Chapter Six: A Little Thing About First Love
In the open space of Baiyanzi Village, a white shadow danced around the performance stage, extending pale tentacles and busily rearranging everything.
Under Meng Meng’s control, the stage was cleared of dust, red silk was re-hung, four oval red lanterns were hung on the surrounding pillars, and makeshift slopes and curtains for the performance were set up using the limited materials from the village.
Meng Meng was indeed the former star of Huacheng; this is what professionalism looks like!
Lu Yibei casually squatted on a bench under the stage, munching on spicy strips, watching Meng Meng busy herself while waiting for Xing Yuan’s arrival, his mind wandering yet again.
Someone like Meng Meng, who had experienced the long years of urban legends, likely held significant knowledge of cultural traditions long lost to modern society. Why was no one dedicated to researching this field?
It had been some time since Du Sixian was kidnapped, and there had been no signal indicating danger to her; was it that the River God hadn’t harmed her, or was the signal intercepted?
Speaking of which, the story of Water Brother and the Inspector was quite ambiguous; one claimed to be deceived by a gold digger, while the other insisted they never intended to harm him. Who knows if someone was lying…
Just as Lu Yibei pondered, a gust of fierce wind swept behind him, followed by the light sound of high heels hitting the ground. He frowned in the direction of the sound.
Sister, I know you have a great figure, but is this skirt a bit ill-fitting? Lu Yibei thought to himself.
In the distance, Xing Yuan appeared in a pure white wedding dress.
It was a strapless mermaid-style wedding dress.
The color was not pure enough, even somewhat yellowed, the bead embroidery lacked refinement, and it seemed made entirely of plastic. The lace and sheer fabrics were not light, nearly of poor quality.
Even its size was ill-fitting, as if Xing Yuan’s proud figure could burst through it at any moment.
Aside from being clean and well-maintained, Lu Yibei saw almost no advantages in that wedding dress.
Why on earth did she choose such a worn-out dress?
It makes no sense!
Even though it was late in the day, with her abilities as an Inspector in the Siye Society, wouldn’t it have been simple to acquire an exquisite wedding dress? Lu Yibei mused.
——
In the center of Huacheng.
A glimmer of silver darted through the increasingly sparse concrete jungle, like a shooting star tearing through the night.
Under the night sky, Bai Kai was heading towards the address Lu Yibei had given.
Though he felt something was off, even if he was getting married, reason dictated that a wedding wouldn’t occur at such an isolated village in the dead of night.
However, if there was a chance, he wanted to see.
Moreover, whenever he thought of marrying that woman, memories of their eighteen-year-old selves flooded his mind, making him disregard everything else.
…
Twenty-two years ago.
Eighteen-year-old Bai Kai left the Gobi Desert, where he had lived for over a decade, with his senior Lu Ming, and arrived in Huacheng.
At that time, both felt confident that they were as formidable as any rising dragon or fierce tiger.
However, reality soon dealt them a heavy blow, reducing them to two beaten dogs.
Regardless of how powerful their spiritual abilities were, they still needed to make a living.
With neither diploma nor work experience, the two broke and single young men could only remain in a rundown old house, their minds focused solely on finding a way to survive.
Unfortunately, they could never agree on a working plan.
Lu Ming had always been reckless, as if born with a gene for mischief, constantly coming up with outlandish ideas.
With empty stomachs, he wanted to stir up trouble; coincidentally, at that time, tomb raiding novels were popular, and he decided to utilize the feng shui skills he learned from their master for some underground dealings.
“Xiao Bai, the protagonist in this book is called Ba Yi, and my grandpa is also named Ba Yi; maybe I have this kind of talent too! How about we pull off a big heist together?!” Lu Ming exclaimed, excitement shining in his eyes, reflecting the allure of money.
At that moment, Bai Kai was as innocent as a white lotus.
Who would have thought that the future king of Huacheng nightclubs started off with the persona of a pure, naïve boy?
Faced with Lu Ming’s enthusiasm, Bai Kai immediately rejected, “No way! Confucius said: ‘A gentleman has his conduct within reason.’”
“To ask without inquiry is to take as a thief; even a three-year-old knows this. How can we do such a thing?”
“Xiao Bai, your spirit patterns have advanced to Sage; it doesn’t mean you have to act saintly. You’ve read too many books, haven’t you?” Lu Ming retorted, “Plus, while raiding the tomb, we can use spirit summoning techniques to ask the tomb owner questions and then take what we want!”
“As long as we ask first, it doesn’t count as stealing, right? We’re not tomb raiders; we’re borrowing from the tomb!”
“You…” Bai Kai looked at his senior, wanting to say something but hesitating, “Forget it, senior, if you want to go, then go! I’m not going!”
“Are you really not going?” Lu Ming squinted at him.
“No!” Bai Kai asserted firmly.
“Then what if I make money from this tomb borrowing, buy food, will you eat it?” Lu Ming asked again.
“I…” Bai Kai touched his now-flat stomach, gritted his teeth, turned his face away, and declared, “I won’t eat!”
“Alright! Xiao Bai, you’re awesome!” Lu Ming gave him a thumbs up, “Then I’ll go alone; my lousy spirit patterns don’t have so many taboos, filling my stomach takes priority.”
With that, he jumped out the window and quickly vanished into the night. He was gone for more than three months, not managing to “borrow” a tomb but instead digging up a twisted relationship that involved him too.
However, Bai Kai only learned of Lu Ming’s experiences six months later.
During the time Lu Ming was gone, Bai Kai, a live person, almost starved to d*ath due to the limits of his spirit patterns.
If nobody had introduced him to a job hunting urban legends, by the time Lu Ming returned, he might have been found lifeless in their old home.
Bai Kai heard from Liu Banxian while competing for business at the bridge at Mudan Street that a series of urban legend attacks had occurred.
He ran off to learn fortune-telling from Liu Banxian to earn money, but he didn’t have Liu Banxian’s thick skin. When a girl asked him to read her palm, he blushed fiercely as soon as he touched her hand, and couldn’t say a word out of embarrassment.
Seeing Bai Kai holding her hand without letting go for a long time while stammering, the girl thought he was trying to take advantage of her and immediately wanted to drag him to the police station.
Fortunately, he had a handsome face and Liu Banxian intervened, so he narrowly escaped.
In the end, Liu Banxian sat beside Bai Kai with a small stool, saying earnestly, “Young man, why run here to steal my business? This is not a good line of work.”
“If I weren’t older and already with a family, I wouldn’t have come to do this…”
“I say, young man, I just calculated; you’re also one of those, right? If you don’t mind, I have connections that can help you find some hunting urban legend jobs.”
Bai Kai stared blankly at Liu Banxian, and through his round-framed sunglasses, he couldn’t see much, pondering for a while before cupping his hands, “Then thank you, senior; I’d love to hear more!”
“Well, there’s a clothing factory in the east of Huacheng where the owner is in trouble with female employees, specifically every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday he invites them…”
“Senior!” Bai Kai’s cheeks flushed, unable to stop himself from interrupting, “Confucius said: ‘Do not look at what is improper; do not listen to what is improper.’”
“I don’t need to hear the details; just tell me what I should do.”
“That’s not acceptable!” Liu Banxian abruptly straightened his neck, glaring fiercely, “Do you know, in hunting urban legend stories, every detail is crucial! Listen closely!”
Bai Kai, “…”
Thus, Bai Kai, still innocent like a blank sheet of paper, was led by Liu Banxian into a more than half an hour session of education on physical hygiene.
…
Having taken on urban legend hunting for the first time, Bai Kai received a job through Liu Banxian to hunt the urban legend in the clothing factory in east Huacheng.
It was said that the owner made a young female worker pregnant but didn’t want to take responsibility. In her humiliation and anger, the young woman committed s*icide in a wedding dress produced by the factory.
The cutting of fabric had revealed her abdomen, which had been four to five months pregnant, mixing the unborn baby with her insides, bl**d flowing all over the ground, staining the already poorly made wedding dress.
Even though this incident was suppressed by the owner using money and connections, several employees began to hear the cries of infants and see a bloodied woman wandering around the factory.
By all accounts, dealing with such a newly-formed malevolent spirit should not be difficult for Bai Kai.
However, humans cannot survive without food!
When Lu Ming left, he handed all his meager belongings to Bai Kai, but the total amount didn’t exceed one hundred yuan.
Bai Kai managed to make it through two weeks with that less than one hundred yuan and the five yuan earned from fortune-telling; although he didn’t starve to d*ath, his face was pale, and he was on the brink of starvation.
At that time, Bai Kai’s demeanor resembled that of a poor scholar from ancient times, constantly revolving around lofty ideals, and he felt too embarrassed to even ask his employer for a meal before hunting urban legends.
Moreover, since the factory owner was not a good person and had no intention of treating him to a meal, he felt even more bashful about bringing it up.
So, he continued to starve, facing the urban legend alone. After a few exchanges, he felt dizzy and weak, hand trembling with sweat, and began to show severe symptoms of low bl**d sugar.
…
Bai Kai had shared many childhood stories with Lu Yibei in bits and pieces but omitted some embarrassing details.
For example, how he almost starved to d*ath in front of an urban legend, or how his love story with his first love began.
Many love stories start with a hero saving a beauty, yet his began with a beauty rescuing a hero.
…
When the factory owner introduced the situation to Bai Kai, he only mentioned that a bloodied female ghost was wandering around and did not inform him about an accompanying ghost baby urban legend.
Bai Kai, already physically exhausted, could barely handle one urban legend, and suddenly encountering another increased the pressure far beyond simple addition.
The attack of the bloodied female ghost was violent and fierce, while the ghost baby’s methods were strange and sinister.
Before long, Bai Kai was pushed into a corner, his clothes in tatters, covered in dark wounds emitting black smoke, and he was about to be devoured by the bloodied female ghost with its gaping maw.
At that moment, Xing Yuan appeared.
“Lacking ability, don’t imitate others hunting urban legends!”
“I’ve been keeping an eye on this business for a long time, and seeing as Mr. Li is about to give in to the pressure to stop work, raising the reward, who knew you brat would mess it all up!”
“It really infuriates me! Why do I still have to save you now? d*mn it!”
In a daze, Bai Kai heard a pleasant voice scolding him. He slowly lifted his head and saw white running shoes, fitted jeans, a beige jacket, and an exaggeratedly large black axe.
A gorgeously delicate girl appeared behind him, looking down at him with a cold expression, her slightly charming eyes glaring fiercely as if ready to spit fire.
This was Bai Kai’s first encounter with such a beautiful girl; not only was she stunning, but she exuded an enchanting confidence that made him quiver at her bold gaze.
The beautiful heroine rescuing him was Bai Kai’s first impression of Xing Yuan.
“Urban legend hunters should look like me!”
Xing Yuan coldly said this to Bai Kai and then charged towards the urban legend wielding her axe.
Suddenly, a shrill explosion of air rang out, and scarlet arcs tore through the night.
After that, Bai Kai lost consciousness in the surge of spirit energy fluctuations. When he woke up again, he found himself in Xing Yuan’s arms.
Being cradled by her in a princess carry, he felt himself swept across the city and landed in that dilapidated residential area, then was tossed onto a bed, stripped of his clothes, and had his pants removed.
In the early September of Huacheng, a chill was already in the air. As he felt the cool breeze brush against his skin, his mind filled with Liu Banxian’s awkward little tales.
So…
“Miss, didn’t Confucius once say… wait, don’t come over!”
“Stop calling out like that! I found you not only look like a girl but act like one too!” Xing Yuan said, annoyed. “If you keep moving around like that, how am I supposed to apply medicine?”
Bai Kai looked at his darkening wounds and then at the ointment in Xing Yuan’s hand, covering his face with both hands, he weakly replied, “Oh, sorry, misunderstanding. You may proceed, miss.”
Upon hearing this, a sly smile crept across Xing Yuan’s lips as she licked her lips, “Really? Truth be told, I quite like this type of little fresh meat.”
Bai Kai, “??? ”
Thus, the beautiful heroine also gained a new tag of being lewd.
Watching Bai Kai widen his eyes and retreat in fright to the corner of the bed, Xing Yuan burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Look at your cowardly appearance! Are you trying to k*ll me with laughter, so I inherit your Huabei bill?”
“Alright! I’m not one to take advantage of others; you apply the medicine yourself, and if you want to eat afterward, go look in the kitchen; I think there’s only instant noodles left.”
“As for me, I need to go find Mr. Li and ask for my payment.”
With that, Xing Yuan left Bai Kai behind and went to collect her payment from the factory owner, seemingly unconcerned that Bai Kai would steal something from her home.
Of course, there was nothing much to steal, except for a cupboard full of instant noodles in various flavors.
Sometimes, Bai Kai would think that perhaps it was that day he fell in love with instant noodles, which led him to always make a bowl of noodles whenever he investigated urban legend incidents.
Even if he didn’t eat, he would just hold the bowl in his hands.
…
Who knows if those bosses all had a habit of engaging in inappropriate relationships and fleeing.
After all, the boss of Jiangnan Leather Factory and the owner of the clothing factory in the east of Huacheng both did, and they both fled.
Bai Kai and Xing Yuan worked hard but ended up with not a single cent in rewards.
In a fit of anger, Xing Yuan directly looted the factory’s warehouse, bringing back over fifty boxes of clothes to settle the debt.
For a long time afterward, the two lived a life of outsmarting the city management during the day selling clothes at stalls, and taking jobs hunting urban legends at night.
During those days, they called each other “dad” and “grandpa,” watched movies together, ate street food together, and whistled at beauties together on the street, sharing each day inseparable, even squeezing onto the same bed at night.
However, per the principles of a gentleman, Bai Kai would always insist on placing a bowl of clear water in the middle of the bed before sleeping, and every morning, he would wake up to gaze at the empty bowl, lost in thought.
At that time, Xing Yuan would always tell Bai Kai she was the strongest spiritual ability user in Huacheng, and that staying with her meant there was food to eat. Bai Kai would only smile in response, lowering his head to devour two mouthfuls of instant noodles.
He knew very well that among the spiritual ability users in Huacheng, at least Lu Ming was much stronger than Xing Yuan, and as long as he had his fill, he would still be much stronger than her.
Even though he knew this, he never exposed it, silently standing behind Xing Yuan during each urban legend hunt, aiding her covertly.
Thus, autumn passed, winter came, and spring arrived again, marking the breeding season for all living things.
One night, Bai Kai placed a bowl of clear water in the middle of the bed as usual and had just lain down when he heard a crisp sound.
The bowl of clear water shattered violently at Xing Yuan’s hands, and she lifted Bai Kai’s blanket, delivering warmth and moisture to his lips.
Then, the curtains blocked the light from the streetlamp outside, and the night deepened like an abyss, devoid of light and consciousness, only filled with intense, ambiguous, and joyous life.
The bed beneath them seemed to transform into a small boat, swaying as they nestled against each other amid the surging waves.
Their breaths intertwined as they closed their eyes, whispering sweet nothings, exploring each other in a hazy feeling, with hands touching and withdrawing.
They reveled in the tumultuous night, engaging in the same ridiculous, crazy beautiful dream, that hazy dreamscape rising, rising.
A cool breeze wafted through the window, stirring the curtains, bringing with it light rain, leaving several peach blossoms, as someone spoke in the still night.
“Shh, don’t cry, I will take responsibility.”
“Hmph! Who wants you to take responsibility!?”
“However, doesn’t your spirit pattern prohibit indulgence?” Xing Yuan told him while ruffling Bai Kai’s hair.
“Confucius said: ‘Food and s*x are natural desires.’ Shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Oh.” Xing Yuan responded thoughtfully, murmuring, “That’s good, that’s good…”
A week later.
Xing Yuan suddenly vanished without warning, taking with her the spiritual energy she had plundered from Bai Kai, along with the savings they had accumulated from selling clothes and hunting urban legends, disappearing from Bai Kai’s world…
As if it had been premeditated, leaving not a single reason behind.
——
In the open space of Baiyanzi Village, everything was ready.
Four red lanterns had been lit; the lighting signified the opening of the show tonight.
Lu Yibei looked around, snapped his fingers, placing one hand on his waist and holding a makeshift microphone made of rolled newspaper, shouting, “Actors in place, lighting ready, Kangsang Amida MUSIC!”
“What? I don’t understand, Master.” Meng Meng looked at Lu Yibei with a cute, confused expression from the stage.
Seated in her spot, Xing Yuan adjusted her wedding dress and rolled her eyes, “She means for you to sing us a little song!”
Upon seeing Meng Meng’s inquiring look, Lu Yibei scratched the back of his head, “Uh… that’s about the gist of it. Meng Meng, let’s start; just sing as we discussed before.”
“Okay!” Meng Meng responded, stepping to the center of the stage, striking a pose, and brightly singing to enter the mood.
“Remembering the years of horse clashing with gold and weapons, from the moment we forged our brotherhood in the peach garden…”
——
Meanwhile, not far from the stage, on a small hill, Bai Kai watched a figure dressed in a wedding dress, sitting alone at the edge of the stage and looking around, his heart felt as if it was tightly squeezed, skipping a beat, murmuring, “I didn’t expect you to still keep it.”
That wedding dress was the last unsold sample from when he and Xing Yuan sold clothes together. Due to its poor material and workmanship, it couldn’t be sold at all.
Bai Kai initially planned to throw away the wedding dress or sell it off at a very low price, but Xing Yuan insisted on keeping it.
She said, “If it can’t be sold, then it won’t. I think it fits me well enough. I might as well keep it for when I get married in the future.”
“Married? To whom?” Bai Kai asked foolishly.
“You…” Xing Yuan had hesitated for a long moment before finishing, “Don’t ask so much! Just preserve it!”
As Bai Kai was lost in memory, an abnormality suddenly occurred on the river’s surface.
——
Meng Meng first sang a section of “Double in Dreams,” and after finishing that, shifted her voice to sing “Crying Like,” followed by several sad plays, eventually singing “Female Rising.”
“It’s detestable how cruel parents can be… two detestables… three detestables…”
The ethereal and melodious opera tones flowed from Meng Meng, perhaps because of her similar past experiences, she conveyed the desperation and resentment of the weak exquisitely, leaving listeners both horrified and saddened.
Following that, changes began to unfold on the surface of the lake behind the stage.
The quiet waters of the river merged with the mountains and night, blurring the distinction between sky, water, and riverside.
Only black fog suddenly arose in the dark distance, with points of light piercing through, as if someone had grabbed a handful of stars and scattered them in the mist.
The dark waters of the river and the night entwined, merging into one, making it impossible to distinguish between the sky, the water, and the shores. Only a few glowing points appeared in the distant blackness, similar to someone scattering stars into the river.
Under the illumination of those lights, the shadows on the riverbank gradually grew denser, with shadows floating thickly in the water, inching closer to the stage.
Then.
In the distance, a grim red ship, gliding through the mist, approached quietly…
