Chapter Thirteen: Battle in the Darkness
Accompanied by the hum of a taxi engine, Lu Yibei arrived alone at the fence outside the half-finished building. He looked around and found a gap in the iron mesh. He stepped forward, crouched down, and slid through.
Once inside, he paused for a moment, turned back, and reached out to touch the iron netting of the fence behind him, then frowned.
The iron mesh erected to prevent outsiders from entering the construction site looked rusty, but in reality, it was much sturdier than it appeared, and the rust had not reached a point of significant damage. It was highly likely that the gap in the mesh had been made by someone.
Upon closer inspection, he saw that the inward-rolled edge of the artificial gap had already developed rust, suggesting it had been there for quite a while.
But.
What would a normal person do in a place like this? Lu Yibei thought to himself, but then realized that he often crawled into half-finished buildings too, so he wasn’t in a position to judge others.
Moreover, in this world, there were many people like He Liang and Yang Yi who seemed eager to court d*ath and willingly took risks.
Regaining his focus, Lu Yibei looked up at the shadowy structure of the half-finished building ahead. He silently expanded his spiritual awareness to its maximum range, gripped the broken sword in his hand, and proceeded forward.
Though he had locked in the position of the urban legend boy through the Thousand Night d*ath Owl, the area of the half-finished building was quite large, with the framework of over twenty floors already finished.
Finding the exact location of the urban legend boy would indeed take careful searching.
Inside the “abandoned” building, there were no lights and almost no sounds; it was completely lifeless.
As he walked through the corridor, the soles of his shoes scraped against the rough concrete floor and gravel, making a rustling sound that echoed in the vast emptiness, always giving the feeling that something was moving in the dark.
Lu Yibei walked quietly, keeping close to the wall, ascending the stairwell where guardrails had yet to be installed, observing his surroundings carefully, wary of anything that might suddenly leap from the shadows.
In the half-finished building, almost every floor had not yet been walled off. Aside from the towering stone pillars, it was entirely empty, with some woven bags scattered on the ground that were once used for building materials, gently swaying in the breeze.
Aside from that, there were no obvious spirit energy fluctuations present.
After moving up two more floors, just as Lu Yibei set foot on the fourth floor, he suddenly stopped.
He caught a whiff of a peculiar smell in the air, the distinct scent of incense ashes burning.
Following the direction of the smell, he saw several bowls filled with white rice with chopsticks sticking out, placed centrally on the empty floor, accompanied by some apples that had incense stuck in them, the wax oil dripping down, while both the apples and rice had already rotted, indicating they had been there for quite some time.
Had someone performed a simple ritual here?
Who was being honored?
Could it be that urban legend boy?
Lu Yibei pondered as he cautiously retreated back into the stairway, continuing to move upward.
As he proceeded, he had just reached the staircase when he suddenly took a step back.
At the entrance of the stairway stood a child!
However, he quickly sighed in relief, realizing it was just a children’s clothing mannequin.
Yet, that mannequin was crafted so realistically, it seemed to smile slightly at Lu Yibei, its empty eyes appearing to gaze at him, or perhaps at something behind him, or somewhere else entirely.
At that moment, he faintly heard giggles coming from upstairs, as if mocking him for getting startled by a mannequin.
He strained his ears but found no other sounds.
“……”
Lu Yibei stood still, contemplating for a moment, lightly touching the d*ath-Owl Badge on his chest, sending a message to Du Sixian.
“Du Sixian, what’s the situation on your end?”
After a few seconds, Du Sixian replied.
“The cleanup here is finished, and they were quite cooperative.”
It would be hard for anyone to resist cooperating when faced with the male members of a special action team… Lu Yibei thought.
“We’re on our way to you now and should arrive shortly.”
“Okay, I got it.”
Hearing that the special action team was on its way, Lu Yibei felt considerably reassured and resumed his ascent, navigating past the mannequin and continuing upward.
As he moved through the dark, eerie stairway, he quickly sensed another strange occurrence: the spirit energy fluctuation of the urban legend boy was not within the range of his spiritual awareness.
The Thousand Night d*ath Owl from the Siye Society had almost never made a mistake in its tracking unless something had interfered along the way, indicating that the urban legend boy should indeed be somewhere in this half-finished building.
His spiritual awareness should cover a range allowing him to detect spirit energy fluctuations within seven or eight floors above and below.
Yet now, having climbed five floors in a row, he had not sensed a single fluctuation, making the situation somewhat peculiar.
Could the urban legend boy be hiding on an even higher floor?
Or was he using some method to conceal his spirit energy fluctuations?
Lu Yibei pondered, looking up towards the stairs that seemed like a strange tunnel leading to another world in the darkness.
With doubt in his mind, he continued up till he was less than five floors from the rooftop when suddenly he detected a spirit energy fluctuation faintly entering the edge of his spiritual awareness range.
It was the urban legend!
Although that fluctuation was extremely weak, less than 0.1 rabbit.
However, Lu Yibei, who had recently encountered the urban legend boy at close range, almost instantly identified that fluctuation that just appeared in his awareness was indeed coming from him.
It seemed there was some special ability to hide spirit energy fluctuations?
But I finally found you!
Lu Yibei thought, his gaze sharpening as he quickened his pace, racing upward in the direction from which the spirit energy fluctuation emanated.
In the dark, Lu Yibei felt the wind rushing towards him, whistling past his ears.
With the exquisite control of muscle movement gained from the technique in the “Taihe Gentleman Sword Illustration,” he moved like a swift cat with soft pads under its paws, dashing through the pitch-black corridor without making a sound.
As if he melded into the darkness, indistinguishable from it.
In just a few seconds, he neared the floor where the spirit energy fluctuation was originating.
Stepping through the doorway from the corridor into the twelfth floor, seeing the vast open platform, a chill ran down his spine.
In the dark, there were heaps of figures, most of which were child-sized dolls, consisting of both children’s clothing mannequins and stuffed toys of various sizes, many showing signs of being intentionally damaged.
From a distance, it resembled a pile of corpses.
What was even more bizarre was that some of the dolls had their heads tilted, some were crawling on the ground, some leaned against the wall, but all uniformly faced the direction of the staircase, their empty, lifeless eyes staring straight at Lu Yibei.
What kind of pervert dumped a bunch of these creepy things in a place like this?
If an ordinary person came here without spiritual awareness to check for danger, they’d probably be scared half to d*ath by this scene! Lu Yibei cursed inwardly.
After a moment of shock, and confirming that the dolls did not emit any spirit energy fluctuations and were merely ordinary dolls, he bypassed the scattered figures and moved towards the direction from which the spirit energy fluctuation came.
Originally, in this half-finished building, still under construction with only the framework completed, there were only the towering concrete load-bearing pillars to hide among.
However, with the presence of so many dolls, the situation suddenly became more complex.
Those limbs made of plastic, plaster, or textiles intertwined between the empty floors, forming narrow and winding pathways, and just about every short distance would have an unexpectedly encountered dilapidated doll blocking the way.
It was as if this place had been turned into a maze, or…
An ideal hide-and-seek ground? Lu Yibei suddenly thought, and his steps followed suit.
He suddenly realized a problem: the spirit energy fluctuation he was tracking, originating from the urban legend boy, had stayed in a place he couldn’t see for a long time without moving.
Could it be…
He was intentionally leading me here?
Upon this thought, Lu Yibei’s heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly, instinctively tightening his grip on the broken sword.
At that moment, a sudden, intense pain shot through his eyes, and almost instantly, he fumbled in his pocket for the assorted talismans he had collected recently, scattering them around him without hesitation.
Immediately, the darkness seemed to pulse with life, extending from the severed limbs of the nearby dolls, surrounding him, and in an instant, his vision was enveloped in pitch-blackness.
Simultaneously, a thought of premonition flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind.
【They’re behind me, quietly watching me】
Behind? They? Did this half-finished building also hide other urban legends or spirit ability users?
When had they appeared, and why hadn’t his spiritual awareness detected them? Lu Yibei thought in horror.
The surroundings were engulfed in darkness, with no hint of light, as if a giant black curtain had descended, casting the world into eternal night.
In this complete darkness, nothing was visible.
Momentarily losing his visual and spiritual detection abilities, Lu Yibei stood still, gradually squatting down, one hand gripping the broken sword, the other resting on his guitar bag, straining to listen.
Yet a chaotic wind howled through the gaps between the dolls, producing a horn-like “woo” sound that disrupted his hearing.
The two figures lurking in the darkness were quietly watching Lu Yibei; he could almost feel those two malicious gazes circling around him, but they remained still, not taking any action—perhaps out of caution regarding the talismans around him or for some other reason.
Suddenly losing sight after being accustomed to light can cause deep unease—this was a normal phenomenon.
However, as the two unknown figures showed no signs of action, Lu Yibei gradually calmed down after overcoming the initial discomfort, eventually crouching down, deciding to sit on the ground.
Although his situation was dire, unable to see anything or know who the enemy was, as long as his enemy did not act, it remained in his favor.
Fortunately, I had prepared a backup plan!
The muscle men from the special action team were already on their way; they should arrive soon, Lu Yibei thought.
Thus, Lu Yibei and the two invisible enemies fell into a temporary stalemate; he could sense their gaze becoming increasingly impatient.
Meanwhile, Lu Yibei, holding onto the mindset of “if the enemy doesn’t move, neither will I,” comforted himself with thoughts of special action team reinforcements arriving promptly, but as time went by, he felt sweat starting to bead in his palms.
After more than ten minutes passed, when the special action team had still not arrived, his two unseen enemies could no longer restrain themselves.
The temperature around him suddenly dropped, and in the next moment, a thought of premonition crossed Lu Yibei’s mind.
【Their hand reached from behind and grasped my neck】
Just as this thought flashed through his mind, in the impenetrable darkness, a pale, withered hand, resembling that of a corpse, seemed to materialize from the gaps between the severed limbs of the dolls and shot toward the back of his neck.
“Whoosh—!”
Amid the explosive sound of talismans detonating, the shriek of the arm’s surprise attack blended with the whoosh created by Lu Yibei turning and swinging the sword, occurring almost simultaneously.
In the next moment, Lu Yibei let out a muffled groan in the darkness.
At the moment of striking, he had managed to hit the attacking arm, but due to a moment’s hesitation, he had not fully dissipated the enemy’s attack; he had merely deflected the trajectory, causing the hand that should have grasped his throat to land on his chest instead.
That blow was quick and heavy; even though he had already prepared, wrapping his spirit energy around and engaging muscle defenses, he still felt a sharp pain in his chest from the impact, being sent flying back, the sound of dolls shattering resonating continuously until he crashed into a load-bearing column and finally managed to stabilize himself.
“Cough, cough, cough—!”
Lu Yibei coughed violently, a sweet metallic taste in his mouth, thoughts swirling in his mind.
The enemy was in complete darkness, dark as Jacob’s trousers, while I was in the light, exposed like a n*ked little girl—how can I fight?!
Seemingly sensing that his attack had been effective, before Lu Yibei could regain his composure, he felt the wind rush toward him.
In the darkness, an arm rose from the ground, thrusting upward with great force, suddenly pushing against his open jaw.
“Whoosh—!”
Terrifying power erupted unexpectedly.
【Their hand attacked from below, shattering my jawbone】
Below?
The thought of premonition swept through his mind; this time, Lu Yibei did not hesitate and reflexively jumped back a step, aiming towards the ground with his broken sword, swiftly swinging it in an arc.
“Pshht—!”
The sound of flesh being shredded by the sword and the intense stench hit him simultaneously, followed by a muffled grunt from afar, sending a surge of joy through Lu Yibei.
In the chaotic wind, although the grunt was faint, he had indeed heard it.
I hit!
Could it be that I found a way to deal with this?
Hmm, let’s give it a shot! Lu Yibei thought.
In the next moment, he dashed towards the direction of that faint grunt, while continuously cycling through premonition thoughts in his mind.
【Their hand attacked from the left, striking my shoulder】
“Pshht—!”
Lu Yibei slashed out, and the sound of flesh rupturing echoed once more, thick, icy, foul-smelling liquid splattered across his face, but he did not pause, continuing to sprint forward while tracking the source of the pain-laden groans.
【Their hand struck from above, hitting my head】
“Clang—!”
Dealing with the overhead attack required a more complex motion; Lu Yibei’s blade was slower for just a moment, colliding with a hard part of the pale arm, producing a clear ringing sound.
【Their hand…】
“Pshht—!”
……
After successfully fending off several enemy attacks, Lu Yibei was greatly reassured and gradually grasped some patterns in his enemy’s strikes, and as he continued adapting to the surrounding darkness, his defensive actions became increasingly effortless.
For the next few minutes, he resembled a wild beast disregarding all rules, crashing through the maze formed from piles of dolls, and his incessant taunts even seemed to disturb the rhythm of the enemy’s assaults.
“What kind of pointless attack is this? Is this what you call an urban legend? So soft, like toilet paper!”
“I take back what I just said; your attacks aren’t like toilet paper, they’re more like a pile of mushy sh*t!”
After Lu Yibei’s words, a wave of frenzied attacks responded to him.
However, the onslaught was disordered, entirely lacking in cohesion.
“Got through your defenses, you panicked! Didn’t expect this? I’ve got X-ray vision!”
“Impossible…” a voice filled with disbelief emerged from the wind, quickly followed by silence, as if realizing that speaking would reveal their location.
Just as the enemy’s voice trailed off, Lu Yibei suddenly halted, raising both hands vertically, left hand clutching the sword, right hand condensing a basin-sized red fireball in the palm.
“Scarlet Flame Flash…”
As the last incantation whispered away, a massively amplified Scarlet Flame Flash shot off to his right side, while he propelled himself into the air, using the momentum to fly leftward.
“Taihe Gentleman Sword · Jun Tian Zou Youth Edition!”
With a low roar, in a blink, a swirl of sword energy erupted.
The whistling wind around him ceased, descending into silence.
“Thud, thud, thud—!”
In the quiet, there came a faint sound, reminiscent of a ball rolling.
Suddenly, darkness seemed to tear apart like fabric sliced by a sharp blade, scattering to both sides, and Lu Yibei’s vision gradually returned.
Once the dark curtain was torn away, what lay revealed was not a sophisticated stage set but a scene of horrific bloodshed.
An ugly head rolled amidst a pool of bl**d, ultimately coming to rest, glazed eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, while a headless corpse clad in black robes lay not far away.
Amidst the splattered bl**d marks, the stone pillars, floor, and the maze of dolls were utterly unrecognizable.
Lu Yibei stood in place, flanked by the disordered gashes cut by his sword on one side and the fiery inferno ignited from the dolls on the other.
Looking down, the trail of destruction he had carved out consisted of several irregular circular shapes, while his position was roughly aligned with the direct connection of those circles.
Yes, he hadn’t merely been running in a blind panic; he was determining the enemies’ positions based on the grunts they produced.
However, without that moment of surprise shout, it might have taken him a long time to locate them.
In a rush of emptiness from the intense consumption of spirit energy, Lu Yibei refocused and looked at the corpse lying on the ground, frowning.
Why was it a black-robed monster and not the urban legend boy?
Could it be an accomplice?
Just then, a series of dense gunfire and explosions erupted from downstairs, followed by the sounds of the special action team brothers yelling.
“Dut, dut, dut—!”
“Boom—!”
“Capture it, capture it!”
“Brothers, don’t let it escape!”
Lu Yibei, “……” Is there still a missing fish? Could it be that urban legend boy?
(EMMM, got a bit carried away writing today and nearly exceeded my limits; with time running out, I had to stop here…)
