Chapter 3: Advertisement
People who have experienced life and d*ath often develop a mindset that leans toward one of two extremes.
Either they become fearless, eager to use this extra life they have been given to see all the wonders of the world!
Or they cherish their lives, staying away from danger, living cautiously as if every extra second is a precious gain!
Lu Yibei, who was severely injured in a car accident and nearly lost his life, belongs to the latter. He highly treasures this life that he has so painstakingly salvaged.
Time is peaceful and serene; he can live until the end of days.
Hurrying from the café at the alley entrance, he walked several blocks before stopping to take a short break.
“Tch! That dead rabbit clearly has issues; luckily, I ran fast enough!”
At first, upon seeing the strange Mr. Rabbit, Lu Yibei instinctively wanted to get as far away as possible. However, he didn’t even understand how he ended up in front of Mr. Rabbit and nearly took that flyer.
If it weren’t for the discomfort in his eyes that jolted him awake at the critical moment, he might have already fallen into that dead rabbit’s trap!
The experience had suddenly reminded Lu Yibei of an urban legend about a salesman.
Legend has it that a remarkably beautiful yet unmemorable female salesman roams the city. She warmly and kindly stops selected individuals and hands them a price list. Once they receive the price list, terrifying things happen!
Their wallets get emptied!
The price list consists of completely useless dolls and crafts, priced ridiculously. Anyone who looks at anything on that list will subconsciously end up purchasing it, until their savings, spending account, and even all their various online loans are completely cleared!
Lu Yibei felt that if he had accepted the flyer from that dead rabbit, similar urban legend events might happen to him.
It was simply too scary; just thinking about it made him shiver, his hands and feet cold, and tears flow unexpectedly.
Even though his deceased father left him enough wealth to live comfortably without working hard for the rest of his life, no amount of wealth can withstand events that violate the laws of science!
Urban legends are far worse than the four modern toxins of excessive spending, metal refining, aluminum packaging, and stubbornness!
Believing he had narrowly escaped a disaster, Lu Yibei’s spirits lifted, and his steps became much lighter. Unknowingly, he walked several kilometers and returned to his residence on the outskirts of University City.
……
Standing in front of the anti-theft door, Lu Yibei took out his key, inserted it into the lock, and opened the door.
“I’m back…”
In the dimly lit room, no one responded.
Who knows what he was expecting!
If someone answered, “Welcome back, I’ve cooked dinner, and I’ve prepared the bathwater!” he would probably be scared!
Lu Yibei mocked himself while changing into his slippers and turning on the lights.
The light illuminated the room, a popular LOFT apartment. Less than 40㎡ in size, it was divided into two levels: the lower level was an open living and entertainment area, while the upper level contained the bedroom and bathroom.
With bare brick walls, metal pipelines, walnut tables and chairs, worn leather storage cabinets, and uniquely shaped iron art, the industrial-style decor gave the entire room a simple, rugged, and casual vibe.
After locking the anti-theft door, Lu Yibei walked straight to the corner of the living room, where a Ming King statue was displayed.
The Ming King statue was a gift from his father’s good friend, Water Brother.
Water Brother doesn’t have the surname Shui, nor does it contain the character for water in his name. His surname is Bai, and he goes by the single character Kai.
From the time Lu Yibei could remember, Water Brother often appeared at his home, eating, drinking, and stealing his father’s clothes to wear, hiding in the trunk to secretly go out and play with him and his father, and even bathing together with his father while scrubbing each other’s backs…
Full of affection, right?
Lu Yibei felt that way too.
Although it might not be appropriate to say so, he had suspected that Water Brother might be his father’s true love, while his mother, whom he had never met since birth, might just have been an accident!
As Lu Yibei’s father’s best friend during his father’s lifetime, Water Brother took good care of him after Lu Yibei’s father tragically passed away in the car accident.
When Lu Yibei submitted his application for reinstatement at the university and moved into the apartment his father had long prepared for him near University City, Water Brother gifted this uniquely shaped statue as a congratulatory present, saying it was the trending “Ming King” and had excellent feng shui!
Upon seeing the statue for the first time, what popped into Lu Yibei’s mind was, what kind of feng shui effect can a Ming King statue resembling Atlas, posing as if resisting the Earth while carrying a nuclear warhead, have?
Water Brother explained, “Isn’t there a rumor online that urban legends appear because of reduced solar activity? Think about it! The principles behind hydrogen bomb explosions and solar fusion are essentially the same, right? A nuclear warhead is just like the sun!”
As he spoke, he made an explosion gesture.
So…
Is that what “Great Sun” means?
This explanation was somewhat reasonable, but honestly absurd!
Apologies to the great Ming King!
Although the Ming King statue sent by Water Brother had many flaws, Lu Yibei couldn’t refuse the good intentions of an elder and reluctantly accepted it, praying to it every time he got home and offering the extra takeout food.
Anyway, it didn’t cost money, so why not believe a little!
After paying his respects to the Ming King statue, Lu Yibei took off his coat and threw it onto the sofa. The coat flew through the air in a parabolic arc, and at the same time, something fell out of the pocket of the coat, separating from it, and landed on the ground with a soft “clack.”
It was a folded paper square made of hard paper.
Attracted by the sound of the paper square hitting the ground, Lu Yibei walked over, picked it up, and fully opened it. Upon recognizing the contents, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his body shivered as if electrocuted.
“Dammit! I lost Rem! What is this? How could this happen!?”
In his hand, the advertisement paper, with a dark background, stacked bright yellow shapes into patterns of rabbits, teacups, long dining tables, and interwoven chaotic white lines that looked a bit messy.
Lu Yibei had seen this before; it was the flyer Mr. Rabbit distributed not long ago!
On the flyer, amidst the patterns and lines, there was also a segment of text roughly a hundred words long. As for the content of the text…
Lu Yibei’s gaze barely skimmed over the words when his eyes began to burn faintly, his head felt swollen, and a faint song drifted into his ears.
He instantly sensed that something was off and, adhering to the principle of “as long as I don’t see the criminal’s face, he probably won’t k*ll me!” made a snap decision—he wouldn’t look!
Despite appearing calm on the outside, his heart was racing. Lu Yibei stared blankly for two seconds, took a deep breath to steady himself, and then “whoosh!” he crumpled the flyer into a ball, swung his arm, and tossed the paper ball away.
The paper ball fell to the ground, bouncing a few times like a living rabbit before rolling to the corner of the windowsill and disappearing mostly into the shadows.
In the shadow, the twisted yellow lines seemed to possess a strange magic, silently inviting anyone who gazed at them.
It was as though a heavily made-up, curvaceous woman coyly called out, “Come play, grandpa! It’s so much fun!”
Lu Yibei remained indifferent.
No, no, this is harmful! .JPG
d*mn it! When did that rabbit…
Wait! Did it really slip into my pocket when I wasn’t paying attention?
Could it be… is it possible…
Did it put the flyer in my pocket through some mysterious means?
Considering his strange behavior influenced by Mr. Rabbit earlier, Lu Yibei felt increasingly uncomfortable, chills creeping up his back.
No way, having this thing in the house feels ominous!
But he couldn’t just throw it away; it would be bad if someone else picked it up.
Moreover, since it might have gotten into his pocket through some special means, directly throwing it away could cause it to come back!
With that thought, Lu Yibei narrowed his eyes.
It seemed like he had to deal with it more thoroughly!
