Chapter Five: Hunting Urban Legends
Faint lights filtered in from outside the window, sketching vague outlines within the apartment. Shadows darted rapidly through the darkness, stirring up clouds of dust, and a chilly aura spread along their swirling paths.
“I’m hungry… so hungry…” The girl murmured softly in the darkness, her youthful voice mixed with a low, throaty timbre, resembling maddening murmurs.
In the next moment, the temperature in the apartment suddenly rose, dispelling the cold air, while a fierce, scorching heat enveloped the entire space.
In the shadows, the petite girl slowly stood up, opened her eyes, which glimmered like ethereal fire clouds, and her light red hair moved as if blown by an unseen wind, dancing like boneless limbs behind her.
“Whoosh—whoosh—!”
She gasped for breath, the white mist formed from the sweat evaporating from her limbs swirling about, mixed with the violent heaving of her barren chest, as smoke carrying the scent of sulfur burst forth from her mouth.
She appeared as if a demon had crawled out from hell.
A strong spirit energy fluctuation covered the entire apartment, stemming from the natural suppression of higher-grade urban legends over the lower ones, like invisible hands ready to obliterate the forms of all the urban legends within.
“Pat—pat—!” Her delicate, pink feet made soft sounds as they touched the ground.
She walked to the center of the living room, stopped, and remained silent, as if waiting for something.
In the next moment, her slender arm suddenly shot out like lightning, and with a swift grab, a scream like that of a slaughtered pig echoed in her ears.
“Hot, hot, hot! You ungrateful bunch, who will come to save me?!”
“Please, don’t eat me! I’m all fur, no meat, not tasty at all! Go eat them instead!”
The Mafun was suddenly caught by Luxianbei, writhing in sheer terror.
Next, seeing that delicate face gradually approach from the darkness, its lips slightly parted, a scorching breath burst forth upon it, causing it to emit a wailing cry as if at the brink of d*ath.
“She’s going to eat me! Going to eat me! Ah! I’m dead!”
Luxianbei, “……Is this an urban legend? This seems foolish?”
Although a strong hunger compelled her body to crave these urban legends intensely, her rational mind told her not to act on it.
These silly urban legends could be considered her neighbors, after all. If she ate her “neighbors,” wouldn’t she have crossed the most basic line?
Even as an urban legend, Luxianbei wanted to be as proper as possible, to contribute as a model urban legend, towards the collective and comprehensive efforts.
“I said…”
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but suddenly heard a whooshing sound beside her, quickly followed by a passionate shout.
“True warriors never fear d*ath! They never turn their backs to their enemies and will only fall in the heat of battle! I’ll fight you, demon girl, take my strike!”
Where did this second-year syndrome come from!?
With a glimpse of a tennis-ball-sized sphere flying at high speed toward her, Luxianbei expressionlessly sidestepped, raised her hand, and with a “snap,” intercepted it mid-air, letting out a helpless sigh.
Please, you are so weak! .JPG
“Zing—!” Another cringe-inducing sound echoed, as though something hard slid across the smooth floor, stopping by her feet.
Luxianbei looked down and saw a set of false teeth kneeling before her.
Though false teeth cannot really kneel, Luxianbei genuinely felt that the small figure was in a gesture of submission.
“Lady Witch, if you must eat, then eat me! Please spare them! Anyway, I long wanted to no longer exist in this world! I thought this world was full of malice, and only d*ath could provide escape, but even in d*ath, this world refuses to let me go! Come on, allow me to be free!”
Luxianbei, “……Dude, your life… your… existential views are really pessimistic!”
“I told you, didn’t I? I won’t harm you.” Luxianbei said helplessly, her eyes shimmering like a hungry wolf, swallowing hard, “Gul—!”
The urban legends, “???”
Why don’t we believe you?
“Uh…” Luxianbei awkwardly scratched the back of her head, seriously saying, “At least not for the time being, truly!”
The urban legends scrutinized her expression; there were no micro-expressions of deceit on her exquisitely delicate face, and their fear gradually diminished a bit.
Luxianbei, “……Why still don’t you believe me?”
Though her body craved to devour them, who would eat food that smelled like a stinky rag!?
After a moment of silent staring, the Mafun broke the silence first, “Everyone, I think, with an upper-grade urban legend like her, there’s really no need for so much talk if she wants to consume us.”
“Hmph! Who knows? Women are the least reliable! You have to understand, the human heart is unpredictable… ah! My eye!”
Before the Eye could finish, it was squished into a flat mass by Luxianbei, whose veins bulged on her forehead, transforming into a woeful scream.
As if trying to gain the trust of the urban legends, Luxianbei released her grip, letting the Mafun and Eye drop to the ground, watching them quickly run away into the shadows with the false teeth.
“Gul—!”
Luxianbei swallowed hard again, desperately resisting the urge to pounce on the urban legends and take a bite, then sat cross-legged on the ground.
They’re all stinky rags, cannot eat! They’re all stinky rags, cannot eat!
Having self-hypnotized several times in her mind, Luxianbei opened her mouth, slowly exhaling a thick cloud of smoke, “Hoo—! So, how long have you all been urban legends?”
Their time as urban legends was much longer than hers; they should know what this overwhelming hunger is all about.
Just asking them should reveal a solution.
If she really couldn’t get an answer, she could… no, no! Luxianbei, be normal; they can’t be eaten! she thought.
“Whoosh—!” A flurry of shadows swirled as the urban legends assembled in the order of “I’ll form the head! I’ll form the eyes, gums…” and so on, forming a humanoid figure.
Wearing a sleep dress and an overcoat, with long hair cascading and a large single eye peeking ominously from her disheveled ends.
Luxianbei, “……”
What’s with this creepy sight? It feels like they might suddenly pounce on me and choke my neck!
Luxianbei thought, just as she was about to suggest a different pose, they spoke up first, their human-shaped outlines emitting eerie sounds from top to bottom.
“This is already the seventh year.” The Mafun said wistfully.
“Hmph, three years! Don’t underestimate the time; I’m very strong!”
“One, one year.” The sleep dress emitted a small sound, as if a shy, introverted girl.
“Long, long ago, so long that I no longer remember my time as a human.”
Perhaps due to a shorter time as an urban legend, the overcoat remained silent.
“Mm! Good.” Luxianbei nodded, “So, do you know what my current situation is? Specifically, I’m hungry, very hungry, and eager to eat you all…”
As she spoke, her resolve faltered slightly under the hunger’s influence, a glint of greed flashing in her eyes.
The urban legends, “!!!”
You’re fooling us! You can’t do that!
(‧̣̥̇꒪່⍢꒪່)
“I know, I know, this is…,” “This is spirit energy…,” “What the hell is spirit energy! It’s the darkness…”
The urban legends began chattering all at once, and after a long while, Luxianbei couldn’t make sense of it. She found their noise troublesome, furrowing her brow and cutting them off, “Alright, enough about the situation.”
Pausing, she repressed the rising hunger once more and exhaled deeply.
“Hoo—! You just need to tell me how to resolve this situation!”
To Luxianbei’s surprise, the urban legends suddenly reached a consensus and said in unison, “Absorb spirit energy!”
Spirit energy? Luxianbei furrowed her brow for a moment, “How do you absorb it? For instance, how do you usually deal with it?”
“You upper-grade urban legends certainly can’t satisfy your spirit energy needs like us by devouring floating spirits. Uh, floating spirits are the small light clusters that humans occasionally see flying around.”
“Then…”
“Hmph, nonsense. For someone so hard to satisfy, of course, you need to eat people!” the Eye said.
“For example, that dead fat lady downstairs, although her spirit energy potential is not enough to become a spiritual ability user, her primordial spirit within is much higher than that of ordinary people! I recommend her, and it has nothing to do with her beating me… ah—!”
Before the Eye could finish, it was squished flat by Luxianbei once more, and under the high temperature, it fell to the ground, soft and limp like a fried egg.
“We can rule out the methods of harming others.” Luxianbei said coldly.
“Eh! Then the only option left is to hunt urban legends.” The false teeth sighed, “Many upper-grade urban legends do this.”
“Hunt urban legends?” Luxianbei’s eyes slightly squinted in thought, “This method might work; what do I need to do?”
“You just need to…”
……
At 9:57 PM.
Huacheng, Linjiang Avenue.
The pitch-black night sky seemed soaked in ink, and the deserted riverside streets were shrouded in thick fog, within which dim lights flickered faintly.
A girl with chestnut hair, wrapped in a red scarf, sat on the riverbank’s embankment, with a matcha-flavored Pocky stick dangling from her mouth. Her long legs were encased in white knee-high socks, wearing a pair of deer-hide ankle boots, gently swinging them.
【Midnight, Linjiang Avenue.
Strange and comical walking carries an ominous aura.
Therefore, one must not encounter it.
When it gazes at you, no means will help you escape.
Go to sleep in the murky water.
Task: k*ll the River Monkey Ghost near Linjiang Avenue at midnight.
Reward: 200 points, a portion of Essence for refining.】
After reading the task description, Gu Qiqi pouted, “System! Can that essence be exchanged for points?! It really doesn’t taste good!”
“……” The system did not want to respond.
“System? Are you there? System? If you’re not, I’m going back!”
“I’m here!” The system replied through gritted teeth, “Gu Qiqi, don’t you like to read novels? Look at the protagonists in those novels, then look at yourself!”
“Those people would do anything to gain treasures to enhance their bodies; you still complain! What bad habit is this? If it keeps going like this, how will your spirit patterns ever advance to the Cataclysm Grade!”
“But it really tastes terrible!”
“Taste terrible or not, you have to eat! Only then can you grow stronger and save the world! Understand?!”
“System…”
“Mm?”
“I’ve always been curious, since you know so many methods of advancement and have so many treasures to strengthen spirit patterns, why don’t you use them yourself?” Gu Qiqi poked her lips with a finger, lost in thought.
“Speaking of which, had you used all the treasures yourself, you would have already been invincible in the world, right? Saving the world or whatever, you wouldn’t even need me!”
“Uh…” The system was momentarily at a loss for words; oh no! This question is a bit sharp! I need to think of a way to gloss over it!
“In the imminent disaster, everyone has their own roles to play, doing what they are destined to do, unalterable. And my destiny is to assist you in becoming the one who reverses the disaster!”
“……”
Gu Qiqi, “System, you’re so dramatic!”
System, “???”
“Nevertheless, I will work hard!”
System, “……You scared me, thought I didn’t manage to gloss over it!”
