Chapter Nineteen: Hello, Teacher! [4K]
“The female college student whose identity was exposed slightly parted her lips and stared wide-eyed at Luxianbei, unable to utter a single word for a long time, shocked as if she had seen a ‘couple hot pot’ in Shancheng.
Indeed, she was a urban legend, feeding on humanity’s pity and suspicion towards beggars. Of course, it would be even better if she could conveniently harvest some money during her ‘hunting’ process.
She had been hunting on this street for a long time, and it was the first time her identity had been revealed.
Generally speaking, low-level urban legends like her do not dare to wander aimlessly on the streets, while high-level spiritual ability users and urban legends disdain paying attention to low-level urban legends like her.
Staring blankly at Luxianbei for a few seconds, she asked in a lowered voice, ‘Aren’t you afraid I’ll deceive you?’
‘Didn’t I just say it?’ Luxianbei replied, ‘I’m confident I can tell whether you’re lying. Even if you do lie, I can figure out the truth.’
Upon hearing this, the college student finally compromised. After accepting the note that contained the emotions of passerby pity, she silently sighed and said, ‘Fine, what do you want to ask?’
Luxianbei tilted her head and thought for a moment before pointing at the nearby CHARMCLUB and asking, ‘Do you know who owns that nightclub?’
The first question was quite difficult, and the college student immediately frowned. ‘I know, but why are you asking this? That’s the territory of the Solar Eclipse Society.’
‘What’s wrong with the Solar Eclipse Society? I’m looking for them,’ Luxianbei said nonchalantly.
At times like this, her tone was quite forceful.
Seems like she’s met someone impressive? The college student looked at Luxianbei in shock and said, ‘If this is what you want to ask, I think it’s better if we don’t discuss it out here on the street.’
‘Good point,’ Luxianbei raised her hand and pointed towards a nearby McDonald’s. ‘We can go over there and find a corner to sit down and talk slowly.’
From there, through the floor-to-ceiling windows, they could still see the entrance of CHARMCLUB, allowing them to continue waiting for that suspicious girl to appear while also gathering intel from the college student.
Following the direction Luxianbei pointed, the college student glanced at the expressionless face of Luxianbei and nodded, packing up her ‘street stall’ and walking with her to the fast-food restaurant.
After casually buying two sets of meals and finding a corner to sit down, the college student continued speaking.
‘The owner of that nightclub is called Zhang Yu, male; twenty-eight years old, unmarried. Besides this nightclub, he owns several other different types of entertainment venues and has a preference for certain types of women.’
‘Wait, stop!’ Luxianbei interrupted, ‘Is that what I was asking you about? Why does it sound like an introduction at a matchmaking corner?’
‘Isn’t this what you wanted to know?’ The college student asked in confusion.
Don’t think I don’t know. I can tell you’re an urban legend of the witch variety!
You witches don’t usually ask about diamond-level single male spiritual ability users; isn’t it much different from matchmaking?
No, matchmaking could still be heartfelt, but you all are purely about physical relations, the college student thought.
‘Of course, that’s not it!’ Luxianbei rolled her eyes, ‘Why don’t you tell me when that Zhang, oh, Zhang Yu, usually appears here, and what his spirit patterns are?’
‘I can’t get that close,’ the college student said awkwardly, ‘After all, I’m just a low-level urban legend begging on the street.’
After hearing this, Luxianbei tossed the coins in her hand, caught them swiftly after making her prediction, and nodded, ‘Alright, continue!’
Judgment result: true.
Though she hadn’t managed to investigate detailed information about this Zhang Yu, she at least learned who was in charge of that Solar Eclipse Society; this could be considered a gain.
In fact, she hadn’t had too much expectation about the information the college student could provide.
Gossip from the streets is good to hear, and useful information is nice too, but mostly just to pass the time.
‘Second question,’ Luxianbei thought for a moment and asked, ‘Do you know what the Solar Eclipse Society has been up to recently, especially with the Haze God?’
As soon as the words finished, the college student immediately revealed a ‘is it you who has the problem or me who has the problem’ expression.
Trying to gather information from a low-level urban legend who has a spiritual energy fluctuation level of only C and has to rely on begging to survive about the Solar Eclipse Society working with the Haze God was as absurd as asking a child in split-crotch pants and mud what they think of international affairs.
Even if she knew something, she couldn’t just blurt it out!
Seeing this, Luxianbei realized that her question was somewhat absurd and shifted the topic. ‘What I mean is, any information related to their recent activities would be fine.’
After a pause, she added, ‘If you provide good answers, I might even pay more.’
The college student thought, ‘d*mn, as expected of a witch, trying to manipulate my heart with bribes?
What else can I do but agree?
This is a witch’s temptation, and for a low-level urban legend, how can I resist?
“They’ve been hunting spiritual ability potentials rampantly. Previously, some peripheral members of the Solar Eclipse Society approached me to—’
‘Look for your cooperation?’ Luxianbei interrupted, ‘Cooperate for what?’
‘To let me help them catch people!’ The college student pouted and whispered, ‘They were somewhat cautious of the Siye Society and didn’t dare to be too blatant. But I didn’t agree! Even conmen have their own ethics; abducting people is too immoral.’
This time, Luxianbei didn’t toss the coins, judging the truthfulness of the college student’s words.
The statement about conmen having ethics gave her a feeling of mutual understanding; she decided to trust the college student for the time being.
‘Anything else?’
‘There’s more,’ the college student thought seriously, her eyes slightly brightening, ‘I know something else. I’m not sure if it counts as related to them.’
‘Do tell?’
‘Did I mention they wanted my cooperation and help in hunting? I actually agreed at first, and I even followed the target I was preparing to hunt to his home. But in the end, I gave up,’ the college student said. ‘What I wanted to say is about that target I was preparing to hunt.’
‘Oh? What’s wrong with that target?’ Luxianbei asked with curiosity.
‘That guy,’ the college student pointed to her head, ‘He has a problem here!’
As she spoke, recalling the things she had seen at that man’s house, her expression gradually became serious, and she corrected herself, ‘No, it’s not that there’s a problem; I suspect he has an overly strong innate spiritual perception and has seen some strange things that he couldn’t handle, and now his brain is broken.’
Luxianbei looked at the college student, slightly furrowing her brows. Was it her imagination? She detected a hint of fear and unease in the college student’s expression.
What could a potential spiritual ability user without spirit patterns have done to scare a C-level urban legend?
This piqued her interest.
‘Continue, tell me everything he did.’
Uh, I forgot to mention, that man is a painter,’ the college student pressed her lips together and said, ‘How should I put it? If he hadn’t seen those strange things and had his brain messed up, he’s actually quite a nice guy. That day I was working on the street, he passed by me—’
‘Get to the point!’ Luxianbei reminded.
‘Uh, sorry, I got sidetracked,’ the college student paused before continuing, ‘In summary, that day I subtly hinted at him, and he took me back to his home, where I saw several of his paintings in his studio that is also his home.’
‘Those paintings were very strange, eerie. Just staring at those images, let’s put it this way? As an urban legend, I thought I had high tolerance for bizarre things, but seeing those paintings still triggered my instinctive fear.
‘I’m not very knowledgeable about art, so I can’t describe those paintings well. I only noticed that with very simple brush strokes, he outlined a series of chaotic, dreadful scenes. Oh, right, those paintings probably depict the city because I vaguely made out some outlines of buildings.
‘There were three paintings in total. The first gave a sense of thriving energy, but there were some filthy things floating above the city. The second painting felt very oppressive, giving one the feeling of witnessing the entire process of the city’s corruption. The key was the third painting,’ the college student’s eyes grew vacant and she fell silent. Luxianbei couldn’t help but urge, ‘What about the third painting?’
‘The college student snapped back to reality and looked at Luxianbei. ‘The third painting— I felt a jarring sickness in it. The twisted, deformed creatures depicted in that painting were like mutated organs, emitting an emotion that reeked of rot.’
Pausing, she emphasized, ‘I’m not exaggerating; my power grants me the ability to absorb emotions, allowing me to sense a particular reaction to various emotions. I genuinely felt a kind of indescribable stench emanating from that painting.
‘I believe the subject he painted is some sort of urban legend, because he told me he saw some strange things during his most recent sketching that prompted him to create those three paintings to document the stunning scenes he witnessed.
‘Stunning? What stunning? I think he was certainly scared out of his wits by the urban legends he saw, causing his mind to break down.’
‘If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve been in Shancheng long enough to be well-informed, I might have thought he saw some kind of cataclysm-grade urban legend hovering over Shancheng— and I’m not referring to the Haze God, but a certain cataclysm-grade urban legend that no one has ever encountered or knows of.’
After listening to the college student’s words, Luxianbei fell into brief silence. A few seconds later, she raised her head and looked straight into the college student’s eyes, speaking earnestly, ‘So, you didn’t give up on cooperating with the Solar Eclipse Society because you felt it was immoral; you were actually scared off by that painter’s paintings, right?’
This question had a dual purpose. If the college student admitted she was frightened by that painter’s work, it would indicate that the Solar Eclipse Society really had approached her for cooperation, and she indeed had seen those terrifying paintings.
Upon hearing Luxianbei’s question, the college student expressed an awkward and indecisive reply, ‘Do you have to put it so plainly? Seriously, I was scared, alright?’
An urban legend scared out of her wits by a normal person’s artwork: what’s the difference between that and a professional conman being deceived out of their pants by a primary school student?
It was humiliating!
‘Ding—!’
Luxianbei, expressionless, stared at the college student as she tossed the coins in her hand and caught them swiftly, feeling a fleeting tremor in her pupils as a thought flashed by.
What the college student said was true.
Does it mean that the painter really saw something horrific?
Before swallowing the witch’s egg, Luxianbei often witnessed things that could shatter one’s sanity, so she could somewhat understand that the painter, upon observing some bizarre phenomena, couldn’t help but want to express his trembling heart through painting.
She had similar thoughts before, but she didn’t possess any special talents; she couldn’t paint, wasn’t musically inclined, and was entirely oblivious to dancing— she could only cook.
In that state, it could very likely end up as a simplified version of hell on earth, right?
At that point, even if it was finished, she wouldn’t be able to eat it, and would have to throw it away.
Wouldn’t that turn into a vicious poisoning incident?
Luxianbei thought, gently shaking her head, shaking off the messy thoughts in her mind. She looked at the college student and asked, ‘Is there anything else? Do you know anything else?’
‘That’s all,’ the college student shook her head. This time, her tone was very firm, ‘After seeing that guy’s paintings, I was so scared I wouldn’t dare to get close to their issues again! I’m trying to hide, for goodness’ sake!’
‘Hmm.’ Luxianbei nodded thoughtfully, ‘Last question, after you tell me this, it will be yours.’
As she spoke, she retrieved a palm-sized Spirit Energy item produced by the Calamity Scare Irresponsible Company from the God Realm Prototype and placed it in the college student’s hand.
The college student examined the Spirit Energy item in her hand, revealing a flattering smile. ‘You say, you say!’
Though this Spirit Energy item was low in rank, it was well-crafted, making it a nice self-defense item for a low-level urban legend like her.
‘You’ve been to that painter’s studio, right? Just tell me the address!’
Though she didn’t know if what that guy saw was related to the Solar Eclipse Society or the Haze God, investigating it wouldn’t hurt.
Once she got the address from the college student, Luxianbei checked the time; there was still about an hour until midnight. She returned to the street, standing by the roadside, gazing across the street at the entrance of the nightclub, waiting for that suspicious girl.
As she watched the crowd entering and exiting in front of the nightclub, her mind was filled with the three paintings that the college student had described earlier.
Perhaps the spirits of urban legends resided in those three paintings, and they were indeed magical. She had clearly decided not to think about them anymore, but her mind could not help but conjure up chaotic images.
Just as she was lost in thought due to the images swirling in her mind, a pair of pale little hands quietly reached from behind her, linking around her arm.
In the next moment, before Luxianbei could come to her senses, she heard a soft call beside her ear.
‘Hello, Teacher! Were you waiting for me?’
Suddenly turning her head, she found that the person she had been waiting for was indeed that suspicious girl, and the chaotic images in Luxianbei’s mind were instantly replaced by a barrage of question marks.
???’
What on earth is going on? Why is she calling me teacher?
