Free Web NovelThe Workers' Stadium, located on the southern edge of Hua City's urban area, already has a history of over thirty years.
The basketball courts, soccer fields, swimming pool, and the various food stalls and hot pot restaurants surrounding the stadium have long been rooted in many people's childhood and youthful memories.
However.
People have always been inclined to favor the new and dislike the old; whether or not to be nostalgic is just a personal choice.
Since the City Stadium, with newer hardware, more spacious areas, and more complete surrounding facilities, was completed in Hua City New District five years ago, the only thing people still talked about here was the cheap admission fee.
And this sole advantage, about a year ago, vanished into thin air with the permanent closure of the swimming pool.
Now, apart from the elderly who live nearby and exercise in the morning, very few people come here anymore.
The Workers' Stadium, like many old buildings of a certain age in various cities, is gradually being forgotten. The facades of the various food stalls that appeared alongside it in the surrounding area also display "Prime Location for Transfer" signs, or have a large character "dismantle" (Demolish) painted on them in crimson paint.
Perhaps one day, someone who left unforgettable memories here will suddenly remember them, and when they come here to reminisce about the past, they will suddenly realize that not even a trace of ruins can be found.
4:14 AM, near the Workers' Stadium.
A somewhat dilapidated small truck slowly drove into the main gate of the Workers' Stadium, proceeded along the main road, and after crossing more than half of the stadium, suddenly made a turn onto the fork leading to the swimming pool.
The Workers' Stadium is backed by an old shantytown area, but now that the old shantytown buildings are gradually being demolished but not rebuilt, that area has clearly become a wasteland, with no lights visible.
And the swimming pool is located in the center between the stadium and the wasteland, with only a slightly narrow, old concrete road cutting through a small grove of trees directly to the entrance of the swimming pool.
The small truck drove on the concrete road, with strangely shaped trees on both sides. Perhaps because it hadn't been maintained for a long time, some bushes had grown onto the road, scraping against the body of the vehicle, making a fine, grating sound as if sharp claws were scratching across it.
Soon, the Workers' Stadium's swimming pool appeared at the end of the road.
The swimming pool was the first of all the Workers' Stadium's facilities to close. The official explanation was that the swimming pool's water purification equipment was aging and the water quality failed inspections multiple times consecutively.
However.
Everyone in the know understood that the real situation was not like that. Behind that seemingly reasonable explanation, there was definitely some unspeakable secret hidden.
After all, merely failing water quality inspections wouldn't require blocking the road leading to the swimming pool, nor would it require installing anti-climb barbed wire on the swimming pool's walls.
There had long been rumors circulating that the real reason for the swimming pool's closure was due to poor management, which resulted in a young girl drowning inside and turning into a water ghost, seeking to drag others down with her.
Some elderly men who exercised there regularly even claimed that on overcast mornings, at dawn, they heard the sound of a young girl sobbing coming from the direction of the swimming pool. Following the sound, they saw a figure wandering in the empty, dirty outdoor swimming pool.
It's only because the elderly man was healthy and kind-hearted; otherwise, upon seeing such a scene, he might have laid down on the ground and extorted a large sum of money from the stadium.
And if the stadium were extorted, they could only swallow their anger, because there really were urban legend present in the swimming pool, so they could only spend money to avert disaster.
However.
This money wasn't paid by the stadium, but by the Night Watch.
After all, if the Night Watch hadn't killed the urban legend nearby, causing the residual Spiritual Energy fluctuations from the urban legend to trigger a series of bizarre and thought-provoking phenomena, the swimming pool could have at least lingered on for a few more summers.
This is where Jiang Li hunted the Twilight Woman about a year ago.
----
The small truck stopped in front of the swimming pool, and soon several men got out of the vehicle. The two leading them were Li Tanghan and Cai Jin, his Old Dad's confidant.
They were going to conduct a transaction here tonight, a transaction involving the sale of Spiritual Energy items.
Although the location for the transaction chosen by the client was somewhat remote and eerie, having conducted countless similar transactions, they were not worried about being double-crossed.
The blessing of the Maitian God could ensure the fairness of their transactions most of the time.
----
"Bang!"
Li Tanghan slammed the car door shut, glanced around at the surroundings, and a hint of disdain appeared in his eyes.
If he hadn't made a mistake last time, and the Old Man had recently told him to make up for his mistake by doing good work, he probably wouldn't have come to such a godforsaken place in his entire life.
Is this a place for people to stay? No wonder it's haunted!
And coming here is bad enough, but coming with Cai Jin...
As Li Tanghan thought, he fiercely glared out of the corner of his eye at Cai Jin, who was directing the bodyguards to unload goods from the cargo box not far away, and silently spat.
He had never really liked this guy. After all, his own Old Man trusted him too much, almost like he trusted his own ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) son.
If Li Shunnian hadn't entrusted Cai Jin with important matters frequently but hadn't given him any financial authority, Li Tanghan would have suspected that Cai Jin was his Old Man's illegitimate son.
"Be careful, handle with care, that's right!"
Cai Jin directed the bodyguards to lift a large wooden box down from the truck, and then took out an object tightly wrapped in black cloth from inside. From its outline, it seemed to be a full-length mirror.
Seeing the item taken out from the cargo box, Li Tanghan's eyes lit up slightly.
He had always been very interested in Spiritual Energy items. The collection in the underground storage room of Hongshan Villa was almost entirely acquired out of his own interest.
However, his collections were indeed no different from scrap compared to the Spiritual Energy items his Old Dad traded in secret.
At this moment, Li Tanghan was delighted at the sight of the hunt, and couldn't help but approach Cai Jin and ask curiously, "Is that the mirror used by the Twilight Woman? Can I take a look?"
Cai Jin glanced at Li Tanghan, who was about half a head shorter than him, and said coldly, "I advise you not to do that. There are residual Spiritual Energy fluctuations from the Twilight Woman on it."
"Tch, of course I know that. Isn't it just that someone saw the Twilight Woman in the mirror when they looked into it?" Li Tanghan said indifferently.
"But wasn't she killed by that girl from the Night Watch a long time ago?" freēwebnovel.com
As soon as Li Tanghan's words fell, he realized he had said something wrong.
In a daze, he felt like he was glared at fiercely by a pair of resentful eyes. A chill lingered on his back for a long time, as if a person with an ice-cold body was pressing against his back.
Seeing that Li Tanghan had stopped talking, Cai Jin glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, let out a silent cold laugh, and threw him a pair of wire cutters.
"Although the boss said you just needed to watch when you came along, if you're really idle, you can help out and cut the door lock and the anti-climb wire."
After speaking, Cai Jin didn't wait for Li Tanghan's reply but turned to direct the bodyguards to move the goods.
Li Tanghan looked at the wire cutters in his hand, then at Cai Jin's retreating back. After coming back to his senses, he spat fiercely, then muttered something under his breath and walked towards the anti-climb wire around the swimming pool's perimeter.
A few minutes later.
The bodyguards accompanying Li Tanghan then carried the full-length mirror wrapped in black cloth and entered the swimming pool.
The moment they stepped into the swimming pool, it felt like an illusion, but the temperature also dropped by a few degrees.
The Workers' Stadium's swimming pool was open-air. After being abandoned, the smooth floor was covered in dust. Leaves blown in by the wind were scattered everywhere, and after decaying and deteriorating in the humid environment, they turned into clumps of black viscous substance like thin black mud, emitting a strange, indescribable smell.
The drainage pipes of the empty swimming pool seemed to be blocked. Malodorous sewage accumulated at the bottom, covered in cracks. A bright silver long saber was stuck in the center of the pool, reflecting the moonlight, as if suppressing something terrifying.
Just by looking at the deep and shallow cracks and indentations and the long saber almost completely embedded in the ground, one could imagine that a very fierce battle had taken place here.
When Li Tanghan and his group carried the full-length mirror into the swimming pool, seven strange figures wearing black robes and masks were already waiting by the poolside.
Li Tanghan looked at those strange figures. Even though their bodies and faces were concealed, they still made him feel uncomfortable all over, unwilling to get close.
So.
He stopped as soon as he reached the entrance of the swimming pool, watching from afar as Cai Jin and the group of bodyguards delivered the full-length mirror to those strange figures.
After a brief negotiation, the strange figure leading the group winked at another strange figure beside him. Immediately after, that strange figure took out a black package from a corner not far away and handed it to Cai Jin.
"It was a pleasure doing business. Here is my business card. Feel free to contact me if you need anything."
Li Tanghan vaguely heard Cai Jin say something to the strange figure at the head, take out a business card and hand it to him. Immediately after, he saw Cai Jin leading the group of bodyguards walking towards the entrance.
"..."
So, the transaction is complete? It doesn't seem difficult at all! fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Damn it, for such a small matter, the Old Man even said I should learn from that guy surnamed Cai.
It's just a job I could do myself, what is there to learn?
Before seeing it with his own eyes, Li Tanghan had always thought that the Spiritual Energy item trading scene, described by his Old Dad as extremely dangerous, must be a place where one walked on thin ice every moment, with buyers and sellers constantly engaged in a silent struggle.
But now...
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What's the difference between this and buying groceries at a wet market? Li Tanghan grumbled inwardly with indignation. Just then, Cai Jin brushed past him.
Watching Cai Jin's retreating figure as he left the swimming pool, Li Tanghan rolled his eyes and muttered in a voice only he could hear, "Tsk, what's there to be so proud of for doing just this little bit?"
After speaking, he followed behind the crowd and slowly got into the car.
The small truck slowly drove away from the swimming pool with the group, entering the cement road surrounded by a dense small forest, gradually disappearing into the distance.
Sitting in the car, Li Tanghan was secretly planning how to tell his Old Dad that he wanted to complete a transaction by himself next time. Just then, Cai Jin, who was sitting beside him, suddenly patted the back of the driver's seat and said in a deep voice, "This is far enough."
As soon as he finished speaking, the bodyguard driving the car nodded slightly and pulled over to the side of the road.
Immediately after, Cai Jin opened the car door, got out, and turned back towards the swimming pool.
Wasn't the transaction already completed? Why go back? Li Tanghan was stunned, thought for a moment, then also opened the car door, got out, and followed.
Cai Jin walked on the watery path covered with fallen leaves. Hearing footsteps behind him, he glanced back out of the corner of his eye, then continued walking forward, seemingly having no intention of stopping Li Tanghan...
----
Meanwhile, inside the swimming pool.
In the center of the filthy swimming pool stood a floor-standing bronze mirror of ancient design, mottled with rust. The extremely smooth bronze mirror, however, did not reflect the slightest bit of the surrounding scene; instead, it was completely dark.
Amidst the countless swirling dark auras, a woman with long, flowing hair, a slender figure, and a strange charm could be vaguely seen sitting deep within the mirror, her back facing the mirror surface.
In front of the ancient bronze mirror, seven masked figures in black robes knelt on one knee. They orderly piled various Alchemy materials in their hands around the bronze mirror while chanting something in low voices.
"The figure pursued by the insane, the fallen wandering in the twilight, the beauty stepping on the vibrant red river..."
As waves of whispers echoed in the swimming pool, the woman deep within the mirror disappeared, and the darkness in the mirror deepened.
Around the bronze mirror, illusory, transparent things of indescribable forms gradually appeared, vividly distinct yet overlapping, and a faint rust-colored mist spread in all directions.
"Bang—!"
The mirror surface suddenly seemed to be violently struck by something, emitting a muffled sound, and the floor-standing bronze mirror shook violently.
A pale, twisted woman emerged from the darkness in a contorted, eerie posture, pressing herself against the mirror surface. Her wide, round eyes, with scarlet pupils almost shrunk to a point, stared outwards with malice.
The next moment, a scream more heart-wrenching than weeping, more piercing and high-pitched than howling, erupted.
"Ah—!"
Amidst that horrifying scream that sent chills down one's spine and disoriented the mind, in front of the mirror, black cat fur, the tail of a rabbit with mottled fur, unknown flowers, top-grade amethyst, an astonishing number of source spirits... all the Alchemy materials were twisted into countless fragments in an instant.
The black-robed figures surrounding the bronze mirror trembled slightly, with streaks of blood seeping from their ears. The leading black-robed figure, as if responding to the question implied in the scream, said in a deep voice, "This is a transaction..."
"We awaken you, complete your flaws, and you will lead this Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. This transaction is a win-win situation." the black-robed figure said.
The scream lessened slightly but was still ongoing, clearly not satisfied with this answer.
"As one of Hua City's most powerful urban legend, you deserve to possess this land, and the price you need to pay is merely to become a dependent of my Lord." the black-robed figure continued.
As his voice fell, the terrifying scream abruptly stopped.
The transaction was made!
The ancient floor-standing bronze mirror suddenly seemed to be pushed by an invisible pair of hands, crashing onto the ground and shattering into countless fragments, yet making not the slightest sound, as if it had melted into the accumulated water at the bottom of the pool.
"Gurgle—gurgle—!"
In the silence, a faint sound of liquid churning came. A string of bubbles rose from the seemingly long-clogged drain, then burst, spreading wisps of scarlet bloodstains.
Seeing this, the black-robed figures exchanged glances and quickly retreated towards the edge of the swimming pool.
The next moment, the foul-smelling fresh blood surged out from the drain as if boiling, like a throat with a severed artery, filling the entire swimming pool in an instant.
The dark red blood rippled in the swimming pool, exuding vitality as if it were alive.
A strong vitality.
A strong foul smell permeated the air.
Almost as soon as the blood filled the pool, a surging, cold gale howled forth, instantly completely engulfing the black-robed figures. The wind scattered them and almost lifted them off their feet.
The roaring wind seemed to be mixed with some mysterious whispers, sweeping past their ears—crying, wailing, cursing...
Immediately after, in an instant, all sounds ceased, and the swimming pool fell into a dead silence.
"Splash—!"
Accompanied by a sticky watery sound, a face of exquisite beauty slowly emerged from beneath the blood, opened its eyes, and then spread its arms towards the sky.
Then, the fresh blood in the center of the swimming pool began to recede.
And so, Twilight returned.
A slender, enchanting figure, naked, appeared in the center of the swimming pool. As if completely unconcerned by the surrounding gazes, she freely displayed her seductive form. Her fair skin was like moonlight sprinkled from the heavens, and scarlet drops of blood slid down her skin and long hair, leaving not a single trace.
"Jiang Li..."
The moment the fresh blood in the swimming pool completely receded, the woman's crimson lips parted slightly, uttering two words. Then, she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
She would forever remember the girl who had disguised herself as someone with Spiritual Energy potential and used herself as bait.
It was that girl who had lured her step by step into the trap, ultimately leading to her being surrounded and killed here.
If this Night Parade of One Hundred Demons is successful, and she becomes the King of Weird Tales of Hua City, the first thing she will do is take Jiang Li as a dependent, subjecting her to eternal torment.
While thinking, she gripped the long knife beside her that had once pierced her chest, exerted force, and crushed it into countless fragments. Silver shards glowing with a faint blue light scattered in all directions...
----
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Inside a luxurious casino located somewhere unknown, within an elegantly decorated private room.
In front of the mahjong table, Jiang Li's face suddenly turned pale. She felt a rush of blood and immediately tasted iron in her mouth.
With blurred vision, she played a two of bamboo. Immediately after, she heard the three strange-looking fellows sitting at the table, who looked almost identical yet each had their own deformity, simultaneously make a sound.
"Mahjong!"
"Pure Seven Pairs!"
"Hidden Seven Pairs!"
"Dragon Seven Pairs!"
"Pay up—!"
"..." Jiang Li remained silent, gritting her teeth as she placed almost all the chips she had accumulated over the past two days onto the table. Then, holding the single remaining chip with the value "5", she threw down the words "I'm not playing anymore!" got up, and left the private room.
As soon as Jiang Li stepped out, A Hua, who had been waiting outside the door for a long time, came forward. Seeing her pale face, she anxiously asked, "Miss, what's wrong?"
Did she lose?
But that shouldn't be the case!
Even if those three urban legend were triplets with telepathic connection, it still wouldn't be enough to beat my Miss! A Hua grumbled inwardly.
"Nothing, it's just that someone awakened the Twilight Woman..."
As she spoke, she tightened her grip on the chips in her hand and walked towards the Texas Hold'em poker table with smaller betting amounts not far away.
"Let's go, A Hua, we'll start over."
A Hua, "..."
Although Jiang Li looked indifferent, A Hua couldn't help but feel a surge of worry in her heart as she watched her back.
When Jiang Li killed the Twilight Woman back then, she deliberately separated a portion of her Spiritual Energy to suppress her, preventing her from resurrecting quickly.
Now that the Twilight Woman has been awakened, Miss must be injured, right?
Is it really okay for her to continue gambling with injuries? A Hua thought worriedly.
