Chapter Fifty-Nine: “Items” That Hunt Humans
Not knowing how long he had been asleep, Fang Ji finally woke up, his head heavy from being stuck in a pumpkin, and his whole body ached vaguely.
It felt as if he had been thrown into a blender and spun around.
His clothes were soaked in some liquid, sticking to his body, bringing a sticky sensation.
Opening his eyes, he saw a cement wall stained black by oil and a small piece of sky captured within it.
The sky was dense with dark clouds, the city lights scattering in the air, casting a faint scarlet hue on the low-pressure lead-colored clouds.
A scent of bl**d and the strange odor of decaying food lingered in the air, while nocturnal creatures hurriedly passed by in the darkness, making stealthy sounds.
In a daze, Fang Ji thought he was still in Qiuchun Town, that everything he had experienced was merely a dream at the brink of d*ath.
However, the reflection in the puddle on the ground, like a mirror, displayed a neon sign reading “Shizhou Jianghu Cuisine,” reminding him that he had long left that chaotic little town and was now in some dark corner of Shizhou City.
He propped one hand against the wall, trying to stand up, but just twisting his body caused a sharp pain in his waist, almost making him faint again.
Instinctively, he reached to touch the painful area, and his heart tightened.
He felt a bulge on his waist.
In an instant, like recalling information about the Zhipianxian, a term flashed through his mind—vertebral slippage.
Commonly known as dislocated vertebra!
Injured? Why did this happen?
Fang Ji slumped to the ground, the pain from the dislocated vertebra sharpening his thoughts, and he gradually began to remember what he had just experienced.
Miss Wang, the streetlight arm falling, the car accident, crashing into the sign, then… a lot of vegetables?
Images flashed through Fang Ji’s mind, and he found it surprising that he didn’t feel even slightly shocked about his predicament.
It seemed like, subconsciously, he believed that one person being so unfortunate to that extent was just as common as his previous bouts of luck.
He soon recalled the scene he had seen before losing consciousness.
Right, that big brother from earlier!
Perhaps he could ask him for help?
Fang Ji thought, making an effort to turn his heavy head toward the side.
He saw a damaged folding fan, the deformed white paper soaked and rotting in dirty water, transformed into a pale, viscous substance with some bizarre vitality.
At that moment of looking at the broken folding fan, Fang Ji suddenly had a strange thought.
The folding fan was looking at him, greedily and maliciously, coveting his flesh and bl**d.
If that folding fan were some kind of living being, he had no doubt that it would leap at him in the next moment and bite through his throat.
He was puzzled as to why he was having such a strange thought.
It was just a folding fan; in some sense, it was just like common items in life—bowls, chopsticks, paper, phones, etc.—all “items,” and it was even a damaged item.
The fan surface was torn, the ribs broken.
It’s just an object for people to use, not a bloodthirsty beast. How could it hunt humans? Fang Ji thought.
Just like no one would think that their pillow would bite off their head in the middle of the night, he also found it hard to imagine that “items” could “k*ll” people.
In the next moment, as if the sound of an animal gnawing on bones suddenly echoed without warning, it seemed to refute Fang Ji’s foolish idea and reminded him that items could sometimes hunt humans.
Like now…
“Crack, crack, crack!”
That scalp-tingling sound echoed in the dark alley, repetitively monotonous.
Following the sound, Fang Ji’s gaze gradually rose, and he finally noticed the man holding the folding fan.
Upon seeing the man, Fang Ji was astonished to find that his attention was, at first, on the folding fan, completely neglecting the bl**d-soaked man whose life was unknown.
It was as if the folding fan was the main subject, and the man was merely a decoration on it.
The man slumped against the wall on the ground, part of his body obscured by a trash can, obscuring his face. His arms hung limply, but the hand gripping the folding fan was tightly clenched.
The strange sound Fang Ji heard was emanating from inside the arm that held the fan.
That’s right, from inside the arm!
Through his spiritual perception, he could clearly feel that there was something residing within the man’s arm at that moment.
That thing wasn’t moving, yet Fang Ji could feel it gnawing, growing, and producing a silent scream.
Stillness and movement fused together in this extremely bizarre way, giving him an inexplicable creep.
Time dragged on for a long ten seconds.
With a muffled sound of flesh tearing, as if an invisible hand plunged into Fang Ji’s body, forcefully pushing a life-threatening switch, the tension exploded.
Something suddenly opened inside the man’s arm, leaving only a thin layer of skin on the arm, making it look like a folding fan made from human skin.
The loose spirit energy in the air trembled slightly, perhaps from excitement, or maybe from fear.
“!!!”
Fang Ji widened his eyes, staring at the man, not even daring to breathe, his throat slowly moving.
For the first time, he felt that he was a bit unfortunate and also felt a trace of fear.
It was the fear that a living creature feels towards cold substances.
Just like many people feel uneasy upon seeing sharp knives.
However, the pain and desperate cries he anticipated did not appear.
The man remained motionless, slumped there, only a muffled groan escaping his lips, and Fang Ji even felt that he was merely a corpse.
After a brief silence, the creepy light sounds returned.
This time, however, the source of the sound shifted from the man’s arm to his chest.
“Crack, crack, crack!”
Every sound sounded like the ticking of a bomb that could explode at any moment, striking at Fang Ji’s heart.
In this heightened state of tension, he “remembered” a lot of information.
The man was undergoing a transformation into an urban legend for reasons unknown…
Newly born urban legends are typically confused and will soon feel hungry…
If he didn’t think of a way to save himself quickly, he might become the first meal for the man after his transformation!
While contemplating, Fang Ji endured the pain and fumbled around his body with his hands.
The moment his fingertips touched the cold surface of his phone, he shivered slightly.
Witnessing “items” hunting humans had unknowingly cast a shadow over his mind. After hesitating for a moment, he pulled out his phone.
Successfully unlocking the screen, a smile appeared on his face.
After experiencing a series of tragic events, the phone was miraculously intact?
What a stroke of luck!
Fang Ji thought, hurriedly unlocking the screen, and opened a certain chat app, quickly sending a distress message to “Calamity.”
————
Moon Scraping Wind.
After Lin Nian left, Luxianbei continued to stay here for nearly an hour.
During this time, she interacted with about five information brokers. Although she couldn’t gather any other clues about Hu Chuan, she did learn another important piece of information—similar to the kind of information she wanted to ask, the price within Moon Scraping Wind usually fluctuated between 10 to 15 grams of gold.
In other words, the discounted price Lin Nian mentioned was actually significantly higher than the average price.
After learning this crucial piece of information, Luxianbei briefly considered asking the Urban Legends Chat Group for help, locating Lin Nian, and letting that girl know what “online violence” was.
With her charm ability combined with Meng Meng’s dream-invading capability, it would be entirely possible to let her experience the plot of “The Attack of Gu Qiqi” firsthand.
However, upon second thought, since only Lin Nian had provided her with useful information, she felt relieved.
It’s reasonable for exclusive information to sell for a slightly higher price.
Exiting the Urban Legends Chat Group and closing the chat app, Luxianbei looked around and silently sighed.
There probably wouldn’t be anyone coming to trade in the short term, and staying here was just a waste of time.
It would be better to find a safer, more secluded place to meet the Ancestor and discuss today’s discoveries about Dachunyang Palace and its changes.
Oh right, she also needed to ask him what on earth he did to the mountain guardian beast, making such a large divine beast act like a dog.
As Luxianbei thought this, she put away her phone and was about to leave when her phone suddenly buzzed twice. Unlocking the screen, she saw a message from “A Little Hamster.”
A Little Hamster: “Hello, Guidance Officer! I need your help right now!”
Luxianbei pondered for a moment and typed a reply: “Hello, how can I assist you? Please describe in detail.”
If it was a small favor to help her, it would build trust, but if it was too troublesome or dangerous…
She would just find a way to brush it off!
In this day and age, which customer service doesn’t brush people off? Only fraudsters wouldn’t! Luxianbei thought secretively.
A Little Hamster: “Uh, here’s the thing, I just had a car accident, got injured, can’t move, and there’s not a very normal person around me. I might d*e at his hands.”
Luxianbei: “???”
What the ™ is this?
Simply put, she had just taken on a task and was now being hunted?
Is it that dangerous?
Thank goodness I was smart and didn’t take that ridiculous bounty task; otherwise, it would have been me being chased!
Luxianbei thought, holding her phone, lost in thought for a moment.
Hmm…
How should I respond to keep that person motivated while not actually helping?
Hey, got it!
Luxianbei suddenly thought of something, her eyes brightening slightly as she buried her head in editing a message.
————
Calamity: “Dear user, hello! Given that the help you need does not fall under the necessary process for bounty tasks and is overly difficult, I am unable to provide assistance for now.”
Fang Ji anxiously waited for a moment, seeing the task guide officer Miss Calamity finally had a response, and hurriedly typed a message asking, “Hey!? What should I do then? I’m really in danger right now!”
“Buzz—!”
The phone vibrated, producing a light sound. Fang Ji looked at it and paled.
Calamity: “Dear user, although I am unable to provide assistance at this moment, please don’t worry. You only need to forward the content I send to you next and collect ten likes from friends to obtain a lottery chance, which has a high probability of winning a support voucher. Would you like to participate?”
Fang Ji secretly glanced at the man, swallowed hard, and replied without hesitation: “Participate, participate!”
Lottery draw? I’m lucky with those, it’s going to be fine!
Calamity: “Alright, the content you need to forward is: [From the great fruits born of the Fushang Sacred Tree, the king of a thousand magpies, a challenger to misfortune with money, the ruler of the eight-hundred-mile Peach Spring, the master of destiny and offspring, and a noble existence that benefits the people with wooden virtue, your subject Jin Yecheng prays for your protection.]”
After reading the reply, Fang Ji immediately copied the text, forwarded a dynamic message, and nervously asked the “strangers” in his friend list one by one, inviting them to like.
Five minutes later.
After receiving friendly greetings from over ten people, several inquiries about whether his account was hacked, and receiving over thirty deletion notifications, he finally struggled to gather ten likes.
A Little Hamster: “[Image] Guidance Officer, I’ve gathered ten likes here!”
Calamity: “Alright, I will go ahead and start the lottery for you!”
Calamity: “Ding dong! Congratulations! You have received 99.8 support points. Just need to collect another 0.2 support points, and I can provide you with assistance! Would you like to continue participating?”
A Little Hamster: “Of course!”
My luck with lottery draws is really good; I definitely hit it the first time!
I just need to try once more, and I should be successful, Fang Ji thought excitedly.
Five minutes later.
Calamity: “Dear user, congratulations! You now have 99.99 support points and 9 energy cores! Just need to collect ten more likes to exchange for an energy core and receive support!”
Fang Ji, “…”
At this moment, he still didn’t suspect that his luck with the lottery was an issue, but he did question his social connections!
He looked at the three gray profile pictures left in his friend list and then at the man beside him, who was making strange sounds from within, his expression gradually despairing.
He felt that there was no one left to help him like.
For a long time, he silently picked up his phone, took a selfie, and sent a message.
A Little Hamster: “Guidance Officer, I might not be able to wait for your support because I have no friends to help me like. If I d*e, could you please assist with my body collection?”
A Little Hamster: “I am here [location shared], and I look like this [image].”
————
Meanwhile, inside the Clear Bar at Moon Scraping Wind.
Luxianbei looked at the screen of her phone displaying a face with a pumpkin hood and a lifeless gaze, and she felt a strange familiarity.
“Hey, doesn’t this person seem like someone I’ve seen before…”
Upon slightly recalling, Luxianbei suddenly came to her senses, “Wait! Isn’t this Fang Girl? How could she…”
So Fang Girl is “A Little Hamster”?
She took on a task that I was supposed to take and ended up in danger?
This… the location shared is in the Midnight Street? How did she get here?
Looking at the phone screen, Luxianbei hesitated for a moment, a fierce glint flashing in her eyes as she opened the location shared by Fang Ji.
d*mn it, looks like I can only make a trip!
If it’s just to go over, find Fang Girl, and take her away, it shouldn’t be too dangerous, right?
