Chapter Eight: I Understand, All of It!
The daylight dimmed, and dark clouds gathered above Baiyanzi Village as if summoned by some force, piling up in heaps.
Like someone tipping over the river of heaven, heavy rain began to pour down rapidly.
The rain burst into columns, piercing the earth like arrows, creating deep and shallow pits with a dull thud.
In the hazy rain mist, a phantom of an ugly unicorn beast resembling a galloping horse emerged around Xing Yuan, intercepting the rain arrows.
Then, she raised her head, undeterred by the rain arrows falling like a forest of bullets ahead. With both hands holding a black giant axe, she took a step forward, running wildly toward the figure in the rain curtain that seemed to summon wind and rain, charging forward.
Faint sounds of water echoed amidst the roaring storm; those with some of the water yaksha’s powers, masked by the rain, swam about like fish in the sky and on the ground.
Suddenly, a strong wind surged as a red-haired, blue-skinned strongman broke through the rain screen, appearing in Xing Yuan’s path. Following that figure, several others flew in from all directions.
Seeing this, Xing Yuan furrowed her brow and shouted, “Get lost!” Instead of retreating, she stepped forward powerfully, causing the ground to tremble. Her arms swung toward the sky, delivering a mighty axe strike that unleashed a violent wave of dark energy, engulfing the attackers.
The red-haired strongman paused slightly mid-air, only to be cleaved in half by the giant axe. The stench of bl**d splattered over the protective giant beast phantom, which immediately absorbed it, transforming it into spirit energy that flowed into Xing Yuan’s body.
In an instant, her spirit energy fluctuations seemed to surge, tiny black arcs of electricity crazily darting around her skin.
Seeing the giant beast phantom protect Xing Yuan and absorb the spirit energy from the urban legends, Bai Kai was momentarily taken aback, and he regained a bit of trust in her previous statement of “leaving only when absolutely necessary.”
Spirit users’ spirit patterns fundamentally represent the re-manifestation of urban legend powers. Therefore, the closer the actions and personality of the spirit pattern user correspond to the respective urban legend power, the more powerful the spirit patterns can become.
This was also why Bai Kai, upon hearing through rumors that after Xing Yuan left him, her spirit patterns advanced to become descendants of Qiongqi, gave up waiting and completely lost trust in her.
After all, in most legends, Qiongqi is depicted as a ferocious beast and even has records of “destroying faith and abandoning loyalty, glorifying wicked words.”
Thus, the ability to deceive, betray, and devour [Heroic Spirit: Gentlemen] seemed aimed at aligning with Qiongqi’s powers for the purpose of advancement.
However.
The phantom of the urban legend that appeared behind Xing Yuan at that moment was not the common form of Qiongqi as “tiger-shaped with wings” but rather an ugly creature with a canine face and cow body.
This form was depicted in a few legends where Qiongqi existed as the hunter of malevolent plagues, representing a good beast.
If what she did back then was a carefully planned deception, she could never have turned a typically ferocious and ominous spirit pattern into something good.
So…
Did she really not intend to deceive me to help herself advance? Bai Kai thought to himself, his gaze trembling for a moment before quickly stabilizing.
Even if she didn’t intend to deceive me, didn’t she end up taking all the savings with her when she left?
Leaving me on the verge of starvation!
Bai Kai lamented silently, though his mind still resisted, his body became more honest.
He murmured, “A full hall of flowers intoxicates three thousand guests, a single sword cold as frost, spanning fourteen provinces…”
In the next moment, his figure transformed into a flash of silver light, the air exploded around him, and he moved like a ghost.
In an instant, the silver light slashed through the torrential downpour, creating a brutal rift that seemed to swallow everything, the chilling aura aimed directly at the River God’s head.
At that moment, the River God had just controlled the water barrier, bouncing back the incoming giant axe, when he heard the sound of a long sword slicing through the air behind him. Without time to dodge, he could only endure.
Under the cover of the pouring rain, there was a soft “puff” sound, reminiscent of a bubble bursting in water, as the River God’s body erupted into a mass of filthy water, scattering everywhere.
Did it work? Bai Kai frowned slightly, but his expression soon grew serious.
The River God’s spirit energy fluctuations only weakened for a moment, and immediately, the filthy water on the ground began to gather back together, reconstituting into a form, and the River God appeared again not far away.
“Is it a rebirth ability?” Xing Yuan murmured.
Bai Kai turned his face to meet hers, gently shaking his head, “It shouldn’t be. It looks like a talent ability granted by the urban legend power.”
The River God snorted coldly, arrogant in demeanor, “Hmph! The river is formless and flows ceaselessly; how could the Siye Society’s brats hope to spy upon it?”
“Oh!” Xing Yuan seemed not to hear the River God’s words, looking at Bai Kai and nodding softly, “By the way, Xiao Bai, your spirit patterns are okay, right? Would this level of battle be too taxing for you?”
“I’m fine.” Bai Kai gently stroked Xing Yuan’s cheek, “My spirit patterns have stabilized long ago.”
“Right, Yuan’er, be careful later. Don’t get caught in the rain and catch a cold. I remember you were weak; every time you got caught in the rain, you would get a fever.”
“It’s okay; you’re here, aren’t you? You’ll make ginger soup for me like before, right?”
“Of course!” Bai Kai smiled.
River God, “…”
d*mn it!
Could you at least show a bit of respect for your opponent?
“With the female traveler at the nine rivers, winds rising and waters soaring, riding the water cart beneath the lotus, driving two dragons…”
The River God’s expression twisted with resentment as he recited in a low voice, and the river hidden in the torrential rain and darkness seemed to respond, the water surface churning violently.
“Boom——!”
A deep rumble emanated from the river’s surface, and two columns of water surged like dragons, whistling toward them.
“Today, I will make sure you two dog lovers have no way back!” The River God glared fiercely at Xing Yuan and Bai Kai, letting out a low roar.
Immediately, the water droplets swirling in mid-air surged toward the ground like a river breaching its banks.
At this moment, facing the torrent of murky river water weighing tens of thousands of tons, Xing Yuan suddenly summoned the spirit energy within her body, shouting toward the direction of the big ship.
“Huacheng Cheng Guanhxi!”
Bai Kai, “???”
River God, “???”
————
Moments earlier, aboard the crimson ship.
Lu Yibei retracted her gaze from the muscular red-haired man and the red-clothed woman walking back and forth in the huge sleeping hall, looking once again at Du Sixian with a furrowed brow.
With so many people watching, how could she secretly take her away without anyone noticing?
Moreover, the River God shouldn’t have done anything to her, right?
d*mn it, with such a distance, there’s no way to confirm that; even if I got closer to her, I can’t help examine her body, can I?
As Lu Yibei pondered, Gui Hua quietly approached her from behind, as silently as a ghost.
“Beier, have you looked? The wedding preparations aren’t done yet; don’t delay the old man’s big affair.”
Hearing the sudden voice from behind, Lu Yibei’s heart tightened in a guilty conscience, but fortunately, she didn’t reveal any expression on her face, thus avoiding suspicion.
“Okay, Grandma Gui Hua.” Lu Yibei replied and turned to follow Gui Hua back down the corridor they came from.
Saving someone is indeed a crucial matter, but the place Du Sixian was in was at the deepest part of the ship. Boldly taking her away might raise a lot of trouble.
She still needed a bit of time, waiting for Xing Yuan to suppress the River God as agreed, creating chaos to attract the attention of the urban legends and the red-clothed woman on the ship, and then take Du Sixian away amidst the confusion.
In case the River God turned back and they got into a fight, Lu Yibei wouldn’t find it easy to ensure Du Sixian’s safety.
Of course, this was just PLANA, a reliable plan.
If the situation became unmanageable, Lu Yibei would have no choice but to take the potential risks and force an escape with Du Sixian after creating chaos.
As for how to create chaos…
Wasn’t that simple? Lu Yibei might not be adept at other things, but she was a master at creating chaos!
She had already fiddled around thoroughly wherever they passed.
Now, she just needed to wait for Xing Yuan to give the signal, and she would trigger the invisible marks left by her talent skills one by one.
Before that, she would chat a little more with Grandma Gui Hua!
Thinking of this, Lu Yibei’s eyes turned, and she casually teased, “Unexpectedly, our Lord is such a gentleman; with such a beautiful woman in front of him, he hasn’t taken a taste first.”
Gui Hua paused momentarily, then spoke lightly, “Beier, it seems you still don’t understand the old man after all this time?”
“All of us women came aboard as offerings to the old man as wishes; at the moment of boarding, we were already his belongings. Why would the old man need to adhere to those tedious formalities?”
“The reason the old man hasn’t enjoyed the young lady who came today is simply because just as he was about to enjoy her, he received new offerings and intended to double the good fortune…”
“The old man has always liked to share beds with many people, you should know that.”
Lu Yibei, “…”
What the hell do I know about that?
I only know that the River God is a dirty old man who casually snatches maiden girls.
How would I know he has such a sick tendency?
But…
“Grandma Gui Hua, speaking of which, what wish did you make when you first came aboard this ship?” Lu Yibei asked curiously.
Before boarding, she didn’t know there was a practice of making wishes before the River God got married, and hearing Gui Hua mention it, she suddenly became interested.
She was curious about the wish made by the people of Baiyanzi Village after summoning the River God.
“Aren’t they all the same?” Gui Hua replied sadly, “Most of the sisters on the ship boarded to stop the flooding.”
“We didn’t even know until we got on the ship that the flood wasn’t caused by the old man, but indeed, the old man did stop the flood and saved our families, so since then, we haven’t wanted to resist.”
“Are you not the same?”
Of course not. I sneaked aboard and might as well be here to blow up the ship… Lu Yibei thought to herself, nodding along with Gui Hua’s sentiment, letting out a helpless sigh, “Sigh, isn’t that so?”
“However, I heard from other sisters that this new girl doesn’t seem to have wished for that?”
In our mighty nation, the infrastructure demons, how could a small river near a village easily flood?
There must be another reason behind this!
Could be worth investigating, Lu Yibei thought.
“She is indeed different; this time someone performed a ghost play to invite the old man to that village, making a wish for everyone in the village to disappear.”
Gui Hua said, glancing toward the red-haired strongmen carrying bronze stoves and holding grilling racks, sighing, “That wish is indeed a tough one. Those yaksha strongmen have been eating for so long and still haven’t finished off the villagers; some of the meat is starting to stink, which is quite annoying.”
Lu Yibei, “…”
Ah, this…
No wonder when I boarded, I smelled a faint stench; I initially thought it was the ship itself!
As Lu Yibei lamented, she inquired further, “Grandma Gui Hua, what is a ghost play? Isn’t it different from the play we watched when boarding?”
“Ghost play, ghost play, is naturally a play performed by ghosts! It is certainly different from the play we watched while boarding,” Gui Hua explained flatly.
“The play we saw while boarding was mundane opera, insufficient in scale; it could not invite the old man to appear in person. Think about it; we only saw the old man after being brought aboard by the yaksha strongmen, right?”
“And if there were a ghost or supernatural being performing the play, only then would the old man deign to come down personally.”
At the end, she added, “Beier, we seem to have a good connection. I advise you to move around more when you have the chance. Listen to more about the old man from the sisters to stand firm aboard this ship.”
“Got it, Grandma.” Lu Yibei replied, pretending to bow a little, then stealthily began to think.
It seemed something significant had been revealed!
From Gui Hua’s words, it seemed a ghost play had to be performed by an urban legend to attract the River God personally, and letting Meng Meng perform a play was an inadvertent activation of a special invitation for the River God.
However, according to Gui Hua, the ghost play performed by Baiyanzi Village was before my time; so where did the urban legend that performed for them come from? Lu Yibei thought.
She controlled almost all information about urban legends in the Huacheng range through the pulse of the earth, and in her memory, besides Meng Meng, there were no other urban legends good at performing plays.
And around Baiyanzi Village, there were only misfits like Mangpu and Old Man Huzi, even less likely to have one.
Could it be that besides the River God, there were other foreign urban legends that entered the Huacheng range?
d*mn! They can come and go as they please, don’t they care about me at all? Lu Yibei thought.
Just as she was pondering, a melodious opera song drifted from the nearby corridor, singing the Ten Hateful from “The Daughter’s Release.”
The voice was melodious and resonant; even though it was just vocal practice, the depth of skill was evident, not much different from Meng Meng.
Lu Yibei frowned slightly, her steps pausing as she looked toward the direction of the singing.
Seeing this, Gui Hua, like a puppet in motion, raised her stiff arm and patted Lu Yibei’s shoulder, saying, “Beier, don’t look! That’s the urban legend that the village invited to perform the ghost play.”
“The old man was so pleased with her singing that he invited her aboard, intending to have her perform a festive opera at the wedding later, so just watch carefully then.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yibei was momentarily stunned.
What on earth?
The village head invited an urban legend to perform a ghost play, which attracted the River God, wishing for the entire village to disappear; this was some bewildering human operation!
In her thoughts, her peripheral vision secretly glanced toward the meandering corridor from which the singing was emanating, wanting to break free from the notorious guide Gui Hua and inquire about the singer urban legend.
At that moment, a sudden explosion resonated from outside the ship.
The terrifying waves surged on the river surface, making a rumbling sound, and the cabin began to shake violently.
Then, a voice faintly shouted from outside the ship, “Huacheng Cheng Guanhxi!”
Bai Kai mentally connected with the code, his expression instantly turning serious.
What is this code?
The inspector actually couldn’t suppress the River God? This is troublesome!
Bai Kai thought to himself, retracting his gaze from the corridor and silently activating his talent skills.
In the next moment, an explosion echoed from the top of the big ship.
Soon, the chilling screams of women from outside the cabin reached in.
“Not good! Not good! The deck is on fire!”
“Quick, someone! Help put out the fire!”
“…”
Amid the screams, wisps of black smoke and the smell of burnt flesh wafted from the corridor towards the deck.
Seeing this, Gui Hua’s complexion changed from pale to extremely pale; she turned to Lu Yibei and said, “Beier, stay here, don’t run around. I’ll go check the situation.”
After saying that, she headed toward the deck, mumbling as she walked, “Strange, how could this ship catch fire? Really strange…”
How could it not catch fire? What’s the big deal? Lu Yibei thought, watching Gui Hua leave, silently exploding some of the marks before quietly heading towards the depths of the sleeping hall.
The two explosions ignited a fire on the ship, and the thick smoke soon filled the cabin. Under the cover of the thick smoke, Lu Yibei used her agile movements to avoid the rushing yaksha strongmen running to put out the fire, quickly returning to the sleeping hall.
If she had a stealthy partner, the ventilation ducts would have been much quicker…
She thought inexplicably, landing steadily, hiding behind a tall pillar, looking down to see that there was no sign of the River God by Du Sixian’s bed; only four yaksha strongmen remained on guard. Her gaze tightened slightly, and then she swiftly stepped out from her hiding spot.
“Hey! Brothers Yaksha, look up, quickly look up! Something big is about to happen!”
A silver bell-like whisper echoed in the sleeping hall, and the four yaksha strongmen looked in the direction of the voice. A beautiful girl stood on the second-floor railing, shouting toward the dome. From her outfit and her expressionless face, she appeared to be one of the River God’s concubines.
The ship was already ablaze, and seeing Lu Yibei’s shout, although the yaksha strongmen were somewhat puzzled, they dared not delay and looked up.
“Ding——!”
With a crisp metallic sound, an ancient-looking coin, glimmering faintly, floated down against the backdrop of the colorful glazed dome, reflecting the dim light of the bl**d-red lanterns.
At this moment, a strange incantation entered their ears.
“Golden tower, jade house, iron walls, dragon tails, phoenix wings…”
In the next instant, dazzling white light, like falling moonlight, poured down from the dome, replacing the glow of the bl**d-red lanterns, engulfing everything.
“Uh——ah——!”
Four screams almost simultaneously resonated as the forms of the yaksha strongmen, enveloped under the Four Beasts Bright Sky Cannon at 0.2145 times, were not instantly obliterated, but their greenish flesh melted like wax, falling apart before they hit the ground, transforming into black smoke.
Meanwhile, a figure rushed down from the second floor, landing on the grand bed shrouded in dragon and phoenix curtains. After a brief pause, it took the sleeping girl, leaving several glass vials filled with thick crimson liquid, and flew up once more, disappearing from sight.
Then.
On the glass vials, at the moment the white light dissipated, marks resembling children’s handprints suddenly appeared on the vials. The glowing handprints then burst forth with intensity, exploding violently and tearing the broken bodies of the yaksha strongmen apart…
————
After encountering the crimson ship, Du Sixian quickly fell into a disadvantage after a brief skirmish with several yaksha strongmen coming down from the ship.
Soon, a mysterious fragrance invaded her nostrils, and as a wave of dizziness washed over her, she only had time to send a short distress message to Lu Yibei before her vision turned dark, and she fell into a deep sleep.
However, although Du Sixian fell asleep, she did not lose consciousness.
In the moment she opened her eyes again, she found herself in that strange dream, crowded by a group of urban legends, some with bizarre shapes and others terrifyingly fierce.
Is it that nightmare again… Du Sixian lamented, rolling up her sleeves as she waved her fist at the urban legends ahead, “Come on! Let’s fight!”
The cluster of small urban legends that came to find Lu Yibei for a solution couldn’t locate her or Meng Meng and instead encountered the fiercely determined Du Sixian, with question marks popping up in their heads.
“???”
This girl seems to be a human, right?
Why is she appearing here?
Not only did she appear here, but she’s also not afraid of us and wants to fight… What the heck!
“…… Red Radiance Fire!”
As the searing flames flew toward them like falling meteors, the little question marks in the urban legends’ minds swiftly transformed into exclamations.
“!!!”
Seeing the small urban legends scattering in fear, Du Sixian cried out, “Don’t run!” and chased after the largest urban legend among them.
Based on her previous experiences with nightmares, as long as she hunted down a certain number of urban legends, she would wake up from the dream.
However, today’s situation felt strange.
Those urban legends not only didn’t attack her but actively ran away, and they were all quite clever and slippery, as if she could never catch up.
Then…
Before she could catch any urban legends, a pungent smoke invaded her nostrils, and she suddenly woke up.
Opening her eyes, through the haze, she saw a familiar side profile.
“High… High Person? Is it you, High Person? Are you here to save me?”
“Yeah, it’s me, I’m here to rescue you.” Lu Yibei softly replied.
“But why did you come back to save me? I only sent a distress message to Lu Senior!” Du Sixian mumbled softly, her eyes suddenly brightening, “I understand! I understand it all!”
Hearing this, Lu Yibei’s heart tightened sharply as she froze for a moment.
Oh no, in her rush to save her, she didn’t consider anything else; she wouldn’t have connected the two identities of “High Person” and “Lu Senior,” would she? Lu Yibei thought.
