Chapter 90: All She Can Do Is Help Luxianbei
After parting ways with Luxianbei, Zhang Hainan did not immediately return to Dachunyang Palace; instead, he turned back to the residential area that had been attacked by spirit energy.
Previously, he had not obtained information from Luxianbei regarding the causes of the Urban Legends’ powers behind the Secret Society. Upon seeing Luxianbei and Huasang in crisis, he immediately used swift means to eliminate the minor characters within the sealed area.
Now that he thought about it, it was indeed a bit impulsive; he should have left a couple alive.
“My cultivation is still insufficient…” Zhang Hainan shook his head and sighed. A hint of complexity flashed in his slightly opened eyes.
Even for someone like him, who had practiced for many years, he could not maintain absolute calm when those he cared about encountered danger. Expecting Luxianbei to do this would be a bit unreasonable.
However…
If that kid wanted to be an enemy of the Solar Eclipse Society, he had to achieve this.
……
Zhang Hainan pondered as he walked along the desolate night street, unknowingly crossing through a temporary seal set up by a group of Dachunyang Palace disciples and arriving back in front of that residential area.
He stopped, looking toward the busy disciples in the residential buildings, when he heard footsteps approaching.
Following the sound, he saw Qing Xiazi holding Huasang by the collar with one hand and tugging at her ear with the other, much like lifting a kitten that had knocked over a vase, as she came closer.
Seeing this, Zhang Hainan furrowed his brow slightly and reproached Qing Xiazi, “The child is already this big; can’t you spare her some face in front of so many people?”
After all, tugging at her ear wouldn’t hurt her… Zhang Hainan added silently in his heart.
Huasang stole a glance at Qing Xiazi and said faintly, “I second that…”
“Keep your mouth shut!” Qing Xiazi twisted Huasang’s ear sharply before setting her aside. Then she cupped her hands and bowed slightly to Zhang Hainan, saying, “It’s permissible for disciples to teach their students; please punish me, Master Uncle.”
“Oh? What did you do wrong that I should punish you?” Zhang Hainan asked, puzzled.
Qing Xiazi shot a glare at Huasang, then looked back at Zhang Hainan and bowed again, explaining, “Master Uncle, this sinful disciple possesses a divine weapon left by the sect’s predecessors but does not cherish it properly, resulting in irreparable damage to it. However…”
“But what?” Zhang Hainan asked with interest.
“But this situation arose because I, as the master, have failed to teach properly. I bear significant responsibility for the damage to the divine weapon, so please punish me, Master Uncle. As for Huasang, I will strictly manage her later.” Qing Xiazi said.
It sounds good, but she only wants to protect her own disciple; does this old man not understand you? Zhang Hainan thought, chuckling, “Ha, Qing Xiazi, since you know this, why do you think a divine weapon would be so easily damaged?”
Qing Xiazi frowned, confused, “What do you mean, Master Uncle?”
“That was a fake.” Zhang Hainan stated.
“Really a fake?” Qing Xiazi frowned, then glared sharply at Huasang. “Even if it’s a fake, losing a divine weapon left by the predecessors is still a mistake, isn’t it?”
“How could I have thought that a thief would sneak into Chenyi Inn?” Huasang said.
“Chenyi Inn?” Qing Xiazi seemed to remember something, her expression suddenly becoming grave.
Noticing the change on Qing Xiazi’s face, Zhang Hainan raised an eyebrow and pressed, “Qingmei, are you recalling something?”
“Master Uncle,” Qing Xiazi replied, “speaking of Chenyi Inn, I suddenly recall that Brother Wang, who was on duty at Chenyi Inn, should have arrived on the scene earlier than I did, but I did not see him when I came. I didn’t think much of it before, but now it seems…”
“Uh, Master Uncle, I’m not doubting a fellow disciple; I just find it suspicious.”
After hearing Qing Xiazi’s words, Zhang Hainan and Huasang exchanged glances, reading similar thoughts in each other’s eyes.
Could it be that he fled out of fear of being implicated?
————
After parting with Zhang Hainan, Luxianbei, worried that the abnormal spirit energy fluctuations emitted by her body would be discovered when contacting the Proxy Player Sister, did not return to Dachunyang Palace but instead headed into an eSports venue on the night street and rented a single room.
Once seated in the room, locking the door, she leaned back on the soft sofa, cleared her mind, and began to call out mentally.
“Proxy Player Sister, Proxy Player Sister!”
Just as she called out twice in her mind, Luxianbei felt a moment of visual distortion, as if the computer screen in front of her was experiencing electromagnetic interference, flashing numerous colorful dots.
Immediately afterward, she familiarized herself with the darkness.
……
“In the half-warm, half-cold autumn, I’m beside you~♪
Gently watching the flowing lights dance~♪
The wind carries a piece of red leaves, my heart is filled with tenderness~♪
……”
As a distant and ethereal song resonated in her ears, she felt a damp and cool breeze sweep across her face. Luxianbei opened her eyes, once again seeing the old and familiar Mudan Street.
Following the direction of the song, she saw the Proxy Player Sister, her long hair piled up, a hint of sorrow in her brow, dressed in a pure white gauze dress, holding a flat boat, slowly approaching along the winding clear canal of Mudan Street.
From a distance, she looked like a celestial being fallen to the mortal world, vastly different from her usual heedless appearance.
Luxianbei appraised the Proxy Player Sister, squinting slightly, and said, “Are you playing dress-up in Hanfu? Be careful you don’t get reported!”
The Proxy Player Sister rolled her eyes at Luxianbei, nonchalantly replying, “Doesn’t matter; if anyone besides you can find me, I wouldn’t mind chatting with them.”
Though it was hardly useful now, developing a few more followers to serve as cannon fodder when needed was still quite nice.
“You’re happy as long as you’re good!” Luxianbei smirked, “But speaking of which, what’s with this strange getup? I almost thought I had the wrong person!”
“This…” The Proxy Player Sister looked down at her attire, pouting slightly, and softly remarked, “I just heard some past events and felt a bit emotional, so I expressed my feelings through song.”
“…” Luxianbei looked at the Proxy Player Sister with a blank expression, silent for two seconds before gravely stating, “Can you be a little more normal? Speak some human language?”
With you acting like this, I can’t help but feel I might turn into this weird appearance too, it’s kind of scary… Luxianbei silently added in her mind.
“Oh…” The Proxy Player Sister pouted comically, leaping off her small boat and landing on the shore with an air of nonchalance. Then she reiterated, “I just heard an interesting love story and wanted to set the mood, having an immersive experience, that’s all.”
“An interesting love story?” Luxianbei tilted her head, “Tell me about it?”
The Proxy Player Sister glanced toward the Lipstick Tavern and quickly withdrew her gaze, sighing silently, “I think it’s better to wait until you restore the Ling Tai Purification and let the involved parties tell you themselves.”
Luxianbei, “…”
Again, it’s about restoring the Ling Tai Purification and the involved parties…
Could it be a story from the Ancestor?
Can’t I just ask him directly later?
Luxianbei thought, unconcernedly curling her lip and inquiring, “Let’s talk business. I told Zhang Hainan everything about the Pink Fluffy Rabbit as you said, and he suspects that with the abilities of the Pink Fluffy Rabbit, it couldn’t just harm the area around Dachunyang Palace…”
Hearing this, a flash of surprise flickered in the Proxy Player Sister’s eyes, and she smiled, “That old man isn’t bad! Didn’t expect him to react so quickly? I suppose he sent you to ask me about the other places impacted, right?”
“Uh, rest assured, I didn’t reveal any information about you.” Luxianbei said.
“……”
Even if I did, he wouldn’t be able to find me.
If we get into specifics, ultimately it would still point back to you, treating you as if you had a split personality, and during that split, you did something remarkable.
The Proxy Player Sister thought, redirecting the topic, and said seriously, “Since that old man asked you to inquire, it’s fine for me to tell you this. However, you need to prepare him mentally; even if he knows in advance which places may be affected, it doesn’t necessarily prevent the tragedy from happening.”
“How to say it? That old man is indeed powerful, but not every spirit energy user is as strong as he is…”
At this point, the Proxy Player Sister’s expression dimmed, falling into a brief silence.
She thought of the one who risked their life to seal the area around Dachunyang Palace, only to see their resolve shatter upon learning that Yangyi had successfully awakened elsewhere.
Having done everything possible, yet still discovering it was futile, leaving anyone deeply in despair.
That sense of despair, she understood all too well.
Noticing this, Luxianbei involuntarily straightened up, stating seriously, “I understand now, go on!”
“Mm.” The Proxy Player Sister brought her focus back, recalling the locations where Yangyi’s followers were most active. She continued, “As far as I know, areas that have suffered serious impacts include the Tianzhu Pashupati Temple, the Spring Day Great Society in Country R, and the Tulip Society in Amsterdam…”
“Wait! The last one seems different from the previous two?” Luxianbei couldn’t help but interrupt.
“Same, same.” The Proxy Player Sister waved her hand. “Don’t they all have a common characteristic?”
Luxianbei thought for a moment and cautiously suggested, “A lot of people?”
“Partially correct!” The Proxy Player Sister corrected. “To be precise, there are many spirit energy users.”
As for whether the ways of spirit energy users are legitimate, Yangyi doesn’t care, as long as their pursuit of material desires is sufficiently frantic.
When starving, whether it’s a Michelin three-star restaurant or a roadside stall, it can fill one’s stomach, right?
“And don’t interrupt me, I’m not done yet!” The Proxy Player Sister playfully scolded.
Following that, she rapidly listed out four more locations.
In total, there are seven locations, all posing the same level of risk from Yangyi’s harm as Dachunyang Palace, and these were just the places where Yangyi’s followers gathered in large numbers, leading to serious disasters. There were some smaller scale disasters occurring in lesser-known places, which she had no memory of.
After listening to the Proxy Player Sister’s account, Luxianbei’s expression became serious. “I understand now; aside from Shizhou City, none of them are within Z Country, right?”
“What do we do about that? No matter how capable Zhang Hainan is, it’s going to be tough to intervene outside of Z Country, right?”
“That’s why I told you to prepare him mentally!” The Proxy Player Sister shrugged. “How to handle it specifically is up to that old man; we can’t help.”
This was also one of the reasons the Proxy Player Sister didn’t want Luxianbei to reveal information about these world-destroying factors to the Siye Society, aside from worrying that Luxianbei might get captured and sliced up.
After all, even if things looked normal in some places, they were merely in the “incubation period,” and even from top to bottom, they’d already been corroded to the core; once the opportunity arose, disaster could strike at any moment.
Everyone wants to save? Can they really?
All she could do was help Luxianbei, and for the rest…
Provide a little assistance when the time is right, then leave it to fate.
————
After bidding farewell to the Proxy Player Sister, Luxianbei’s consciousness withdrew from that unreal place. She remained seated in the internet café room for quite some time until the administrator knocked on the door, pulling her back to reality.
“Hey, hey! Are you alright?” the administrator called from outside, a hint of anxiety in their voice.
After all, from the surveillance, Luxianbei had been staring blankly at a computer screen for over two hours without opening any interface, which was particularly eerie and quite scary.
“Oh, oh! I’m fine.” Luxianbei replied, “I just wanted a bit of quiet.”
“…” The administrator outside fell silent for two seconds and then breathed a sigh of relief, saying, “That’s good. Our boss sent you a cola; you can come to the counter to pick it up later.”
“Thanks.” Luxianbei responded, regaining her focus and taking out her phone to contact Zhang Hainan…
Show Pigeon
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The show pigeon is completely white, but has symmetrical colored feathers on both shoulders, and its wings are gray, purple, and black. It has a round head, delicate white eyelids, a small body, and a short beak. A unique characteristic of show pigeons is that when viewed from the front, their heads are triangular, and some may have feathers that flip over at the back of the head and a feathery neck.
It is a native Chinese breed. The show pigeons we see today are those that were brought back from abroad after they became extinct in China.
There’s a saying, unexpectedly and tomorrow no one knows which will come first. Today my stomach is acting up, and I can’t write a single word in front of the computer.
I know everyone wants to see Beibei get beaten by the Ancestor and to write this little scene interestingly. But today I’m not feeling well, and forcing myself to write might make it turn out poorly, so I’ll take a day off…
I’m very sorry (bow)!
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