**Chapter 88: I Want You to Help Guard the Mountain**
The confinement zone dispersed, and the sky gradually brightened.
Dawn was approaching, and feeling the spiritual energy in his body stirring, Lu Xibei’s eyes trembled slightly as he stopped the mutual harm with Zhang Hainan.
“Junior Brother, you want to see Lu Xibei, right? I’ll go find him right now. Give me five minutes… no, how about three minutes? I’ll have him appear in front of you, how does that sound?”
The morning sunlight was about to shine down, and if his body changed in front of them, it would truly be an embarrassing level of “lying in a coffin.”
He needed to find a place to return to normal… Lu Xibei thought.
Stinky brat, what trick are you trying to play? Zhang Hainan scoffed inwardly and nodded, “That’s good, then I’ll just wait here for three minutes.”
Zhang Hainan wasn’t worried that Lu Xibei would take the opportunity to escape during these three minutes; whether it was three minutes or another thirty minutes, she couldn’t escape the range of his spiritual awareness.
Moreover, watching Lu Xibei fall into an awkward predicament was entertaining, but it was far from the main issue; obtaining information from Lu Xibei regarding the urban legends behind the Secret Society was the priority.
Seeing Zhang Hainan agree to his request, Lu Xibei let out a slight breath, walked to Huasang’s side, and said, “Hey, um…”
Lost in her own world, with her thoughts in a mess, when Huasang heard Lu Xibei’s voice, her face instantly burned brighter, and she trembled slightly, shuffling to the side and mumbling, “You, you say.”
Like a startled little beast, she lowered her head and didn’t dare to look at Lu Xibei.
For the past decade, she had lived passively, avoiding problems she couldn’t solve, using her spiritual energy sparingly for fear of losing control, and pretending as if her betrothed didn’t exist, avoiding any contact with him.
She was like a little turtle, always hiding under her thick shell.
But now, her betrothed was right in front of her; not only would he not be harmed by her, but he might also help her with her uncontrolled spirit patterns. For a moment, she didn’t know how to handle the situation.
Life was unpredictable, like an unfeeling hand pulling a retracting turtle from its safe place.
Seeing Huasang’s strange reaction, Lu Xibei tilted his head in confusion but didn’t ask further. Instead, he continued, “The timing isn’t right; I’m afraid I can’t talk to you for now…”
“It’s, it’s okay.” Huasang hurriedly responded.
“Uh, that’s good…” Lu Xibei scratched the back of his head, “How about I come find you at night?”
“Ah?” Huasang looked at Lu Xibei in surprise, her eyes wide, “Why, why at night?”
“Because it’s more convenient at night!”
“Convenient for what?” Huasang asked in a daze.
“Convenient to chat!” Lu Xibei replied in confusion, “What else could we do? Of course, if you want to stay up all night playing backgammon, I can accompany you.”
Huasang paused for a moment, quickly averted her gaze, and nodded again, “Um, see you tonight.”
“Great, then see you later!” Lu Xibei agreed and no longer lingered, quickly running towards a nearby residential building.
As she watched Lu Xibei’s departing back, Huasang bit her lip, her expression complex.
At that moment, Zhang Hainan stepped forward, lightly patting her shoulder and silently sighed.
Through divination, he had already sensed that Lu Ming’s schemes were taking effect, realizing that not only had Lu Xibei’s fate trajectory changed, but also that of her betrothed was disturbed accordingly.
The most obvious example was Huasang; she was originally supposed to endure the torment of the Night Invasion until one day she could no longer bear it, leading to loss of control of her spirit patterns, transforming into an urban legend, ultimately resulting in d*ath.
But now, a turn of events had taken place.
However, where did Lu Xibei’s strange ability to absorb Night Invasion and convert it into spiritual energy come from?
From his great-grandfather to his father, all of them had grown up under Zhang Hainan’s eyes, and their family had no spirit patterns related to this… Maybe it was his own fortuitous encounter?
Could it be that this was within Lu Ming’s expectations?
Zhang Hainan felt he was increasingly unable to understand Lu Ming.
Although Lu Ming was limited by his talent and was almost impossible to become a Disaster-Class Spiritual Energy Manipulator, the secrets he carried seemed to be much more than many who were at the Disaster-Class level.
————
As the bright morning light awakened the sleeping earth for the night, the restored Lu Xibei emerged from a residential building, darting behind a stone pillar, peeking out and looking around sneakily.
Noticing that Zhang Hainan had vanished, his thoughts of slipping away started to arise again. Just then, a humanoid shadow was cast from above, suddenly entering his line of sight.
Immediately after, a familiar voice rang in his ears.
“What are you looking for?”
“I’m looking for…” Lu Xibei began to say a few words, but then realized something was off, suddenly looking up to see Zhang Hainan standing behind him, maintaining the same posture as him and looking out at the street beyond the residential area.
“……”
In that moment, Lu Xibei suddenly realized that this old guy was powerful, and he couldn’t escape his grasp.
He had already removed the urban legend transformation, and even had his coat helping to conceal his presence, yet he was still caught by Zhang Hainan.
Seeing Lu Xibei unable to speak for a time, Zhang Hainan smiled and patted his shoulder, “Lu Xibei, right? Let’s go; I know a century-old breakfast shop nearby. Shall we go there to chat? And have some breakfast too?”
“Yeah, sure.” Lu Xibei obediently responded.
Whatever you say goes! Can I even resist?
Lu Xibei thought, secretly making a decision. If Zhang Hainan used pressure to make him do something against his principles, he’d have to find an “adult” to help him regain the upper hand.
The ancestor would surely stand on my side, right?
Lu Xibei thought, pursing his lips, “But before that, I have something I need to do; please wait for me a moment…”
“Oh?” Zhang Hainan frowned, “What else?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t run away. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t!” Lu Xibei said, “It won’t take more than a few minutes; you just watch.”
Zhang Hainan slightly parted his lips, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.
Immediately after, he watched Lu Xibei head toward the street, where a pile of corpses had gathered. He bent down and rummaged for some time before dragging out an attractive “girl” from within.
Zhang Hainan, “……”
Isn’t this the Siye Association operative who appeared at Xuanwu Ping before?
Has he been drawn into this event as well?
Hiding someone in a pile of corpses, this kid sure knows how to play.
—————
As Lu Xibei and Zhang Hainan walked side by side out of the residential area, Qing Xiazi had already led a group of Dachunyang Palace disciples to the scene and began cleanup work.
Several intersections around the residential area were cordoned off, and hundreds of metal wedges inscribed with solidification spell formulas to interfere with cognition were neatly driven into the ground. A dozen disciples from Dachunyang Palace, dressed in special protective gear, were spraying alchemical potions to eliminate residual spiritual energy in various corners of the residential area.
It was impossible to completely eliminate the impact of an urban legend event of this level; merely restricting the spread of the urban legend to prevent secondary harm required significant manpower and resources.
Among the busy disciples of Dachunyang Palace, Fu Xinyi stood in front of a residential building, holding a tablet and seriously recording something.
After handing the unconscious Fang Ji to a medical disciple of Dachunyang Palace, Lu Xibei passed by Fu Xinyi and ran into Yi Sihan, who walked out of that residential building with slightly reddened eyes and a grave expression.
“How is it?” Fu Xinyi looked up and asked Yi Sihan, “Did you find any survivors?”
Yi Sihan shook his head, wiping away tears that were about to fall, choked with emotion, “Senior Sister Fu, no one survived. All four hundred seventeen people in the building… how could they do this?!”
“……”
Hearing the conversation between Fu Xinyi and Yi Sihan from afar, Lu Xibei’s steps paused slightly as he turned to look, clenching his fists with barely suppressed anger.
That’s right, how could they do such a thing?
Seeing this, Zhang Hainan extended a hand and gently rested it on Lu Xibei’s shoulder.
Feeling the weight on his shoulder, Lu Xibei turned to look at Zhang Hainan, speaking heavily, “Someone told me that regarding the Secret Society, I can trust you unconditionally. I trust her, so I plan to tell you everything I know, and after that…”
Zhang Hainan seemed to guess Lu Xibei’s thoughts and smiled, “You want me to help avenge these innocent people?”
Lu Xibei nodded.
According to the Proxy Player Sister, his own power was insufficient to deal with the Secret Society, but Zhang Hainan had enough strength.
Zhang Hainan shook his head, “I will naturally find the instigator behind all of this, but not for the sake of revenge for these people, but to ensure that such tragedies do not happen again in the future.”
Is there a difference? Lu Xibei looked at Zhang Hainan, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
“There is a difference; doing the same thing with a different purpose can lead to vastly different methods and outcomes… Anger and hatred can easily blind one’s eyes.”
Pausing, seeing the lingering doubt in Lu Xibei’s eyes, Zhang Hainan sighed silently, “Well, shall we go?”
Zhang Hainan knew that regarding the things done by the Solar Eclipse Society against Lu Ming and his wife, Lu Xibei would eventually confront the Solar Eclipse Society.
He didn’t think it was wrong to deal with the Solar Eclipse Society, but one shouldn’t have a vengeful mindset. The Solar Eclipse Society had many ways of utilizing such extreme emotions.
If, during the confrontation with the Solar Eclipse Society, Lu Xibei was influenced by emotions as he was now, he would definitely suffer great losses.
It was okay for Lu Xibei to not understand now; fortunately, there was still time for him to slowly guide him, allowing more time in the future.
But…
Who could that person he mentioned, the one he could trust unconditionally, be?
Could it be Senior Brother Qing Ji?
Hehe, thinking about it this way, it’s making me feel a bit shy! Zhang Hainan thought, a hint of youthful shyness surfacing on his old face.
————
Moments later.
Near the Evernight Street, at that century-old breakfast shop.
In a relatively secluded corner of the breakfast shop, on a square wooden table, two bowls of clear porridge and two plates of exquisite side dishes were placed, the food having been left out for a long time, now cold and lacking steam.
Lu Xibei and Zhang Hainan sat on opposite sides of the wooden table, quietly discussing something.
“… Regarding the urban legend hidden behind the Secret Society, this is all I know.”
Lu Xibei recounted the information he had obtained from the Proxy Player Sister in detail to Zhang Hainan, then picked up a bowl of porridge from the table, slowly eating while waiting for a response.
Although the porridge had cooled, it still tasted pretty good, sweet and delicious, worthy of being a century-old establishment.
“……” Zhang Hainan listened, his expression somber. After analyzing the information Lu Xibei provided, he nodded, “The information you provided is quite detailed. Knowing the reasons for the power’s formation gives me about seventy to eighty percent confidence to lock onto its existence.”
“Ah? Only seventy to eighty percent?” Lu Xibei widened his eyes, setting down the porcelain bowl in surprise, “What’s the difference from not being able to find it? I mean, old man, are you okay?”
Zhang Hainan, “???”
“Since when was seventy to eighty percent considered unreliable? Why don’t you come and do it?”
Lu Xibei looked at Zhang Hainan with disdain in his eyes, “I told you this because I’m the one who can’t do it! If I could, would I need you to intervene?”
He had always been able to say the weakest things in the strongest attitude.
“……”
Zhang Hainan remained silent for two seconds and continued, “However, if I can capture a member of the Secret Society and acquire the corrupted item they hold, I will have a hundred percent confidence.”
“A hundred percent?” Lu Xibei smacked his lips, nodding thoughtfully.
A hundred percent is barely acceptable… I guess that’s reasonable!
“By the way, the alias of that person you mentioned was Gu He, right?”
Seeing Lu Xibei nod, Zhang Hainan continued, “I’ve heard of that name; apparently, he’s a very excellent disciple. Thinking more carefully, he seems to have only recently emerged in the last four years.”
“I already contacted the elders under me to investigate when you mentioned him just now; I believe there will be results soon.”
“However, putting that aside, I still have one thing that confuses me that I need you to clarify.”
“Please go ahead.” Lu Xibei nodded.
“Based on your description of the urban legend behind the Secret Society and the reasons for its power formation, I deduce that it might currently be within a God Realm constructed by its power. Given its power characteristics, it can’t only endanger Dachunyang Palace or Shizhou City.”
Its God Realm’s exit might exist in various corners of the world, all of which could become targets of its harm.
Pausing, Zhang Hainan observed Lu Xibei’s expression and continued, “I won’t pry into who informed you of this intel; that’s your secret, but I think if you can, you better ask that person what other locations were harmed apart from Dachunyang Palace.”
“No problem!” Lu Xibei quickly agreed, “Leave this to me! I’ll handle it right now.”
Such small matters, the Proxy Player Sister shouldn’t keep from saying.
Seeing Lu Xibei preparing to leave mid-sentence, Zhang Hainan raised a hand to stop him, “Not so fast, not so fast! I haven’t finished speaking yet.”
“After that, when it comes to locking onto the urban legend’s location, I might have to respond with full force, as things might cause some disturbances within Dachunyang Palace…”
“Ah? What do you mean?” Lu Xibei asked, puzzled.
“What I mean is, I need your help to guard the mountain…”
Before Zhang Hainan could finish, Lu Xibei’s face changed between green and white, exclaiming, “No way! You really want to make me into a mountain-guarding deity, right? No, absolutely not! Even if it kills me, I won’t go!”
As he spoke, he quickly retreated, even suspecting that Zhang Hainan would pull out a collar at any moment.
Zhang Hainan, “???”
