Chapter 154: Forgotten Experiences
The shadows of childhood never really fade away; they merely lie dormant in unseen corners…
His body stiffened as a memory buried deep within Luxianbei slowly resurfaced.
He felt isolated from the world, darkness surging from all directions, and the only things left in his sight were the classroom’s window and the dancing shadows of trees outside.
The wind stirred, branches swayed, and behind him, the cheerful laughter of children came incessantly, mixed with some cries—many, chaotic, and illusory.
Tiny footprints began to appear on the walls and floor of the classroom, something stepping out from the dark shadows.
They ran and jumped, surrounding the young Luxianbei, continuously inviting him.
“Luxianbei, why don’t you come play with us?”
“Luxianbei, I know a place with lots of candy; do you want to go with me?”
“Luxianbei, I know a way for you to never have to write again; do you want to hear about it?”
…
Each of their invitations held a deadly temptation for a child with an undeveloped mind.
But…
Why had his classmates suddenly become so enthusiastic?
They had never liked to play with him.
Although young Luxianbei couldn’t quite understand what was wrong, he felt intuitively that he shouldn’t respond to their invitations.
Without a response from Luxianbei, they seemed to grow restless.
The laughter and cries of children grew louder, closing in around him, hugging his limbs, as shadow-like small hands squeezed around his neck, whispering in his ear.
Bruises in the shape of fingers gradually appeared on his neck, and breathing became increasingly difficult.
It was cold all around, yet he suddenly felt feverish, a faint white mist billowing from his mouth and nose with each breath, and the scene before him began to blur, leaving only darkness and the grayness crowded by darkness.
He felt unwell, very unwell, as if he were about to d*e.
Soon, that small body could no longer withstand such torment; darkness enveloped him, and he collapsed onto the ground.
…
On the other side, at Huacheng University auditorium.
A male student stood at the center of the stage, delivering an impassioned speech.
“Those who say one generation is worse than the next should look at you, like I do.
I watch you with envy.
The senior has accumulated a collection of exercises for over a decade, a gift prepared just for you.
…
To freely learn a programming language, to learn an advanced technique from the laboratory…”
…
Lin Yiqi, one of the hosts, stood backstage, watching the senior from the School of Life Sciences giving the speech, and then glanced at Zhang Yijing, the deputy president of the news agency, who looked anxious just a short distance away.
“Old Zhang, it’s not that I don’t want to help you; I’ve read the script from that Luxianbei, and it’s decent.”
“But you’ve dragged this on for so long that the kid is almost going to be the last one on stage. We can’t go on like this!”
“You should know, right? The last one to appear is a relative of the principal. If he doesn’t arrive in three minutes, we’ll have to cancel his speech and let a substitute take over.”
Zhang Yijing looked around, frustrated when he found no trace of Luxianbei, and rubbed his hair anxiously, “The second to last won’t do; the last one on stage is acceptable!”
“…”
“What? The last one won’t do either?”
“Old brother, the last one is the secretary’s niece.”
“Hmph!” Zhang Yijing huffed angrily, with no momentum in his voice, sounding almost petulant, and stomped his foot.
Turning around, he pulled out his phone, dialing Luxianbei’s number once again.
“…”
After several attempts with no answer, Zhang Yijing stared at the phone screen, deep in thought.
He… wouldn’t have given me a fake number, would he?
…
Lin Yiqi withdrew her gaze, a slight smile appearing at the corners of her mouth.
Zhang Yijing had already used his position to delay Luxianbei’s appearance multiple times, yet he still hadn’t shown up.
It seemed Baby was doing well, successfully trapping him somewhere.
As Lin Yiqi pondered this, a chill suddenly ran down her spine, and she vaguely felt a small pair of hands wrap around her leg, then slowly climb onto her shoulder.
This familiar sensation washed over her, and she glanced down to see the grotesque, tiny body of the ghost infant, followed by an eerie, unsettling sobbing in her ear.
The ghost infant’s palm-sized body was wrapped in unformed skin, displaying an oxygen-deprived purplish hue, with protruding dark red veins beneath its tender flesh; unlike before, there was a layer of crimson mist swirling around its surface.
Lin Yiqi stared blankly for a moment, then came to her senses, nervously looking around before quickly moving to a more secluded corner of the backstage.
Taking cover behind a prop box, she gently patted the ghost infant on the shoulder and soothingly whispered, “Baby, baby, it’s okay, don’t cry for now!”
The ghost infant continued to sob, as if it couldn’t be comforted no matter what.
Seeing this, Lin Yiqi bit her lip, a fierce glint flashing in her eyes, and raised her hand to bite her right index finger, bringing the bl**d to the ghost infant’s lips.
Sensing the sweet scent of bl**d, the ghost infant’s cries suddenly ceased, and it greedily clung to Lin Yiqi’s finger, sucking eagerly.
As the bl**d gradually flowed into the ghost infant, Lin Yiqi’s complexion grew increasingly pale.
Once the ghost infant calmed down completely, she continued to ask, “Baby, what happened? Why did you come back?”
As Lin Yiqi’s words fell, a chilling sensation washed over her mind, as if a cold hand had reached into her consciousness.
She saw the ghost infant creating illusions, trapping Luxianbei, and then calmly pulling out various spirit energy items, like an experienced urban legend hunter, placing them within easy reach.
So it was because he was frightened by those spirit energy items that his abilities were fully unleashed, triggering the fears buried deep within him and trying to scare him into a faint?
Lin Yiqi glanced at the ghost infant on her shoulder, her brow furrowing slightly, when she received new information, her expression changing slightly.
“What? There’s a terrifying urban legend sleeping within his body, and you woke it up?”
From the information conveyed by the ghost infant, she saw Luxianbei sitting alone in a corner of the study room, sensing the cold, bloody spirit energy fluctuations swirling around him, similar to those of a witch-type entity, and the injuries on the ghost infant’s body were caused by those spirit energy fluctuations.
A terrifying witch-type urban legend hidden within a grown man’s body? Lin Yiqi couldn’t help but flash an expression of disdain.
But what should she do now?
Today was the school celebration, with so many people gathered at the school; if he transformed into an urban legend here, it could lead to big trouble.
Lin Yiqi thought, gently stroking the still trembling ghost infant, quietly asking a few questions, her expression turning grave.
After speaking with the ghost infant and daring not to return to the study room to rescue Luxianbei from the illusion, she looked toward the backstage preparation area and stepped toward another female host.
As she walked, Lin Yiqi quickly adjusted her mood, and when she reached the other host, a warm smile had appeared on her previously pale, gloomy face.
“Minmin, Minmin, can I ask you for a favor?”
The other female host, appearing to be a cheerful and straightforward girl, smiled broadly upon hearing Lin Yiqi’s request, “Sure, what is it?”
“Isn’t the speech segment about to end? I suddenly feel a bit unwell; I was wondering if you could…” Lin Yiqi said, suddenly leaning closer to the girl’s ear, and whispered, “A relative has come; I need to step out for a moment.”
“You mean to cover for you for a while?” The girl nodded in realization, “No problem, no problem, go quickly!”
“Thank you.” Lin Yiqi said her thanks, slightly bowed, and hurried toward the dressing room.
After removing her formal gown and changing into casual clothes, she quickly crossed a small part of the school and reached the teaching building where the study room was located. After some searching, she found Luxianbei lying in the back row against the window of a study room on the top floor.
He lay there quietly, as if asleep, with intermittent bl**d-chilling spirit energy fluctuations emanating from him.
Lin Yiqi took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and was about to venture in to awaken Luxianbei trapped within the illusion.
Then…
He suddenly woke up on his own, the spirit energy fluctuations around him dissipating, stretching and yawning as if he had just taken a nice afternoon nap.
Lin Yiqi, “??? ”
What on earth happened to him during the short time I arrived?
How did he manage to escape from the illusion created by Baby?
…
Malicious whispers echoed incessantly in her ears, seemingly pushing one towards insanity.
In the darkness, a sudden loud shout pierced through.
“Golden Tower, Jade Room, Iron-Cast Walls, Dragon Tails, Phoenix Wings, Qilin Hooves, Turtle Shells, brilliance falls, four corners gather, strike spell ninety-five, Four Beasts Bright Sky Cannon!”
In an instant, a majestic white light almost engulfed the entire teaching building, yet caused no damage, merely dispelling the darkness, with a faint dragon roar and phoenix cry echoing above the school.
For a moment, even places that had never felt the presence of light were filled with bright white radiance.
Young Luxianbei was lifted by a pair of slightly rough big hands and gently placed on a strong, warm shoulder. In a daze, he heard two familiar voices ring in his ears.
The owners of those two voices were none other than his father and Water Brother.
…
“I’m telling you, Old Lu, they were just a few little minions; did you really need to go straight to ninety-five? If someone didn’t know better, they’d think an A Grade urban legend was hiding here!”
“Bai Kai, just shut up! I asked you to find a safer school for our son, and this is how you did it? You didn’t even notice the urban legends hiding in the school? You’ve embarrassed your master!”
“W-Well, it’s because their spirit energy fluctuations were too weak, weak enough that I didn’t even notice… Wait a minute, that’s not right! How could you not realize our son hadn’t come home from school?”
…
Luxianbei, “……” Such things actually happened that day? Why don’t I remember any of this? Dad can actually use spell formulas? Why has he never mentioned it before?
In an instant, a lot of questions popped up in his head, leaving him a bit disoriented.
He suddenly felt that his dad had hidden a ton of big secrets from him, and if one day, a younger sibling or an older sibling appeared in front of him to fight over inheritance, it wouldn’t be surprising at all.
