Chapter 135: Almost Developed PTSD Because of This
That night, heavy rain soaked the dilapidated little garden of the Amber Hall.
At four-thirty in the morning, on the other side of the city.
Bright blue lightning streaked across the sky, revealing the crumbling appearance of the ancient estate hidden in the night.
Inside the eerie and quiet building, at the end of the top floor corridor, a dark wooden door stood slightly ajar, and faint light seeped through the crack, casting a narrow beam on the wooden floor.
In the room, Jiang Li stood before the full-length mirror in front of the wardrobe, wrapped in a pure white bath towel, her damp silver long hair tied up, still exuding a hint of steam, with a few crystalline droplets of water on her pale and slightly frail shoulders.
With no one around, she picked up a silver lotus pendant from the nightstand, returned to the mirror, gently untied her bath towel, turned around, and with the soft glow of the bedside lamp, illuminated the dark sun totem on her smooth back.
As if suddenly recalling something, she frowned, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. Holding the pendant, she gently twisted her wrist, and the tips of her fingers began to shimmer with silvery light.
Her pink lips parted slightly, and she softly recited a Sanskrit spell. Accompanied by a chant reminiscent of an ancient song, the silvery light from her fingertips grew more dazzling and suddenly transformed into brilliant gold, with faint lotus petals swirling amid the golden glow.
Under her spirit energy’s guidance, the silver pendant in her palm soared up, spiraling towards the ceiling, causing the already extinguished crystal chandelier to flicker.
“Boom—!”
Suddenly, a muffled thunder rolled outside the window. The pendant, as if guided, unexpectedly plunged downward as golden light flashed, heading for the black tattoo on Jiang Li’s back, tracing a trajectory in mid-air like a shooting star.
Just as the pendant was about to touch the black tattoo, it suddenly seemed to hit an invisible wall and hovered less than an inch away from Jiang Li’s skin, spinning rapidly and unleashing an even more brilliant light.
In that moment, Jiang Li’s body convulsed as if electrocuted, her complexion turned pale, and intense, excruciating pain surged through her, as if her soul were being stripped away. Yet she bit her lip, making not a single sound.
A wisp of black gas emitted from the black tattoo on her back, merging into the silver pendant, causing the golden light twirling around the pendant to dim at a visibly fast pace.
Before long, the pendant clanged to the floor as if exhausted, the shiny surface, seemingly oxidized during those brief moments, was marked by many spots of black rust.
Only then did Jiang Li exhale a breath of stagnant air, rewrap herself in the bath towel, pick up the pendant from the floor, and place it back into the storage box on the nightstand.
…
After Jiang Li changed into her pajamas, adjusted the bedside lamp to a brighter setting, and lay back in bed with a bedtime book, a series of knocks sounded suddenly.
“Knock, knock, knock…” The person at the door knocked lightly and cautiously, as if afraid of disturbing those inside.
Hearing the sound, Jiang Li put down the book, looked toward the front door, and softly inquired, “Is that Ahua? If you have something to say, come in.”
As soon as her words fell, the brass handle of the door gently turned, and the old door hinge creaked open. Ahua, dressed in a maid outfit with a serious expression, walked in.
“Miss, we just received a message from the bureau. It’s an A-level alert.”
Jiang Li frowned slightly, tilting her head. “Do they need me to assist?”
Ahua shook her head. “It’s just a routine notification.”
According to the customs of the Siye Society, all operators in the city must be notified for alerts above B-level, to be prepared for assistance at any time.
“Has anyone gone to the scene?” Jiang Li pressed.
“Yes!” Ahua nodded. “The officer An Qing on duty tonight has gone to the scene. From the situation, it doesn’t seem to have caused major damage, and the source of the spirit energy fluctuation has disappeared.”
“I understand. I’ll get up and wait.” Jiang Li nodded slightly, speaking as she stood up, walked to the desk in the room, and opened the notebook computer. Moments later, the cheerful music from a mahjong game hall echoed through the room.
“…” Ahua watched Jiang Li for a moment, sighed helplessly, and spoke up, “Miss, do you need me to brew something for you? Tea or coffee?”
“Instant noodles would be nice?” Jiang Li glanced out the window. “It’s a bit late, and I’m getting hungry. Plus, I haven’t had instant noodles in a long time.”
“Okay!”
Ahua softly replied, turned, and left the room, while slightly recalling the special way of making instant noodles that her miss liked so much.
Isn’t it just adding sautéed scallions and a fried egg to the braised beef noodles? Why can’t I replicate the flavor my miss wants? Such a mystery, Ahua thought.
After Ahua left, Jiang Li’s phone suddenly vibrated. She picked it up and looked. It was a message from Li Xuan sent via an internal number.
【University City again, University City again. I bet you this is at least a fifty percent chance related to Luxianbei! Aren’t you going to investigate him?】
After contemplating the message for a few seconds, Jiang Li silently copied and pasted it, adding a note marked with [BY Li Xuan], and forwarded it to Bai Kai…
…
Not long ago, on the main road by Gate Four of Huacheng University, An Qing arrived at the site where Luxianbei, Miss Rabbit, and the mysterious man had battled.
She didn’t bring many people, only Du Sixian and three members of the Special Action Team.
In fact, from the initial detection of the spirit energy fluctuation to An Qing receiving the alert and preparing to set off, less than three minutes had passed, and that spirit energy fluctuation had completely vanished.
On a stormy night, aiming not to disturb ordinary people, An Qing decided to take advantage of the rain and go light on her gear.
…
Holding an umbrella by the roadside, looking at the burnt earth where the bushes and small forest once stood, An Qing’s brow was tightly furrowed. Those burnt areas had been soaked by the rain for over ten minutes, yet they still retained warmth, emitting wisps of white mist.
Although the source of the spirit energy fluctuation had long departed, the residual spirit energy at the scene still caused her heart to race and invoked an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
This feeling seemed to resemble what she experienced at the Flower Language Sunshine Resort Hotel.
After the fire at the resort had been extinguished, the members of the Special Action Team who investigated the ruins found that the concrete columns were still warm, as if they had been sun-baked or enchanted, but without any runes.
Could it be that witch type urban legend that escaped back then? An Qing pondered.
While An Qing was deep in thought, Du Sixian, who had just begun her internship and task execution, was busy conducting on-site investigations with the three members of the Special Action Team using standard spirit energy items from the Siye Society.
A moment later, with the help of the three members, Du Sixian completed the investigation and approached An Qing with a document containing their findings.
“Qing Sister, all done!” Du Sixian exclaimed excitedly. Her first involvement in the Siye Society’s operations made everything feel new and left her unexpectedly thrilled.
The work of the Siye Society is so much cooler than the petty squabbles of urban legend enthusiasts! Too bad we can’t record the video and post it online, thought Du Sixian.
“Night Corruption Level 4.3, the value is somewhat high.”
“Residual spirit energy fluctuation estimated at A-level.”
“Disaster response…”
Du Sixian hesitated, and An Qing looked at her and inquired, “What about the disaster response? Is there a problem?”
“Qing Sister, I think I might have measured it incorrectly.” Du Sixian scratched the back of her head, looking a bit embarrassed.
On her way here, Du Sixian had looked at the comparison chart for disaster responses. Usually, values from 0.01% to 2% were normal for urban legends, while anything over 5% was considered very dangerous. But the data she calculated just now reached an astonishing 13%!
That must be an error, thought Du Sixian. Maybe she forgot to place the decimal point somewhere?
Just as she was about to return and start over, An Qing stopped her, saying, “No need to recalculate, that value should be accurate.”
If the source of this alert is related to the witch type that appeared at the Flower Language Sunshine Resort Hotel, An Qing added silently in her mind.
The data they calculated then was even higher than this.
A value of 21%—if it were any higher, it could be deemed a pseudo-disaster and reported to headquarters.
As An Qing contemplated, the three members of the Special Action Team returned with collected spirit energy items, holding two small silver boxes as they approached her.
“Officer An Qing, take a look at these…”
When An Qing glanced at the contents of the boxes held by the members of the Special Action Team, her brows furrowed.
A broken black bone spur and a piece of bloody rabbit skin? What does this signify?
She wondered if the urban legend that appeared here would return.
It seems today is going to be another late night, thought An Qing with some helplessness.
…
Miss Rabbit never wanted to go to Huacheng University again in her life; she would even have to weigh whether to go near the University City in the future.
She never expected, nor could she comprehend, how that little thief, who initially seemed like a helpless chick, could become stronger and braver as the battle progressed.
Even suddenly using a high-level technique like the silent spell was somewhat acceptable; such things could be learned by anyone with enough talent, but then… then…
…
After saying that line, which made people want to slap her twice upon hearing, Luxianbei suddenly seemed to faint, collapsing limply to the ground.
Miss Rabbit and the mysterious man initially thought they could take advantage of the situation and, wielding crowbars and fists filled with bone spurs, they launched a rapid attack on Luxianbei.
However.
The moment they approached Luxianbei, it felt as if the spirit energy in the surrounding air was ignited. With the vibration of the spirit energy, light exploded in the darkness, piercing their eyes.
The terrifying fluctuation of spirit energy washed over them, yet strangely, the two felt a sense of calm and peace in their hearts, even wanting to bow down and worship before that light.
And within that light, a pair of exquisitely golden eyes slowly opened, as if a demonic god, born from lava, was awakening and gazing upon this world.
Just meeting that gaze felt like being burned.
In an instant, a vicious, scorching flame poured out from Luxianbei’s body like a torrent, leaving nothing but scorched and parched earth in its wake.
Her fiery red hair danced behind her, and on her exquisite face, her eyes appeared vacant, as if she had entered a deep sleep while her body moved as if in a trance.
Miss Rabbit and the mysterious man had only briefly exchanged blows with the seemingly sleepwalking girl two or three times before completely giving up resistance.
Miss Rabbit’s crowbars were melted down one after another.
The mysterious man, a high-level werewolf with spirit patterns, who excelled in power, was even sent flying after a few exchanges of punches.
Who could withstand this? This was undoubtedly a monster! Well, claiming that others are monsters might be somewhat unfair, but that’s exactly how it was.
Moreover, if she wasn’t in a dreamlike state, with somewhat stiff movements and slightly sluggish reactions, they probably wouldn’t even be able to escape.
If a dreamwalker could be this formidable, then what would happen when she fully woke up?
What horrified Miss Rabbit even more was that, fully aware they were not a match and worried, the two chose to retreat first.
Unexpectedly, that monster caught up after ensuring the headless urban legend was settled, silently trailing behind them without any attacks.
The destructive and tyrannical spirit energy fluctuation emanating from her seemed to mock the city, a silent laughter mocking everything within.
Along the way, the sound of insects ceased, snakes and mice hid, urban legends concealed themselves, and it all turned into the same dead silence as their emotions.
The monster only left upon exiting the bounds of University City, and Miss Rabbit and the mysterious man only relaxed slightly when they saw she did not pursue any further.
As for why such a terrifying monster would choose to take a taxi on the way out—such trivial details did not catch Miss Rabbit’s attention in that deathly silence.
Miss Rabbit had no idea about the situation; it was merely because Luxianbei was leaving in the same direction as the mysterious girl’s guidance.
However, just thinking about it made her spine tingle, feeling that she nearly developed PTSD because of this.
What should I do? It seems the Witch’s Egg can’t be retrieved, and the days until Mu Se awakens are numbered. Can I come up with another way?
If only I could cling to that monster’s leg. If possible, I wouldn’t want to be enemies; I just want to be free.
But whether she would let me cling to her is another question. Miss Rabbit thought.
