Chapter 172: Hurry Up and Find Jiang Li
Luxianbei had once experienced the call of the core of her urban legend entity from deep within her body, back when she was in Peach Source.
Looking at the bodies of the illegal spirit energy organization members piled into a small mountain, her witch-kind urban legend’s core had an unexpected stirring sensation, as if her body trembled with excitement.
At that time, she vaguely felt the call from the core of her witch-kind urban legend.
Although there were no sounds ringing in her ears, in tandem with the agitation of the witch-kind urban legend’s core, she instinctively wanted to create more killings, chaos, and suffering.
It felt as if a specific program within her body had been activated.
Strictly speaking, this should be considered the instincts of the urban legend, a drive compelling it to perform actions corresponding to its powers, much like the scent of bl**d drives beasts to hunt, or how Jumeng might unconsciously facilitate a beautiful relationship.
When the urban legend acted on this instinct, it typically responded with a feedback of power, enhancing its abilities to a certain extent.
As for whether this strengthening would be positive or negative, that wasn’t certain.
Of course, this good or bad is relative to humans and other creatures; in most cases, the enhancement is positive for the urban legend itself.
Luxianbei felt that the current situation was different from that time in Peach Source; this time, the instinct stemming from her powers seemed to originate from the core of the mythological species urban legend and was even more intense.
It had even reached a point where she was experiencing auditory hallucinations!
But…
Why would my powers compel me to help Xia Lianqing?
What kind of enhancement could this bring?
Luxianbei pondered, glancing sideways at Xia Lianqing, and after a few seconds of contemplation, nodded, “I can give it a try… but I can’t guarantee it will definitely help.”
Since it could enhance her powers, trying it wouldn’t hurt; after all, it wouldn’t cost any money.
If this were in a game, it would at most be considered an optional side quest that grants experience points for the character without affecting the main storyline, and if things fell through, it wasn’t a must-do, right?
Upon hearing Luxianbei’s words, Xia Lianqing’s eyes flickered, quickly returning to her senses, and she repeatedly nodded, saying, “I… I thank you on behalf of everyone, Senior!”
She hadn’t expected Shen Baiwei to agree so readily; according to her original thoughts, asking this seemingly all-knowing mysterious girl for help would require some form of payment.
After a brief pause, she eagerly asked, “Then… I hope Senior will tell me how we should proceed next?”
“……” Luxianbei pondered for a moment, seriously addressing Xia Lianqing, “It’s simple, stop searching; we should head back first.”
It seemed she didn’t mind Xia Lianqing calling her “Senior” anymore…
Although she initially felt a strange sensation hearing Xia Lianqing refer to her as such, who could refuse a good-looking girl calling her by a term of respect?
It felt like being called “Dad!”
Xia Lianqing was slightly taken aback, and for a moment, she even suspected that Shen Baiwei was being cryptic, just trying to trick her and the group of Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers into going back.
But before she could voice her doubts, she heard Shen Baiwei say, “You don’t think just wandering around like you are can help you find them, do you?”
As she spoke, Luxianbei turned to look at the group of distinctly obvious Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers and shook her head.
They had indeed disguised themselves, but to no avail…
These Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers were the elite carefully selected by Long Bang for Xia Lianqing, having participated in numerous battles; compared to ordinary people, they were all ruthless killers, and the malice radiating from them couldn’t simply be concealed by a disguise.
Perhaps they could fool ordinary civilians, but definitely not the enemy’s scouts.
Moreover, they were all spiritual ability users.
Taking such a group of individuals out to capture people changed the nature of the game entirely.
It was like playing hide and seek, where just before starting, you inform everyone, “Have you all hidden well? I’m coming to catch you!”
“If you want to find the enemy troops that have infiltrated the city with these guys tagging along, it is absolutely impossible, especially with time being so tight,” Luxianbei explained, “The targets are too obvious.”
Xia Lianqing followed Shen Baiwei’s gaze toward the waiting group of Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers, furrowing her brows in silence for a moment. She nodded, agreeing with Shen Baiwei’s assessment.
“According to what you say, Senior, I will explain to the soldiers, then we can start our journey back to Dai Mu Institute.”
“Mm.” Luxianbei nodded expressionlessly, “Then when you’re done talking to them, we’ll continue to discuss on the way back what we should do next.”
“Please wait a moment, Senior.” Xia Lianqing said, bowing slightly before swiftly walking toward the group of Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers. Faint murmurs of doubt arose from not far away.
“Going back? But Miss Xia, haven’t we yet to find the person?”
“Yeah, Miss Xia, how can you make such an arbitrary decision just because of what that blonde girl said?”
“You were the one who brought the brothers out, and now you want to send everyone back without achieving anything. What do you really want to do? Don’t think just because you’ve got the general’s favor that you can act recklessly!”
“……”
The rowdy Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers grumbled for a bit, and Xia Lianqing whispered something to them lowly, causing the noise to gradually cease. Thirty-five pairs of eyes simultaneously turned to Luxianbei.
Those gazes included suspicion, anger, disdain… in short, none were filled with trust.
Luxianbei, “？？？”
What did that woman say?
Did she just throw me under the bus?
d*mn it! I should have eavesdropped earlier… Luxianbei thought irritably.
Just as she was grumbling internally, Xia Lianqing whispered something else to the Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers, and soon after, their expressions lightened, and they collectively withdrew their gazes.
The hostility seemed to have dissipated significantly, but there was still a coldness in their demeanor.
Shortly after, Xia Lianqing slowly walked back to her, stopping in front of her with a gentle smile, “Senior, I’ve told everyone; they agreed to set out back now.”
“Now, can you tell me what we should do next?”
“Of course!” Luxianbei nodded, “It’s simple; just lure the snake out of its cave.”
She spoke loudly, as if discussing something trivial with a friend, seemingly unconcerned about someone eavesdropping from the shadows, or that there could be infiltrators among the Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers.
Xia Lianqing didn’t expect Shen Baiwei to “conspire” with her so loudly, a hint of surprise crossing her face as she mumbled, “Senior, shouldn’t we wait until we get back to Dai Mu Institute to discuss?”
“No need!” Luxianbei waved her hand, “Time is tight; let’s talk as we walk. Once we’re back at Dai Mu Institute, we can start taking action right away.”
“Besides, everyone in the military is one of our own; it doesn’t hurt to let them hear too, as we’ll be counting on their help later!”
Xia Lianqing glanced over at the group of Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers who were nodding in approval of what Shen Baiwei said and then looked back at Luxianbei, lightly biting her lip, “In that case, I’d be troubled to have you teach me, Senior.”
“First, to lure the snake out of its cave, you need bait, and as far as I know, you were a spy from the Huihu tribe who infiltrated Yumen Pass. I guess they must hate you to the bone. The one leading them seems to be your younger sister…”
“Are you worried my sister will go easy on me?” Xia Lianqing interjected.
“Not at all.” Luxianbei rolled her eyes, “In my opinion, the closer the person is, the more ruthless they are when striking.”
That’s the truth; my dad is far more “ruthless” when he tricks me and Water Brother compared to when he does it to others… Luxianbei added silently in her mind.
“Mm, what you say is true, Senior.” Xia Lianqing nodded, “My second sister does have a somewhat sinister and cruel nature… but you don’t have to worry; I’m willing to be this bait.”
After saying that, she discreetly glanced at “Shen Baiwei,” trying to read something from her expression, but found nothing.
Not only did she find nothing, but she didn’t even receive a response from “Shen Baiwei.”
Unbeknownst to her, “Shen Baiwei” suddenly seemed to become petrified, standing still in place, slightly turned as she gazed off into the distant sky, motionless.
“Senior? Senior, what’s wrong?”
Hearing Xia Lianqing’s call, Luxianbei withdrew her gaze, steadied herself, and said, “Oh, what were we just talking about? Right, you go be the bait!”
“Young people today have a high sense of awareness!”
“However, there’s still a difference between baits, and I still need to think about how to make this bait more enticing.”
After saying that, she fell into silence again.
Just then, as the group was preparing to set out back to Dai Mu Institute, she heard that seductive voice, like a femme fatale, calling out within her mind for the third time.
Things came in threes, and she felt she needed to retort that voice.
Exposing her alias was one thing, but impersonating Nanling Yaohua was too much!
How could she think I would believe her nonsense? Does she think I don’t know how familiar scams work? Luxianbei thought fiercely.
————
On the other side.
Seeing Luxianbei agreeing to help Xia Lianqing find someone and her actions becoming more outrageous, Nanling Yaohua felt anxious, fearing that Luxianbei might cause some troubles and fall into danger. In her haste, she once again called out to Luxianbei, making her fists clench.
After introducing herself and repeatedly calling out the aliases she knew of Luxianbei, she heard this response – “Shut your mouth! You know all my aliases and that Xiao Hua exists, what’s strange about that?”
“Why don’t you say you’re Jiang Li? That way, I might be more inclined to believe you!”
“Yes, right, hurry up and find Jiang Li; if you can’t find him, just keep quiet!”
Nanling Yaohua, “……”
In fact, she had long known that various girls constantly surrounded Luxianbei, but she didn’t mind, as she felt none of them could compare to her. However, only Jiang Li left her completely uncertain after seeing that scene on the streets of the dream city…
Luxianbei, you really know how to hit the sore spot and pour alcohol on the wound.
It’s infuriating! Just d*e over there already! Nanling Yaohua thought furiously.
