**Chapter Seventy-Seven: Thank You for Watching**
After sending a message to Luxianbei, Huasang waited for a long time without receiving a reply, and gradually began to feel unsettled.
“……”
After pondering for a moment, she tucked the ruler into her collar, stood up, and walked out of the room. At the door, her footsteps paused slightly as she cast a deep glance back at the empty room, then turned off the light and closed the door.
After greeting the disciple on duty, Huasang left the Chenyi Inn, hailed a taxi, and within just a few minutes, as the scenery outside the window changed from dark to light, she arrived at the Everbright Street.
Stopping at the street corner, looking at the bright and bustling street ahead, Huasang furrowed her brows, raised her hand to rub her slightly throbbing forehead, and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
Although the idea of searching for Luxianbei in a thorough manner on Everbright Street already made her feel weary, human lives were at stake and she could not afford to neglect the true culprit behind the d*ath of her Big Brother; she could only overcome her feelings of difficulty.
However……
Not long after she entered Everbright Street, she sensed something… off; it was more than just something being wrong!
Scattered snacks, crushed fruits, injured pedestrians, collapsed streetlights… everywhere she looked, the entire Everbright Street was in chaos as if a storm had passed through.
Filled with confusion, Huasang asked several of the street food stall owners along the way and soon understood.
It seemed that it was all accidents, but five out of seven people mentioned a girl with shoulder-length hair. Based on the descriptions from three of them, it could be preliminarily confirmed that the girl was Fang Ji…
Previously, Luxianbei was seen with Fang Ji in that alley, so would they be together now?
Thinking of this, Huasang quickened her pace, following the trajectories where those accidents occurred, heading deeper into Everbright Street.
She personally believed that checking the situation first was always better than running around like a headless fly.
————
On the other side, in Song Wei’s dream.
After a brief surprise, Luxianbei locked eyes with Hu Chuan in a subtle way for a moment, her emotions gradually calming down.
Although this was Song Wei’s dream, it was also a dream I constructed; how dare you invade?!
You do know what “torture” means, right?
While Meng Meng usually used this dream-weaving ability to create beautiful dreams for people, Luxianbei, borrowing this ability, was known for her talent in creating nightmares.
Yes, nightmares that could even scare the ruthless Solang Pema to the point of losing control of his spirit patterns.
“Heh, you want to have a proper chat? Then let’s have a proper chat!” Luxianbei coldly nodded, her eyes reflecting a fierce light at the thought of the Decapitated Senior’s tragic d*ath.
The situation wasn’t right; I’ll immediately break the dream!
Do you really think you can come here through the dream to fight me?
As she spoke, she gently snapped her fingers, and the scenery around her suddenly transformed, as if the reflection in water was disturbed by the wind, spreading ripples and quickly dispersing. Then the wind subsided, the ripples gradually calmed, but the “reflection” had already changed.
The production room of Chi Li Hall vanished, replaced by a square room with leather soft padding on the walls to prevent impact.
A desk was placed inside, with a banner on the wall behind it reading “Confess for Leniency, Resist for Harshness.” Opposite the desk stood a metal interrogation chair that looked quite sturdy.
This was the arrangement of the Huacheng Siye Society’s interrogation room.
“Click—!” The sound of the interrogation chair locking was crisp.
In the darkness, Hu Chuan suddenly appeared on the interrogation chair, his hands securely shackled. He paused momentarily, then a playful smile sprang to his face.
With a “Bang!” the lights turned on, the blinding beams hitting Hu Chuan’s face, forcing him to instinctively lift his hands to shield his eyes, but his handcuffs restricted his movement, causing a painful scraping sound.
At that moment, Luxianbei finally saw Hu Chuan’s face, her brows slightly furrowing.
The man before her was tall with a handsome appearance, a fair complexion, and thin lips radiating sincere joy. His gaze was particularly deep, and even the harsh light of the interrogation room couldn’t illuminate it, as if hiding many secrets.
Luxianbei had seen this face on Wu Yutang.
“……”
d*mn, the dream is disturbed!
Trying to figure out this guy’s appearance like this clearly didn’t work!
But that’s fine; as long as I can confirm he is Gu He or Hu Chuan, I’ll report him to Zhang Hainan when I contact him!
Thinking of this, Luxianbei coldly said, “Name?”
A familiar voice echoed in her ears, and Hu Chuan looked up, staring ahead. As his eyes gradually adjusted to the bright light and clearly saw the person sitting behind the desk, his face showed a hint of recognition.
“Heh, it’s you. I didn’t expect I would see you in my lifetime!”
Luxianbei remained silent for two seconds, ignoring Hu Chuan’s words, and repeated, “Name?”
“Jiang Yuzhen…” Hu Chuan smiled, “Do you know? When I first went to find that person and targeted you, it was just a moment of impulse. I deeply regretted it afterward…”
“By the way, speaking of which, just a few days ago, I dreamt of you. When I woke up, my pillow was soaked with tears!”
Luxianbei, “……”
Seeing this face, he directly uttered the name of the Senior, it was undoubtedly Hu Chuan!
However… Jiang Yuzhen, is that a name you can say?
Is it even fitting?
Having experienced so many urban legend incidents, Luxianbei understood that some people were inherently filled with evil; their regrets were never about the wrongs they had done, but rather the prices they paid afterward that they were unwilling to bear.
Just like Hu Chuan, Luxianbei couldn’t say he felt zero guilt for harming the Decapitated Senior, but at least ninety-nine percent of his regret was due to the heavy price he paid after interacting with Zhang Shuo.
“Age?”
“Age? Heh…” Hu Chuan said with a bitter smile, shaking his head, “Speaking of that, it suddenly reminds me of the first time you celebrated my birthday with me. We agreed to live to a hundred years old together, but who would have thought that the world is unpredictable, and your age would forever be stuck at twenty. It’s quite lamentable.”
“……”
d*mn, why does the Senior remain stuck at twenty forever? Don’t you understand that?
How could you say something like that!?
No wonder you’re covered in scars as if you were scratched by a panda!
Luxianbei thought, suppressing the growing anger in her heart, and continued to ask, “Then you tell me about the situation first?”
“About the situation…” Hu Chuan pondered, shrugged, “What should I say? How I’ve been living these past few years? Actually, not bad at all! Except for not being able to go home, not being able to contact my parents, and not being able to be myself, everything’s quite good!”
“Do you know? All of this is thanks to you! I suppose we could say it’s a life for a life, right?”
Can you see that? This vile person is still blaming the Senior for harming him!
Luxianbei suddenly clenched her fists, her breath becoming rapid and slight, struggling to suppress the urge to rush over and beat Hu Chuan.
After all, this was just Song Wei’s dream; no matter how real and vivid it was, no matter how cruel her methods, he wouldn’t feel a bit of pain. Thus, finding a way to extract information from him was the right approach.
Since he showed no intention of cooperating, she would have to use some extraordinary means!
Thinking of this, Luxianbei focused her mind, and the scene in the dream began to change again.
In an instant, the sky twisted, the earth trembled, everything surrounding her resonated and disordered, accompanied by violent changes, an endless stream of chaos howled.
Then, Hu Chuan suddenly found himself in darkness, silence enveloped his ears.
It felt like for a brief moment, his consciousness was bewildered.
With a blink of an eye, everything before him had drastically changed.
Welcome to the Witch’s Happy Cemetery… The hidden Lan Yubai observed everything, a cold laugh ringing in her heart.
——————
The crescent moon with a hint of scarlet, along with dim and bright stars, resembled countless eyes wriggling on the dim canopy of the sky.
The wind blew, swirling a few sheets of pale paper money that fluttered in the air, producing a rustling sound, and distant unknown birds emitted strange calls, almost like they were snickering.
In the mildly undulating wilderness all around, shadows of trees danced, desolate grass swayed, and densely packed graves rose up like the scales of the earth.
Some mounds were empty with only a dark hole, some were marked by headstones with faint images of people etched on them, and some graves had collapsed, as if whatever was inside had long since departed, unable to support the buried earth.
This graveyard extended endlessly into the depths of darkness.
This was the Lions Mountain Cemetery near the ‘slightly renovated’ Huacheng Crematorium.
Luxianbei was very familiar with this place; she had once “dug her own grave” here, and Hu Chuan should be quite familiar as well; he had come here four years ago on a deep night to steal “his own” ashes, and the crematorium’s ashes storage site was near the cemetery entrance.
Suddenly appearing in such a place, Hu Chuan’s face turned pale, and his expression showed a hint of panic.
“Jiang Yuzhen, come out! What kind of skill is it to scare people like this? I’ve already given my life to you; isn’t that enough?” Hu Chuan shouted, his voice trembling.
His voice echoed in the empty graveyard, traveling far until it was consumed by the darkness.
After a long time with no response, he gulped hard, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and walked shakily along the winding path, mumbling to himself.
“Jiang Yuzhen, I really didn’t mean for you to d*e; it was just an impulse… It was them! They were the ones who egged me on from the side!”
“Jiang Yuzhen, you know I’ve always cared about my image; I couldn’t step down in that situation; I could only… Look, I have already received the punishment I deserved!”
“Do you know? Since that day, I haven’t slept soundly even once; that man, he, he doesn’t see me as a person at all. He conducts all kinds of experiments on me, drawing various bizarre spirit patterns on my body…”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei raised her brows slightly, suddenly understanding the origin of the strange scars on Hu Chuan.
Those scars were likely left from the spirit pattern experiments Zhang Shuo conducted on Hu Chuan.
Zhang Shuo possessed rare double spirit patterns and should know certain secret methods that allow the coexistence of two or more spirit patterns. His purpose in experimenting on Hu Chuan was probably to add new spirit patterns to himself.
“That person tormented me every day; I truly couldn’t take it anymore and could only run to various spiritual ability user sects, but I couldn’t escape; they always barred me at the door, and that man could always find me! Like a devil, like an unending nightmare…”
Hu Chuan spoke with tears in his eyes, his words laced with deep regret, revealing that he had suffered inhumane torment at Zhang Shuo’s hands.
Luxianbei, “……”
It sounded pretty tragic, almost like he could write a few thousand words of a confession…
If it weren’t for having seen the time capsule buried beneath the cherry blossom tree, tainted with the seeds of the Black Sun, I might have actually believed his tale!
Since you’re so afraid of Zhang Shuo, I may as well arrange for him to show up sooner; how coincidental, I happen to know what Zhang Shuo looks like, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to construct this dream!
Luxianbei thought, and as her mind focused, suddenly a rock protruded from the flat ground beneath Hu Chuan’s feet, and like it had come to life, it wriggled slightly, tripping his toes.
Hu Chuan’s already trembling body lost its balance and he stumbled forward, crashing into a tombstone. As he steadied himself against the tombstone, his nose was less than five centimeters from the image on it, as if he could feel the cold breath of the portrait.
And the person depicted in that image was Zhang Shuo.
Just as Hu Chuan’s gaze focused on the portrait, the air around him seemed to freeze. The high guiding ghost flag beside it fluttered in the wind, like his inescapable fate.
Then……
The face of the fierce-looking man in the portrait suddenly broke into a cold smile.
Just a fleeting smile—the impression left behind seemed vague, yet almost felt like an illusion.
“Ah, ah, ah! He’s coming; he’s here to catch me!”
Hu Chuan screamed, pushing himself away from the grave and collapsing to the ground. Just then, footsteps echoed from the end of the small path, from the unseen woods, from the closed tombs…
It felt like many people were approaching. Hu Chuan anxiously looked around but couldn’t see a single figure; he retreated on all fours, just then a pair of legs appeared behind him out of nowhere.
His body stiffened, and trembling, he turned his head to see a man’s back.
The man wore loose black clothes and pants, giving off an ominous feeling.
At the instant Hu Chuan turned back, the man slowly turned his head, revealing a face that was forever etched in his memory—Zhang Shuo!
In the next moment, it seemed something was awakened within the graveyard. A foreboding aura spread silently, and in the darkness, pairs of bizarre crimson eyes opened.
One after another, deformed shadows bearing Zhang Shuo’s face emerged from the darkness.
Dozens, hundreds, thousands……
Under the scarlet moonlight, they gradually converged on Hu Chuan, countless hands reaching out from the darkness, climbing onto his body, pulling, scratching, as if trying to drag him into the abyss.
The faces, with eyes fierce as beasts, grinned and howled in the most vicious tone, “You can’t escape; do you think you can get away from my control just by running to Dachunyang Palace?”
“You are merely a trivial experiment; I can find you whenever I want!”
Seeing Hu Chuan gradually breaking down under this scenario, Luxianbei manipulated those “Zhang Shuos” and asked coldly, “So tell me? What kind of existence is the secret society you are hiding in…”
“It’s an existence that can k*ll you,” Hu Chuan muttered, shortly afterward a grin suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth. The smile grew wider, turning into the kind of madness that left him breathless.
Luxianbei, “!!!”
He actually killed Zhang Shuo using that…… Pink Fluffy Rabbit’s power?!
A person with merely spiritual energy potential managed to k*ll an A+ grade spiritual ability user?!
The Pink Fluffy Rabbit truly seemed to be terrifying to that extent?
“Do you know? Do you know? Before he died, I experimented on him as he did to me! He constantly pleaded with me to let him go, but how could I let him go?”
“When his spirit pattern ran amok, merging flesh and objects, his body became like the fireworks we saw at the fireworks festival that year; particularly beautiful!”
“By the way, by the way, he isn’t actually dead; he has always been by my side! With how he treated me, how could I ever let him d*e so easily?”
“……”
Hu Chuan was still rambling. Luxianbei realized something was amiss. His aimless talk, trying to provoke her, and the fearfulness in his gaze were all feigned.
But what reason would he have for doing this?
Could it be… to buy time?!
Thinking of this, Luxianbei’s heart suddenly tightened, and she hurriedly broke the dream.
This was something she was too familiar with; usually, it should be her who was dragging out time.
Just one second before the dream dissipated, she saw Hu Chuan bow slightly toward her, smiling as he said, “Thank you for watching the performance; farewell, my friend!”
————
The scene of the dream rapidly dissipated before her eyes. As consciousness returned to reality, Luxianbei suddenly opened her eyes wide and surveyed her surroundings.
It was eerily quiet; the narrow and remote alley was illuminated by yellow streetlights.
Unconscious Song Wei lay beside a deformed tractor, and Fang Ji cast a puzzled glance at her.
“Miss Rescue Worker, is there something wrong?”
“While I was collecting information, did anyone come by here?” Luxianbei asked solemnly.
Hearing her unusually serious tone, Fang Ji was taken aback and shook her head, “No, not at all! Why?”
“If there wasn’t, then…”
Before Luxianbei could utter the words “let’s hurry and leave,” the lights around them suddenly went out; the streetlights and lights from the residential buildings all extinguished, and dozens of remarkable spiritual energy fluctuations suddenly intruded into her perception range…
