Chapter 26: The Accompanying Mythical Species Urban Legend
Tangcheng, an area adjacent to Lotus Seed Lake, has a high-end lakeside residential area.
After the nights grew long, many people were willing to take on high mortgages just to settle here for peace of mind, and Zhao Rui was one of them.
He was just over thirty but looked somewhat old, with puffy eye bags and distinct crow’s feet, exuding an aura of “immortality” and constantly emanating a smell of tobacco.
At 10:27 PM.
In a lakeside room of building 7, unit 20-1 in the lakeside community, this clothing designer and amateur game streamer sat in his warm study, opened his computer, and prepared to start tonight’s live stream.
Zhao Rui had only begun game streaming at the beginning of last year, prompted by the opening of the urban legend hunting mode of a shooting adventure game.
As a somewhat successful clothing designer, he had a relaxed job and wasn’t short of money; his reason for playing games and streaming was simple—fear.
Living alone in a spacious 200-square-meter lakeside flat, accompanied by eerie music while battling twisted and bizarre urban legends in the game, he always felt like there were “people” all around.
Starting a live stream while playing games and occasionally glancing at the sporadic silly comments eased his fear significantly.
Although he still felt like the place was filled with “silly comments,” everyone knew that people and silly comments were fundamentally different.
“Hello, everyone! Yes, it’s me again. Let’s not waste time and jump right into the game to begin tonight’s hunt!”
After adjusting various software for the live stream, Zhao Rui recited his nearly one-year-old opening statement, then clicked on the game to start today’s stream.
He clicked on the “Start Matching” option, and while waiting for the system to match him with teammates, he glanced at the comments on the split screen, furrowing his brows and mumbling to himself.
“Strange, why is today…”
Although Zhao Rui was a streamer out of interest and impulse, over the course of a year, he had accumulated a small number of loyal fans. Normally, even when just starting a stream, there would be sporadic comments.
However, in contrast to the usual level of excitement in the stream, there was not a single comment this time.
The entire stream was eerily silent, and a bizarre scene suddenly flashed through Zhao Rui’s mind; he felt a chilling cold akin to deep winter.
……
[In the game world, night falls, and an ominous aura awakens from the silent city.
Urban legends hidden in dark corners open their eerie eyes and collectively gaze in the same direction, where a rift to another world lies.
And then.
Countless shadowy figures scurry through the streets, peering through that rift at you sitting behind the screen…]
This was a promotional text from when the game’s urban legend hunting mode launched; Zhao Rui didn’t know why these thoughts suddenly crossed his mind and formed a clear image in his mind.
“d*mn it!”
He cursed softly, fiercely shaking his head to dispel the image, then moved his mouse, ready to exit the game.
When the cursor moved to the “×” in the upper right corner, the computer screen suddenly flickered, and after a prolonged wait for a teammate match, it finally indicated a successful match.
Looking at the match time, Zhao Rui’s hands instantly left the keyboard, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
He clearly felt he had been waiting for four to five minutes, but the matching time was stuck at 0:00.
“d*mn it!”
When he returned to his senses, he couldn’t help but curse, hastily clicking cancel and quickly exiting the game.
However, just as he turned off the game, the lights in the study suddenly flickered twice and went out.
As if a power outage had occurred, the entire place was engulfed in darkness, with only faint light streaming in from outside.
Zhao Rui froze for a moment, regaining his composure just as he was about to take out his phone to turn on the flashlight, his gaze suddenly froze.
He had no idea when the study door had silently opened, and a shadow was standing quietly at the doorway.
The figure was dressed in pure white, facing away from the study, with long arms that reached the ground, the upper half of the body shrouded in shadow.
As if aware of Zhao Rui’s gaze, the figure slowly turned its body and looked in his direction, then gradually approached, moving as if dancing but making no sound at all.
A terrifying event was about to unfold… A voice in Zhao Rui’s mind kept reminding him.
At that moment, a pair of hands suddenly reached from behind, silently extending towards the back of Zhao Rui’s neck.
They were slender little hands with cold, pale skin, seemingly belonging to a child.
Just merely hands, seemingly extending from the void.
In the darkness, Zhao Rui suddenly felt a strong blow to the back of his neck, a wave of numbness spreading from his spine throughout his body, before his vision darkened and he lost consciousness.
“Taihe Gentleman Sword · Wind Pursuit Order!”
“It’s decided then, Zhipianxian, serial number 0002!”
“Desolate wilderness, grass, bones… eighteen-fold red flames flash!”
Three whispers echoed in the darkness almost simultaneously, as if premeditated.
The next moment, blue, gold, and red lights enveloped Zhao Rui’s study…
————
Under the night sky, Lotus Seed Lake lay like a deep and solemn old man, quietly sleeping in the night.
On the rooftop of the lakeside community.
Luxianbei withdrew her gaze from the position where she had exposed the internal thief by the lake last night and continued to wipe the Ling Tai Purification in her hands, which was covered in a greenish, snot-like strong acid slime.
The used tissue was thrown on the ground, and in an instant, it released a wisp of blue smoke, turning into a pitch-black, fluffy substance.
That urban legend had been sealed in the cultural relics by Jumeng for too long and had grown exceedingly weak; Luxianbei took advantage of the opportunity and successfully ambushed, obtaining an urban legend’s core.
Of course, as an urban legend that once caused chaos, even when extremely weak, it remained quite dangerous; an ordinary person would have no ability to resist its attack.
Nearby, Jumeng was sitting cross-legged on the ground, digesting the core of the urban legend she had just devoured. Her big eyes occasionally opened a narrow slit to sneak a peek at Luxianbei, then quickly closed again as if she had done something wrong, afraid of being discovered.
Her adorable demeanor reminded Luxianbei of when he watched “Journey to the West” as a child, mimicking Tang Seng and Deer Force Master sitting cross-legged in meditation on the sofa, eager to compete with them while occasionally glancing at the TV screen.
So that day, he foolishly sat for over five hours until he later learned that his father had secretly pressed pause while he was “meditating.”
After a long while, Jumeng slowly opened her eyes and looked at Luxianbei, her expression gradually becoming provocative.
“What did I say? My pickled vegetables weren’t being monitored at all, right? Little Luxianbei, you should worry a bit less!”
“I think you’re quite talented; want to follow me and learn how to be a reckless person?”
Luxianbei glanced at Jumeng with a blank expression and replied, “Thanks, but no thanks. I still want to live a few more years.”
If he wasn’t so cautious, he might have died at the Flower Language Sunshine Resort Hotel… Luxianbei secretly added in his mind.
“Besides, have you considered that just because this urban legend wasn’t being monitored doesn’t mean that others weren’t? It’s also possible that the person monitoring this urban legend happened to be away temporarily, and we took advantage of the opening, or else…”
“Tsk! Don’t say or else!” Jumeng interrupted, pouting, “If someone really was monitoring those pickled vegetable jars, what do you think they were doing just now? Did they get caught in the bathroom because they needed to go and didn’t bring paper?”
“…”
As expected of you, Jumeng, your conversations are always filled with potty humor; you truly have a deep love for organic fertilizer.
Luxianbei internally mocked, resting his chin on one hand and pondering for a few seconds, and replied seriously, “That’s very possible! Urban legends aren’t idolized beautiful girls; they must need to go to the bathroom.”
Jumeng glanced at Luxianbei and was about to say something when her gaze suddenly landed on the Ling Tai Purification in his hand, causing her to swallow back her words.
The scene of Luxianbei using Ling Tai Purification to instant-k*ll the urban legend was vivid in her mind, making her recall when she was injured by the ancestral kitchen kn*fe; now the several kitchen knives combined into a broken sword, seemingly stronger than before.
After a long thought, Jumeng asked, “By the way, I want to ask you something. Do you only have those three ancestral kitchen knives? Are there any others?”
In Jumeng’s understanding, the only spirit energy item that could injure her was Luxianbei’s ancestral kitchen knives.
But other spirit energy items that could harm her unleashed flashy effects like game equipment, completely unlike Luxianbei’s plain yet deadly ancestral kitchen knives.
Upon hearing Jumeng’s sudden question about the ancestral kitchen knives, Luxianbei paused, “Others? Of course, there are five, but I’m not sure if they are kitchen knives; they might be something else. However, two of them are lost. Why are you suddenly asking this?”
His ancestor only said that Ling Tai Purification was reforged into five kitchen utensils without specifying what kind.
Although the possibility of all being knives was high, it could also be made into ladles, spatulas, scissors, graters, or something else. Luxianbei thought.
“Actually…” Jumeng slightly parted her lips, glancing at the broken sword in Luxianbei’s hand, “Actually, Qunyang’s attachment was stabbed by a fruit kn*fe…”
“Pfft!”
Before Jumeng could finish her sentence, she was met with a burst of laughter.
“…”
The notorious king of urban legends in the Peach Source, actually injured by a kitchen utensil? Twice, nonetheless?
Among all the kings of urban legends, only she, this stinky sister, could suffer such humiliation, right?
So funny! Though it’s understandable, it’s just oddly amusing. Luxianbei thought.
Jumeng cast a glance at Luxianbei, and after a long silence, she continued, “I suspect that fruit kn*fe…”
“Pfft!”
“Boom—!”
Jumeng squinted at Luxianbei, delivering a small punch to the stone table before her, right as the mid-section of the stone table visibly bulged.
Luxianbei, “???”
This™ is also possible? Honestly, is the Peach Source’s origin from Flower Fruit Mountain?
Watching the stone table suddenly appear as if it had become pregnant, Luxianbei couldn’t help but twitch his eye and quickly changed the subject, “By the way, did you leave your name for the person you saved? Will they remember you?”
“Of course!” Jumeng raised her chin slightly, proudly proclaiming, “I guarantee he’ll never forget me.”
————
At one o’clock in the morning.
When Zhao Rui woke up on the floor of his study, the back of his head still throbbed with pain.
He cautiously pried his eyes open a crack and saw the brightly lit study, quickly closing them again.
He lay unmoving like a corpse for a while, waiting until he confirmed that there was no other sound in the room before carefully getting up, then dashed out, turning on all the lights in the house.
Just as Zhao Rui thought the urban legend that attacked him had gone away and settled back in his study, he inadvertently glanced at the computer desktop and saw that the names of his recent fashion design drafts had turned into garbled text, causing his brow to furrow.
After hesitating for a moment, he licked his parched lips, mustered his courage, and moved the mouse to click open the file, and then the horrific event unfolded.
The drafts he had painstakingly worked on for over a month were all deleted, leaving only a few jumbled big characters—”The Rescuer, Jumeng Master!”
————
Deep within the Peach Source, surrounded by mountains, there sprawled a network of fields and irregularly shaped vast orchards. Looking from the fields and orchards towards the hillsides, quaint small courtyards encircled a beautifully crafted jade statue.
It was a tree-shaped white jade statue, with twin branches growing from a single root, adorned with wishes tied to peach wood tablets and wind chimes.
Beneath the tree stood a girl dressed in extravagant clothing, exuding a dignified and ethereal temperament. A lively magpie perched on her shoulder.
In front of the statue, a huge stone offering table was covered in a layer of snow. The incense and candles in the bronze furnace had long burned out, and the offerings showed signs of decay and mold, utterly lifeless, much like the nearby village, lacking any spark of life.
Underneath the statue stood a tall woman dressed in black, gazing up at the statue in a daze, her eyes shifting as if in deep contemplation.
After a moment, a gust of wind blew, and a robust man, wrapped in a thick cotton coat and looking haggard, landed beside her.
Turning around, Miss Rabbit recognized the visitor as Shuo E; a glimmer of warmth flashed in her eyes before quickly cooling down. She raised her willow-like eyebrows and said coldly, “Is the task completed?”
“Mm.” Shuo E nodded, looking at the statue in confusion, “Why do you often come here to watch this statue when you have nothing to do? Does it hold some special significance?”
“…” Miss Rabbit was silent for a few seconds, shaking her head, “Nothing, I just think her experiences are somewhat similar to mine. Seeing this statue inevitably reminds me of the past.”
In ancient times, the ancestors of the Peach Source, living primitively and bloodily, wandered the desolate land after disasters, continuously pleading with the gods and migrating, finally finding the twin-rooted peach tree. Their restless souls finally found a solace in the sacred tree Fushang.
According to legend, there’s a black three-legged crow in the sun, which spreads its wings every morning from the Fushang sacred tree, showering the earth with sunlight. The deity governing the dawn of the sun and the sacred tree Fushang is Jumang, acting as a gardener tending to the tree’s growth and assisting it in maturing.
From a certain perspective, Qunyang should be the urban legend born from the faith in the sacred tree Fushang by the ancestors of the Peach Source, while Jumeng is merely its accompanying mythical species urban legend.
This symbiotic relationship is akin to a consort contract, and there are even rumors that consort contracts evolved from such accompanying relationships.
After arriving in the Peach Source, every time Miss Rabbit sees Jumeng’s statue, she recalls her time enslaved by Mu Se, thinking of how both she and Jumeng succeeded in achieving the outstanding feat of ‘overthrowing the oppressor’ to pursue what they desired, she can’t help but feel a twinge of emotion.
She might feel very lonely, right?
When she realizes that what she broke through countless obstacles to pursue isn’t what she truly desires, it is just like me. Miss Rabbit thought.
Just like her, she barely shattered the shackles imposed by Mu Se, yet is trapped by the Solar Eclipse Society in the same fashion.
When Jumeng discovers that the Peach Source’s citizens have always pursued only the Fushang sacred tree, rather than her, she, too, may experience a similar void.
If it weren’t for being on opposing sides with Jumeng, Miss Rabbit would actually want to help her.
But now…
She must awaken Qunyang from slumber and release it from Jumeng’s oppression, thus the city’s barrier of Tangcheng must be activated, which is also the common goal of all the spirit energy users and urban legends gathered here.
As for what kind of existence could possibly gather the members of the Solar Eclipse Society, the remnants of the Miracle Cult, and the notorious lone spirit energy users, Miss Rabbit was unsure; she was just an employee, and certainly, it couldn’t be a Crow Slave.
He is merely a consort of a mythical species urban legend, so how could he have such great power?
Before Shuo E left, he also inquired about the Solar Eclipse Society’s Elders’ Council in the gray forest cabin, but the elders refused to speak on the matter.
Returning her thoughts, Miss Rabbit cast a glance at Shuo E wrapped in his cotton coat behind her and murmured, “It’s so cold tonight…”
Can you hold me?
“…” Shuo E fell silent for a few seconds, glanced at the time, and said seriously, “Then hold on a bit longer; daybreak is coming, and the sunlight will warm everything.”
Miss Rabbit, “…”
d*mn, I’m so foolish! Shouldn’t I have given up those unreasonable expectations long ago?
————
In the cave deep within the Peach Source.
A figure cloaked in a black crow-feather robe stood in front of the enormous and dry Fushang sacred tree, looking up reverently at the intertwining branches forming a humanoid silhouette, repeatedly murmuring indecipherable descriptions about Qunyang.
Due to Jumeng facing two consecutive assassination attempts, her power had weakened significantly, and the pulsating frequency of the tree-like silhouette’s heart, resembling a tumor, was more frequent and intense than before, as if it could awaken at any moment.
Behind the giant tree, numerous cocoon-like structures made of vines hung, connecting to the giant tree’s vines as they writhed greedily, thirstily absorbing the spirit energy of Jumeng’s consorts.
Only this spirit energy, closely related to Jumeng, could nourish the sacred tree and transfer power to Qunyang through secret methods.
“Crash—Crash—!”
Accompanied by the sound of vines and branches being torn, a head with prominent horns struggled to emerge from the backside of the giant tree, upon seeing the Crow Slave, it immediately began to curse.
“Son of a dog, even if you k*ll the East Master and sacrifice us all, Qunyang can’t be revived!”
“…” The Crow Slave gazed deeply at Yuan Ye for a few seconds, seemingly ignoring his cursing, and continued to chant softly.
He certainly knew that relying on these miscellaneous fish’s strength couldn’t assist his master in awakening.
After hundreds of discreet observations of Jumeng, he realized that the barrier of Tangcheng was not lethal enough to k*ll Jumeng.
He also understood that the Solar Eclipse Society, the Miracle Cult, and those rebellious lone spirit energy users couldn’t be gathered just by his words; there must be other unknown forces at play.
However, he had his own secrets, and in the end, besides himself and his master, everyone else and the urban legends would meet their demise.
Seeing the Crow Slave ignore his curses, Yuan Ye continued with sarcasm, “Hmph, just waste your effort here! By then, you might not even manage to resurrect your master before you’re in labor.”
“I don’t know if you abandoned people here get maternity leave or not! But if you wait until after you give birth to come back, I’m afraid…”
Yuan Ye only spoke halfway when he saw the Crow Slave’s expression turn cold. Suddenly, the Crow Slave pulled out a rusty fruit kn*fe from under the crow-feather robe, stabbing it into his own abdomen with a “pfft!” bl**d spurted forth, and a manic smile appeared on his bl**d-red lips.
Yuan Ye, “…” Remarkably ruthless, let me organize my thoughts and continue the discussion!
————
On the top floor of the Tangcheng Museum, in a chaotic, unfinished room.
Shang Nanxing and Mao Sanyou lay collapsed on the long table like two dead dogs, entirely motionless, panting heavily with their tongues out, almost in sync.
They had spent the entire day dealing with the chain reactions caused by the assassination attempt on Jumeng by an unknown force last night.
The members involved in the assassination yesterday had the lowest spirit energy fluctuation level at B grade. The residual spirit energy left after their high-level spell formulas and gifted skills posed lethal risks to ordinary people, akin to nuclear waste. If left unattended, many could contract Nightfall Syndrome and ultimately d*e.
Moreover, Jumeng had shed a massive amount of bl**d on the ring road yesterday; as a high-level mythical species urban legend, the mutations her bl**d could trigger were unpredictable.
Although Shang Nanxing and Mao Sanyou possessed A-grade and B+ grade spirit energy fluctuations respectively, cleaning up that residue was no easy task. After an entire day of hard work, they had expended their energy two or three times, barely managing to clear areas with dense human traffic.
“Boom—!”
Just as the two were silently adjusting and preparing to rest for a while before diving back into serving the people, a loud bang echoed from the door.
Accompanied by the noise, a burly, dark-skinned man appeared before them, his voice deep, “I have investigated thoroughly; all recent anomalies are closely tied to Jumeng!”
Upon hearing the results of Old Xu’s investigation after several days, Mao Sanyou and Shang Nanxing exchanged glances, their expressions immediately becoming grave.
