Chapter Thirteen: Can’t Play Anymore?!
In the late night.
After a brief pause, light rain began to fall again, pattering softly on the bluestone streets of Mudan Street, filling the air with a cold and fresh scent. Under the dim glow of streetlights, the pooled water shimmered with a faint light.
Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau.
Sitting in front of the computer, the sound of raindrops hitting the broad leaves of banana trees outside the window made Jiang Li uneasy. It led her, usually hard to defeat at the card table, to lose several rounds in a row.
Letting Luxianbei serve as bait was indeed a very risky decision, like holding a bad hand yet expecting to win big.
But she had to make such a decision.
Restricting the search to a city with millions of inhabitants made it very easy for urban legends to hide. Unless they revealed themselves, it would be even harder for the Siye Society to catch them.
There were too few spiritual ability users in Huacheng, and their types were quite singular. It would be great if they had users who could track spirit patterns like those in other cities’ Siye Societies.
Luxianbei actually had a talent for this, if only…
Just as such thoughts arose in Jiang Li’s mind, she quickly shook her head to dismiss them.
The process of becoming a spiritual ability user was too painful and dangerous. Forcing someone to become one was hardly different from committing deliberate m*rder.
The only difference was that deliberate m*rder would lead to d*ath, while failing to become a spiritual ability user would result in a far worse demise!
Perhaps Jiang Li’s methods for handling urban legends were a bit reckless, but she absolutely did not want to take lives.
…
“Whoosh—!”
Finally returned from that haunted place.
Luxianbei fell onto the bed and exhaled a breath of stale air.
Although various articles, videos, and even ghost-hunting livestreams had flourished on the internet in recent years, leading him to accept the existence of a special organization that dealt with urban legends without any sense of worldview collapse, tonight’s experience still delivered a significant shock.
Lying on the soft bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, unable to sleep anyway, Luxianbei quietly started to reflect.
Of course, it wasn’t very quiet. After only a short time lying on the bed, the dripping sound from the bathroom, the soft thuds from the glass ball on the ceiling, and the nearly inaudible sighs from the living room all emerged at once.
So considerate, making this solitary young man feel no loneliness at all! Luxianbei thought.
No wonder those doctors said my eyesight was recovering well! Because it’s not my eyes that are the problem; it’s the world that’s problematic!
Those strange shadows I saw might just be urban legends!
The senior sister in my school who suddenly turned around, the giant shadow on the playground, the monster in the hospital parasitized by grotesque tumors…
Wait, does that mean the magical girl at the crossroads is real too?
Hold on! That’s not the point!
The point is, I’m only getting dragged into dangerous events without any special power—what kind of treatment is this?
This is the treatment of cannon fodder!
Like the kind of cannon fodder that gets “killed at the door” in horror movies and games.
Although Luxianbei felt that if he were truly caught up in urban legend events, he would definitely not run around foolishly but rather walk cautiously behind the main group, not being the last one.
However, in this damned situation, without any special power and no “main character” to rely on, he would d*e sooner or later!
The silhouette of that girl in his dream might be some kind of “special power,” but it hasn’t activated yet!
From the warning of the girl’s phantom in the interrogation room who “slit her throat,” Luxianbei thought that not having this “special power” might actually be the right choice!
If she’s truly some future daughter or past life wife, he would even consider reporting to the “Time and Space Planning Bureau” for the sake of justice!
As a successor to socialism, belief in destiny is futile; free love is the way!
Who can say anything good about feelings?
Just a tiny fluctuation of emotions might lead to falling for someone else, causing a shift in the world line.
If one doesn’t engage or delve deep, then it’s just a bizarre dream.
If he continued to seek d*ath and got targeted by the mysterious organization behind that little maid, turning an “online conflict” into an “offline confrontation” would be a major hassle!
With that in mind, Luxianbei suddenly felt that the mysterious organization that had just bound him seemed to be a desirable leg to lean on. He wondered if they were hiring.
Even if he couldn’t become a formal member, being a temporary worker to do odd jobs would be fine!
Yeah, odd jobs would be best!
Let me do the dirty work, the hard work, and the housework, while you handle the adventures, deaths, and scapegoating!
…
Luxianbei was lost in thought, time passing little by little. Unconsciously, his eyelids began to droop, and sleepiness set in. At that moment, a sudden knock at the door echoed from downstairs.
“Knock, knock, knock—!”
The rhythmic gentle knock echoed three times before a brief silence followed.
Under the invasion of sleepiness, Luxianbei, in a daze, heard the knocking, climbed out of bed, and instinctively prepared to go downstairs to open the door. However, the ensuing voice made his drowsiness instantly dissipate.
“Is anyone home? If nobody’s here, I’ll just come in!”
A hoarse and sharp voice rang out from outside the door.
Wait… Aren’t those the lines Mr. Rabbit said before barging into that woman’s house in the dream?
Luxianbei sat on the edge of the bed, clutching the Ming King Statue tightly in fright, swallowing hard as his legs felt a little weak.
In the dark room, it seemed there were other things present, constantly making trivial sounds—dripping sounds, sighs, the sound of hair brushing against the floor…
Luxianbei’s “old friends” were all getting restless, as if fearing the presence outside the door, scattering and hiding, and soon the entire room fell into silence.
Too quiet.
In the silence, Luxianbei could even hear his own chaotic heartbeat.
He sat in silence for a few seconds, perhaps influenced by the safety plug and the current from the car battery, preventing Mr. Rabbit from smoothly entering the house. The knocking resumed.
“Knock, knock, knock—!”
Each knock felt like it was striking Luxianbei’s nerves, making his body tremble in rhythm with the knocks.
“Is anyone home? If nobody’s here, I’m coming in!”
“Huff—huff—!”
Luxianbei sat expressionless, taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.
He couldn’t just sit here and wait! He had to do something!
Right! First, call every possible rescue number he could think of!
With that thought, he dashed to the bedside table and found his phone.
His hands trembled slightly, and after several attempts, Luxianbei finally managed to unlock the screen.
As the screen entered the main menu, his gaze fell on a simple drawing of an eye as the logo.
That was the app for remote home monitoring.
It had been installed when Luxianbei’s dad had been persuaded by the salesperson, saying, “If your son is living alone, installing remote monitoring can offer an extra layer of safety,” and so on.
Staring at that app, curiosity drove Luxianbei to open it, making slight adjustments until the camera was focused on the front door.
The screen was completely dark, as if the corridor lights were off, and nothing could be seen.
Holding his breath and staring at the phone for a few seconds, just as he was about to put it down and dial for help,
Suddenly!
The screen flickered as if something’s eye blinked, and then the corridor lights turned on, revealing a rabbit head nearly pressed against the camera.
“d*mn!”
Luxianbei exclaimed, dropping the phone in fright.
I shouldn’t have clicked that app in the first place!
After sitting in shock for a few seconds, he lunged for the phone and hurriedly picked it up, shakily dialing the emergency number.
“Aha! I heard you in there! I’m coming in!”
Another voice broke through from outside the door.
Luxianbei was on the verge of breaking down, cursing as he dialed, “What the hell do you see?! You’re not following the script! If nobody’s in, why the hell would you come in? Can’t play anymore? d*mn it, can’t play anymore?!”
Now that it had come to this, if he couldn’t wait for rescue, he might as well let out his frustrations, at least dying with some dignity! Luxianbei thought.
As if responding to his request, with a crackle of electric noises, the doorknob turned gently, followed by a loud bang on the door.
“Bang, bang, bang—!”
The security door shook violently, dust showering down from the doorframe, and the safety plug on the floor rubbed against the smoothness of the ground, creating a grating noise.
“Beep—beep—beep—!” With the incessant banging, every busy tone echoed like an age-long eternity.
Luxianbei began to see blurred visions, as if his eyes were on fire, bringing a painful sensation.
In a daze.
He noticed something seemed to be surging in the dark room, inching closer silently. The ceiling appeared to sink slowly, creating a sense of oppression that made it hard to breathe and feel restless.
Just at that moment, the phone connected, and the banging stopped.
“Hello? Police? There’s a monster banging on my door! I’m Luxianbei, I live on the ninth floor of Jingyi Apartment Phase III, Building Three, I…”
Before he could finish, Luxianbei sensed something strange. A crackling interference sounded in his ear, and there was no response!
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
“Cackle—cackle, cackle—!”
Amid the static, a giggly laugh gradually grew clearer, that was Mr. Rabbit’s voice!
Accompanied by Mr. Rabbit’s laughter, sounds arose from outside the living room window.
“Crack—crack, crack—!”
It sounded like something outside was prying open the locked window, trying to enter the house.
Luxianbei’s face lost its color in an instant, looking quite frightening, while his hands continued dialing for help nonstop.
Police, fire department, downstairs security, delivery guy…
Every call went unanswered, as if the signal throughout the apartment was blocked.
“Crack—crack, crack—!”
The sound of the window lock being pried was incessant, as that thing outside persistently tried to enter.
After calling all the numbers he could think of, Luxianbei finally remembered Water Brother and quickly pulled his number from the blacklist, dialing.
“Beep—beep—!”
After a few rings filled with laughter from men and women, Water Brother’s voice came through.
“Hello? Xiao Bei? Why are you calling me at this hour? I’m having fun underground! Want to come join? Lots of pretty ladies and handsome guys here! Yo yo yo~!”
“Yo your sister, I’m about to d*e! There’s a monster outside my window, I…”
Before Luxianbei could finish his sentence, an unusual light sound suddenly came from the living room.
“Click—!”
The window opened.
The cool breeze after the rain rushed into the living room, carrying a bone-chilling chill…
(PY transaction almost forgot, quickly adding it. Let me recommend my good friend Chong Yan’s new book “Non-Daily Life Starting from Evil Spirits”! An established author, guaranteed quality!)
