I Became a Witch in a World Full of Urban Legends

Morning, seven-thirty.

The first ray of morning sun pierced through the gaps in the clouds and shone upon the earth.

It seemed to have rained lightly last night; the roads at the intersection were slick, and white steam rose from the breakfast stalls by the roadside.

"Hurry up! The first class this morning is with that old hag; we'll be dead if we're late!"

A girl in a middle school uniform lightly called out to the boy walking with her, timing it perfectly, and jogged across the pedestrian crossing.

An Old man carrying a lunch box walked past the breakfast stall by the roadside, smiling as he placed two ten-yuan bills on the table.

"Master, five fried dough sticks and two bowls of soy milk, to go, please!"

On the road in front of the breakfast stall, a young man in a suit and tie was sternly scolding someone on his phone.

"Don't say anything more! The plan you submitted yesterday is no good. Go back and revise it. I need it by the end of the workday this afternoon!"

He hung up the phone, looked through the windshield at the gridlocked traffic ahead, and angrily slapped the steering wheel.

"..."

All sorts of people, making all sorts of sounds, converged and poured into the system's ears. It suddenly woke up, its eyes snapping open, and what came into view was the familiar intersection.

At the intersection, the crowd surged, and everyone's face was filled with smiles and vitality.

system, "..."

Strange, why am I here?

What's wrong with these guys today?

Each one looks like they've been injected with chicken blood.

This is the University City of Hua City, the Xuefu Road intersection.

In the past, when Gu Qianqian left the bridge underpass every morning to go to Huacheng Institute of Technology, she would pass through here. The system was more than familiar with this place.

However, the scene it saw today was completely different from usual.

Since the night began to lengthen, the Xuefu Road intersection hadn't been as lively as it was this morning for a long time, at least two or three years.

Every time Gu Qianqian passed through here, the pedestrians passing by were like puppets controlled by invisible threads, walking quickly with their heads down, expressionless, their numb eyes avoiding contact with anyone's gaze, as if they would die instantly if they made eye contact with a stranger.

This isn't right, this is very wrong!

The system thought, and shouted loudly, "Gu Qianqian, Gu Qianqian, hurry and leave this damned place, I feel like something is wrong here!"

"..."

"Gu Qianqian?" freēwēbηovel.c૦m

The words fell, but there was no response.

Gu Qianqian is gone! The system snapped back to reality, its heart tightening.

Just then, it suddenly heard a childish voice by its ear.

"Mommy, Mommy, come and see! There's a talking black fish in the stinky ditch!"

The system froze for a moment, looked up following the sound, and saw a little boy, about four or five years old, squatting in front of the drain by the roadside, staring at it with wide eyes, holding a branch in his hand.

system, "..."

What's going on? This brat can actually see me? Holy crap, he's poking me!

In front of the drain by the intersection, the curious little boy, holding a sharp branch, fiercely poked the black fish's butt in the drain and forcefully flicked it...

The system only felt its body lighten, tumbling, rising, falling, plunging into the water, and then, following the trickle of the drain, it rolled into the sewer.

Amidst the dizziness, it vaguely heard a conversation from above.

"Little children shouldn't lie!"

"Mommy, it's true, it was just there, black and ugly!"

system, "..." Damn brat, you're the one who's black and ugly!

You can poke my butt, but you can't insult me!

The system thought indignantly, and with a "plop", it fell into the foul, murky water of the sewer.

----

An hour later.

The crowded people and cars gradually dispersed, the breakfast stall owner made the last ball of dough into fried dough sticks and threw them into the pot, and the Xuefu Road intersection gradually returned to peace, with only a young man who was clearly about to be late for work, chewing on a bun, chasing after the departing bus and shouting.

Underground at the intersection, in the sewer.

Weak sunlight filtered through the manhole cover, casting a faint glow on the foul, murky water.

Suddenly, the water's surface seemed to boil, ripples spreading out.

"Splash!"

Accompanied by a splash, a strange fish leaped out of the water and landed on the moss-covered stone steps, its body wriggling twice, spitting out half a chicken bone from its mouth.

It was about ten centimeters long, completely black, with a pitted, angular surface, looking like a large mudskipper. The only difference was a small, rice-sized fleshy lump on its head, emitting a faint green glow.

Just as the little boy said earlier, it was black, ugly, and strange.

Even stranger was that this fish, in a human-like posture, sat on the stone steps with its tail curled, propping its chin with its fins, looking up at the drain cover above, deep in thought, as if cosplaying the famous sculpture "The Thinker".

This is a big problem now. I should have used some drastic measures last night to prevent Gu Qianqian from approaching that man of unknown origin... the system thought worriedly.

It actually understood Gu Qianqian's excitement at seeing a relative who had been missing for many years suddenly appear before her, but in that situation last night, rushing over impulsively was clearly not a wise move.

However, before it could even open its mouth to remind her, Gu Qianqian had already pounced over, embracing her "brother", and was then sucked into the deep shadow behind her "brother", which looked like a vortex.

The system didn't know what happened next. By the time its consciousness became clear again, it was already in the drain at the Xuefu Road intersection.

"Damn it, Gu Qianqian, this dense idiot, when will she ever be more careful!"

The system cursed fiercely. Just then, a greasy newspaper was washed into the sewer by the water flow, landing on the water surface not far from it.

The system subconsciously glanced at the newspaper, and the glowing fleshy lump on its head immediately pulsed violently.

"Holy crap! No way? Four years ago? Is this today's newspaper?"

Could it be...

Gu Qianqian died last night, and I've "reincarnated" again? the system thought, filled with shock.

If it was true, then this was definitely its third most pathetic failure. The second most pathetic was when it gave up on Disaster as its primary target and attacked Void instead.

That time, it and its host were captured and tortured to death by its dependents before they even saw what Void looked like.

As for the most pathetic time... let's not even mention it!

After carefully analyzing the situation last night and confirming that its Spiritual Energy fluctuations were only at a C- level, the system sighed silently, ready to accept reality.

Although this time it didn't experience the deathbed review, it seemed, like countless times in the past, it had "reincarnated" again for some unknown reason.

"Do I have to start all over again? Damn it, this time I must find someone a little smarter... No, no, not too smart, too smart is easy to be clever and end up doing something foolish, getting played to death by Disaster... I'd better find someone with high combat talent, but before that..."

The system muttered to itself, its body suddenly writhing violently, and then it opened its small mouth and actually spat out a stone tablet several times larger than its body from its abdomen.

The stone tablet was completely black, with a luster similar to obsidian on its surface, and dozens of names were densely engraved on it.

The system moved closer, raised its fin, and began to engrave at the end of the dozens of names with the sharp edge of its fin. With every stroke, its body would twitch violently, and its Spiritual Energy fluctuations would also decrease slightly.

By the time the name "Gu Qianqian" was finished, its Spiritual Energy fluctuations had already dropped from C- to D+.

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This stone tablet was the core of its urban legend body. It was only after the third host's demise that it discovered that the marks left on the core of its urban legend body would not fade with "reincarnation".

Although after "reincarnation", the lives of those former hosts can start over.

But the system would not forget all the moments it experienced with them, nor would it disturb any of them again, even though some of them were only a step away from saving the world.

Thus, from then on, it lived as a tombstone, recording the names of those non-existent departed souls.

Of course, excluding the thirty-fourth host...

As a Russian girl, her name was simply too long. Before the system could finish carving her name, the core of the urban legend Main unit collapsed, and it died on the spot.

That's right, that was the system's most humiliating failure. It didn't even have time to find the next host.

From then on, when choosing a host, it never looked for someone whose name had more than five characters...

----

The night was deep, and everything was silent.

Inside the Hua City Jingyi Apartment Complex, at Lu Yibei's home, she lay in bed sound asleep, immersed in a dream, continuing to spar with Qingji on the technique of controlling the Hundred-Armed Giant Power.

...

Qingji stood with his hands behind his back on the dilapidated and crumbling rooftop. The gentle breeze stirred the hair at his temples, causing it to sway slightly. His expression was as calm as a grandmaster waiting for a challenge from minor figures.

As if he would blurt out, "I'm going to fight ten!" the moment he opened his mouth.

Without warning, chaotic light illuminated from above Qingji's head. Accompanied by a sudden burst of thunder, Lu Yibei's figure suddenly appeared in the air.

The next moment, her body arched backward like a fully drawn longbow, suspended in the air for an instant. Using the muscular strength of her entire torso, she shot towards Qingji, her hands holding two chaotic light masses as large as wheels, which she slammed down forcefully.

The air was disturbed by the chaotic light masses, vibrating intensely and emitting bursts of roaring sounds.

"Hmph hmph—!"

Qingji smiled slightly and let out a soft cry, "Taihe Gentleman Sword · Wind Chasing Command!"

With a raise of his hand, he unleashed a brilliant "Milky Way" above his head.

The soul-stirring roar came to an abrupt halt.

Half a second later, a scream rang out. Lu Yibei, with only half of her body remaining, fell to the ground, looking at Qingji, the light in her eyes gradually fading.

A moment later.

When Lu Yibei reformed her body on the dilapidated platform and opened her eyes, she saw Qingji walking towards her and quickly shouted, "No more, I'm not doing it anymore, Ancestor, let's stop here for today!"

"You girl, how long have you practiced today, and you're already backing out?" Qingji said with slight anger.

"It's not that I'm backing out, but practicing with you, Ancestor, for a long time is too demoralizing," Lu Yibei said weakly.

During this time, Lu Yibei practiced with Qingji all night long. In addition, when she helped Ju Meng reform the core of the urban legend Main unit, she gained some new understanding of her Spiritual Energy. In controlling the Hundred-Armed Giant Power, she made rapid progress.

So far, she could barely manage to draw a small amount of the Hundred-Armed Giant Power out of her body to use as an attack method.

Of course, this was only theoretically usable as an attack method. Before mastering it skillfully, she would not use it in actual combat. After all, in the dream realm, even if she lost control, she wouldn't really die. But in actual combat, any slight mistake, and a person can just disappear.

However...

With her as a high-level sparring partner, Qingji progressed much faster than her. The two of them started researching this Power around the same time, but by now, Qingji could already transform Power into a sword and integrate the simulated Hundred-Armed Giant Power into his sword techniques.

Although that was the Hundred-Armed Giant Power simulated with his own Spiritual Energy, making it easier to control, just this level of meticulous control already made Lu Yibei feel out of reach.

"..."

Sparring with an opponent who is too strong is indeed not conducive to skill improvement, and instead, it can cause discouragement?

Qingji looked at Lu Yibei and muttered inwardly. He then said seriously, "It's okay, let's start over. This time, I will control it to be only slightly better than you."

"I don't believe you!" Lu Yibei blurted out.

This Old man is very cunning. Every time he says something like this to deceive and sneak attack my nineteen-year-old girl... young man.

"Tsk!" Qingji spat and frowned, "A true man's word is his bond!"

"No, unless you write it down!" Lu Yibei said loudly.

"So, you don't believe what I, your Ancestor, say?" Qingji's face darkened.

Lu Yibei shrank her neck and said weakly, "Well... it's not that I don't believe you, it's just..."

"Stop 'just'-ing! Since you believe me, let's continue!"

As Qingji spoke, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ he softly called out, "Take this!" and his figure instantly vanished from the spot.

Damn! Then I'll trust you one more time, just this once... Lu Yibei thought. She did a carp flip to stand up, shook her arms, and the chaotic light masses instantly appeared.

The next moment, the two figures collided fiercely.

And then...

Feeling that Lu Yibei had made a small improvement during the continuous battle, Qingji's eyes immediately showed a look of satisfaction, and his hand also added four or five points of strength accordingly.

So, Lu Yibei died again.

To describe the state of her death using a passage from "Rhapsody on Willow Flowers": "Or wind returns and wanders lightly, or mist is chaotic and the storm scatters."

She had ultimately misplaced her trust...

----

Approaching dawn.

Qingji sat cross-legged beside the dying Lu Yibei and said casually, "Should we stop here? I can feel that you've improved again today. It shouldn't take long before you can get rid of the threat of that Power."

Lu Yibei glared fiercely at Qingji, not speaking.

"Don't be so petty. Aren't I, as an elder, showing concern for a junior?" Qingji persuaded in a classic "This is also for your own good" tone.

Lu Yibei, "..." Well then, thank you very much. If I couldn't beat you, I would definitely have to fulfill my "filial piety" properly and let you experience what it's like when filial piety gradually becomes twisted.

"Oh, by the way, I recently studied carefully why the Lingtai Pure Karma fragment you newly found couldn't fuse, and the conclusion I reached is that a piece is missing in the middle. You know what I mean, right?"

"I understand!" Lu Yibei responded after recovering, "It's like a puzzle with pieces 12345. I've found 1235, and piece 4 is missing, so it can't fuse, right?"

"That's right, that's right, that's what I mean," Qingji said.

Hearing this, Lu Yibei nodded thoughtfully, muttering to herself.

It's fine if it can't fuse temporarily. After all, a fruit knife is much more convenient to carry and hide than a broken sword, and it can achieve unexpected results when facing enemies.

"Also, that woman you mentioned named Qinan Bamboo, I thought about it carefully. I've been in Hua City for so many years, and I really haven't heard of her," Qingji added.

"I think she might not be a person or urban legend from the same era as me. After all, Hua City wasn't that big back then, and there wasn't a single Miss in the city that I didn't know. Hmm, I also knew all the young men who looked good."

"..."

Why does that sound so strange? What did you, Old man, do back then!?

Lu Yibei complained and sighed silently, "It's okay, she's not that important anyway. If I can find her, I will; if not, then so be it."

She's just a stranger, not important. Lu Yibei thought.

However, ever since she knew her name, the three words "Qinan Bamboo" would always suddenly pop into Lu Yibei's mind inadvertently, and they carried a strange sense of familiarity.

That feeling was like occasionally hearing a very pleasant song, and then from time to time, one would involuntarily hum it.

Therefore, Lu Yibei was still very happy to know who Qinan Bamboo was.

It was like finding a song she had heard and liked but didn't know the name of...