Free Web NovelAfter finishing her morning classes, Lu Yibei left school early and took the bus to Peony Street.
Looking at the city's autumn scenery constantly receding outside the window, Lu Yibei couldn't help but think of the question she had discussed with Ju Meng earlier.
...
One afternoon a /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ week ago.
"Sister Mengmeng, I have a question..."
"Holy crap?! Don't call me so intimately, we're not that close!"
Something out of the ordinary is bound to be strange. Seeing Lu Yibei, who usually had a terrible attitude, suddenly become so eager, Ju Meng immediately became wary.
"Look at what you're saying, you weren't saying that when we were in bed yesterday."
"That was..." Ju Meng rolled her eyes at Lu Yibei, "Speaking of that, why don't you call someone to fix the air conditioner in the living room sooner! I have to go upstairs to mooch off the air conditioner every day, isn't that inconvenient for you?"
"I don't mind, I just like you mooching. You can mooch for as long as you want." Lu Yibei said softly, the only movable organ on her face wriggling like it was dancing the 'New Treasure Island' dance.
"Eww—! That's disgusting! Just spit it out, ask your question and get lost, don't bother me while I'm gaming!"
Ju Meng said with a face full of disdain, stretching out a pink, tender little foot and stepping on Lu Yibei's chest, pushing her back slightly as she tried to lean in.
"Alright, I'll ask then? Cough, cough!" Lu Yibei cleared her throat and sat up straight. "I'm about to become a full member of the Night Watch soon, and I heard they're going to draw a Spirit Mark for me. While I was thinking about this these past few days, I suddenly had a crazy idea..."
Mid-sentence, she glanced at Ju Meng out of the corner of her eye. Only after confirming that her expression was normal did she continue, "What if, we drew a Spirit Mark on a Strange Tale? What would happen?"
"Hmph! You call that a crazy idea?" Ju Meng patted Lu Yibei's shoulder and said earnestly, "Little sister, don't be too arrogant!"
"Do you think that things you rookies can think of, those many pioneers couldn't? The method of urban legend strengthening themselves by drawing Spirit Marks has long been something others have already played with and discarded."
So urban legend have tried drawing Spirit Marks before? Lu Yibei muttered to herself, pressing on, "Does that mean there's no danger for urban legend to draw Spirit Marks?"
Ju Meng stared intently at the computer, pouting, "Drawing a Spirit Mark on a Strange Tale, under normal circumstances, is just like humans getting tattoos on themselves. What kind of danger could there be?"
"Aside from a little pain, there's no danger."
Lu Yibei narrowed her eyes slightly, catching a key point, "You just said, 'under normal circumstances'?"
"That's right." Ju Meng shrugged, "Special circumstances refer to situations where the Strange Tale core used to draw the Spirit Mark is of a higher rank than the Strange Tale itself. In that case, there's a high possibility of being replaced."
"It's like if a human's tattoos covered their entire skin, would they still look like a person?"
Situations where the rank is higher than oneself... Lu Yibei frowned slightly. I'm just an ordinary temporary employee, the Night Watch probably wouldn't be willing to use a higher-grade Strange Tale core on me, right?
In other words, there's no danger! Lu Yibei thought, feeling a surge of secret joy.
"Oh, there's one more thing..."
"What?"
"When are you going to get a bigger sofa at your place? That small one is really uncomfortable to sleep on."
Lu Yibei, "..."
It should be uncomfortable, are you planning on staying long-term or what?
Fortunately, when I moved, I didn't listen to Shui Ge's treacherous advice.
"A man isn't happy without a spacious and comfortable sofa. You're grown up now, remember to put a blanket on the sofa beforehand. It's hard to wash if it gets dirty, understand?" Bai Kai had told him that back then.
As a simple child like me, I still think the bed is more comfortable! Lu Yibei thought.
...
Just as Lu Yibei was heading to Peony Street.
In An Qing's office at the Hua City Folk Culture Administration Bureau.
An Qing sat in front of her computer, entering the past few days' Strange Tale dissection data into the archives. Just then, there was a knock on the office door.
"Knock, knock, knock—!"
"Please come in." freёwebnovel.com
An Qing stopped her work and called out softly. The office door was pushed open, and Du Sixian walked in, holding a pink laptop.
"Sister Qing, take a look, is it okay to upload this video like this?"
Clicking on the video, it showed a woman wearing a mask and a white coat, with a voluptuous figure. Beside her, a huge bonfire was set up.
Under the deep night sky, a figure could be vaguely seen struggling painfully in the huge bonfire.
The woman wearing the mask explained softly on the side, "Hello everyone, today I will be performing roasted zombie for you. If we get over 100,000 likes, I'll upload the eating process."
The entire video, combined with some funny post-production effects, looked like the attention-grabbing, exaggerated, and absurd videos you see on certain short video platforms, which are clearly fake.
"Not bad!" An Qing smiled and nodded, "It was indeed the right decision to give this task to you. Upload the video, and then you can go back and rest, okay? You were out working all night yesterday."
"Okay." Du Sixian nodded and turned to leave, but suddenly seemed to remember something, stopped, and asked An Qing, "Sister Qing, I have another question."
"Go ahead."
"Last night..." Du Sixian paused, lowering her voice, "You didn't actually roast and eat that zombie, did you?"
Hearing this, An Qing's red lips curved slightly upwards, and she smiled, "How could that be! Of course, I really ate it!"
Du Sixian, "???"
Although she had long known that no one in the Night Watch was normal, finding out that An Qing also ate urban legend suddenly made her feel like she couldn't accept it.
"Look how scared you are, I'm just kidding! Hurry up and go back to rest, okay?"
That's more like it, how could Sister Qing do something so terrifying? Du Sixian muttered to herself, nodded, and turned to leave An Qing's office.
As Du Sixian left the office, the office became quiet again. An Qing once again focused on data entry. During this time, she casually picked up a blood bag from the drawer and inserted a straw.
"What a silly child, what's so good about zombie meat? There's no blood at all." An Qing mumbled while drinking.
...
Du Sixian had gone on a few missions with An Qing. Although she was just an intern and couldn't help much, she was still exhausted, not yet used to the Night Watch's schedule.
After walking through more than half of Peony Street, she arrived at the homestay where she had been living for a long time. Back in her room, she immediately threw herself into the soft quilt.
Lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, Du Sixian frowned slightly, lost in thought.
I can't sleep yet. I haven't fully mastered the Spell I've been learning recently, I need to review it properly.
"Barren wilderness, straw, remains, ignite the night fire, magnificent and blazing..."
Just as she was about to finish chanting the Spell, Du Sixian immediately stopped. She waited until the Spiritual Energy that had become restless inside her gradually calmed down before starting the second practice.
The Spell numbered sixteen, Wildflame Break, already possessed a certain destructive power. The thought that casually unleashing it might blow a hole in the ceiling made her feel quite pained.
Yes, quite pained. For commuting convenience, she had already bought this homestay.
...
"Barren wilderness, straw, remains..."
Du Sixian lay on the bed, practicing the Spell countless times. A sense of exhaustion suddenly surged like a rising tide, followed by her vision going black, and she drifted off to sleep in a daze.
...
The biting cold wind, mixed with slightly choking mist, struck Du Sixian's face, and she suddenly woke up with a start.
After a brief moment of daze, she looked at the dilapidated street before her, which looked as if humans had disappeared many years ago, and her eyes gradually became strange.
It had been a long time since she had entered this strange dream.
In the past month, other than when she was practicing the Spell numbered nine—Crimson Chain—and entered here, she hadn't been able to enter this place at other times, whether practicing basic Spells of other attributes like Earth Flow, Vine Entanglement, or Wave Surge.
This made her progress in practicing other Spells exceptionally slow.
Things happen in threes. When she practiced a fire-attribute Spell for the third time and appeared here again, she suddenly had a feeling of realization.
Could it be... that only by practicing fire-attribute Spells will I trigger some special condition that allows me to enter this strange dream? Du Sixian thought.
Thinking of this, she suddenly remembered what An Qing had told her.
An Qing had told her, "There's something I have to say that might make you a little unhappy, but I must say it. The gap between geniuses can sometimes be unimaginably large."
"But don't be discouraged. Legends are legends precisely because they cannot be surpassed. Even if you can't compare to the genius who developed the 'waste material' style, you are still very capable. Perhaps..."
"Perhaps, you should consider specializing in one attribute of Spells."
Specializing... Du Sixian frowned slightly, looked around, and clenched her pink fists slightly.
I still need to think about this matter. Anyway, since I'm here, I'll practice Wildflame Break properly first. Du Sixian thought.
"Barren wilderness, straw, remains, ignite the night fire, magnificent and blazing, burn it completely, Strike Spell Sixteen, Wildflame Break!"
As Du Sixian finished chanting the incantation, fire suddenly ignited in her palm. The crimson fire rotated and converged into a vortex, then rapidly compressed into a disk shape. Guided by Spiritual Energy, it shot out, fell to the ground, causing a violent explosion, and thick smoke billowed for a moment.
...
When Lu Yibei arrived at the Hua City Folk Culture Administration Bureau, Jiang Li was already waiting at the entrance.
Seeing Lu Yibei approach, Jiang Li was as indifferent as ever, only nodding slightly and saying softly, "Come with me, everything is ready."
After speaking, she turned around and walked into the depths of the building with a slight limp.
Lu Yibei followed behind Jiang Li, her lips opening and closing several times. After hesitating for a while, she finally couldn't help but ask, "Leader, speaking of which, is there any danger in drawing a Spirit Mark?"
Although she had received a positive answer from Ju Meng, Lu Yibei felt that Ju Meng and Jiang Li's statements on different matters always differed, so she thought it would be more reassuring to confirm again.
Friendly reminder: The Website is about to be revised, which may cause loss of reading progress. Please save your "book shelf" and "reading record" in time (screenshots are recommended). We apologize for any inconvenience caused!
Jiang Li glanced at Lu Yibei out of the corner of her eye and nodded, "Yes."
There really is danger? Lu Yibei was stunned.
"You can encounter earthquakes, floods, and gas leaks even staying at home. In this world, anything related to Spiritual Energy is never absolutely safe." Jiang Li said indifferently.
Looking at Jiang Li's back, Lu Yibei frowned slightly and mumbled softly, "There's no need to mention such low-probability events, right? Compared to this, isn't working for the Night Watch in the future even more dangerous?"
"That's true..." Jiang Li said, slowing her pace. She walked beside Lu Yibei, turned her head to look at her, and said, "However, aren't you very good at slacking off and running away?"
"This..." Lu Yibei scratched the back of her head and said awkwardly, "Isn't this bad?"
Jiang Li withdrew her gaze, looked forward, and said coldly, "There's nothing bad about it. Of course, if you want a grand funeral under the banner of the Barn Owl emblem one day, I'll help you pick a good feng shui spot."
Lu Yibei, "..."
"...Let's just talk about how to slack off and escape?"
...
Entering the inside of the Night Watch, apart from the first seven offices marked with special numbers, going further in, the corridor seemed endless, the light in the corridor became dimmer, and on both sides were identical gray iron doors inlaid with rivets.
As she walked, Lu Yibei would occasionally see some silken black shadows floating past her, which looked like urban legend, but didn't feel like the impure and unclean vitality that urban legend usually do. There was only a slight chill, like a tangible wind blowing past her.
Lu Yibei followed behind Jiang Li, silently counting the gray iron doors on both sides. When she counted to the thirty-second door, Jiang Li stopped, took out a copper key from her double-breasted jacket, and opened the door.
"Go in, take off your clothes, and get examined."
Lu Yibei looked at Jiang Li, tilted her head, as if confirming whether she was really going to examine her.
However, being looked at by a beautiful girl didn't seem like such a bad deal? Lu Yibei thought.
As if guessing the thoughts in Lu Yibei's mind, Jiang Li glanced at her expressionlessly and said indifferently, "Put away your strange ideas. You don't need to take off your underwear. Moreover, in my eyes, it makes no difference whether you wear clothes or not."
The room was simply furnished. Apart from being relatively clean, it looked exactly like an underground clinic or some pervert's human dissection site. In the large room, there were only a few glass cabinets and a multi-functional medical bed chair.
However, unlike the medical beds Lu Yibei had seen in the hospital before, the medical bed in the room had several extra restraint straps made of cowhide.
It looked... a bit strange? Lu Yibei slightly furrowed her brow. Just then, Jiang Li's voice sounded from behind her.
"Hua City doesn't produce a suitable person for drawing Spirit Marks in a year. That bed was moved from Yun Kang Mental Hospital and is for your temporary use."
"Alright, quickly take off your clothes and lie down. Time is precious, let's not waste it."
How did she manage to say lines like a midnight radio hostess in such a cold tone? Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly, and according to Jiang Li's instructions, took off her clothes.
She lay down on her back, resting on the pillow, looking at the ceiling boredly. The shadowless lamp made her eyes blurry.
She slightly parted her lips, just about to say something, when Jiang Li suddenly came forward, tightened the restraint straps, and tied her tightly to the bed. By the light of the shadowless lamp, she saw a pair of cold eyes.
Lu Yibei, "..."
At this moment, she realized that Jiang Li hadn't lied just now. In her eyes, whether she was wearing clothes or not, she was like a live pig.
Damn it! This woman is simply heartless!
As Lu Yibei was thinking, Jiang Li looked at her who was tied up and nodded, saying indifferently, "That's about it. Wait here, and I'll go call the person who will help you draw the Spirit Mark."
Lu Yibei, "???"
"Aren't you the one helping me draw the Spirit Mark?"
"Of course not. Drawing Spirit Marks is a technical job and requires high proficiency in Alchemy. Only two people in the entire Hua City Si Ye Hui can do it."
After Jiang Li finished speaking, she gently patted Lu Yibei's head, "Alright, just lie down obediently, okay? After it's done, come to my office, and I'll give you other instructions."
After saying that, she turned around and walked towards the door.
Only two people can do it? A bad premonition suddenly rose in Lu Yibei's heart, and she couldn't help but shout out, "Leader, Leader, wait a minute! Who are those two people you're talking about?"
"An Qing and Bai Kai." Jiang Li said indifferently. After saying that, she slammed the door shut with a "bang!", and the room instantly fell into dead silence.
Lu Yibei, "..."
Bai Kai? This name sounds familiar. Have I heard it somewhere?
Damn it! Now is not the time for self-deception!
"Wait a minute, Leader! Hey! Leader, come back!"
"Leader! I don't want Bai Kai, I want An Qing! Not Bai Kai, I want An..."
Lu Yibei was tied to the bed, squirming like an excited Baobao, shouting loudly. The room door opened with a "creak!", and a figure flashed in with a "swoosh".
The person who came in wore a mask and a medical cap, dressed in a white protective suit, completely covered. But Lu Yibei recognized him as Bai Kai at a glance. Besides him, no one could have that wild and unrestrained charm in their eyes.
Lu Yibei had always felt that after her Old Dad passed away, Shui Ge transferred his strange feelings for Old Dad onto her. Now she was tied to the bed, unable to move. Falling into Shui Ge's hands meant either being finished or being messed with. In short, it was screwed!
Bai Kai pushed a medical cart, which was filled with various materials and a liquid nitrogen bottle.
He came to Lu Yibei, raised his eyebrows, "Little friend, I heard you want An Qing Older sister? It seems you like her quite a lot?"
Lu Yibei looked at the restraint straps that tied her tightly, and didn't dare to speak, nodding her head like a chick pecking at rice.
"It's okay, just think of me as An Qing Older sister. Come on, let Uncle help you check, how is your physical development." Bai Kai said in a strange tone, his finger lightly traced across her chest, causing a large area of goosebumps.
"..."
As the saying goes, either explode in silence or perish in silence. So after a few seconds of silence, she exploded.
"Help! Leader, help! If you don't come, my innocence will be... Gak, gurgle—!"
As Lu Yibei was shouting, Bai Kai suddenly stuffed something into her mouth, filling it completely. The thing melted upon entering her mouth, and before she could react, it dissolved into her body.
"What, what did you just give me to eat?"
"Good stuff, don't worry, how could Uncle harm you? It's just oral high-purity Alchemy anesthetic. It's your first time, without this, it will be very painful later, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear it."
Bai Kai said, a strangely unsettling smile showing in his eyes.
Lu Yibei, "???"
At a time like this, don't say such suspicious things, hey! Lu Yibei originally wanted to say this.
But when she opened her mouth, she found that the anesthetic had already taken effect, and her tongue was completely unresponsive.
"Ah... ah... mm..."
Then.
"Looks like the anesthetic dose isn't enough!" Bai Kai said, and stuffed another lump of oral Alchemy anesthetic into Lu Yibei's mouth.
Feeling her mouth being filled, Lu Yibei widened her eyes, slightly propped herself up, and after making a few strange syllables, her vision went black, she fell into a deep sleep, and collapsed heavily onto the bed.
...
"Thump—!" Lu Yibei's head hit the bed with a dull thud, and the room quickly fell silent.
Seeing that Lu Yibei had fallen asleep, Bai Kai immediately took action, walked a few steps to the room door, and put his ear against the door.
After carefully confirming that there was no one outside the door, his figure flashed several times in succession, quickly setting up soundproofing and Spiritual Energy fluctuation isolation Spells in the four corners of the room before returning to Lu Yibei's side.
He gently stroked Lu Yibei's forehead, then turned around and slammed the lid of the liquid nitrogen tank. The next moment, a urban legend core covered in spikes and with a texture like a ruby flew out from inside.
That was exactly the urban legend core of Ifrit. To obtain this urban legend core, Bai Kai was not lightly injured and lay in his Master's cave for more than half a month.
As soon as the urban legend core wrapped in white frost came into contact with the air, it instantly emitted bursts of golden-red light. The white frost on the surface quickly melted, and layers of white mist diffused.
While the urban legend core was heating up, Bai Kai skillfully picked up various materials from the cart with his left hand, and his right palm surged with silver-white sword light like a storm.
Rainbow fragments, dark iron, frost silver, glacier stone... As soon as the various auxiliary materials came into contact with the silver-white sword light, they were immediately ground into powder, and then, under the control of Spiritual Energy, mixed together in proportions accurate to 0.1 milligrams.
By the time Bai Kai finished preparing the auxiliary materials, the urban legend core of Ifrit had heated up to a terrifying degree, suspended in mid-air like a miniature sun.
Bai Kai quickly used Spiritual Energy to guide the mixed auxiliary materials to sprinkle onto the urban legend core.
Instantly, brilliant flames soared into the sky, burning even the Spiritual Energy condensed sword blade red.
The sword blade wailed, emitting cries like clashing steel, and waves of terrifying mournful cries, as if coming from the void, intertwined with the sword's wail.
A huge terrifying shadow was cast on the four walls of the room out of thin air. It was a strong, two-horned, evil spirit from legends.
After a final burst of dazzling light, the scattered light and shadow began to contract violently, and in an instant, all condensed onto the Spiritual Energy woven sword blade.
Holding the fiery red Spiritual Energy sword blade, Bai Kai took a step forward, raised both hands, and fiercely stabbed towards Lu Yibei's chest.
Letting go of the Spiritual Energy sword blade in his hand, he took two steps back, took out a stopwatch from his pocket, and gently pressed it.
"Tick!"
The entire process, plus the time it took him to say that sentence, was exactly three minutes, not a second more or less.
"Alright, Xiao Bei, now let me see if you inherited more of your Old Dad's talent or that bad woman's talent!"
"Hiss—!" Accompanied by a soft sound. The smell of burnt flesh filled the entire room.
The next moment, after absorbing the light and heat from Ifrit's urban legend core, Lu Yibei began to convulse violently.
Pitch-black liquid surged out like an ocean, gushing from the crack in her chest.
"Holy shit! Holy shit! This... this..."
What the heck is this? What's going on? How is there so much calamity water inside Xiao Bei?
I thought her parents didn't have talent in this area either?
It's completely screwed, what should I do?!
Bai Kai was shocked and panicked. For a moment, he even considered if his good brother had become a cuckold, and then the vaporized calamity water entered his nostrils, and his mind went blank.
