Chapter 22: The Old World Destroyer
The first wisp of toxic smoke entered Luxianbei’s body, and her face immediately flushed with a hue of red, her breathing quickly becoming rapid.
Thus, the purposeless toxic smoke floating in the air suddenly found its outlet, crazily converging towards her.
As more and more toxic smoke was inhaled into her body, the strange toxicity and spirit energy began to be released within Luxianbei.
The pleasant memories buried deep in her heart surged forth, endlessly forming in her mind, like a tangible impact.
She felt as if she were drunk.
But at that moment, while feeling deeply and blissfully intoxicated, she was also incredibly clear-headed, and then she sensed a kind of indescribable fervor and joy.
“Come on, ladies, let’s have some fun together~!”
“Wuhu~!”
Watching Luxianbei laugh foolishly as if she had found two hundred bucks, Xiuyao walked over to Ahua’s side and whispered, “Let’s go, she’s beyond saving. I’ll do you a favor and take you to a safe place.”
Ahua was taken aback, pointing at Luxianbei, “What about her? Are we just going to leave her? What about that little vial you had? Hurry up and take it to her!”
Although she still disliked Luxianbei to some extent, she couldn’t just stand by and watch her walk towards her doom without doing anything, right?
“There’s no way to handle it now.” Xiuyao shook her head helplessly, “My medicine can only be used before excessive toxic smoke is inhaled.”
The “treasure” produced by Dansha Gushi Pharmacy, Black Peony, had been deeply studied; it was more appropriate to say that it was a specialized spirit energy affecting emotions rather than a mere medicine.
The bottle of “Yan Zhi Dream” in Xiuyao’s hand was made to deal with this kind of sinister medicine; the principle of its effect was likely to cover the target’s emotions with another emotion before the “treasure” could erode the target’s spirit energy and influence their emotions, achieving a blocking effect.
But…
“But she has inhaled too much toxic smoke, and the toxicity has already blended into the spirit energy. Now, unless we can get her to release all her spirit energy herself…”
As she spoke, Xiuyao looked at Luxianbei again, sighing, “Do you think in her current state she could cooperate with us to release her own spirit energy?”
“…” Ahua opened her mouth, hesitated, her expression complex.
At that moment, Luxianbei’s laughter suddenly stopped.
Ahua and Xiuyao looked over in surprise, only to see her body convulsing and collapsing to the ground.
“…”
“What… happened to her?” Ahua said weakly.
Xiuyao furrowed her brows and thought for a moment before responding quietly, “It’s possible that… she overdid it?”
But, she thought, I’ve never heard of such symptoms before.
At that moment, under the influence of the “treasure,” as Luxianbei’s feeling of joy was about to reach its peak, a sudden sharp pain shot through her chest, as if thousands of steel needles had pierced her heart.
Accompanying the intense pain were inaudible whispers echoing from deep within her chest, some in agony, some in anxiety, some in panic, and some in depression.
Those whispers roared, incited, sometimes commanding sternly, sometimes luring softly, drowning her in indescribable sorrow, making it hard for her to extricate herself.
In the next moment, a terrifying noise like the collective screams of countless girls surged into Luxianbei’s ears, scraping against her eardrums like a sharp blade.
Amidst the piercing shrieks, she heard a gentle murmuring.
“It is mist and stars, it is her child, and it is the lips that extinguish the light in the darkness…”
The voice was ethereal and clear, like silver bells, evoking thoughts of a delicate girl.
Soon after, horrifying visions appeared before her eyes, depicting the deaths of countless girls.
Some were being pushed towards the pyre in humiliation, whispering the most vicious curses with hoarse voices in the raging flames.
Others were imprisoned in dim dungeons, their bodies covered in scars left from ab*se, perishing under the onslaught of insects and disease.
Still others lay alone in a cold, dark bathroom, gently slicing their wrists in a bathtub filled with water, bl**d blooming like scarlet flowers.
The ways in which these girls died were varied, but all were tragically mournful; those originally beautiful eyes, after dimming, did not close with the departure of life but remained wide open, radiating endless resentment.
In an instant, the joy brought to Luxianbei by the “treasure” shattered into pieces, replaced by a profound sorrow that spread uncontrollably in her consciousness.
A strong acidity spread to her nostrils, making her feel an overwhelming urge to cry out.
This feeling was like a sulky delinquent girl bumping into a little girl standing by the roadside giggling, who, without a word, slapped her twice, utterly unreasonable.
I can’t be happy, so why should you be this happy?
Nobody is allowed to laugh today; everyone should cry!
If I can’t cry, I’ll keep hitting you until you cry!
Thus, Luxianbei’s pain intensified, as if it aimed to bring her to her d*ath.
Then, everything around seemed to freeze suddenly, and a profound silence engulfed her ears…
————
Nearby, watching Luxianbei faint and fall, Ahua slowly released her clenched fists, letting out a slight sigh of relief.
Just then, when Luxianbei’s laughter stopped, her keen spirit sense detected a terrifying change in Luxianbei’s spirit energy fluctuation.
That change was like watching a blazing fire extinguish before her eyes, followed suddenly by the emergence of a bloody demon from the darkness.
Ahua even suspected that the toxic smoke had caused a change in Luxianbei, showing signs of corruption and decay, as if she might rampage and hurt someone at any moment.
Quickly, with Luxianbei collapsing to the ground, this worry dissipated.
After observing Luxianbei from a distance for a moment, Xiuyao approached, squatting beside her and reaching for Luxianbei’s neck.
As her fingers touched the area near Luxianbei’s carotid artery, Xiuyao’s pupils suddenly contracted violently, and she immediately withdrew her hand as if electrocuted.
In the moment her fingertips made contact with Luxianbei’s skin, Xiuyao felt a strong, almost tangible negative emotion breaking through Luxianbei’s body.
Under the influence of that negative emotion, she experienced a sadness that was hard to bear.
How terrifying, even the “treasure” couldn’t suppress the negative emotions within her?
Not only couldn’t it suppress, but it also seemed to activate them…
How did she survive? Whether human or urban legend, under such despair, she should have long since collapsed mentally and ended it herself, Xiuyao thought anxiously.
In contemplation, she turned to Ahua, curiously asking, “You seem to know her well? Have you noticed any unusual behaviors from her?”
“Uh…” Ahua thought for a moment before responding, “She talks a lot while slacking off, she’s cowardly and loves to risk her life, does that count? Uh, I can’t really say much else; I haven’t really known her that well!”
My lady might know… Ahua added in her heart.
Xiuyao, “…”
What kind of unusual behavior is this?
This merely shows that her thinking is a bit different than others, and it doesn’t reach the level of abnormal.
Forget it, now’s not the time to dwell on this; the pharmacy has come to this point, I’m afraid they won’t let it go easily. The only option now is to take her back to hand her over to the master.
Thinking this, Xiuyao looked at Ahua and said, “Come on, lend me a hand; we need to leave here first.”
Ahua hesitated for a moment, then nodded, moved forward with Xiuyao, and together they supported Luxianbei, heading along the tracks towards the direction leading to the Lan Zhe Inn.
————
Cold raindrops pattered against Luxianbei’s face, and she suddenly woke up, flipping herself up from the ground, seeing the dilapidated rooftop.
It was still the familiar rooftop, but the city felt unfamiliar to her.
In the distance, the sky piled with dark clouds looked like it had been torn open in several places, with rainwater pouring down from the gaps like waterfalls.
The water level in the ruined city had risen to a terrifying height, as if it were being submerged by the ocean, leaving only some very tall buildings, their tops poking out from the water, like isolated islands.
“Hey! Long time no see!”
A familiar voice sounded behind her. Luxianbei turned to look and saw the girl in red, her heart leaping slightly.
Her abdomen looked as if it had been pierced, with a terrifying puncture wound the size of a fist.
“Whoa! Did you get targeted for being a shady proxy player?” Luxianbei exclaimed.
The girl smiled bitterly, “How could that be? I’ve always been fair and just, okay?”
“Besides, proxy playing is just my side job; I have more important things to do.”
“Like what?” Luxianbei tilted her head.
“Like…” The girl raised her eyebrows slightly, “Like fighting against calamities? In any case, it’s very busy and dangerous.”
As she spoke, she pointed to the horrific wound on her abdomen, “So this kind of minor injury is nothing, doesn’t matter.”
Luxianbei rolled her eyes, “Come on! You say it like it’s true. If you didn’t spit bl**d while talking, I might actually believe you about one percent.”
Hearing this, the girl shrugged and said helplessly, “I knew you wouldn’t believe me, so let’s get down to business, shall we?”
“Right!” Luxianbei said seriously, “Speaking of business, I haven’t asked you yet! I didn’t call for a proxy player, so why did you suddenly come out?”
“Hmm…” The girl pondered for a few seconds and said earnestly, “Maybe it’s been too long since I appeared, and the readers have started to miss me, so I sensed their calls and was forced to come out and make an appearance?”
Luxianbei, “…”
Although I highly suspect she is me, I must admit, this trash talk is indeed a bit annoying.
Noticing Luxianbei’s unfriendly gaze, the girl laughed awkwardly, “Ahaha, let’s talk about serious matters, serious matters.”
“I came this time to tell you, you can’t keep jumping back and forth between mythological species and witch types; that doesn’t work. You must choose one path, or there will be a mishap.”
“What?!” Luxianbei said, bewildered. As she was in a daze, she suddenly saw the proxy player sister point at her chest, with a meaningful smile forming at the corner of her mouth.
Following where she pointed, Luxianbei looked down and suddenly thought of a phrase in her heart: “What has blinded my eyes?”
“Why is this happening?” Luxianbei exclaimed.
The girl shrugged and nonchalantly replied, “Maybe it’s because of the influence of the Old World Destroyer’s spirit energy?”
“When I just arrived, I sensed a decaying stench from you, tsk tsk…”
Luxianbei, “…” Old World Destroyer? What the heck is that!
(EMMM, I held on for a whole day yesterday, and today I really can’t take it anymore, so I’ll update a little less, please forgive me…)
