Chapter 176: Oh No, There’s a Trick!
After Long Bang met Xia Lianqing, he was busy fortifying the defenses around Dai Mu Institute.
Although he led three hundred Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers, plus fifty-two warriors sent by the wealthy salt merchant Wang Lingpa, it didn’t seem particularly numerous.
In current times, it might not even be more than a single grade of students in a high school.
However, before this, Long Bang had commanded at most three teams, totaling more than one hundred and fifty Longxiang Army; the sudden increase in numbers forced him to consider many more things.
Organizing these three hundred fifty-two people in an orderly manner around Dai Mu Institute, building defensive structures based on existing buildings, and reasonably distributing the equipment forged by the blacksmith were all significant undertakings.
By the time Long Bang had mostly prepared all the matters at hand, the time had shifted from noon to evening. Finally getting a moment’s leisure, he climbed to the highest point of Dai Mu Institute, sat on the roof ridge, let his weary legs dangle naturally along the sloping roof, and gazed into the distance.
The bl**d-red sun sank slowly among the disordered clouds, casting a rose-colored glow that wove half the sky into glowing satin.
Under the vast sky, numerous small buildings with red rooftops crowded together, separated by streets, a few wisps of smoke drifting sporadically. Among these small buildings, resembling stars surrounding the moon, the gray behemoth of the County Prince’s Mansion loomed at the center of the city gate.
Looking further afield, past the tall and majestic walls, he faintly spotted undulating yellow sand dunes shimmering with light, like the ripples of light on a lake stirred by the wind.
“What a nice place!” Long Bang exclaimed softly.
Since arriving at Yumen Pass with his older brother over six years ago, the world has deemed the borderland impoverished, yet he rather liked it here; to be precise, he loved all magnificent mountains and rivers.
Sometimes he would think that if he were not born into the Long family, not the younger brother of the Nanling County King, he would have embarked on a journey to visit famous mountains and rivers long ago.
Unfortunately… unfortunately…
Lost in thought, Long Bang suddenly felt his awareness waver as if he had become tipsy from drink, nearly sinking into a daze.
When he regained his focus and his clarity returned, a soft, mellow voice drifted into his ear, seemingly fully aware of his thoughts.
“I can tell that you seem to really like this Yumen Pass?”
Unbeknownst to him, Lu Xianbei had appeared silently behind Long Bang, retracting the pale tendrils that extended from Meng Meng’s ability, looking at Long Bang’s back, gently shaking her head.
Having borrowed the dream-invading ability to peek into Long Bang’s memories, she suddenly felt that she might have been overthinking.
This guy was as easy to understand as he appeared, with no scheming at all.
So simple that it was like a boy in the throes of first love, encountering the girl he had a crush on in the hallway during a break, unable to restrain his burning gaze.
“Of course!” Hearing the question in his ear, Long Bang instinctively replied.
“So, to protect the Yumen Pass, are you willing to do anything?”
The voice spoke again, as if there were some strange magical power, enticing Long Bang to respond. He paused, frowning as he looked towards the source of the voice, only to see the girl who had appeared behind him.
After appraising the girl behind him, Long Bang rolled his eyes and straightened his face, “You’re Shen Baiwei, right? I know you!”
“You seduced that woman Xia Lianqing to abandon the mission of hunting down the enemy in the city; Old Qin told me. That woman is willing to listen to you; I can’t meddle in her affairs, but don’t think you can sway me with your nonsense!”
It was evident that Long Bang harbored considerable hostility toward “Shen Baiwei.”
However, he couldn’t entirely blame himself; in his eyes, “Shen Baiwei” appeared younger than him, came from an unclear background, and suggested the terrible idea of giving up the hunt…
How could strategies proposed by someone like that possibly be effective?
He couldn’t care less about Xia Lianqing; he just hoped that she would follow “Shen Baiwei” into chaos and delay important matters, leading to irreparable consequences.
After waiting a moment, seeing that “Shen Baiwei” remained unfazed by his words, Long Bang furrowed his brow, racked his brain for a moment, and finally spat out a phrase, “Hurry up and go, you ugly freak! Just looking at you bothers me!”
This was the most malicious thing he could think of.
Upon hearing this, Lu Xianbei was momentarily taken aback, raising her hand to point at her own nose.
Does this kid have problems with his eyesight?
In this world, how could anyone think witches and urban legends look ugly? Lu Xianbei wondered.
Although she didn’t particularly like maintaining her urban legend appearance, according to common perception, there wouldn’t be many exceptions; unless one was very unusual, witches and urban legends simply couldn’t look ugly.
“Of course, I’m talking about you!” Long Bang gritted his teeth and said fiercely, “Looking like a skinny monkey, and your behind is small; clearly not easy to raise; you’ll definitely find it hard to get a good husband in the future!”
Lu Xianbei, “……” Is that it? He can’t hit even the main point in a personal attack? I thought he could say something effective, but instead, it’s like a kid losing a fight and spitting at someone.
As an adult, Lu Xianbei naturally looked down on “spitting back” exchanges with Long Bang.
For stubborn kids like this, vanity mattered the most.
So, a swift “Face-Ripping Uppercut” would suffice.
“In the eighth year of the Great Middle, by Lake Dongting, on the fifteenth day of the first month during the Lantern Festival, Long Bang lingered among the lanterns, inadvertently getting separated from his family. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him shouting ‘Who wants to eat sesame cakes?’ and gladly went over…”
“Shut up!” Long Bang interrupted, his face flushed, “How do you know this? Who told you? Was it that woman Xia Lianqing?”
He knew that “Shen Baiwei” was referring to the time he accidentally got lost at a lantern festival as a child, failing to realize he was being called by someone asking, “Who wants to eat sesame cakes?” and followed the voice, eating three portions in one go, only to be stared at like a monster by a family of seven he didn’t recognize.
But that had happened nearly ten years ago. If no one told her, how could “Shen Baiwei” possibly know?
The only person he could think of who would have told “Shen Baiwei” was Xia Lianqing, and she likely heard it from his brother.
Interrupted in her speech, Lu Xianbei looked at him expressionlessly for a few seconds and continued, “Don’t want to hear me say this? Fine! Then let me change the subject.”
“In the seventh year of the Great Middle, on the third day of the eighth month, Long Bang went out in the morning and encountered a vicious dog…”
“Wait! Don’t say anything more!”
This time, Lu Xianbei had only started her story when Long Bang, with an ashen face, interrupted her in a flash.
This next one was about how, as a child, he had played outside alone and was chased to a dead end by a dog the height of a person, kneeling and recognizing the big yellow dog as his brother in desperation, slowly becoming his companion, and then cried for three days at home when he learned the big yellow dog had died in the severe winter.
Upon realizing that “Shen Baiwei” knew this information, he suddenly felt something was wrong because there was no way anyone could tell “Shen Baiwei” about it.
His brother couldn’t possibly!
This was not just his embarrassing incident; it was also his brother’s.
After all, his cries for three days generally revolved around the theme of “Brother, you died so tragically!” leading the family to think Longxiang perished in battle, and even six months later, when Longxiang returned home to check on the situation, there were still clueless servants who believed he had encountered a ghost.
“Shen Baiwei” was seriously eerie!
If I don’t follow her wishes, she’ll spread these stories to the brothers of Longxiang Army, and won’t that ruin my reputation?
How am I supposed to navigate things in the future?
Thinking this, Long Bang glared at “Shen Baiwei” and said, “What exactly do you want me to do? Just tell me directly, don’t bother with all that random stuff.”
“Oh, it’s not a big deal.” Lu Xianbei casually replied, “Didn’t I just ask you, are you willing to do anything to protect the Yumen Pass?”
“Naturally willing!” Long Bang replied.
Lu Xianbei nodded, twirling a lock of hair at her temples while calmly asking, “Then how about disguised as Xia Lianqing, to lure the enemy who infiltrated the city…”
“Impossible!” Long Bang bluntly refused without hesitation.
Lu Xianbei frowned, tilting her head and staring intently at Long Bang for two seconds with a blank expression and said, “How about you think it over again?”
“No need to think! I’m a dignified seven-foot man…”
“Alright, then I have to mention the ridiculous things you did when you first entered the Longxiang military camp to avoid training. Oh, and let’s tell some of your subordinates about it.”
“……” Long Bang opened his mouth to stare at “Shen Baiwei,” hesitated for a moment, but ultimately refrained from saying the latter part he’d almost said aloud and instead shifted the topic, “A real man knows how to bend and stretch!”
————
Five minutes later.
At Dai Mu Institute, in Xia Lianqing’s room.
Watching Long Bang transform into “another” version of himself after “Shen Baiwei” worked on him, Xia Lianqing couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow, looking at the Dragon Warrant Officer, I strangely felt as if I were looking in a mirror. The skills of Elder Shen are truly remarkable!”
“Just average!” Lu Xianbei waved her hand, “It’s not that my skills are good; it’s mainly because Long Bang is naturally well-proportioned, with a slim waist and a small behind, making him look unfit for raising a family.”
Long Bang widened his eyes at her, letting out a cold snort, “Hmph! I have the stature of a noble man… Oh!”
Before he could finish, Lu Xianbei struck him on the back of his head.
“What did I just say? If you go out like this, you’ll blow your cover, do you understand? Now, let’s practice what I just showed you again!”
Upon hearing this, Long Bang’s face instantly turned beet red; after holding back for a while, he tentatively said, “Sister, don’t keep chewing on that tongue; if it breaks one day, it won’t be good.”
Looking at Long Bang’s three parts softness and seven parts resentment, Lu Xianbei silently gave a thumbs up.
This was learned way too quickly; this kid can be taught!
She suddenly understood the intention of the Proxy Player Sister who persuaded her to quickly get used to this urban legend form.
This feeling of “forcing a good deed” was truly refreshing!
Just as Lu Xianbei was secretly reveling, Xia Lianqing glanced outside the window, noticing the sky darkening. She retracted her teasing about Long Bang and said sternly, “The time mentioned in the message is about to arrive; shouldn’t we set out as well?”
“Mm, let’s get started!” Lu Xianbei nodded.
————
On the other side.
In order to find a way to approach Calamity alone, Shen Baiwei had been lying on the bed pretending to be asleep. Whether it was Nanling Yaohua using silver needles to hit acupoints or Huaiyuan Jun attacking her face, she remained unmoved.
She had perfected the art of playing dead during her time at Tethys Laboratory to escape torture and could even evade some specialized testing equipment from the Solar Eclipse Society.
Individuals like Nanling Yaohua and Huaiyuan Jun, lacking professional skills, wouldn’t be able to discern her unless they truly intended to harm her.
After several attempts, seeing that Shen Baiwei truly seemed unable to wake, the two lost their patience and interest, placing a simple sealing spell on her and leaving her alone in the room.
As time slowly passed, the already dim light in Yumen Pass grew darker, and the little bit of weak light within the room was quickly engulfed by darkness.
Lying on the bed, Shen Baiwei could initially hear the occasional voices of Nanling Yaohua and Huaiyuan Jun exchanging words outside the room, but as time passed, the only sounds she could hear were the screams of unfortunate souls outside, attacked by either the Shaman Queen or local urban legends.
Even at this time, she still showed no signs of moving, but continued to use her spiritual sense to spy on the spiritual energy fluctuations of Nanling Yaohua and Huaiyuan Jun.
She was being very patient!
Waiting for those two to rest couldn’t possibly be more painful than lying dead for three days and nights in the “scrap warehouse” of Tethys Laboratory filled with corpses, right?
Not a chance!
This level of waiting, compared to the three days and nights, was nothing compared to lying in bed as a child pretending to be asleep, waiting for her parents to fall asleep before sneaking up to play games.
Finally, after about three hours, Shen Baiwei noted through her spiritual sense that the spiritual energy fluctuations of Nanling Yaohua and Huaiyuan Jun gradually stabilized.
This meant they had entered a resting state.
Although they were both high-level spiritual ability users and had a low chance of falling dead right on the spot, once they entered a resting state, their awareness of the surrounding matters would certainly weaken to a degree.
Seeing the opportunity to move, Shen Baiwei concealed her spiritual energy fluctuations, cautiously climbed down from the bed, standing still as she slowly moved her stiff limbs while keeping track of Nanling Yaohua and Huaiyuan Jun’s movements.
After a moment, seeing that Nanling Yaohua and Huaiyuan Jun were unaware and had also loosened up, she quietly left the room she was in and headed towards the room where Calamity was located.
Silently, like a shadow spreading across the night.
Then…
When she pushed open the door to Calamity’s room, she nearly screamed, quickly covering her mouth with her hands.
In the dim night, the not-so-spacious room was filled with figures.
With faces the shade of purple soy sauce and bl**d-stained clothing, “female ghosts,” contorted male ghosts, and numerous terrifying urban legends clad in tattered black armor, brandishing weapons, with ghostly green flames dancing in their eye sockets.
At a glance, ten or twenty figures surrounded Calamity’s bed, as if they were a group of friends visiting a sick relative.
Oh no, it’s a trick! Shen Baiwei’s heart began racing.
Following that, she took a few deep breaths to force herself to calm down, then bowed slightly and whispered, “I’m sorry for the intrusion; I’ll leave now.”
After saying this, she expressionlessly turned around and began to slip away, but in the next moment, her eyes widened, and her legs straightened.
Several cold arms wrapped in black armor quietly reached out from behind her, expertly grabbing her arms and legs, covering her mouth and nose, forcibly dragging her into the room.
Then.
They gently closed the door…
