Chapter 82: Live in My Place
On the dimly lit narrow street, a gentle breeze stirred the debris on the ground without making a sound, as if it were keeping silent for the impending events, exuding an unsettling chill.
Huasang stared at the bizarre figures closing in on her with alarming speed, surrounding her with an atmosphere that made her breaths feel unusually heavy.
The moment she saw those creatures, she understood—they were just like her big brother, deeply corrupted by the Secret Society.
The two sides faced off briefly, the air felt solid as it filled her mouth and nose, making it hard to breathe.
Although Huasang had no time to comprehend how she had passed through the invisible barrier separating this area from the Nightless Street, she knew the situation was extremely dangerous.
Like a turtle clad in armor, mistakenly wandering into a bloodthirsty beast pack, under relentless attacks from sharp teeth and claws, either her shell would be torn apart or the beasts’ appendages would be crushed.
One side would inevitably spill bl**d.
Just as the encirclement was about to tighten and the atmosphere reached its breaking point, a girl suddenly dashed out from the crowd, standing between Huasang and the group of Secret Society members.
“Wait, misunderstanding! It’s a misunderstanding! She’s one of us!” Luxianbei explained to the leading member of the Secret Society, “Anqi, she’s my best friend and also a member of the society.”
To be honest, in such a bizarre place and at this critical moment, seeing Huasang made Luxianbei feel quite overwhelmed.
Taking advantage of the chaos, she had hidden Fang Ji and successfully blended in with a group of Secret Society members, hunting for “Gu Qiqi.” Luxianbei’s experience felt quite satisfying.
She had originally planned to take it easy, blending in seamlessly with the members and eliciting information from them until Dachunyang Palace discovered the anomaly here, broke through the blockade created by the Pink Fluffy Rabbit, then she would happily jump back.
She could also improve her skills in infiltrating illegal spirit energy organizations, preparing for the chance to sneak into the Solar Eclipse Society and investigate the whereabouts of her father’s lingering soul.
In fact, based on the memories she obtained from the girl with the diamond ring, she had even begun to establish friendships with a few Secret Society members, and with just a little more time, she could start extracting information from them.
At that point, casually capsizing the little boat of friendship she had just built with a cold, “Sorry, I’m an undercover!” would be quite a delight, wouldn’t it?
But Huasang’s sudden appearance had thrown her plans into disarray.
———
Who are you, girl?
Who says you’re my best friend?
Huasang looked at the girl blocking her path with a confused expression, tilted her head slightly, and opened her lips, “I…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Luxianbei abruptly turned around and gave her a sharp rap on the head, causing her own hand to sting.
“What do you mean, ‘I’? You clearly said you wanted to follow me on this mission and see the world, yet you only show up now? What are you doing?”
For a moment, Huasang was utterly bewildered by Luxianbei’s behavior, but soon, she caught the fleeting wink Luxianbei shot her way, and her heart was enlightened.
“…”
Is this girl trying to help me out?
Indeed, those Secret Society members exhibited considerable spirit energy fluctuations. If conflict broke out, it would be tough for her to hold out until her master brought reinforcements…
But why is she helping me?
After a brief silence, Huasang decided to cooperate with the girl in front of her, adapting to the development of the situation afterward.
“Uh, sorry, you know, I have serious procrastination issues.”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei secretly breathed a sigh of relief and gave her an encouraging glance.
She preferred dealing with smart people like this; if she were with someone like Gu Qiqi, they would likely be shouting their denial loudly at this point, completing their self-destruct and achieving a double k*ll.
As soon as Huasang finished speaking, a man who seemed to be “everywhere at once” leaned toward the woman called Anqi, whispering something in her ear.
Although the man was not a member of Dachunyang Palace, due to familial connections with it, he frequented the palace and had a casual acquaintance with Huasang. He had heard her rumors and knew she was famous at Dachunyang Palace for being a peculiar girl characterized by laziness, procrastination, and ineptitude.
After hearing the man’s words, Anqi pondered for a moment, then looked at Huasang, her gaze lingering for a moment before shifting to Luxianbei, raising her chin slightly.
“You say she’s also a society member? How do we prove that? It can’t be baseless; we need some evidence to be convinced, right?”
Although she had connected well with Luxianbei earlier, she did not take Luxianbei’s word for it on this matter.
“Evidence… uh, of course there’s evidence!” Luxianbei said with a forced smile, “Anqi, think about it! This area sealing Gu Qiqi contains that person’s power. Ordinary folks can’t get in without carrying that person’s blessing, right?”
Although Luxianbei had no idea how Huasang got in or whether her bluff would work, she thought…
She couldn’t just stand by and watch her get caught, could she?
If luck was on their side, they might both get out fine. If it turned out badly, the most likely result would be being exposed on the spot by Hu Chuan, falling into a dangerous situation again.
How difficult it was; so many excellent undercover agents had been compromised by such chance encounters! Luxianbei thought.
Hearing these words, Huasang’s eyes flickered slightly.
Was it because of the blessing of the entity that created this anomalous area that she could enter here?
She caught onto the significant information in Luxianbei’s words.
Seemingly finding some reason in Luxianbei’s statement, Anqi paused for two seconds, then nodded, “And what else? What is her blessing?”
The blessing is… Luxianbei quickly glanced at Huasang, her gaze scanned her body, then focused on the ruler in her hand, reaching out to grasp her wrist and lift her hand slightly.
“This!”
“Oh?” The light on Anqi’s phone screen flickered as she stepped forward, scrutinizing Huasang’s ruler carefully. Then, the phone screen seemed to close its ‘eyes’ momentarily, and she reached out to stroke it back and forth, as if trying to feel something.
For a moment, in the darkness, the shadows on the undulating building contours all focused their gazes on those hands, slightly deformed to adapt to using a phone.
They silently mobilized their spirit energy, awaiting results, ready for either a fight or to welcome a new companion.
Luxianbei’s heart raced as her nerves were at their peak, prepared for the lying to be exposed and to enter battle at any moment.
The phone’s head, huh? Phone dependence, huh? Anger the chips, and I’ll blow you up!
After a long while, Anqi withdrew her hands, a smiling emoji appeared on the phone screen, and she smiled at Huasang, “Welcome to the society!”
Indeed, she sensed the aura of that person from the ruler, and it was quite strong.
With those words, a scattered round of welcomes erupted from the crowd around them.
“Phew…” Luxianbei exhaled in relief, took Huasang’s hand, and moved into the crowd.
Undercover skill proficiency in illegal spirit energy organizations +1.
Watching Luxianbei and Huasang disappear into the crowd, Anqi subtly beckoned the “everywhere at once” man closer, whispering, “Later, find a few people and keep a close watch on them.”
The man was taken aback, asking in surprise, “But didn’t you just say they’re fine?”
“Currently, they appear to be fine, that’s all,” Anqi replied calmly.
Though there was indeed the aura of that person’s blessing on the ruler, she couldn’t completely verify her identity in the face of a possibly hostile entity and could only temporarily accept her as a companion.
After all, Gu Qiqi still lurked in the shadows, watching for an opportunity to act. If two more strong enemies showed up at that moment, the situation would become quite troublesome.
She also attempted to contact Hu Chuan to confirm Huasang’s identity. With the phone merged with her body, she could communicate discreetly without being noticed.
However, she received no response…
———
“I’ve told you how many times? Don’t always procrastinate! When will you change this habit? Look what’s happened this time! At least we made sure the misunderstanding was cleared up; if not, I’d like to see what you would do!”
Luxianbei chastised Huasang as she wrote three characters in her palm while holding her hand.
“Wang,” “No,” “Good”!
The strokes were a bit more complex, hard to write and might be misread, so she simplified it.
Feeling Luxianbei’s fingertips tracing paths on her palm, Huasang recognized the three characters and paused for a moment before glancing at her profile, her feelings becoming increasingly complex.
Aren’t they trying to k*ll you?
How did you manage to blend in with them without being discovered?
Huasang was filled with questions, reminded of a saying—“In the heavy rain, the Hundred Demons Walk, someone blends in, happier than the demons!”
But soon, the questions in her mind dissipated entirely.
She witnessed the entire process of Luxianbei growing comfortable with the Secret Society members.
Through the items merging with the bodies of those Secret Society members, Luxianbei keenly guessed their preferences and quickly unfolded conversations based on those interests.
This was still within a range of normality; Huasang thought she could do that too.
What was ridiculous, though, was that whether it was figurines, electronic devices, junk food, swords, clay sculptures, or even insect specimens, Luxianbei seemed incredibly familiar with them, always chatting passionately with those people, unknowingly winning their favor.
It felt as if throughout her life, she had never done anything serious, merely indulging in distractions.
But in truth, achieving this wasn’t difficult; all it required was a little understanding of the things the Secret Society members adored.
It was like someone who was so obsessed with a game that just saying, “Oh, you play XX too?!” could lead that person to talk endlessly about it.
Luxianbei hadn’t done much; she simply expressed her genuine passion for those things naturally. Most of the time, she was listening, merely occasionally capturing the right moment and providing positive feedback based on her shallow understanding of the objects.
Then…
She gained some initial goodwill from many Secret Society members.
Luxianbei, “……” These guys, apart from their mad dependence on certain items, actually have quite simple personalities; when I suddenly reverse my stance, I’m sure many will break down, right?
Tsk, I feel a bit embarrassed about it…
———
Uncertain how long she had been asleep, Fang Ji slowly awoke.
Before opening his eyes, he caught a whiff of an indescribable stench that invaded his nostrils, feeling waves of pressure on his body.
It felt as though he was lying amidst a pile of rotting corpses.
He abruptly opened his eyes, only to find he was indeed lying among a heap of corpses, but they were fresh.
Those corpses of individuals whom Luxianbei had killed not long ago could stack up to a small mountain.
He was buried at the very bottom, almost melding with them.
A shattered head, covered in a whitish viscous liquid, lay right next to him, eye to eye.
In a panic, Fang Ji instinctively tried to scramble up, only to realize that his body was completely immobile.
The thirty-sixth ban spell from the Siye Society, even though it consumed little spirit energy, clearly had an astonishing cumulative effect!
Faced with the sudden surge of Secret Society members and various objects hurtling in, Luxianbei had no grasp on guaranteeing Fang Ji’s safety.
Corpses weren’t objects; hiding Fang Ji among them was the best solution she could come up with in that moment of crisis.
In the best-case scenario, both could escape unscathed; in the worst-case, it was likely one of them would survive.
But…
This approach gave Fang Ji an extreme fear, as if he had awakened after being buried alive.
A mountain of severed limbs, the indescribable stench in the air, faces that could not close their eyes even in d*ath…
In that scene, Fang Ji felt as if he was being electrocuted, trembling uncontrollably, his heart racing so violently it felt like it was about to burst out of his throat. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
Soon, under such intense stimulation, his consciousness began to waver.
Gradually, the objects before his eyes became blurry and illusory, and something appeared before him.
He seemed to see the past.
He saw himself in that small town, where sunlight was absent every day, and everything around was covered in dark green fungi.
At that time, he seemed to have died once, carelessly discarded like now among a pile of corpses.
His survival depended entirely on the golden light he had seen in a dream not long ago while fainting in Qing Nang Herb Cottage.
In the hazy moment, he saw the golden light again, along with a figure bathed in it, as beautiful as the morning light in March.
That figure, as before, spoke softly to him, as if narrating someone’s life story, a long tale that dulls the senses.
But unlike before, this time he finally caught a phrase that was relatively clear.
“Live in my place; don’t seek the Sacred Relic; that is a conspiracy…”
