Chapter 201: Today’s Calamity is Especially Gentle
Before Shen Baiwei pushed open that terrifying metal door, Lu Yibei had half-jokingly, half-seriously wondered if a sea of corpses and bl**d would rush out when the door opened. To her surprise, the words turned out to be prophetic.
Accompanying the shambling Shen Baiwei, she fell into a deep sleep beside the giant snake. The newborn on the snake’s head let out its first cry, and suddenly the giant snake came “alive,” writhing its massive body and bursting out from a room at the end of the corridor.
But the space in the corridor was small, unable to accommodate the bloated and grotesque body of the giant snake. The walls were deformed under its pressure, producing a low, thunderous roar.
Chunks of the floor collapsed, crashing to the ground and shattering. The exposed steel bars and various metal pipes rusted rapidly under some force, and water gushed from the broken pipes, mixed with a lot of rust, turning into a bl**d-like hue that surged forward.
The giant snake slithered with alarming speed, its scales composed of fingers and toes trembled as it crawled, the nails scraping against the crumbling corridor, generating a dense and teeth-grinding noise.
Wherever the giant snake passed, everything seemed to be swallowed up by an invisible mouth, completely vanishing into darkness.
Seeing such a sight, Lu Yibei did not hesitate at all and turned to run.
At another time, she might not have merely fled; at the very least, she would have fought while retreating, tossing a few alchemical explosives at the giant snake to test its strength.
But now, she had no idea what kind of hellish place this was, and her spirit energy was being heavily suppressed. Even the Ling Tai Purification seemed to be out of service, giving no response.
Under such circumstances, was she supposed to wait for d*ath?
However, when she actually began to run, Lu Yibei realized how far she had followed Shen Baiwei. The lengthy corridor seemed to never end, and apart from the different numbers on the metal doors on either side, nearly every scene was indistinguishable from the others.
The already dilapidated corridor collapsed continuously under the assault of the giant snake’s massive body, with waves of explosions following one after another.
Her vision grew blurry under the combined effects of the smoke from the explosions and the intense burning sensation in her eyes. The surging dark red water rose past her knees, shaking her already unstable sense of balance in the chaos.
In this extremely harsh environment, Lu Yibei sprinted forward at full speed, yet she could never escape the pursuing giant snake, just like how she couldn’t catch up to Shen Baiwei not long ago…
In a daze, she felt as if she were trapped in some sort of endless loop, never reaching the end, until she could run no more and collapsed to the ground, submerged by the bl**d-like water.
The cold water rushed into her gasping mouth and nose, a sense of suffocation surged, her awareness gradually fading, and everything around her seemed to recede, except for that bloated and grotesque giant snake, which kept drawing closer…
When the giant snake got close enough, Lu Yibei heard Shen Baiwei’s authoritative whispers from its hissing.
“…All beings drown within, sacrificing the body to regain another, like dreams and nightmares…”
“The eater of tails is born into the world, devouring yesterday, neither beginning nor end, the start is also the end…”
Listening to those whispers, an idea flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind just before her consciousness fell silent.
Could this be the process Shen Baiwei had to go through every time she “reset” her state? If so… no wonder she would make such a wish.
————
“Miss Shen? Miss Shen? Why are you lying here?”
Not knowing how long she had slept, Lu Yibei felt the warmth of the sunlight when Long Bang’s voice reached her ears.
She opened her eyes and sat up, gasping for the air of the mortal world like a demon that had just crawled out from hell.
Immediately, as if completely disregarding Long Bang and the surrounding Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers, she began to look around. After finding Shen Baiwei, she hurriedly walked up and threw Shen Baiwei over her shoulder, then turned back to Long Bang.
“I’m fine, maybe I was just too exhausted and suddenly felt unwell, I fainted, but I’m much better now.”
Lu Yibei repeated nearly verbatim what she had said before, not waiting for Long Bang to speak again before cutting in.
“Last night, I had some follow-up matters that I didn’t get to handle, and I suddenly fainted. I don’t know if I can still make it in time; I need to handle it quickly and can’t linger here. If anything comes up, we can discuss it in detail back at the Dai Mu Institute.”
Return to the Dai Mu Institute? Only a fool would do that! There might even be spies from Zawen Temple inside the Dai Mu Institute… If she went back, wouldn’t that narrow down the search radius? Lu Yibei thought.
Having learned from her previous experience, she understood clearly that if she wanted to do something in Yumen Pass, the most important task was not to be caught by the person from Zawen Temple; otherwise, all her ideas would be in vain.
To avoid being found, the best method was to blend in with the residents fleeing the city.
Although the person from Zawen Temple had the ability to foresee dreams and could likely find them again miraculously, mingling into the vast sea of people in Yumen Pass would at least buy them more time.
It was like two strands of ginger on a cutting board being easy to spot, but if mixed among shredded potatoes, they would only be discovered when someone ate them.
“Shen Baiwei” had just resolved the infiltration of enemies into the city and likely delayed the advance of the Shaman Queen’s Army’s vanguard; thus, she was quite trusted in Long Bang’s mind. He nodded in response to what “Shen Baiwei” said and pointed to the girl on her shoulder, “Who is this?”
“My friend!” Lu Yibei replied expressionlessly. “A friend I’ve known for many years, well-acquainted; she is definitely not a suspicious person, so don’t worry.”
Hearing this, Shen Baiwei, who had just woken up amidst the noise and wanted to shout “I am Shen Baiwei,” paused for a moment and then closed her eyes again after barely opening them a crack.
“…”
Strange, the calamity seemed very familiar with those people. She could have taken advantage of this opportunity to trap me and restrict my freedom…
But why did she say that? Shen Baiwei wondered.
The calamity suddenly becoming friendly was definitely a dangerous signal!
————
After taking Shen Baiwei away, although Lu Yibei had some preliminary plans for her actions after successfully resetting, she didn’t rush to act. Instead, she led Shen Baiwei toward the western part of Yumen Pass, where the residential population was densest, and then stopped in a secluded corner near the western city wall.
Gently placing Shen Baiwei on the ground, she tilted her head to inspect the still feigning unconscious Shen Baiwei and crossed her arms, saying, “Alright, stop pretending. You’ve woken up long ago, right? Get up quickly; I have important matters to discuss with you.”
Since she needed to carry out actions in the city alongside Shen Baiwei, it was essential to reach a certain level of consensus with her.
Regardless of whether Shen Baiwei chose to act stubbornly and deliberately exposed her to the person from Zawen Temple, in extreme situations, even if they just sneaked away, she would have to spend a lot of time looking for her, which would be quite troublesome.
In common situations, even with a top-notch stand-in, it was impossible to carry along an actor intentionally dragging their feet.
Moreover, Lu Yibei didn’t think of herself as a top-tier stand-in; at best, she could be considered a minor one.
Upon hearing Lu Yibei’s words, Shen Baiwei slowly sat up, giving her a resentful glare. “Although I don’t know your purpose in using my powers to run to the Yumen Pass of a thousand years ago, no matter what you want to do, don’t expect me to cooperate with you, so there’s nothing to discuss!”
While she had been stabbed in the back by spirit patterns and couldn’t retain memories from the previous time rewind, from the degree of spirit pattern abnormalities and her observations of the environment and passersby, she had already vaguely deduced that she and the calamity were not conducting their first time rewind.
This was an experience that naturally arose after being familiar with her own spirit patterns to a certain extent!
“Don’t be so fierce!” Lu Yibei shrugged her shoulders. “I haven’t even said what I want to discuss, and you’re so quick to refuse. Is that really okay?”
“…” Shen Baiwei opened her mouth but then darkened her expression, saying, “No matter what, there’s nothing to discuss.”
“Oh, is that so?” Lu Yibei sighed silently, pondering for a few seconds before expressionlessly stating, “By the way, we’re no longer conducting this time rewind for the first time; you should have guessed that, right?”
Shen Baiwei didn’t respond to Lu Yibei’s statement, but the glare she fixed at Lu Yibei, as if wanting to sh**t out of her glasses, answered it all.
Not only had she guessed, but she also wanted to k*ll the woman in front of her!
“Speaking of which, before the last time rewind, when I hadn’t woken up yet, I had a very strange dream…” Noticing Shen Baiwei was silent, Lu Yibei continued on her own. “In the dream, I vaguely saw some things and roughly understood why you made such a wish.”
It wasn’t vaguely seeing; it was very clearly seeing it, and she almost got done in there… Lu Yibei silently added in her heart.
When dealing with someone like Shen Baiwei, Lu Yibei was quite experienced; all she needed to do was touch her feelings. Who said that sincere feelings with ulterior motives could not be considered genuine feelings?
However.
Although she guessed it, the scenes she recalled before waking up were probably the pain Shen Baiwei experienced every time she rewound time, just like how she had previously witnessed the happenings of urban legends amidst her burning eyes. Yet she didn’t plan to directly mention it to Shen Baiwei.
Such matters were like a person’s most painful scar; lightly touching the scar and saying, “I saw your wound; it must hurt a lot, right?” would usually yield a better effect, while directly exposing the scar and pointing to the bleeding wound, saying, “Wow! That’s serious; it’s bleeding out. Doesn’t that hurt you to d*ath?” would only backfire.
The people of Z Country were typically euphemistic and indirect in such matters; at least, her relationship with Shen Baiwei wasn’t yet close enough to tear off someone else’s scars.
Although, at heart, as a well-known “Academic of Deception” in Huacheng, Lu Yibei preferred to expose scars and sprinkle sugar and ants on top…
Vaguely saw some things? What things? Hearing Lu Yibei’s words, Shen Baiwei paused for a moment.
While she was lost in thought, Lu Yibei stepped forward and said sincerely, “I’m sorry! I didn’t know that every time you used your powers, you would endure so much pain. If I had known earlier…”
d*mn it! If an apology were effective, what would the police be needed for? Shen Baiwei had wanted to say that to the calamity, but Lu Yibei’s next move forced the words stuck in her throat back down.
The calamity unexpectedly hugged her shoulders, pressing her head against its chest, stroking her head like one would comfort an injured small animal.
Shen Baiwei froze there, blanking out.
She could no longer remember the last time someone had embraced her like this. The last time, probably seven or eight years ago, right after she was diagnosed with severe Nightfall Syndrome when her mother, unable to bear the burden of steep medical costs, left with her father the night before.
Shen Baiwei wanted to break free, but the calamity’s embrace was genuinely warm and comforting, and she could sense the calamity’s real regret.
It was a judgment instinct that was difficult to explain, an instinct developed from the countless times she had been mercilessly tortured by the pretense of those at the Tethys Laboratory, an instinct to differentiate between fake kindness and genuine concern.
Like a battle-hardened soldier instinctively reacting when danger approached.
From a scientific standpoint, liars exhibit different subtle movements and hormones, and her subtle instinct was based on these differences. With the enhancement of an A-Class Spiritual Ability User’s perception, capturing those details wasn’t too hard.
Today’s calamity seemed especially gentle! That thought flashed through Shen Baiwei’s mind.
But then she shook her head, dismissing the notion, and pushed the calamity away. “Stay away from me, shameless witch! I don’t buy your act!”
Gentle? Nonsense! Is it reasonable to discuss science with an urban legend?
For a witch-type urban legend, lying and deceiving was as easy as breathing. How could there be those subtle reactions in a normal person when lying?
You think you can confuse me, Shen Baiwei? she thought fiercely.
There was a reason the priests in the Holy Church’s jurisdiction liked to roast the captured witch-types over fire.
One priest who had fallen into depravity under the temptation of a witch-type had said before his d*ath, “The gentleness of a witch-type is merely a fatal poison wrapped in sugar…”
Faced with Shen Baiwei’s intense reaction, Lu Yibei expressionlessly shrugged, “Think whatever you want; however, I’ve already decided that this time, I will follow what you said and not interfere with anything that happened in the past, just being a quiet observer.”
“And the matter I want to discuss with you is merely to ask you not to run around during this period and not to approach the person from Zawen Temple… Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, the one from Zawen Temple is the founder of your Miracle Cult. During the last time rewind, he almost killed us.”
At least 99% of what Lu Yibei said was true, except the part about Hong Bian almost killing them.
This time, she indeed intended to be a mere observer, to see how the God Realm Yumen turned into a sealed-off dead zone over a millennium due to the series of tumultuous actions from Hong Bian, the Nanling County King, and the Shaman Queen.
Once she understood the process and results, finding a way to break it would be much simpler.
As for Shen Baiwei…
She only said “this time” she wouldn’t interfere with the past, and did not say she wouldn’t intervene next time, right? Even less did she say that after quietly watching, she wouldn’t use Shen Baiwei’s powers to rewind time again, right?
So how could this be considered deception?!
