Chapter 132: Unable to Bear, Can Escape
After leaving… Could Water Brother d*e? Lu Yibei repeated the words of Proxy Player Sister in her mind, her brows gradually furrowing together.
Before this, she had noticed that Bai Kai’s behavior had been somewhat abnormal recently, but she never suspected that Bai Kai might be doing something that threatened his life.
Or perhaps she just didn’t take it seriously?
In the past, Bai Kai would call Lu Yibei at least three to five times a week to check in on her, and after learning about Lu Yibei’s transformation into an urban legend, the frequency increased to a call every day, and each one lasted at least forty minutes unless she hung up first.
Over time, Lu Yibei completely overlooked the concern in those calls, finding them to be more of a nuisance.
She was already nineteen years old, and yet he still treated her like a child in diapers; who could endure that?
But now, she suddenly realized something—Water Brother seemed to have stopped annoying her for quite some time.
Two months? Or three months?
Maybe even longer…
She had thought that Bai Kai was just rekindling the passion after reuniting with his first love and was caught up in a passionate midlife romance, having no time to bother her. She hadn’t really cared and even sincerely wished him well with Xing Yuan.
This was actually quite good!
Before Lu Ming’s accident, Bai Kai had played the role of a “male mommy,” but after Lu Ming’s accident, he had begun a life of being both father and mother. Though his care for Lu Yibei hadn’t reached an all-encompassing level, he had done his best.
This was his first time in this world, and he didn’t even have his own children…
But therein lay the problem, Lu Yibei thought.
Water Brother’s surname was Bai, not Lu, just like Bai Xiaohua, and they had no bl**d relation at all. He shouldn’t and had no reason to make unconditional sacrifices for her, wasting precious time.
This was one reason why Lu Yibei chose to adopt a relatively extreme approach to deal with Bai Kai’s “harassment.”
In her view, Bai Kai should pay more attention to himself instead of wasting more time on her.
For example, he should spend more time with Xing Yuan and hurry up to create their own love child.
But now, the words of Proxy Player Sister were like critical hints in a decryption game, making Lu Yibei immediately realize that the reason Bai Kai hadn’t bothered her recently could very likely be that he was preparing to enter Yumen Pass.
The canister of yellow sand and the accompanying sword that had been dust-covered for many years were the best evidence of this.
After personally experiencing the arrival of Yumen Pass and the opening of the city gates, Lu Yibei recognized that the yellow sand might be very similar to the bag of yellow sand she had found in the Small Taoist Temple where Qing Ji grew up. It came from Yumen Pass.
And that sword, which Bai Kai had not used while executing tasks for the Siye Society, was significantly important enough to prove itself through Lu Yibei’s encounter with her father’s violent beating. Upon careful thought, it was likely to be used only at specific times and special occasions.
However, the last time Lu Yibei met Bai Kai at Luxi Chuancaiguan, he had taken that sword with him.
In fact, when she saw that sword, she should have guessed what dangerous thing Water Brother was planning!
But she hadn’t shown any concern for him… d*mn! Lu Yibei thought to herself, slightly tightening her golden fists.
Noticing Lu Yibei’s small actions, Proxy Player Sister shifted her gaze from Lu Yibei’s clenching hands and smiled at her, saying, “So, does this mean you’ve made up your mind to stay and help Bai Kai?”
“I didn’t expect you to care about him so much!”
“I’m not! I don’t! Stop saying nonsense!”
Looking into Proxy Player Sister’s eyes, Lu Yibei saw an unprecedented seriousness mixed with a hint of an almost invisible smile.
That gaze seemed to say to her, “Stop pretending, I can see right through you. You care about Water Brother more than anything! Aren’t you about to cry and whine soon?”
Why did she understand the meaning behind Proxy Player Sister’s gaze so clearly?
Because if it were her making that kind of gaze, she would definitely be thinking that way in her heart…
So, if someone understood her as if they knew herself, wouldn’t that be a good thing?
That person not only understands your worries and joys but can also guess all the little secrets deep within your heart.
It’s like being completely stripped bare, without a single secret to speak of!
“Not at all!” Lu Yibei shrugged nonchalantly, “If Water Brother wants to court d*ath, what’s that got to do with me?”
“It would actually be better if he were gone! That way, no one would call me early in the morning and bother me with a bunch of cheesy talk before I’ve even woken up.”
“And there wouldn’t be anyone driving a flamboyant purple or flashy pink car to pick me up after school, making my classmates suspect that I’m involved in some shady side business.”
“Is that so?” Proxy Player Sister nodded thoughtfully, “Then I’ll think of a way to help you leave shortly.”
Although Proxy Player Sister said this, she didn’t really plan to do that.
Didn’t she know Lu Yibei well enough?
At this moment, Lu Yibei’s display of indifference was merely due to shyness, much like how a child grows up and feels embarrassed to hug their parents.
But in reality, even if she sent Lu Yibei out now, Lu Yibei would mostly find a way to sneak back.
Not to mention that Bai Kai might be in danger; even if it were just a stranger suffering from oppression and torment, she wouldn’t be able to resist offering a helping hand…
I bet she would come up with an excuse to prevent me from sending her out in less than five seconds… Proxy Player Sister thought, and just as she counted to two in her mind, she saw Lu Yibei’s eyes spinning, hesitantly starting to speak.
“W-Well, actually, you don’t need to rush to send me out… Um… This Yumen Pass, isn’t it an ownerless God Realm? And it’s a very special, super large God Realm with probably lots of treasures inside?”
“Currently, Yumen Pass is filled with Miracle Cult members, half urban legends, and a bunch of chaotic Spirit Energy forces, so I bet it’s very chaotic… You know me, one of the things I’m best at is taking advantage in the chaos.”
“Oh right! Didn’t I also find the relics of his four masters at the place where the Ancestor once lived? To be honest, those things really have sparked my interest in Yumen Pass.”
See? There it is! Proxy Player Sister glanced at Lu Yibei, paused for a moment, and sighed, “Let’s just forget it? This time is different, it’s really dangerous. I don’t want to lose such a good client like you!”
“Don’t!” Lu Yibei quickly responded, “If I miss out on such a great opportunity, it would be like filling out the wrong number on a lottery ticket and losing the grand prize. I probably won’t sleep well for years.”
“But it’s really dangerous!”
“Aren’t you here?”
Proxy Player Sister rubbed her forehead, pretending to be troubled, and said, “In a place like Yumen Pass, I might not be of much help. You’re putting me in a difficult position!”
“But…” Lu Yibei started to say, but suddenly noticed the sneaky, watchful gaze of Proxy Player Sister through her fingers. After a moment of hesitation, she gradually understood everything.
Got it! Playing hard to get?
“Alright, since you’re having such a hard time with this, just send me out.”
Proxy Player Sister, “…What the hell! Have you seen through me? Seriously, this kid has grown up and is getting harder to trick!”
She suddenly realized she actually preferred the previous Lu Yibei, the one who would cling to her leg and cry and plead for her help.
“Sure! I’ll send you out, but leaving a place like Yumen Pass is not as easy as coming in, so I need some time to prepare before sending you out.”
Proxy Player Sister found Lu Yibei a way to back down, and after a brief thought, Lu Yibei also took a step back. “No problem, I was just thinking of taking a stroll in Yumen Pass to see if I could score some benefits.”
“Of course, if I run into Water Brother, I might as well take him along with me. Is that alright on your side?”
“Of course, no problem!” Proxy Player Sister answered without a thought, “One person or two, it’s still the same! So, is that settled? Do you want to go back now?”
What Proxy Player Sister meant by “going back” was naturally waking Lu Yibei up and bringing her back to the real world. They had spent so much time together that they had formed a certain tacit understanding and no longer needed to be too explicit.
“…” Lu Yibei opened her mouth, about to agree, when she suddenly remembered another important matter.
It was about Proxy Player Sister number two, that Twin-Tailed Girl, and those dozens or hundreds of girls who directly or indirectly died due to “calamity.”
After a brief silence, she looked at Proxy Player Sister with a calm expression and said, “Wait, before we go back, I still have an important question for you.”
Proxy Player Sister curiously asked, “What is it? If it’s about romantic troubles, I can’t help you with that.”
“Not that.” Lu Yibei shook her head, “It’s about a strange dream I’ve recently had. In that dream, I killed many people. No, to be precise, it should be that calamity killed many people…”
Upon hearing this, Proxy Player Sister’s gaze suddenly shifted, her eyes flickering uncertainly as if she felt somewhat guilty. Lu Yibei’s next words caused her already uneasy expression to change dramatically, paler than a sheet.
“In that dream, I saw calamity pierce the body of a certain Twin-Tailed Girl with a long kn*fe, and then casually toss her into the roiling, roaring sea like a bag of garbage…”
“No, that’s not it!” Proxy Player Sister suddenly looked at Lu Yibei, reacting with an unexpectedly intense denial, “That was just what you saw, perhaps at that time, calamity didn’t think that way!”
That was redemption, not persecution…
She knew that while Lu Yibei was unconscious, she had seen some things and even tried to stop her from continuing to watch. But she didn’t expect Lu Yibei to see so much.
Should I tell her now?
Perhaps it would be better to wait until she was a bit stronger? Proxy Player Sister thought.
She was very clear that if Lu Yibei knew everything at this moment, she would panic and despair, and then directly give up or fall into madness, leading to her doing some extreme things.
Because she had personally experienced and faced all of this alone before…
Just as Proxy Player Sister was hesitating, Lu Yibei seemed to sense something and studied her closely, calmly saying, “Aren’t I calamity? How would I not know what she was thinking? I just want you to help analyze why I had such a strange dream.”
“Why are you so agitated?” Lu Yibei asked, waiting a few seconds. When Proxy Player Sister didn’t speak, she continued.
“After that, I saw in my dream that the Twin-Tailed Girl became some sort of urban legend like a guardian spirit, appearing beside all sorts of people: a gifted witch, a boy from a seaside town, a nun keeping watch over a dilapidated church, and…”
“Oh right, there was even a middle-aged uncle selling barbecues!”
“Under the guidance of that girl, they all had unexceptional encounters with calamity, becoming close comrades with her. Can you guess how calamity treated them?”
“I…” Proxy Player Sister glanced at Lu Yibei, quickly looking away, and nervously said, “I don’t know, she should be good to them, right? But what does this have to do with me? I’m a bit tired. You should hurry back!”
Hearing this, Lu Yibei stepped forward, grabbing Proxy Player Sister’s wrist, her tone intensifying, “You guessed wrong! Calamity is not good to them at all! She betrayed them time and again, abandoning them and putting them in danger, and sometimes even personally killing them…”
“Can you guess what that Twin-Tailed Girl was doing while calamity was doing those things?” After finishing her question, without waiting for Proxy Player Sister to respond, Lu Yibei answered herself, “She was actually making excuses for calamity, acting as if calamity had never harmed her at all.”
“This is very strange! I’ve never known any Twin-Tailed Girl. Why would she go to such lengths to help me? For that, she lied time and again, and her power constantly decayed and corrupted, eventually making her appearance ugly beyond measure. What on earth was it for?”
“What’s even stranger is that as a person, although I don’t have much integrity and could stab friends in the back, I would never do anything that could jeopardize their lives. So help me analyze why I had such a strange dream!”
After she finished speaking, Lu Yibei could clearly feel Proxy Player Sister tremble, as if she had received a considerable shock.
It was solved!
Whether other people were killed by Proxy Player Sister or not was still unclear, but at least the d*ath of that Twin-Tailed Girl had a great connection to her.
But when did all of that happen? Lu Yibei wondered.
At this point, another question that had troubled her for a long time resurfaced—where did Proxy Player Sister really come from? And why did she appear before her?
Lost in thought, Lu Yibei noticed Proxy Player Sister’s expression becoming increasingly grim, like a child caught in the act of wrongdoing, biting her lip, lowering her head, and her eyes glistening with a hint of red.
Soon, as her body trembled slightly, an unsettling Spirit Energy fluctuation spread from her body, and a series of black lines, resembling child-like doodles, crept out from the edges of her body in all directions.
Something in the air began to hum, shrill and piercing.
The earth shook, and those crumbling, collapsing buildings rumbled in response to the tremors.
On the ground, between the intersecting, bottomless fissures in the streets, a noxious dark red gas wafted up, and faintly visible, bright flames surged violently in the depths of the cracks.
In the distance, shadowy figures dancing near the horizon had fallen into madness, twisting their bodies into shapes that were hard to comprehend.
It was as if the entire world had fallen into chaos along with Proxy Player Sister’s emotional fluctuations.
Lu Yibei, “!!!”
What the hell is going on here?
Was it just a little stimulation? Why does this place feel like the apocalypse is descending?
No, I need to calm her emotions down first; otherwise, it’s uncertain if she’ll have a problem, but I could be doomed!
With that thought, Lu Yibei slowly let out a breath and then raised her hand, gently patting Proxy Player Sister’s shoulder.
“Forget it, seeing you like this, you probably won’t be able to help me much anyway, but that’s fine; it’s just a dream, and who knows, maybe I’ll forget it in a few days… After all, those troubles weren’t caused by me, so I have nothing to feel guilty about!”
She was saying all this to Proxy Player Sister not because she needed to hear her answer directly; in fact, just by observing Proxy Player Sister’s response, she had already obtained the answers she wanted.
Pressing further would be rude, and how could she ask for her help again later?
“Can we wait a little?” Proxy Player Sister suddenly looked at Lu Yibei and said, “Aren’t you going to be busy with a lot of things in Yumen Pass? Once you finish those things, I’ll tell you the answer you want to know.”
Lu Yibei didn’t expect Proxy Player Sister to say that, and astonishment flashed through her eyes as she dazedly asked, “Are you really planning to tell me?”
She had thought those matters were like the naive, ambiguous relationships of puberty, sometimes better left unsaid to remain beautiful.
“Isn’t that what you want to know?” Proxy Player Sister quickly gathered her emotions, rolling her eyes at Lu Yibei. “If you want to know, then I’ll tell you, just… I hope you can handle it when the time comes.”
“Ridiculous! If I can’t handle it, wouldn’t I just avoid it?” Lu Yibei said dismissively.
After all, in this world, the easiest choice was to avoid responsibility… Lu Yibei added to herself in her mind.
“…” Proxy Player Sister was momentarily speechless, her fists clenching tightly.
I knew it!
I knew you would choose to escape; that’s why I didn’t want to tell you now!
Just as Proxy Player Sister’s anger was reaching its peak, Lu Yibei suddenly posed a soul-searching question to her.
“I should be heading back, but before I go, I have one last question for you. You can answer it or not… Do you know who that Twin-Tailed Girl is?”
“After all, even if it’s just a dream, I killed her so many times in that dream, and if such a person really exists, I want to slightly compensate her.”
“…” Proxy Player Sister instinctively wanted to answer, but after opening her mouth, she froze there, her expression growing increasingly dim. After a long moment, she shook her head and said, “I don’t know.”
She was telling the truth.
If she knew, she would have informed Lu Yibei during the recommendation of her dependents, letting her take good care of that Twin-Tailed Girl.
Unfortunately, she truly didn’t remember anything. After she had personally “erased” that Twin-Tailed Girl from the already deceased world, all that was left of her in Proxy Player Sister’s memory was a vague outline.
She only remembered that a person like that existed and was very important to her, but she couldn’t recall any more detailed information.
Lu Yibei thought Proxy Player Sister would say more, but after waiting for a long time and seeing that she didn’t seem to have anything to add, even her expression not changing at all, she could only let out a silent sigh and calmly say, “Alright, then I’ll be leaving first.”
“Okay.” Proxy Player Sister nodded and then promptly punched Lu Yibei in the face.
She had wanted to do that long ago, thousands of words ago…
She had to make Lu Yibei realize who the real boss was; this brat had been getting more and more arrogant lately.
Caught off guard, Lu Yibei was hit by a punch infused with calamity-level Spirit Energy fluctuations and felt no pain at all; her vision plunged into darkness, and she heard a buzzing sound in her ears, instantly losing consciousness.
————
“Wake up, wake up! Are you okay?”
In a daze, a voice rang out in her ears, followed by the sensation of someone slapping her face. Gu Qiqi was momentarily stunned, and before she could regain her senses, someone poured a bucket of cold water over her head.
With a “splash,” she felt chilled to the bone.
It was like drinking a bottle of Sprite in an advertisement, but the difference was that this bottle was forced down her throat while someone held her down.
Extremely annoying, very perverse.
She suddenly opened her eyes, and before she could see the nasty person clearly, she heard a familiar voice.
“Good to see you awake! Quickly confess who you are, why you’re here, and what you plan to do here?”
Is this… the voice of the System? Gu Qiqi’s heart jumped.
Although the voice she heard was quite different from the System’s, the moment she heard it, her instinct told her it was the System talking to her.
That was the subtle connection formed over years of companionship.
She shook her head vigorously and opened her eyes to look ahead, but her newly brightened gaze dimmed again.
In front of her stood a girl holding an empty bucket.
She looked small and was obviously an easy target for bullying, yet at this moment, she was puffing up her chest, straining her neck, and trying hard to put on a fierce look.
Like a little cat showing its fangs, it was somewhat amusing, but she was not the System.
How strange, I clearly just heard the System talking!
Could it be I misheard? Gu Qiqi pondered in confusion.
“Splish——!”
Before she could figure it out, the girl suddenly doused her with another bucket of cold water, instantly interrupting her thoughts…
“You’re not going to talk? Then I’ll just have to make you suffer a bit!”
