Free Web NovelMagpie fluttered her wings and flew over. Lu Yibei's eyes seemed to be burning, and a huge pain came from them, as if warning him of something.
Azure, countless, almost invisible fine threads appeared one after another, surrounding Magpie, like countless vines, waving and weaving into the illusory shadow of a giant tree.
The giant tree that only existed in mythology covered the sky and the sun, full of beautiful peach blossoms, as if standing in a distant time and space. Humans, beasts, and urban legend kneeling and praying under the tree were as small as ants.
He saw it, saw Magpie's true form.
However, he only caught a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg, and a dense murmur like a surging tide echoed in his ears, making his head dizzy.
A chill from the depths of his soul invaded his nerves, making him feel an unprecedented sense of crisis. He instantly realized that this Magpie in front of him was definitely not as weak and vulnerable as she appeared on the surface.
She was a Strange Tale of a very high level and powerful strength! ƒreewebɳovel.com
Facing such a terrifying Strange Tale, it felt like a delusion, but a surge of passionate fighting spirit rose in Lu Yibei's heart, as if the power within his body couldn't wait to compete with Her.
The next moment, Magpie crashed into his chest.
“Uh—!”
The violent impact was like a heavyweight boxer throwing a fierce punch. There was a slight crack from Lu Yibei's ribs, and they were almost broken.
The unbearable pain made his heart beat rapidly, and a cold aura shot straight up into his head.
The killing intent and cruelty that had been dormant in his heart awakened. The chilling coldness that made him tremble freed him from pain and fear.
So pain became the **. Lu Yibei calmed down.
He couldn't just sit and wait for death. Now was not the time to shrink back and be weak!
Although she said she wouldn't hurt me, why should I trust a Strange Tale I don't know?
Perhaps her original intention was not to hurt me, but in the process of venting her emotions, her attack might exceed the limit I can bear.
Accidental killing is also killing. For the victim, there is no essential difference.
For a timid person who is afraid of death, handing over the power of life and death to a Strange Tale made Lu Yibei feel very insecure. He felt that it was more reliable to keep such matters in his own hands.
So, he tightened his grip on the kitchen knife hidden behind him, showing weakness to the enemy, letting Magpie get close to him, waiting for the opportunity for a thunderous strike.
...
Magpie saw all of Lu Yibei's small movements preparing for a sneak attack, but she didn't take them to heart.
What could an ordinary person with weak Spiritual Energy fluctuations and a kitchen knife that was only decently made do?
Nothing!
He couldn't even see her true form. No matter how he swung the knife, he would only hit emptiness.
She hadn't intended to hurt Lu Yibei in the first place, only to teach him a lesson because of his rude words.
Let him know that an outdated god is still a god, and should at least be treated with basic reverence!
...
Lu Yibei had more than one kitchen knife prepared for the attack. He didn't think he could succeed with one strike against a powerful Strange Tale like Magpie from the beginning.
So...
While dodging Magpie's continuous dives, he quietly approached the backpack by the bed. While his body was being hit by Magpie and flying out with the backpack, his hand reached into the backpack. After a clumsy roll on the ground, he smoothly hid the carved knife from the backpack's inner layer in his sleeve.
Magpie darted left and right, her wings stirring up gusts of wind in the room. Fear and pain were like an invisible cage closing in on Lu Yibei step by step, gradually blocking all his retreat routes and pushing him into the corner.
Magpie charged over again. Lu Yibei's blurry vision finally locked onto the ethereal illusory shadow of the giant tree.
One second.
He had already summarized the pattern through multiple impacts. There was about one second to counterattack between the moment Magpie entered his attack range and the moment she hit him.
With this thought, Lu Yibei didn't retreat but advanced, meeting Magpie head-on, sweeping out a cold glint from his hand.
At the moment he swung the kitchen knife with all his might, the oppressive feeling like a cage disappeared. Lu Yibei, having broken free from his'shackles', was filled with unspeakable joy and madness in his heart.
At first, he just wanted to repel Magpie, but at this moment, he truly wanted to kill that damned bird.
“Clang—!”
In a flash of lightning, the sound of metal colliding echoed in the dark room, and dazzling sparks flew.
The vibration from the knife handle made Lu Yibei realize he had struck the thick tree trunk as hard as iron. The blade was deeply embedded, and a tearing pain came from his tiger's mouth.
...
Magpie had long guessed that Lu Yibei would launch a sudden attack. The moment he made his move, she extended her claws forward and firmly clamped down on the kitchen knife.
“You're very good at enduring! But you're still a little bit short! This slight difference is a mile off.” Magpie said calmly the moment she locked onto the kitchen knife with her claws.
You couldn't even capture my true form. Magpie added in her heart, secretly rejoicing as she saw despair flash in Lu Yibei's eyes.
That's what you get for speaking ill of me!
However, just as she was about to crush the kitchen knife with her claws, she was horrified to discover that she not only couldn't damage the kitchen knife, but also because of the excessive force, the blade embedded into her flesh, cutting her sharp claws.
How is this possible!? His knife...
...
Lu Yibei caught Magpie's brief moment of stunned surprise because she couldn't destroy the kitchen knife. His gaze focused, and the carved knife hidden in his sleeve instantly slid into his palm.
The Wenwu Knife's attack was not just a feint to create an opportunity for a fatal blow, but also a test, to test whether Magpie's vital point was the bird he saw before him or the elusive shadow.
After Magpie said those words, Lu Yibei initially confirmed that he should attack the illusory shadow of the giant tree behind her, so he sent out the knife in his hand.
Stabbing towards the hazy tree shadow behind Magpie.
The carved knife, hidden by his palm, silently cut through the darkness, like a poisonous snake's fangs, only revealing its ferocity at the last moment.
“Pfft—!”
Magpie hadn't expected that Lu Yibei, who had seemed to completely give up resistance the moment before, would actually launch a counterattack.
Before this, she hadn't detected any trace on his face. The fanged sharp knife stabbed out without warning, pointing directly at her true form.
In her panic, she fluttered her wings, wanting to dodge, but was ultimately half a beat too slow.
...
Lu Yibei was sure he had stabbed something, but it didn't seem to be flesh and blood.
The tip of the knife seemed to have pierced into a mud puddle, freezing in mid-air, still a short distance from the hazy illusory shadow of the giant tree.
It felt like stabbing into a very tough protective film.
Seeing this, he didn't hesitate at all. He gritted his teeth, and his other hand also grasped the knife handle, supporting it, and pushed forward with all his might, letting out an uncontrollable low growl.
“Haa—!”
“Crack—Crack—!”
As the knife tip continuously advanced, a fine crackling sound echoed in the air, as if some crystal had shattered.
Hot golden blood splashed out from Magpie's body, splashing onto Lu Yibei's face, plunging his vision into darkness.
Lu Yibei thought he had completed a counter-kill, but the subsequent anomaly made him realize that he had been counter-counter-killed...
What echoed in the darkness was a clap of thunder.
Immediately after, he seemed to hear sounds from afar.
It was a series of deafening and tragic cries.
It was as if ancient memories had been awakened, stirring from the mud. Sharp roars sounded, and the roars and bellows converged into substance, forming a wave of air that swept in all directions.
Lu Yibei felt as if he, along with the entire apartment, had been swept into a surging vortex. The sounds of furniture, appliances, dishes, and cutlery colliding echoed everywhere, and finally, the windows shattered. Tiny glass fragments flew, leaving streaks of blood on Lu Yibei's body.
In the dizziness caused by weightlessness, a real yet illusory dream appeared before Lu Yibei's eyes.
In the dream, the sun was gone, the night disappeared, leaving only the eternal, ignorant twilight.
The earth cracked in terrifying shadows, everything that was once magnificent fell to dust, people who ate raw meat and drank blood barely survived, wandering like ghosts across the wasteland.
They constantly begged the gods, constantly migrated, and finally, at the end of the wasteland, found the place where the sun rose, found that huge peach tree covered with crows and falling blossoms.
Old people, children, men and women, all made the same sound in front of the peach tree.
“In the month of early spring, its god is Jumang. The same is true for the rest of the spring months. The holy god established the ultimate rule by succeeding heaven, taking the title of king over the world with the virtue of wood, having merit and virtue for the people.”
Lu Yibei, “...”
That Magpie is Jumang!? At least she has a close connection with Jumang!
I actually tried to throw a talisman related to Her at Her, and even ♦stabbed Her?
It's over, I'm definitely dead this time! Lu Yibei thought, shocked and terrified.
After that, a real, bone-piercing pain struck, as if to tear Lu Yibei's body apart.
Just as he felt himself about to shatter, a warm current gushed from his eyes, and a few seconds later, a chill also overflowed from his chest, enveloping his body.
...
That night, in a rental room in the complex directly across the road from Jingyi Apartment Complex, which had been uninhabited for a long time due to being haunted, a group of urban legend were reveling under the cover of night.
“Come, come, Eyeball Oppa, try this wine of mine! This is brewed with the core fragments of a Strange Tale's true body! Last time, I risked my life and picked up this leftover while a high-level Strange Tale was devouring a Strange Tale's true body core.”
A Strange Tale that looked like a collection of broken toys and figurines stitched together, covered in strange arms, carried a spittoon used for brewing wine and poured a glass of fine wine for Eyeball, who was sitting in the main seat.
“Hmph, I thought it was something else! Strange Tale's true body core fragments? I am a man who has truly devoured a Strange Tale's true body core!” Eyeball said disdainfully.
“Oh? Is your Demoness Adult so generous? Are you still hiring there?” The figurine Strange Tale said, winking at Eyeball and puffing out the rounded chest that originally belonged to a figurine.
“This matter? Okay! I'll go back and say some good things to that little vixen. It'll definitely work. You might not believe it, but she just loves listening to me!”
“Then...” The figurine Strange Tale leaned against Eyeball, seventeen or eighteen pairs of eyes all winking flirtatiously at the same time, and said sweetly, “Eyeball Oppa, I'll leave it to you!”
“Easy, easy!” Eyeball replied repeatedly. The next moment, the terrifying pressure of a higher-ranked Strange Tale enveloped all the urban legend in the room. The forms of the weaker urban legend twisted, almost unable to maintain their shapes.
After a brief silence, terrified ghostly screams erupted.
“Ah! We're going to die, a higher-ranked Strange Tale is massacring the city!”
“What should we do, that direction, that direction...”
“Eyeball Oppa, you must protect me, okay? Oppa? Why aren't you saying anything?”
“...” After a long silence, Eyeball looked at the urban legend who had come with him, exchanged glances, and said in unison, “Everyone, that direction seems to be our home. Don't be afraid, keep having fun! If the sky falls, Demoness Adult will hold it up!”
The other urban legend, “...” You trust her that much?
