**Chapter 172: Oh No! The Copper Coin Appears Front Side Up!**
“System, my head hurts a bit…” Gu Qiqi whispered in the darkness.
Upon hearing this, the system slightly examined Gu Qiqi’s head and couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.
“Wow, impressive! Gu Qiqi, didn’t I tell you to protect your head just now? How could your head be so tough?”
Her head didn’t suffer any external injuries during the recent cave collapse but was left with numerous lumps from flying debris, very reminiscent of Buddhist culture.
Gu Qiqi felt a bit wronged and mumbled, “Uh… I only did this to protect the little baby!”
Earlier, the system had focused its attention on the mysteriously acting Lu Yi Bei, and it wasn’t until now that it noticed amidst all the chaos, Gu Qiqi had remarkably managed to protect the baby that was meant to be a sacrifice. The baby was not scared and didn’t cry at all, only clutching Gu Qiqi’s clothes tightly with its tiny, delicate hands.
Just like it was holding onto the only lifeline.
For many young people, taking care of kids is a troublesome task, but for Gu Qiqi, it was particularly natural and effortless.
Although the system never said it aloud, deep down, it thought that Gu Qiqi, aside from being a bit slow-witted, was truly capable—she could take on any job.
Indeed, babysitting was a significant part of her daily part-time work.
If she hadn’t encountered the system, she might have become a hardworking, kind, exceptionally competent independent woman and a virtuous wife.
“Quickly! Gu Qiqi, take care of the child well; don’t let her make any noise. I’ll check the situation with the calamity over there.”
……
In the dark cave, the system silently observed Lu Yi Bei for a while and after confirming that she was in, and likely to remain in, that strange state, made a decision.
“Gu Qiqi…”
“Uh, you’re so thin! It’s so pitiful; you must not have eaten well for a long time, right?”
“Gu Qiqi.”
“Hehe, such a good girl, wait until I get out; I’ll buy you milk powder… No, maybe raise a cow; never mind, can’t afford a cow, let’s raise a sheep.”
“Gu Qiqi!”
Gu Qiqi’s expression darkened, “Why are you shouting so loudly? You’ll scare the baby!”
“Sorry… What the heck! She can’t hear my voice!” The system retorted.
“Hurry up, let’s continue with the main task! The calamity state is abnormal; now is the perfect time to act. You walk over, aim at her head, swing the stick down, and the whole world will be safe!”
“But system,” Gu Qiqi frowned and mumbled, “Are you sure it’s that simple? Just now she…”
As Gu Qiqi said this, the system recalled how Lu Yi Bei had just used triple chanting to perform a forbidden-level spell, and a chill rose in its heart.
Gu Qiqi had a point, but such a good opportunity shouldn’t be wasted, right?
While the system was thinking, Gu Qiqi suddenly shouted.
“System, system, I have a plan!”
“Don’t interrupt; I’m thinking! What good idea could you come up with?”
“System, system, listen to me!” Gu Qiqi insisted.
“Then say it; I want to see what you can come up with today!” The system impatiently shouted.
“Why don’t we take her with us? If we encounter any danger, we can throw her away. If we can’t defeat her, maybe that monster from before can!”
The system, “……”
Gu Qiqi, you’ve changed; you’re not innocent anymore, making me feel unfamiliar.
But…
I don’t dislike this development!
So, Gu Qiqi’s mind was filled with the mechanical task notification sound.
【Congratulations, host has triggered a hidden task, Tool “Calamity.”
Please collect the item “Not Quite Normal Calamity.”
Reward: 500 points, one “???” Alchemical Potion.】
“System, this plan was my idea, you can’t…”
“Please complete the task as soon as possible, exceeding the time limit will result in punishment.”
You’re giving a task and giving out a reward; are you not happy? The system thought. Besides, the host and system are one body! Who thought of it, why bother being so clear-cut?
Hurry up! If she returns to normal later, it will be troublesome; even a calamity who has cast a spell using triple chanting and has spell number ninety-five will still feel hungry!
Seeing that the system did not provide the response she wanted, Gu Qiqi stomped her foot and angrily said, “Hmph! The idea was mine, you plagiarizing monster! So irritating!”
Having said that, she looked at Lu Yi Bei lying on the ground, still kicking her legs. Her gaze stopped on that expressionless face with hollow, lifeless eyes. She bit her lip, stepped forward, untied her scarf, wrapped it around Lu Yi Bei’s armpits, and secured her on her back.
Perhaps because Lu Yi Bei didn’t sense any hostility from Gu Qiqi, who was in the proxy state, she didn’t resist but her legs still kicked in a bizarre, somewhat stiff manner.
After observing for a while, and seeing that nothing particularly unusual was happening, the system let out a sigh of relief, “Let’s go, Gu Qiqi. There are faint spirit energy fluctuations deep in the left front of the cave; let’s check it out.”
“Hmm…” Gu Qiqi replied and walked forward.
In the darkness, her silhouette resembled a humanoid monster with many strange limbs…
……
Following the system’s guidance, Gu Qiqi deeply entered the unusually large cave. The dim light emitted from her life-pattern cloak spread out but couldn’t illuminate the end of the cave’s walls.
It felt as if she had stepped into the palace of an ancient god; accompanied by an inexplicable heartbeat, the darkness slowly lifted the ancient, mysterious veil before her eyes.
Outside the sinkhole, although it was a barren land, it was lush with vegetation, home to many oddly-shaped villagers. But this place, deep underground and devoid of sunlight, had stone walls engraved with large and small, pitch-black caves, seemingly devoid of life.
Along with the descending terrain, the silence grew deeper, and being there felt as if she had left the world of rationality and was heading towards a crazy unknown maze.
And the typically damp, cold air now vaguely carried a faint scent of bl**d.
The stone walls’ caves became larger, and in the dim corners, the same dark, sticky substance that appeared on the muddy monster earlier intruded abruptly into view.
Under the faint light of her life-pattern cloak, Gu Qiqi saw many corpses lying on the dirty, damp ground, as if they were in the throes of struggle, attempting to escape.
The dark, sticky substance clung to their bodies, slowly oozing out like melted wax.
Not knowing how long they had walked, more skeletons appeared in front of them. They were piled together, resembling an ancient, evil burial site.
Enveloped by more of that dark, sticky substance, the skeletons were all slowly melting.
The faint glow of the life-pattern cloak swept over, and they immediately gathered together, like a bizarre marching troop, writhing towards the deeper side of the fork in the road.
And from deep within the cave obscured by darkness, faint sounds of chewing seemed to transmit from unknown places, as if some unknown giant beast were tearing apart and swallowing its food.
It sounded eerily chilling.
Had Lu Yi Bei’s powerful attack just now really not been able to eliminate that monster?
Gu Qiqi thought anxiously, and at that moment, the voice of the system resonated in her head.
“I can sense it; it’s that type of aura! Gu Qiqi, the ancestral hall seems to be right ahead.”
“But, system…”
In the next instant, as if sensing something, her eyes suddenly sharpened, her muscles tensed, and she instinctively entered a combat state.
Just as she could almost hear her heartbeat at that moment, a fierce wind suddenly swept past from the stone wall above.
In the next moment, the baby that had been quietly sleeping in her arms suddenly awoke, crying in panic. The fierce wind above changed direction instantly, violently attacking downward.
It was almost instinctual.
Her heart raced, and in the instant the fierce wind touched her, she quickly moved three feet to the side.
“Boom!”
With a loud sound, aided by the faint light, it appeared as if a gigantic thing, akin to a tentacle, lashed past Gu Qiqi’s side and struck the dark stone wall with a heavy blow.
The entire sheer cliff seemed to tremble, dust flying around, and large and small stones fell from above.
After a moment, a sharp cry suddenly erupted from behind her and continued unabated.
Gu Qiqi was taken aback, and turning back she saw countless dark, sticky entities rushing out from the stone caves she had seen on the way back, gathering together, covered with glimmering green eyes, various limbs that resembled evil spirits, writhing and approaching her.
“Now’s the time, Gu Qiqi, use the tool!”
With the system’s reminder, Gu Qiqi quickly snapped back to reality, swiftly removed Lu Yi Bei from her back, hoisted her onto her shoulder, and threw her towards the direction where the dark, sticky substances were surging.
In the darkness, Lu Yi Bei’s body flew out like a human-shaped spear, landing on the greasy ground and flopping around like a wind-up doll that had fallen over.
The next moment, she suddenly jumped up from the ground, speeding away like a racing car that had hit the gas.
Seeing Lu Yi Bei getting closer to the monster, Gu Qiqi’s expression turned serious, and she hesitated to act, quietly voicing to the system in her mind.
“System, I feel like this might not be right…”
Why didn’t you think of this before? When suggesting to treat someone as a tool, you didn’t seem guilty about it at all!
The system secretly complained, but sensing Gu Qiqi’s tone of melancholy, it comforted her instead, “Don’t worry; after all, that’s a calamity, she won’t easily d*e…”
But as long as she can be severely injured, greatly slowing down her growth, that would be a significant victory!
The system thought, detaching from Gu Qiqi’s body, sticking out its fishy head to gaze into the cave’s depths, and solemnly remarked, “Now, Gu Qiqi, head towards the direction of the ancestral hall!”
“We must find what’s inside the ancestral hall before the second night falls; otherwise, we won’t be able to leave! Do you want to stay in this cursed place for another year?”
Gu Qiqi gave a complex glance back at Lu Yi Bei, nodded, gently responded, tightened her hold on the baby, and ran towards the depths of the cave.
……
Unknowingly, after falling asleep for an unknown period, it felt as though she had a dull yet excessively lengthy dream.
Upon waking, Lu Yi Bei found herself in a daze as if she were in a different world, then realized she was sprinting forward and there was an inexplicable monster ahead, making her even more confused.
Lu Yi Bei, “……”
What the hell? The proxy “customer service” said we would definitely win, right?
d*mn, can I return this?
According to the rules, this wave should at least cost me thirty years of life!
Thinking wildly, Lu Yi Bei abruptly stomped to a halt, her figure swayed unsteadily a couple of times, stopping right in front of the monster, an overwhelming sense of pressure hit her, and her forehead broke into a cold sweat.
“……”
Upon noticing Lu Yi Bei, all the arms, claws, and tentacles that had differentiated from the black and sticky substance twisted and wriggled in the foul-smelling air.
All the mouth-like slits screamed but couldn’t express their true broken words, merging into indistinguishable noise.
In the next moment, piercing screams echoed throughout the cave.
“NAB——NAB——!”
It was a brief yet sharp sound resembling that of a ship’s horn, indicating the meaning of a snake in the Miao language.
In that sound, there was a hint of transmitted fear.
Lu Yi Bei, “？？？”
Hang on, I’m almost scared to d*ath by it; what is it afraid of?
Could it be that it was psychologically scarred from being hit by the proxy?
Thinking this, Lu Yi Bei cleared her throat, waved her hand towards the amorphous giant in front of her, and tentatively said, “Hello, NICE TO MEET YOU!”
As her voice fell, all the wandering eyes of the monster rapidly turned to gaze at Lu Yi Bei, feeling an intense aura of horror.
Then.
“NAB——!”
Accompanied by the sounds, all the eyes retreated into the giant body made of black, sticky substance, and its body began to dissolve, retreating into the caves surrounding it.
Lu Yi Bei, “……”
This…… doesn’t that make me look like the evil deity?
Just as her mind blanked out for a moment, the whole area suddenly began to shake violently; a massive black snake head crashed through the left wall, accompanied by a gust of foul wind, opening its fearsome mouth, biting the fleeing black, sticky matter and dragging it out to fight fiercely.
Lu Yi Bei had seen many special effects films and monster movies, but the scene before her was far more shocking than anything in those movies.
The thunderous roar sounded like the battle drums of gods, echoing throughout the dark cave.
The torrential rain seemed to fall from the void, intermingled with broken stalactite columns, crashing onto the ground, and in an instant, it was crushed to fragments.
Bone-white fangs followed the massive head, swinging like swords that only giants could wield, accompanied by explosive sounds of air, tearing through the bodies of enemies.
Disturbing sticky fluids rained down.
The black, sticky matter differentiated into strange limbs, resembling human forms or something else, crawling like demons from hell, tearing at, biting, and corroding the black-scaled body…… leaving behind terrifying scars.
The two massive creatures fought each other in the most brutal and bloodthirsty way, making the large cave feel somewhat cramped.
And in places invisible to the n*ked eye, more terrifying spirit energy fluctuations clashed with some peculiar forces.
This was the collision of worship long forgotten and the obsessions of the villagers, giving birth to evil beliefs, a battle between those ancient humans and the sinners they had differentiated from.
Under the protection of the Great Serpent God, Lu Yi Bei watched this scene with wide eyes, feeling an intense burning in her eyes as if she were witnessing a struggle between the gods and her own shadows.
In an instant, she was bombarded with countless rays of sunshine-like light, hearing the faint murmurs of thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of people discussing something.
This murmur was chaotic, illogical; one moment praising the beautiful mountains and rivers, and the next complaining about the poor food in the army camp today, one moment crying in sorrow, and the next reveling in joy…
Then.
Amidst the chaotic light and shadow, she saw a group of elderly people, drifting like lost souls. Under the cover of night, steered by the crimson lantern’s faint light, they approached the slumbering, mountain-like body of the black serpent.
After a long time and many cruel means, they had conspired to gather so many dying lives, enough to pollute a god.
Using spears manufactured by alchemy, they pierced their own bodies, staining the serpent’s scales with bl**d, casting a cruel curse, imprisoning the god for future generations.
Or perhaps, they might take its place and become a deity themselves.
Under the scarlet moonlight, the serpent let out an enraged roar; in the clear sky, dark clouds rapidly piled up, pouring down torrential rain, lightening descending from the heavens in droves.
The tyrannical and solemn thunderlight spread across hundreds of miles, continuously showering the world with destruction, and then the earth cracked, a colossal sinkhole, like an evil sore, appeared on the surface.
Then, everything fell into a prolonged silence.
……
Unbeknownst to her, Lu Yi Bei opened her eyes. The darkness that had blocked her vision vanished, and her surroundings gradually became clearer. A much smaller black serpent head breached her sight.
Although it had shrunk considerably, it was still a colossal creature, almost at eye-level with Lu Yi Bei.
Atop that serpent’s head, there were no intact scales left, and bl**d and flesh transformed into tiny particles drifted into the air, revealing its bone white skeleton.
“Respected inheritor of the female Ba, the great existence that brings drought and calamity, it is an honor to see you again; it seems you have heard my call.”
No sound emerged; the phrase seemed to transmit directly into Lu Yi Bei’s mind.
“……”
“I am very grateful that you were able to weaken that fellow’s power, allowing me to break free temporarily and take my revenge, and now I want to ask you to do one last thing for me. In return, I will give you all the knowledge I possess.”
All knowledge? Isn’t that exactly what the proxy customer service told me to find? Lu Yi Bei narrowed her eyes at the entity that resembled the Great Serpent God, her expression impassive as she said, “Let’s hear it?”
“Boom——!”
The Great Serpent God suddenly straightened its body, presenting its abdomen to Lu Yi Bei. She saw that its abdomen was covered in countless hand-like tumors, piled tightly together, as if they were gripping tightly onto its body.
“I would like to beg of you, to help me lift the seal and then end my life, allowing me to return to the earth.”
“Lift the seal? How do I do that?” Lu Yi Bei frowned and asked.
The Great Serpent God’s golden vertical pupils glimmered with excitement, venomous red tongue flicking as it replied.
“It’s simple; just touch the seal and release your spirit energy. The rest will be up to me.”
Lu Yi Bei, “……”
That sounds simple enough, but something feels off.
This thing probably needs careful deliberation.
She pondered, suddenly feeling something in the pocket of her coat trembling lightly. Reaching in, she felt a cold object brush across her hand, jumping out of the pocket and landing on the cold, hard floor with a crisp sound.
“Ding——!”
Is this Professor Ma’s precious copper coin? Lu Yi Bei frowned slightly, subconsciously bending down to pick up the coin, and her pupils shrank upon seeing its front side.
Front side up?
Oh no! The copper coin has appeared front side up!
d*mn it, the Great Serpent God is definitely problematic!
**Epilogue Up**
A bit long, but I didn’t want to split it into chapters. The next two days I’ll update less and sort out the plot for the next volume.
