**Chapter 54: Ghost Pressure and Ghost Blocking the Way [4K]**
Leaving the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau, Lu Yibei rode a small motorcycle through Mudan Street. The evening glow cast a scarlet hue over Huacheng’s undulating buildings.
Noticing the change in the sky, a flicker of surprise crossed Lu Yibei’s eyes as he took out his phone to check the time. Then, he looked up at the weary sun in the sky, muttering, “Old thing, you’re really getting less useful.”
Since the night began to grow longer, six years have passed. The duration of daylight has quietly shrunk by nearly two hours, and this time is still increasing.
As someone who transforms into a supernatural being every nightfall, Lu Yibei felt this change much more acutely than ordinary people.
In fact, to prevent himself from transforming in public, he set an alarm. An hour before nightfall, the alarm would ring, reminding him to hide.
However, just moments ago, when Lu Yibei noticed the sunset and the impending night, he pulled out his phone to check the time.
17:12, dusk was already visible in the sky, but his alarm was set to go off in 18 minutes and 54 seconds.
This meant that nightfall now arrived nearly twenty minutes earlier than when he first set the alarm ten months ago.
That extra twenty minutes would have been enough for him to ride back to University City, park his motorcycle, and find a suitable place to complete his transformation.
But now, it was clearly too late.
At this rate, will there come a day when the sun sets and never rises again?
By then, wouldn’t I be stuck in a constant state of transformation?
What exactly causes this phenomenon? Could it be some supernatural occurrence at play?
As Lu Yibei pondered these thoughts, he accelerated his motorcycle, heading toward a partially abandoned mall about three kilometers from Mudan Street.
That was the “Old Place” Lu Yibei often used to complete his transformations.
Half an hour later.
When Lu Yibei emerged from the partially abandoned mall, night had already fallen.
He parked his motorcycle nearby and walked out of the parking shed. Enveloped in the night mist, Huacheng opened its arms, welcoming him into its streets.
Just after nightfall, there were still quite a number of pedestrians on the streets, wandering under the glow of streetlights, like swarms of ants heading towards various “ant hills,” dazed and lifeless.
But wasn’t it much better than before? In the past, before night fully set in, one could hardly see any silhouettes on the street. Lu Yibei thought that since she became the Queen of Huacheng’s supernatural tales and managed to control the manifest supernatural occurrences in Huacheng, the residents active at night gradually increased. He even noticed that roadside barbecue stalls, which had nearly vanished, started to reappear.
Setting up roadside barbecue stalls at night was absolutely impossible just half a year ago.
Unless the vendors could accept a situation where ten customers come in a night, with five being supernatural beings, three possessing spirit powers, and only two being normal people, there were no sane people left!
Without hailing a taxi, he walked toward Jingyi Apartment, heading home.
Lu Yibei quickly discovered that the current Huacheng not only had roadside barbecue stalls making a comeback but also some other things that had disappeared for a long time, now appearing on the nighttime streets.
For instance, taking advantage of the night, a boy in the square arranged candles in the shape of a heart to confess.
“Xiao Ting, I’ve liked you for a long time, since middle school. I don’t want to be just friends anymore. Please give me a chance!”
Amidst the candlelight, the boy knelt on one knee, presenting a bouquet of vibrant flowers.
The girl was so surprised that she covered her mouth with both hands, tears welling in her eyes as she nodded and accepted the bouquet.
Witnessing this romantic scene, Lu Yibei rolled her eyes. “Wow, looks like a long-time crush just turned into reality! Congratulations!”
“But that boy probably isn’t too reliable!”
“Why does he keep glancing over here while confessing? Isn’t he afraid his girlfriend will get angry?”
As she grumbled, Lu Yibei used her connection to her coat to send a message, asking it to lengthen her skirt slightly while continuing to walk forward.
Then, what she saw became even more outrageous.
On one side of the square, an old lady leading a square dance finished her performance and walked over to an old man sitting in a wheelchair, extending her hand with a smile, saying, “It’s been thirty years, let’s give each other a chance?”
In front of the largest department store in the city center of Huacheng, preparations were in full swing for an event.
The posters and banners, which hadn’t yet been hung up, displayed phrases like “Confession Season,” and on the main stage banner, it read, “This summer, express to her/him the feelings you’ve been afraid to share.”
Seeing this, Lu Yibei paused briefly, cocked her head to look for a while, then shook her head.
Forget it, Miaomiao Sauce probably wouldn’t be interested in participating in such an event, right?
Even if she reluctantly joined, she would probably refuse to confess.
“Boom—!”
Just as Lu Yibei pondered, fireworks suddenly shot up into the sky in the distance, interrupting her thoughts.
Looking up, the brilliant fireworks under the night sky exploded into words like “I like you.”
Further ahead, underneath a nearby streetlight, even the moths occasionally fluttering beneath the beam of light were pairing off.
Lu Yibei thought,
“Why does it seem like the whole city is in love while I’m still a lonely wolf?”
Summer is indeed the season for passionate romances.
I really want to experience a fierce and sweet love right now!
At this thought, the image of Yu Jianqiu inexplicably flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind, causing her to shiver.
Indeed, if she wanted to jump into a relationship immediately, Yu Jianqiu would fulfill that desire.
“No way, I won’t do it!”
Lu Yibei spat, quickening her pace, changing direction to dart into a secluded alley as a shortcut toward Jingyi Apartment Complex.
There are two great tragedies in life: one is not getting what you want, and the other is getting what you don’t want.
If it’s just for love, it’s better to keep being a lonely wolf.
It’s like being at home for too long, finally preparing to study when your mom suddenly appears, nagging you to go study and instantly evaporating any interest you just had to study.
It’s classic reactance psychology for sure!
Moreover, Lu Yibei always felt that the things she saw on the streets were a bit off, but at the moment, she couldn’t quite pinpoint what was amiss.
What’s more, if she really had to compromise, it wouldn’t be with Yu Jianqiu!
It would be better to compromise with Stinky Sister!
At that thought, Lu Yibei imagined her interactions with Stinky Sister, and suddenly, compromising with Yu Jianqiu felt mundane.
Retracting her thoughts, she continued walking along the winding, narrow alley. After turning a corner, she spotted a few pairs of tangled wild cats ahead.
Lu Yibei remained silent for a few seconds, discreetly activated her spirit seal, and summoned White Puppy.
“White Puppy, go scatter some urine near those cats and see if they can keep showing off! Hey, hey, hey, I didn’t say to do it now!”
With a soft yell, Lu Yibei tossed a spiraling white puppy that burst forth with explosive fluid towards the group of wild cats.
A piercing cat scream echoed through the alley.
The scattered cats, looking back in terror, momentarily couldn’t tell whether Lu Yibei or White Puppy was the true “dog.”
The sky darkened.
Huaxie Yu, dragging her weary body, returned to her dormitory at Huacheng University of Science and Technology.
She opened the door and walked into the dorm without turning on the lights, heading straight to the bed, collapsing onto it and staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.
She never expected that guy was from the Siye Society.
Today, he really wore her out!
She initially thought she could quickly handle him, but now it seemed she had to prepare for a prolonged battle. Huaxie Yu thought inwardly.
Perhaps she was really exhausted today; the drowsiness hit, and her eyelids began to grow heavy, soon plunging her into darkness.
In a semi-dream state, Huaxie Yu suddenly felt a power difficult to describe enveloping her body, invading her insides, pulling something out from within her, entirely removing it from her shell.
Something was taken from her.
In an instant, a sensation akin to that of sitting on a large pendulum at its peak, generating a soft, itchy feeling coursed through her nerves.
Following that, images from years ago began to surface before her eyes.
She saw a group of boys with mocking smiles surrounding her, and the young Lu Yibei, indifferent as she passed by.
Seeing Lu Yibei’s indifferent turnaround, the boy named Mo Bai broke down in tears right before her.
She witnessed the exam room, casting a sidelong glance, the radiant morning sunlight illuminating Lu Yibei’s profile.
Huaxie Yu knew all this was made up by that boy, reflecting Yu Jianqiu’s experiences.
These experiences were supposed to remain as text, preserved only on paper.
Yet, at this moment, everything appeared before her in the first person.
So vivid, so profound, as if she had truly lived through those events.
While her struggling attempts to survive in Fragrant Lady Cave and trying to appear like an ordinary person felt like a fading dream.
This feeling was incredibly eerie, sending chills down Huaxie Yu’s spine. She suddenly realized that if she didn’t wake up soon, things might become very bad.
She began trying to stimulate her senses, attempting to break free from that semi-dream state.
For a few fleeting seconds, she felt awake, but when she prepared to rise, she discovered that her body was completely immobile.
She had experienced this sensation before where her consciousness had awakened but her body remained asleep—a phenomenon commonly known as “ghost pressure.”
Not just once! She was quite experienced.
To escape from the state of “ghost pressure” was akin to climbing out of a pond; it often required a “lever” or a compelling reason to wake up.
In an instant, Huaxie Yu’s mind raced, quickly finding a compelling reason—she hadn’t removed her makeup yet, and couldn’t just fall asleep like this!
For a woman like Huaxie Yu, the care she took for her face sometimes exceeded anyone’s expectations.
Thus, supported by this thought, she unleashed an astonishing power within her, abruptly sitting up from the bed.
As if she had risen from the dead.
“Haah—Haah—!”
She sat on the bed, breathing heavily, cold sweat pouring down her forehead, staring blankly at a corner of the room, her eyes vacant.
It was as if she had a hallucination; in that moment of rising, she seemed to forget something important, leaving her with a strange feeling of emptiness.
“…” Lost in thought for a long time, Huaxie Yu pouted, “Forget it; I should just remove my makeup first.”
In the alley, Lu Yibei continued walking.
To avoid the stench of romantic love wafting through the street, she deliberately chose a less frequented path—a shortcut usually traversed by no one after night fell.
However, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this alley felt longer than she remembered, having walked for quite a while without seeing an end.
Typically, if she encountered such a situation while walking at night, she would definitely feel scared and immediately turn back.
But now, as the Queen of Huacheng’s supernatural tales, she didn’t think she was likely to encounter a “ghost blocking the way.”
Moreover, the types of supernatural occurrences capable of creating a “ghost blocking the way” would usually involve distorting an area’s underground energies to some extent.
And 99% of Huacheng’s underground energies were contained within the God Realm Prototype.
In simple terms, unless Lu Yibei gave her consent, it was nearly impossible for a supernatural occurrence to manifest a “ghost blocking the way” in Huacheng.
So there was nothing to be afraid of!
Thinking this, Lu Yibei shrugged and continued forward in the direction of her memory. Not far ahead, a waft of delicious food scent drifted into her nose.
Following the aroma, she looked toward a third-floor window of a nearby residential building adjacent to the alley, where a man’s silhouette was visible. It seemed to be the kitchen of their home, with the man cooking, and she could faintly hear him laughing, saying, “Little brat, stop making noise; I’ll be done soon!”
Lu Yibei stared at the man, momentarily stunned, her nose feeling a bit sour.
Feeling sentimental, she missed her dad a little and craved his cooking.
If I could eat my dad’s cooking, I’d be willing to stop playing “Love and Magical Girls” forever!
Thinking of the interviews with the Siye Society operatives that she had read in the afternoon regarding Liao Zhai Tavern, Lu Yibei half-jokingly, half-seriously thought this, then looked ahead at the empty alley and shook her head helplessly.
I knew it!
Even if I find the pattern, it’s not that easy to make Liao Zhai Tavern appear.
There are so many people in this world willing to give up their hobbies to exchange for the food they remember, and not everyone has been to Liao Zhai Tavern, right?
Lu Yibei continued walking down the alley, lost in thought.
Then, as she turned a corner, she suddenly caught a whiff of alcohol, heard the clamor of a tavern, and saw lights ahead.
