**Chapter 15: A Seems to Be a Good Candidate [5K]**
Lu Yibei, having been played with, sat on the ground, his arms crossed in front of his chest, casting a sidelong glance at Zhang Hainan, his eyes filled with a hint of resentment. Zhang Hainan smiled and shook his head, clasping his hands behind his back as he slowly walked through the stone door into the Moon Retrieving Cave to fetch some medicine.
Qing Xiazi and Bi Xuzi indeed sensed the Spirit Energy Fluctuation that Lu Yibei had just emitted.
However, they did not rush to the Moon Retrieving Cave, merely expressing concern through the Mourning Gray Owl Badge regarding the situation.
“Hehe, you should think about it; what place in the entire Dachunyang Palace is the safest?” Zhang Hainan’s voice came from within the Moon Retrieving Cave.
Lu Yibei, “…”
That’s right; the safest place in the entire Dachunyang Palace is precisely the old one’s Moon Retrieving Cave, isn’t it?
No matter how unusual the Spirit Energy Fluctuation may seem near the Dachunyang Palace, as long as it comes from the direction of the back mountain’s Moon Retrieving Cave, there’s no need to panic.
Unless the unusual Spirit Energy Fluctuation originated from the Chief Priest himself, even then, panicking would be useless.
Zhang Hainan had darkened, and it was likely that the entire Dachunyang Palace together wouldn’t be his opponent. It would be better to lie flat and wait for d*ath.
Thinking of this, Lu Yibei pursed his lips, waved his hand to dismiss his spiritual armor, and, unsteadily, followed Zhang Hainan’s footsteps into the Moon Retrieving Cave. Just as the heavy armor was about to completely dissipate, Lu Yibei was about to reveal himself when the coat hidden in the Shuishu Beast suddenly flew over with a “whoosh,” wrapping around her body and wriggling a few times, transforming into a classic skin — a red and white color block windbreaker.
“By the way, old man, the visualization picture you gave me, is it the A-grade goods?”
“How did a little dog manage to condense out of the ‘Dog Rong Hunting Picture’?” This is obviously not the right product!”
Zhang Hainan, who was standing before the display rack, rummaging through potions, turned around and looked at Lu Yibei, who appeared confused. “Little dog? How can that be? Please tell me in detail about the process of condensing the spirit seal.”
“Oh!” Lu Yibei replied and pondered for a moment before describing, “The sequence of events is roughly as follows” —
Night, 22:07, in a small rented room.
In one corner of the rented room, the warm light of a desk lamp illuminated the desk.
In front of the desk sat a listless man, pulling at his eyelids as he thoroughly checked the report documents displayed on the computer screen. Confirming everything was correct, he lightly pressed the enter key and sent it to his supervisor.
After seeing the “Sent Successfully” notification appear on the screen, he leaned back in his chair, exaggeratedly stretched, and maintained the position, staring up at the ceiling, silently sighing, “Although I’m more than half an hour late, I hope the supervisor doesn’t get mad.”
He had had enough of changing cities for work every six months at most or one month at least. Being older now, he preferred a stable and mundane life.
Thus, he leaned back in the chair and waited for a moment when his peripheral vision caught sight of his supervisor sending an “OK” emoji. The man felt relieved and exhaled deeply as he sat up straight, opened his email, found the email sent by the Phoenix, and downloaded a file named a jumble of characters that was an encrypted compressed file.
Upon completing the download, before decompressing, the man suddenly thought of the organization formed from urban legends, furrowing his brow slightly.
He suddenly considered a question.
He had heard the Phoenix say that the leader of that online urban legend organization seemed to be called Void or something, and had gotten involved with a newly emergent urban legend from M Country, trying to plunder that guy’s God Realm Prototype.
The legends spawned from the millennium bug story, and the plundering of the God Realm Prototype born from the adoration of virtual currencies did seem a bit like a father beating his son — pure bullying.
However, attempting to plunder the God Realm Prototype under the eyes of M Country’s spirit energy organizations and the Siye Society’s God of Wealth would likely be quite difficult. Aside from Void himself, the multitude of his online urban legends would nearly all have to follow suit.
They were so busy that they probably didn’t have the time to pay attention to an ordinary salaryman downloading the contents of an encrypted compressed file one lonely night.
Moreover, merely based on the content of those materials, they wouldn’t be able to figure out what was going on. Even if they intercepted it, it wouldn’t matter.
The man quickly convinced himself, moved the mouse, right-clicked, input the password, and decompressed the file.
The decompression progress bar slowly advanced, and when the number displayed on the far right turned to 100%, a folder popped up containing a dozen subfolders labeled with different names.
“Let’s see.”
“California, Red Ghost Akihabara, Spider Lady Thunder City, Mountain Dragon Lady Haizhou City, Fish…”
As his gaze swept over each folder name, when he saw the fourth one, the man frowned slightly, “Fishman? Did the Phoenix make a mistake?”
Talking to himself, he opened the folder and clicked on the accompanying video. The next moment, a bizarre sound filled the speakers.
“GRGIRGL!LRGLRGRMRMIGR!”
The man watched expressionlessly as the green-skinned male fishman waved primitive stone weaponry, silently closed the video.
The Yunshen Machine really was a good father; regarding partner selection, he gave his son the utmost freedom, the man reflected inwardly.
He recalled how his own mother, while still alive, had set various criteria for his future daughter-in-law.
And the kind girl who almost married him, whose mother proposed various somewhat unreasonable demands. He inexplicably envied Lu Yibei.
If his parents could be half as open-minded as Lu Ming, perhaps his child would have already run away by now?
“However…” The man shook his head, directly skipping over Lu Yibei’s urban legend marriage candidates to the human ones. Based on the current intel, Lu Yibei’s personality was quite wary.
If urban legends were allowed to approach him, it would be highly challenging; moreover, those urban legends mentioned in the Phoenix’s data weren’t kind either, making it even more difficult.
Thus, the lower the level of Spirit Energy fluctuations, the better; ideally, it would be an ordinary girl. “Spring Day Great Society Priestess, Spirit Energy Fluctuation Level A, this … uh, not quite right!”
Although she was a smoking, drinking, poorly-spoken girl who enjoyed torturing urban legends, her strength was too powerful. With the support of the Spring Day Great Society, Lu Yibei would definitely be on guard.
“Heart of the Tribe, Spirit Energy Fluctuation Level B, this one seems okay.” The man continued scrolling down the document and fell momentarily silent upon seeing the highlighted text reading “Suspected Winged Serpent Decreed Nation.”
Although the girl bestowed with the title “Heart of the Tribe” barely met the minimum threshold for Spirit Energy Fluctuation Level, the urban legends that favored her were not easy to deal with; one careless move and Lu Yibei might become the urban legends’ feed.
“”
After spending more than two hours and finishing half a pack of cigarettes, the man scanned through most of the documents.
His already poor spirits seemed to take another heavy blow and became even more listless. He suddenly felt that having a parent too open-minded might not be a good thing.
The Yunshen Machine had become excessively lenient.
Lu Yibei’s marriage candidates, even when limited to “humans,” could almost all be considered “extraordinary women.” Some were extraordinary in appearance, others in abilities.
As it turned out, finding a relatively ordinary existence among urban legends and factors that could influence a fate trajectory that might lead to world destruction was not an easy task.
The man stared at the last three folders, remained silent for a while, lit up the last cigarette in the pack, took a deep drag, and without any expectation, clicked on one of the folders.
~ Huaxie Yu, originally named Hua Zhuozhuang, 18 years old, Spirit Energy Fluctuation Level D+”
Continuing to browse the information, upon noticing that Huaxie Yu was from Dawn City and her family background, the man’s vacant eyes gradually lit up.
“This seems to be a good choice?”
“Phoenix was really something; why not just send me this girl’s information directly?”
This girl named Huaxie Yu was beautiful, her Spirit Energy Fluctuation level slightly stronger than none, indeed a decent candidate.
Dawn City was a small city located at the border between Z Country and Myanmar. Before the night drew long, it was already a mixed place, rife with chaos, and with the night extending, it turned into one of the most dangerous cities in Z Country, a true carnivorous locale.
Locally, there was even a saying, “Dawn City has no dawn~” jokingly.
Born and raised in Dawn City, having lost her mother in childhood, with a half-dead drug addict father, she spent her youth roaming the streets, valuing wealth above all; vengeful and ruthless, just recently she had joined a subordinate gang of the Solar Eclipse Society.
Based on this information alone, the man judged that Huaxie Yu was certainly not a soft touch; she could easily become a deadly “ghost,” at the very least a troublemaker.
To lead Lu Yibei astray, she should be capable.
“The next question is how to let her meet Lu Yibei. Hmm, I should first contact the girl and probe the situation.”
The man muttered to himself and gradually stood up, unhurriedly fed his fat cat at home, replenished the water in the automatic feeder, then grabbed his keys and walked out.
As soon as he opened the door, a humid breeze blew in, and distant sounds of uproar reached his ears.
An angle of the chaotic night market seemed to have been cut out from a dark, narrow alley, coming into view.
Standing at the end of the dark alley, the man turned around, closed the door, raised his right hand with a watch to check the time, sighed heavily, “Hope I can get back before 12:30.”
For a salaryman, every minute of rest and sleep was precious. Unless there was some special circumstance, he still hoped to wash up, drink a cup of hot milk, and get to bed before one o’clock in the morning.
The night market of Dawn City did not simply refer to one street but was a vast area located near the city’s most prosperous section.
Located on either side of the night market were a bar street and a jade trading street, like two bold curves, highlighting the extent of the night market on the city map.
Some said that without a lively atmosphere, life becomes a lonely journey. The night market is precisely the place within a city rich in such atmosphere. From a certain perspective, nearly all aspects of life were condensed within the night market.
However, the intensity of the night market in Dawn City was not just thick but overwhelmingly suffocating.
Low buildings with Southeast Asian characteristics were lined up neatly on both sides of the street, hosting all kinds of shops. Tall and sturdy palm trees adorned the streets, presenting a tropical style.
On the streets, in front of small bars that differed little in style, vendors selling snacks, handmade crafts, and even various temporary stalls brazenly selling alchemical materials were squeezing into the already not-so-wide streets with all their might.
When the street was not enough, they spilled into the narrow alleys flanking the street, where placing a sign was sufficient, directing buyers with messages like “Turn left twenty meters for massages” and “Turn right ten meters for traditional chicken feet.”
Of course, this was merely the façade of convenience.
In those narrow and winding alleys, where the endpoint was unknown, there were more small shops, roadside stalls, mysterious-looking men who approached anyone they saw, and women dressed provocatively who effectively sold items without proper signage.
About a fifth of the way into the alley leading to the jade street, there was a shop full of stores with no signs whatsoever. Approximately twenty meters from the alley’s entrance squatted a pretty young girl.
She had a round and beautiful, pitiable little face. Behind her black-framed glasses, her peach blossom-like eyes seemed to brim with affection as they scanned anyone who passed by, and a long, sleek black braid trailed behind her.
She carried an old black backpack, wore a light blue fitted T-shirt printed with a bear, and a creamy white sun-protective coat. Beneath the b*tt-hugging denim shorts, her long legs peeked out in a pair of common white sneakers.
She looked harmless and dressed ordinarily, appearing to be engaged in legitimate business, most likely was indeed doing legitimate business. At least from the small jade raw stones laid out before her stall, it seemed so.
At that moment, the girl’s expression was troubled as she stared silently at three muscular men in front of her stall.
The three muscular men, who appeared to be from some foreign country with two dark-skinned and one light-skinned, stood together, oddly resembling an Oreo cookie. After a long silence, the girl finally moved her rosy lips, timidly mumbling, “That, that price really isn’t acceptable. You should be able to see how good this raw stone is, right? At least increase the price by 50%.”
“Fifty percent? ARE YOU KIDDING?” The leading muscular man showed a mocking expression, “These stones are worth the price I just mentioned.”
The girl lightly bit her lip, her gaze sweeping over the three men, pouting, “Then I won’t sell anymore. You guys can leave!”
While speaking, her body slightly trembled, and her expression conveyed a clear timidity, as if to say to the three men, “Come on, rob me! This is Dawn City where robbery and m*rder are daily occurrences!”
As the words fell, indeed, the three muscular men remained unaffected, even quietly shifting positions to surround the girl’s stall, cutting off the possibility of other buyers approaching.
Seeing this, the girl shrank back like a frightened animal, a fleeting look of panic flashing across her eyes. She then took a deep breath, grabbed the plastic cloth used for her stall, wrapped a few raw stones within, and haphazardly stuffed them into her backpack.
“No, I won’t sell anymore. I won’t even sell if I get more money. I’m closing shop!”
The girl stammered out a shout, clutching her backpack to her chest, turning to flee deeper into the alley, glancing back every three steps.
Seeing her escape, the three muscular men did not stop her. After she had run a short distance, the three exchanged cold smirks and quickly followed suit.
Meanwhile, in front of a nearby food stall, the man witnessed the whole process and shook his head. “What was that saying again? High-end hunters often appear as prey, right?”
“Nonetheless, her trick isn’t that sophisticated, is it? She hasn’t even used Spirit Energy; she’s just fooling the locals.” In the man’s eyes, had he been in her place, he surely wouldn’t have fallen for her ploy.
Beautiful girls are dangerous creatures, especially in Dawn City, where seemingly harmless beauties exist. Such things just do not exist, alright?
The man thought as he took out his phone, pointed at the table in front of him, and asked the food stall owner, “Boss, how much for this?”
“278.”
“What the hell? I only had a portion of pig’s trotter rice and a serving of fried insects. Why is it so expensive? Are you trying to gouge me?”
In response, the food stall owner planted an exaggeratedly large kitchen kn*fe onto the cutting board, lifting his neck defiantly, saying, “You either pay or not?!”
The man,
After a few seconds of silence, he sighed silently, scanned the payment code, paid, and got up to follow the girl and the three muscular men deeper into the alley.
Forget it; better to avoid trouble.
Still, this was the first time he had seen someone so brazenly gouging customers. Perhaps this was the custom of Dawn City?
Consider it an experience.
He was a rule-abiding person; if not following the rules was the custom of Dawn City, he could accept that —
Five minutes later.
The man found the three foreign muscular men deep within the alley, and a rare glimmer of emotion appeared in his usually lifeless eyes.
He discovered them in a small shop with no signboard. Although the shop lacked a sign, the moment he probed with his senses, he detected that the jade raw stones on sale inside were all top-quality gems.
As he approached the vicinity of the small shop, the leading muscular man had already pointed his firearm at the shop owner’s head, while his companions entered the much-anticipated “zero-cost purchasing” phase.
And Huaxie Yu, at some point, had formed a certain consensus with them and become one of their group, happily rummaging through the display cases within the small shop with her backpack in hand.
The shop owner, upon seeing Huaxie Yu’s figure, turned pale with rage, even under the threat of a g*n, he still couldn’t help but curse incessantly.
“b*tch, b*stard, you ungrateful wretch! I let you help sell because I felt sorry for you, but unexpectedly you’ve invited the wolf inside!”
“Shut your filthy mouth!” Huaxie Yu glared at the shop owner fiercely, “Don’t think I don’t know, you asked me to help you sell the raw stones because you were eyeing my body! How despicable!”
“Moreover, am I not pitiable now?”
“Come on! I’ve endured your lewd gazes these days, stalking, recording your bodyguard’s routines, searching for suitable helpers, and after this is accomplished, I’ll still have to give half to these big brothers. Aren’t I pitiable enough?!”
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed, and a man in work attire appeared at the door. “Excuse me, may I ask…”
As his words fell, everyone inside the small shop froze, the atmosphere heavy. Immediately, the muscular man holding the g*n aimed it at the newcomer.
Can’t you see they’re robbing? What’s a dead salaryman like you doing here? Just hurry up and d*e! With that, flames flickered, and with a loud “bang!” a gunshot resonated through the alley.
