Chapter 8: Do You All Desire Power?
In the morning, at the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau.
In a pristine white room, the smell of disinfectant mixed with bl**d wafted through the air, accompanied by the echoes of heavy metal rock music.
An Qing stood in front of a silver dissection table, the corner of her mouth slightly lifted as she held a lady’s cigarette, revealing a smile—a lady reminiscent of a lover, if not for the chainsaw in her injured hands and the dissected corpse with its skull laid bare in front of her.
The dissection room door swung open, and someone walked in, standing behind her.
“How’s it going? Any findings?”
An Qing put down the bloodied chainsaw, turned around to look at Bai Kai, and said with a slight pout, “It’s the Gu poison modified with Spirit Patterns; the type of Spirit Pattern should be related to the Five Plagues Gods. However, those who possess such abilities are numerous in areas populated by the Zhuang and Miao ethnicities; it’s hard to pinpoint where it came from.”
“Still, the sample size is too small. If I could get a few more samples, I might be able to track the killer down.”
As she spoke, she picked up a cup filled with crimson liquid from the dissection table and took a small sip, her lips stained a seductive crimson.
“However, as you know, there have been similar attack incidents before, and it’s highly likely that this is a case of them getting away, with little chance of them striking again.”
“Let’s hope so,” Bai Kai replied calmly.
As he spoke, he stole a glance at the disassembled corpse on the dissection table and then at the drink in An Qing’s cup, wrinkling his brow in discomfort.
Drinking strawberry special juice in a dissection room? How can she even stomach that! A man who ate instant noodles at a crime scene thought.
————
At Huacheng University, in the Science and Liberal Arts Building.
As the end-of-term exam month arrived, teachers across various subjects had already completed their lectures for the semester; the remaining one or two classes had turned into self-study sessions.
In such a situation, teachers turned a blind eye, and many chose to let loose, with the students who were supposed to fill the classroom having seemingly evaporated, reduced by half.
Yang Yi and his small group were among those who had “evaporated.”
Lu Yibei chose not to go along with them and instead took this rare opportunity to study diligently in the classroom.
Although he had experienced many bizarre events in the past three to four months, he still had his mind set on obtaining a degree, going home to open a bar, and writing motivational essays for quick cash.
A whole class, nearly two hours, passed in the blink of an eye.
When the bell signaling the end of class rang, Lu Yibei stood up, stretched, and pulled out his phone to message Du Sixian.
Lu Yibei: “Comrade, how’s the mission going?”
In less than a minute, he received a reply.
Du Sixian: “Don’t worry! I’ve already found the people you mentioned; I’ll ensure the mission is completed!”
“……”
Lu Yibei looked at the confident undertone in Du Sixian’s message, furrowing his brow slightly.
So confident? He thought to himself, putting away his phone and leisurely heading towards the library to continue studying for a while.
However.
Just after he sat down in the library, opened his textbook and materials, and read for less than twenty minutes, he received good news from Du Sixian.
Du Sixian: “Got it! Although I haven’t asked them about the procedures for the urban legend game yet, they invited me to join their pre-exam party tonight! I heard there’s a daring game at the party.”
Lu Yibei, “……”
A party before the exam, fine, but why must it include a daring game?
What if it leads to d*ath?
Tsk, these college students will really do anything to avoid exams!
Lu Yibei thought, picking up his phone to reply to Du Sixian.
Lu Yibei: “So soon? [Black man question face] How did you do it?”
Du Sixian: “It’s simple! When I found them, they were taking pictures with a sports car at the pedestrian street entrance. I just struck up a conversation or two, and it worked out.”
Lu Yibei: “That easy? What did you say to them?”
Du Sixian: “I said, ‘Could you step aside? I need to move the car.’”
“……”
After reading Du Sixian’s reply, Lu Yibei’s eyebrows twitched, and he instinctively clenched his fists, nearly crushing his phone in the process.
Tsk, is this the ugly side of the rich?
What can you do when you encounter such a person?
Aside from being friends with her, is there any other choice? Lu Yibei mused.
……
After leaving school, Lu Yibei went to the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau, nestled in his office, handling documents while studying for the exam.
Around three in the afternoon, he stood up from his seat, moved around a bit, and then walked towards the Special Action Team’s training room.
Bai Kai learned that Lu Yibei was investigating He Liang’s cause of d*ath and had taken the relevant files. After inquiring about the situation with the Special Action Team members involved, he confirmed that the danger level was not high and decided to let Lu Yibei carry out the investigation independently.
In Bai Kai’s view, Lu Yibei had just entered the Siye Society as a temporary main operator, and there was still a long way to go. One never knows when he might fill the vacancy in the Huacheng Siye Society, so it’s good practice to deal with softer targets.
And to smoothly complete the investigation, it is necessary to build a good relationship with the Special Action Team members.
Is it just about getting along with the muscle brothers?
What’s so difficult about that?
Who isn’t a muscular man…
In front of the Special Action Team training room, Lu Yibei thought to himself. As soon as he opened the door, he froze in place.
Inside the training room, over a dozen subwoofers in the spacious environment blasted palpable sound waves mixed with a certain bl**d-pumping tune, hitting him like a wave.
Then he saw, in the expansive training room, muscular and nearly steroidal men engaging in intense workouts.
“WTF… what is this?!”
Lu Yibei was dumbfounded; the training room of the Special Action Team was completely different from the training facility Jiang Li had taken him to last time.
Under the yellowish light, brawny men clad only in shorts and tank tops were energetically exercising.
Bench pressing, rope jumping, weighted squats, boxing, wrestling, mixed martial arts…
This place was filled with everything pure men loved: smith machines, octagonal cages, and countless weights… all of it was there.
Even the weights didn’t include smaller options, with a minimum starting weight of 20 KG.
The musclemen were jumping and roaring, exercising in sync with the energetic rhythm.
Muscle and sweat merged into a torrent, surrounding the weak and helpless Lu Yibei while sending out a series of empty roars—“You think you can call yourself a muscular man?”
Lu Yibei, “……” Sorry, I don’t qualify.
“Hmph—!”
A distant scream caught his attention, and Lu Yibei looked over to see two shining, muscular men entangled and bear-hugging each other on the ground in an octagonal cage. His heart sank.
d*mn it, I shouldn’t have listened to Water Brother and come to this kind of place!
Just because he likes it doesn’t mean I do!
I can’t afford to mess with this, time to get out of here.
Like a little white rabbit that had fallen into a bear’s den, Lu Yibei didn’t want to stay even a moment longer upon witnessing such a scene. He turned to leave just as a familiar voice called from behind.
“Officer Lu? Where are you going?”
Lu Yibei turned around and saw the muscular man he had met at the textile factory yesterday. As he was about to say he was in the wrong place, the muscular man spoke first.
“Oh, I remember now; Officer Bai said you wanted to be friends with us and would come to visit us when you had the chance.” The muscular man said with a hearty smile, “By the way, my name is Qi Dong, nice to meet you!”
“……”
Why do I feel like he’s talking about wrestling friends? Lu Yibei hesitantly reached out his hand, shaking Qi Dong’s quickly before withdrawing it.
Seeing that Lu Yibei hadn’t spoken for a while, Qi Dong contemplated for a moment, suddenly grinning broadly, and single-handedly lifted a barbell with fifty kilograms attached to it, enthusiastically offering it to Lu Yibei.
“Now that you’re here, I don’t have anything to treat you with, so how about we do twenty sets of deadlifts together? I’ll tell you, deadlifting is the best!”
Lu Yibei, “？？？”
What the hell, the best?!
How is it that someone would treat guests to deadlifts? Especially weighted deadlifts of 100 KG…
If you want me to d*e, just say so!
Lu Yibei thought, unable to resist, Qi Dong shoved the barbell into his hands before turning back to pick up a 200 KG barbell and started deadlifting effortlessly.
“Come on, Officer Lu, follow my lead… three, two, one, go!”
“Again, remember to protect your back! Three, two, one, go!”
Lu Yibei furrowed his brow, looking down at the barbell that made his arms ache, then at Qi Dong’s hands, which were calloused and as wide as a fan…
With a hand like that, a single slap could end urban legends!
If it were me, I’d probably still be lying on the floor for a long time, right?
Lu Yibei thought nervously, trying with all his might to mimic Qi Dong’s movements, successfully completing one deadlift.
“……”
Huh? It doesn’t seem that hard?
Is it because the Spirit Patterns have strengthened my body?
Lu Yibei raised his eyebrows slightly, feeling a bit smug internally.
It seems that I can barely qualify as a muscular man!
So……
He ended up spending the entire afternoon working out alongside Qi Dong in the training room of the Special Action Team.
As night gradually fell, he discreetly left the training room, caught a taxi out of Mudan Street, found a secluded area, and interrupted the urban legend transformation process.
Not knowing if it was just his imagination, after such high-intensity workout, he felt a slight agility in his limbs when he interrupted the transformation, as if the Spirit Energy had coursed through his body.
Is this what the Great Serpent God meant about strengthening the body to help remedy deficiencies? Lu Yibei pondered.
————
At eight in the evening.
Lu Yibei went to the Special Action Team cafeteria for a bodybuilding meal, and not long after returning to his office, he received a text from Du Sixian.
Automatically blocking out the information, Lu Yibei quickly extracted the key information about the extravagant spending of Du Sixian along with Yang Yi and others throughout the afternoon.
Jin Tan Grand Hotel… presidential suite… starting the urban legend game at 10:30 PM…
Lu Yibei silently repeated the key information and glanced at the time, quietly dialing the Special Action Team’s phone number.
“Hello? Brother Qi? Yeah, it’s Lu Yibei. There’s an operation later; could you bring the brothers along with me?”
“Yeah, it’s the same urban legend that killed He Liang! Equipment?”
The men from the Special Action Team were all straightforward, passionate muscular men; as long as they could show enough strength, they would earn their respect and earn their favor quickly.
So, after a workout session, Lu Yibei managed to bond with Qi Dong using three bottles of health-recovery potions he had experimented with while practicing alchemy and five spicy strips.
Naturally, this triggered the hidden storyline—[Muscular Friendship with Qi Dong], and he tactfully declined the offer to participate in wrestling practice that could develop into something more, adding, “I’ve got other matters to attend to; definitely next time!”
Although he had finally triggered the affection hidden storyline, such a strange and bizarre tactic was better left alone!
“……”
Hearing a member of the Special Action Team ask if he needed them to prepare a set of equipment, Lu Yibei pondered for two seconds and said, “Then I’ll have to trouble you, brother!”
After all, it was to benefit the Siye Society, so why not take advantage where he could?
Moreover, in a situation where he couldn’t fully unleash Spirit Energy, Lu Yibei wanted to experience the thrill of blasting urban legends with an automatic rifle.
————
On the other side.
Not long after nightfall, near Huacheng University City, in a shopping mall that had just closed.
As the security guard locked the door and left, the last light turned off, and the entire mall plunged into darkness and silence, with shadows filling the winding corridors, as if ghosts lurked behind tightly shut shop doors.
For a long time, long time.
“Click—click—!”
A faint sound echoed in the darkness as something moved with stiff joints. Accompanying this sound, the door of a men’s clothing store suddenly creaked open, and several white silhouettes swiftly darted out.
These were faceless, n*ked human mannequins.
In bizarre poses, they dashed through the mall, soon reaching the micro fountain in the center of the atrium. Just then, a low growl suddenly resonated from the shadows.
“Stop! You are surrounded! We officially inform you that this place has been occupied by us through the Hundred Demons Walk. You can either join us or become our dinner tonight!”
“Roar, roar, roar——!”
The mannequin urban legends emitted low growls from their chests, glancing around, and quickly spotted countless glowing red eyes emerging from all directions.
Following that, a group of small urban legends emerged from the darkness, striding confidently towards them with steady footfalls.
Flowing white skirts, oversized eyeballs, sharp false teeth, and inflated tufts of fur—the odd visitors were the urban legends from Lu Yibei’s home.
Behind them followed many weak urban legends, ranging from cockroach rats to dog-headed cats, from hand hidden under beds to little sprites stealing change… so numerous that the eye could scarcely see the end, amounting to no less than a hundred.
Looking at the vast number of enemies and sensing the weak yet abundant Spirit Energy fluctuations, the human mannequins stubbornly held out for a few seconds before kneeling on one knee before the four leading small urban legends, bowing their heads.
Seeing this, Lu Yibei’s small urban legends quickly formed a humanoid shape and nodded at the human mannequins, “Good! Welcome to our family, the [Messengers of Love and Peace · Model of Morality and Conscience · Witch Warriors of Handsome Men and Beautiful Women]!”
“Now I announce that after Jingyi Apartment Complex, the cafeteria of the Teachers’ University affiliated primary school, and the market in Science and Engineering Residential Area, our territory has expanded to Jiajia Le Shopping Mall! This is a great victory!”
“Tomorrow at the same time, everyone gather by the third manhole cover next to the Teachers’ University affiliated primary school; we will head towards the underground parking lot of the Finance University together!”
“OHHHH——!”
“￥#%@&*￥——!”
Amidst an array of strange and unintelligible cheers from the gathered small urban legends in the mall, they scattered in a hurry before quickly disappearing.
Meanwhile, at the top of the mall, a pair of eyes were fixated on the scene unfolding below.
————
Gu Qiqi quietly observed Lu Yibei’s small urban legends utilizing the Hundred Demons Walk to occupy the mall, her lips pouting, her brows furrowed.
“System, is this the Hundred Demons Walk? Why do I feel like… it’s not as dangerous as you said?”
System, “……”
How was I supposed to know that the minions of calamity would be so low-key?
This scale of a Hundred Demons Walk is my first time seeing it in so many lifetimes.
The distance traveled didn’t even exceed a hundred meters; is it necessary to perform a Hundred Demons Walk for such a distance? If a slightly stronger urban legend were to release Spirit Energy, it would completely cover this place!
The system grumbled, clearing its throat, “Gu Qiqi, this extraordinarily small-scale Hundred Demons Walk is an exception; typically, it’s not like this.”
“If I had to make an analogy, this could only be considered elementary school students fighting in groups, whereas a typical Hundred Demons Walk would be at least a large-scale modern weapon warfare involving tens of thousands.”
“……” Gu Qiqi pondered for two seconds, “So, are you saying Lu Yibei is actually the head of the elementary school? Then why did you say I can’t beat him?”
“I’m super strong against elementary school students!”
Gu Qiqi declared, energetically throwing a couple of punches into the air.
The system scorned, “Tsk! Being tricked by third-grade elementary students into beating fifth-grade elementary students, are you still proud of that? I’m embarrassed for you!”
“I originally didn’t want to go, but he offered too much.” Gu Qiqi said weakly.
“It’s only twenty bucks!” The system muttered in annoyance, then settled its mood, “Forget it, Gu Qiqi, I don’t have time to delve into past grudges. Hurry up and proceed according to the plan!”
As long as these guys become stronger and the scope of the Hundred Demons Walk expands, calamity will eventually be drawn in! The system thought.
“Hmm…” Gu Qiqi pondered for a moment, “Alright!”
With that, she donned the Zhu Yan alter spell-casting mask, leaped out from her hiding spot, and landed steadily in front of the small urban legends that were preparing to leave.
“You all, do you desire power?” Gu Qiqi said in a low voice.
“……”
After a two-second silence, all the small urban legends replied in unison, “No!”
Then, an uproar of voices followed.
“I desire freedom!”
“I desire Sakura Island Mai!”
“I desire Nako RUA!”
……
Gu Qiqi, “？？？”
“Eh? Why is this different from what you promised me?”
System, “……” How was I supposed to know that even the minions of calamity would have the same mindset as her?
