Chapter 104: Steamed Buns
In the outskirts of Huacheng.
The woods washed by the rain glimmered under the pure white moonlight; a gentle breeze rustled, causing droplets of water to fall on the forehead of a pale-faced man standing beneath the trees.
The man had his eyes tightly closed, as if turned to stone, completely motionless.
After a long while.
He furrowed his brows slightly, opened his eyes, gazed in the direction of Huacheng, and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
“Whoosh—!”
Seeing this, Miss Rabbit, who had been waiting nearby for a long time, approached, “How is it? What’s happening in Huacheng?”
Shuo E glanced at Miss Rabbit and said, “Everything is going smoothly. The core of the parasitic kind urban legend has been successfully activated and has also successfully parasitized that individual. Although the power diffusion is currently at a standstill, there shouldn’t be any major issues.”
“That’s good, that’s good.” Miss Rabbit nodded, turning her gaze towards Huacheng, her eyes narrowing into slits as she slightly clenched her pink fist.
It was expected for the power diffusion of the core of the parasitic kind urban legend to come to a standstill after all. After all, the target it affected is one of the highest leaders of the Solar Eclipse Society, and if it were that easy to take down, it would seem unnatural.
However, as time goes by, the power of the parasitic kind urban legend will surely diffuse throughout Huacheng, and by that time, it would be the end of calamity!
I really want to see how that b*stard dies!
Unfortunately, being near the core area of the parasitic kind urban legend power diffusion is just too dangerous… Miss Rabbit thought.
————
At Luxianbei’s home in Jingyi Apartment Complex.
After settling Wang Ying, Luxianbei and Jumeng gathered around Huaxie Yu, studied for a while, and finally made an important decision—first, order takeout to eat!
“Crayfish, grilled ribs, or spicy hotpot?” Jumeng asked while poking at her phone.
“Grilled…” Luxianbei just opened his mouth, then sensed something was off, frowning as he said, “Wait! Aren’t we researching how to deal with the parasitic kind urban legend inside Huaxie Yu?”
“How did we end up talking about food? Is this really an important decision?”
“Doesn’t it count?” Jumeng retorted, “In this day and age, you have to have the determination to order takeout at night, the nighttime delivery fee is twenty bucks extra!”
“Fair point!” Luxianbei nodded, then his gaze drifted towards the sleeping Huaxie Yu, silently sighing, “But…”
“You, along with me, two big urban legends on the Solar Eclipse Society’s wanted list, can’t even handle a little parasitic kind urban legend?”
“Hey!” Jumeng walked over, patted Luxianbei’s shoulder, and said earnestly, “You don’t need to blame yourself; no one wants such things to happen!”
“Parasitic kind urban legends are inherently sinister. Whether it can be resolved has nothing to do with ability size; the power must be extremely targeted, right?”
Luxianbei nodded in silence, acknowledging Jumeng’s statement.
Dealing with parasitic kind urban legends does require strong spirit energy fluctuations, but it truly isn’t enough.
It’s like how even the greatest mathematician could hardly solve an issue in medicine.
Every profession has its specialization; if the right method or highly targeted power can be found, perhaps even D-Rank urban legends could be dealt with effectively.
Now, even the stinky sister with five thousand years of experience and vast knowledge can’t think of a solution. Who could…
Wait a minute!
Maybe there is someone who can think of a way?
A figure of Proxy Player Sister suddenly flashed through Luxianbei’s mind, and his eyes lit up slightly as he looked at Jumeng and said, “Stinky sister, keep an eye on Huaxie Yu.”
With that, he quickly walked upstairs.
Although besides Proxy Player Sister, he could also ask the old man Zhang Hainan for help; if it were him, perhaps with absolute power he could resolve the parasitic kind urban legend.
But at this moment, Huaxie Yu was constantly under threat from the parasitic kind urban legend, and her life was in danger. While the old man would take ample time to come from Dachunyang Palace to Huacheng and resolve the crisis, Huaxie Yu…
By the time Zhang Hainan arrives in Huacheng, he might catch Huaxie Yu’s meal.
“Hey, you dog, where are you going?” Jumeng stretched her neck and asked.
“To sleep!” Luxianbei’s voice came from the upper floor.
Jumeng, “?”
What the heck? When faced with a problem, you sleep instead? Are you planning to level up in your dreams?
————
Usually, Luxianbei wasn’t a fan of asking Proxy Player Sister for help.
First, initiating a request for her help meant payment.
Second, always asking Proxy Player Sister for help would make it seem like he couldn’t do anything on his own except rely on her.
Finally, he always remembered Proxy Player Sister had said to try not to depend on her unless necessary.
But today…
In one’s life, there will always be times you want to become a disciple of Feng Ling Yue Ying Sect, right?
“Calling Proxy Player, calling Proxy Player!”
“Proxy Player Sister? Where are you?!”
“…”
Lying flat on the bed, Luxianbei had his eyes closed, calling out loudly in his mind.
After a moment.
It was as though he had been awakened from a deep sleep, suddenly tugged down from the bed by a greedy and cold little hand from beneath, causing his body to plummet.
Following that, like a leaf caught in the wind, he rolled and drifted in the darkness, finally gently landing on the ground.
Feeling the familiar rough and cold sensation of the rooftop floor against his palms and back, and smelling the pungent odor in the air, Luxianbei opened his eyes, sitting up to see Proxy Player Sister wearing only a loose apron and denim shorts.
Her face and hands were smeared with crimson dirt.
A faint smell of bl**d floated from that red mud, making one suspect it was either mixed with bl**d or perhaps made from ground flesh.
“What the hell! What are you doing?” Luxianbei exclaimed, “Why are you even playing with a body apron now?”
Proxy Player Sister tossed the lump of dirt she was holding onto the ground with a “slap,” turned around, and looked at Luxianbei with a sidelong glance, saying, “This is pottery. Don’t you understand pottery?”
“Although you can be considered my boss and can summon me as you wish, you can’t restrict my free time, right? During my break, I should also be able to develop some interests, right?”
“That’s fine, of course, but…” Luxianbei nodded, shifting his body to look at Proxy Player Sister’s “pottery work” and couldn’t help but furrow his brows, “What the hell is this thing you’re molding?”
Short, thick limbs, a fat body, scarlet skin… it looked like a bloody Patrick Star.
“It’s a person!” Proxy Player Sister lifted her creation and waved it in front of Luxianbei, “What kind of eyes do you have? Can’t you tell this is a person? Do you have no artistic sense at all?”
Absolutely none, so you too… Luxianbei silently cursed, looking into Proxy Player Sister’s eyes, shifting the topic back on track, “Forget it, let’s talk about serious matters!”
“You want to resolve the parasitic kind urban legend inside Huazhuan Miss, right?”
As if she had completely understood Luxianbei’s thoughts, Proxy Player Sister revealed his purpose for calling her with one sentence.
“I do have a method, but…”
“It’s going to require payment, right?” Luxianbei directly pointed out Proxy Player Sister’s intentions.
“Hehe!” Proxy Player Sister chuckled lightly, slightly embarrassed, “What kind of money, who are we to each other? Talking about money feels distant, right?”
Not asking for money but wanting my life, huh? Same old routine! Luxianbei sighed and rolled his eyes, saying, “Just say it, what do you want?”
“Are you anxious?” Proxy Player Sister pouted, “Unfortunately, even if you’re anxious about a way to resolve the parasitic kind urban legend, it doesn’t help; it entirely depends on whether you can meet the conditions, and what I want is related to that.”
“Conditions? What conditions?” Luxianbei asked.
“Actually, it’s very simple…” Proxy Player Sister said as she grabbed a lump of crimson mud, forming a round ball and pressing it hard against the “bloody star,” “You just need to create human fireworks.”
Luxianbei, “…”
Sorry to interrupt, I think I’ll go find that old man Zhang Hainan instead.
Do you know I’ve been struggling recently with making human fireworks?
You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? Luxianbei thought.
He felt Proxy Player Sister’s actions were akin to those green tea players trying to bait rich guys; at first, it was just a way to scam for tips and gradually it escalated to requesting various gifts, and then eventually demanding cars and houses.
What, do you think I’ll buy you a house, and you can then become my wife?
Seeing Luxianbei fall silent, Proxy Player Sister smiled helplessly, sitting cross-legged on the ground, picking up another lump of red clay and starting to knead it while explaining, “I feel you might have misunderstood something. I’m not trying to cheat you; it’s actually the most efficient way to resolve the parasitic kind urban legend.”
“Do you know that the vast majority of targets of parasitic kind urban legends are humans? As long as you can create a large number of fake humans for them to parasitize, it will solve the problem easily. This is kind of like fishing with fake bait.”
“Besides, this method isn’t just something I made up. People have used it a thousand years ago.”
“Mm?” Luxianbei paused, puzzled, “Wasn’t the parasitic kind urban legend confirmed to have appeared just a few years ago?”
“That is true, but…” Proxy Player Sister rolled her eyes at Luxianbei, “I never said that the ancients used this method against parasitic kind urban legends; it’s against another urban legend!”
“…” Luxianbei stared at Proxy Player Sister blankly, hesitating for a moment, and then said seriously, “Okay, tell me, what should I do?”
If there’s a chance of success, he still wanted to try.
If luck is on his side, he might even unlock a new skill—cooking human fireworks.
“Very simple!” Proxy Player Sister shaped the dirt in her hand into a ball and handed it to Luxianbei, “Just make steamed buns.”
“The ‘Records of Culinary Herbs and Foods: ‘ say: In the ‘Southern Folklore,’ when Zhuge Liang led his troops against Meng Huo, it was said: ‘The barbarians have many sorceries; one must pray to the gods and rely on ghost soldiers for aid. Yet the barbarian customs require human sacrifices to offer their heads to sacrifice to the gods for sending troops.’ But Zhuge Liang didn’t follow this and instead used mutton and pigmeat, wrapped in dough, shaped like human heads, to sacrifice. The gods accepted it and sent troops.”
“But that’s just a legend, lacking solid evidence. Can it really work?” Luxianbei interrupted.
Proxy Player Sister shrugged indifferently, “Using legends to deal with urban legends is quite reasonable, isn’t it?”
Luxianbei, “…” Saying that really makes it sound reasonable.
“I got it, just like Zhuge Liang tricked the gods with steamed buns, letting the parasitic kind urban legend think the steamed buns you made are humans radiating spirit energy, causing it to leave Huaxie Yu and parasitize the buns. Then we just need to dispose of all the buns, right?”
“Exactly!” Proxy Player Sister looked at Luxianbei with a “kiddo, you’ve grown, I’m quite proud” gaze and gave him a thumbs-up.
“However, the only difficulty is ensuring you trick the parasitic kind urban legend and make it find the buns more attractive than Miss Huazhuan, so the buns you create must be of human fireworks level, and my only reward is one steamed bun.”
In this way, Huaxie Yu’s title, besides that of King of Childcare, might soon include being less than a steamed bun… Luxianbei silently scoffed and asked, “But, I can’t even make human fireworks yet! By the time I manage that, it’ll be time for Huaxie Yu’s anniversary, and Huacheng will likely be finished.”
“No, you can!” Proxy Player Sister said firmly, “As long as you are resolute.”
Resolute? Luxianbei narrowed his eyes, examining Proxy Player Sister, and tentatively asked, “What do you mean by being resolute?”
“All you lack to cook human fireworks right now is materials.” Proxy Player Sister pointed at Luxianbei’s arms, “You previously received tools from Hu Boss for collecting materials, so you just need to gather materials.”
【Life is fleeting】!
Luxianbei recalled the blue-and-white porcelain bowl Hu Boss gave him for collecting human fireworks ingredients.
According to Hu Boss, he just needed to find some people, take artifacts from them, and put them into the bowl to collect ingredients for cooking human fireworks.
But one or two pieces definitely wouldn’t be enough, right?
In this urgent situation, where would he find so many personal artifacts?
“That would take a lot of time, I’m afraid…”
“No, no, no!” Proxy Player Sister waved her hand to interrupt, “You already have everything at hand; do you remember? In that old nest of yours.”
“You mean…” Luxianbei pondered for a moment, suddenly realizing, “You mean those lost items collected by the little urban legends in the Happy Neighborhood warehouse?”
“Exactly!”
“But can using those lost items really gather the ingredients for cooking human fireworks? Why would I need to be resolute?” Luxianbei asked in confusion.
“Because, once you use the lost items to gather ingredients for human fireworks, the memories associated with their owners will completely vanish, got it?” Proxy Player Sister explained.
After a pause, she emphasized again, “If there are precious memories in there, they will also disappear!”
Knowing Proxy Player Sister’s understanding of Luxianbei, if he found out the truth afterward, he would definitely feel guilty, so it would be better to tell him in advance and let him think about it.
“…”
After hearing Proxy Player Sister’s words, Luxianbei briefly fell into silence.
Taking without asking is stealing.
Is it really okay to take their memories… without their consent, just to make buns?
