Chapter 25 A Side Quest
At 11:17 PM, in the temporary office of the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau, Luxianbei was present.
“That should do! With this, I only have two subjects left to review!”
After going through the entire textbook of “Introduction to Literature” and completing the past three years’ final exam papers, Luxianbei stood up from the refurbished, shabby desk, paced over to the single steel wire bed beside it, lay down, and stretched.
“With four or five days left, as long as I hunker down and study hard, I should be fine for this final exam. I might even snag a scholarship! Hehehe!”
In life, there aren’t inherently bad students; it’s just that there are annoying people like Luxianbei who seem to be slacking off while actually working hard behind the scenes, thus giving birth to the idea of bad students.
He muttered to himself with an expressionless, eerie laugh, then took out his phone and logged into “Love and Magical Girls” after a long time.
“Ah! Bai Xiaohua, long time no see! Have you missed me?”
Luxianbei said, lightly poking the cute girl on the screen dressed in a red qipao with her hair in a bun, followed by a refined and friendly response from the phone.
“Hey, Captain, are you trying to k*ll yourself?”
“Touch my hand? Be careful or it might show up on your nose in the next second!”
“…”
Looking at the cute girl on the screen with seventy percent anger and thirty percent (maybe not) shyness, Luxianbei couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ah—! Bai Xiaohua is as cute as always!”
“Then let’s sweep away evil together? Nirvana Red Lotus—Bai Xiaohua activated, Wargod Squad, move out! Hehe~!”
Everyone knows that phones are terrifying entities that consume human time, and mobile games and short videos are the root of this evil.
Luxianbei just lay on the bed, playing games and watching short videos, and in the blink of an eye, it was past midnight, and he had unknowingly fallen into a deep sleep.
Not long after falling into a deep sleep, the familiar feeling of weightlessness returned. Having long since grown accustomed to this phenomenon, Luxianbei was not the least bit panicked; instead, he spread his arms wide and positioned himself comfortably, letting his body fall as he quietly awaited the moment when his eyes would see the light again.
What should he practice with the ancestor today?
Or perhaps check how far Du Sixian’s special training had progressed?
He still recalled that the last time he watched Meng Meng’s special training for Du Sixian, Du Sixian was trapped in an abandoned building, experiencing terrifying nightmares based on certain plot elements from “The Ring” and “Scream,” and had fast-forwarded to the “waking up from nightmares” segment within ten minutes.
Then.
She fell asleep again an hour later and returned to the eerie building from which she had just been awakened, “surprised” to find that the urban legend was still waiting for her.
Luxianbei thought in anticipation that when the cool breeze, which had been blowing on the dilapidated rooftop for years, brushed against her face, she opened her eyes and was momentarily stunned by the scene before her.
The pitch-black night sky seemed to be soaked in ink, and silent snowflakes fell gently.
From a distance, the city ahead was shrouded in darkness, but it was not the usual decrepit state; there were no huge twisted shadows roaming in the sky, just an absolute silence without a hint of light or sound in the city.
However, Luxianbei still managed to find some familiar traces among the towering buildings under the night sky.
Like the ruins of a city he had once seen in dreams, this place resembled Huacheng, but aside from some differences in details, the most significant contrast was that the former seemed like a decaying corpse, while the city he saw now resembled a recently deceased body.
“…”
Gazing at the scene before him, Luxianbei rubbed his slightly aching forehead, remained silent for a few seconds, and then sighed silently, “What the hell is this again?!”
“Ancestor? Are you there?”
“…”
“Proxy player! Calling for proxy customer service online!”
“…”
Luxianbei shouted loudly, his clear voice echoing far into the silent city, lingering for a long time. Yet, he received no response.
“Tap—Tap—Tap—!”
Just as he was about to call out Meng Meng again, the sound of high heels clicking on the ground entered his ears.
The sound was coming from a distance, but in the stillness of the city, even the ghostly whispers of the wind passing through empty hallways rang exceptionally clear.
Was there something else wandering in the city? A man or a woman, a person or an urban legend? Luxianbei looked towards the direction of the sound, frowning slightly.
She didn’t jump to conclusions upon hearing the footsteps of high heels; she simply scoffed inwardly.
After all, in this day and age, there were plenty of peculiar occurrences, and she had seen her fair share of outrageous situations.
Even if someone told her that it was an urban legend wearing high heels, shaped like a muscular member of the Special Action Team and standing three meters tall, she would believe it.
After a brief moment of contemplation, she executed the maneuver she learned from Qing Ji, leaping gracefully to the edge of the rooftop with a few steps, and then jumped into the air.
In an instant, the whistling wind roared in her ears.
In the silent, dark city shrouded in night’s curtain, Luxianbei spread her arms like a black bird, temporarily soaring between the dim, gloomy skies and the dark, cold buildings.
Eventually, when a large lake resembling the Huacheng Hydropower Station, though with numerous detail differences, appeared at the end of the steel-concrete jungle, Luxianbei spotted a woman braving the wind and snow, walking on the water, approaching the center of the lake.
The woman wore a bl**d-red trench coat, and her tightly cinched belt accentuated her alluring waistline.
Her long hair, like silk, swayed gently behind her as she moved.
Though her exquisite face was concealed by a mask, even the small portion that was visible, seen fleetingly from above, was enough to leave a lasting impression.
She was a beautiful woman, but Luxianbei, having only seen her once, instinctively felt an intense and bloody aura hidden beneath her beauty.
That woman was like a flower of sin that had blossomed, watered by bl**d, quietly blooming under the darkened skies of this vacant city.
An urban legend…
But what was she doing at the center island of the lake? Luxianbei frowned inwardly.
She saw the woman rummaging around for a moment, then pulling out an exquisitely crafted crystal bottle inlaid with gold.
Inside that crystal bottle was a thick, gelatinous liquid, filled to the brim, emanating a faint purple glow.
“Clink——!”
As the woman’s slender fingers applied slight pressure, the cork of the crystal bottle cracked with a crisp sound, turning to dust and dissipating into the air.
The long-imprisoned gelatinous liquid in the bottle, upon touching the air, seemed to sense freedom and let out a series of piercing screams, writhing madly and revealing countless faces contorted in pain, as if the wind carried waves of heart-wrenching wails.
Following that, the woman tilted the bottle slightly and poured the gelatinous liquid entirely into the lake.
The lake, like a mirror, rippled in layers and gradually returned to tranquility.
The gelatinous liquid, glowing faintly, spread beneath the deep blue surface, gradually transforming into a dazzling array of colors, appearing to compress the wonders of the aurora into this one lake.
Soon, the entire lake was illuminated, resembling a mirror reflecting neon lights; even the trees surrounding the lake and the faintly visible aquatic plants and fish in the water glowed with a dreamlike luminescence, revealing the veins of the plants and the bones of the fish.
It was the Primordial Spirit! And its purity and concentration were exceedingly high!
Luxianbei thought in surprise, her eyes trembling slightly.
When she was being offered as a sacrifice during the ritual set by the cicada at the Flower Language Sunshine Resort Hotel, she had seen this wicked thing.
However, at that time, she did not know the exact name of this thing; it was only later when she studied “The Book of Siye” with Jiang Li that she encountered detailed information about the Primordial Spirit.
The Primordial Spirit is a high-purity spiritual energy polymer extracted from the core of an urban legend’s body or from those with spiritual potential.
An average of one and a half spiritual potency individuals or one D-Rank urban legend’s core can produce a portion of it.
Based on the descriptions given in “The Book of Siye” regarding the luminous manifestations of different concentrations of Primordial Spirits, the spirit used by the cicada in the boiler room of the Flower Language Sunshine Resort Hotel did not exceed ten portions, and its purity was not high, hence it exhibited a pale glow.
The gelatinous liquid in the woman’s crystal bottle now, radiating a faint purple light, would need at least five hundred portions or more of high-purity Primordial Spirit to exhibit its properties.
But why was she pouring so much Primordial Spirit into the lake of the hydropower station?
To help the people of Huacheng strengthen their bodies and increase the probability of newborns becoming spiritually potent individuals?
Luxianbei thought skeptically that it probably wasn’t for such noble reasons.
As a large hydropower station built by the river, Huacheng Hydropower Station was not only an important source of electricity for the city but also a vital source of water for Huacheng. More than seventy percent of the city’s water was supplied from the nearby water treatment plant below it.
Thus, Luxianbei concluded that if an urban legend were to throw something into the lake of the Huacheng Hydropower Station, the probability of poisoning would be the highest.
Before long, her suspicion was confirmed.
As the Primordial Spirit spread to every corner of the lake, the woman produced a clay jar the size of a fist, broke the mud seal on top, extracted a clump of viscous, dark green substance, cupped it in her hands, and carefully submerged it into the lake.
“The Pestilence Taijie is the prince of the year; thus, he must not be offended, for to offend him is to invite misfortune… The Pestilence is neither cold, nor wind, nor heat; it is felt as an unusual spirit of heaven and earth… The Pestilence Taijie is the king of epidemics.”
As the woman softly chanted some form of description, the dark green viscous substance plunged into the lake, instantly birthing densely packed flesh buds.
Those flesh buds greedily extracted the Primordial Spirit dispersed in the lake water, growing at a visibly rapid speed. By the time Luxianbei snapped out of her shock, that thing had already grown into a massive entity with a diameter of several tens of meters, taking root beneath the lake’s surface, continuing to grow.
“Wow! Do urban legends nowadays not play fair at all? They just resort to poisoning if they don’t agree with you?!”
Luxianbei cursed, her gaze deepening as she looked at the woman in the red coat, and she quickly utilized her body technique to silently approach the lake.
Even though this wasn’t the real city, and there were special departments within the Huacheng Siye Society that deal with urban legend pollution in the water supply, it wouldn’t hold up against a rogue urban legend!
She had to stop her!
However.
Just as she got within a hundred meters of the woman, her body froze in mid-motion, as if it had suddenly lost all sensation.
Luxianbei was stunned and then realized that, though her range of free movement was much larger than before, she was still just a spectator.
All she could do was quietly watch as the urban legend incident gradually moved towards its inevitable conclusion.
…
On the lake’s surface, the grotesquely distorted dark green substance continued to grow, its slick, shiny surface appearing as if it were the animal’s flesh stripped of skin, constantly undulating and transforming into various shapes and structures.
The entire lake was boiling, with tens of thousands of tons of water churning and emitting deep, rumbling sounds.
The shapes and structures that emerged briefly existed for a moment before collapsing again, splitting, propagating, and growing deeper and farther into the lake.
Wherever it went, it left behind a trail of foul-smelling slime; any animal or plant that came into contact with that fluid would quickly turn into a strange shade of blue-black.
Soon after, their bodies seemed to undergo some unimaginable transformation; before they died, they began to rot.
Flesh and leaves seemed to instantaneously turn from solid into a viscous fluid, skin melting like a wax statue flowing down, merging into the dark green substance.
With the lake filled with a significant amount of Primordial Spirit, it turned into a massive petri dish that continually fed that twisted, filthy urban legend’s growth.
In no time, the dark green substance resembling flesh filled the vast lake.
Then, it began to rise, like a giant stretching its body towards the sky, extending its arms and spreading ten thick branches.
Thin flesh buds dangled from those branches, like the aerial roots of a banyan tree reaching towards the lake, slowly dripping with foul-smelling slime.
Then, its rapid growth abruptly halted, and the surroundings fell into silence.
That human-like giant banyan stood upright on the ground, its surface coated with a sticky substance resembling fungi, its trunk rhythmically undulating as if breathing.
This indefinable entity that couldn’t be certainly categorized as fungus, plant, or animal, was flaunting its grotesqueness in every inch of its being, as if its existence was a desecration of nature’s creations.
“Is it over?”
Luxianbei murmured, staring at the towering entity that almost completely covered the lake’s surface with its sprawling “roots,” her expression complex.
This spirit energy fluctuation should be at least three or four snakes, right? This is serious! Luxianbei thought.
Then.
A series of sounds resembling the writhing of flesh, mixed with roiling rock explosions, entered her ears.
The ground trembled, and the soil surrounding the lake cracked inch by inch, from the cracks, she could vaguely see something writhing within.
At the same time, the tall entity at the lake’s surface lowered its dangling flesh buds, twisted and convulsed in the dirty air, the ends visibly swelling with a soft glow, and finally, large petals “opened” silently.
Like blooming flowers, a layer of gelatinous membranes unfurled, revealing organs resembling mouths or cavities within, pouring forth a thick, almost liquid-like dark green mist that drifted away with the wind.
The air mixed with the dark green mist penetrated Luxianbei’s nostrils, and she instantly felt short of breath, struggling to breathe as her body quickly grew numb.
Countless spores surged within her mouth, nose, and the corners of her eyes, rapidly spreading throughout her lungs, brutally itching and stabbing at her nerves.
Gradually, a sense of weakness stealthily rose in her heart.
In the past, whenever she experienced such dreams, it was always a sign of a pending or ongoing urban legend event near her, a kind of premonition for misfortune.
And the urban legends encountered in those events, whether it be Mr. Rabbit or the game-playing urban legend boy, she had always had the capability to fight back.
But now…
This urban legend that transcended her understanding ignited no desire to confront it.
“Sis, you’re not going to back down now, are you? Who was it that solemnly vowed to me that if I could destroy the world, she could save the world?”
A familiar voice echoed in her ear, and everything around her seemed to freeze for a moment. Luxianbei turned her head to see a familiar petite figure crouched on the ground, holding a small kn*fe, poking at the dark green substance beneath her feet.
The proxy player customer service, long lost, reappeared.
“This…,” Luxianbei opened her mouth, frowning as she replied, “Saving the world means fighting against this kind of monster? This is from outer space, right? Beating aliens is probably more suited for Ultraman than me.”
“Wrong!” the girl interrupted, casting a glance at the ugly giant afar, “This thing is at most a side quest, whether you do it or not doesn’t have much impact.”
“Thank goodness.” Luxianbei sighed in relief, “It’s just a side quest, can’t we skip this one?”
If she could avoid it, she would definitely stay far away.
However, she felt that the proxy girl was about to say “but.”
“But…,” the girl seemed to say “as you wish” to Luxianbei, looking at her meaningfully, “If you run away, everything would be fine, but others will suffer!”
“With a white cloth covering, there’s not a single person waiting for the meal, and the whole village’s old and young will be lying nearby!”
“How tragic!”
“Shut up!” Luxianbei interrupted, “I never said I was going to run away!”
“Then are you planning to face the danger head-on?” The girl gazed at Luxianbei, blinking her big, watery eyes, looking adorably naive.
Luxianbei facepalmed, feeling a chill in her heart; that was merely speculation, just a guess, and certainly not something she would rush into!
“This thing hasn’t even happened yet, right? Surely, I could report it?”
The girl rubbed her brow, “I really don’t know where you learned this awful habit of reporting things as soon as trouble arises. Moreover, who do you plan to report to? The Siye Society?”
“I estimate the people in the Huacheng Siye Society can’t handle this matter, but by the time backup arrives from neighboring cities, that thing will have evolved into something godly, and they’ll just be delivering it as a gift!”
“Besides, even if you find the special affairs department, how do you explain how a proxy agent who never leaves home and only patrols as far as Fuchun Road knows all this?”
“That won’t work, this won’t work…” Luxianbei clenched her fist in anger, then deflated and slowly let go, “So what do you suggest I do?”
“Simple, it’s very simple!” The girl smiled, “As long as you walk the enemy’s path, the enemy will have no path to walk!”
Luxianbei squinted, “You mean…?”
“You should go to the Hundred Demons Walk; as long as your aura connects with the earth’s veins, this thing won’t come to life!”
Hundred Demons Walk? Luxianbei’s eyes widened as she looked at the girl, her expression as if to say, “Are you trying to trick me?”
Can’t we take the path of a law-abiding citizen?
“Is there really no other way?”
“Nope.” The girl shook her head.
“But how can I…,” Luxianbei hesitated for a moment, then continued, “Isn’t that impossible?”
“Absolutely! I wouldn’t lie to you!” The girl patted her meager chest in assurance, “Now the time, place, and people are all right; you just have to raise your arm and call out, guaranteed to be responded to!”
“Raise my arm and call out?” Luxianbei questioned.
“Yes!” the girl pouted, “You probably don’t even know how popular you are in the urban legend circles right now! You’re almost at the level of a city-wide idol.”
Urban legend circles? Luxianbei thought, “…” An idol in that kind of circle? No thanks!
“All you need to do is tell them who you are, let them call your name, and follow your shadow.”
“Who am I?” Luxianbei frowned, “I can’t just tell them my real name, can I?”
If she organized the Hundred Demons Walk, once that matter was done, she might find herself moving up several ranks on the Siye Society’s wanted list; using her real name would be asking for a d*ath wish, Luxianbei thought.
“Of course not!” The girl affirmed, her eyes glinting mischievously as she rolled them, “How about I give you a catchy title?”
Luxianbei glanced sideways at the girl, “Let’s hear it.”
“What about ‘Calamity’?” the girl suggested, a knowing smile flashing in her eyes.
“Pfft! Just that?” Luxianbei scoffed flatly, rolling her eyes, “It’s better than calling me the ‘King of Torment in Huacheng,’ or ‘Mudan Street’s Ancestor,’ or ‘Master of Reporting and Traitors!'”
“If you can’t name it, then don’t meddle! I’ll think of a name myself.”
The girl, “…”
“By the way, with such a big deal going on, it’s fine to just call the proxy, right?”
“That’s not allowed.” The girl replied coldly.
“What the hell? Personal revenge?” Luxianbei was taken aback, “Then I can’t use Calamity either?”
“That’s not allowed either!” The girl bit her lip, her expression suddenly becoming serious as her clear eyes locked with Luxianbei’s as if to penetrate her soul.
“Luxianbei, this Hundred Demons Walk is yours, not mine, so I can’t help you.”
“…” Luxianbei remained silent for a long time, avoiding the girl’s gaze as she said, “I’m just trying to see what happens; if things go south, I’ll back out at any time.”
“Fine!” The girl pouted, “But before that, you’d better contact your dependents and share some of your power with her; she seems to be in danger.”
Dependents? Meng Meng or Du Sixian? Luxianbei’s heart tightened, and when she looked at the girl again, she could no longer find her figure.
(Today, I’m adding a bit more; tomorrow I have to go out for something, so there might be slightly fewer updates~)
