Chapter Three: Preparations Before Departure [4K]
“No need to tell Xing Yuan, what’s more important than a son and daughter-in-law, right? You know that I’m life and d*ath friends with their father.
In the antique-style room, the bronze-colored incense burner was emitting strange-smelling smoke. Bai Kaibian sat on a stone round table, bare-chested, leaning to the side, waving his hands nonchalantly while talking to the stern man behind him.
“Now that both their fathers are gone, I, as their godfather, must bear the responsibility for anything that happens!“
“There are still elders at home; it’s not up to those two juniors to fight to the d*ath.”
The General glanced at the seemingly relaxed Bai Kai, raising his brows slightly. “What you want to tell, who you want to tell, what you want to do, and what you don’t want to do have nothing to do with me. I’m just worried about you dying in my house, and then there won’t even be anyone to collect the body.”
“Hey! Saying that kind of thing at this time is a bit unlucky, don’t you think?” Bai Kai looked at the General, tilting his head.
“Before it even begins, you’re thinking about finding someone to collect my body after a failure; can you even do this?”
“Of course I can do it, I’m just afraid that you can’t.” The General said expressionlessly, “But who was it that begged me to stop halfway through drawing the Spirit Patterns?”
Indeed, back then, after Bai Kai’s Spirit Pattern went out of control and corrupted, it was the General who used the family’s mixed Spirit Pattern drawing method to help Bai Kai modify his Spirit Pattern, turning it from a heroic spirit type to a mixed type.
However, the General’s family method of drawing Spirit Patterns had a huge drawback: the person being drawn would endure immense pain, to the extent of claiming it felt like their muscles were being stripped from their bones.
And that pain wasn’t just experienced once; it was repeated for each component of the mixed type. When Bai Kai could no longer bear the torment during the drawing process, right when the corruption symptoms had just stabilized, he fled, interrupting the drawing.
Now, he sought out the General because he wanted to complete that unfinished Spirit Pattern before delving deeper into Yumen Pass.
Bai Kai grimaced in silence for a few seconds, gritting his teeth, “What’s wrong with me?”
“Isn’t it because you didn’t explain it clearly! You even said it’s not painful at all, at most it’s like getting a [Loyalty to Country] tattoo on the back.”
“Right.” The General nodded, “I did say that.”
“But you didn’t say it was lyrics!” Bai Kai rolled his eyes, “Who can handle that when it says, ‘From the time the smoke rises up to the arrival of joy’?”
“I can.” The General calmly replied.
Bai Kai looked at the General, opened his mouth, and hesitated.
Indeed, both were mixed Spirit Patterns, but the General’s Spirit Patterns were more than five times the components.
After a brief silence, Bai Kai waved his hand, “In any case, I am now completely different from back then, just bring it on!”
His master always said that he was the one with the highest talent among the three disciples, but was carefree by nature, lacked perseverance, and had no sense of responsibility in doing things, making it difficult for him to achieve great success in the future. Today, he wanted to let that old man know he was wrong, Bai Kai thought fiercely.
The General looked Bai Kai up and down, nodding thoughtfully, “That makes sense.”
“Though why do I feel like you’re being strange and mysterious?”
“Absolutely not.” The General shook his head, seriously, “It’s said that women help men grow; considering your experiences over the years, you must have grown quite a lot.”
“Well, I’ve almost grown to rot!” Ignoring the General’s teasing, Bai Kai raised his chin, “Unlike some people who probably won’t change even until they d*e.”
“Pfft——!”
Before Bai Kai could finish his statement, a sound of flesh tearing erupted from his back, a chill shot through his spine, straight to his brain, and after a moment, intense pain struck.
“d*mn! Ugh, what are you doing?”
“Helping you draw the Spirit Pattern.” The General slowly rotated the obsidian sacrificial kn*fe, piercing into Bai Kai’s spine, questioning, “You came to find me to complete the Spirit Pattern, right?”
“d*mn it!” Bai Kai erupted with an expletive, “Let’s go!”
“Hmm, hold on, don’t d*e.” The General said.
As soon as he spoke, his fingertips exerted force, the sacrificial kn*fe instantly left a bl**d mark on Bai Kai’s back, about the length of an arm, deep enough to see the bone, with scorching bl**d spraying out like a fountain.
Thus, the drawing began.
The pain felt like his spine was shattering, his soul tearing apart, engulfing Bai Kai’s consciousness like a violent flood.
After deciding to check out Shancheng, Luxianbei skillfully navigated the Siye Association’s internal network, accessing his personal affairs management interface.
Although he was eager to see Jiang Li and wanted to find the Solar Eclipse Society’s hideout in Shancheng as soon as possible, he needed to take care of the basics before departing.
Such as submitting a leave application to the Siye Association, arranging for Wang Ying, and concocting an excuse to fool Stinky Sister back to Peach Spring.
If all went smoothly, it would be best to complete the fusion of God Realm Manifestation and Ling Tai Purification before departure.
This trip wasn’t just to find Jiang Li; he also intended to infiltrate the Solar Eclipse Society to stir up trouble, so it was better to be well-prepared.
“Attendance rate 48.7%?” Seeing his pitifully low attendance rate on his personal affairs management interface, Luxianbei couldn’t help but sigh, “Am I really that lackadaisical? Even Water Brother has 71.2%.”
Following that, after seeing the attendance rates of a few other operatives, he felt a sense of betrayal, like a buddy who usually skips class and plays games with him suddenly scoring first in the finals.
However, upon viewing Gu Xiliu’s attendance rate, he instantly felt relieved.
Haha, what the hell is 2.0%? There’s actually someone lazier than me?
If the Siye Association’s attendance rate were tied to wages, his would probably be slashed until next year, and Gu Xiliu would be lucky not to see a paycheck for three years.
Thankfully, the Siye Association wasn’t an “exploiting vampire” company; as long as the reason for leave was reasonable and there were no urgent matters that needed immediate handling, leave requests were generally approved. Otherwise, the operatives of Huacheng Siye Society wouldn’t be able to develop side jobs during work hours.
“Leave application for investigation
Typing the text, pressing enter, scrolling to the bottom of the page, and clicking “Submit,” Luxianbei watched the message “Waiting for Approval” on the screen and nodded in satisfaction.
Although if he was just leaving Huacheng for a short while, he could fill out a form directly and hand it to Li Xuan, but then Li Xuan would likely not miss a chance to question and tease him.
After spending so much time together, Luxianbei felt that Li Xuan wasn’t so annoying after all; it wouldn’t be good to random about someone’s “wife” either. Colleagues should get along harmoniously, but he couldn’t help it!
As a seasoned salary thief, Luxianbei knew very well what kinds of leave reasons were easier to get approved.
And investigation was one of the easiest reasons to get approved.
Some say that urban legend incidents are like dust in the corners of rooms, hiding in the crevices of the concrete jungle, only to be discovered when touched.
As that saying goes, most urban legends don’t hunt humans in broad daylight, and most urban legend incidents are difficult to detect before causing widespread damage.
Sometimes, even when someone is attacked by an urban legend, it is treated as a rather bizarre criminal case.
Therefore, the Siye Association has always supported operatives leaving the office to walk around, delving into various industries to capture traces of urban legend incidents from people’s gossip.
Moreover, Luxianbei truly felt that he was indeed going out for an investigation; there was no way it wouldn’t get approved.
Who can say that investigating the location of the Solar Eclipse Society’s hideout in Shancheng isn’t considered an investigation?
Even if that guardian could determine the truth of events solely through words, using her powers to review, she still wouldn’t be able to pick out any flaws!
After waiting for a moment, the webpage displayed on the computer screen refreshed, and “Waiting for Approval” transformed into “Approval Granted.”
“Hmm, this should be fine!”
Seeing the leave application get approved, Luxianbei nodded, turned off the computer, and left the office.
He still needed to go home to arrange for Stinky Sister and Wang Ying.
Shancheng, Linjiang Gate.
Shancheng has had a thriving water transport industry since ancient times. Early on, factions like Lower River Gang, Upper River Gang, and Little River Gang formed, with Linjiang Gate being a gathering place for the Little River Gang. Today, the Little River Gang has long been submerged in the river of history, but the docks where the gang once gathered still remain.
Starting from the dock, climbing up a long stone staircase that had been there for who knows how many years, after about five minutes, he spotted a hot pot restaurant with its door opening into a narrow alley.
The decor of the hot pot restaurant had a vintage feel, playing old songs from the 1990s, and the tableware used for serving dishes consisted of blue and white enamel plates, giving one a sense of time travel.
In one corner of the hot pot restaurant, at a window seat, sat two beautiful girls. A copper pot was placed between them, with red broth bubbling and releasing pure white steam and mouth-watering aromas.
Sitting on the left was a blonde girl with a very standard oval face; her deep purple eyes faintly showed a complex pattern resembling a star. Her full lips glistened bright red, as they were coated with spicy oil.
She wore a tight, cropped white T-shirt and fitted jeans, even while sitting, her curves were vividly displayed.
Sitting at the table, seemingly unfazed by the heat, she continuously stuffed freshly cooked dishes that were still steaming into her mouth, chewing with gusto, until her cheeks swelled slightly. In the pauses between swallowing, she would lift a chilled beer mug and guzzle it down recklessly, without a care for her beautiful girl image.
After the cold beer, mixed with the scorching and spicy food, fell into her stomach, the girl recalled there was a distant guest sitting across from her, and she noisily greeted him.
“I say, big sister, stop daydreaming and eat something!”
“Try this duck bl**d; it’s their signature dish and super delicious, come on!”
In stark contrast to the fiery and unrestrained girl was the silver-haired girl sitting across from her, who was as quiet as a little white flower blooming in the corner.
She rested her chin on one hand, quietly gazing at the setting sun spilling over the river outside the window, lost in thought. Only when the girl across from her urged her would she pick up her chopsticks, take a small piece of food, chew slowly, then once again fall into “stillness,” seemingly uninterested in the hot pot.
After a moment, the blonde girl could no longer endure the slightly oppressive atmosphere, put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, crossed her arms, observing her guest with a tilted head for a moment, then suddenly stood up, reached out her hands, turned the guest’s head towards herself, and gently patted her cheek.
“Hey hey, for that stinky guy, you’re not even eating, this isn’t the Jiang Li I know!”
“It’s just because I didn’t accept your invitation, right? You can fix him later! By the way, I remember you’re his superior? When you go back, just scold him!”
“No need.” Jiang Li replied calmly, “He must have something important to handle, that’s why he didn’t see the email, I’m not angry.”
“Not angry? After so many days, you didn’t even give him a call?” The girl pouted, “Having something important doesn’t count! Haven’t you heard, the world is vast, but wives are the biggest?”
“We’re not married yet, we can only be considered a couple at most.” Jiang Li corrected seriously.
“Then he definitely needs to know your worth!” The girl said indignantly, “If he dares to ignore you now, who knows how he’ll bully you later after you’re married!
If it comes down to it, I can help you beat him up!”
As she spoke, the girl flipped her golden ponytail, slightly raised her chin, and lifted her right hand to show off her not-so-obvious biceps.
Like Jiang Li, she had also been an operative of the Siye Association, rescued from the Solar Eclipse Society as an experiment. With Spirit Patterns, it was natural that they couldn’t simply let them return to normal life; they could only control them temporarily, waiting until they were observed and trained adequately before granting them freedom.
Many like them, who obtained Spirit Patterns due to various illegal spirit energy organizations or unexpected incidents, were mostly concentrated in a secret base near Shanhaiguan.
After all, for insurance, before confirming the stability of Spirit Patterns, people like them would be treated as suspected urban legends.
In that base, though Jiang Li was not much older than the girl sharing the room with her, she took on the role of an older sister, taking care of her. When the girl couldn’t withstand the oppressive atmosphere of the base and was on the verge of breaking down, Jiang Li encouraged her to keep going.
The girl’s gratitude towards Jiang Li was always etched in her heart. Now that she saw Jiang Li being bullied by some stinky guy out of nowhere, how could she endure it?
Jiang Li furrowed her brows, wanting to speak but hesitating.
Seeing this, the girl waved her hand, pouting, “Alright, alright, seeing you like this, I won’t beat him up, but I have to scold him!”
Jiang Li supported her forehead, rubbing her slightly swollen temples.
Was I concerned about Luxianbei getting beaten?
I was worried you couldn’t beat him!
By the way, you probably can’t scold him either.
Just then, the girl, known as Kule, shot Jiang Li a knowing glance, then quietly pointed towards a young man not far away with long hair and a slight hunch.
That man is suspicious? Realizing the girl’s gaze, Jiang Li nodded in understanding.
Not knowing if it was an illusion, when she focused on the young man, she vaguely felt the Black Sun Totem behind her stirring restlessly.
Could he be from the Solar Eclipse Society? Jiang Li wondered if Kule would achieve great merit this time.
She was well aware of the girl’s Spirit Pattern abilities; once Kule suspected someone was linked to an urban legend event, that person was certainly problematic.
With this strange ability, Kule had even previously caught a woman who looked a bit suspicious while walking her dog in the morning, resulting in the uncovering and resolution of a large-scale cult-related spirit ability attack incident.
In terms of investigating and solving urban legend incidents, Kule was like the fabled chosen one who could “level up” even after falling off a cliff.
After a brief exchange of glances, Kule quickly threw her shoulder bag over her back, trailed behind the young man, and left the hot pot restaurant, while Jiang Li swiftly followed after settling the bill.
