Chapter Eighty-Eight: Task Invitation Letter
In the early morning, at Taohua Homestay, Room 302.
The wind, carrying warm and humid air, slapped against the window. Lu Yibei, still in bed, could hear the loud call of the summer cicadas outside, interspersed with the faint sounds of metal clashing against brick.
She crawled out from under the covers, rubbed her messy hair, and expressionlessly looked out the window, rolling her eyes.
Was it the thick fog brought on by the Haze God that had caused this issue? The cicada’s call now carried a hint of a smoky throat.
Even in this state, still demanding to mate and reproduce, it was indeed tenacious… Lu Yibei inwardly complained as she stretched.
Taking advantage of her stretch, her coat quickly shifted, and in the moment her hands fell, her black spaghetti-strap nightgown transformed into a white t-shirt and denim shorts. Then tendrils extended from the back of the collar, meticulously arranging her messy long hair.
Her considerate and obedient little coat ensured that its beloved Witch Master left in the most presentable manner every day.
After getting up, putting on shoes, and washing up briefly, Lu Yibei approached the bedside table, picked up her phone that had charged overnight, and flipped through it several times, her willow-shaped eyebrows gradually knitting together.
“What’s going on? Seems a bit off?”
It had been three days since the thick fog enveloped Shancheng.
Three days ago, after successfully signing a bond contract with Zhang Yu, she fell into a state of spirit energy depletion.
Although Lu Yibei’s spirit energy fluctuation level had reached A Grade, Zhang Yu’s was not low either. Healing him from the brink of d*ath through their bond mark consumed a lot of spirit energy, nearly draining Lu Yibei completely.
Thus, after signing the contract, she forced herself to send a message to Jiang Li with her last bit of energy, then fainted and was brought back here by Jumeng.
During the past three days, she spent most of her time in deep sleep, in a state of sleeping for eight hours and being mouthy for two minutes.
Even those brief two minutes of being mouthy were spent messaging Jiang Li, but…
June 30, 3:56 AM, Wang Buliu: “The incident has finally been perfectly resolved, we can have fun now.”
July 1, 2:21 PM, Wang Buliu: “Why haven’t you replied? Are things still busy over there?”
July 2, 10:03 PM, Wang Buliu: “Alright, you keep busy, remember to get back to me when you’re done! We’ll continue investigating about the aunt then.”
Lu Yibei messaged Jiang Li for three consecutive days without receiving a reply, which gave her a vague sense of foreboding and an unaccountable unease.
Although Jiang Li often couldn’t reply promptly when taking the spirit patterns advancement at the Siye Association Headquarters, this was a different situation.
Now that Jiang Li had entered the final assessment phase for spirit pattern advancement, there shouldn’t be so many strict rules and restrictions. Even if the event created by the Haze God’s offspring caused significant damage to Shancheng and had the Siye Association in a frenzy, they would have managed to find some time to reply in three days.
Could Miaomiao Sauce… the thought barely registered in Lu Yibei’s mind before she shook her head vigorously, preventing her thoughts from heading in a bad direction.
——
When Lu Yibei went downstairs, she wandered around, searching through the guest rooms, hallways, and activity rooms, but didn’t see Jumeng. Following the sound of knocking and tapping from the backyard, she found the landlady tinkering with plants in the garden.
Thanks to the haze created by the Haze God, all the vegetation in Taohua Homestay withered overnight. For the past two to three days, Boss Tan had been busy planting new greens.
“Good morning, Boss Tan. Have you seen Jumeng?”
Hearing Lu Yibei’s voice, Boss Tan put down her little shovel, turned around, and smiled, “Oh, it’s Miss Calamity! Jumeng left early this morning, saying she needed to buy some snacks to eat on the way.”
“Eating on the way?” Lu Yibei tilted her head, puzzled. “Where is she going? I didn’t hear her say.”
“To Peach Source!” Boss Tan paused for a moment, then refocused and explained, “Oh, I guess Jumeng was worried about affecting your rest, so she didn’t tell you?”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yibei became even more puzzled, “In such a hurry? Is something happening over at Peach Source?”
Isn’t that something you triggered? Boss Tan displayed an unusual expression, looked Lu Yibei up and down, and eventually said patiently, “It’s not a big deal. It’s just that during the confrontation with the strange urban legend at Changlekou, she used her powers and spent quite a bit of money.”
“Now that Peach Source is short on funds, of course, Jumeng has to go back to oversee things!”
Using powers… and spending a lot of money? Lu Yibei frowned, recalling Jumeng’s power description, and then seemed to realize something, her eyelid twitching lightly.
No way? Can Stinky Sister use her powers like that?
No wonder she insisted on getting me to give her the core of the Haze God’s offspring’s urban legend…
Why didn’t she just tell me directly?
Learning that Jumeng required cash to reach some sort of draw with the massive shadow, Lu Yibei felt suddenly complex emotions.
It was like playing a construction game, haphazardly creating a bizarre character only for it to end up being invincible.
Besides that, she felt a warmth rise in her heart.
That Jumeng managed to ask her only for the core of Haze God’s offspring’s urban legend after nearly exhausting Peach Source’s funds…
What a super, unbeatable friendship price!
If I were to say, she’d at least need to be compensated with several hundred pounds of gold plus a share of earthly pleasures!
But, since Stinky Sister is so generous with her urban legend, gold probably doesn’t matter, so just giving her a share of earthly pleasures will do.
As for the rest of the earthly pleasures, it seems only Water Brother has some… I wonder if he needs it; I must ask him first.
With that thought in mind, Lu Yibei quickly took out her phone and called Bai Kai, only to hear the “turned off” notification in her ear.
“Strange, what’s going on lately? Is everyone globally disconnected?”
Lu Yibei mumbled, hung up the phone, and took out the Mourning Gray Owl Badge, channeling spirit energy to try and contact Bai Kai.
Although Jiang Li might be handling the aftermath of the Haze God’s offspring incident with the agents of Siye Association, making it inconvenient to connect via the Mourning Gray Owl Badge, Water Brother had never been serious about matters, so there were no such concerns.
After waiting a moment, Lu Yibei found that the Mourning Gray Owl Badge also received no response, lying quietly in her palm with no sign of shaking, as if it were just a regular artifact.
Frowning, she stood still for a moment, and after some contemplation, Lu Yibei pulled out her phone again and logged into the Siye Association intranet.
Let’s check Water Brother’s schedule!
It’s been such a nice day, after all!
I want to see what Water Brother is up to! Lu Yibei thought.
However, before she could find Bai Kai’s schedule information, a message from Jin Guan City appeared in her field of view ahead of time.
[Siye Association Southwest District Headquarters: Task Invitation Letter regarding the investigation of the disappearance of Siye Society agent Jiang Li…]
Seeing the incomplete title of the email, Lu Yibei’s hand trembled slightly as she held her phone.
“Phew—!”
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she opened the email. Upon seeing the term “Solar Eclipse Society” within, her expression darkened, and her hands instinctively tightened, turning her knuckles slightly white.
Those scoundrels, how could they still not let her go after all this time?
And the Siye Society…
Are they all just useless freeloaders? So many of them can’t keep track of one person! Lu Yibei thought.
Her emotions, which had long been dulled by the mundane pleasures of the human world, seemed to be awakened again, surfacing with a strong sense of bitterness, surging violently within her chest.
After pondering for several seconds, she activated her bond mark and sent a message to Zhang Yu.
“Zhang Yu, meet me in half an hour!”
If Jiang Li’s disappearance involves the Solar Eclipse Society, within the Shancheng area, Zhang Yu is likely the one who knows the most useful information.
Of course, Lin Kule might also know something, but with her current state of maintaining urban legend transformation, she would have to wait until nightfall to find an opportunity to meet with her.
After sending the message to Zhang Yu, she scrolled to the bottom of the email and typed a reply: “Y, requesting independent investigation, hoping for approval.”
——
On the first day Zhang Yu woke up, as his physical condition recovered, he successfully remembered where he had heard the name “Calamity” without anyone’s reminder.
On the Siye Association’s red wanted list, in the special individual records monitored by the Solar Eclipse Society, during black market trading, and in the most expensive entries from various information dealers… it could be said that she had a notorious reputation.
For a moment, Zhang Yu even felt that his terrifying third uncle seemed cute and obedient in comparison to Calamity, like a primary school student.
So far, Calamity had not been hunted down by the Siye Society, nor captured by the Solar Eclipse Society to be used as a test subject; it was simply miraculous.
However, as an important leader of the Solar Eclipse Society in Shancheng, he was quite well-informed and vaguely knew that Calamity had some ambiguous connection with the Siye Society, which was likely why she could avoid being hunted down by them.
Now, not only was she wearing the guise of a trusted confidant of the Elders’ Council of the Solar Eclipse Society, but she had also kidnapped a large number of employees from the Sunrise Biotechnology Company, seemingly finally planning to extend her hand toward the Solar Eclipse Society…
Isn’t this simply asking for d*ath?!
She might not even realize what kind of brutal revenge the Solar Eclipse Society would enact on anyone or any urban legend that touched its interests.
Upon realizing this, Zhang Yu buried the secret deep within his heart, devoting himself to training those employees from the Sunrise Biotechnology Company.
Although he used to be a lapdog for the Solar Eclipse Society, he was now bonded to Calamity. If she ended up getting herself killed, there would be no good outcome for him either.
Thus, Zhang Yu worked anxiously for 28 hours before finally meeting Calamity herself.
And upon this encounter, he discovered something even more shocking…
——
The meeting place between Lu Yibei and Zhang Yu was in an office on the second floor of CHARMCLUB.
Indeed, it was Zhang Yu’s office.
However, Zhang Yu was not surprised by this act of usurping his space; he had already signed a slavery bond contract with Calamity, which theoretically gave her dominion over everything about him. Simply using his personal space was already considered mild.
In fact, he expected Calamity to possibly do something even more cruel and disrespectful.
What truly shocked him was that when he crossed through dazzling golden light and entered the familiar office, he saw Calamity sitting behind the desk accompanied by a familiar face.
“You seem surprised?” Noticing the slight tremor in Zhang Yu’s eyes, Lu Yibei said expressionlessly, “Would you like me to reintroduce her?”
“This lady’s name is Dorette Hathor, my most proud student.”
Zhang Yu, “…”
He certainly recognized Dorette.
However, wasn’t Dorette the newer talent that Mr. Phoenix had been valuing highly in recent times?
A character with great potential in the Solar Eclipse Society was actually a prized student of Calamity positioned within the Solar Eclipse Society, and Mr. Phoenix hadn’t even noticed that…
Doesn’t this mean Mr. Phoenix is being manipulated by Calamity?
If Calamity could already place a spy beside Mr. Phoenix, it was difficult to imagine how many people she had infiltrated throughout the Solar Eclipse Society. A dreadful realization!
Zhang Yu felt he was catching a whiff of conspiracy, and in a daze, he almost saw a vast net woven from plots silently overshadowing the Solar Eclipse Society, waiting for the right moment to ensnare the giant fish that was the Solar Eclipse Society.
In that moment, he felt an overwhelming oppressive aura from that petite, delicate figure—one not inferior to that of Adelaide Phoenix and perhaps even stronger.
Such a terrifying woman taking him as her bond partner and doing so casually seemed far more likely than having ulterior motives.
However…
If she really forces me to do things that violate my principles and beliefs, five years later, I won’t let her off either! Zhang Yu thought fiercely, clenching his sweaty hands.
In the face of such a massive disparity, some people might cower and lose their fighting spirit, but he was the type who became more spirited the stronger the enemy was.
“The future things can be discussed later…” As if sensing Zhang Yu’s thoughts, Lu Yibei spoke, “I came to find you today to ask you something.”
Hearing this, Zhang Yu steadied himself and replied respectfully, “Please go ahead.”
Fixing her gaze on Zhang Yu, Lu Yibei sat up straight, took a few freshly printed photographs from Dorette, and pushed them across the table to Zhang Yu.
“Take a look? Do you recognize the person in the photos?”
Zhang Yu leaned forward and picked up a photo. In it was a man with waxy yellow skin, features adorned with a hint of exotic charm, thick brows split into segments, a peculiar flower petal-shaped black mole in the middle of his forehead.
He recognized this man; months ago, he had led his team to ambush Zhang Shuisheng as he prepared to transport the primordial spirit into the city…
