Chapter 64: Feel Your Existence
A pungent mist wafted through the empty streets, dark red flesh rolling back and forth among the ruins of buildings.
“Tap—tap—!”
In the distance.
Iron hooves thundered, emitting a resounding sound.
Immediately, a whooshing sound echoed as a lithe figure darted out from a narrow alley, carving a silver-white arc in the air.
As Jiang Li, clad in simple silver armor, landed, the dark red flesh stuck to the streets and buildings stirred like a vicious beast sensing bl**d.
Then, a rumble erupted from the alley behind her.
With the collapse of the alley walls, stones and dust exploded like a detonation, and a twisted herd of beasts surged forth from the shattered alley.
Cats, dogs, rats, flying birds, even humans and plants—various creatures common in urban areas gathered in clusters, each encased in dark red flesh, writhing amongst themselves.
Affected by the Inheritance Beast’s flesh, their bodies exhibited varying degrees of transformation into urban legends.
Countless pairs of crimson eyes fixed intently on Jiang Li’s back. In the next moment, a piercing scream erupted, and the frenzied herd charged towards her.
In an instant, a stench assaulted her face.
Jiang Li bit her silver teeth, her body agilely spinning in a move, her toes sharply striking the ground as she flew back.
While creating distance from the beast horde, her left hand swiftly retrieved a cloth bag containing pearls from her backpack.
“Stars scattered like chess pieces, wind stirs mountain ridges, flying silver threads, waving white pearls, the sound of long spears striking, the sound of arrows falling, cast spell seventy-five, wild rain of arrows descends!”
As the incantation concluded, the surrounding humidity suddenly thickened.
Jiang Li raised her arm, forcefully scattering the pearls from the bag into the sky.
These pearls, born within aquatic mollusks and long submerged underwater, while not high-grade spellcasting materials, would amplify the effect when used in water-based spells.
The snow-white pearls, influenced by the spirit energy fluctuations and the incantation, diffused into clusters of mist that erupted with a deep blue glow, tracing arcs in the air before accelerating into a fierce rain of sharpness.
“Thud thud thud—!”
The rain, resembling long spears or falling arrows, descended from the sky, a howling wind breaking through, splashing water, instantly exploding in bl**d bursts among the pursuing beasts, pinning those distorted bodies to the ground.
The foul-smelling plasma stained the dilapidated asphalt road.
Suddenly, amidst the splattered bl**d, a grotesquely enlarged canine burst through the curtain of rain, leaping towards Jiang Li with its maw wide open.
However, right in its trajectory, a silver long kn*fe appeared, as if it had been waiting for it all along.
Silver flashed past.
The fleeting blade left a deep blue afterimage in the sky.
The giant dog’s movement hesitated, its greedy and ferocious crimson eyes gradually changing to shock and pain.
bl**d appeared from its jaw, spreading to its head. In the next moment, its skull split in two from top to bottom, a thick and foul-smelling spray erupting.
“Boom—!”
The giant dog’s massive body convulsed violently, crashing to the ground with a loud thud.
Yet, it did not d*e instantly; from its cracked head, a mass of dark red flesh grew into flesh buds, wriggling like swarms of insects, attempting to repair its body.
Next, after the attempt to fix the giant dog’s body failed, with a sudden explosion of the giant dog’s body, the bl**d of the Inheritance Beast surged out, rushing into the nearby still-living monsters, breeding more grotesque, increasingly ferocious beings.
The Inheritance Beast’s flesh attached to these biological forms acted like some kind of parasite; once the host died, it would immediately detach and transfer to other living hosts.
“d*mn it!”
Jiang Li cursed under her breath, without a moment’s hesitation, she activated her spirit patterns and turned back towards the end of the street.
She had no doubt that if it weren’t for the Hydra’s poison on her long kn*fe, that giant dog would have repaired its fatal wounds in an instant under the influence of the Inheritance Beast’s flesh.
“……”
Why did the bl**d of the Inheritance Beast stir and generate so many urban legends?
What on earth happened here?
Could it be related to Luxianbei’s aura disappearing in this special space? Jiang Li thought uneasily.
When she encountered that attacking, transformed wild cat on Mudan Street, she still felt that the situation in this special space was under control.
With her seasoned combat experience, even if spirit energy fluctuations were suppressed, she could still easily defeat one or two transformed creatures.
But as Luxianbei’s aura vanished, escaping the effective range of divination, it felt as if they were provoked and catalyzed by some kind of power; the Inheritance Beast’s flesh lurking in this special space fell into madness.
The situation was gradually heading towards a loss of control, recklessly running wild.
Countless creatures, influenced by the Inheritance Beast’s flesh, exhibiting urban legend transformations emerged in the streets and alleys.
Ten, fifty, a hundred… within just an hour, the number of transformed creatures pursuing Jiang Li broke the two hundred mark and continued to increase.
With so many transformed creatures, and spirit energy fluctuations suppressed in this special space, barely stronger than a D-grade level, even with Jiang Li’s rich combat experience, she couldn’t continue her rampage.
Thus, while fighting and retreating, her mood gradually grew heavier.
Although she was very unwilling to believe that Luxianbei had been consumed by the Inheritance Beast, faced with the anomalies in the special space, she subconsciously prepared herself mentally for the worst-case scenario.
What worried her even more was that if this special space spiraled out of control, it could affect Huacheng, triggering renewed outbreaks of the already-contained Nightfall Syndrome, even causing irreparable destruction to Huacheng…
She wondered how the situation in Huacheng was now.
———
Huacheng, Mudan Street, Folk Culture Research Management Bureau, Office No. 2.
A scruffy, long-haired girl lay sprawled out in the shape of a character, her breathing extremely weak, motionless like a corpse on Li Xuan’s desk.
When Li Xuan hurried back to his office with monitoring data in hand and saw this scene, the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Since bringing Huasang to the Huacheng Siye Society, she had been lying there without moving, even too lazy to eat the food he brought her.
“Junior sister? Huasang? Huasang!”
Li Xuan called her name three times in succession, each time raising his tone a few notches, and only then did Huasang respond.
She gently twisted her slender waist, slightly lifted her eyelids, dully looking at Li Xuan, sat up cross-legged, stretched, and then pulled out a primitive black iron ruler from somewhere, scratching her back with it while mumbling, “Brother, what’s the matter? Why so urgent?”
“You… I…” Li Xuan hesitated, at a loss for words.
He was truly exasperated with Huasang; he had thought this junior sister who would care for his beloved car would be a considerate little cotton-padded jacket, only to find she was a breezy, heartless cotton one.
He had long known that Huasang was unconventional, but he never expected that as a disciple of Dachunyang Palace and a confidant of the Chief Priest, she could be this lazy.
It was a disgrace to the sect, a shame to the school!
His chest heaving for a moment as he suppressed his anger, Li Xuan handed the monitoring data to Huasang, saying, “Take a look! This is the recently transmitted spirit energy fluctuation data. That special space is already on the brink of losing control, and you still have the heart to loaf around here?”
Huasang glanced at the monitoring data in Li Xuan’s hand and waved her hand, “Brother, don’t be anxious. I’ve been keeping an eye on it. The anchoring left by the Chief Priest is only damaged by eight-tenths.”
“For now, there won’t be any problems.”
Although Zhang Hainan was frugal in preparing the anchors, resulting in very low defense against external attacks, the methods he used were not without cleverness.
Eight anchors, while being one entity, operated independently.
Based on Huasang’s understanding of Zhang Hainan, as long as two anchors remained, that special space wouldn’t go out of control.
“You’ve been keeping an eye on it?” Li Xuan said with displeasure, “How come I feel like you’ve been slacking off? At this rate, will we have time to deal with it if it really goes out of control?”
Worried about the special space falling into chaos, in his urgent irritation, he completely overlooked Huasang’s mention of it being only eight-tenths damaged.
“It will be fine, it will be fine…” Huasang drawled casually, “As the saying goes, ‘Stillness can control movement, heaviness can control lightness, width can control narrowness, slowness can control haste.’ Worrying about it won’t help.”
“Deadlines boost productivity!”
“You…” Li Xuan found himself at a loss for words; he was utterly speechless with Huasang, “Does the Chief Priest know you are like this when he sent you? I’ll definitely report this situation honestly later!”
“Report it, report it, it’s no big deal.” Huasang lazily smiled.
After all, that old man instructed her to do this, and it’s pointless for you to file a petty report. I’m just following orders to loaf around… Huasang added silently in her heart.
Although she didn’t quite understand why the Chief Priest told her before leaving, “When the anchors are damaged to only one door remaining, observe calmly and do not tell others the reason for doing so,” she had deduced a bit and determined that following the Chief Priest’s instructions would yield good results.
As for the reasons behind the Chief Priest’s actions, she truly didn’t know. Deducing the fortunes of events was simple, but figuring out why events would be fortunate or not was quite taxing, and unnecessary.
As long as she knew the Chief Priest’s decision was correct.
That old man is wise enough not to make foolish decisions.
So…
If the Chief Priest said it’s okay to slack off, you smelly junior brother want me to do something?
How naive!
Huasang thought, stretching and returning to sprawl on the desk, quickly entering a state of deep rest. No matter what Li Xuan said to her, she was no longer interested.
Having spoken so much and done a bit of thinking, she was already very “tired” and needed to recuperate!
As for the things entrusted by the Chief Priest, she would handle them when the time came.
———
Within the spiritual world of the Inheritance Beast.
The ground continued to collapse, shattered into pieces, drawing into the chaotic flow, and Luxianbei’s standing ground continuously shrank.
Even though she desperately didn’t want to enter the depths of the small park, she more so didn’t want to be caught in the chaos formed by the city’s destruction. Reluctantly, she could only keep retreating.
In just a few minutes, the area around the small park had shrunk from about a kilometer in diameter to less than two hundred meters.
Then…
What had initially been a slow collapse suddenly intensified. The sky darkened rapidly from afar, merging into a light gray mist, while the ground beneath her feet broke apart in chunks, dislocating and turning into sharp fragments.
“Boom—Boom—!”
With successive explosions, the cracks swiftly reached Luxianbei’s feet.
“d*mn!”
She cursed softly, not having the time to think, and quickly retreated. As she came to her senses, she found herself only a thin layer of small woods away from the Inheritance Beast, less than twenty meters apart.
Through the gaps in the woods, she could vaguely see the swings hanging upside down in the sky and the children on them.
The child appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old, small and with short dark red hair. Due to the young age, it was hard to distinguish the gender.
Perhaps, things like the Inheritance Beast have no gender at all… Luxianbei thought cynically.
A pitch-black crystal ring obscured his eyes, a silver elongated needle piercing from his left ear to emerge from the right. His thin little mouth was sewn shut with a faintly glowing red thread, and his face looked like it had long-term malnutrition, pale and thin.
Yet, despite this, looking at his facial features would make one think, “If only he were well-nourished, he would be such a lovely child.”
Chains with barbs, like anti-theft wires, wrapped around his small body, embedding into the flesh, tightening him to the swing. Perhaps due to being bound for too long, his delicate hands and feet looked slightly distorted and deformed.
With the swings swaying upside down, the sharp barbs dug into his flesh, bl**d continually dripped, corroding the chains wound around him, making it indistinguishable whether the dark red marks on them were rust or dried bl**d.
Luxianbei, “…”
Did he do this to himself, or did someone else? That’s too d*mn twisted!
What to do! That thing looks too eerie; I don’t want to have anything to do with him!
What’s the Proxy Player Sister doing? It’s been so long and she still hasn’t dealt with it?
Luxianbei thought, and just then, a gentle whisper echoed in her ears again, “Can you see me? Am I frightening you? I must look really terrifying, right?”
She spoke in a very tentative and careful tone.
Luxianbei, “……” It’s definitely scary, but I don’t want to acknowledge you.
“Even if you don’t plan to save me, can you come a bit closer? I can’t see you or hear you, so if you come a bit closer, I can feel your existence.”
“Boom!”
A loud sound erupted behind her. Luxianbei turned to glance at it and fell into silence.
The collapse began again.
“……”
Are you requesting? This is coercion, right? This child definitely has a serious issue! Luxianbei thought.
Gurgle gurgle gurgle
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Infected by the parasite of the Inheritance Beast’s flesh, entering the first stage of Nightfall Syndrome, severe insomnia and mental lethargy. Taking a day’s leave to rest.
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