? Who’s throwing things?” Luxianbei shouted irritably before freezing in place.
There was no one beside him, nor were there any urban legends; the various urban legends at home had said they were going to visit the urban legend family in the neighboring community and had long since left.
This was his apartment where he lived alone; there wouldn’t be anyone, let alone someone talking to him out of the blue.
But who was speaking?
Thinking this, just then the sound of flapping wings echoed, and a magpie landed right in front of him.
Luxianbei, “…” Where did this magpie come from? It couldn’t be…
Ah! Don’t think absurdly; how could a magpie talk? It’s not a parrot or a bulbul!
“What are you daydreaming about? It was me who just spoke.”
Luxianbei, “??? ”
Is this… some kind of urban legend?
In his bewildered state, the magpie looked at him with disdain, “Yes, it was I who talked to you; you’re not dreaming. What did you mean by what you just said? Say it again if you dare!”
As it spoke, it seemed to raise its wings like fists and waved them in front of Luxianbei.
“How can you speak…” Luxianbei suddenly came to his senses, “Wait, what the hell are you?!”
Realizing another urban legend had intruded into his home, Luxianbei jumped from his chair, dashed to the bed, grabbed his backpack, and pulled out a handful of the Chuqingchunfeng talisman tightly in his hand.
“I-I warn you, don’t mess around! This talisman has tremendous power; if I accidentally k*ll you, don’t blame me.”
What terrible luck to encounter a malicious urban legend at this moment! Luxianbei thought. If he hadn’t stopped his transformation today, dealing with a bird monster like this would be easy-peasy!
“Oh? Go ahead and try it!” the magpie said, and Luxianbei swore he saw its wings clench into fists as it approached him, eager to spar.
“Little bro, just so you know, I’m definitely going to beat you up later—it might hurt, but I won’t k*ll you, so you better not resist; it would be better for both of us!”
Luxianbei, “…” Both of us, my a**! Are you a tonic or something?
“By the way, you’re definitely thinking about calling the police or screaming right now, but I’m not afraid to tell you that even if you scream your throat raw, no one will come to save you. The more you scream, the more excited I get! Ha ha ha!”
Luxianbei, “…” You probably won’t believe it, but I feel like I’m being teased by a bird?
Wait! Right, it’s just a bird that can talk! It looks easier to deal with than those other guys I encountered before; what am I panicking about?
Thinking this, Luxianbei leaned down and pulled out a kitchen kn*fe from his backpack, snorting coldly, “Hmph! Almost got tricked by you; a mere bird pretending here? Do you believe I’ll chop you up and make you into pigeon soup?”
Upon hearing this, the magpie rolled its eyes at Luxianbei. Yes, Luxianbei actually saw an eye-rolling expression on a bird’s face!
But considering that it might be some urban legend like a bird monster, it was actually acceptable?
“Firstly, I’m a magpie, not a pigeon. Secondly…”
Before the magpie could finish, it flew toward Luxianbei.
In an instant, an ominous feeling rose in his heart; Luxianbei’s eyes burned like fire, with bizarre lights and chaotic lines flashing before him, distorting the scenery in his vision.
The wind, mingled with the fragrance of plants and soil, blew against his face. He suddenly saw a giant tree that seemed to connect heaven and earth springing up before him, then crashing down toward him with an overwhelming sense of terror and suffocation.
Transform! Why doesn’t it transform? Isn’t there any emergency transformation defense measure?
Luxianbei anxiously thought, looking at the magpie. In that moment, the magpie seemed to be flying in slow motion in his eyes, but he couldn’t react in time and could only watch as it drew near and punched him right in the abdomen.
“Ah, ow—!”
The magpie let out a strange cry, and Luxianbei was sent flying backward, his abdominal shirt shattered, landing heavily on the bed and unable to get up for a long time.
He twisted his body, and when he glanced at the magpie, it was mimicking Bruce Lee’s classic pose, rubbing its nose!
d*mn, how is this bird so powerful? Am I supposed to recite that strange description and see if it can transform into an urban legend?
The thought flashed through his mind, and Luxianbei immediately began silently reciting the description from within him.
There’s Zhongshan, and a woman in blue clothes…
“Bang—!”
Before Luxianbei could finish reciting the description in his mind, he felt a kn*fe-hand strike to the back of his neck.
The force of that kn*fe-hand was heavy, and faintly, Luxianbei even heard the crunch of his spine, as if some strange power suppressed the rise of his body temperature.
“Don’t struggle; let me have fun with you; you won’t d*e! Heh, heh, heh—!”
Luxianbei, “…” You probably won’t believe it, but I’ve been inexplicably attacked by a bird, and I can’t fight back!
In the dark room, Luxianbei’s voice echoed softly.
“You can hit me, but don’t hit my face!”
“Ha! I thought you were tough! Good, I won’t hit your face then!”
The magpie replied, flapping its wings as it flew towards the expressionless Luxianbei, who seemed like a fish that had given up hope, not knowing that he had secretly gripped the kitchen kn*fe hidden behind him…
