Chapter 93: This Chat Group Really Has Big Problems!
“The fish is hooked!”
“Hurry, what a big splash, it must be a big one!”
Feeling the tug on the fishing rod, Luxianbei was just about to lift the rod and play the fish when Gu Qiqi, who had come over, snatched the rod from her hands.
She firmly grasped the fishing rod with both hands, slightly lowered her center of gravity, pulled up, and with a splash, a sizable Yangtze silver carp flew towards the bank in the direction she was pulling.
Before the carp hit the ground, Gu Qiqi swiftly reached out and caught it near the gill area with one hand, pressing it down onto the ground.
“Gosh, what a big one! You’re really lucky, this one might weigh ten pounds,” Gu Qiqi squatted on the ground, while threading wild grass rope through the fish’s gills, grinning at Luxianbei.
For her, just not going hungry each day was already great; having meat to eat made for good days; happiness was that simple.
Seeing Gu Qiqi so happy, Luxianbei hesitated to ask her about the Urban Legends Chat Group. After a brief moment of hesitation, she ultimately decided not to pursue it any further.
She knew enough already; when combined with the memories of Yun Meng, Pharaoh, and others, she suspected that the chat group they encountered with members of the Solar Eclipse Society was very likely the one Gu Qiqi mentioned.
……
So the inquiries about the Urban Legends Chat Group suddenly came to a stop.
Asking her questions that she was unwilling to answer while others were happy was obviously a party pooper and might reduce their goodwill.
Today, she had already learned enough.
Watching Gu Qiqi handle the Yangtze silver carp outside the shack, Luxianbei squinted her eyes slightly.
She looked quite innocent, and Luxianbei thought that asking her some things she wanted to know without provoking her dislike couldn’t be harder than talking to Jiang Li, could it?
Thinking of Jiang Li, Luxianbei couldn’t help but frown—tomorrow was again the time to attend Jiang Li’s class. With what she had laid out previously, this time she should be able to tell her the whole story she crafted.
Though Luxianbei had temporarily confirmed that Jumeng was the one secretly observing her all along, the members of the Solar Eclipse Society were still at large; the tendrils of their conspiracy might reach her at any moment.
Thus, she felt uneasy unless she eliminated those Solar Eclipse Society members hiding among the foolish group friends.
……
As Luxianbei had speculated through various details in the shack, Gu Qiqi indeed had quite good cooking skills.
As someone from a family with culinary heritage, Luxianbei was usually picky about the taste of things, but Gu Qiqi’s meals, though simple, reached above the passing level in taste.
After lunch, Luxianbei helped clear the bowls and sat on the sofa, secretly observing Gu Qiqi who was washing dishes with a large plastic basin, quickly developing the intent to extract information from her.
However, before she could find a suitable point to steer the conversation towards the Urban Legends Chat Group, Gu Qiqi had already finished washing the dishes, packed up the basin, and was about to leave.
Before leaving, she stood at the door of the shack, looking somewhat uncomfortable, hesitatingly said to Luxianbei, “Um, um… I’m going to work, I’ll be back very late.”
“Okay, you go!” Luxianbei nodded dismissively.
“No, what I mean is that I’ll be back really late, at least after nine,” Gu Qiqi added.
“Got it, be safe after dark,” Luxianbei said without a change in demeanor.
Seeing that Luxianbei was unfazed, Gu Qiqi finally couldn’t help but express her true feelings, “What I mean is, aren’t you going home?”
Luxianbei, “…”
So she wanted to issue an eviction notice?
But now that I’m here, I have no place to go, so I might as well be shameless once.
“No need, I’m very happy here, I’ll just wait for you to come back,” Luxianbei said expressionlessly.
“I… I…” Gu Qiqi seemed a bit wronged, as if bullied. After fumbling for a long time and glancing at the paint can hidden in the corner, she said, “Fine, just don’t mess with my things!” before reluctantly leaving.
……
A few minutes later.
After confirming that Gu Qiqi had gone far away, Luxianbei got up from the sofa and stealthily walked over to the paint can in the corner.
Earlier, she noticed Gu Qiqi’s little actions before leaving; she had been very concerned. To eliminate potential threats, she broke the agreement after Gu Qiqi left.
When she opened the paint can and saw what was inside, Luxianbei almost cried on the spot.
The paint can was filled to the brim with money, yet there were hardly any hundred-dollar bills; it was basically a mix of one and fifty-cent notes.
This girl, Gu Qiqi, really was quite unfortunate.
Luxianbei thought, silently turned around, took her backpack, rummaged through it, found the remaining twenty-some bucks in cash, stuffed it at the very bottom of the paint can, and closed the lid.
……
On the other side, Gu Qiqi walked anxiously towards a construction site to move bricks.
At this moment, the system, which had “disconnected due to network fluctuations” for a long time, finally came online, its familiar voice ringing in her mind.
“Gu Qiqi, you’re doomed.”
The system started with such a phrase, making Gu Qiqi even more uneasy, and her expression changed slightly.
“Eh!? Are you saying she will really steal my piggy bank? What should I do? That’s all my savings! Should we go back now?”
“…” The system fell silent for a few seconds, “Things are more serious than you think.”
Although Calamity was quite unscrupulous, it hadn’t yet reached the point of stealing your pocket change, the system thought.
“What could be more serious than having my savings stolen?” Gu Qiqi asked in confusion, since in her eyes, that paint can transformed into a piggy bank was her most treasured possession.
“This…” The system hesitated for a moment before continuing, “She might have become dependent on you; unless she drains all your usefulness, she probably won’t let go easily.”
As it spoke, the system seemed to see the girl with a cold, frosty demeanor, watching it with the threat of its life, saying lightly, “If you want to k*ll, then k*ll. Those with utility are my friends. Without utility, it makes no difference whether dead or alive.”
In her heart, there was no place for anyone besides herself.
Any gesture of goodwill or closeness was merely for better utilization.
The system was very worried, worried that Gu Qiqi really thought of her as a friend and would suffer unbearable harm at some point.
……
More than an hour after Gu Qiqi left.
Luxianbei confirmed that she wouldn’t be returning and then took out the old bandit phone and paper and pen from her backpack.
She felt a bit relieved that she had put these things in her backpack earlier, or they might have turned to ashes along with her clothes.
Sitting cross-legged on the chair, she spread the paper and pen on the round table in front of her, unlocked her phone, opened that unknown version of a chat app, and found the Urban Legends Chat Group she had previously joined.
After entering the chat group, she first checked the announcements, albums, and files within the group.
After skimming through it briefly, besides a few interesting mysterious codes, there was nothing else—just a bunch of lewd images, game install packages, and seemingly nonsensical urban legends settings.
If she hadn’t already known that Yun Meng, Pharaoh, and others had interacted with the members of the Solar Eclipse Society in this chat group, she would have regarded this group as just an ordinary fan group.
After searching, she shifted her focus to the conversations among the group members, attempting to find any useful information within the words.
Mu Se’s Beloved: “The new games lately are so boring; they’re all assembly line money-grabbing products. Can anyone recommend a fun one?”
One Hundred and Three and Two Cats: “Girl’s Fantasia Mirror 5.RAR”
Fenrir: “Recently, some netizens have replaced the CG of Girl’s Fantasia Mirror 5 with scary images; some are even cursed pictures. Please be cautious, everyone! The truth is in the pictures! [Image][Image][Image]”
Mu Se’s Beloved: “d*mn?! I just downloaded it halfway; my pants moved. You’re showing me this? I’m not playing anymore!”
……
Luxianbei, “…”
How is this any different from the game groups I usually visit?
The members of the Solar Eclipse Society really know how to hide themselves too well.
Blending in with a bunch of foolish internet users, it’s genuinely difficult to discover who the real urban legends are, Luxianbei thought.
Perhaps as Gu Qiqi said, without knowing the correct path, even if one joined the right chat group, one couldn’t touch anything truly related to urban legends.
But…
Luxianbei felt that she might know that so-called path, and she was ready to give it a try.
In the memories of Pharaoh, Yun Meng, and others, this Urban Legends Chat Group had a mysterious rule: that at every hour’s 44th minute, privately messaging the group owner or administrator would yield a mysterious “Urban Legends Gift Pack.”
Initially, Luxianbei joined this Urban Legends Chat Group merely to make her fabricated story for Jiang Li seem more credible, without paying much attention to this information.
After all, this is an interest group related to urban legends, and having some deliberately mysterious juvenile rules is within the understandable range.
However, after gaining information from Gu Qiqi, Luxianbei began to take this memory seriously.
That mysterious gift pack might be the so-called “path.”
Luxianbei thought as she glanced at the time on her phone.
It was 4:23 PM, and there was still a bit of time until the 44-minute mark.
She thought for a moment, then quickly created a new account and submitted a group application using the new account following the memories of Yun Meng and the others.
She previously used her commonly used account, which likely contained content meant for Jiang Li, leaving no traces that might arouse her suspicion.
However…
A few seconds after Luxianbei submitted the group application, a glaring red rejection mark appeared on her screen.
[University City Urban Legends Chat Group rejected your group application.
Handler: One Hundred and Three and Two Cats
Rejection reason: You have already joined this group, please do not reapply.]
Luxianbei stared at the rejection reason on her phone screen, dazed for a while, and felt a vague sense of being watched from behind, sending a chill down her spine.
How did they know I already had an account that joined this chat group?
This chat group really has big problems! Luxianbei thought.
