Chapter 48: Uncle, can you chat with us?
“……”
How could we speak in front of a potential competitor for the King of Huacheng? Whatever she says goes! Human Skin thought.
Of course, the best scenario is to smoothly escape without conflict! If the odds aren’t one hundred percent, can we even call it an opportunity? Luxianbei thought.
After “friendly and cordial” communication, Luxianbei reached a consensus with the two urban legends—it/they are one of us, and anyone who disagrees is wasting their breath!
After a brief silence, the three urban legends turned their gazes on Qin Dalin, who was tied to a chair, weak and helpless but not at all pitiable.
“So what do you think we should do with this human?” Human Skin pointed at Qin Dalin, wearing a sycophantic expression, waiting for Luxianbei’s response.
“……”
It seemed they had regarded me as a stronger companion, generating a hint of fear and respect?
That’s fine; as long as I maintain a strong image in their minds, I can quietly observe, gather useful information, and fish in troubled waters, escaping at the right moment.
Thinking this, Luxianbei crossed her arms, raised her chin slightly, adopting a proud posture as though looking down her nose at others, and casually said, “I have my plans; you lot wait outside for now.”
“W-Wait… You won’t let him go, right? If he doesn’t d*e, we can’t explain ourselves to Mr./Ms. Li when we return!”
“Indeed, indeed. I assume you wouldn’t want to offend Mr./Ms. Li, would you?” Human Skin probed, its murky eyes spinning in their sockets.
“……”
Luxianbei hesitated for two seconds, turned away, and found a tone that matched her current demeanor, responded coldly, “Hmph, whether he is happy or not has nothing to do with me!”
“What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and get out?!”
As soon as the words fell, she began to worry, her peripheral vision utterly unable to resist sneaking glances at the two urban legends in the room.
Although that’s how it was written in the book and portrayed in the anime, could they be overdoing it a bit?
A cornered rabbit will still bite! Let alone two urban legends? If I accidentally anger them, they could turn violent? Feeling a bit panicked.
After all, beings like urban legends don’t adhere to any code of ethics; surprise attacks and overwhelming numbers are not uncommon. Luxianbei thought nervously.
Human Skin and Sack Face, “……”
Oh no, it seems I misspoke!
The Witch seems to show contempt for Mr./Ms. Li? When mentioning Mr./Ms. Li, there wasn’t even a slight change in expression…
Fortunately, she is kinder than expected; if it were any other urban legend of the same level, they might be toying with our core right now.
The two urban legends examined Luxianbei silently for a second or two, feeling that her spirit energy fluctuation was strong but unable to gauge its depth, quickly abandoning any further probing or defiance against her will.
They respectfully bowed their bodies toward Luxianbei’s back, stirring up a gust of wind, and floated out of the room.
Luxianbei silently sensed the spirit energy fluctuations of the two urban legends, confirmed that they had walked far away, then sighed in relief, shouldering Qin Dalin and turning toward the secret tunnel.
Although she had temporarily dispensed with the two urban legends, she truly hadn’t thought about how to deal with the unconscious Qin Dalin.
Simply letting Qin Dalin go was impossible; given what he had done, Luxianbei couldn’t let him off easily.
But to say she would personally k*ll Qin Dalin, she thought, after all, he was a living person, and it felt hard to do.
Moreover, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure that it was Mr./Ms. Li who sent Human Skin and Sack Face to attack Qin Dalin, the one who pulled out the ancient sword. She might still have to extract information from Qin Dalin.
After weighing things for a moment, Luxianbei decided to imprison Qin Dalin in the secret room he built himself.
“……”
She would follow the two urban legends for now; if she found the one who extracted the ancient sword, she wouldn’t return. If they couldn’t find him, she could come back to question him properly.
Looking at Qin Dalin in the cage, after weighing it for a moment, she took out a small vial of disaster water she always carried from her coat pocket, pried open his mouth, and dripped one drop inside.
A high-intensity hallucinogen like disaster water has the side effect of contaminating spirit energy; its most common use is to prevent awakening.
Just one drop is enough to leave Qin Dalin intoxicated for nearly half a month.
After feeding Qin Dalin a drop of disaster water, Luxianbei still felt a bit uneasy.
Though he couldn’t escape, what if someone came to rescue him?
For example, the big sister living in the building, or that woman with the birthmark on her face.
Thinking of this, she cast a spell to seal the two iron doors of the secret room shut, finally feeling somewhat at ease, and left the secret room.
————
After finding an iron can at Qin Dalin’s home, Luxianbei casually tore off the remaining intact talismans from his door and put them away before slowly leaving the old building.
It’s not often that she got the chance to come; naturally, she had to take away whatever she could.
These talismans were not powerful; she wouldn’t need them for now, but she could sell them in the ghost market later.
As for that obedient-looking ox head skull, forget it. Such a large item had no place to hide; if those two urban legends saw it later, it would tarnish her image.
A formidable figure stealing even low-level spirit energy items meant to ward off evil from an ordinary household? Is that reasonable?
Luxianbei thought, quickly making her way through the corridor to the stairwell, then reluctantly glanced back at the ox head skull at the other end of the corridor.
Should I… come back another day?
It’s not about the money; do I look like someone who lacks a bit of cash?
The key is, I don’t want to regret not seizing a free opportunity that was once presented to me; if I later think back and feel remorse, it could last a thousand years. Luxianbei thought.
————
Leaving the old staff building of the power plant, Luxianbei found the hidden guitar case at the corner of the courtyard wall. As she stepped out, she witnessed a bizarre scene in the street.
In the dead of night, on a desolate street, dry leaves fluttered on the ground, making a “sasa” sound in the wind.
Under the dim streetlight, a figure resembling human skin and a dwarf that seemed wrapped in a sack were whispering together, giving off chilling, creepy laughs, as if conspiring something horrific.
Luxianbei, “……”
Are these two trying to scare someone to d*ath?
If any ordinary person saw this scene, they would probably faint on the spot.
I must ask them where they usually hang out later; I’ll anonymously report them to get rid of the harm for the people!
Luxianbei thought fiercely, calming herself for a few seconds, then stepped forward.
Seeing her approach, the two urban legends immediately fell silent.
Human Skin stepped forward, respectfully saying, “Witch, Mr./Ms. Li has been informed that we have completed our task and has sent someone to pick us up. Please wait a moment.”
“Hmm.”
Luxianbei gave a noncommittal response and said nothing more, stepping aside to hide in the shadows of the trees.
The key to playing the part of a powerful figure is to not speak; the more you talk, the more mistakes you make.
A genuine expert wouldn’t babble like Luxianbei does!
Although not speaking goes against her nature, it couldn’t be helped…
She didn’t know how many urban legends like them Mr./Ms. Li had under him, but it must be more than just these two; trying to forcibly seize the ancient sword from him would definitely not work.
However, attempting to find out the whereabouts of the ancient sword without conflict wouldn’t be easy either.
Sending out two “ghosts” to harm people and returning with one more “ghost” might scare Mr./Ms. Li half to d*ath.
So…
Luxianbei glanced at the two strange beings not far away, softly stroked her chin, narrowing her eyes slightly.
Though she had managed to hoodwink them for now, to truly infiltrate the enemy’s territory and find out the ancient sword’s whereabouts, she still had to get past Mr./Ms. Li first.
She needed to prepare her story in advance, consider her attitude toward Mr./Ms. Li, and imagine the expressions he might show, devising different responses. Luxianbei thought.
In any case, whether it’s talking human talk to people, ghost talk to ghosts, or human talk to ghosts and ghost talk to people, she had always been capable.
Just as she was secretly calculating how to deal with Mr./Ms. Li, a surge of unfamiliar spirit energy filled her senses, interrupting her thoughts.
Luxianbei suddenly felt a bit dazed, seemingly hearing a scream from Qin Dalin like an illusion.
She glanced at the old building not far away; everything seemed normal under the night sky, and just as she started to feel relieved and ready to put Qin Dalin’s matters behind her, another wave of spirit energy filled her senses, and Qin Dalin’s scream rang in her ears again.
Having never encountered such a situation, Luxianbei looked befuddled.
What the heck? What’s going on?
Could it be that Qin Dalin has woken up and found himself trapped in the secret room, terrified out of his mind?
As Luxianbei pondered, another wave of spirit energy filled her senses.
“……”
How is this guy so active and persistent? Like a human-shaped spirit energy charging station.
————
Inside the secret room.
Unconscious Qin Dalin awoke to a whisper that felt both present and absent.
Opening his eyes, he found everything dark, stunned for a moment, then caught a whiff of that familiar strange smell, instinctively struggling. He bumped against the bars of the iron cage, producing a light sound, and his face turned pale as his mood plummeted to the depths.
He suddenly realized he had been locked in the secret room he created by that “female ghost.”
In that instant, it felt as if he had been thrown into icy water, everything drowned.
The water was infinitely cold, infinitely dark, infinitely evil…
In fact, Qin Dalin had not committed a crime in over half a year before attacking Luxianbei; he had temporarily held back because his secret room, or rather the entire old building, had issues.
The girls he harmed were never gone; their spirits wandered the hallways every night, crying in corners, gently knocking on door after door, as if searching for something.
Such bizarre phenomena scared away the remaining residents of the old building, leaving only that lunatic with a birthmark on her face and that middle-aged woman who butchered pigs.
Qin Dalin knew that those girls were searching for him, and one day they would find him.
For this, he didn’t hesitate to borrow “high-interest loans” from the urban legend responsible for collecting debts, trading for several talismans, allowing him to have a few peaceful nights’ sleep.
It was because of this that he thought he was in the clear when he saw Luxianbei, and once more harbored evil thoughts.
But now…
As Qin Dalin was pondering, the iron door that Luxianbei had welded shut suddenly creaked open, and several hazy white figures floated into the secret room from behind the door, standing silently around the cage with their backs to him.
They all wore dirty white dresses, just like the one Luxianbei had on earlier.
The surroundings were eerily silent, like a grave.
At this moment, a strange voice came from outside the cage.
“Uncle, come chat with us?”
Qin Dalin’s body shuddered violently, struggling fiercely.
Chatting… That was the line he used to deceive those girls to let their guard down, a line that had worked wonders for those who lacked friends and love.
As he desperately wanted to call for help, he opened his mouth only to find an intense burning pain in his throat.
It was as if he had swallowed a piece of red-hot coal, burning his voice away.
At that moment, the ghostly figures in white did not move their bodies, but suddenly turned their heads a hundred and eighty degrees, revealing faces even whiter than their dresses.
Their bodies slowly rose, floating in the air, and they softly repeated, “Uncle, come chat with us?”
“Wooo— Wooo—!”
Qin Dalin’s throat let out a muffled sound of terror, his body struggling violently, crashing against the cage with a clank; his entire face twisted in fear, his small pupils quivering violently.
Finally, everything fell silent.
In the pitch-black secret room, only a body lay still, contorted and twisted from the intense struggle, silently resting on deteriorating black hair, devoid of breath.
Outside the cage, nothing remained; the girls in white dresses seemed to have never existed, and the entrance to the secret room had never opened.
After a long time in this completely sealed room, a whirlwind suddenly stirred in the corner.
The sound of wind ignited a weeping voice, and a ghostly blue flame erupted at the center of the whirlwind.
Illuminated by the flames, the wall rippled, revealing an exceptionally large, grotesque face without eyebrows, eyes, or a nose, only a mouth floating into existence.
It opened its lips wide, sticking out a long, bright red tongue, and a tall, thin man wearing a tailcoat, a top hat, and a black-and-white mask jumped down from the tongue, standing next to Qin Dalin.
He bent down, checked Qin Dalin’s breath, touched his chest, and murmured, “Did he d*e from cardiac arrest and organ failure?”
As he spoke, the man wiped some white foam off Qin Dalin’s lips, brought it to the gap in his mask, sniffed, pondered for a few seconds, and uttered an exclamation.
“What a high purity of disaster water! Feeding something like this to an ordinary human—no wonder they got scared to d*ath by hallucinations…”
“Ah—! What a hassle; it seems this business has once again turned into a loss. Why are there so many deadbeats these days? Tsk tsk!”
He mumbled as he walked to the corner of the room, found a crumpled notebook, casually flipped through a few pages, shrugged, and directly flipped to the last page, then pulled out a delicate pen from his coat pocket and wrote a big “0” on the last page.
(Today I struggled with writer’s block, couldn’t write 5K, so I can only post a little less~)
