Chapter 43: The Opportunity Has Arrived!
Luxianbei, “……” She actually asked me if I wanted to sleep together? Such a good thing?
“I want to!”
Luxianbei replied and quickly dashed into the bedroom, as if afraid Jiang Li would change her mind, turning around to lock the door with a click.
Suddenly, the pitch-black room was left with only the two of them, and silence reigned.
Jiang Li looked at the vague figure by the door, and a scene of Luxianbei before she became a legend flashed through her mind, making her cheeks feel a bit warm.
b*stard, shameless!
She secretly cursed in her heart, wrapped herself in the quilt, turned her back, and the next moment she felt the bed shake slightly, tightening her heart.
After a few seconds, a steady breathing sound suddenly came to her ears.
Jiang Li turned to sit up and saw Luxianbei lying in a coat turned into a small monster onesie, revealing only her delicate little face, with a few crystal-like droplets hanging from her slightly parted lips.
Luxianbei had fallen asleep.
Although leaving such a stunning beauty to sleep alone was almost inhumane.
However, after becoming a legend, she couldn’t do anything; what else could they do at night besides sleep?
“……”
In the dark, Jiang Li stared at Luxianbei for a moment, confirming she had really fallen asleep before lying back down on the bed.
Yet, lying in bed, she couldn’t calm her mind at all, involuntarily thinking about the possibility that Luxianbei was the uncle’s son.
After tossing and turning for a long time, just as she was about to fall asleep, a hand suddenly climbed onto her buttocks, rubbing back and forth.
In the darkness, Jiang Li’s face instantly turned red, her body jolted as if electrocuted, and all sleepiness vanished, her heart racing like a deer.
I knew it, she really has ulterior motives!
She thought, just as she was about to unleash her spirit patterns and draw a four-meter-long big sword to swing at Luxianbei.
At that moment, the hand on her buttocks suddenly exerted strength…
She felt her body lighten suddenly, being kicked up by Luxianbei and crashing down to the floor with a “bang!”
“Mu—!”
Jiang Li grunted as she hit the ground, her mind filled with question marks as she got up and looked at Luxianbei, who was sleeping in a “big” shape on the bed, her mouth twitching slightly.
“……”
She glanced at Luxianbei on the bed, then looked down at herself, feeling a vague sense of being offended.
Sharing a room, sharing a bed with a beautiful girl, not only did she fall asleep in seconds, but after sleeping, she kicked someone off the bed, occupying the whole bed alone…
Is it me that has the problem, or is it her that has the problem?
Jiang Li thought angrily, pushing away Luxianbei’s hands and legs, returning to the bed, crossing her arms over her chest, staring at the ceiling in a daze.
This time, Luxianbei didn’t move again, and before long, she fell into a deep sleep.
————
In the pitch-black room, a pair of dark red eyes suddenly opened, with a flash of golden light deep within.
Not long after Jiang Li had fallen asleep, Luxianbei woke up in a sudden fit of breathlessness.
She opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling, listening to the steady breathing beside her, hesitating for a moment, and when she slightly lowered her head, she saw a slender arm resting on her chest, furrowing her brows.
This woman’s sleeping position is too bad; she can’t even stay still while sleeping.
I wonder who will marry her in the future, just thinking about that person’s sleep quality after marriage makes me worried about his hairline!
Luxianbei muttered in her heart, gently lifting Jiang Li’s arm, carefully getting out of bed, and then gently placing the arm down before hugging the pillow and stealthily leaving the room.
As she closed the bedroom door, she glanced back and sighed silently.
That’s for the best; this Happy Neighborhood feels eerie everywhere. If both of them fell asleep, it would ultimately be a bit unsafe.
Moreover, before I wake up, I still need to find a shady place to withstand the one or two hours when the sun rises tomorrow morning! Luxianbei thought as she exited the bedroom and closed the door.
“Click…”
The soft sound of the door closing came.
In the darkness, Jiang Li opened her eyes a crack, glanced at the direction of the door, and a slight smile appeared on her lips, then she closed her eyes again.
Luxianbei sat on the sofa in the living room, leaning against the pillow with her arms crossed, her gaze peering through the cracks in the curtains at the buildings of the Happy Neighborhood shrouded in the night.
The night was deep, and silence reigned. Old memories that she hadn’t finished telling Jiang Li resurfaced in her mind.
————
According to the old lady, Li Ainong encountered a legend that night and was saved by an odd old man who set up a monument in the woods at night.
The timely arriving old man took him along the winding mountain road, running wildly. The night riverbed was pitch black, and the legend floated in the air, neither too close nor too far behind him, constantly singing a chilling melody.
Li Ainong’s legs were trembling with fear as he ran alongside the old man, exhausted until dawn broke and he finally escaped danger.
Coming back to her senses, Luxianbei found herself in a cold sweat.
They had run all night; even though the old man had some trouble walking, they at least got out for over ten miles, yet by dawn, he found he was still at the village entrance.
Thinking back, that night they must have encountered the legendary “Ghost Blocking the Way.”
Speaking of which, Li Ainong was rather bold.
After such a life-threatening experience, he, finding no relatives, boldly chose to settle in a dilapidated house.
What could be scarier than legends? Is poverty and hunger scarier?
Anyway, according to the old man, as long as one didn’t go out at night, those legends wouldn’t cause harm.
If it loved to perform at night, let it sing; although you can’t watch, you can still enjoy free theater, which is truly lovely!
Folklore has always held the belief that encountering a legend is a good sign, meaning seeing legends indicates they have no malice and smoothly avoiding them would lead to good fortune.
After settling down in the dilapidated house, Li Ainong managed to earn a bit of money from hard labor and then ventured into a small business, making quite a bit, and had no desire to leave.
And those actors and children turned into legends after the theater burned down were subdued by a mysterious high person who came from far away.
That high person roamed near Huacheng, hearing about the legends causing chaos, immediately found the old man living near the theater ruins and the well-off Li Ainong.
After sending the two away that night, the high person played a suona and carried an ancient sword, heading alone to the ruins of the theater among the woods.
According to Li Ainong, that night, the forest filled with music, playing a now-lost piece called “Yin Yang River,” but was inadvertently swayed by the high person’s suona to “San Niang Teaches Her Child.”
Luxianbei also drew inspiration from here, feeling that the suona might have some power to suppress the legends in Happy Neighborhood, spending 800 yuan to enroll in a folk music crash course.
Sadly, the teacher at the Art Center couldn’t play “San Niang Teaches Her Child.”
After the music was interrupted, a chilling wail surged through the little forest, with explosions ringing out like war sounds from warlords encountered on escape routes, lasting almost the entire night.
As dawn began to break, the mysterious high person limped out of the little forest, ragged and with the ancient sword lost.
Thinking it was broken, the high person, however, told the two that the sword was used to seal the legends and instructed them to guard it well, lest someone drew it out and the legends terrorized again.
Since then, there had been no more disturbances from legends near the theater ruins, and over time, many residents moved back in again.
As time passed, people gradually forgot that there had once been legends here, not to mention that an ancient sword was buried beneath the theater ruins, which was long lost to the winds.
It’s worth mentioning that the old lady said that people who lived in this area of Happy Neighborhood were genuinely very happy; things like couples fighting or naughty kids causing trouble were rarely seen.
Based on the old lady’s description, Luxianbei suspected that the legendary high person sealed legends here with an inherently not bad nature, possibly still secretly protecting the residents.
This situation lasted until the old houses here were demolished, and the construction of Happy Neighborhood began.
When Luxianbei went to ask Tang for information for the second time, Grandpa Tang changed color at the sight of her.
Luxianbei said nothing, asked nothing, and just sat next to him, looking at him meaningfully, continually offering him tea, occasionally forcing a smile that looked more like a stiff grimace than a smile.
Recalling the experience from two days prior, Grandpa Tang couldn’t take the psychological pressure any longer, took two quick-effect heart pills, and slammed the table, pointing at Luxianbei, cursing.
“Little brat! I watched you grow up; it’s too unethical for you to behave like this! You want to know something? Do I still need to tell you?!”
Thus, Luxianbei found the driver uncle responsible for the foundation excavation at the Happy Neighborhood construction site.
When Luxianbei approached that uncle, he clearly did not want to mention past events at the site. Seeing him evasive, Luxianbei suddenly shouted, “The sword you dug up is mine!”
The foundation digging work went particularly smoothly in the first month, but on the last day of that month, something went wrong at the site.
The first to have an issue was this driver. That day, while digging at a small mound, his bucket suddenly got stuck on something.
At first, he thought it was some particularly hard rock, but after adjusting his position several times to excavate, he cleared layers of dirt from the small mound and discovered an ancient sword buried beneath.
The sword’s body was embedded underground, leaving only the oddly-shaped hilt exposed. Remarkably, it showed no signs of corrosion, glowing faintly.
The driver didn’t expect the object that had jammed his bucket was actually an ancient sword. He felt relieved he hadn’t damaged a cultural relic, hopped out of the cab to pull the sword out, and continue working.
However, that one pull caused problems; as soon as he gripped the hilt, a burst of flames appeared before him, and his head felt like it was on fire, with a wave of agony coursing through his brain.
After several attempts, the driver realized something was amiss and hurried to inform the foreman.
The foreman, also a well-traveled character, quickly invited a few high people over for a look. The high people stated the sword was suppressing something unclean, advising them not to touch it, or bad things would happen.
The foreman smiled bitterly, saying that without moving the sword, the project couldn’t proceed, so he asked for their help.
Those high people all shirked responsibility, saying, “We so-called high people can only perform some superficial spells; we can see things that ordinary people can’t, but the sword’s owner is far beyond us, so it’s probably beyond our capability. If mishandled, we might suffer too.”
Hearing this, the foreman felt uneasy but had no other option.
In construction, it often happens that the foreman has to advance costs, and debts must be settled once the work is finished. If the work doesn’t go well, he might have to leap off a building with his brothers.
The foreman worried for several days, gritting his teeth, trying various folk methods, like explaining the situation with black dog bl**d, sprinkling glutinous rice, and burning paper money, but the sword remained unmoved, and even the surrounding soil became as hard as iron.
Several excavator drivers, observing the ominous situation, were terrified and pretended to be sick, unwilling to work.
Later, seeing the situation deteriorate, the foreman knew it couldn’t continue like this, so he finally announced a bounty, promising 100,000 yuan to anyone who could remove that broken sword.
The very next day, a reckless individual appeared, one of the high people he had invited.
That high person said he had a way to remove the ancient sword and wouldn’t take any money, provided the sword was returned to him afterward, and those who knew about it must not divulge it.
Hearing it wouldn’t cost him anything to solve the problem, the foreman calculated that the only people aware of the matter were the few excavator drivers and some workers, so he could offer a few hundred yuan in red envelopes to keep their mouths shut, allowing him to pocket tens of thousands more, and he readily agreed.
That night, the so-called high person sent the foreman and curious workers away, entering the site alone.
Everyone waited outside the site half the night without a sound. As dawn approached, they could hardly wait to enter the site and check.
Upon entering, they found the high person was gone, the ancient sword was also gone, and even the hole it was once in showed no trace.
Days passed, and seeing that no unusual conditions had arisen, the project proceeded on schedule without any bizarre happenings, and everyone received the “hush money,” so eventually, no one mentioned the incident again.
Until it was time for piling and drilling, a strange incident occurred.
When building houses and laying foundations, if encountering loose soil structures, drilling can easily lead to collapse, thus requiring mud to be poured into the hole to protect the walls. If the drill becomes stuck or falls, significant economic losses could occur.
At this time, a profession that skirts the edges of legality—the water ghost was called upon.
The water ghost, also known as an engineering diver, will dive into the mud when the drill gets stuck or falls to recover it.
Due to the high difficulty and danger of this job, there’s a saying, “One thousand goes down, one hundred thousand doesn’t come back up.”
During the first phase of Happy Neighborhood’s construction, there was a situation where the drill fell, and divers were called in, resulting in an accident.
Just when everyone thought the diver would be trapped inside and unable to return, he miraculously emerged from the mud with the drill, only coughing up a few mouthfuls of water.
However, once the diver caught his breath, what he said sent chills down everyone’s spines.
He claimed there were “people” beneath the drilled hole, many “people” swimming in the mud, singing opera and playing some kind of instrument, and through the murky mud, he could only vaguely see some outlines of heads, arms, legs, and torsos.
Furthermore, he said the reason he managed to escape was that those “people” pushed him up; he felt countless hands pushing him from behind, as if urging him to come out.
Hearing the diver’s words, everyone thought he was just frightened and not in his right mind from choking on water while saying nonsensical things.
Some even joked, “Since they saved you, it means they won’t do harm; maybe they’ll even help us out! Hahaha!”
The strange occurrences during the construction of Happy Neighborhood concluded here. The following work proceeded smoothly and surprisingly, finishing over a month ahead of schedule.
Since no lives were lost, no one paid any mind to those small incidents at the site, and no one had the leisure to report them to the police.
Everyone was a veteran in construction; who hadn’t encountered strange events?
Those incidents gradually became buried in the river of time.
Thus, the Siye Society had no relevant information, which was truly expected.
After Luxianbei listened to the old lady and the driver’s stories, she always felt that the legends buried beneath Happy Neighborhood might not have caused harm in the past, and perhaps even helped people, bringing “happiness” to those living nearby.
However, something changed after that ancient sword was stolen; they seemed affected by some factor.
It was just that they were too deeply buried, and it was unclear how to find them.
Even if found, it wouldn’t necessarily mean they could be defeated. Even if they could flee, it didn’t guarantee Jiang Li would be let go.
Such a headache!
If only she could find the stolen ancient sword, perhaps her winning odds would increase a bit. Luxianbei thought.
————
Luxianbei stayed alone in the living room until a little past seven, and upon seeing dawn approaching, she quietly left the rented room.
She arrived at the weak electricity well she had scouted earlier, sneaking inside, shrinking back into a dark corner, playing with her phone for two hours until the sun fully rose before leaving.
Exiting the weak electricity well, amidst the friendly yet strange greetings from a group of early risers, Luxianbei went outside to buy breakfast for Jiang Li, and just as she returned to the entrance of her rented room, she bumped into a property staff member dressed in a black suit.
He was a slightly short and stout man.
Seeing Luxianbei return, the man displayed a professional smile and politely nodded, “Hello, you are the new resident who just moved in, right?”
“Yes, may I ask what you need?” Luxianbei replied expressionlessly.
“It’s like this, our neighborhood has a tradition; whenever new residents move in, we hold a welcome party.” The man said.
Opportunity has come! Luxianbei felt a surge of joy and asked suspiciously, “Is the welcome for renters too?”
“Yes.” The man nodded. “If it’s convenient this weekend, we hope you could attend.”
“What if it’s not convenient?”
At this, the man visibly paused for a moment, then smiled, “Then, when would it be more convenient for you?”
“But what if I’m always inconvenient? You know, with someone like me, a little fairy, it’s generally inconvenient.”
“……”
The man fell silent for a moment, as if organizing his response to such a situation.
Before he could speak, Luxianbei quickly interjected, “Just kidding! I will go to the welcome party; after all, it’s everyone’s good intention…”
“That’s great! Everyone will be very happy that you can attend.”
“Thank you, it’s really you all who should be happy.” Luxianbei waved her hand dismissively.
The man, “……”
