Free Web NovelLu Yibei's guess was right, Mao Sanyou was indeed an unreliable guy. His so-called busyness and urgent matters were probably only a small part dedicated to academic research.
While pondering, Lu Yibei strolled over to Mao Sanyou's stall, bent down, picked up a signature board, and casually asked, "Boss, how much is this signature?"
"Two thousand! Let me tell you, this is a popular celebrity..." Mao Sanyou said, raising his head. When he saw the person was Lu Yibei, his expression froze, and his mouth twitched slightly. "Why is it you? What are you doing here?"
"Nothing, just strolling around," Lu Yibei said lightly.
She couldn't possibly tell him she was here to report to the Tang City Si Ye Hui, right?
"Then why is Senior Brother here? Didn't you say you had urgent matters to handle?"
"Yeah, just finished. Taking a break here," Mao Sanyou said with a smile, his face showing no sign of embarrassment from being exposed.
Seeing Lu Yibei still staring expressionlessly at the signature board on the stall, seemingly not believing his nonsense, he spoke again, "Hey, Junior Brother, just forget about what you saw today. Don't go around talking about it when you get back."
"To be honest, my family had some difficulties last year. My family of three all rely on me. I'm also quite proud and embarrassed to let my Teacher and classmates help me out, so I had no choice but to do a little bit of this kind of work in my spare time from studying."
"I didn't expect us to be so fated; you actually ran into me today."
"..." Lu Yibei still looked at Mao Sanyou expressionlessly without speaking.
"Oh right, Junior Brother, it's already this time. Have you eaten lunch? I know there's a restaurant nearby that tastes really good. Want me to take you to try it?"
"Thank you for Senior Brother's kindness, I've already eaten," Lu Yibei said expressionlessly.
You want to buy me off with just one meal and make me not talk about it? What kind of person do you think I am?
At least three meals!
"Is that so? What a pity." Mao Sanyou shook his head helplessly, giving up the idea of getting a free meal from Lu Yibei. But then he seemed to remember something, and his eyes lit up.
"Speaking of which, Junior Brother just arrived in Tang City and isn't familiar with the place. It must be troublesome to wander around by yourself, right? Do you need Senior Brother to be your guide?"
If he couldn't get a free meal, he could still take him to a gift shop and get a kickback!
With the blessing of rich freeloading experience, Lu Yibei keenly sensed Mao Sanyou's attempt to take advantage of her.
"No need, I've already memorized the three types of Tang City maps sold on the market."
And almost got mobbed by vendors at the hotel entrance... Lu Yibei added in her heart.
Mao Sanyou's mouth twitched.
Maps... memorized?
What the hell kind of freak is this!
But then again, who isn't a freak?
"Then, Junior Brother, do you want to go see the antique market? With good luck, you might be able to recover cultural relics and help the Teachers solve their problems!" Mao Sanyou continued, displaying the spirit of not being arrogant in victory and not discouraged in defeat.
"I can go by myself. I've also memorized the characteristics of the cultural relics," Lu Yibei said calmly.
"Then, Junior Brother, do you want to..."
"No, I don't!"
Mao Sanyou, "..."
While Mao Sanyou wasn't paying attention, Lu Yibei secretly called the city management's tip line for North Gate Street. Only then, amidst the chaos of civilized law enforcement, did she escape his entanglement and successfully arrive at the entrance of the Tang City Museum.
However...
Just as he arrived at the museum ticket office and reached into his pocket to buy a ticket, he discovered his phone was gone.
Recalling the moment Mao Sanyou bumped into her when she left, Lu Yibei's expression gradually darkened.
Damn it, that kid definitely did it!
We're Senior Brother and Junior Brother, why do we have to hurt each other?
----
Ten minutes later.
It was only with great difficulty that Lu Yibei, relying on her delicate handsome face, borrowed a phone from a passing Miss and contacted Jiang Li, getting directions from her.
Following Jiang Li's directions, after entering the museum's main gate, he put the bao sang cang xiao badge on the most conspicuous position on his chest.
As a result, from the museum exhibition hall to the office area on the third floor of the museum, the journey was exceptionally smooth.
The security guards, who were suspected to be the Tang City Special Operations Team and were wandering around the museum, didn't stop him at all, as if he were wearing an invisibility cloak like Harry Potter's.
Continuing up the stairs all the way to the top floor of the museum, before Lu Yibei could even reach out to push open the tightly closed metal door of the safety passage in front of him, the bao sang cang xiao badge on his chest suddenly began to vibrate.
Along with the badge vibrating and humming, the metal door in front suddenly moved on its own, sliding open to both sides like elevator doors and disappearing into the wall, revealing a small compartment illuminated by dim yellow light.
Seeing this, Lu Yibei cautiously stepped into the small compartment. As the badge vibrated again, the wall on the other side of the compartment instantly disappeared as if turning to powder, and his view suddenly opened up.
In a bare room spanning hundreds of square meters, there was a long table several dozen meters long, three single beds, mountains of instant noodle boxes and beer bottles, and scattered urban legend parts made into specimens hanging on the walls and lying on the floor, making the vast space feel somewhat cluttered with nowhere to step.
If it weren't for a piece of corrugated cardboard with the three large characters "Night Watch" hanging at the end of the room, Lu Yibei would have thought she had arrived at a place like a "Homeless Shelter."
She also didn't know what the museum used this several hundred square meter space for before the Tang City Si Ye Hui moved in.
Lu Yibei recalled the information Jiang Li had sent again. After confirming she hadn't come to the wrong place, she frowned.
"..."
The damn Leader was honest with me; the Tang City's wealth has indeed been completely plundered by Smelly Girl.
The Tang City Si Ye Hui, so poor it had to sell its property and move out of the Bureau of Folk Culture Administration, truly lives up to being one of the most "down-to-earth" branches in the entire Z Country.
Perhaps only remote places like the Everest Branch and the Spratly Islands Branch could compete with this place.
While pondering, he cautiously walked into the Tang City Si Ye Hui. Just as he stepped inside the bare room, there was a loud bang behind him.
Lu Yibei's heart jumped. ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) She turned around and saw that the path she had come from had completely disappeared, leaving only a rough concrete wall.
Although the Tang City Si Ye Hui's economic situation was dire, their defense and concealment measures seemed quite good?
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Lu Yibei grumbled internally, then called out softly, "Is anyone here?"
"..."
"Hello? I am Lu Yibei, a reserve Staff from Hua City here to provide support. I am nineteen years old, unmarried, I don't like cilantro, for Tofu Pudding I'll listen to you regarding sweet, savory, braised, or spicy, I'm a White Little Flower stan..."
Lu Yibei called out softly while carefully navigating around the garbage scattered on the floor. As she passed the table that was over fifty meters long, her gaze inadvertently swept over it and saw the things placed on it. Her voice abruptly stopped.
It was a bronze bull statue representing a financial bull market, about half a person's height. There was a concave section on its butt, and a vaguely visible "human face" with a distorted expression could be seen in the concave area. There were also some dried bloodstains on the face.
Gazing at the human-face-shaped indentation, it seemed as if faint cries of pain could be heard.
"Hiss—! What is this?" Lu Yibei said in astonishment. "The Bronze Bull Statue Murder urban legend?"
Just as his voice fell, a slightly hoarse female voice came from behind him.
"No, that was found at the scene where a Staff was murdered."
Following the sound, she saw a young girl crawl out from a pile of garbage with a rustling sound, brush off the half-empty soda can on her head, then stretch and walk towards her.
The girl looked about sixteen or seventeen years old. Her messy sideburns hung beside her delicate oval face, and her high nose gave her a somewhat mixed-race beauty's sculpted look at first glance. There were heavy dark circles under her pair of silver-gray eyes. She wore a tattered, oversized white T-shirt, revealing her sickly pale legs.
The girl walked up to Lu Yibei, tilted her head, and sized her up for a while. She yawned lazily and said calmly, "Hello, lucky fellow. I am Tang City's Number Two Staff, Shang Nanxing."
"H-hello..." Lu Yibei responded, then looked at the bronze bull statue beside her and said weakly, "You just said this thing was found at the scene where a Staff was murdered?"
Was it a former Tang City Staff?
"Mm." Shang Nanxing nodded and leaned closer to the bronze bull statue to examine it carefully. "This one is..."
"Oh right, it was found at the scene where Staff Wang from Yue City was murdered. According to our Number One Staff's analysis of the residual Spiritual Energy fluctuations at the scene, he was pressed onto the statue and beaten to death by a Psychic known for their strength."
Hearing this, Lu Yibei was stunned.
Not a relic of a Tang City Staff?
And from what she said, this isn't the only one? Lu Yibei thought, a faint bad premonition rising in her heart.
"From what you're saying, there are several more?" freēwebnovel.com
"Of course." Shang Nanxing nodded.
"Hiss—!" Lu Yibei took a deep breath, walked a few steps forward, and pointed at a toilet that was cracked in half, saying, "What about this one? This couldn't possibly have been found at a murder scene, right?"
"Also," Shang Nanxing nodded calmly. As she spoke, she reached into her collar and pulled out a box of cheap cigarettes, lit one, and continued amidst the smoke, "That one was likely found at the scene where a Staff from Ze City was murdered. The killer is most likely a urban legend in Ze City known for dismembering bodies."
"That urban legend was quite clean with its work. We searched the entire urban legend attack scene, uh, which was a restroom at a rest stop from Ze City to Tang City. We only found this toilet and rice-sized pieces of flesh on it. The other parts should have been flushed away."
"Gulp—!"
Lu Yibei swallowed hard and pointed at a beautifully made, cute-looking teddy bear plush toy. Just as she was about to ask, she heard Shang Nanxing's affirmative reply.
"Also. If you don't believe me, you can cut it open and see. The weather has been cold recently, so the flesh probably hasn't rotted yet."
"Furthermore, don't keep asking. Everything on this table right now was found at urban legend attack scenes in the past few days. The victims were all Staff who came to provide support."
"We've been busy collecting their bodies from last night until this morning. These relics will be sent back to the Night Watch they belonged to later, to help them rest in peace!"
"They're all Staff who came to provide support?!" Lu Yibei exclaimed. As she spoke, she counted along the long table: one, two, three, four... a total of twenty relics, which was not far from the number of Staff Jiang Li said had come from various places to provide support.
In other words, the Staff who received the silver owl signal from various places and came to provide support have almost all been wiped out?
While pondering, Lu Yibei's attention landed on a pink "fairy wand," and she exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap! Is this thing also a relic from a murder scene?"
A "fairy wand" doesn't have high attack power, but it's extremely insulting. How frustrating would it be to be beaten to death by this thing?!
Shang Nanxing walked over unhurriedly, picked up the "fairy wand," and put it away into the faintly visible gap in her collar, saying lightly, "Sorry, this is mine. I forgot to put it away after using it last night."
Lu Yibei, "..." Awesome! Playing with a wand in a mourning hall, is that okay?
After putting away the "fairy wand," Shang Nanxing's lifeless eyes stared straight into Lu Yibei's eyes, and she said coldly, "So, Staff Lu, do you know why I called you a lucky fellow just now?"
"Because you are truly lucky. You are the only one among the Staff who came to provide support who has arrived at the Tang City Si Ye Hui alive so far. All the other Staff were intercepted and killed on the way," Shang Nanxing said with a heavy tone.
Lu Yibei, "..."
That damned Leader, didn't they say this support mission was a good opportunity to freeload achievements?
How did this ♦ suddenly turn from a simple errand into a boss Crusade Mission in the blink of an eye?! Lu Yibei thought.
"However, you don't need to worry. As long as you're here, you're safe. The situation is quite serious this time, and we don't plan to send reserve Staff on dangerous missions. If there's nothing else, you can..."
Shang Nanxing was still speaking when, at that moment, a loud bang came. Her eyes narrowed, and she closed her mouth.
The next moment, accompanied by a surge in Spiritual Energy fluctuations, her figure suddenly darted forward. Her afterimage flickered two or three times, and she arrived at the entrance of the bare room, sending the figure walking out sprawling to the ground with a flying kick. Then, she stepped heavily on the person's chest, causing their torso to arch into a V shape, and they let out a scream.
"You dog, why are you back so late? Where's the food I told you to bring for Daddy?"
"Didn't I ♦ tell you? Daddy went to the airport to pick someone up..." A voice that Lu Yibei felt strangely familiar with replied.
Lu Yibei looked in the direction of the voice and saw Mao Sanyou's punchable face.
"..."
He's actually a Staff of the Tang City Si Ye Hui?
Could the family of three he mentioned be the three members of the Tang City Si Ye Hui?
A family of three where they call each other Daddy? Lu Yibei thought.
"Shut up, what kind of pathetic excuse is that?" Shang Nanxing interrupted. "You're useless at everything, all you know is finding pathetic excuses to slack off!"
"I..." Mao Sanyou struggled to get up, about to argue with Shang Nanxing, when he suddenly saw Lu Yibei, his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Him! It's him! The person I went to pick up was him!"
"Do you think Daddy will believe your nonsense? Can you be a bit more reliable when making up excuses? He's a reserve Staff from Hua City, okay?" Shang Nanxing said, turning her head and casting an inquiring look at Lu Yibei.
Lu Yibei glanced at Mao Sanyou, then shook her head expressionlessly. "Mm, I don't know him, haven't seen him."
Hearing this, Shang Nanxing turned her head to look at Mao Sanyou, flexed her wrist, pulled out a pair of brass knuckles from somewhere and put them on, a cruel smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.
