Chapter 47 Don’t Be Afraid, Everyone is One of Us
“Hiss—! It hurts!”
Amidst the smoke and dust, in the darkness, Luxianbei rubbed her backside and cried out in pain.
She had already guessed there might be secret passages hidden in the old building after seeing that woman with a birthmark mysteriously ascend from the first floor to the fourth floor.
However, she did not expect that Qin Dalin would dig the entrance in the very center of the room. Caught off guard, she stepped into thin air and fell down.
d*mn it, isn’t he afraid of falling in himself? Luxianbei cursed silently, leaning against the wall, she stood up in the dark and began to take stock of her surroundings.
The hole through which she fell was a straight drop downward, about three or four meters high, one and a half meters long, and roughly one meter wide, resembling a dry well that could easily accommodate an average-sized adult.
In the air, the bloody smell that seemed to seep from the walls grew stronger. At the bottom of the hole, the air flowed with a subtle “woo-woo” sound, like someone was softly crying.
After using her spirit sense to probe the two unfamiliar spirit energy fluctuations above, confirming they had entered Qin Dalin’s home and had not moved since, Luxianbei took out her phone, turned on the flashlight to illuminate the area, and carefully explored forward.
Possibly due to being damp underground, the surrounding concrete walls were wet, and dried bloodstains were left on the floor from dragging. On a protruding rusty wire, there were remnants of some decayed clothing hanging.
It seemed that after subduing those girls, Qin Dalin would bring them here for the next steps. Luxianbei thought.
Previously, in the living room of room 401, she also heard Qin Dalin moving heavy objects in the bedroom, presumably preparing to open the secret passage to bring her here as well.
After inspecting her surroundings, Luxianbei found a passage leading forward, bending down to proceed. After about three or four meters, she encountered a rusty iron door.
The iron door was unlocked. Pausing in front of it, she carefully pushed it open, anticipating that some urban legend might suddenly burst out from inside, so she silently tossed a coin, gauged the amplification of the spell formula, and prepared a red flame flash before pushing the door open.
“Creeeak—!”
The door’s hinges creaked ominously as the rusty iron door swung open, releasing a strange smell formed by mold, dust, spoiled food, and decaying bl**d in the confined space.
Behind the iron door was a roughly thirty square meter secret room, appearing to have been modified from some room on the third floor. The windows were sealed, the walls smoothed over again, and a heavy security door stood in the corner, with old tables and chairs placed beside it.
In the center of the secret room was a large iron cage containing two stainless steel basins, one filled with murky water and the other with spoiled, blackened food.
Additionally, the cage was stacked with a large mass of dark objects. As Luxianbei shone her phone’s light on it, her face turned pale.
Inside the cage was a large mass of tangled, gruesome hair, and she could vaguely see some bones beneath the hair that had not been dealt with in time.
Those girls targeted by Qin Dalin and brought into the old building should have been imprisoned here, gradually becoming soulless, filthy, walking corpses, and finally ending up as cold corpses.
As for where those bodies were hidden, perhaps, as Luxianbei sensed, they were in the dark corners of this old building, unnoticed by ordinary people.
Beneath those bones, Luxianbei finally found the source of the bloody smell seeping from the walls.
Some twisted, strange red threads extended from the bottom of the cage, attaching to the ground, rooting into the hard, cold concrete.
They looked like dried bloodstains and like plant roots, with faint spirit energy fluctuations emanating from them.
Luxianbei stared at those bl**d-red threads for a few seconds, softly reciting a spell, and threw a red flame flash at them.
“Whoosh—!”
The fiery red light illuminated the secret room that had not seen daylight for years, accompanied by faint cries and the acrid smell of burning flesh, the spirit energy fluctuations soon quieted down.
“……”
Qin Dalin is really a beast; if he continues like this, who knows what terrifying urban legends might emerge from this old building.
No wonder that big sister warned me against casually entering rooms in the old building.
Was she worried I might stumble upon Qin Dalin disposing of the trapped girls inside and encounter danger? Luxianbei thought.
Thinking about it carefully, a girl going alone into an abandoned house and suddenly encountering a bl**d-soaked man who just committed m*rder would indeed be very frightening for an ordinary person.
After those bl**d-red threads burnt to ashes, Luxianbei prepared to leave.
Before exiting, she walked over to the tables and chairs in the secret room, opened the drawers of the table one by one, and rummaged around until she found a yellowed notebook with mold stains.
“Rustle.”
Luxianbei casually flipped to a page, using her phone to illuminate the notebook, but found it hastily written with a single number【277】.
“277? What does it mean?”
She furrowed her brows, flipped back, and found that each page only bore one number.
【181】、【205】、【229】……
These numbers seemed unrelated, showing no clear pattern, the only thing certain was that they were steadily increasing.
Luxianbei was puzzled as she continued to skim through the notebook until she finally reached the first page, where a crooked handwriting wrote “100 days remaining.”
“……”
It seems the numbers might represent how many days those girls can survive after being handed over to some urban legend by Qin Dalin?
But why are the changes in the numbers not consistent? Some can increase by over forty days, while others only a few days.
Is it judged by looks, age, or potential spirit energy talent?
Luxianbei pondered, muttering to herself, “I wonder how many days I’m worth?”
After saying this, she set the notebook down and prepared to leave this ghostly place.
“Ah—! You, you all…”
A sudden shriek akin to a pig being slaughtered came from the other end of the passage, sounding like Qin Dalin.
————
Qin Dalin was awakened by a murky, chilly, strange wind.
Groggily waking up, he found himself tied to a chair and suddenly recalled the female ghost, causing him to shiver.
Opening his eyes and seeing the dark room without the presence of that female ghost, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
However, his heart, which had just begun to relax, was suddenly back in his throat.
The overhead light flickered suddenly; in a flash of light, he saw two terrifying figures standing in the dark corners of the room.
One was completely n*ked, with pale skin, clusters of wrinkled flesh piled up together, resembling a very fat person suddenly drained of all fat, as if many human skins had been sewn together over a skeleton.
The other was very short, possibly less than one meter forty, wearing a filthy sack over its head, with dark red threads sewing eyes and a mouth onto the sack, looking like a poorly made, grotesque scarecrow, with maggots crawling around the seams of the sack.
Seeing the two dark figures, Qin Dalin’s body suddenly stiffened, fear gnawing at his nerves like swarms of insects, his heart raced, and he felt a jolt run through his body.
“Ah—! You, you all…”
As he saw the two dark figures slowly approach, he let out a scream, but before he could finish talking, his face twitched as if he had a stroke, and he fainted again.
So tragic, I’m really so tragic! That female ghost not only has no intention of sparing me but has also called for companions to torture me! This is retribution!
This thought flashed in Qin Dalin’s mind as he lost consciousness.
————
Inside the secret room.
Luxianbei had just heard Qin Dalin’s scream and was unaware of what had happened outside when she suddenly felt an inexplicable surge of spirit energy, many small question marks popping up in her mind.
What the heck? What’s going on? Is there really such a good deal in this world where one can benefit without working?
Luxianbei thought, cautiously made her way to the opening leading to Qin Dalin’s bedroom, and was just about to use her spirit sense to observe the situation above when suddenly, a conversation came from above.
————
“Human skin, are you sure this is the guy Mr. Li wants us to deal with?”
The urban legend called Human Skin glanced at Qin Dalin tied to the chair and said, “No doubt about it. I’ve seen the photo; he has no spirit energy fluctuations, so he shouldn’t have any spell formula to alter his appearance.”
As it spoke, its voice seemed like a mix of several voices, buzzing in a way that made it hard to hear clearly.
“Then…” the Sack Face urban legend scratched its head, a handful of maggots falling to the ground like rain, “why is he tied up?”
“Is this something we need to take care of? Mr. Li could just call a couple of ordinary people to deal with him!”
“This…” Human Skin pondered for a few seconds and said, “Could it be that another urban legend reached here before us? After all, there are more urban legends known to Mr. Li than just us two brothers?”
“That guy knocked him out, tied him up, and is preparing to starve him to d*ath? Or slowly torture him to d*ath?”
“Eh? Quite perverted, but too low-end.” Sack Face scoffed.
————
Inside the passage.
You are the perverted low-end! Your whole family is perverted low-end! Luxianbei rolled her eyes at the opening, calming her emotions before carefully analyzing the content of their conversation.
They just mentioned Mr. Li. Before Qin Dalin fainted, he also mentioned that the ancient sword was in the hands of someone surnamed Li…
Could this Mr. Li be the one who took the ancient sword?
He knows through some method that Qin Dalin was going to reveal the location of the ancient sword to me, so he sent two urban legends to k*ll him and silence him?
But wait, wouldn’t that be too fast of a response?
While Luxianbei was thinking, the conversation between the two urban legends above interrupted her train of thought.
“What now? Should we just k*ll him?”
“I think so! An ordinary person can’t produce much spirit energy anyway.”
…
Hearing this, Luxianbei’s heart tightened as she quietly exclaimed that it was bad.
Now that the location of the ancient sword had yet to be determined, if those two urban legends killed Qin Dalin, and if Mr. Li wasn’t the one who took the ancient sword, wouldn’t the clue be completely cut off?
In that case, I could only…
With no time to think further, Luxianbei pressed her hands against the wall of the passage, exerted force, and quickly scaled up like a lizard.
Once she stabilized herself in the bedroom, she immediately projected her spirit energy and confidently strode out of the bedroom.
Although she still couldn’t summon all her strength without taking damage, after completing her spirit patterns and frequently using spell formulas, she had figured out some ways to use spirit energy.
For instance, projecting spirit energy was actually similar in principle to casting a spell, except that there was no need to chant; one just had to gather spirit energy constantly without unleashing it…
Holy cr*p! Why can’t I stop?
Wait, could it be that this false spell is benefiting from the amplification effect too?
This… doesn’t it risk causing some trouble?
As Luxianbei worried about her uncontrolled spirit energy projection, she froze again at the sight outside the bedroom.
As she opened the door, a chilling wind swept in, a strange smell filled the air, the bulb on the ceiling flickered, and the shadows on the walls appeared to be distorted by some force, swaying incessantly, as if ready to transform into vengeful spirits and leap from the walls to pounce on Qin Dalin.
In the center of the room stood two terrifying figures that were clearly not human.
Oh my god, this is way too scary!
If I had known, I would have stayed hidden in the secret room until they left.
Looking at the scene before her, Luxianbei was frightened by the spectacle created by the two urban legends, her heart leaped, but she gritted her teeth, steeling herself to step forward.
The pressure I choose to face, I must see it through even if I’m on my knees!
I’m a bit stronger than them individually, so let’s try and see if I can scare them off. If not, with my Enhancing Ghostly Steed, I can at least run away…
Luxianbei thought, raising her hand and exclaiming, “Beasts! What do you want?!”
The two urban legends were drawn to her voice and the terrifying spirit energy fluctuations, turning towards her. The core of their urban legend trembled.
A girl in tattered white clothing stood in the doorway, her silvery hair flowing behind her, her exquisitely cold expression, and her pupils seemed to contain ice.
“Woo—!”
Accompanied by a distortion of light and shadow and the sorrowful weeping of the girl, dark red ethereal streams appeared around her, resembling tiny rivers of bl**d flowing beside her.
These bl**d rivers emitted a faint glow reminiscent of lava.
Deformed, sickly, yet filled with an eerie, sinister vitality, as if ready to pollute and burn the darkness.
She was practically a malevolent god emerging from bl**d and fire!
The two urban legends were genuinely frightened by her, freezing in place and daring not to move.
Although this suddenly appearing witch-like urban legend did not have significantly stronger spirit energy fluctuations compared to them, her spirit energy quality was simply too high, creating a natural suppression due to the immense disparity in levels.
Like a predator over its prey.
Even more terrifying was that they had not sensed her presence until now.
Yet an urban legend of this caliber is among the top tier in Huacheng. Why would they show interest in an ordinary human?
Human Skin muttered to itself, “He is your… no, he is your prey?”
“……”
Did I manage to dodge it?
After a moment of silence, Luxianbei coldly replied, “No, merely acting on someone’s orders.”
“Uh…” Human Skin stammered, finally saying, “Actually, my brother and I are also acting on orders. If your intent aligns with ours, we’ll get out of here.”
I definitely understand you’re just acting on someone’s orders. If it’s indeed the one who took the ancient sword, I might even blend into the situation… Luxianbei thought, slightly parting her lips and preparing to say something, when Sack Face, who had remained silent, examined her for a moment and suddenly exclaimed.
“I recognize you! It’s you!”
Luxianbei, “???”
What the heck? What’s going on? How is it that an urban legend recognizes me?
Human Skin paled, trying to restrain Sack Face, but was shrugged off, “You’re that witch-like urban legend from Old Zhang’s Urban Legends Broadcast, right? I’m a fan of yours!”
“I didn’t expect you to be real!”
“……”
I’m not real? Am I made of paper?
Luxianbei wanted to retort, but gazing at Sack Face, who was so excited he was “rainfalling” maggots, she felt a chill run down her spine and momentarily fell silent.
Old Zhang’s Urban Legends Broadcast…
Hiss—! Were they talking about Uncle Zhang Shan’s broadcast?
What exactly has Uncle Zhang Shan been narrating? Does he know that among his listeners are urban legends?
Thinking of a group of urban legends eagerly waiting in dark corners at night to hear Uncle Zhang narrate stories, Luxianbei felt somewhat creeped out.
After a brief silence, she did not respond to Sack Face’s remarks but coldly looked at Human Skin, putting on a stern facade and declared, “Speak, who sent you here? Reveal it, and I may spare your lives!”
Human Skin trembled under her gaze and quickly replied, “Mr. Li, Li Tanghan!”
“Right, right, the Li Tanghan from Tanghan Art Trading and Transport Company!”
Surnamed Li, and running an art trading and transport company…
It seems quite possible he did take the ancient sword!
Luxianbei pondered in silence, not realizing that her projecting spirit energy had not ceased and continued to exert pressure, causing both urban legends to feel unease.
What’s going on!?
Did we say something wrong that angered her?
Or does she have some enmity with Mr. Li?
Luxianbei did not realize that she had already intimidated the two urban legends in front of her since they hadn’t offered her any spirit energy fluctuations.
After a moment of thought, she nodded and said lightly, “Don’t be afraid, we are all on the same side.”
Human Skin and Sack Face, “……”
Ah, this is…
So amazing, Mr. Li! He’s so powerful that he can even hire urban legends of this level!
After a moment’s thought, Human Skin glanced at Qin Dalin and then at Luxianbei, “Since you are also sent by Mr. Li, then you can handle him.”
While it did not entirely trust Luxianbei’s words, the pressure of her spirit energy still loomed large, and making too many inquiries might provoke her, with disastrous consequences.
