**Chapter 9: Who’s Next?**
The system had witnessed the Hundred Demons Walk many times, passing through the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, where the ensuing massive waves seemed trivial.
When the world was about to be destroyed and all manner of demons were dancing, it had even witnessed a Hundred Demons Walk that covered the entire equator.
At that time, a deafening roar tore through the distance.
Huge rocks crumbled from the peaks along the coastline, plunging into the surging sea, and terrifying figures continuously soared from the sea surface or mountains, challenging the existence orchestrating the Hundred Demons Walk.
Thus, tens of thousands of tons of seawater, rocks, and soil flew into the sky as if gravity had vanished.
In the sky, lead-colored clouds mingled with flames, hanging low as if the heavens were about to collapse at any moment, revealing glimpses of enormous figures gliding beneath the dim stars through the massive cracks above.
Accompanied by the enormous sounds akin to a battle between ghosts and gods, countless corpses rained down from the sky, the scent of ash and dust floating toward the distance with the howling hurricane, as if they were destined to drift to the ends of the Earth…
And that woman, who it once had high hopes for, merely sat atop the mountain, watching the devastation, complaining to herself, “d*mn it, why is ‘Love and Magical Girls’ offline? I haven’t fished out this issue’s Z Country heroine maid yet!”
……
“System, system?”
Only when Gu Qiqi’s voice called out did the system pull its thoughts back from that apocalyptic scene.
“Ah? Oh! Gu Qiqi, listen, we must settle this today. If they don’t cooperate, we’ll have to use some tougher methods; there’s nothing a fist can’t solve…”
“System… what nonsense are you talking about? They already agreed to take me next time!” Gu Qiqi interjected.
“What? How did you get them to agree?” the system asked, astonished.
“Just…” Gu Qiqi glanced at the badge made from the remains of an urban legend in her hand and mumbled, “I just told them to take me along to play, then applied to join that… that… witch warrior group with the long name, and they agreed!”
“Right now, I’m number 107 of the Witch Warrior Group! Just now, Captain Mafun praised my insight, saying I have limitless potential in the future!”
“……”
Something feels off?
They only have a little over a hundred urban legends; why are you so proud to be number 107?
The system quietly grumbled, glancing at the little urban legends swaggering away in the distance, and said irritably, “So, you’re their little brother now?”
“Not at all!” Gu Qiqi retorted unhappily. “Captain Mafun said our name was too long for the Witch Warrior Group; every urban legend is equal, all loyal warriors to the Witch Lady! We are comrades with a shared revolutionary ideal!”
The system, “……”
Forget it, it’s said that a vassal of a vassal is not my vassal; this doesn’t count as working for calamity.
As long as it can get calamity to align with another world-destroying factor, it’s fine!
Next, what needs to be done is to incite them to expand the scale of the Hundred Demons Walk, with Gu Qiqi being such a powerful fighter; covering half the city block should be no problem. The system thought.
————
At exactly 9 PM.
Luxianbei and the members of Qi Dong’s group, a total of six people, boarded an armored vehicle disguised as a transport truck, filled with excitement as they headed towards the Jin Tan Grand Hotel.
Qi Dong had already contacted colleagues inside the Jin Tan Grand Hotel. Upon arrival, the driver drove the vehicle straight into the hotel’s warehouse entrance. As the group disembarked, they saw a man waiting with a cloth bag at his feet.
Seeing Qi Dong, the man broke into a smile and hurriedly came over, shaking Qi Dong’s hand vigorously. “Brother, it’s great to see you again! Thanks to you guys, we managed to clear out the urban legends in the hotel; otherwise, I might just lose this job.”
“That’s part of our job,” Qi Dong replied in a deep voice.
The man looked about forty, tall and quite handsome, dressed in a black professional suit, with a badge reading “Logistics Supervisor · Lu Lei” pinned to his chest.
Luxianbei narrowed her eyes slightly, sizing up the man who had come to greet them, beginning to ponder.
So, the urban legends in the Jin Tan Grand Hotel had already been taken care of by the Special Action Team. No wonder no one had been discussing the urban legends here for a long time.
A couple of years ago, while Luxianbei was in her senior year of high school, an urban legend incident had occurred at the Jin Tan Grand Hotel, involving a young tourist who inexplicably left her room in the middle of the night and subsequently disappeared.
Though it had become common to occasionally lose people after the nights grew long, the scene of that girl’s disappearance had been too bizarre.
When she left her room, she had appeared abnormal, as if something were propelling her forward, her hands awkwardly raised in front.
When she left the hotel lodging area and took the elevator to the underground parking lot, the moment the elevator doors opened, it was as if she were pushed out, directly flying from the elevator, then crying and struggling as she was dragged away by some entity until vanishing out of the surveillance cameras’ blind spot.
Since then, the rumor that urban legends lurked within the Jin Tan Grand Hotel had spread, and in Luxianbei’s senior year alone, she had heard about it from her classmates several times.
It seems the existence of the Siye Society plays a role after all?
As Luxianbei pondered, Lu Lei opened the cloth bag he brought with him and pulled out several uniforms, handing them to Qi Dong.
“Brother, while I’m very grateful for your help in eliminating the urban legends in our hotel, there are now many guests, and with the high foot traffic, it’s inevitable that you will be seen like this.”
“I’m concerned about scaring the guests, so I’d like you all to adjust your attire a bit?”
“By the way, the suite you mentioned is on the top floor, room 2305, and indeed a group of young people has booked it for a party. I’ll arrange for your people to go in and replace the staff currently serving them.”
Upon hearing this, Qi Dong thought for a moment and nodded, “No problem!”
The Siye Society’s mission was to avoid detection by ordinary people as much as possible, so he was not opposed to Lu Lei’s request.
Receiving the uniforms from Lu Lei, Qi Dong turned and distributed them to the members of the Siye Society, waving his hand, “Let’s go, brothers, let’s change clothes!”
As he spoke, he squeezed Luxianbei’s shoulder and grinned, “Come on, Luxianbei, let’s change clothes together?”
“……”
Change clothes together? What kind of strange invitation is this?
Luxianbei silently grumbled, responding vaguely, “Oh, okay, um…”
Then, as Qi Dong turned around, her eyes darted around, and in a quick motion, she darted into the gap between two nearby refrigerators.
Though she held no particular prejudice against the muscular brothers of the Special Action Team, she did have an aversion to their muscles!
Those bulging, shiny muscles looked as unappetizing as having eaten lard, making one feel nauseous.
Two minutes later.
As Luxianbei quickly changed into the somewhat fitting service uniform, emerging from her hiding spot and glancing at the members of the Special Action Team, her brows twitched.
All those men, averaging over 1.85 meters tall and weighing close to 180 pounds, without an ounce of excess fat, now clad in hotel uniforms, could only be described in four words: “A sight to behold.”
The kind of chest muscles that could crush a person’s skull, which normally lay hidden under bulletproof and stab-resistant vests, now bulged out from the uniform, the white shirt straining to stay buttoned, and the fitted vests couldn’t even be fastened; the long pants had become tight capri pants.
From a distance, Luxianbei felt she could hear the buttons and pant legs groaning in agony.
This adjustment was utterly pointless. Would the hotel staff look like them, who had arms like they were stuffed with tires, straight out of a JOJO world view?
At that moment, Luxianbei realized she had overlooked a crucial detail on the way here.
“……”
After two seconds of silence, she quietly pulled out a spicy strip, biting into it to calm her nerves, before stepping forward to pat Qi Dong’s shoulder while wiping the grease off her hands.
“Brother Qi, be honest, how did you guys execute similar actions in the past?”
Qi Dong paused for a moment. “It’s simple—sneak in, extract information, and ideally blend into the scene, capturing both the person and the evidence. If things go south, we brothers just break in!”
Luxianbei chewed a piece of the spicy strip, pondering slightly, “I presume, the ones responsible for infiltration weren’t you?”
“Ha ha, Officer Luxian is really sharp, you spotted it immediately, huh?”
Luxianbei, “……” If you couldn’t see it, that’d be strange!
With a bunch like you, dressing up as “Tequila Girls,” still a group to boot!
Scarier than urban legends, how could you possibly infiltrate?
“Ah ha ha, before, it was always Ahua who handled the infiltration; don’t be fooled by her unremarkable appearance, she’s quite skilled at adjusting attire.”
Having experienced it herself, otherwise Jiang Li couldn’t have transformed into that appearance… Luxianbei grumbled inside.
“To be honest, brother, you guys going in like this is probably going to expose you!” Luxianbei said, glancing around at the muscular men, “After all, you’re too strong; average people… uh, can’t handle it.”
Qi Dong frowned, “Then…”
“Let me go alone this time?” Luxianbei proposed. “The suite is on the top floor, and you can hide out on the rooftop, keeping in contact and coming out when needed.”
“Yeah, that works.” Qi Dong nodded, agreeing with Luxianbei’s plan.
In fact, at the beginning of their cooperation with Ahua, they had set up a similar plan.
After a pause, Luxianbei seemed to remember something and asked, “By the way, do you have experience rescuing hostages? It doesn’t seem like you brought a negotiation specialist?”
Although she was confident about facing the urban legend that killed Heliang, she still wanted to prepare for the worst.
What if they couldn’t win and got captured?
Hearing this, Qi Dong laughed heartily. “Ha ha, you bring this up?”
What’s so funny? Luxianbei’s interest was piqued, implying they have experience rescuing hostages and also have negotiation skills, right?
“Our Special Action Team never negotiates with urban legends! So…”
So? Luxianbei’s gaze unintentionally drifted towards the armored vehicle they had arrived in; through the vehicle’s door, she vaguely caught a glimpse of metallic gleaming weaponry inside and suddenly understood something.
So…
They never negotiate with urban legends; if anything goes wrong, they just barge in with firearms and artillery—meaning a negotiation specialist is unnecessary. This is what it means, huh? Luxianbei mused.
————
Jin Tan Grand Hotel, Suite 2305.
Luxianbei pushed the service cart to the door, adjusted her bow tie, took a deep breath, and pressed the doorbell.
“Hello, your three bottles of Lebao beer and two bottles of Hennessy have arrived!”
Quickly, the doorknob turned gently, and a girl appeared at the door, a dynamic rhythm of music faintly audible from inside.
The girl was not a member of Yang Yi’s group; Luxianbei hadn’t seen her before, so she avoided further conversation and stepped aside to let the cart roll in.
As Luxianbei pushed the cart inside and glanced around the spacious suite on two floors, she noticed many people dancing, drinking, playing cards, and gaming—living it up without regard for Miss Du’s money.
Tsk, that’s my spouse’s money! You bunch of shameless freeloaders!
Luxianbei silently cursed in righteous indignation, then searched around for Du Sixian and Yang Yi, only to be stunned; there was no sign of them in the room at all.
What’s going on? Did we go through all that effort and end up in the wrong place?
Or could it be that our actions were detected by the urban legends, and they’ve directly kidnapped Du Sixian?
That can’t be! That little thing might be vicious with her killing methods, but she looks like a fool; she shouldn’t be capable of such operations.
As Luxianbei contemplated this, the girl who welcomed her and two unfamiliar boys had gathered around her, pointing and looking serious.
Luxianbei’s heart tightened.
Could she have been exposed?
Instinctively, she wanted to pull out her phone to contact the muscular brothers of the Special Action Team but was grabbed by one of the boys.
The boy looked at Luxianbei as if he were seeing someone trapped in the bathroom who had just gotten toilet paper delivered, smiling happily, “Hey, you came just in time! We’re short a player for cards; you come join us!”
Luxianbei frowned and instinctively declined, “Sorry, I’m still working.”
That’s the truth—if I slack off now, someone might very well d*e… Luxianbei thought.
“Come on, don’t be a downer. In this hotel, I’m familiar; usually, a service worker only serves one suite, joining us for cards is also part of the service!” the girl insisted.
Luxianbei, “……” It’s true; Lu Lei mentioned just now that she could stay inside the suite.
“One word, are you in or out?” the other boy said with annoyance, “Seriously, if it weren’t for Yang Yi that scoundrel wanting to go upstairs to play some urban legend game, I wouldn’t want to play with outsiders!”
Upstairs?
Urban legend game?
So, Du Sixian and the others haven’t left; they’re just upstairs, and are about to start the urban legend game?
Luxianbei turned to look at the group of young boys and girls sitting around a coffee table, playing poker, with several stacks of bright red bills piled on the table, squinting her eyes slightly.
What kind of family is this? Learning nothing good while young, playing cards for so much?
Having spent so much time with Jiang Li and suffered through her nagging, Luxianbei subconsciously felt somewhat resistant to gambling.
“But I don’t have money; you guys are betting too high…”
This was genuinely true; recently, crafting the potion to perfect the flaws had nearly wiped out her savings; she was almost at the point of not being able to afford food.
“Just this? Come on, if you lose, it’ll be on me, and if you win, we’ll split it!” one of the boys slapped his chest and offered.
Luxianbei’s eyes brightened slightly.
Such a good deal?
While pretending to be shy, she walked over to sit at the coffee table, her peripheral vision drifting toward the room upstairs, silently expanding her spirit sense.
There was a 0.3 rabbit spirit energy fluctuation; that was Du Sixian, who should currently be in no danger.
Then we can…
Luxianbei thought, returning her gaze to the three cards already given to her, her focus sharpening.
Though using spirit abilities to win money from these youngsters felt a bit dishonorable, but…
You asked for it yourself!
Today, if I don’t let you know how cruel society can be, I’m not Huacheng’s Gao Jin!
Luxianbei thought, calmly saying, “I’ll call a hundred!”
Suddenly multiplying the bet tenfold, everyone around stared at her expressionless, utterly calm face, and their expressions began to turn strange.
“……”
Could it be that they encountered some underdog who plays dumb?
Or is someone covering him, so he dares to go wild?
Forget it, forget it, we yield to you; let’s just observe. They thought.
“Not calling!”
“Me neither!”
……
Seeing the crowd fold, a hint of mockery flashed in Luxianbei’s eyes. “Is that all? Then I’ll thank everyone for sending me money!” She said while unceremoniously pushing the money toward herself.
————
Meanwhile, in the main bedroom upstairs of the suite.
The lights in the room were dimmed to the lowest setting, and a doll arranged according to the rules of the urban legend game was placed on a white bed, with a gruesome scar stitched together with red thread across its chest, next to which lay a permanent marker.
Including Du Sixian and Yang Yi, a group took turns stepping forward, signing their names on the doll, and then Yang Yi picked up the doll and walked alone toward the bathtub filled with water in the bathroom.
Everyone watched as Yang Yi entered the pitch-dark bathroom, casually closed the door, not daring to breathe. The entire main bedroom fell into a silent stillness.
Time flowed slowly; after an unknowable duration, when everyone began to feel anxious about whether something had gone wrong, Yang Yi’s voice finally rang out from the bathroom.
“Doll, doll, the new body is here, please use it.”
Then he added, “Okay, let’s play! We’ll start as the ghosts.”
A moment later, Yang Yi walked out of the bathroom, his expression blank as he glanced around at the people in the room, speaking in a flat tone, “Next, who’s it going to be?”
