Chapter 157: Surprised or Not, Unexpected or Not, Like It or Not?
Waves rippled through the air, as the faint light attracted by the bamboo slips outlined an illusory, formless vortex.
Watching the “door” leading to the Bamboo Slips Illusion gradually take shape, Luxianbei took a deep breath, tightened the zipper of her windbreaker, pressed the Velcro at her collar, and turned to look at Professor Ma.
“Professor, it’s about to start. I’m not sure what unexpected situations will arise once the Bamboo Slips Illusion fully opens, so please try to stay far away.”
Is it about to start? Professor Ma glanced at the decayed, darkened bamboo slips that had been eroded by time, nodding toward Luxianbei.
Seeing Luxianbei step by step toward the bamboo slips, he suddenly seemed to remember something and called out softly, “Luxianbei!”
“Huh? Professor, is there anything else?” Luxianbei stopped and turned back.
“This bamboo slip is too dangerous. Uh, I mean, if you’re going to study similar artifacts in the future, you must help me keep an eye on it. We can’t let another tragedy happen like last time,” Professor Ma said.
What I really want to say is to be careful and come back alive? At my age, still being so coy… Luxianbei thought inwardly and nodded to Professor Ma, “No problem.”
Saying this, she walked a short distance toward the bamboo slips, then quickly turned back again.
“You…” Professor Ma was taken aback, “Have you changed your mind?”
“No, it’s just that I don’t know how long it will be before I come back. I’m worried there won’t be any food inside, so…”
Luxianbei said seriously, bending down to grab a few half-cooked river fish from the ground and stuffing them into her pockets before turning and continuing to run toward the bamboo slips.
Professor Ma, “…”
……
The bamboo slips crazily absorbed the spirit energy that diffused from the surrounding mountains and forests, quickly condensing into a vortex pulsating with a dark red glow.
Through that vortex, which seemed to lead to another world, a black-and-white world resembling a landscape painting could be faintly seen, with undulating black mountains dotted with bloody light points like mountain fires.
Attracted by this continuously gathering spirit energy, unsettling sounds suddenly emerged from the surrounding barren mountains, sometimes resembling a girl’s sorrowful sobs, sometimes like an old woman’s lamenting sighs, and sometimes vaguely resembling the low growls of wild beasts.
Just before plunging into the vortex created by the bamboo slips, Luxianbei looked back over her shoulder, and with a strong stinging pain in her eyes, her pupils contracted in terror.
Through the distorted light and shadow produced by the bamboo slips, she saw a mass of bizarre figures densely packed behind Professor Ma.
A woman with long hair hanging down to obscure her face floated in the air, her tattered clothing revealing decaying hands and feet.
A giant, worm-like monster covered in growths and tumorous flesh, its grotesque features contorted in pain.
A group of pale children, standing back to back, with dark red flesh wiggling between them, tightly linking them together.
Something in the river cautiously poked its large head out…
In the distance, more bizarre figures continued to gather behind Professor Ma, quickly exceeding fifty in number.
These urban legends varied in strength: the weakest had just formed, while the strongest caused a sharp stinging pain in Luxianbei’s eyes, a third-degree intensity.
In an instant.
Dark red, pitch black, dark green, deep purple… various different sources of filthy and impure auras converged together, weaving a bizarre and terrifying painting, like a den of demons.
……
Did the abnormality of the bamboo slips attract the urban legends hidden in the surrounding mountains? Oh no, Professor Ma is in danger! Luxianbei thought.
She opened her mouth to warn Professor Ma but couldn’t make a sound as the scene before her blurred.
In an instant, a violent tremor began, within the dizzying, piercing shriek, as if something was being stripped away, perhaps reason, perhaps air, perhaps something else.
Her body felt as if it had plunged into a dark cold pond, continuously sinking, a cold, damp aura rushing from all directions.
Her body was pulled by a strange force; a terrifying roar seemed to bypass her ears and burrow into her mind, as all the light before her extinguished, plunging her into darkness.
In the darkness, she sank for an unknown amount of time, feeling like it was just a moment, or perhaps a century had passed.
The darkness dispersed, the bubble of reality shattered, and she glimpsed the world hidden behind the bamboo slips.
……
Following Luxianbei’s instructions, Professor Ma kept a distance of twenty to thirty meters, observing the direction of the bamboo slips.
His attention was entirely focused on Luxianbei, completely unaware of the horrific scene behind him where numerous urban legends were gathering, or perhaps he didn’t even know there were urban legends gathering behind him.
Those urban legends seemed to fear something, maintaining a certain distance from him, not daring to cross any boundaries.
Occasionally, lower-tier urban legends with less intelligence would shriek and charge toward the blocked Professor Ma, only to be torn to shreds by more powerful urban legends.
This situation continued until Luxianbei’s figure completely disappeared from view. Professor Ma sat down to wait, only to change when the disturbances around the bamboo slips ended.
At the moment Professor Ma stepped aside, the group of urban legends surged forward like a flood being released from a dam, or like schoolchildren rushing toward the bell after school, frantically charging toward the bamboo slips.
However.
Until the last urban legend vanished into the vortex formed by the bamboo slips, Professor Ma didn’t notice anything abnormal.
Oh, wait, he did sense a hint of something wrong…
“Why does it smell so bad? Dead fish?”
“Ugh—! It’s still cold by the river at night! This river wind is chilling. I should have taken my coat from the car.”
Professor Ma’s muttering echoed above the river before quickly falling silent.
……
Half an hour later.
The light surrounding the bamboo slips gradually shrank, finally flickering like a faulty light before dimming down.
In the darkness, Professor Ma quietly observed the direction of the bamboo slips, and after confirming there were no more abnormalities, he got up, walked over, picked up the bamboo slips, and turned to walk toward the car parked along the distant mountain path.
Just as Professor Ma started the car and drove down the mountain road toward the city center, disappearing from sight, a silver light shimmered across the opposite bank, gradually brightening before abruptly vanishing.
……
A few minutes later.
Inside a military SUV speeding toward the desolate riverbank.
“I knew it all along, knew it!” Li Xuan said sternly, looking at Jiang Li, “That Luxianbei definitely has a problem!”
“Look, I’ve had people keeping an eye on the outskirts of University City, and there were indeed findings, right?”
An Qing, “…”
In this world, in any given city, the number of urban legends was nearing one-tenth of the population; keeping an eye on one place would yield findings, right?
As An Qing thought this, the car door was suddenly pulled open by something, a gust of wind rushed in, and with a loud “bang,” it closed again, accompanied by a dazzling silver flash as Bai Kai appeared inside the car.
“I just got back, stopped by the bureau. I heard there was action, so I came over. What’s the situation now?” Bai Kai said with a grin, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally drifting toward Li Xuan.
“Half an hour ago, colleagues on a mission near Laotan Village detected a large number of urban legends gathering. The situation at the scene is unclear,” An Qing explained.
“That’s why you guys were driving so fast! I almost didn’t catch up.”
An Qing, “…” This guy Bai Kai only knows how to exaggerate!
With his speed, how could he possibly catch up to a car? An Qing thought.
Perhaps in this world, those top-tier sports cars at full speed could rival Bai Kai’s speed.
However.
To reach full speed, a sports car needs a good road condition, but Bai Kai could completely disregard the terrain.
“But that Laotan Village…” Bai Kai frowned.
“What? Is there something wrong there?”
“No, no!” Bai Kai shook his head slightly, “I just came from that direction and didn’t notice anything unusual!”
“How is that possible!?” Li Xuan suddenly spoke up.
Bai Kai glanced at Li Xuan, “Oh? Are you doubting my judgment?”
“I…”
“What ‘I…’?” Bai Kai rolled his eyes, “By the way, since you opened your mouth, I suddenly remembered, I brought you a little gift on the way here.”
“Gift?” Li Xuan looked at Bai Kai puzzlingly, tilting his head.
This annoying guy suddenly becoming so kind-hearted.
Bai Kai smiled mysteriously at Li Xuan, reaching into his pocket to pull out a pitch-black object and tossing it to Li Xuan.
“Take a look! How’s that? Surprised or not, unexpected or not, like it or not?”
Li Xuan held the black object, examining it for a few seconds before recognizing from its patterns that it was a piece of tire debris, identical to the model of his car’s tire.
Suddenly coming to his senses, the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably, and he shouted, “Bai Kai! You ***! I’m going to complain about you to headquarters!”
“Then go ahead! Hundreds of people complain about me every year, who do you think you are?” Bai Kai shrugged, reclined in his seat, and closed his eyes to rest, seemingly ignoring Li Xuan’s noisy shouts.
Late at night, why would Luxianbei’s professor appear in such a place? Bai Kai thought quietly.
Yes, he knew Professor Ma; before Luxianbei enrolled, he had already secretly investigated all of her teachers.
After discovering Luxianbei frequently interacted with Professor Ma, he conducted another investigation into Professor Ma and found nothing unusual.
From the residual spirit energy at the scene, there had been at least a hundred urban legends, but he, being just an ordinary person, couldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary…
This matter is too strange. What happened during the time I left? Could Luxianbei also be involved?
In that vicinity, for several miles around, there were no human inhabitants; when I went there, those urban legends inexplicably disappeared, so there shouldn’t be any danger in a short time. It should be fine to arrive a little later, Bai Kai thought.
Even for Luxianbei’s sake, what if… she really is up to something?
(Today… extra chapter… should have…)
