Chapter Two: A Game of Hide and Seek Alone
Before seeing the catalog of urban legend incidents that Jiang Li was responsible for following up on, Luxianbei always thought that the people in the Huacheng Siye Society were just a bunch of slackers stealing government salaries.
A group of people taking the salaries sponsored by the state and society, spending all day in nightclubs, racing cars, gambling, collecting organs from urban legends, and cosplaying mushrooms…
Oh right, there was even one person who took a salary but never showed their face!
In any case, they didn’t do any serious work, indulging in various vices.
He even felt that if he stayed with these people too long, he would eventually turn from a lively young man into a copper pea immune to everything.
Is this the kind of life a person should live?
This is a life only found in dreams, a life of immortals!
However, when he opened the box Bai Kai handed him and saw that it contained over eight hundred pages, with each page containing an average of five to seven summaries of urban legend incidents, his dream was shattered.
“Is this, is this all the urban legend incidents that Jiang Li is responsible for?”
“Not all of them.” Bai Kai shrugged.
Just as Luxianbei was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he heard Bai Kai add, “Some incidents have high confidentiality and danger levels and were not given to you due to your insufficient combat skills.”
Luxianbei, “??? ”
Shocked, there’s even more?
How do you manage to come up with new stuff every few incidents?
Luxianbei once again felt the malice coming from the Siye Society.
“How is this possible?” Luxianbei asked seriously.
“Hmm?”
“I mean, does Jiang Li handle so many urban legend incidents by herself? Where does she find so much time?”
She’s clearly playing Mahjong all the time! Luxianbei secretly thought.
“This question…”
Bai Kai paused for a moment and explained, “Although she’s not easy to deal with, there have never been any issues with her handling daily work.”
“As far as I know, she works about thirteen or fourteen hours a day, only sleeping five hours.”
She really works too hard. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been caught red-handed when I tried to mess around at her place… Bai Kai thought.
Luxianbei suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for Jiang Li; even the anger he felt when she abandoned a mess to live carefree diminished quite a bit.
Looking at it this way, the main operatives of the Siye Society aren’t as slack as imagined. Most of the time, they are quietly working hard in ways I can’t see.
Nonetheless, there’s a problem!
“Working thirteen or fourteen hours, and sleeping five hours…” he counted on his fingers, puzzled, “That still leaves five to six hours, right?”
“Just handling some daily necessities and… you know.” Bai Kai shrugged, waving his hands like he was practicing Tai Chi in the air.
Luxianbei facepalmed, “Got it, playing Mahjong, right?”
I shall call her a master of time management!
“Exactly.” Bai Kai shrugged, “Besides those five to six hours, she always finds time to play a few hands while out in the field, tailing suspects.”
“You haven’t seen her directing Special Action Team members to give warmth to urban legend organ smuggling organizations, tsk tsk!”
As he spoke, Bai Kai couldn’t help but recall the scene of the girl with the metal prosthetic standing in an abandoned factory piled up with rusted machinery, calmly playing Mahjong with one hand while the sounds of gunfire from the Special Action Team and smugglers echoed in the distance.
“But starting from when the night began to lengthen until now, it’s only been five or six years at most, and the number of urban legend incidents handled solely by Jiang Li exceeds five thousand. Isn’t that too much?” Luxianbei frowned.
Based on Bai Kai’s words and the number of urban legend incidents Jiang Li was responsible for, he imagined that hidden throughout Huacheng were spirit energy fluctuations with at least one rabbit-like urban legend roaming, lurking, and waiting for an opportunity, which couldn’t help but send chills down his spine.
Bai Kai looked at Luxianbei’s puzzled eyes and shook his head. He slowly rummaged through the thick pile of documents on the desk, pulled out a heart-shaped ashtray and a pack of rose-flavored cigarettes, lit one, and took a deep breath.
“Xiao Bei.”
Bai Kai said seriously, “There’s a saying that there are seven trillion eight hundred fifty billion gods above, and nine trillion ghosts below. According to the Siye Society’s evaluation standards, these all count as urban legends…”
The mix of tobacco and rose flavors entered Luxianbei’s nostrils, and he glanced at the ashtray on Bai Kai’s desk, frowning.
He didn’t particularly dislike the smell of tobacco or roses; it was just that the ashtray on the desk belonged to his father.
To be precise, it should be a gift to his father from the matchmaker he had finally found for him.
As for why this ashtray was in Water Brother’s hands, that’s a long, convoluted, and dramatic romantic story.
“Besides, think about it. Each operative handles different areas, so the number of urban legend incidents they encounter daily also differs.”
“On average, there are about ten incidents daily when all added up, including those involving the same urban legend committing multiple crimes, those that haven’t had any direct contact or attacks, and those that are treated in a ‘scientific’ manner with misreported situations…”
“Wait!” Luxianbei interrupted, “I understand the first two, but what is ‘scientific’ about it?”
“For example, the other day, we received a case from the Changsheng Road police station where an elderly woman reported that there were many corpses of stray dogs and cats piled up near her community.”
“And that every day, stray dogs and cats that passed by suddenly died. Guess what our Special Action Team members found when they went to check it out?”
Luxianbei frowned, “A pervert animal abuser poisoning them nearby?”
He heard that the reason for Miao Xiaoqi’s existence was related to such things… Luxianbei thought.
Bai Kai shook his head, extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray, and waved it off, “Not at all! Turns out a grandson was stealing electrical wiring, causing the underground high-voltage lines in that area to leak electricity!”
Luxianbei, “…” What a sin! Gu Qiqi, do you see this? A power thief, that’s you!
“So, Xiao Bei, you don’t need to be too nervous.” Bai Kai comforted, “Even though the catalog Jiang Li left is thick, there aren’t many dangerous urban legend incidents.”
“Moreover, some incidents with high confidentiality and danger levels have temporarily been entrusted to us operatives.”
Luxianbei remained silent, pondering Bai Kai’s words as he expressionlessly said, “So you’re saying Jiang Li usually does detective and beat cop work, and during this interim period, I only need to take care of the beat cop part of the work, right?”
“Pretty much.” Bai Kai nodded, “The urban legends you’re likely to face are usually only those with D-level spirit energy fluctuations, or even none at all, just small fry. Very simple.”
This is the normal operation… Luxianbei thought, if most of the urban legends hidden in the city were just the type that reside in apartment complexes, that would be more reasonable and easier to accept.
However, if this job was really that easy, I’d be grateful.
When it comes to luck, Luxianbei is quite confident; encountering elites while grinding small fry and taking down elites for BOSS drops is already routine.
That’s right, I can’t believe Water Brother’s nonsense; I still need to remain cautious when encountering urban legends, Luxianbei thought.
Just as he was pondering, Bai Kai raised his hand to check his watch, and his expression suddenly became serious.
Seeing this, Luxianbei asked, “What’s wrong, Water Brother? Is there something special going on?”
“Hmm.” Bai Kai nodded, “The club will open in about an hour. If I don’t hurry, I’ll miss the first wave of the hot scene.”
“Xiao Bei, let’s leave it at that for now!” As he spoke, he pulled out a dusty set of keys from his drawer and pushed them toward Luxianbei.
“These are the keys to your temporary office. Everything else should already be in there; you can go check it out yourself later, I’ll head out first.”
“Remember to lock the door when you leave!”
After that, he got up, elegantly draping his pink-white suit jacket over his shoulder, sprinting out of the office. After a few steps, he even flexed his hips in a lively manner.
Like a runaway stallion.
In the distance, a cheer arose.
“Wuhu~ Off work~! Lily, Jenna, Xiaoyu, Baby… Naiko! I’m here!”
“…”
Luxianbei watched Bai Kai’s departing figure, listening to the seventeen or eighteen flowery names he chattered through, his expression gradually becoming complex.
I was wrong, I really was wrong. I™ should never have believed that this group of people would seriously complete the work of the Siye Society.
At least…
Water Brother is definitely not one of them!
Luxianbei grumbled a few times in his heart, shook his head, and silently picked up the keys on the desk, holding Jiang Li’s urban legend incident catalog as he stood up and headed toward his temporary office.
————
Luxianbei’s temporary office was arranged in the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau, next to the long-unused room number “Seven.”
If it were to be numbered, it should be Room Eight.
The door to Room Eight had yet to be decorated according to the preferences of the operative, the heavy iron door was embedded with a circle of round-headed rivets presenting a silver-gray hue, and the handle was covered with a thin layer of dust.
“Click, click, click—!”
Perhaps because this office hadn’t been used in a long time, the door lock was somewhat old. Luxianbei inserted the key into the lock hole, twisting it several times before he heard a soft sound of the spring mechanism turning.
Gently pushing, the heavy iron door creaked open, revealing a darkened room with tightly drawn curtains, the air filled with a musty odor of dust.
Hanging from the ceiling was an old three-leaf ceiling fan, one of its leaves warped downward as if someone had once hanged themselves there.
“Hello, I’m coming in!” Luxianbei whispered, fumbling to turn on the light and pushed the door open.
The office was empty, with just a desk, a chair, a computer, and a cardboard box; it was completely different from what he had imagined.
The desk was old; even after being repainted, he could still vaguely see the scraggly characters scratched into it with a small kn*fe.
The chair was also old, with wear marks on all corners. Luxianbei carefully pressed on the chair with his hand, confirming that no tragic incident involving the gas lift would take place before sitting down.
Looking around the office, Luxianbei let out a silent sigh, “At least the computer is new. After all, I’m only temporarily standing in; no need for too many requirements.”
Speaking of which, he pressed the power button on the computer before waiting for a moment, only to realize there was no power…
After a few seconds of silence, Luxianbei shrugged and compromised.
“Alright, since I’m here to familiarize myself with the work, I can sort out the electricity later.”
He comforted himself, ripped open the tape sealing the cardboard box with a “ripping” sound, revealing a plain black uniform that resembled a Zhongshan suit and a badge, accompanied by a paper note thoughtfully prepared by Water Brother.
[Xiao Bei, the standard gear for Siye Society operatives includes a uniform and badge, which you have already received. The uniform is generally not required to be worn; the badge may be needed during urban legend incidents involving police contact, so it’s advisable to carry it with you.
Regards, Godfather.]
After reading it, Luxianbei wrinkled his nose, folded the note, and muttered to himself, “Now, let’s see what I should do!”
Saying this, he opened Jiang Li’s catalog of urban legend incidents and began to study it carefully.
He spent an hour roughly flipping through the catalog and felt a bit of warmth in his heart.
Jiang Li may not be a good partner, but she is definitely a good leader.
In the catalog of urban legend incidents left behind, she had marked various things for Luxianbei in detail, accompanied by neat annotations in her handwriting.
Which areas are hotspots for urban legends, suggesting that night patrol should be focused there.
Which urban legends are temporarily harmless and can be used as informants to gather intelligence.
Which urban legends have conflicts or friendships, allowing them to be utilized for risk aversion.
……
In short, all sorts of details were in place, giving people a sense of security that as long as they followed the procedures, they could smoothly complete their one-month proxy work without mishaps.
Luxianbei looked at a few pages and saw a handmade, exceedingly ugly bookmark done by Jiang Li, along with a hand-drawn [heart gesture] and the words “Keep it up!” written on it.
Unconsciously, he couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile.
“Pfft——!”
“This is so ugly, right? I really thought she was some versatile and beautiful girl! What a collapse of character!”
————
Late at night, in a rental room just outside of Fuchun Road in Huacheng.
In the darkness, a man was huddled under the covers, staring intently at his mobile phone, watching the information scrolling up on a chat app interface.
Suddenly, a message about the gameplay of an urban legend game caught his attention.
“A game of hide and seek alone? This sounds interesting! It feels a bit real.” The man muttered to himself.
Looking at the discussion among group friends revolving around the urban legend game on his phone screen, he secretly imagined it, becoming more and more excited, and the drowsiness that had begun to rise within him vanished in an instant.
Soon, he got up, deciding to try out what looked like an exhilarating game.
There will never be a lack of people who are not afraid of d*ath in this world. Even now, with the rumors of urban legends prevalent, a large portion of people hold the belief that “if I haven’t seen it, it doesn’t exist,” and the man was a rather extreme example among them.
Not only does he not believe in the existence of urban legends, but he’s always looking for various ways to prove them.
Turning on the lights, he searched around the room, picking up a doll that was sitting on the window sill.
The doll was one he had caught from a claw machine with his girlfriend a few days ago, poorly made and somewhat ugly, so his girlfriend had carelessly thrown it on the windowsill.
Holding the doll, the man carefully cut open a hole in its abdomen big enough for his hand to fit through using scissors, then slowly emptied the space of all its stuffing.
After completing this task, he paused briefly, checked his phone again to confirm the game process, and then took the rice and the cut fingernails he had prepared earlier, stuffing them into the hollowed-out doll before sewing the opening shut with red thread.
After a moment, the man rested his chin on his hand, staring at the modified doll, muttering, “I still need to give it a name; it’s really a hassle! What should I name it?”
After contemplating for a while, he took a water-based pen from the table and wrote “Little kn*fe” on the doll’s chest. Then he glanced at the time on the wall clock, realizing it was already past midnight, and headed toward the bathroom with the doll.
“Splash——Creek——!”
Watching the sink fill with water, the man turned on the faucet and, following the procedure he read online, placed the doll in the water. As soon as it made contact, the ink from the water-based pen began to blur, spreading like bl**d.
“Tsk! I knew I shouldn’t have used that pen.” The man spat, turned off the lights, and retreated to the bathroom door.
Just as he prepared to follow the online instructions and speak to the doll in the bathroom, he suddenly froze while looking at the doll.
He saw the dim light from the living room reflecting off the slightly damp, cold bathroom walls, casting a faint glow on the white tiled walls. Inside the sink, as the water rippled, the reflection of the doll’s glass button eyes shifted, almost as if they were moving.
“Overthinking it, overthinking it.” The man withdrew his gaze from the doll, composing himself and repeating three times, “The new body is placed here; please use it.”
Then he added, “Alright, let’s play! I’ll be the ghost first.”
After saying this, he turned around and quickly returned to his bedroom, finding a corner by the wall to sit down. Picking up his phone, he checked the time and quietly waited.
Ten minutes later, he got up, went to the living room, took a kitchen kn*fe, returned to the bathroom, and said to the doll in the sink, “Now it’s your turn; come find me! If you find me, I’ll give you life.”
After saying this, he raised the kitchen kn*fe, aimed it at the doll’s chest, and stabbed down, then turned and left the bathroom.
“Splash——!”
Perhaps due to the man’s excessive force, the water in the sink overflowed, splashing onto the floor, making a splashing sound. In the sink, the doll, accompanied by the rippling water, seemed to struggle, rising and falling, drifting about.
In the end, it gently leaned against the edge of the sink, its deep glass button eyes reflecting faint light, gazing at the man’s departing figure…
