Chapter 23: “The Old Man, the Woman, and the Dog”
Inside Zhenwu Mountain Scenic Area.
Under the starry sky, a figure moved rapidly, weaving through the trees and valleys, finally leaping from a cliff and landing in a small basin, revealing the silhouette of a girl dressed in a red and white contrasting jacket, carrying a dark staff.
The girl was Lu Yibei. After leaving Zixiao Terrace, she headed straight away from Dachunyang Palace and returned here.
She had intended to summon Zhang Shuo but instead attracted the Black Sun fire seeds that burned her, causing her body to transform into an urban legend, making it inconvenient for her to stay in Dachunyang Palace.
Although she believed she had a good chance of avoiding everyone’s spiritual perception except for Zhang Hainan, it was only a chance, not a guarantee.
Even if it were a guarantee, it still wouldn’t be reliable. Without a twelvefold assurance, how could that work?
There are always some unhinged individuals in this world who can overflow their attributes and create miracles, like Fang Ji and Huasang.
What if some abnormal disciple or elder bumped into the notorious urban legend on the Siye Society’s red wanted list—Calamity—wandering about Dachunyang Palace? That would be a big problem.
Moreover, staying in Dachunyang Palace would likely mean playing hide and seek with those disciples and elders all night. There was really no need for that!
After stabilizing her position, Lu Yibei stood before a stone path overgrown with weeds and looked up towards the nameless Taoist temple at the end of the path. “I’ll just stay here safely for now.”
She murmured to herself and stepped toward the small Taoist temple.
Entering through the decayed wooden door, she crossed the courtyard and found a sheltered spot in the still relatively intact main hall, cleared a clean area to sit down, closed her eyes, and began to think quietly.
Although it couldn’t compare to the day she woke up with the Pink Fluffy Rabbit, her experience tonight was quite enriching, and she needed to sort through her thoughts.
First, there was the whisper of men that appeared when the Black Sun fire seeds invaded, which seemed to have interrupted the summoning spell. However, it was still unclear what his intentions were.
Just based on this action alone, it couldn’t be determined whether he meant well towards her. He might be getting ready for a long game.
When she tried to test the old man Zhang Hainan, he brushed her off, but he was the guardian of the Siye Society, the Black Emperor, and even he couldn’t say it openly—he should be a core member of the Solar Eclipse Society.
Things were getting tricky! She thought that she usually acted low-key and well-behaved, so how could she have attracted the attention of the big boss of the Solar Eclipse Society?
However, if handled properly, this might be an opportunity to infiltrate the Solar Eclipse Society and look for her dad’s imprisoned residual soul.
In addition, this little brother’s reckless move not only didn’t get him burned by the Black Sun fire seeds, but he even absorbed some of them, which led to some subtle changes.
Although Little White Puppy was suppressing him for now, and she didn’t have to worry about him causing trouble, this might also be a safeguard for successfully infiltrating the Solar Eclipse Society. After all, except for Little White Puppy, probably only the high-ranking members of the Solar Eclipse Society could emit the aura of the Black Sun fire seeds.
The only problem was that she didn’t have a Black Sun totem tattoo. Should she find some stickers instead?
A Black Sun totem tattoo, and then she could be someone important in the Solar Eclipse Society!
For a moment, Lu Yibei even imagined that once she took off her coat, revealing the Black Sun totem on her back, the breath of the Black Sun fire seeds would make all the little lackeys of the Solar Eclipse Society scared out of their wits.
She didn’t know if that would be useful against Miss Rabbit? She hoped it would be!
“Calculating the time, if I set off early tomorrow, I should be able to reach Huacheng around one o’clock in the afternoon. I’ll go see Professor Ma first.” “He seemed quite anxious over the phone; I wonder what happened to Zhipianxian. I didn’t sense anything wrong!”
And she would hand over that military dispatch to Professor Ma, asking him to check what the ancient special characters written on it were. She was quite interested in those characters, and Professor Ma would probably be very interested too.
“I also need to go to Happy Neighborhood to give those spirit energy item blueprints and alchemical potion recipes to Du Sixian.” “If all goes well, after that, I can go home and try to read the knowledge of the Great Serpent God…”
Lu Yibei’s purpose for coming to Dachunyang Palace was to find the remnants of Ling Tai Purification, to reconstruct Ling Tai Purification, so that it could be used to house the God Realm Prototype.
Although her purpose had been achieved, she didn’t dare to begin merging Ling Tai Purification with the God Realm Prototype immediately.
The main reason was that the Proxy Player Sister had scared her too much!
Before, Lu Yibei had asked the Proxy Player Sister, “What is the probability of successfully merging Ling Tai Purification with the God Realm Prototype?”
Perhaps too well aware of Lu Yibei’s nature, that unscrupulous woman had not given a straightforward answer but smiled meaningfully, saying, “If you succeed, then it’s one hundred percent.”
When the Proxy Player Sister spoke, she seemed very credible, but after a moment’s reflection, Lu Yibei couldn’t help but feel a chill down her back. That statement, flipped another way, could also mean that if it failed, it would be zero percent.
This type of thing is just like when people in mobile games say the probability of drawing something is one hundred percent to fool others—are they really not afraid of relevant departments coming after them?
“Fortunately, I still have the memories of the Great Serpent God,” Lu Yibei said with a slight pout.
Although seventy to eighty percent of the content in the Great Serpent God’s memories was like a little yellow comic from a snake’s perspective, constantly researching how to possess more female snakes and produce more little snakes, it wasn’t very useful.
However, it was still a Cataclysm Grade urban legend that once possessed a God Realm and entrusted it to bamboo slips—which counts as experienced. It would be great if she could capture Gu Qiqi and persuade her to lend her the Bamboo Slips Illusion for research.
The next day, she planned to go back to the Siye Society and go through the contents related to Liao Zhai Tavern in The Book of Siye. She could also consult the Urban Legends Chat Group.
It would be best to quickly find a way to enter Liao Zhai Tavern.
After thinking for a while and sorting out her thoughts, Lu Yibei took out her phone to check the time. It was three twenty-seven in the morning, and there were about five hours until dawn.
“At this time, should I go meet the Ancestor first?”
Lu Yibei murmured to herself, closed her eyes again, adjusted her breathing, and skillfully began to sink her consciousness.
The previous incomplete Ling Tai Purification could only be considered a short sword, while Xuan Ying Luo Fu, in terms of size, had turned into an oversized double-handed great sword.
Although with Lu Yibei’s strength, using the great sword as a single-handed sword was completely fine, the sudden change in the weapon’s size would alter many details of the angle, force, and movement when drawing the sword. To reach that previous level of proficiency where she could maneuver it as if it were part of her arm would require further adjustment and practice.
Speaking of practicing swordsmanship, Qing Nong was undoubtedly the undisputed king of sparring partners.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that having an elder at home is like having a treasure!
The Ancestor was truly amazing!——
—
As her body sank as if falling into a dark pool, her consciousness was stripped from her body and then returned. When Lu Yibei opened her eyes again, she was already standing in a dream, on a dilapidated and teetering rooftop.
After glancing around for a while, she spotted a peculiar and eerie scene at the edge of the distant rooftop. Qing Ji was sitting on the railing, looking up at the sky with a sad expression.
Xuan Ying Luo Fu was sitting upright in the center of the rooftop with her eyes closed, looking like a statue.
A snow-white puppy was sleeping belly-up in the shadows of a worn-out water tank, with its tongue hanging down from its open mouth, drooling all over the place.
The entire scene could be summed up as—”The Old Man, the Woman, and the Dog.”
Lu Yibei thought, “Why is Xuan Ying Luo Fu here? And why is Little White Puppy here too?” The first to sense Lu Yibei’s arrival was Little White Puppy.
In its dream, it caught a whiff of a familiar scent and had a dream filled with “dairy products” and “dog food balls.” In a daze, it seemed to be sleepwalking, opened its mouth wide, and bit down hard.
As a result, it felt a sharp pain in its tongue and yelped, “Awoof!” before jumping up and seeing Lu Yibei, wagging its tail and trotting over to her, squatting by her feet.
As it squatted obediently, its tongue was still dripping bl**d.
With Little White Puppy’s yelp, Qing Ji and Xuan Ying Luo Fu almost simultaneously directed their gaze toward Lu Yibei, exchanging glances filled with expressions. Lu Yibei thought, “What’s going on? What are you trying to say?”
“Just say it directly; you’re not Miaomiao Sauce. How could I possibly understand just by your gestures?”
Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly, gestured at Xuan Ying Luo Fu to calm down, and then walked to Qing Ji’s side. Xuan Ying Luo Fu didn’t mind, only silently closed her eyes again, continuing to rejuvenate.
Arriving in front of Qing Ji, before Lu Yibei could even speak, Qing Ji jumped up, leaned closer to her ear, pointed at Little White Puppy, and whispered, “What’s going on with that dog?”
Hearing that, Lu Yibei was momentarily taken aback and replied in astonishment, “Ancestor, isn’t your focus a bit too strange?”
There was clearly a fairy-like young lady sitting there, yet your attention is solely on a silly dog? Is it some kind of luck f*tish?
“Nonsense! I’m asking you, that dog, isn’t it the descendant of my grandson’s wife?” Qing Ji asked.
Although he had a different personality from Xuan Ying Luo Fu and didn’t get along with her, at least Xuan Ying Luo Fu appeared humanoid and looked quite handsome, making her a good choice as Lu’s family’s daughter-in-law.
However, when Little White Puppy appeared on the rooftop, Qing Ji was thrown into a state of shock.
Although descendants have their own fortune, he felt it unnecessary to interfere too much in Lu Yibei’s love life, but… his grandson’s wife being a dog, and a male dog at that? He really couldn’t accept it!
In great shock, he even forgot to deal with Lu Yibei over this matter.
That feeling was like being notified by the homeroom teacher, expecting it to be about a child’s poor grades or an early romance, only to arrive at school and find out their child had stolen metallic sodium from the laboratory and thrown it down the drain, blowing up half the building.
It really leaves one speechless.
After hearing Qing Ji’s question, Lu Yibei twitched at the corner of her eye, expressionless as she said, “Ancestor, your misunderstanding is truly outrageous. Unless it’s not an artifact formed from my spiritual imprint, there is a possibility.”
However, seeing a dog makes you this nervous?
If I were to bring some stones, trees, or a tractor to meet you in the future, would you march straight into the Solar Eclipse Society to drag my dad out and beat him up? Lu Yibei thought.
After a moment, Qing Ji let out a sigh of relief, but just as the large stone in his heart had not fully settled, it surged back up into the clouds like molten lava.
“Don’t worry, Little White Puppy is my biological one; how could it possibly be my engagement partner?”
Thunder seemed to strike through her spine.
Qing Ji shuddered, taking a while to respond, “You were affected by a dog?”
“Spiritual imprint! That’s a product of the spiritual imprint!” Lu Yibei exclaimed, “Can you stop always thinking about having grandchildren?”
“Spiritual imprint? Oh, so it’s a product of the spiritual imprint? I understand!” Qing Ji suddenly realized.
Spiritual imprint products, from a certain perspective, are like stones, also a part of Lu Yibei’s body, appearing here is entirely reasonable.
Immediately after, he glared fiercely at Lu Yibei and said, “How can I not think about it? In my day, at your age, children would already be running around.”
“However, in this day and age, nineteen is the legal age when you cannot register for marriage,” Lu Yibei said expressionlessly.
“Then you could have a child out of wedlock!”
Lu Yibei looked down at her belly, then glanced at Qing Ji, tilting her head.
“Uh, having a child out of wedlock is also okay,” Qing Ji awkwardly added, then as if trying to change the subject, pointed at Xuan Ying Luo Fu and said, “What about her? She’s the one who will be your grandson’s wife, right?”
“To be honest, I still think Huasang is a better choice.”
“Turtle Girl? That’s because you haven’t met Miaomiao Sauce!” Lu Yibei inwardly complained and didn’t answer Qing Ji’s question, instead turning to walk over to Xuan Ying Luo Fu.
Seeing Lu Yibei approach, Xuan Ying Luo Fu glanced over her briefly, looked at Qing Ji, and asked, “Who is that?”
“My ancestor, living in my other spirit energy item,” Lu Yibei shrugged and explained, “It’s quite normal for an old man to live in a spirit energy item, right?”
“I understand,” Xuan Ying Luo Fu nodded, “I’ll try to get along with him.” After saying that, she closed her eyes again.
What she meant by getting along was avoiding any contact with Qing Ji.
Avoiding contact? That won’t do! Lu Yibei crossed her arms over her chest, craned her neck to look at Xuan Ying Luo Fu for a few seconds, raised an eyebrow, grabbed her delicate white wrist, and pulled her up, then naturally embraced her slender waist, turning towards Qing Ji.
“What are you doing?”
Faced with Lu Yibei’s sudden move, Xuan Ying Luo Fu’s expression turned flustered.
“Introducing you to my ancestor!” Lu Yibei tilted her head and blinked, “Why is your face so red? Are you shy?”
“I…” Xuan Ying Luo Fu hesitated.
At this moment, her feelings were complicated. From the energy Lu Yibei emitted and her mannerisms while on Zixiao Terrace, she had initially thought her new master would be a well-behaved, cute, polite, and gentle girl.
However, after getting down from Zixiao Terrace, she realized she had boarded a pirate ship.
She seemed to have been controlled by a nineteen-year-old girl.
Not far away, Qing Ji, seeing Lu Yibei and Xuan Ying Luo Fu’s intimate interaction, his eyes lit up, and he wished he could open a bottle of celebratory wine.
However, just as he expected to hear Lu Yibei say, “Yes, we have a child,” an unexpected situation occurred.
The beautiful woman in white suddenly flickered, her figure distorting and disappearing. In an instant, the rooftop was engulfed in a burst of wind and snow, swirling petals of plum blossom.
The next moment, red flames erupted.
Lu Yibei, wielding a giant sword of light and flame, shattered through the wind and snow, lunging forward. She unleashed the “Taihe Gentleman Sword: Burning Sky Order.”
The giant sword, over two meters long, spewed flames under the enhancement of Burning Sky Order, slashing down from above like a flaming whip.
The momentum was astonishing!
Seeing this, Qing Ji quickly summoned his long sword to block; the next moment, the violent clash of metal erupted, and his figure flew back like a kite with a broken string.
A curse echoed through the dilapidated city.
“d*mn it!”
