Chapter 27: If She Doesn’t d*e, I Can’t Sleep!
Directional soul summoning rituals, at their core, originate from ancient sacrificial activities.
Ancient sacrificial activities, generally speaking, have extremely complex procedures. Sometimes, it might take several days or even longer to complete a set of procedures.
Before starting the ritual, one must consult the almanac, select suitable dates and appropriate times. During the ritual, one also needs to follow a strict order, performing tasks such as lighting candles to welcome spirits, burning incense for offerings, playing music for toasts, and reciting sacrificial words.
However, for spiritual ability users or urban legends, these processes can be simplified or omitted, using their own spiritual energy to fill in the gaps. Therefore, the strength of the caster’s spiritual energy fluctuations is also a key factor affecting the success rate when performing these types of spells.
Of course, when attempting ritual-type spells, spiritual ability users or urban legends can choose a suitable time and prepare offerings and musical offerings to increase the success rate of the spell if they lack confidence.
In fact, games like “Spirit Call” and “Ouija Board” are specialized ritual-type spells, but due to the overly simplified procedures and the lack of a clearly defined target for prayer, ordinary people cannot make up for the missing parts of the process with spiritual energy. This often leads to attracting some malicious “little cuties.”
……
Lu Yibei sat obediently in front of Qing Ji, straightening her back and focusing intently, resembling a diligent elementary school student.
Halfway through, she seemed to sense something was amiss and interrupted, “Wait a minute, Ancestor, I have a question!”
Qing Ji nodded slightly, “Go ahead.”
“From what you said, soul summoning spells seem to gather the lingering souls of the deceased and reshape them into low-level urban legends,” Lu Yibei pondered. “When these low-level urban legends take form, it’s about enticing them here through a series of operations, right?”
“……” Qing Ji thought for a moment and nodded, “That can be understood.
“From the origin of ritual spells, the initial purpose of these spells was to call forth ancestors and deities through sacrificial words, then present offerings to pray for household peace, good weather, and national stability.
“From certain ancient texts related to sacrificial activities, the quality and quantity of the offerings often determine whether the ancestors and deities will descend and whether they will fulfill the wishes of the praiser after their descent.
“From a certain perspective, it’s actually about enticing a being to descend using offerings and then making an exchange with it.
Whether this exchange is equivalently fair depends on the temperament of the being being lured and the strength of the praiser’s methods.”
“Oh~!” After hearing Qing Ji’s explanation, Lu Yibei nodded thoughtfully, “I understand now!”
“Directional soul summoning spells are equivalent to sending a message to souls that the deceased had long been in contact with, telling them to hurry over because there’s something fun and delicious here. Once they come over joyfully, you just close the door and make them stand still, letting me take a look, right?”
“Dig a pit, put in bait, and let them jump in… isn’t that just fishing? I’m familiar with that!” Lu Yibei said confidently.
Hearing this, Qing Ji’s mouth twitched slightly, and she responded with a dark expression, “Mm.”
How could a proper spell, originating from something so solemn and sacred, turn into this in her mouth?
The key point is, she actually said it really™ right! Qing Ji thought.
With the Ancestor’s affirmation, Lu Yibei’s bright, watery eyes twinkled mischievously.
A bold idea was quietly brewing in her heart.
So, when I cast the directional soul summoning spell, should I make the “bait” as enticing as possible during the setting phase?
If that’s the case, it should significantly increase the success rate of the spell, right?
After all, it’s all deceit; I don’t actually have to give it to them! Lu Yibei thought slyly.
—————
On the ancient street, in front of Lipstick Tavern.
Huasang sat at the table, staring blankly at the hand in the bowl.
Her previous training under Qing Ji had only been at the theoretical knowledge level; she had never undergone d*ath-defying practical training like Lu Yibei had, let alone experienced the “Qing Ji Explosion” event.
The scene just now had left her greatly shocked, and she couldn’t help but start worrying about how she would explain to her sect if they discovered that the remnants of the senior’s soul in the ruler were missing.
Although she wasn’t afraid of sect punishment—she had long since maxed out her physical and magical defenses—her mental defense was nearly zero.
Just thinking about the process of enforcing sect rules was already exhausting her.
The senior who set up the enforcement process must have harbored the intention to torment the wronged disciples’ willpower, in addition to administering physical punishments. Huasang thought.
Just as Huasang was lost in thought, a rustling sound caught her attention.
Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw the hand in front of her beginning to move, and as it wriggled, the bl**d and flesh debris scattered around floated up, forming a cloud of bl**d mist that outlined a human shape. Then, starting from the remaining hand, it gradually gathered, solidified, and merged… ultimately restoring its original form.
Huasang stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of her, opening her mouth, just about to say something to Qing Ji, when she heard Qing Ji’s soft voice uttering strange words.
“Hurry up and come… stand still, let me take a look… fishing enforcement, I’m familiar with that!”
Huasang, “…” The senior will definitely be punished by the sect if she’s gone, but if she “breaks,” will there be punishment too?
At that moment, her feelings were somewhat complex.
————
After learning the complete method to cast the directional soul summoning spell two or three times from Qing Ji, and practicing a few times under Qing Ji’s guidance, Lu Yibei said goodbye to Qing Ji and returned her consciousness to reality.
Directional soul summoning spells require a significant amount of materials, and items that the deceased had long been in contact with.
Even though they can be practiced in the fantasy realm, various materials and items cannot be brought into reality, making it impossible to truly summon the soul.
Therefore, practical practice of directional soul summoning spells requires Lu Yibei to conduct it herself in reality.
It’s just like how one must still pass a driving test to actually drive on the road, regardless of how proficiently one can play a driving simulator.
……
Waking up on the bed in her apartment, Lu Yibei slowly opened her eyes, focused her mind, and pulled out her phone from under the pillow to check the time.
05:21 AM.
There were still about three hours until dawn.
There was time to visit Fat Second Grandpa before sunrise, to trade some disaster water for the alchemical byproducts needed for making alchemical dirty bombs and the materials required to cast the directional soul summoning spell.
Thinking about this, Lu Yibei glanced at Wang Ying on the bedside table and called out, “Coat, let’s go!”
Immediately, the wardrobe door opened, and a red and white windbreaker shot out, landing on Lu Yibei, with a “zip” as the zipper closed.
Today’s calamity was her starter skin.
After grabbing her keys and phone and carrying a large bucket of disaster water, Lu Yibei left the apartment and headed to the garage to ride her beloved electric scooter towards the Ghost Market.
She had considered taking a taxi, but Uncle Zhang Shan had been scared out of his wits last time.
Only a day had passed, and here she was again with a large bucket of disaster water; Uncle Zhang Shan would definitely not let her in.
Riding her little scooter, she drove out of Jingyi Apartment Complex.
Just as she passed the first camera at the entrance of the complex, the camera’s indicator light flickered, and Lu Yibei’s phone buzzed.
She parked the scooter at the roadside, pulled out her phone and took a look; it was a message from an online seller.
Online Seller 00: “Wang Buliu, I’ve got the Xiezhi crown you wanted, it’s from the early Western Han dynasty, and the year is guaranteed.”
After reading the message, Lu Yibei paused for a moment and quickly replied.
Wang Buliu: “So fast? How did you get it? Just to be clear, even if you expedite it over there, I won’t pay extra!”
Xiezhi crowns are pretty much only found in museums and tombs; the former is monitored by the Siye Society while the latter is often hiding a ton of urban legends, making it not easy to acquire one in a short time.
Online Seller 00: “It’s actually quite a coincidence; our boss heard your advice and set off to seek the God Realm, right?”
Lu Yibei, “……” When did I suggest that the Void go look for the God Realm? I suggested it go find a good mom, didn’t I? There’s a misunderstanding here, and if something goes wrong, I’m not taking the blame!
Online Seller 00: “After our boss did some digging, we found a possible ancient tomb that might contain the God Realm prototype. So, we sent a bunch of tomb raiders to go dig it, and our boss mixed in and followed them in.”
Wang Buliu: “And then, did it find the God Realm prototype?”
Online Seller 00: “Not exactly, but the owner of that tomb was an inspector from the Western Han dynasty. Our boss didn’t find the God Realm prototype, but he helped you find the Xiezhi crown. Should I send it to you now?”
Lu Yibei pondered for a few seconds, then typed out a message: “Can you send it to the Siye Society?”
Online Seller 00: “?”
Wang Buliu: “Uh, don’t misunderstand, it’s not the Huacheng Siye Society, it should be sent to the Jin Guan City Siye Society, in the hands of Inspector Xing Yuan.”
Based on what Lu Yibei understood about Jiang Li, she figured that this sort of irregular “gift,” even if personally delivered to her, she wouldn’t accept it.
After much thought, the most suitable approach was to hand it over to her through Xing Yuan in the name of the Siye Society.
After sending the message, Lu Yibei waited a while before receiving a reply.
Online Seller 00: “？？？”
Wang Buliu: “Don’t worry; I’m quite familiar with her, there won’t be any issues. Should I talk to her first, then reply to you?”
Online Seller 00: “Okay!”
This time, the response came particularly quickly.
Lu Yibei exited the chat app, rubbed her forehead, opened her contacts, searched for Xing Yuan’s number, and called her.
“Beep—beep—!”
After a few busy signals, a slightly lazy voice came from the other end, “Hello, this is Xing Yuan from the Jin Guan City Siye Society. Are you here to surrender?”
“……” Lu Yibei was silent for a few seconds and called out playfully, “Godmother~! Don’t mess around, it’s me!”
Xing Yuan already knew her identity; she couldn’t be bothered to hide it and went straight to the point.
“Pfft!” Xing Yuan seemed to be quite pleased with the title “Godmother,” chuckled lightly, and asked, “So, what do you need from me?”
“The thing is, I have a friend who’s an urban legend…”
And so, Lu Yibei spent two minutes explaining in detail how she obtained the Xiezhi crown through her urban legend friend and planned to send it to another “spiritual ability user friend” with Xing Yuan’s help.
“You’re getting more and more criminal lately! The Xiezhi crown from the Western Han dynasty? That’s a national first-class relic, isn’t it?” Xing Yuan teased, “Are you really taking such a big risk just to help a friend?”
“If it’s just a friend, I can’t help you. I don’t want to get you in trouble, right?”
“Not just a friend; it’s actually… that thing… you know what I mean, right?” Lu Yibei blushed slightly and stuttered a bit but couldn’t complete a single sentence.
Having been through it, Xing Yuan immediately picked up on the underlying meanings in Lu Yibei’s words and laughed, “Hehe, I understand; you have a crush on Jiang Officer, huh?”
Lu Yibei scratched the back of her head, “Well, I can’t say it like that.”
“Then I won’t help you.”
“I like him.” Lu Yibei replied flatly.
“Got it!” Xing Yuan responded with a laugh, “I’ll promise you this; tell your urban legend friend to bring the item to the head of Jiuyanjiao at Jin Guan City in three days at 10 PM.”
“As for where you got this Xiezhi crown from, I won’t ask; it definitely can’t be from a proper source.”
If it could be obtained through proper channels, the Siye Society would have gotten it long ago and sent Jiang Li to upgrade her spiritual patterns at headquarters.
“There’s one more question…” Lu Yibei probed, “You won’t use this opportunity to catch my friend, right?”
“You don’t trust me and still ask for my help?” Xing Yuan countered, just when Lu Yibei was unsure how to respond, she heard the voice from the other end say, “Don’t worry; I won’t do anything to your friend.”
“But you—be a bit more discreet. If after a year you haven’t fulfilled our original agreement, even if Xiao Bai stops me, I’ll force you to sign a contract, understand?”
“I understand, I understand!” Lu Yibei hurriedly said, “I’m being good! Following the law to be a good urban legend.”
“Tsk, sharp-tongued!” Xing Yuan spat, “Alright, let’s leave it at that. We’ll talk later.”
“Mm, bye-bye.”
After hanging up the phone, Lu Yibei felt as though she had resolved a major concern, let out a long sigh, and then sent a message to the online seller.
Wang Buliu: “Three days later, 10 PM, Jiuyanjiao, no problem, right?”
Online Seller 00: “[Tall-leg Lady OK]”
————
In the early morning, with a cool breeze.
On the empty street, thin mist floated as twisted figures engaged in a last hurrah before dawn in the shadowy corners.
On this eerily atmospheric street, a cute-looking girl wearing a cat-ear spy hat rode her little electric scooter, humming a tune as she traveled through alleys.
“The cool breeze is gently blowing, quietly slipping into my collar, summer steals away the silent sound~♪”
As she passed, the urban legends played even more joyfully.
Completely unaware that her image as the King of Urban Legends was quietly being tagged as an urban legend songstress by the very urban legends she ruled over, Lu Yibei rode her little scooter, feeling the cool breeze as she headed towards the Ghost Market, lost in scattered thoughts.
Speaking of which, it had been a long time since she last looked for Fat Second Grandpa.
She didn’t even know how Gu Qiqi’s black workshop was developing recently. If it hasn’t closed down, it should have supplied Fat Second Grandpa with quite a bit of alchemical byproducts, Lu Yibei thought.
Although Fat Second Grandpa had always kept the sources of the large alchemical byproducts in his hands a secret due to a merchant’s integrity.
Lu Yibei had already traced it through the vein’s energy and urban legends’ networks and found out that the seller of alchemical byproducts to Fat Second Grandpa was Gu Qiqi, who sold at least one or two tons every month.
Initially, Lu Yibei thought about cooperating with Gu Qiqi, but considering that going directly to the seller to obtain goods without going through a middleman was somewhat unethical, and after going under the bridge a few times and not finding Gu Qiqi, she had to give up.
“Earlier, when I caught Gu Qiqi in the God Realm prototype, I should have discussed cooperation with her decorously,” Lu Yibei mused.
Unfortunately, at that time, her memory hadn’t fully returned, and she was frightened by Gu Qiqi’s appearance, completely forgetting about this matter.
Speaking of which, she didn’t even know how Gu Xiniang was handling things lately; she needed to ask about that later. Lu Yibei thought.
The disappearance of the powers constructing the God Realm prototype had caused a total of over five thousand “residents” to vanish into thin air.
Although the God Realm prototype has self-repair capabilities under sufficient spiritual energy supply, erasing the impact of resident disappearances.
However, the number of residents disappearing was simply too many, and inevitably some remnants would notice, causing unrest.
During such times, a warrior needs to step up and take the blame.
What was that saying…? Hmm, that world needs a “villain.”
And the newly elected president of the Seek Truth Mutual Aid Society, Gu Xiniang, is precisely this “villain”!
To clarify, Lu Yibei did not force Gu Xiniang; he had taken the initiative to step forward and carry the burden.
In return, Lu Yibei needed to periodically inform him about Gu Qiqi and Gu Xiliu’s situations and, if convenient, look out for them when they needed her.
However, Gu Xiliu was quite manageable; she had the Siye Society as a backup and foster parents, so Lu Yibei only needed to check in on her from time to time.
As for Gu Qiqi…
“I want to look out for her too! After all, she’s Dad’s cheap daughter-in-law. Although nothing will happen between us, it’s still proper to look out for her. But…”
But I™ have to be able to find her first!
As the King of Urban Legends in Huacheng, Lu Yibei could easily be aware of almost all the urban legends and the movements of most spiritual ability users outside the various officers of the Siye Society.
However, Gu Qiqi was a typical exception as she possessed the bamboo slips connecting to the Great Serpent God’s God Realm.
Even if Lu Yibei occasionally discovered her whereabouts, before she could find her, Gu Qiqi would vanish without a trace, leaving not even a faint hint.
“Fortunately, we have that special relationship; even if we’re not married, being friends is still possible.” Lu Yibei said to herself, “Otherwise…”
On the territory she ruled, having an enemy who couldn’t be tracked down and seemed to appear and disappear at will, if she doesn’t d*e, I can’t sleep!
Lu Yibei grumbled, and upon looking up, saw a familiar storefront.
Fat Second Grandpa’s shop had arrived.
