Free Web Novel"What? Compensation? Weren't the previous events caused by that person from the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy? Why do I have to pay compensation?"
Lu Yibei looked at Black Peony, who had suddenly appeared in the room, gently rubbing her index finger and thumb together like a debt collector, and cautiously hugged her small bag tightly.
"I'm just following the rules," Black Peony said with a helpless smile. "I heard from Embroidery Ball that you've carefully studied the Dream Come True Journey Passenger Safety Manual》?"
"Then you should know there's a clause that states, if an accidental safety incident is caused by a passenger's personal belongings, our side reserves the right to claim compensation within a reasonable scope, right?"
Lu Yibei, "..."
She did remember such a clause existed.
It was precisely because of this clause that she dared to detonate the Alchemy Dirty Bomb inside the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy station, creating explosions to confuse the attackers' sight and hearing.
Now, the side effect of exploiting a loophole in the rules and "knowingly breaking the law" had arrived.
Seeing Lu Yibei's willow-like eyebrows twisted into a Chinese knot, Black Peony smiled bitterly and shook her head.
"This is for your own good. By paying compensation here and defining the incident as an accidental safety incident caused by personal belongings, the other two parties can't use this to make trouble for you anymore, right?"
"As for Jade Palace Immortal, I will express strong condemnation for his actions in exploiting the rule loophole, and I will also encourage the one from the Entertainment City to pressure him with me."
Aside from condemnation and pressure, they couldn't do anything else. After all, they were still allies on the surface. They couldn't just rush into the depths of the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy and drag Jade Palace Immortal out for a beating, could they?
"That makes sense..." Lu Yibei said with a serious expression, "But how much compensation is enough?"
She vaguely remembered that when she detonated eleven or twelve Alchemy Dirty Bombs in succession, they directly blew three large pits into the platform at the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy station, breaking the rune-steel frames buried underground.
"Not much, not much, just a token amount will do," Black Peony said, smiling and waving her hand.
Not much? That's good... Lu Yibei thought to herself, secretly relieved. Just as she was about to relax, she saw Black Peony extend five slender, white fingers towards her.
"Five hundred chips will be enough."
Lu Yibei, "???"
I only have a little over seven hundred chips left in total, and you're taking five hundred at once? This isn't much?
Bie Suzhen, did you see this?
You're not even worth three piles of dirt on the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy platform!
While Lu Yibei was complaining inwardly, Black Peony teased, "If you're reluctant, I do have another method."
"Huh?"
"Do you have any special talents you're good at? With your looks, plus the gimmick of being the King of Weird Tales, if you dress up a bit, you could earn about three to five hundred chips for one performance here."
Black Peony said, raising an eyebrow at Lu Yibei. freeweɓnøvel.com
"Special talent..." Lu Yibei thought very seriously for a moment. "I could try telling a crosstalk piece, but I doubt anyone here would want to see that kind of talent, right?"
"Who says?" Black Peony shrugged. "People here often order mimicry mud monsters to turn into Guo Degang's appearance and have them tell crosstalk while..."
"Stop! That's enough!" Lu Yibei interrupted. "I just said that casually, I don't plan on actually making money through that method."
Mainly because this way of making money is too fast. I'm afraid that once I start, I won't be able to control myself.
At first, it will just be telling crosstalk, then it will turn into special performances, and eventually, it will inevitably escalate into compensated dating, Lu Yibei thought.
So...
【Money -500 Lanruo Inn Brothel Reputation +100】
A moment later.
Lu Yibei followed Black Peony to her office area, obediently paid the fine, and was about to leave when she noticed the dazzling array of books on the book shelf behind Black Peony. She suddenly became interested and casually asked, "Older sister, can I borrow two books from you? To pass the time on the road."
"Of course, feel free to pick whatever you like," Black Peony said. "What kind of books do you like? I have Cao Xueqin's original manuscript of the missing parts of 'Dream of the Red Chamber'. Would you like to read it?"
"I remember the last person who asked to borrow a book from me was quite interested in this part."
"Uh, maybe not that one?" Lu Yibei said blankly.
Good heavens!
If she took something so precious to show Professor Ma, it might well land him in the ICU, Lu Yibei thought.
She had only mentioned it casually, thinking that after paying such a large fine, she should at least get some "souvenir" to mitigate the loss. If Black Peony agreed, that would be best. If she didn't, she would...
Plead with her again!
But now, seeing Black Peony agree so readily, she felt a bit embarrassed to be too demanding.
"Just... just give me a book about doomsday legends."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Black Peony narrowed her eyes slightly, and a meaningful smile appeared on her face.
----
Three hours later.
3:18 AM.
With fifteen minutes until the giant train arrived at the Lanruo Inn Brothel station, Lu Yibei and A Hua, holding the tickets Black Peony helped them book, arrived at the platform early.
Sitting on a bench in the waiting hall, A Hua looked at Lu Yibei and asked doubtfully, "They just let us go like that? Do you think there's something fishy going on?"
Lu Yibei put down the book in her hand, rolled her eyes at A Hua, and said expressionlessly, "People shouldn't be so suspicious. You're like this, and your Miss is like this too. Can't you be a bit more cheerful?"
"Sometimes, the brothel madam isn't necessarily a bad person, a burly man with a fierce face isn't necessarily very strong, and a cold-faced bystander wearing sunglasses might really just be watching."
After speaking, Lu Yibei picked up the book in her hand again and began reading seriously.
"..."
I can understand the first two, but are you implying something with the last one?
A Hua grumbled inwardly, noticing the book in Lu Yibei's hand, and frowned.
It was a thin book, like a magazine, but the cover was made of some kind of tanned leather. The pages were old and yellowed, rustling lightly as they were turned, as if they might tear at any moment.
"When did you become so diligent? You're even seizing the opportunity to read at a time like this," A Hua asked, puzzled.
"I've always loved studying, okay?" Lu Yibei said earnestly. "Knowledge is power, and learning makes me happy!"
"..." A Hua opened her mouth, wanting to speak but hesitating.
She wanted to tell Lu Yibei that it was she who was as idle as a cafe cat back at the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy station.
But then she remembered that Jiang Li had revealed in casual conversation that Lu Yibei had indeed shown great enthusiasm and efficiency when studying the si ye shu, and she felt that perhaps this girl was just experiencing intermittent bouts of laziness.
A Hua quietly observed Lu Yibei for a moment, then leaned closer to her, asking curiously, "What book are you reading?"
"《One Hundred Short Stories of Legends》. I borrowed it from the madam before leaving to pass the time on the train," Lu Yibei said casually.
"What? I thought you were actually studying!" A Hua pouted, losing interest, and sat back in her seat.
Lu Yibei, "..."
This book indeed contained short legendary stories, and the content was very easy to understand, similar to children's science popularization books. Lu Yibei had indeed asked Black Peony for it on a whim to pass the time.
After paying such a large fine, with Lu Yibei's thick skin, it was perfectly acceptable to ask for a book to pass the time.
However.
Black Peony didn't just give it to her casually.
When Lu Yibei asked Black Peony if she could borrow a book about doomsday legends to pass the time, Black Peony showed a meaningful smile and then gave her this book.
All the short legendary stories in the book were doomsday legends, and although the descriptions were simple, they contained detailed records of the names of every person or urban legend that appeared.
From a certain perspective, this could already be considered an illustrated guide documenting some of the Extinction-Bringer of Old Days.
Possessing a way to become a training master of the Extinction-Bringer of Old Days who lights up all the illustrated guides (×).
After discovering this, Lu Yibei began to take this book seriously. She then turned to the title page to see the author, but found that the author's name had been roughly crossed out.
"...After Manu landed, he sacrificed to the gods with butter, milk, whey, and curds. A woman appeared from the offerings, claiming to be Manu's daughter, and later reproduced descendants with Manu?"
After reading the legendary story about the "Great Flood" from India, Lu Yibei couldn't help but frown.
Isn't this incest?
I thought only the gods in Greek mythology liked to do things like this.
While she was thinking, a whistling sound like someone imitating a train whistle in a low voice rang out, followed by footsteps that sounded like thunder, approaching from a distance.
3:33 AM.
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The massive giant train appeared in sight, drove into the station, and stopped beside the platform.
Immediately after, the voice of the man wearing a top hat came from the station broadcast.
Dear passengers, this train will soon stop at the Lanruo Inn Brothel for thirty minutes. Passengers who need to go to the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy and the Dream Come True Entertainment City, please hurry and board the train in an orderly manner with your tickets...
Wang Bu Liu Xing, let's go!
Hearing the broadcast, A Hua gently patted Lu Yibei's shoulder and walked towards the train first.
After going such a long way and almost losing her life, she was eager to find Jiang Li.
Reminded by A Hua, Lu Yibei closed the book in her hand, put it away properly, and followed A Hua onto the giant train.
----
Five fifty-five in the morning.
The giant train stopped at the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy again.
Lu Yibei didn't get off, sitting inside the carriage and looking out at the place where she had fought.
She saw that in the station, which was even more dilapidated than the day before, everyone had a "happy" smile on their faces due to the residual poison gas.
The riddled station and the cheerful, scruffy Liu Min together formed a bizarre and striking picture.
From a distance, a man in red work clothes stood in the center of the platform, his face covered in bloodstains that looked like they had been whipped. Under his low cap brim, his eyes, full of resentment, searched around.
Although Lu Yibei didn't know the man, she could clearly feel that he was looking for her.
Obviously, Jade Palace Immortal still hadn't given up on the chance to kill her, if she dared to get off at the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy again.
...
In silence, she put on the hood of her jacket without changing expression, leaned against the window, and pretended to be asleep, waiting for the train to depart again.
So, at eight seventeen in the morning, the giant train arrived at the end of its journey - the Dream Come True Entertainment City.
----
When the giant train passed through the flesh and blood tunnel between the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy and the Dream Come True Entertainment City, and hundreds of thick legs touched the ground again,
A warm breeze came unexpectedly.
In just an instant, the entire carriage felt as if it had switched from winter to warm spring.
Noticing the change in temperature, Lu Yibei looked out the window in surprise and saw a golden plain bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.
On the boundless grassland, which undulated like waves, large mechanical wreckage like steel forests and building ruins with only metal frames flashed by from time to time, rusty and looking like the skeletons of giants, carelessly discarded in this vast wilderness.
Lu Yibei gazed at the metal wreckage, which had been abandoned for who knows how long, and suddenly felt like she was visiting a historical ruin.
The development of modern machinery from the mid-18th century to the 20th century was only a short two or three hundred years.
But the feeling those metal remnants gave her was much older than two or three hundred years.
Five hundred years, a thousand years, or even longer.
But...
How could anyone have known about modern mechanical engineering and construction technology back then?
Lu Yibei thought, wanting to observe the metal remnants more closely, when at that moment, the light before her eyes suddenly dimmed.
It was as if she had suddenly traveled from a warm spring grassland to a city during the rainy season, and a torrential rain suddenly poured down outside the window.
A huge dark shadow appeared at the horizon's end. It was a vast complex of buildings shrouded in rain, seemingly even larger than the Lanruo Inn Brothel and the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy combined.
Soon, the train entered that complex of buildings, entering the station of the Dream Come True Entertainment City.
Unlike the previous two times, the giant train was strangely quiet when it entered the Dream Come True Entertainment City station, as if it had turned into a toy train.
Even the introduction by the man in the top hat on the broadcast was strangely brief.
Dear passengers, the final stop of this journey has arrived. We wish you, may your dreams come true.
A huge dome covered the station like a shell, supported by crisscrossing iron frames like bones and gray granite pillars with exquisite relief carvings.
In this vast, dimly colored station, Lu Yibei did not see the kind of abnormal scenes like those at the Lanruo Inn Brothel and the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy.
As the train doors opened, passengers poured out and mixed with those meeting and waiting for the train, like family reuniting or lovers meeting, exchanging greetings and embracing.
Standing on this platform, if it weren't for the high-density Spiritual Energy fluctuations coming from the crowd, Lu Yibei would have even thought she was in a large station built in the Victorian era, not the territory of some urban legend.
A Hua walked up and stopped beside Lu Yibei, saying, "Looks very normal, right?"
Lu Yibei tilted her head towards A Hua and whispered, "But that's just how it looks, right?"
In a place like this, the more normal something looks, the more dangerous it often is. I understand this principle.
...
A Hua opened her mouth, wanting to say something but hesitating. After two seconds of contemplation, she said, "I'm going to the bulletin board now to ask the staff for information. Do you want to come with me, or wait for me in the waiting hall?"
She paused and added, "This place isn't like the Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy; you can't just post notices anywhere."
Lu Yibei tilted ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) her head and thought, "How about I wait for you in the waiting hall first? And look around the station a bit while I'm at it."
Lu Yibei was quite interested in this place, and it looked much safer than the previous two stations.
A Hua nodded, and before leaving, reminded her, "If you see roadside gambling stalls, absolutely do not participate. Although those stalls aren't prohibited, they aren't guaranteed by the Entertainment City, and they will cheat 100%."
Got it. Don't you know me?
Lu Yibei pouted.
If I don't have a 120% chance of winning, why would I participate?
Hearing this, A Hua nodded at Lu Yibei, turned around, and walked towards a corner of the station.
After A Hua left, Lu Yibei walked alone towards the waiting hall, stopping and looking around along the way.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that these buildings, which looked like they were built in the Victorian era, exuded an aura similar to the metal remnants on the grassland earlier, indicating a remarkably long history.
It felt like visiting a museum of ancient civilizations, with an indescribable sense of the weight of time washing over her.
Just as Lu Yibei was immersed in this peculiar experience, a series of messy and hurried footsteps sounded in her ears. She then saw several burly men wearing floral shirts run past her in a hurry, as if chasing someone.
Before long, sounds of fighting and screams came from a distance. freewёbnoνel.com
You damn old swindler, pay back the money!
If you don't produce the money today, I'll chop off your hand!
The strong men roared furiously.
Ouch, stop hitting, stop hitting!
I don't have any money left. The money I won from you, I went all-in at the Entertainment City last night!
A slightly aged voice cried out in pain.
Lu Yibei, "..."
Fighting involving Spiritual Energy is prohibited at stations along the Dream Come True Journey, but physical assaults are not included in this. Even if you hack someone into bloody pulp with a cleaver, theoretically no one will intervene.
Lu Yibei originally didn't want to join the fun of this kind of one-sided physical brawl caused by private grudges, but...
You really can't produce it?
The strong man asked in a deep voice.
I can't produce it...
The old man said weakly.
Then I'll just have to chop off your hand. Only then can I vent my anger!
The strong man threatened sternly.
The old man shouted in panic, "No, no! I have an apartment in Hua City, Z Country..."
Shut up, how much is an apartment worth? Don't you know how many chips you cheated out of us?
My house isn't an ordinary house; it's a big old house in the ancient town. You can check Peony Street, Hua City right now! Housing prices are really high now.
Peony Street, Hua City?
Lu Yibei was stunned. Finally unable to contain her curiosity, she turned around and looked in the direction of the sound. Then she saw an acquaintance.
Huh? Why is it Liu Banxian?
Didn't Old Dad say that he probably couldn't make money fortune-telling and starved to death one winter?
Turns out he ran here and gambled until he lost contact?
Thinking this, Lu Yibei walked forward and called out softly to the strong men who were about to assault Liu Banxian, "Wait a moment!"
The strong men turned to look at Lu Yibei with unfriendly expressions. "What? You're going to stick up for him?"
No!
Lu Yibei shook her head and said expressionlessly, "I just want to say that I can prove that a big old house on Peony Street, Hua City is very valuable, so valuable that he might be bluffing you. So you need to be a bit rougher, otherwise he might not really hand it over."
Liu Banxian, "???"
