Chapter 100: Prodigal Son [4K]
“Goodbye, boss!”
“Mm, see you tomorrow!”
“Bye bye, boss!”
“Wait a moment, Xiaoqian, this is for you. Thank you for taking care of those two guys from the South today.”
“Wow, is this the core of the Urban Legend? Thank you, boss!”
“What thanks? Just some leftover bits from the kitchen.”
After watching the last waiter leave, Hu Boss skillfully turned off the last light in the tavern’s hall and, with the dim candlelight from the counter, walked back to the bench behind the counter and sighed silently.
“They’ve all gone!”
Looking up at the empty tavern shrouded in shadows, Hu Boss inexplicably recalled the scene when he first took over the Liao Zhai Tavern.
At that time, the tavern had no Mr. Black or Bai Laomu, nor did it have Ying Ningning or Xiao Qing as waitstaff, and definitely no helpers in the kitchen.
It was just a shabby hut easily mistaken for a scam establishment, with a mud-stuffed stove, a few jars of murky wine, and a poor boss for company, with barely a few customers all year round.
Time flies; looking back, it’s been a thousand years. The Liao Zhai Tavern has unknowingly become what it is today, and all of it has been built brick by brick by his own hands.
“Ha, how strange. What’s going on today? Why do I suddenly remember things from the past? Have I reached that age where I like to reminisce?”
Hu Boss chuckled at himself, got up, and unsealed a jar of wine, unusually pouring himself a drink into a ceramic bowl.
The wine was made from ancient methods of fermentation using grains, murky with some impurities, yet the aroma was exceptionally sweet and rich.
“Ah—!” After drinking, Hu Boss exhaled a long breath of turbid air, sighing, “Although winemaking technology has advanced by leaps and bounds now, I really still prefer this.”
When he was young, the first bowl of wine that the scholar fed him was this kind, a taste he could never forget; even after drinking so much fine wine, famous brands, and spirit energy wine, none compared to that bowl of murky wine.
Strangely enough, that scholar was so poor he couldn’t even afford food, yet he spent money on wine and generously shared it with a nearly starving little urban legend.
“Clang!”
He casually tossed the ceramic bowl onto the counter and sat back on the bench; just as he was about to lie down, he frowned.
It felt as if there was an illusion; he sensed the entire tavern was shaking.
It shouldn’t be!
With my alcohol tolerance, it’s not something ordinary murky wine could knock me down.
How could it be…
Hu Boss pondered for a moment until he felt the dust from the roof gently falling down, and the jars and dishes on the counter collided softly, ringing. He suddenly realized the tavern was indeed shaking.
“This feeling, could it be …”
Muttering to himself, he immediately focused his spirit energy to communicate with [Life as a Wonder]. His expression changed abruptly, first in shock, followed by a growing joy.
[Life as a Wonder] was a tool he used when brewing that jar of earthly fireworks, intricately connected with his spirit energy.
At this moment, through that subtle connection, he could clearly feel an emotion from [Life as a Wonder] akin to joy and cheer.
That state was like the legendary scenario where when a divine weapon is forged, all weapons within a hundred miles resonate in unison, producing a buzzing sound.
Someone has cooked up earthly fireworks!
Absolutely cannot be wrong; it was the same way last two times!
Who could it be? Could it be Calamity?
Hu Boss thought, suddenly standing up and gazing across the tavern’s main hall out the window.
The moon was bright, and the stars sparse outside; he could vaguely see the outlines of ordinary buildings that could be seen across most cities.
Gazing at those outlines, Hu Boss’s eyes deepened as if he could somehow see through to Huacheng.
“Maybe I should set off to meet the Calamity,” Hu Boss murmured.
“Do you think this looks a bit strange?”
Looking at Huaxie Yu lying on a pile of white steamed buns, Luxianbei felt the scene was a bit eerie.
If they also arranged a circle of chrysanthemums, lit two white candles, and scattered some yellow paper money…
“To be fair, it does look a bit odd, and I feel like I’ve seen something similar somewhere before,” Jumeng nodded, contemplating.
“Does it look like a funeral home?” Luxianbei asked with a blank expression.
“No, no, it’s not it,” Jumeng thought for a moment, “it should be something else, but I can’t recall right now.”
“Hey, useless thing!” Luxianbei spat, stepping forward to prepare to set the sealing spell around Huaxie Yu.
Though Luxianbei had already thought about how to handle the steamed buns after absorbing the parasitic urban legend’s spirit energy.
Once the parasitic urban legend’s energy completely enters those buns, and their activity is low, they would then let White Puppy blow them up a few times. After that, using Oujinbang would turn them all to gold, making it impossible for them to come back to life.
However, according to the Proxy Player Sister, attracting the parasitic urban legend out of Huaxie Yu’s body with these buns would take a considerable amount of time.
During this process, the detached parasitic urban legend still posed a risk of further harm, so preparations must be made in advance.
“Wait!”
Just as Luxianbei activated the sealing spell numbered thirty-eight, she suddenly heard Jumeng’s soft exclamation from behind, her body stiffened, and a bit of sweat appeared on her forehead.
“W-what’s wrong?”
“I remembered where I’ve seen this scene before!” Jumeng pointed at Huaxie Yu and the pile of buns, looking serious, “Before, when the Peach Source’s citizens honored Sister Me, those roasted suckling pigs were also arranged like this!”
“However, at our place, the roasted suckling pigs were placed on top of longevity peach stuffed buns.”
Luxianbei fell silent for a few seconds, expressionless, “Is that it? Can we be a bit more reliable? You suddenly cried out, and I thought something went wrong, and the parasitic urban legend was coming out early!”
“Hehe!” Jumeng, a little disgruntled, stuck her tongue out at Luxianbei but didn’t say anything more, quietly stepping aside to watch Luxianbei set up the sealing spell, until
Until dozens of intertwined spells cast a brilliant glow, completely enveloping Huaxie Yu, leaving only a vague outline.
It felt as though lying in a crystal coffin, waiting for the remains to bid farewell, creating an even more ominous atmosphere.
Preparation was complete; Luxianbei wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead and sighed, turning to Jumeng, giving her a look, “That’s it, shall we release the pressure on the parasitic urban legend?”
This time, she utilized sealing spells numbered three and above: after amplification, stacked together, any level below the Cataclysm Grade had no possibility of breaking through, barely making it safe.
After all, although parasitic urban legends have peculiar abilities, their spirit energy fluctuation levels aren’t very high; as long as they are detached from their host, it’s not particularly hard to control.
But, shooting a missile at a bird, as long as it hits!
“Not yet,” Jumeng shook her head.
“Why not?”
“You need to retreat a little further,” Jumeng glared at Luxianbei, saying coolly, “Of course, if you want to become a mother by accident, feel free to ignore what I said.”
She relied on preventing the parasitic urban legend from “growing” to achieve suppression, so releasing the pressure meant allowing it to “grow.”
During this process, if Luxianbei was too close, there was always a possibility of being affected.
Become a mother by accident? Luxianbei paused for a moment, then her body trembled slightly, hurriedly running back, and after not going far, turned back again and scooped up Wang Ying, who had already chewed on all ten of her fingers.
By the time Jumeng came to her senses, Luxianbei was already nowhere to be seen. The next moment, her phone rang. Upon answering, a familiar voice came through the line.
“Now we can start!”
“Wait, where did you go?”
“To the rooftop!”
“…” Jumeng’s mouth twitched slightly. “Actually, you don’t need to run that far.”
“You didn’t specify how far was a safe distance,” Luxianbei retorted. “If conditions allowed, I might even want to leave the city.”
Jumeng,
Although she indeed had the ability to extend the radius of her powers to cover the entire city, she could still control spirit energy leaks to within two or three meters.
“You coward! How scared are you?”
As she said this, she rolled her eyes, hung up the phone, put it away, looked at Huaxie Yu, took a deep breath, murmured her power description, and activated her powers.
“From the great fruits born of the Fushang Sacred Tree, thousands of the kings of magpies,
“From the great fruits born of the Fushang Sacred Tree, thousands of the kings of magpies, the ones opposing misfortune with wealth, the lord of the Peach Source eight hundred miles, the master of fate and offspring.”
As Jumeng recited her power description twice, a faint reddish light began to emerge from her body.
As her thoughts turned, the enchanting red light surged forth.
Suppress, release!
In an instant, the released parasitic urban legend erupted like a bloodthirsty monster, pouring out from Huaxie Yu’s chest and lunging towards the pile of snow-white buns beneath her.
“—3—!”
It was as if the imprisoned beast was violently crashing against its cage; the sounds of violent collisions echoed continuously, and dozens of sealing spells shook together, sending forth brilliant light.
Through the woven cage of sealing spells, one could see fountain-like, black gas seeping out from every pore of Huaxie Yu, surging outward.
As the power of the parasitic urban legends poured out from her body, the black gas thickened, coalescing into mist that then transformed into a viscous liquid state.
Countless twisted organ shapes and eyes with disgusting colors emerged from within, with foolish, resentful, and mad spirit energy fluctuations surging violently beneath the cage.
Thick, restless, and repulsive, these eerie substances filled the entire cage.
“Rumble, scratch!”
The black fog swept across, scratching like sharp claws, creating an unbearable grating noise intermittently.
That sound was like invisible insects crawling, drilling into ear drums, ravaging the internal organs and bones.
The detached parasitic urban legends displayed their terrifying attributes as best as they could.
It was as if they were reminding onlookers that once freed: they would instantly transform into colossal beings that cause shudders.
Just like the legends of demons imprisoned in crystal bottles.
This made Jumeng think of those urban legends that she had imprisoned in jars before, not lacking in terrifying existences with spirit energy fluctuation levels close to the Cataclysm.
However, those parasitic urban legends detaching from Huaxie Yu’s body, though frightening in appearance, felt somewhat feeble due to being trapped in the cage of sealing spells.
It was like prisoners awaiting execution, devoid of the earlier invincibility and defiant power, reduced to resentfully peering through a tiny window to take one last glance at this beautiful world before burying their heads in a rich feast.
Realizing escape was impossible, these parasitic urban legends began to invade the buns under Huaxie Yu, as if that was their last resort.
With countless viscous liquids pouring in, the white buns suddenly sounded as if sizzling from hot oil, releasing a “sizzle” sound.
Along with the faint sounds, a splendid flow of light emerged, and amidst the flowing light, faint phantoms appeared, but all the illusions disintegrated rapidly as the corrosion intensified.
When beautiful dreams shatter, turning into abyss, countless “souls” wander, suffer, and become lost, ultimately burning out, leading to ruination.
It was like watching the world descend into hell.
Observing such a scene, Jumeng turned her face away with some reluctance.
Though she knew those illusions were merely residual fragments of memory from earthly fireworks, she couldn’t help but recall the devastation wrought by the indomitable Bai Yang in the Peach Source.
In the end, much like fungi consuming the nutrients from parasites and growing, the buns began to decay, sprouting mold.
In just a few breaths, all that remained was a mass that resembled highly rotted flesh, a dark and murky mud.
Someone likened a culture bottle full of spores to a microcosmic wondrous world; in a certain sense, these buns imbued with the essence of earthly fireworks were the same.
But now, this world was in destruction, spawning eternal nightmares.
In this dreamlike world, a desolation and silence reigned.
At Jingyi Apartment Block 3, on the rooftop.
“So slow, if it takes any longer, the Special Action Team brothers will discover something’s off and come to investigate.”
Luxianbei held Wang Ying in her arms, looking up at the sky, her brow furrowed.
Affected by the spirit energy fluctuations, caused by the parasitic urban legend consuming earthly fireworks, the clouds in the sky gathered darkly, emanating a dim red light, swirling and twisting like a nightmare.
Just as Luxianbei gazed blankly at the sky, a figure suddenly appeared at the entrance of the rooftop, slowly walking over and stopping beside her.
“You successfully created earthly fireworks, right?”
Glancing back discreetly, seeing that it was Hu Boss, Luxianbei replied, “Probably? I’m not too sure.”
Receiving a positive response, Hu Boss exclaimed in delight, “That’s awesome, where? Let me see!”
“Well, you’re a bit late; I already fed it to the parasitic urban legend,” Luxianbei shrugged.
Hu Boss,
“???”
What?! Fed it to the parasitic urban legend?
That was earthly fireworks!
How could you feed that to such a thing? That’s way too wasteful!
Suddenly, he felt like an old father witnessing his prodigal son, a burning sensation rising in his chest, bl**d pressure skyrocketing.
