Free Web NovelTang City, in the area adjacent to Lianzi Lake, a high-end lake view residential area has been built.
After the night became longer, many people chose to settle here despite bearing high housing loans, all for peace of mind. Mr. Zhao is one of them. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
He is just over thirty, but looks a bit old. His eye bags are swollen, crow's feet are obvious, and he has a look full of "immortal" aura, constantly emitting a smell of tobacco.
10:27 PM.
In the lake-facing room of Building 7, 20-1, in the lake view community, this fashion designer and amateur game streamer sat in the warm study, turned on his computer, and prepared to start his live stream tonight.
Mr. Zhao only started game streaming in the beginning of last year. The catalyst was the opening of the urban legend hunting mode in that shooting adventure game.
As a moderately successful fashion designer, his work was leisurely and he wasn't short of money. The reason he played games and started streaming was nothing else but fear.
Living alone in a large lake view apartment of over two hundred square meters, accompanied by eerie music, and fighting against twisted and bizarre urban legend in the game, he always felt like the whole house was full of "people".
Playing games while live streaming, and occasionally glancing at the scattered, ridiculous bullet comments, his sense of fear immediately decreased significantly.
Although he still felt like the whole house was full of "idiots", it is well known that people and idiots are essentially different.
"Hello, everyone! Yes, it's me again. Without further ado, let's quickly enter the game and start tonight's hunt!"
After debugging the various software used for live streaming, Mr. Zhao recited the opening remarks that he had been saying for nearly a year as usual, then clicked on the game and started today's live stream.
He clicked the 【Start Matching】 option, and while waiting for the system to match teammates, he glanced at the bullet comments on the split screen, frowned slightly, and muttered to himself.
"Strange, how come today..."
Although Mr. Zhao was a streamer driven by interest and fear, he had accumulated a small number of loyal fans over the course of a year. In the past, even when he had just started streaming, there would be a few scattered bullet comments.
However, despite the live stream's popularity being much higher than usual, there wasn't a single bullet comment.
The entire live stream was eerily silent, staring at the screen. A sudden, inexplicable and bizarre image flashed through Mr. Zhao's mind, and he suddenly felt the bone-chilling cold of deep winter.
...
【In the game world, night falls, and an ominous aura awakens from the dead city.
The urban legend hidden in the dark corners open their eerie eyes and look in the same direction, where there is a rift leading to another world.
Then.
Countless shadowy figures run through the streets and alleys, peering through that rift at you sitting behind the screen...】
This was a promotional text when the game's urban legend hunting mode was launched. Mr. Zhao didn't know why he suddenly thought of this, and even formed a clear picture in his mind.
"Damn it!"
He cursed in a low voice, shook his head violently, shaking off the image that appeared in his mind, and then moved the mouse, preparing to exit the game.
As the cursor moved to the 【×】 in the upper right corner, the computer screen suddenly flickered, and the game, which had not matched teammates for a long time, suddenly showed a successful match at this moment.
Looking at the matching time, Mr. Zhao's hands immediately left the keyboard, and dense beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
He clearly felt that he had waited for four or five minutes, but the matching time was stuck at 0:00.
"F*ck!"
Coming back to his senses, he couldn't help but Spell, and clumsily moved the mouse to click cancel, then quickly exited the game.
However, just as he closed the game, the lights in the study flickered twice and went out.
As if there was a power outage, the entire house was swallowed by darkness, with only a faint light shining in from outside the window.
Mr. Zhao was stunned for a moment, came back to his senses, and was about to take out his phone to turn on the flashlight, when his gaze suddenly froze.
The door of the study had opened silently at some point, and a figure was standing quietly at the doorway.
The figure was wearing pure white clothes and had its back to the study. Its arms were very long, hanging down to the ground, and its entire upper body was hidden in the shadow.
As if sensing Mr. Zhao's gaze, the figure slowly turned its body and looked this way, then slowly approached little by little, like it was hopping, but not making a sound.
Something extremely terrifying was about to happen... a voice in Mr. Zhao's mind seemed to be constantly reminding him.
Just then, a pair of hands suddenly reached out from behind, silently extending towards Mr. Zhao's back neck.
They were a pair of small hands with slender fingers and cold white skin, seemingly a child's hands.
It was just hands, coming from nowhere, as if reaching out from the void.
In the darkness, Mr. Zhao suddenly felt a heavy blow to the back of his neck. A sense of numbness spread along his spine to his entire body, and then his eyes went black and he lost consciousness.
"Taihe Gentleman Sword · Wind Chasing Command!"
"It's decided, Paper Cicada Immortal number 0002!"
"Wasteland, Straw, Remains... Eighteen times Red Flame Flash!"
Three soft calls sounded almost simultaneously in the darkness, as if premeditated.
The next moment, three colors of light, green, gold, and red, enveloped Mr. Zhao's study...
----
Lianzi Lake under the night sky was like a deep old man, sleeping quietly in the night.
On the rooftop of the lake view community.
Lu Yibei withdrew his gaze from the direction where he had blown up the mole by the lake last night, and continued to wipe the Lingtai Pure Karma in his hand. It was covered with some green, snot-like strong acid mucus.
The wiped tissue was thrown on the ground, and in a blink of an eye, a wisp of green smoke rose and turned into black flocculent matter.
That Strange Tale had been sealed in the artifact by Ju Meng for too long, and its state was extremely weak. Lu Yibei, with premeditation, easily succeeded in a sneak attack and obtained a Strange Tale core.
Of course, as a Strange Tale that once caused trouble in an area, even if it was extremely weak, it was still very dangerous, and ordinary people were completely unable to resist its attack.
Beside him, Ju Meng sat cross-legged on the ground, digesting the Strange Tale core she had just devoured. Her big eyes would occasionally open a slit, steal a glance at Lu Yibei, and then quickly close as if she had done something wrong and was afraid of being discovered by him.
Her adorable appearance reminded Lu Yibei of watching Journey to the West when he was a child, the fight in Chechi Kingdom. He would sit cross-legged on the sofa, imitating the way Tang Elder and Deer Power Immortal sat in meditation on a high platform, wanting to compete with them, and occasionally stealing glances at the TV screen.
So that day, he Foolishly sat for more than five hours, and it wasn't until much later that he knew that that afternoon, Old Dad had secretly pressed pause while he was "closing his eyes in meditation"...
After a long time, Ju Meng, who had finished digesting the Strange Tale core, slowly opened her eyes and looked at Lu Yibei, her expression gradually becoming provocative.
"Didn't I tell you? My kimchi wasn't being monitored at all, okay? Little Lu, don't always be so worried, okay?"
"I think you're quite talented. Do you want to learn from me, your Sister, how to be a reckless person?"
Lu Yibei squinted at Ju Meng and replied expressionlessly, "Thank you, no need. I still want to live a few more years." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
If I hadn't been so cautious, I might have died at the Hua Yu Sunshine Resort Hotel... Lu Yibei secretly added in his heart.
"Besides, have you considered that just because this Strange Tale wasn't monitored, it doesn't mean other urban legend weren't monitored? Also, it's possible that the guy who was monitoring this Strange Tale had something urgent and left temporarily, and we took advantage of the loophole, or else..."
"Tsk! Don't 'or else' anymore!" Ju Meng pouted and interrupted, "If someone was really monitoring those kimchi jars, what do you think he went to do just now? Had an urgent need to go to the toilet and didn't bring paper, and was stuck in the toilet?"
"..."
As expected of you, Ju Great Tree Monster. You can't go three sentences without talking about poop and pee. You truly have a deep love for farm manure.
Lu Yibei muttered in his heart, propped his chin with one hand and thought for a few seconds, then said seriously, "Very likely! After all, urban legend are not idol beautiful girls, they definitely have to go to the toilet."
Ju Meng rolled her eyes at Lu Yibei, and was about to say something, when her gaze suddenly fell on the Lingtai Pure Karma in his hand, and the words that were about to come out of her mouth were swallowed back.
The scene of Lu Yibei instantly killing the Strange Tale with Lingtai Pure Karma just now was still vivid in her mind, making her recall the situation where she was stabbed by the ancestral kitchen knife. Now, several kitchen knives have merged into one, becoming a broken sword, and its power seems to have increased a lot.
After a long pause, Ju Meng asked, "By the way, let me ask you something. Are those three the only ancestral kitchen knives in your family? Are there any others?"
In Ju Meng's understanding, besides Lu Yibei's ancestral kitchen knife, there were other options for Spiritual Energy items that could injure her.
It's ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) just that when other Spiritual Energy items that could injure her were activated, the "special effects" were as cool as web game equipment, completely unlike Lu Yibei's ancestral kitchen knife, which was simple, unpretentious, and deadly.
Hearing Ju Meng suddenly ask about the ancestral kitchen knife, Lu Yibei was stunned, "Others? Of course there are, and there are five, but I'm not sure if they are kitchen knives, they could be something else, but the other two are lost. Why are you suddenly asking this?"
Ancestor only said that he reforged the Lingtai Pure Karma into five pieces of kitchenware, and didn't say what kind of kitchenware he made.
Although the possibility of all of them being made into knives is relatively high, it is also possible that they were made into soup spoons, spatulas, scissors, graters, or something else. Lu Yibei thought.
"Actually..." Ju Meng slightly opened her small mouth, and glanced at the broken sword in Lu Yibei's hand again, "Actually, Cuan Yang's dependent used a fruit knife to stab me..."
"Pfft!"
Before Ju Meng could finish speaking, she heard a snicker.
"..."
The dignified King of Weird Tales of Taoyuan within eight hundred li, was actually stabbed by kitchenware? And twice?
Among so many Kings of Weird Tales, only this Smelly Girl of hers would be injured so aggrievedly, right?
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How embarrassing! Although it's understandable, I just inexplicably want to laugh. Lu Yibei thought.
Ju Meng glanced at Lu Yibei, remained silent for a while before continuing, "I suspect that fruit knife..."
"Pfft!"
Hearing the laughter again, Ju Meng narrowed her eyes and carefully looked at Lu Yibei for a while. Seeing that his face was calm, like a stone sculpture, but his eyes were full of mischievous laughter, veins immediately popped on his forehead, and she put her hands on her hips and let out a low growl, "Damn it! Are you done yet? Is it that funny?"
"I'm not laughing! You know, I have a poker face, how could I possibly laugh?" Lu Yibei said expressionlessly.
"..." Ju Meng looked at him deeply, let out a silent sigh of relief, and continued, "That fruit knife is very strange. I suspect that fruit knife is... with your ancestral kitchen knife..."
"Pfft!"
"Boom--!"
Ju Meng looked askance at Lu Yibei, and hammered a small fist onto the stone pier in front of her. Immediately afterward, the middle section of the stone pier visibly bulged.
Lu Yibei, "???"
This ♦ is okay too? Honestly, was Taoyuan originally Mount Huaguo?
Looking at the stone pier that seemed to have suddenly become pregnant, Lu Yibei's eye twitched uncontrollably. She quickly changed the subject, "Oh right, you said you wanted the person you saved to remember you. Did you leave your name just now?"
"Of course!" Ju Meng lifted her chin slightly and said proudly, "I guarantee he'll never forget it for the rest of his life."
----
1:00 AM.
When Mr. Zhao woke up on the floor of his study, the back of his head was still throbbing faintly.
He cautiously opened his eyes a crack, saw the study illuminated by the light, and immediately closed them again.
Like a corpse, he lay motionless on the ground, waiting for a long time. Only after confirming there were no other movements in the room did he stealthily crawl up, then darted out and turned on all the lights in the room.
Just as Mr. Zhao thought the urban legend that attacked him had left and sat down in his study, his peripheral vision inadvertently swept across the computer desktop. He saw that the names of the clothing design draft files he had recently stayed up late to finish had turned into garbled code, and he couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly.
After hesitating for a moment, he licked his dry lips, gathered his courage, moved the mouse, and clicked open the file. Then, something terrifying happened.
The drafts he had worked hard on for over a month were all completely deleted. Only a few crooked large characters remained inside—Your savior, the great god Ju Meng!
----
Deep within Taoyuan, surrounded by mountains, lay crisscrossing fields and vast, irregularly shaped orchards. Looking from the fields and orchards towards the mountainside, ancient and unique small courtyards were scattered around a jade sculpture like stars surrounding the moon.
It was a tree-shaped white jade statue with branches from the same root. Its branches were covered with red silk ribbons tied with peach wood wish plaques and wind chimes. A young girl dressed in luxurious clothing with an elegant and ethereal demeanor stood under the tree, and a lifelike Magpie perched on her shoulder.
A large stone offering table in front of the statue had accumulated some snow. The incense and candles in the bronze censer on the table had long burned out, and the offerings showed signs of decay and mold. There was no vitality at all, just like the village behind it, which was lifeless and without any lights.
Beneath the sculpture, a tall woman dressed in a black robe was gazing up at the statue in a daze. As her eyes shifted, it seemed as though she was contemplating something.
After a moment, a strong gust of wind swept past, and a man wrapped in a thick cotton coat, with a haggard face, landed beside her.
Turning around, Miss Rabbit saw that the person who had arrived was Suo E. A hint of eagerness flashed in her eyes, but it quickly faded into indifference. She raised her willow-like eyebrows slightly and said coolly, "Are you done?"
"Mm." Suo E nodded, looked at the statue, and asked doubtfully, "Why do you always stay here looking at this statue when you have nothing to do lately? Is there something special about it?"
"..." Miss Rabbit was silent for a few seconds, then shook her head. "No, I just feel that her experience is similar to mine. Looking at this statue, I can't help but think of past events."
In ancient times, the primitive people of Taoyuan, who drank blood and ate raw meat, wandered the barren land after the disaster, constantly praying to the gods and migrating. Finally, they found that twin peach tree from the same root. Their souls, which had nowhere to settle, finally found a place of reliance, which was the Fusang Divine Tree.
According to legend, there was a black three-legged crow in the sun that spread its wings and rose from the Fusang Divine Tree every morning, casting sunlight upon the land. The deity who managed the place where the sun rose and the fuso Divine Tree was precisely Jumang, like a gardener, caring for the divine tree's growth and assisting It in maturing.
From a certain perspective, Cuan Yang should have been the mythical urban legend born from the fuso Divine Tree worshiped by the primitive people of Taoyuan, while Ju Meng was merely Its accompanying mythical urban legend.
This accompanying relationship was no less significant than a dependent contract. There were even rumors that the dependent contract evolved from this kind of accompanying relationship.
After arriving in Taoyuan, whenever Miss Rabbit saw Ju Meng's statue, she would recall the time she was enslaved by the Twilight Woman. Then, thinking of how both she and Ju Meng ultimately succeeded in the feat of "gekokujo" (overthrowing superiors) and pursued what they wanted, she couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
She might be very lonely, right?
When she realizes that what she pursued after breaking through numerous obstacles is not what she truly wanted, just like me. Miss Rabbit thought.
Just like her, who finally shattered the shackles the Twilight Woman placed on her, but is now restricted by the Eclipse Society.
When Ju Meng discovers that the people of Taoyuan have always pursued only the Fusang Divine Tree, and not her, she will probably also feel a similar emptiness to her.
If she weren't on the opposing side to Ju Meng, Miss Rabbit actually quite wanted to help her.
But now...
She must awaken Cuan Yang from Its slumber and release It from Ju Meng's suppression. Therefore, the Tang City city barrier must be activated. This is also the common goal of all the Psychic and urban legend gathered here this time.
As for what kind of existence could simultaneously gather members of the Eclipse Society, remnants of the Miracle Order, and notorious lone Psychic, Miss Rabbit also didn't know. She was just an employee, and it definitely couldn't be Crow Slave.
He was just a dependent of a mythical urban legend. How could he have such great ability?
Before leaving, Suo E also went to the Gray Forest Cabin to sound out the Eclipse Society Elder Council, but the Elders of the Elder Council remained tight-lipped about this matter.
Pulling back her thoughts, Miss Rabbit glanced out of the corner of her eye at Suo E wrapped in his cotton coat behind her, and whispered, "It's so cold tonight..."
Can you hug me?
"..." Suo E was silent for a few seconds, checked the time, and said seriously, "Then hold on a little longer. It will be light soon, and it will be warm when the sun comes out."
Miss Rabbit, "..."
Damn, I'm so stupid! Should I have given up those unwarranted expectations a long time ago?
----
Inside the cave deep within Taoyuan.
A figure cloaked in a large black crow feather robe stood before the giant, withered "fuso" Divine Tree, looking up devoutly at the humanoid outline formed by the interwoven branches, murmuring descriptions of Cuan Yang over and over again in obscure and difficult-to-understand language.
Because Ju Meng had suffered two consecutive assassination attempts, her power was much weaker than before. The frequency of the tree knot on the chest of the humanoid outline, which pulsed like a heart, was more frequent and stronger than before, as if It could awaken at any moment.
On the back of the giant tree, tree cocoons woven from vines, resembling cicada pupae, hung suspended. The vines connected to the giant tree constantly wriggled, greedily sucking the Spiritual Energy of Ju Meng's dependents.
Only this Spiritual Energy closely related to Ju Meng could nourish and strengthen the Divine Tree and transfer power to Cuan Yang through a secret method.
"Rustle—Rustle—!"
Accompanied by the crisp sounds of vines and branches being torn, a turtle head with prominent horns struggled out from the back of the large tree. Seeing Crow Slave, It immediately began to Spell.
"You son of a bitch, even if you killed the master and sacrificed all of us, Cuan Yang still couldn't be resurrected!"
"..." Crow Slave stared deeply at Turtle Elder for a few seconds, as if he hadn't heard his angry Spells, and continued to chant softly.
Of course he knew that the power of these small fries alone couldn't awaken his Master.
Centuries of covert observation of Ju Meng also let him know that the Tang City city barrier was not enough to kill Ju Meng.
He also knew that the Eclipse Society, the Miracle Order, and those unruly lone Psychic could not have been gathered by him with just a few words. There must be other unknown forces plotting behind the scenes.
However, he also had his own secrets. In the end, everyone and every urban legend would suffer a crushing defeat, except for him and his Master.
Seeing that Crow Slave ignored his Spells, Turtle Elder continued to speak sarcastically, "Hmph, you're just wasting your effort here! By then, I'm afraid you'll be about to give birth before you even resurrect your Master."
"I don't know if you abandoned people get maternity leave! But if you wait until you've given birth and come back, I'm afraid..."
Turtle Elder was halfway through speaking when he saw Crow Slave's expression turn cold. Suddenly, Crow Slave drew a rusty fruit knife from under his crow feather robe with a backhand motion and plunged it into his lower abdomen with a "Pfft!" sound. As blood splattered, a crazed smile appeared on his lips stained red with blood.
Turtle Elder, "..." You're ruthless, I'll organize my words and continue talking to you!
----
Inside the messy unfinished room on the top floor of the Tang City Museum.
Shang Nanxing and Mao Sanyou lay collapsed side by side on the long table like two dead dogs, motionless, sticking out their tongues and panting heavily at the same frequency.
They had spent the entire day cleaning up the aftermath of the series of chain reactions caused by the assassination attempt on Ju Meng by the unknown force last night.
Among the members who participated in the assassination yesterday, the lowest Spiritual Energy fluctuation level was B Level. The residual Spiritual Energy fluctuations left after they released various high-level Spells and innate abilities were as dangerous as nuclear waste to ordinary people. If left untreated, many people would contract black night disease and eventually die.
What's more, yesterday Ju Meng also spilled a massive amount of blood on the ring expressway. As a high-level mythical urban legend, it was unknown what kind of mutations her blood would cause.
Although Shang Nanxing and Mao Sanyou had A-Level and B+ Level Spiritual Energy fluctuations, it was not easy to clear those residuals. After a whole day, their Spiritual Energy was drained two or three times before they barely managed to clean up the areas with relatively dense pedestrian traffic.
"Boom—!"
Just as the two were silently adjusting their state, preparing to rest for an hour or so before continuing their work of serving the people, the sound of the door slamming came.
Accompanied by the loud noise, a burly man with dark skin came before them and said in a deep voice, "I've found out. All the recent anomalies are indeed closely related to Ju Meng!"
Hearing the results of Lao Xu's investigation over the past few days, Mao Sanyou and Shang Nanxing exchanged glances, and their expressions immediately became solemn.
