Free Web NovelLu Yibei was indeed startled by the scene before her when she stepped into the fourth-floor corridor of the experimental building.
The walls, the floor, and even the ceiling were covered in handprints and footprints pressed in fresh blood. These handprints and footprints were not yet dry, carrying a strong smell of blood and leaving behind slippery, sticky trails.
A faint, familiar foul odor hung in the air, which Lu Yibei found familiar.
A thin layer of grayish-white mist permeated the corridor, just like what she had seen in the Bamboo Scroll Illusion.
A cold breeze blew in from the window at the end of the corridor, silently swirling the grayish-white mist as if giving it life. Under the pale light, the mist varied in density and constantly changed shape.
The doors of the research labs on both sides were tightly shut, but it felt as if something was hidden behind them. One felt that as they passed by, a pair of pale, bloody hands would suddenly reach out and pull them in.
Looking ahead, the corridor less than ten meters away seemed like a different world from where she stood.
Lu Yibei looked at the scene before her, her eyes stinging slightly, as if warning her of the hidden danger ahead.
It seemed the Professor was indeed in the research lab; otherwise, this scene wouldn't be here.
It was as if the power hidden within the bamboo scroll had leaked out, Lu Yibei thought.
Just thinking about what she had seen in the Bamboo Scroll Illusion—that thing hidden beneath the massive sinkhole—made Lu Yibei feel a wave of anxiety.
It was likely a half-dead deity. Even if all the Night Watch agents in Hua City went together, they would probably find it troublesome.
Maybe I should sneak away first...
No, no! Damn it, Lu Yibei, this is not the time to be cowardly!
The Professor's situation is very dangerous. You have to find a way to get into the research lab quickly and save him!
Although Lu Yibei was timid and afraid of death, she was not an ungrateful person. After a moment of self-hypnosis, she finally mustered some courage, her gaze sharpening slightly.
She picked up the First Light Spring Wind Curse that had fallen to the ground and hadn't yet taken effect. She recalled the method for casting the Red Flame Flash Spell in her mind twice, then clutched the First Light Spring Wind Curse in one hand and the kitchen knife tightly in the other, and walked forward.
As she moved forward, the closer she got to the research lab, the quieter it became, as if silently brewing a fierce and bloody attack.
The temperature of her eyes grew higher and higher, as if they were about to burn. Her long, pinkish-white hair silently began to show a hint of red.
Fear and excitement were originally two very similar emotions. As a faint coolness spread through her chest, Lu Yibei felt an inexplicable sense of excitement throughout her body.
Unknowingly, she had entered a state of instinctive readiness.
As she approached the research lab, Lu Yibei's attention was entirely focused on being vigilant for monsters that might rush out from behind the doors on either side. Yet, nothing happened along the way.
The monsters that had left the bloody handprints seemed to have all hidden themselves after she threw those two First Light Spring Wind Curses before going upstairs.
But...
Where did they hide?
Just as this thought flashed through Lu Yibei's mind, a wriggling figure strangely appeared in a dark corner ahead.
That figure, with thin limbs but a bulging abdomen, was sneaky like a thief and moved extremely fast. Before she could even distinguish its form, it darted into the research lab.
Those things are still nearby. It's hiding itself in a strange way, observing me in secret!
Lu Yibei thought, feeling her nerves twitch as if whipped, her hairs standing on end.
Compared to facing urban legend head-on, knowing that urban legend were nearby but not knowing where they were hiding, watching from the shadows, made her feel more uncomfortable and fearful.
After calming herself down slightly, she looked in the direction of the research lab and cautiously approached.
Perhaps because Professor Ma was still in the research lab and hadn't left, the door to the research lab was not locked.
Lu Yibei arrived at the door of the research lab and gently turned the doorknob. After finding that it was not locked, she did not rush to push the door open. Instead, she gently opened the door a crack and slipped two First Light Spring Wind Curses through the gap.
She had clearly seen something dart in just now and had to guard against its ambush.
"Clatter—!"
The soft sound of the wooden talismans hitting the floor echoed in the darkness. Only after confirming there was no reaction did she push the door open and walk in.
The lights were off in the research lab, and it was eerily dark as far as the eye could see. It was as if it was affected by some force, and no light came through the window.
Lu Yibei fumbled for the light switch and pressed it twice, but there was no reaction. She sighed silently and continued deeper into the research lab.
It was too dark around her, oppressively dark. Even with her enhanced eyesight after becoming a Strange Tale, she couldn't see clearly. Everything in the research lab seemed shrouded in thick shadows.
"Professor? Professor, are you in there?" Lu Yibei called out softly.
Although she felt that making a sound in this situation was a very irrational act, equivalent to directly exposing her position to the urban legend hidden in the dark.
But she was anxious to confirm Professor Ma's location and had no other choice.
She called out softly twice but received no response from Professor Ma.
Lu Yibei hesitated for a few seconds, then bravely continued deeper. Just then, her gaze swept towards the storage room, and her eyes suddenly stung violently.
Lu Yibei frowned, staring in the direction of the storage room, then looked elsewhere, and the stinging sensation suddenly lessened.
She was startled for a moment, and instantly understood something.
There's something there! It's hidden!
Is it that thing from before?
Could the Professor be there?
Lu Yibei thought, taking steps towards the storage room. Every step or two, she would place a talisman on the ground, guarding against attacks from unseen places behind her.
Everything, at this moment, became eerily silent.
But the quieter it was, the more afraid she became. As if hallucinating, she heard a rustling sound coming from the direction of the storage room, like something was restless.
In front of the storage room of the Special Text Content Research Lab, there were several book shelfs displaying documents and materials often used in research, making it look at first glance like one had stumbled into a used bookstore.
This arrangement, in normal times, allowed Professor Ma and his graduate students to easily and centrally find the information they needed.
Friendly reminder: The Website is about to be revised, which may cause the loss of your reading record. Please save your "book shelf" and "reading record" in time (screenshots are recommended). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause!
But it was this very arrangement that made Lu Yibei feel uneasy.
Behind those book shelfs, in the corners, and in the unseen shadows, there could be terrifying things hidden.
When she arrived in front of those book shelfs, she stopped moving forward. In the darkness, there seemed to be a maddeningly strange force pressing on her nerves.
Her chest heaved. She took a few deep breaths, gritted her teeth, reached into her pocket, grabbed all the First Light Spring Wind Curses, and threw them out like a celestial maiden scattering flowers.
Two talismans landed one after another with a soft sound. In an instant, dazzling green light broke through the darkness, illuminating the area in front of the storage room.
Indeed, something was hidden among those book shelfs. Its Spiritual Energy fluctuations triggered a reaction from the First Light Spring Wind Curse.
The dazzling green light was so strong that Lu Yibei couldn't keep her eyes open. In the green light, she heard a series of heart-wrenching screams.
Countless bloody hands, feet, or other organs appeared out of thin air in the darkness, like a disturbed swarm of cockroaches, densely packed together, screaming and scattering in all directions. But their forms were quickly swallowed by the green light, turning into a wisp of foul-smelling smoke and disappearing.
After the green light had dissipated somewhat, Lu Yibei looked in the direction of the storage room and immediately recoiled half a step in fright.
In the gap between two book shelfs, she clearly saw a bloodshot Eyeball.
That morbid, malicious, non-human vertical pupil stared at her motionlessly and nakedly, filled with intense negative emotions.
Looking into that pair of eyes, Lu Yibei's head buzzed. For a moment, it was as if a Nightmare had crawled out from the dark side of her memory, laughing maniacally, swirling and tormenting her nerves.
This feeling reminded her of the monster she had seen flying out of the sinkhole in the Bamboo Scroll Illusion.
Although the discomfort was much weaker, her intuition kept telling her that it was the exact same feeling.
In a trance, she heard strange low growls in her ears. Amidst the growls, she heard that plea for help once again.
"Save me, please, save me..."
Who is it? Who is asking for help?
As Lu Yibei thought, the green light emitted by the First Light Spring Wind Curse suddenly dimmed, and a strong foul odor came. The Strange Tale hidden in the gap between the book shelfs, its Eyeball rotating with an arc impossible for a human, suddenly moved.
It squeezed out of the gap between the book shelfs little by little, its body twisted into a grotesque shape as if it had no bones, reminding Lu Yibei of her old figurine that had accidentally melted at high temperature. An extremely nauseating feeling washed over her, and her stomach spasmed uncontrollably.
A foul wind swept through the darkness. Coming back to her senses, she saw a bizarre figure lunging towards her.
In an instant, the figure got closer and closer. She saw a face, a familiar face. frёewebnoѵēl.com
It was a blasphemous, ugly human face with a twisted skull and covered in disgusting scales.
But from its features and the bloody lantern-like growth on its chest, Lu Yibei still recognized him as Lu Xu.
The sudden attack allowed Lu Xu to close the distance. Lu Yibei had no room to resist for a moment and could only retreat repeatedly.
Just then, Lu Xu touched the talismans Lu Yibei had placed when she approached earlier. The talismans were triggered in succession, and in an instant, the entire research lab was filled with captivating green light.
Enduring the glare of the green light, Lu Yibei stared intently at Lu Xu, who let out a scream in the green light, twisting his body in pain like a monstrous human-shaped snake.
Strike while it's down! Now is the time, kill it quickly! Lu Yibei shouted to herself in her heart.
The next moment, she felt something ignite inside her body. The blood in her body surged like lava, and a dazzling red color spread upwards from the tips of her hair.
At the same time, Lu Xu also broke free from the influence of the talismans and lunged over again swiftly, the ferocious glint in his terrifying eyes intensifying.
However, this time, Lu Yibei did not dodge. An unusual calmness flashed in her eyes. The speed of the Strange Tale lunging towards her seemed to slow down countless times in her vision.
Then...
She silently raised one hand and covered her eyes, isolating herself from the influence brought by that strange pair of eyes. With the other hand, she raised the kitchen knife, which was glowing red from the terrifying high temperature emitted by her body.
She took a step forward to meet the Strange Tale that Lu Xu had turned into. Just as Lu Xu was about to lunge at her, she lowered her body, and the kitchen knife in her hand slashed upwards. The chilling blade cut a clean and hideous gash from top to bottom along Lu Xu's chest.
At that moment, either because the temperature of the kitchen knife was terrifying and the blood didn't have time to evaporate, or because Lu Xu had no blood left in his body, or perhaps because the kitchen knife was drinking the blood of the Strange Tale, not a single drop of blood was spilled for a moment.
...
"Wait!" Professor Ma pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead. While examining Lu Yibei, he asked weakly, "So, you killed Lu Xu with one slash?"
Actually, it wasn't one slash, but forty or fifty. Lu Yibei muttered to herself secretly.
She didn't know why she had slashed so many times. She clearly felt that her state was relatively normal when she made the first slash.
However, when the first slash fell and Lu Xu screamed, it was as if something strange had awakened ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) within her, driving her to slash uncontrollably like a madwoman.
Even though her opponent had no room to resist, she continued to brutally torture and kill him.
Once again, Lu Yibei felt fear towards the power within her body.
Professor Ma looked at Lu Yibei again, his lips trembling, wanting to say something but stopping.
The thought of his former beloved student turning into a monster, with possibly no hope of being saved, made his heart ache with a sharp bitterness.
Noticing Professor Ma's heartbroken expression, Lu Yibei's hand subconsciously lingered on her pants pocket for a moment.
There, Lu Xu's core of the Strange Tale was quietly placed.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Lu Yibei decided to lie to Professor Ma.
"I didn't kill him, he ran away. And at the last moment of his attack on me, he hesitated. Maybe there was still a bit of humanity left in him? That's why I had a chance to fight back."
A good lie. It both eased Professor Ma's mind a little and provided a reason for killing the Strange Tale without exposing my abilities, Lu Yibei thought.
"Is that so? That's good, that's good..." Professor Ma murmured a few times, then turned his head to look at Lu Yibei and said, "I see. When you rushed into the bathroom, you covered your eyes because you were afraid of making eye contact with the monster, right?"
"I knew it! You scared me just now."
"Uh..." Lu Yibei was startled and thought, Professor, you're thinking too much. When I calm down, I'm scared too! So, that was genuinely being timid and afraid of seeing something terrifying.
However, she still nodded expressionlessly at Professor Ma and said, "Yes, that's right."
How can someone with a poker face be embarrassed? Even if they were, no one would be able to tell. If no one can tell, then they aren't embarrassed!
