Chapter 50: Surprise Attack
Noticing Hu Yue at the other end of the corridor, Luxianbei furrowed her brows slightly, stood up and discreetly retreated to a nearby corner, pressing her back against the wall, revealing a small part of her face to secretly observe Hu Yue’s every move.
The inner traitor Professor, Mr. Hu?
Since the first full meeting of the project research group, Luxianbei had not seen Hu Yue for two or three days.
According to what she heard from Professor Ma’s side, Hu Yue was visiting old friends and collaborating with multiple parties to inquire about cultural relics, achieving significant results. However, Luxianbei felt that he was mostly involved in some shady dealings with those intruders from Peach Source.
However, she had been focused on another “traitor” — Fu Xinyi, and then encountered Solang Pema and Miss Rabbit, sustaining serious injuries, which led to her neglecting Hu Yue’s presence.
Now seeing him outside Mao Sanyou’s hospital room, Luxianbei’s vigilance kicked in immediately.
His appearance here surely heralded trouble!
————
The harsh white light illuminated the corridor, and the faint smell of disinfectant filled the air. An invisible, oppressive atmosphere enveloped everyone, causing both patients’ families and medical staff to unconsciously lighten their movements.
The floor where the critical care unit was located was always like this, usually terrifyingly quiet, as if something were brewing. Whenever the tranquility was broken, it was always accompanied by heartbreaking cries.
Just like the scream from the nurse when Mao Sanyou’s heart suddenly stopped.
The medical personnel inside Mao Sanyou’s room were doing everything possible to negotiate with d*ath regarding this young man’s fate.
Outside the hospital room, footsteps approached from afar, and Hu Yue, dressed in a gray overcoat, arrived outside the room, stopping in front of the transparent glass window. His right hand silently slipped into the pocket of his coat, gripping the cold bone flute tightly.
Just as he was about to take out the bone flute and blow gently, his body suddenly stiffened, a strong thought flashed through his mind: — Don’t act! If I make a move now, it would be fatal!
The Zigu, said by the world to have foresight, is often worshipped at home and consulted for divination on various matters.
As a follower of Zigu, Hu Yue’s sense of impending doom was not as efficient as Luxianbei’s keen eyes, but his intuition regarding crises like bloodshed and deadly peril was far stronger than that of ordinary spiritual ability users.
Shrouded by that intense sense of foreboding, he stood still like a statue, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.
Has he been targeted? Is there a spiritual ability user or urban legend secretly protecting this kid? Hu Yue thought, the constant flashes of danger in his mind preventing him from focusing.
It felt like he was pulled into the deepest nightmare, almost unable to wake, until…
“Excuse me, make way, make way for those in front!”
A nurse pushed a cart delivering medication, walking quickly this way, her distant shout jolted Hu Yue back to reality.
He glanced at the approaching nurse, his gaze sharpening slightly. Just as the nurse brushed past him, using her body to obscure him momentarily, he loosened his right hand, letting the bone flute return to his pocket, and turned to jog toward the emergency exit.
【He’s planning to escape.】
This thought flashed through Luxianbei’s mind as she locked her eyes onto Hu Yue. Almost simultaneously with Hu Yue’s escape, she moved to follow in his direction.
Thinking of running? Not so easy!
Finally catching someone who knew why Mao Sanyou was injured and who might have insights into Stinky Sister’s situation through the intruders from Peach Source, could I let you get away?
You met me, consider yourself unlucky! Luxianbei thought fiercely.
————
Huacheng, Folk Culture Research Management Bureau.
After sending the information to Bai Kai, Li Xuan sat at his desk, processing various documents submitted yesterday, but he couldn’t focus at all. After repeatedly using several calming spell formulas on himself, he still felt distracted.
After a long while, he sighed helplessly, “Sigh, people can’t help but be influenced by their company. After spending so much time with these guys, I unwittingly picked up their bad habits.”
“……”
In silence, he stared at the document processing interface on the computer screen, lost in thought, muttering to himself, “Forget it, an occasional break isn’t an unforgivable mistake.”
As he spoke, Li Xuan released his long-suppressed gossip spirit and worries about his car, exited the document processing interface, and skillfully switched his internal network account to anonymous mode, entering the Siye Society’s internal information exchange forum.
Upon entering the forum, his gaze landed on a post that had reached the top three on the homepage.
【Responding to the Red Aurora Signal in Tangcheng, your humble servant, the First Handsome of Tianmen, is about to reach the periphery of the territory of the Great Urban Legend Jumeng. Below are the live conditions……】
“Is it truly impossible to contact the outside world?” Li Xuan frowned, speaking to himself pensively, “Tsk, these guys’ analysis is unreasonable!”
As he spoke, he typed in the reply box: “I believe there are also ignorant wanderers that interfere with human perception, and that the Inheritance Beast is capable of such interference.”
Two minutes after Li Xuan hit the 【Submit Reply】 button, he immediately received his first cold ridicule.
Anonymous User: “Bro, don’t bring up the Inheritance Beast, that absurd urban legend—it can’t mimic the powers of any urban legend!”
“Yet this possibility cannot be entirely dismissed!” Li Xuan muttered in displeasure, exited that post, and continued browsing the next one.
A gentleman remains harmonious yet does not agree; when encountering trolls online, he always adopts an “You’re right” attitude, otherwise arguing with them would never end.
【According to unreliable sources, there are more than a dozen bounties related to Peach Source circulating among illegal spiritual ability organizations……】
【Shock, Jumeng’s demise! A brief discussion on the life and d*ath of the legendary urban legend……】
【……】
Li Xuan’s gossip spirit ignited as he quickly browsed through posts related to the Red Aurora Signal in Tangcheng, rapidly recording useful information, then filtering useful details, anonymously sending them to Bai Kai and Jiang Li’s internal network accounts.
Gossip, like urban legends, is about balancing truth and falsehood; as long as one accurately captures the genuine part, they can obtain useful information.
This is not about secretly helping someone, it’s just that gossip—if there’s no confidant, can it still be called gossip?
By the way, concerning Fu Xinyi, I should notify my master first. If he can make it to Tangcheng, then Fu Xinyi will be safe.
Thinking this, Li Xuan hurriedly took out his phone, found Huasang’s contact in a social app, and sent her a message.
Then…
He stared at the red exclamation mark following the message and the line in the center of the screen reading 【The other party has turned on friend verification; you are not their friend yet…】 fell into silence.
Wait, I just once again mentioned wanting to investigate Luxianbei a few days ago; is it necessary to be like this? What’s so special about that kid? Li Xuan pondered.
————
Tangcheng, Furong Street.
This is a historic street that dates back as far as the ancient Arrow Tower Street, but due to the lack of iconic scenic buildings, its preservation isn’t as complete. During a time when historical building protection awareness was not strong, many alleys and large courtyards were demolished to make way for residential buildings.
However, as time progressed, the consciousness of preserving historical architecture grew stronger, and some ancient structures were repaired and preserved, resulting in a complex landscape of new and old buildings intermingling, making hiding here even more effective than on Arrow Tower Street.
At noon, the overcast sky was piled high with clouds, not a single ray of sunlight fell, and a small river flowing through the center of Furong Street trickled slowly.
On one side of the river stood a rather grand three-story small building, its garden piled high with snow, unusually quiet, as if all plants, insects, and life had perished in the recent heavy snow that had lasted several days in Tangcheng.
On the second floor of the small building.
A beautiful woman with deep features and a cold temperament leaned on a lounge chair by the window, sipping from a cup of hot tea, occasionally gazing out the window.
Suddenly, the sound of a door being pushed open came, and hurried footsteps crunched over the snow, making a light sound. The woman’s expression darkened as she stood up and walked to the window, silently gazing at the garden outside and saw Hu Yue’s dejected figure.
Standing in the small courtyard, Hu Yue looked ahead, the garden overgrown with vines, gloomy and dilapidated, and he could faintly hear the sound of flowing water from the river outside the courtyard. Dim daylight lay on the snow, as if pressing down, heralding an oncoming night.
Everything was just as it had been during his previous visits, but he felt something was off, yet couldn’t quite pinpoint what was unusual.
The woman on the upper floor looked at Hu Yue’s somewhat bewildered expression, smirked, and lightly leaped onto the windowsill, looking down at Hu Yue, then with the falling snowflakes, quietly descended to stand in front of him, interrupting his thoughts.
“Professor Hu, what’s the matter with you today? It looks like there’s a vengeful spirit chasing you.”
After hearing the woman’s teasing, Hu Yue took a deep breath to steady himself, serious, he said, “Indeed, something is pursuing me, but it’s something far scarier than a vengeful spirit.”
At this point, he paused, the figure that had been following him flashing in his mind, making him involuntarily shiver.
That presence seemed to lurk in his shadow, everywhere yet disappearing into thin air whenever he tried to find it.
Regaining his composure, Hu Yue looked up towards the three-story building behind the woman, frowning as he asked, “Didn’t we receive news from external friends yesterday saying they would be arriving this morning? Have they still not come?”
At this moment, although the Tangcheng barrier had not yet activated and remained in defense status, a large number of spiritual ability users and urban legends could not enter the city simultaneously. However, a few users and urban legends who knew about the situation in Tangcheng had paid a price to sneak in early to prepare for tomorrow’s battle.
“……”
The woman fell silent for a brief moment, seemingly pondering, and then quickly downplayed her response before Hu Yue could sense something was amiss. “You know the current situation; it’s not surprising if something unexpected occurs. Perhaps there was a delay on the road?”
“It’s also possible…” Hu Yue nodded thoughtfully, but his expression suddenly turned tense. “Oh no, if the reinforcements haven’t arrived, that could be disastrous!”
After leaving Tangcheng University Affiliated Hospital, Hu Yue was pursued by that overwhelming yet elusive aura and rushed all the way here, thinking he should have already met the three spiritual ability users, two urban legends, and this woman to confront the threat.
But now, with no reinforcements in sight and only this woman at the designated meeting point, and the presence that had been tracking him manifesting, he felt he had little chance of winning.
“Disastrous? What do you mean by that?” the woman asked, her expression turning serious.
Hu Yue steadied himself, casting a glance around, lowering his voice as he said, “Didn’t I tell you earlier?”
“The tree inside Peach Source seems to have revived, that d*mn Crow Slave’s power has surged significantly. This morning, it found me and forced me to use my identity to k*ll someone at Tangcheng University Affiliated Hospital…”
“Oh, I know that, so what next?” The woman nodded, “You can’t possibly be saying you were weak and failed the assassination and ended up escaping, right?”
Upon hearing the woman’s reply, Hu Yue’s eyes unconsciously trembled slightly. He waved at her, signaling her to come closer.
Then…
Just as the woman leaned in, the pale bone flute slipped from his sleeve, firmly gripped it, and thrust it toward the woman’s chest with a powerful force.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, Hu Yue felt something was off, and after conversing with the woman, he became even more convinced of his idea.
Although this woman collaborated with him, her attitude was always flippant and unwilling to engage in conversation. Moreover, after the incident with Crow Slave, which had forced him to assassinate Mao Sanyou under the pretense of being a project research group member, he hadn’t told anyone else, so how could she know about it?
Based on these two points, he concluded that this woman was not who she claimed to be.
If a judgment goes wrong and mistakenly harms a companion, it could only be her bad luck!
Hu Yue thought fiercely, his action was swift as lightning, the explosive sound of air bursting echoed suddenly as he thrust the bone flute into the woman’s chest, then unleashed his spiritual energy, tearing through her body, bl**d spraying from her back onto the snow piled up in the courtyard, stark white contrasting with vivid red.
But then, accompanied by a wave of excruciating pain in his head, his vision suddenly shattered like a cracked mirror, then exploded into pieces scattering around.
When the light and shadow before him returned to normal, the three-story small building had transformed into a dilapidated, dusty manor, with an open door revealing a blurred portrait within.
What the hell is this place?
Such thoughts rushed through Hu Yue’s mind as he slowly turned his head towards the woman who should have collapsed, only to see a stretch of white snow. The next moment, he sensed an intense danger surging from behind him.
No, it’s coming from behind!
His pupils fiercely constricted, just as he was about to turn around, he felt a hard, cold object strike the back of his head severely, a strange force overriding his spiritual defense and crashing into his skull, as if trying to rupture his brain.
At that moment, the assailant followed up with several rapid strikes to the back of his head. Distinctly, he even heard the brittle sound of his skull nearing fracture.
In an instant, his vision went black, and consciousness faded as if it was severed from its string.
————
“Bang—!”
Seeing Hu Yue fall into the snow, Luxianbei rushed forward, gripping her Ling Tai Purification, striking him forcefully on the back of his head two or three more times.
Only once she confirmed he wasn’t pretending to be unconscious but truly unable to wake up, did she bend down, casting seventeen or eighteen sealing spell formulas, wrapping him like a dumpling, allowing her a moment of relief.
“Tsk, this Ling Tai Purification is indeed as the ancestor said; it has a direct impact on consciousness. But this charming ability mixed with Mengmeng’s Natural Talent Skill to create illusions is still too unskilled!”
“Last night, after trying so many times on the ancestor, how could it still show a flaw so quickly?”
To influence a subject’s senses and perceptions without them noticing while they remained conscious is much more challenging than the crude method used to frighten Miss Rabbit.
Luxianbei murmured to herself, squatting down to turn Hu Yue over, and began searching his person. Before long, she found a small notebook, palm-sized, made from deer skin leather and etched with sealing spell formulas, hidden in the lining of his coat.
It seems tracking this guy was indeed the right choice.
With such careful concealment, there must be some unspeakable secret inside!
Luxianbei thought, looking at Hu Yue, lightly tapping the notebook against his head, “Inner traitor professor, do you know how badly you’ve harmed your companions? What kind of decent person uses this stuff?”
