Chapter 144: That Store Actually Opened!?
Du Sixian mentioned finding a photo sealed with the strange old man in Xue Hua’s dorm room, but the camera used to take the photo disappeared without a trace.
Lu Xianbei immediately thought of the camera urban legend event that she had seen not long ago in the Urban Legends Chat Group.
Could there be some connection? Should she inform the leader about this information?
But if the Urban Legends Chat Group was really thoroughly investigated by the Siye Society, the clues of the spiritual ability user mentioned by Gu Qiqi and the trading platform for urban legends would be completely cut off.
Lu Xianbei weighed her options, just as she wanted to obtain more information from Du Sixian, she realized that somehow, the topic had already shifted to something else.
“Speaking of the benefits of becoming a formal member, it might be because my Spirit Patterns don’t have any special abilities, but I’ve gained a lot of benefits due to turning misfortune into fortune.”
Lu Xianbei, “…” The benefits she mentioned shouldn’t be the kind I want.
However, how did she shift the topic to benefits?
Forget it, I can only turn back and confirm the content of the camera urban legend in the chat group. Lu Xianbei thought.
Du Sixian had gone through too much recently and finally found someone who had a similar experience like Lu Xianbei, and she quickly opened up, chattering about many things.
This wasn’t to show off to Lu Xianbei; she simply needed someone to talk to.
“Those benefits are just some…”
Just as Du Sixian was about to share what she had seen from An Qing with Lu Xianbei, Lu Xianbei interrupted her.
“Wait! You don’t need to tell me, after all, I’m just a temporary worker, and there are some things that are better left unknown.”
I’ve seen most of what you learned from An Qing in my dreams; what difference does it make whether you say it or not? Lu Xianbei thought.
To be honest, compared to the endless chatter from Du Sixian in the dreams, Lu Xianbei felt that communicating with her “offline” in real life wasn’t so annoying.
But, as he said himself, he was still just a temporary worker. If Du Sixian accidentally leaked something, his permissions weren’t enough to know those details, and he would probably be investigated.
The Siye Society hadn’t yet discovered Lu Xianbei’s mark on her, but that didn’t mean a thorough investigation wouldn’t uncover any clues. At that point, the outcome would be disastrous for both of them.
This girl was still too young.
Lu Xianbei thoughtfully glanced at Du Sixian, who had shifted the topic from the Siye Society to daily matters.
She can’t really believe that joining the Siye Society is something good, right?
Anyway, I feel like most people who join the Siye Society do so against their will. If it weren’t for the risk of being hunted by urban legends, who would want to go to such a ghostly place?
If it weren’t for that truly ghostly experience, I’d prefer to never have any contact with the Siye Society in my life. Lu Xianbei thought.
To protect the weak and uphold justice, I’m not unwilling, but I’m really not good at it.
Lu Xianbei was quite self-aware. He felt that a person like him would probably not last long if captured in a fight; he would definitely betray the cause during the intimidation and temptation phase.
However, if the target is an urban legend, maybe there won’t even be a phase of intimidation and temptation?
Hmm… then I can only betray them quickly before they use torture!
As long as I betray fast enough, the torture won’t catch up to me.
……
Before the lunch break ended, Du Sixian kept dragging Lu Xianbei along, chattering about various urban legends and her concerning urban legend videos, to the point where it almost wore Lu Xianbei’s ears out.
They say dreams and reality are the opposite; Lu Xianbei couldn’t understand why Du Sixian could talk so much both online and offline.
After the lunch break, Lu Xianbei used the excuse of going back to class to shake off Du Sixian. However, instead of returning to the teaching building, he changed direction and left the school.
It wasn’t a matter of whether he loved learning; the issue was that receiving a chunk of nonsense information from Du Sixian left him unable to focus on what the afternoon class teacher was saying.
Moreover, during the school anniversary, everyone was skipping classes, and the teachers were mostly absent-minded. Missing one or two classes shouldn’t be a big deal.
Leaving through Gate Four, turning left out of the school gate, Lu Xianbei hopped on a bus heading toward Market 96.
Although Jumeng’s behavior of stealing and using a bank card enraged Lu Xianbei, that grudge couldn’t easily be put aside.
But, as the saying goes: to capture a person’s heart, one must first capture her stomach!
After all, Jumeng was a mythological species urban legend. As long as he could keep her steady, wouldn’t he worry about not getting that money back later?
The first step to milking the sheep is to raise a good sheep.
……
The bus left Huacheng University, making its way to Market 96 near Mudan Street, stopping frequently along the way.
Lu Xianbei sat on the bus, resting his head on one hand, leaning against the window, watching the scenery quickly retreat outside.
When the bus passed in front of the Huacheng Museum, his gaze inadvertently swept over the sculptures at the museum’s entrance. He saw tourists taking pictures while holding cameras and suddenly seemed to recall something, his eyes flickering slightly.
Right! The camera!
His mind had been filled with Du Sixian’s family matters earlier that he’d completely forgotten to look for the chat record of the last camera urban legend in the Urban Legends Chat Group.
Lu Xianbei thought, hastily pulling out his phone, opened a certain chat software, and after searching for a moment, he paused in surprise.
Gone? That urban legend chat group is missing?
On the old and worn-out phone screen, the chat software interface was displayed, but there was no information about being kicked from the chat group, nor any notification about the group being disbanded or banned.
Lu Xianbei knew that his shabby old phone was likely too outdated, and information might be delayed or lost. To be safe, he searched for the group number again and finally confirmed that the Urban Legends Chat Group had disappeared.
It was as if he had turned around and found a group chat that was last seen with a notification of 99+ messages, had never existed at all, vanishing without a trace.
Could it be that due to the investigation by the Siye Society, some special existence in that chat group sensed something and preemptively destroyed the evidence?
Lu Xianbei stared at the phone screen, pondering for a moment. Suddenly, he heard the bus alert for the next stop and shrugged, putting away his phone, and hurriedly got off the bus.
As for the Urban Legends Chat Group matter, Jiang Li was still investigating, and with the assistance from the old group member Du Sixian, he didn’t need to worry too much for now.
The most important thing right now was to sneak into the Bamboo Slips Illusion according to the mysterious girl’s instructions and, if there wasn’t too much danger, also rescue Gu Qiqi. Lu Xianbei thought.
……
The afternoon’s market was always filled with a chilly atmosphere.
Passing through the gate, the air suddenly became murky, mixed with the smells of rotting vegetable leaves and raw meat.
In the narrow alleys that could accommodate two or three people walking side by side, although the sewage didn’t flow freely and trash wasn’t carelessly discarded, the ground was still stained.
At this moment, the market had lost the morning’s bustle. Stalls displayed meat and vegetables that weren’t particularly fresh, with stall owners either dozing off on benches or grinning foolishly while holding their phones.
This was how a market behaves when it passed its peak; it seemed lifeless, even the flies circling in the air had a languid feel.
Lu Xianbei walked through the narrow paths of the market, his eyes slightly burning.
The murky air, the sneaky whispers of fish and shrimp in the water tank, and the lurking shadows in front of the pork stall—all of these had no effect on him anymore.
I ate the core of the urban legend itself, so how could I still be bothered by these foods tangled with unfinished urban legends? Lu Xianbei thought.
As the saying goes, knowledge is power, and it truly makes sense.
After studying the contents of The Book of Siye, Lu Xianbei wouldn’t dare to say much else, but he felt his courage at least grew a little.
Not long after, Lu Xianbei stopped in front of a stall selling pork bones. The stall owner sluggishly set down their phone and stood up, forcing a standard commercial smile on their face. “Young man, do you want pork ribs? I’ll recommend this piece to you…”
Lu Xianbei glanced at the piece the stall owner was pointing to, then raised his hand to point to another piece that the stall owner had placed in a corner, expressionless. “No, I want that one.”
Seeing this, the stall owner frowned with some displeasure, then quickly put on an even more exaggerated and theatrical smile, “Young man, that piece isn’t good! It’s too lean.”
“Young man, I see you’re quite young; you probably don’t understand the nuances here, right? Cooking with this evenly fatty and lean piece tastes better!”
Lu Xianbei glanced at the piece the stall owner recommended and then at the piece he chose.
The former had bright, fresh meat and there were no strange shadows swirling around, while the latter appeared somewhat dry, wrapped in a dense black shadow.
“…”
When it comes to cooking, it is indeed better if the meat is evenly fatty and lean, but that piece of yours isn’t fresh!
But you’re trying to scam me, aren’t you?
The shadow of the unfinished urban legend had completely dissipated, and it had to have been left there for at least a day, if not longer. Who knows what method you used to make it look so good!
Lu Xianbei thought, staring fixedly at the stall owner. His expressionless face coupled with a look of disdain made the stall owner feel uneasy, and then he said lightly, “I want the one I picked.”
After saying that, he confidently accepted the piece that looked a bit stale but was actually the freshest pork rib on the entire stall, under the stall owner’s begrudging gaze.
Lu Xianbei wasn’t quite sure how useful knowledge of advanced mathematics would be when grocery shopping as a student of the College of Arts and Literature.
However, judging by the current situation, the knowledge from The Book of Siye was quite handy for buying groceries.
After wandering around the market for a while, Lu Xianbei successfully bought the ingredients he needed for cooking that night using the knowledge from The Book of Siye. Just as he was preparing to leave, he suddenly felt an ominous feeling as if enveloped by dark shadows.
He looked around and his gaze eventually landed on the frozen food store he had seen before, the one where he had seen “half a person” and had entrusted An Qing to investigate.
At this moment, the frozen food store that An Qing mentioned had long been closed and was out of business for a long time. Yet, the rolling shutter door was opened by someone, revealing a gap half a person’s height.
His eyes slightly burning, Lu Xianbei, relying on his inexplicable strong spiritual sense, faintly saw unsettling shadows stirring within the gap.
Lu Xianbei, “…” What’s going on? That store is actually open!?
