Free Web NovelThe moment Jiang Li's consciousness returned, the countless, almost invisible, pale tentacles, as if struck by lightning, trembled violently, writhing and dancing backward, stirring up invisible ripples imbued with strange power, instantly sending her flying.
"Bang—!"
The fabric on Jiang Li's chest instantly exploded into powder, and her back slammed hard against a lamppost on the roadside, deforming the lamppost. The light flickered a few times and then went out.
The moment the light extinguished, the pale tentacles, like a nightmare in the deep night, retreated into the dark entrance of the underground parking lot, as if dissolving into the darkness, and vanished along with the terrifying Spirit Mark fluctuations that had appeared with them.
The urban legend disappeared, as if they had never existed.
Jiang Li's body fell limply, the muddy water splashing on the ground soaking her Coat. The churning pain in her abdomen made her uncontrollably burst into a violent cough, and a faint metallic taste spread in her mouth.
She covered her chest with one hand, gazing in the direction where the pale tentacles had disappeared, her eyes deepening.
Had she been affected before entering the underground parking lot?
When was it?
Was it when she touched that woman, or the moment she heard the sound of the Jews Harp?
Jiang Li muttered to herself, feeling a bit ashamed and indignant. She had almost been dealt with by the urban legend without a fight.
Although such things often happened when the Night Watch dealt with urban legend incidents.
In the past, there had even been malicious incidents where Night Watch agents with A-level Spirit Mark fluctuations, unable to use their Spirit Mark in time, fell into B-level urban legend' traps, leading to their torture, murder, or possession.
But as an experienced Night Watch agent, she should have tried her best to avoid such situations.
I didn't detect any Spirit Mark fluctuations in Happiness Community, so I let my guard down. I was still too careless. Jiang Li thought.
In fact, when investigating urban legend hiding places like Happiness Community, which are surrounded by residential areas and where it's inconvenient to use Spirit Mark freely, usually two or more Night Watch members act together to prevent the situation that just occurred.
This was also one of the reasons Jiang Li decided to invite Lu Yibei to complete the bounty with her.
Jiang Li pondered for a moment. Only after regaining her composure did she realize that Lu Yibei was still standing not far behind her, playing the suona. She couldn't help but frown, stood up, covered her tattered chest with both hands, and walked towards Lu Yibei.
"The urban legend have retreated."
Lu Yibei ignored Jiang Li, completely disregarding her dark, direct gaze, and continued playing for another three to five minutes.
It wasn't until Jiang Li asked again, "How long do you plan to play?" that Lu Yibei put down the suona.
"That's enough! That urban legend probably won't come back for a while." Lu Yibei said, "Alright, let's talk when we get back."
With that, she turned around and swaggered in the direction of the rental house.
Jiang Li, "......"
Actually, sometimes, having a partner who is both cowardly and cautious isn't so bad?
However, I suspect that in a truly life-threatening crisis, she's very likely to be the first to run.
Jiang Li pondered, glancing at her damaged clothes on her chest, then at Lu Yibei's tracksuit Coat, and said faintly, "It's a bit cold."
It wasn't really cold; it was just that walking through the community looking like this would be too embarrassing if someone saw her.
However, she couldn't ask Lu Yibei to take off her Coat for her to wear; she could only hint.
Hearing this, Lu Yibei turned around, expressionlessly scrutinized Jiang Li for a second or two, and said softly, "I can't do anything with you."
As she spoke, she unzipped her top and took a step forward.
Just as Jiang Li thought Lu Yibei had understood the hint and was about to take off her Coat for her, she was suddenly pulled into her embrace.
The unexpected action made Jiang Li freeze slightly.
While she was momentarily stunned, Lu Yibei "zipped" up the zipper, and the Coat cooperatively wiggled a bit, enlarging somewhat, completely enveloping both of them.
The warmth of the Coat and the soft, elastic touch behind her made a blush flash across Jiang Li's tanned face, but it quickly returned to normal.
She glanced at Lu Yibei behind her out of the corner of her eye and said coldly, "Are you taking advantage of the situation?"
"Didn't you say you were cold?" Lu Yibei retorted indifferently.
"I suddenly don't feel cold anymore."
"Oh, come on, you're worried that your clothes are too tattered and you'll be embarrassed if people see them, right?" Lu Yibei interrupted.
"Besides, we're both girls, what's there to be shy about? Wouldn't it be better to just go back quickly?"
Jiang Li, "......"
This is terrible!
This is probably something she learned from that scumbag, Bai Kai, too, right?
Lu Yibei, "......"
Yes, that's right.
Not only Bai Kai, but even Lu Yibei's father had taught her this since she was little.
This was probably because they were worried that this child wouldn't find a wife in the future, right?
------
On a rainy night, the public areas of Happiness Community were quite deserted. Jiang Li returned to the front door of the rental house without encountering anyone.
Before she even opened the door, she heard a series of embarrassing moans from behind it. Jiang Li, who was already in a bad mood, looked even worse and said coldly, "Aren't you going to explain?"
"Uh..." Lu Yibei scratched the back of her head awkwardly and whispered, "Didn't borrowing things before fail to provoke them? So I wanted to try a different method."
"You don't know, there are two single neighbors upstairs and next door. If they mistakenly thought two beautiful girls were doing things at home, and the sounds were so uncontrolled, imagining some steamy scenes, could a normal person tolerate it?"
"If it were me, I definitely couldn't tolerate it; I'd tear the door down!"
"And the result?" Jiang Li said faintly.
"The result..." Lu Yibei paused, "The result is, I found that not only were they not angry, but they seemed quite happy listening, as if they didn't intend to disturb us."
"Maybe they have some kind of voyeuristic habit?"
"Tsk!"
Jiang Li spat in disgust, struggling to free herself from Lu Yibei's embrace, then snatched the key from her hand, opened the door, and entered the house without looking back.
Lu Yibei followed her into the house. Just as she was about to say something, she heard the bedroom door slam shut with a "bang!" and then a "click" as it was locked from the inside.
"Hey! Didn't you skip dinner? I'm about to cook. Eat, then take a shower before sleeping?"
"No need!" Jiang Li's cold reply came from behind the door.
------
It was a not-too-large bedroom. The curtains were half-closed, and the room was dimly lit. A double bed was placed in the center, with new sheets and duvet covers. A row of wardrobes stood in the corner, their doors half-open and empty inside.
After responding to Lu Yibei, Jiang Li collapsed onto the bed. The brief contact with that urban legend earlier had caused internal organ vibrations, leaving her with some minor injuries. She had been enduring it all the way until now, finally having a chance to heal her injuries.
In the darkness, she bit her teeth tightly, releasing a portion of her Spirit Mark, guiding it with her consciousness, and slowly repairing her injuries.
However, while Spirit Mark could accelerate flesh growth and, to some extent, heal injuries, it could not alleviate the pain in the slightest.
A faint blue glow flickered beneath Jiang Li's skin. Her slightly slender body trembled uncontrollably, and beads of sweat appeared on her skin, soon leaving her drenched.
The faint blue glow beneath her skin subsided. Jiang Li, her injuries healed, lay on the bed, exhausted, staring at the ceiling, recalling her recent experience, and lost in thought.
After that urban legend appeared, it immediately retreated. It clearly had no intention of killing me, so what was its purpose in bewitching me?
Lu Yibei said her suona was for self-defense.
She even spent three days specifically learning the suona, and it actually came in handy at a crucial moment. She had known that this situation might arise, so she prepared in advance.
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But where did she get such information?
It shouldn't have been analyzed and interpreted from the bounty description. She didn't have access to the Night Watch's internal data, and there was no relevant content there...
Could it be a certain urban legend?
Also, her Coat actually had Spirit Mark fluctuations. Although not strong, the purity was very high.
Unexpectedly, there had always been other urban legend by her side.
......
Lying on the bed and pondering for a moment, Jiang Li gradually regained her strength. Only then did she get up, turn on the light, and then wrap herself in a sheet before opening the door.
Her mind was now full of questions; she had to find Lu Yibei for answers.
------
When Jiang Li walked out of the bedroom, Lu Yibei was still busy in the semi-open kitchen. Along with the steaming mist, tempting aromas continuously wafted out.
“This scent... why does it feel so familiar?”
Jiang Li furrowed her brow slightly, stood on her tiptoes, and stretched her neck to peer into the kitchen, wanting to see what Lu Yibei was cooking.
Her gaze met Lu Yibei’s, who happened to turn around at that moment.
“Eh? You’re out? I thought you’d be in there for a while!”
Lu Yibei said in surprise, “How is it? Isn’t our Old Lu Family’s secret recipe for instant noodles quite fragrant?”
Instant noodles?
It was as if something in her memory had been tugged, and Jiang Li’s thoughts became chaotic.
The corner of her brow twitched uncontrollably, but she still calmly replied, “Hmm, it’s not bad.”
Perhaps I’m overthinking it; simple food like instant noodles can be found anywhere.
Besides, that person isn’t named Lu at all, Jiang Li thought.
“It’s more than not bad; it’s perfect, okay? But, unluckily, I thought you weren’t coming out, so I only cooked one bowl. How about...”
“You watch me eat it?” Lu Yibei said seriously.
Jiang Li, “???”
Although I know you’re not human, could you please, at least when interacting with humans, speak like one?
“Just kidding,” Lu Yibei said, completing the final step of Lu’s instant noodles—sprinkling fried green onions and drizzling a ladle of broth.
“Eat up. I saw you were completely soaked just now, so I specially added some minced ginger to warm you up.”
Lu Yibei said, placing the noodle bowl on the small bar counter in front of the ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ kitchen and pushing it towards Jiang Li.
Jiang Li looked at Lu Yibei, then her gaze shifted to the small bar counter, to that incredibly warm and familiar bowl of instant noodles.
She stared in a daze, slow to pick up her chopsticks.
“What are you spacing out for? Eat quickly! It has lard in it; it won’t taste good when it’s cold!”
Hearing this, Jiang Li snapped back to reality, her eyes filled with confusion, even questioning, as she looked at Lu Yibei, wanting to speak but hesitating.
Lu Yibei was baffled by Jiang Li’s expression, scratching the back of her head and saying, “Why are you looking at me like that? Are you worried I poisoned it?”
“No,” Jiang Li shook her head, said softly, took a few steps forward, picked up the noodle bowl from the table, and took a small sip of the broth.
The rich broth, infused with the aroma of egg, green onion, and lard, spread in her mouth, stimulating her taste buds, and a strange light immediately flashed in her eyes.
This was the taste she had asked A Hua to try and recreate for a long time, but A Hua had never been able to reproduce it.
After just a small sip of the noodle soup, Jiang Li immediately began to eat large mouthfuls without caring about her image.
In just two or three minutes, the entire bowl of noodles was empty, and even the soup was drunk clean.
Although Jiang Li still looked like a delinquent girl at this moment, Lu Yibei found it somewhat unbelievable when she thought of that aloof silver-haired girl.
She never expected her to have such a side?
Could it be that what her dad said was true? Can our Old Lu Family’s ancestral recipe really make food so delicious it’s like it’s been spiked with an aphrodisiac?
After her dad’s cause of death is clarified, I should really go back to Peony Street and open a small tavern; that seems more reliable, Lu Yibei thought.
While she was lost in thought, Jiang Li was already holding the noodle bowl with both hands and looking over.
The usual coldness that kept people at a distance was gone from her eyes; instead, she looked somewhat like a pitiful young girl, gazing at her eagerly, wanting to speak but hesitating.
“Holy crap! Don’t look at me like that; I’m a little scared! I wrapped you in my Coat earlier because I was afraid you’d expose yourself, and playing those moaning recordings was also real...”
“Is there more?” freёwebnovel.com
“...”
“Please wait,” Lu Yibei replied expressionlessly, turned around, and began to get busy again.
Watching Lu Yibei’s busy back, Jiang Li’s memories drifted uncontrollably to the distant past.
In fact, Lu Yibei’s family’s secret recipe for instant noodles wasn’t all that delicious compared to true delicacies.
But sometimes, people can’t forget a “delicious” taste not because the food itself is so good, but because the events closely related to that taste have already been etched into their memories.
And Jiang Li’s unforgettable memory was related to the uncle who made this instant noodle dish.
— — — —
Amber House is a famous haunted house in Hua City.
Before the number and danger level of urban legend escalated to their current extent, it was once a favorite for various ghost-hunting livestreams and short videos.
Legend has it that Amber House once belonged to a wealthy merchant.
It became a haunted house after the merchant went insane following a business failure, killed his wife and daughter, and then committed suicide.
But in fact, Jiang Li knew very well that no one had ever died in Amber House, because her father was that wealthy merchant.
The reason Amber House became a haunted house was because her father was caught in a gamble that no mortal could possibly win.
Jiang Li’s childhood was very happy; her father was successful in his career, her mother was gentle and virtuous, and the family loved each other—it was practically the template of a happy family that only appears in stories.
However, all of this shattered when she was thirteen, and all the beautiful things she once had were broken.
The sharp fragments pierced the deepest parts of her memory, impossible to remove forever.
From then on, day after day, year after year, it tormented her.
At that time, her father, who originally dealt in building materials, made a huge fortune after shifting to the real estate industry, riding the wave of soaring housing prices.
When people acquire money, their desires also swell; things they dared not imagine before, they now want to try.
Jiang Li’s father was no exception.
After purchasing a series of extremely luxurious big-ticket items like a manor, luxury cars, and a yacht, his spirit became empty, and he quickly developed the bad habit of gambling. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
From large poker games in Hua City to illegal underground casinos, then to Macau, Monaco, and Las Vegas, the gambling amounts grew larger and larger, and the entire process only took about a year.
Although those gambling games involved huge sums, compared to Jiang Li’s father’s annual income, they were merely a drop in the ocean.
Even if he lost more often than he won, it wouldn’t shake his foundation.
However, very soon, her father was no longer satisfied with that level of gambling; he wanted to seek more thrilling games, and so his desire was answered.
Even now, Jiang Li isn’t very clear on how her father came into contact with that gambling game organized by a urban legend.
She only knows that during those six months, her father lost many things.
First his assets, then his luck, then his lifespan, and finally even the freedom of his wife and daughter.
She didn’t know how the Eclipse Society obtained her “life” from the urban legend that organized that gambling game.
She only remembered that she fell seriously ill those few days due to her parents’ mysterious disappearance and the intimidation from a group of fierce debt collectors.
The day the Eclipse Society people arrived at Amber House, it was pouring rain outside, as if a hole had been poked in the sky.
All the servants in the house, except for A Hua, who was an orphan adopted by the family, had already been dismissed, and A Hua herself had been sent away by Jiang Li not long ago.
Unattended, she lay half-dead on the bed, burning with a high fever, vaguely having many strange and terrifying dreams.
She dreamed that a group of indistinct black figures broke into her house.
Some of these black figures looked like tall humans, some like various wild beasts, and many more were so strangely shaped that it was hard to find a specific object to describe them.
After these black figures broke into Amber House, they rummaged through everything, devoured food, occupied rooms, and many even stood at Jiang Li’s bedside, either staring at her with malice or pointing at her with strange intonations.
Later, when she was slightly more conscious, she heard the sound of someone climbing over the wall.
Someone had climbed in from the backyard, masked, wearing a scarlet hooded Coat with a black sun totem embroidered on it, looking like cultists from a movie.
She was very scared; she felt that if she were discovered by those people, she might be killed.
So she hid in the wardrobe, observing the situation outside through the gaps in the wardrobe while silently praying to the gods and Buddhas whose names she only knew.
However, those robed cultists seemed to know where she was, walking directly towards her room, their footsteps growing from distant to near, finally stopping in front of the wardrobe...
