**Chapter 160: She is the Easiest to Deal With**
Luxianbei underestimated the old man’s level of tight-lippedness.
From the dilapidated temple in the center of the village to its edge, she almost had a full stand-up comedy session with the old man, yet she couldn’t completely pry open his mouth.
However, the cute Human Pager Lady was already quite impressive.
At least under her storm-like verbal bombardment, this elderly man who had not communicated normally with anyone for a long time revealed some seemingly inconsequential information.
From the old man’s brief replies, Luxianbei learned that his last name was Mengrao and his given name was Ze.
According to Luxu’s memories of studying special ethnic scripts, the Miao ancestors had this surname, which originated from the worship of dragon and snake totems.
His age could be frightening. He casually mentioned that when he was young, he saw a foreigner wearing a long gown with braids.
When the old man mentioned that, Luxianbei tentatively said, “The Qing Dynasty has long fallen!” He didn’t react much, indicating he likely didn’t know about the drastic changes in the outside world.
The final point, which Luxianbei felt was the most important, was that the old man said he was the former priest of this village, but he made a mistake and lost his qualification to serve the gods.
When Luxianbei continued to press him about what mistake he had made, the old man suddenly showed prominent veins on his forehead, glared at her fiercely, and growled for her to be quiet, as if he were about to devour her.
After that, she could no longer extract anything meaningful from the old man.
This made the Human Pager Lady feel frustrated for the first time.
But frustration aside, she was not discouraged at all; Rome wasn’t built in a day, and prying information had to be done slowly.
One should be flexible and strategic; efficiency is higher. Although she usually preferred a tighter approach, with the old man being so stubborn, she had to take more extreme measures.
After all, she was the one telling the urban legend. With her being there, the old man probably wouldn’t be able to sleep. Luxianbei thought.
……
Arriving at the dilapidated temple on the edge of the village, Meng Raoze paused briefly, glanced back at Luxianbei, then stepped up the stairs, pushed the door open, and drifted inside, as if swallowed by the dark, gaping door.
Luxianbei stood still outside the temple’s entrance, examining it seriously.
The temple looked quite dilapidated, with large patches of green vegetation covering the ancient-style eaves and tiles. The walls were pockmarked, and certain remote corners had already collapsed. The pitch-black door was covered with tiny holes from insects, exuding the smell of rotting wood.
Luxianbei stared at the door for a few seconds, then a memory snippet belonging to Liangyue surfaced in her mind.
The “Cao Family Instruction” mentioned that house doors should not be black, or it could lead to ominous events.
Through the door, she could vaguely see two beams in the entrance, one red and one black, which symbolized that red is not favorable for men and blue is not favorable for women—unlucky.
Once the door was opened, there was no screen wall; she could see that the small yard was crowded with dozens of water tanks.
Originally, having a water tank directly facing the door was already bad enough; placing dozens more in such a way was even worse, like a group of onlookers glaring at the entrance, which was even more inauspicious.
In addition, there were piles of ancient coins stacked on the rafters, wind chimes made from who knew what animal bones, and a crooked-neck locust tree growing wildly in one corner of the small yard, as well as a direct view of water behind the mountain…
From Liangyue’s patchwork knowledge of Feng Shui, the layout of this temple was emphatically unlucky!
Living in a place like this was worse than digging a hole in a desolate burial ground; it was equally unlucky, but at least in a desolate burial ground, she might make a few “friends.”
As the memory from Liangyue gradually subsided, Luxianbei shook her head and sighed silently.
That girl Liangyue really was a treasure; to survive, she had gathered so many miscellaneous bits of knowledge, a behavior she truly admired.
Didn’t the mysterious girl ask me to find a good candidate to be my subordinate?
If Liangyue were still alive and willing, I would definitely choose her!
Unfortunately…
A hint of regret flashed across Luxianbei’s eyes, and she collected her thoughts, stepping into the small yard.
She no longer cared about inauspiciousness; she had been to places much worse than this.
After all, as long as no signs of danger appeared, it meant there was no powerful urban legend hiding inside.
Besides, since she was already an urban legend, what qualification did she have to look down on others?
I think my apartment’s Feng Shui should be fine, but it’s probably more unlucky with so many urban legends hiding inside… Luxianbei mused.
When she entered the small yard of the dilapidated temple, Meng Raoze was already waiting for her in the center. When he saw her come in, he waved his hand and silently led her to a thatched cottage under the crooked-neck locust tree in a corner of the small yard.
Luxianbei grasped the Ming King Statue with both hands and followed him cautiously. As they passed the dark water tanks filled to the brim, she surprisingly felt a sense of tranquility.
After staring at them for a while, she noticed a shadow resembling a large fish flash by in the water tank before she packed away her curiosity and followed Meng Raoze into the thatched cottage.
Once inside, Meng Raoze stood at the door and suddenly spoke, “You stay here tonight, don’t go anywhere. I’m not trying to scare you; recently, the village has not been safe.”
“Not safe?” Luxianbei tilted her head.
“There’s a skull-crushing madman wandering around nearby; many villagers have already died.”
Skull-crushing madman? Uh… Luxianbei frowned and pressed, “Old man, what kind of madness does that madman have?”
Meng Raoze seemed reluctant or didn’t know how to answer her question. He fell silent for a few seconds before turning to leave. She followed him to ask a few more questions but received no further responses.
……
Luxianbei paced around the room twice, grabbing over thirty talismans and neatly arranging them around the bed before throwing herself onto the empty bed board.
Now was not the time to continue questioning Meng Raoze; she had to wait a while, probably until he was about to fall asleep before going back to him. After a busy day, she was exhausted and could really use some rest.
The empty bed board was hard and unyielding, lying on it with her delicate body felt uncomfortable. Luxianbei had barely lain there for a few minutes when her low voice came from the dark.
“Coat, can you turn into a sleeping bag? Make me a big shark sleeping bag!”
As soon as her words fell, there was a brief silence before the sound of rustling came from the darkness as the coat transformed.
Before long, it transformed into a pink, fluffy rabbit sleeping bag lined with flannel.
Coat, “……”
I’ve only seen something like this. I don’t know how to turn into a big shark sleeping bag…
(｡•ˇ‸ˇ•｡)
In the pitch-black environment, Luxianbei had no idea what shape her sleeping bag was. As her smooth skin lightly brushed against the soft, gentle fabric, she let out a contented sigh.
“Hmm—! So comfy!”
Coat, “……” It seems the witch really enjoys this! She indeed loves these cute things.
Ξ(✿＞◡❛)
“By the way, Coat, wake me up in an hour. I want to go back to confront that old man.”
As soon as her words fell, the coat seemed to respond to Luxianbei, gently trembling twice before falling silent.
In an instant, in the dark room, a girl lay in a rabbit-shaped sleeping bag, her head poking out from the rabbit’s mouth, which looked somewhat bizarre.
……
In the Bamboo Slips Illusion, there was no dawn, but there was night. The daylight constantly alternated between deep gray and pitch black without anyone noticing.
In the black dense forest not far from the desolate village, Gu Qiqi panted heavily, leaning against the trunk of a large tree to rest.
Beside her lay several half-human, half-snake monsters, sprawled in various disheveled positions. Their bodies were distorted and deformed in many places, suffering different degrees of fractures, and the only similar aspect was their heads.
Those already distorted into triangular shapes had, without exception, flattened out, as if something heavy had crushed them, causing them to burst open, with bl**d and flesh a gruesome sight.
“System, the pursuing soldiers have been dealt with; can I eat grilled fish now?”
“Yes, if you can still eat…”
“I can! I can!” Gu Qiqi replied repeatedly, rummaging through her bosom to pull out the grilled fish, lifting it to her mouth, but was stopped by the system.
“Wait, Gu Qiqi! Don’t eat yet!”
“What’s wrong? Didn’t you just say I could eat?” Gu Qiqi asked, puzzled.
“That’s right, but… it’s a bit complicated to explain. Just let me smell it before you eat.”
“No!” Gu Qiqi decisively refused.
“Tsk, Gu Qiqi, I have a vague feeling that there’s a calamity’s aura on it. Let me smell it first, confirm it, and then you can eat.”
“System, you’re really sneaky. Do you think I’d give you my grilled fish because you made up such a poor excuse?”
“What do you mean by a lie! Gu Qiqi, when did I… d*mn, did you finish it?”
“Uh, four drops, EMMMM, gulps—burp!”
The system watched helplessly as Gu Qiqi devoured the two grilled fish she had picked up, song off like skewers, finishing them cleanly, and couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
The spirit pattern I chose for her is a mythological species, not a mutated one. That’s correct! Why does it seem her physical structure is a bit different from that of an ordinary person?
“System, you just mentioned calamity, and suddenly I remembered something!”
“Hmm? What is it?” the system responded seriously.
“You said that as long as we stop one of the seven factors that could lead to the world’s destruction from being born, we could save the world, right? But why do we always focus solely on her?”
“Because…” the system hesitated.
Because she is the only one whose position I can determine, and…
“She might be the easiest to deal with so far,” the system mused.
