Chapter 52: The Adventure of Zhipianxian in Chi Li Hall
A little hamster: “Guide lady, may I ask what I should do next?”
What should I do next? Lu Yibei looked at the information on the mobile phone screen, pondered for two seconds, lightly touched the screen, and typed a message.
Calamity: “Over here, please don’t be anxious, wait patiently in Dachunyang Palace for the right moment. When the time comes, I will notify you.”
That ridiculous association, Lu Yibei had never even heard of it. How could she know how to join?
However, since the mission description mentioned it as an organization hidden within Dachunyang Palace, wanting to join it shouldn’t deviate too much from staying in Dachunyang Palace.
As for how to join…
How about waiting until I explore Dachunyang Palace with Zhipianxian tonight first? Maybe I can discover something.
While Lu Yibei was thinking, her phone vibrated again.
A little hamster: “Eh? I need to stay in Dachunyang Palace? But I’ve already left.”
Lu Yibei looked at her phone and frowned slightly.
Already left?
Does that mean this guy had been in Dachunyang Palace before?
Was he a disciple of Dachunyang Palace or a member of an advanced class?
Calamity: “Hello, considering that the opportunity to join the association may arise at any time, we recommend you return to Dachunyang Palace as soon as possible and wait. During your waiting period, you can inquire about information from the disciples of Dachunyang Palace. You might get unexpected rewards!”
What if she just randomly stopped a passing disciple to ask and happened to meet a member of that association, who enthusiastically invited her to join?
Although this possibility is quite low… Lu Yibei thought.
A little hamster: “Understood! I will go back first thing tomorrow morning!”
Calamity: “Thank you for your cooperation.”
“…”
Could it be too obedient?
Daring to accept such ambiguously described missions must mean they have considerable strength. There’s a possibility they might be pretending to be weak for a big hunt!
To be safe, information received afterwards will probably need to be verified, otherwise, she might be deceived by false information and find herself sold to Pattaya, working alongside ladyboys.
Lu Yibei nodded, put away her phone, and temporarily set aside the task of guiding a little hamster.
After dark, the replica Zhipianxian that went to school for her in Huacheng had already returned home to lie flat, needing no more attention.
Now, she had enough energy to control the two Zhipianxians left in Dachunyang Palace, and it was time to start exploring.
If it hadn’t been for having to divide her attention to control the replica Zhipianxian, the small Zhipianxian wouldn’t have been so easily caught by Fang Ji.
Lu Yibei glanced at Fang Ji in the front row, shook her head, then closed her eyes, concentrated her spirit, and began to control the Zhipianxian.
——
By six o’clock, the sky around the Zhenwu Mountain scenic area had completely darkened.
Although Dachunyang Palace had no curfew concept, and there would be no fierce-looking dormitory manager warning the disciples to return by ten-thirty, by this time, the sight of disciples among the pavilions and halls had noticeably diminished.
In the shadowy night, within Dachunyang Palace, beside a somewhat secluded mountain path, a rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes.
Immediately after, two adorable pale paper figures jumped out from the shrubs with a “whoosh, whoosh!” sound.
Accompanied by a faint spirit energy fluctuation flowing through their bodies, their pale faces were outlined with eyes and brows, and upon closer inspection, they bore some resemblance to Lu Yibei, after becoming a ghost story character.
They hid behind a stone platform, peering around furtively. Seeing no one else, they both dashed towards Qing Hui Hall and Chi Li Hall respectively under cover of night.
——
A moment later, Chi Li Hall.
This grand hall, with red walls and yellow tiles, roughly presents a circular shape from the outside, resembling a tulou that a foreign intelligence organization mistakenly identified as a nuclear missile silo.
Every dozen meters along the outer wall, there was a window, and at this moment, behind some of the lit windows, flickering firelight could be faintly seen.
The vermilion corridor stretched like a fire dragon, winding along the exterior wall of the grand hall, spiraling upward, reaching the towering structure that suddenly protruded from the top of the hall.
That tower, covering about a third of the circular building, stood tall at one corner of Chi Li Hall.
……
A distant conversation could be heard, and soon two disciples, chatting and laughing, came walking through the corridor.
“Have you heard? Today, Senior Sister Fu actually made a divine beast recognize her as its master!”
“What’s that? I heard today that Senior Sister, while in Tangcheng, faced three A-Class Spiritual Ability Users and fought one against three, retreating unscathed. Terrifying!”
“Tsk, the gap between people really is greater than between humans and dogs… But speaking of it, since Senior Sister has that kind of talent, why does she rarely study new techniques? With her talent plus advanced techniques, she should be able to progress faster, right?”
“Who says not? At this rate, that guy from Guhhe will almost catch up to Senior Sister Fu. I’ve been hearing him say lately that only those who keep up with the times should be called geniuses. Clearly bragging!”
Lu Yibei, “……” Right! If there are advanced techniques, why not use them? Is Fu Xinyi an idiot? Or is she just a stubborn classical type?
After a while, the voices of the two disciples gradually faded away, and the corridor outside Chi Li Hall fell silent again.
Once the forms of the two disciples completely disappeared from the corridor, a little cutie cautiously lifted the glazed tile covering her, peeking down, before flapping her wings and taking off into the air.
From a distance, she looked like an oversized, chubby moth.
Lu Yibei had not intended for Zhipianxian to look like this; the main reason was that in order to fit enough “medicine” into such a tiny Zhipianxian, she had to shorten their limbs and increase their torso size.
Of course, some people had been tricked by this two-headed look of “Calamity,” and blown to pieces; one could only say they were too young.
In this world filled with ghost stories, the cuter things often turn out to be the most dangerous. If one doesn’t understand this principle, they will meet their doom sooner or later.
After briefly darting through the night, the Zhipianxian landed on the windowsill of the second floor of Chi Li Hall.
It perched on the ledge, observed the room’s activity, confirmed that no one was inside, and then leaped over, landing steadily on the ground.
The room behind the window appeared to be a drafting practice room, where drawing tables were lined up with some simple drawing tools and spirit energy item production blueprints that the disciples had drawn during practice.
Quite a coincidence? Did she just find spirit energy item blueprints right after sneaking in?
Lu Yibei eagerly rummaged through the practice room, but the results left her greatly disappointed.
None of the blueprints left in the practice room were usable; most were unfinished, and the few that were completed were drawn in a messy state. Following those blueprints to produce items would likely lead to big problems.
Nothing at all!
That two-headed little figure stomped in anger.
In her fury, she randomly picked two “lucky” ones, wiped clean their completed blueprints, and kindly left a cringe-worthy love letter forgotten by one disciple on the podium for their lovely and respectable teacher.
If you can’t even draw such simple blueprints, how do you expect to be in a relationship?
You should focus on your studies! Or else you might harm others when you start working in the Siye Society!
Just a small act, no need to thank me; if you must ask my name, just call me Little Angel!
Lu Yibei thought, controlling the Zhipianxian, flapping her small white wings, flying toward the practice room door.
With a light creak, the door of the drawing practice room opened slightly, and the Zhipianxian squeezed out from the gap, leaning against the door, watching cautiously.
On either side of the ancient-style corridor, heavy metal doors were tightly shut, and faint sounds of metal clinking and machinery operating could be heard.
Having distinguished the surrounding environment and determined her position, Lu Yibei began controlling the Zhipianxian, following the memory of various formations and warehouse locations, walking deeper into Chi Li Hall.
Chi Li Hall was originally the forging workshop and storage warehouse for spirit energy items in Dachunyang Palace. Perhaps because the space was originally ample, the architectural layout had not changed significantly; it had just been renovated, blending a bit of modern essence into the ancient buildings.
The map Qi Jing provided finally saw its first utility.
Who said the map given by the ancestor was less useful than a sesame cake?
I, Lu Yibei, am the first to disagree. Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure, don’t you understand?
That old man’s frequency of visiting Chi Li Hall was incredibly high. Over time, every time he came, it felt just like coming home.
And besides, Ling Tai Purification is merely pure spirit energy items, not like coats which exist between spirit energy items and ghost stories.
Otherwise, every time Qi Jing comes to Chi Li Hall, who knows if he would “borrow” a few top-quality weapons to upgrade Ling Tai Purification by ten or eight levels.
Guided by the map drawn by Qi Jing, Lu Yibei quickly explored the second floor of Chi Li Hall.
After the exploration, a trace of confusion slowly rose in her heart.
The second floor of Chi Li Hall was almost entirely composed of practice rooms for drawing, carpentry, and smelting. These crafts were essential processes for creating spirit energy items.
However, from Lu Yibei’s exploration results, in those practice rooms, whether it was the production blueprints for spirit energy items, wood carvings, or semi-finished weapon blanks, the completion level was laughably low.
Occasionally, one or two decent pieces could only barely be considered passable.
Something was off! This didn’t match what the ancestor said!
Was the ancestor’s artistic style at the point of mental steel stamping when he was a guest elder in Dachunyang Palace, causing significant damage? Lu Yibei wondered.
According to Qi Jing, the disciples solely focused on manipulating objects in Dachunyang Palace were all skilled in making spirit energy items and their techniques shouldn’t be lacking to this extent.
Lu Yibei continued exploring with a puzzled mind and soon found the answer on the third floor of Chi Li Hall.
The layout of the third floor was roughly the same as the second, consisting of practice rooms; however, Lu Yibei saw CAD-drafted blueprints, 3DMAX models, 3D printers, and high-precision fully automatic lathes in these practice rooms.
Lu Yibei, “…”
In this case, it’s understandable that the disciples of Dachunyang Palace have neglected the craft of purely manually creating spirit energy items?
But does that mean I have to memorize the CAD blueprints and 3D model data?
Though it’s not impossible to memorize, upon returning, wouldn’t I then need to learn two software programs just to restore the blueprints to hand over to the ghost stories in Huacheng for production?
After pondering for a moment and unable to come up with a better solution, Lu Yibei could only reluctantly remember two or three methods for producing spirit energy items. She kindly assisted some careless disciples by shutting down the computers.
These young people these days! They have no idea how to conserve energy.
Global warming is all your fault!
Lu Yibei thought fiercely, skillfully clicked “Don’t Save,” then left the practice room, continuing to explore deeper into Chi Li Hall following the map provided by Qi Jing.
Searching for Ling Tai Purification in Chi Li Hall was the most crucial task; there was no need to linger too long in the disciples’ practice and production rooms.
According to Qi Jing’s speculation, if the remnants of Ling Tai Purification were stored in Chi Li Hall, they should be kept in the tallest tower at the very top.
Yet the true test began only after entering that tower; as a warehouse storing spirit energy items and various materials for Dachunyang Palace, the defenses there were far more stringent than Zhen Ting Hall and the areas where the practice rooms were located.
In short, entering the tower would instantly turn the open-world exploration game into a horror game where dangers lurked around every corner.
To avoid the occasional disciples appearing in the corridors and to increase exploration efficiency, Lu Yibei controlled the Zhipianxian to leave the interior of Chi Li Hall, returning to the outer wall, and utilizing the levitation capability provided by the Zhipianxian’s small wings, controlled it to glide close along the outer wall.
Thus, on the crimson outer wall, a white dot sped by, tracing a winding trajectory along the wall, skillfully dodging the triggering type solidification spell embedded on the wall.
No one would have thought that the old thief who once entered Chi Li Hall as if it were no one’s land would, over a hundred years later, have instigated a little thief to return here.
Like a game of “having one’s way” in idiom linking, madly indulging!
In just a few seconds, the Zhipianxian had zipped over a hundred meters, arriving outside a production room on the fourth floor of Chi Li Hall. It just needed to pass through the production room and walk through a long corridor to enter the tower.
Easy and pleasant, five-star praise!
With a great leap from the chubby body of the Zhipianxian, its short, stubby arms grasped the protruding windowsill outside a window, and then it flipped over and jumped into the empty production room.
However, before the Zhipianxian could pass through the production room and enter the corridor, a faint sound of footsteps came through the iron door, followed by a soft sound of the door lock turning.
With no time for further thought, Lu Yibei quickly controlled the Zhipianxian to hide inside a nearby toolbox.
Soon after, through the slightly open gap in the toolbox, she vaguely saw two figures walking in…
——
Once inside the room, the two did not turn on the light, allowing darkness to engulf their figures. After locking the door behind them, they immediately began to argue in low voices.
“d*mn it, tell me why you let Wu Yutang slip away? If he returns to Dachunyang Palace and tells those stubborn old fools what he knows, we’re finished, do you understand?!” A man with a somewhat grim voice shouted.
“So you’re blaming me now? You better understand one thing: if it weren’t for your over-eagerness that allowed Wu Yutang to meet that adult, he wouldn’t have discovered anything wrong!” A woman retorted coldly.
“Fine, I won’t argue with you about this. What do we do now?” The man spoke in a low voice, accompanied by strange light sounds.
From the outline of his silhouette and the gesture of raising a hand to his mouth, it could be inferred that he was likely biting his nails due to excessive tension, making a series of subtle sounds with each nibble.
“Now… we can only silence him.”
Lu Yibei, “???”
Holy cow! It seems I’ve stumbled upon something significant!
What are you two up to? My Zhipianxian is still small; why do you want it to bear such terrifying things?
If it gets scared, it could explode on the spot!
Lu Yibei inwardly criticized while also picking up on the details in the conversation between the man and woman.
Wu Yutang, that adult, and the detail about the man biting his nails during the dialogue.
If it becomes necessary to pinpoint him among the many disciples in Dachunyang Palace, this detail could serve as a criterion for judgment.
However, just as she prepared to eavesdrop further, she suddenly noticed that the two had stopped communicating, vanishing without a trace, and the entire room fell into a chilling silence.
Not a sound in the room, and an unsettling atmosphere lingered in the air.
In the darkness, a pair of cold eyes fixated on the toolbox on the production table in the corner. Contemplating for a few seconds, she turned and made a quieting gesture to her companion before silently approaching. One hand gently rested on the toolbox lid, while the other drew a short sword from her waist.
After waiting for a moment, a sharp glint flashed in her eyes as one hand opened the toolbox lid while the other hand’s short sword swiftly plunged into the toolbox.
“Stab!” With a sound, the exquisite indigo short sword accurately pierced through the head of the Zhipianxian.
“This is… Zhipianxian?”
How could anyone make a Zhipianxian like this?
Such a small Zhipianxian might only be useful for eavesdropping, right?
Seeing the Zhipianxian pierced through the toolbox, the woman froze for a moment, and before she could regain her wits, the two-headed little creature suddenly sprang to life. Ignoring its head being split in half by the short sword, it quickly leaped up, flapping its small wings and swiftly escaping toward the window.
However, the Zhipianxian’s flight speed, which was hardly faster than that of ordinary birds, was utterly insufficient in the face of a Spiritual Ability User.
As soon as it took off, a pale hand shot out from behind, fast as lightning, and in an instant, it had the little creature firmly in its grip.
“You think you can escape?” the woman said fiercely.
The next moment, she saw the Zhipianxian whose head had been split in two turn around. On its damaged, crudely sketched face, it revealed an unsettling grin.
“Hee hee!”
Accompanied by a disconcerting giggle, a bright red light burst forth from her fingers.
“Boom—!”
A huge explosion resounded, deafeningly.
——
At the same time.
On the bus from Zhenwu Mountain scenic area to Shizhou City.
Hua Sang, who had been dozing by the window, suddenly woke up, her small mouth making faint, rapid breaths.
She had only intended to rest her eyes, but had unknowingly dozed off.
While asleep, she dreamed that she was in some cramped and dark space, vaguely hearing two people arguing.
Due to the dream’s haziness, she couldn’t catch the specifics of their dispute, but she managed to remember a few keywords.
Wu Yutang, that adult, and silencing…
Before she could hear more details, a surge of bright light erupted, and she woke up in a start.
Hua Sang, “…”
According to the old man’s words, her senior brother went to Shizhou City early in the morning, yet she saw him at the mountain gate in the afternoon…
Now, she inexplicably dreams of him being involved in some m*rder and silencing affair…
This is too strange!
After a brief silence, Hua Sang secretly decided to contact her senior brother—Wu Yutang.
