Free Web NovelAfter leaving the conference room, Du Sixian led Lu Yibei through the office area, down a very short corridor, and stopped in front of a wall covered in mottled moss.
I remember this being the entrance to the cellar? Why is there an extra stone? Lu Yibei thought.
"Dong—dong, dong—dong—!"
Du Sixian knocked on the wall a few times in a rhythmic pattern. The wall immediately opened several small holes, letting out a "puchi" sound like it was breathing, and spewing out several puffs of white smoke. Following this, after a low rumbling sound, it rotated ninety degrees outwards, revealing a thick iron door hidden behind the wall.
At this moment, Lu Yibei noticed two large eyes attached to the inner side of the wall, looking hazy, as if they had just woken up.
She turned around, smiled sweetly at Lu Yibei, held up one hand, and explained softly, "This is the child of the wall-painting creature that guards the door. It was just born not long ago. I thought that iron door wasn't secure enough, so I had it guard here."
You call this just born not long ago? This thing is bigger than me, okay? Lu Yibei frowned, leaned closer, and whispered, "I say, isn't it not good for us to employ child labor?"
Du Sixian smiled meaningfully at Lu Yibei, "If we don't pay money, it doesn't count as employment!"
Lu Yibei, "???"
Ah, this... is this the ugly face of a capitalist?
"Pfft!" Seeing Lu Yibei stunned, Du Sixian covered her mouth and chuckled softly, "Expert, don't worry, everyone treats this little fellow very well!"
"Is that so? That's good..."
Lu Yibei scratched the back of her head, not thinking too much. Seeing Du Sixian take out a key to open the iron door, she followed her steps and walked into the warehouse together.
This warehouse did not exist when Irresponsible Fright Company of Calamity was first established. It wasn't until the urban legend in Hua City expanded the "Lost and Found Return" business for a period, and the number of items without owners gradually increased, that Lu Yibei dug out a cellar to store them.
And during the time she went to Tang City, Du Sixian re-expanded the cellar and further transformed it into a large underground warehouse covering an area of over 20,000 square meters.
Although currently Irresponsible Fright Company of Calamity doesn't temporarily need such a large storage space.
But at the current rate of development, Du Sixian is confident that one day in the future, she will definitely be able to turn this place into a "King's" treasure trove!
Entering the warehouse, a faint scent of dust wafted over. In the spacious area with a height of about five meters, rows of simple and practical metal shelves stood tall, neatly arranged, extending all the way to the end of the sight. At first glance, it felt like being inside a large warehouse-style supermarket.
Small bamboo baskets were placed on the shelves, and each small bamboo basket contained an item that had been cleaned, disinfected, dried, and sealed in plastic.
Either a pink suitcase with a shipping label but not sent, or a patched-up toy bear with the words "Most Beloved" crookedly written on it, or a handmade photo frame containing a yellowed old photo of a family of three...
Every item seemed to silently tell a story, the story of the residents of Hua City, and also the story of Hua City.
Looking at these things, Lu Yibei inexplicably thought of Ms. Wang Meili's photo album, and her eyes dimmed.
After she used the photos recording her life to reshape her body, that photo album could no longer be found.
She didn't know if it was lost or destroyed.
Du Sixian saw Lu Yibei examining each item with a furrowed brow out of the corner of her eye. She moved closer to her and whispered, "Expert, actually... I feel that most of the things here should be very difficult to find their owners, and it's even possible that their owners deliberately discarded them."
Hearing this, Lu Yibei composed herself, looked at Du Sixian, and sighed silently, "Let's keep them for now! Anyway, there's still space for them, isn't there?"
As she spoke, she picked up a worn-out diary without a cover from a small bamboo basket and gently put it back.
On the first page of that diary, it was written 【February 20th, one hundred days of being in love, I wrote the first entry in my diary, starting to record our daily life...】
"Keep them! Maybe their owners just don't want them temporarily." Lu Yibei said, her brow relaxing.
One day, people will remember the beautiful things they once lost. Lu Yibei added in her heart.
I'll ask Netizen Laosepi later how their urban legend bounty Website manages to only be "accidentally" opened when a person or urban legend needs it. I'll also set one up specifically for "Lost and Found Return."
Of course, this cannot be free!
Continuously being frightened, or a short period of lifespan, or a certain amount of money, you always have to choose one as the storage fee, right? Lu Yibei thought.
The urban legend bounty Website also has matching reward recovery technology, just use it.
That Void guy always copies me, can't I copy him?!
Anyway, it doesn't affect their business.
————
Lu Yibei continued to move forward with Du Sixian, passing through the rows of shelves. After about two minutes, the view suddenly opened up, and a vast platform the size of a soccer field appeared before their eyes.
In one corner of the platform, under the shroud of shadows, something was piled up into two small mountains under the cover of waterproof cloth, like a sleeping monster.
"Expert, please wait a moment." Du Sixian said to Lu Yibei with a smile, then walked forward, turned on the lights, grabbed the edge of the waterproof cloth, and gently pulled.
"Whoosh!" The waterproof cloth flew off, and hundreds of cardboard boxes immediately appeared before their eyes.
On the outermost edge, there were two or three boxes that weren't full, left open, and small paper figures about the size of a palm could be vaguely seen inside.
Examining the open boxes, Lu Yibei narrowed her eyes slightly, and her brain quickly started working.
From the half-full boxes, it seems that a full box contains about eighty small Paper Cicada Immortals. Roughly counting, there are probably about one hundred and twenty boxes here...
In other words, there are probably nine thousand to ten thousand Paper Cicada Immortals here?
Not bad, barely enough!
Lu Yibei nodded with satisfaction, turned to look at Du Sixian, raised her eyebrows, and asked, "Dear, where are the big babies?"
With so many small Paper Cicada Immortals, if she wanted to equip them all with Alchemy Dirty Bombs, there definitely wouldn't be enough calamity water. Moreover, the fingertip blood needed to activate the Paper Cicada Immortals would be enough to give her trouble, so she couldn't utilize them completely for the time being.
Therefore, she was more concerned about the 1:1 Paper Cicada Immortals that could be used immediately.
"This way." Du Sixian replied, walked a few steps to the side, and with a "Whoosh!" pulled off another piece of waterproof cloth.
"Whoosh!"
As the waterproof cloth drifted down, twelve large Paper Cicada Immadaemons with different appearances were displayed before their eyes.
The twelve Paper Cicada Immortals were grouped into sets of three, made according to the Human state, Witch Seed state, God Kingdom state, and the current state where the core of the two major urban legend entities is relatively balanced.
Looking at those Paper Cicada Immortals, Lu Yibei's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed, "These... are all made by Mengmeng? They're amazing!"
Although according to the method taught by Qingji, the requirements for making a Paper Cicada Immortal that can move are not that high. One only needs to use bamboo strips, paste, and yellow paper to paste together a body that can be roughly identified as something, and then use watercolors and cinnabar to draw eyebrows, eyes, and red lips.
But based on the experience of Lu Yibei, a person with clumsy hands, trying to make one herself before, the result of treating the modeling stage carelessly was that every finished product, after barely being able to move, was a peculiar type of creature that could become a source of mental pollution.
Clumsiness is a disease, and there is no cure!
Now, these twelve in front of her, although they were made from common materials like bamboo strips, paste, yellow paper, watercolors, and cinnabar, just like her previous Paper Cicada Immortal, the difference was like that between "simple lines" and "extreme colors."
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Except for the texture of the paper still being somewhat visible in the skin, and the eyebrow makeup being slightly reminiscent of Qingyi makeup, which are not considered flaws, almost all body details were restored.
Just looking at them, people even couldn't help but want to reach out and check their breath to see if they were breathing.
Before leaving Hua City, Mengmeng volunteered to take on the job of making these large Paper Cicada Immortals. Lu Yibei hadn't had high expectations.
It would be best if they succeeded, and if not, she would think of other ways.
But the result was a pleasant surprise.
"Mengmeng is too amazing! I'll have to ask her to help me make another one based on the White Little Flower 3rd-anniversary limited figure!" Lu Yibei muttered excitedly.
That figure had almost become her obsession.
There was once a 1:1 replica of the White Little Flower figure placed in front of Lu Yibei, limited to fifty pieces. Between spending money in the mobile game and buying the figure, she chose the former, and only regretted it afterward.
Now there is another opportunity before her, and she just wants to say, "What others have, our child must also have! Not only have it, but it must also be able to move!"
But soon, she shook her head to herself.
After a brief thought, she probably figured out how Mengmeng was able to make Paper Cicada Immortals with such high fidelity.
Mengmeng's innate skill 【Dream Creation】, to some extent, is similar in principle to the operation of the God Kingdom Prototype, basically a youthful minimalist version.
Therefore, she is very clear about the body structure and details of those she has pulled into her dreams, making it relatively simple to replicate them when making Paper Cicada Immortals.
However, Mengmeng has never pulled the White Little Flower from the 3rd-anniversary memorial skin into her dreams. The finished product she makes will likely be the same as what she made herself, becoming a mobile source of mental pollution.
Lu Yibei glanced at Du Sixian, who seemed to want to say something but hesitated, and sighed silently, "Forget it, I don't actually want it that much."
One only yearns for what they cannot obtain; once they have it, they become complacent. Perhaps if she had actually bought that White Little Flower figure back then, it would now be gathering dust in the storage room.
Moreover, if a moving White Little Flower really appeared at home and was discovered by Miao Miao Jiang, it would be hard to explain.
Most importantly, although becoming the King of Weird Tales in Hua City was unavoidable, Du Sixian and Mengmeng are already working hard managing the urban legend of all sizes in Hua City. I can't help much, so I shouldn't cause them more trouble.
Thinking this, Lu Yibei's willow-like eyebrows furrowed, and her clear, watery eyes subtly revealed a hint of disappointment, unconsciously pouting her cherry-like small mouth.
That look was like a child who had found a favorite toy in a glass display case, but knowing that the family was financially struggling, restrained their inner desire and, being particularly sensible, didn't ask for it.
Du Sixian secretly observed Lu Yibei and, seeing this scene, couldn't help but cover her mouth, letting out a silent chuckle.
Why do people always think the Expert is scary?
She's clearly very cute! Du Sixian thought.
Having such a cute "boss," being able to work in her most beloved field related to urban legend, and being able to maximize her management talents, she felt there was nothing better than this!
"Next, I need to find a place to try out these big babies."
Lu Yibei examined the twelve Paper Cicada Immortals, resting her chin on one hand and muttering to herself.
She had to find a way to infiltrate Da Chunyang Palace sooner or later and could leave Hua City at any time. She had already planned to use these 1:1 Paper Cicada Immortals to attend class for her at school to ensure her attendance rate so ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) she wouldn't miss too many classes and fail to get her diploma while she was away from Hua City.
If it was just a sudden idea before, after seeing the finished products of these 1:1 Paper Cicada Immortals, she decided to put the idea into action.
However, this matter is probably not as simple as controlling Qiu Guniang.
Controlling Qiu Guniang to "descend justice" only requires letting it fly over, land steadily, and then detonate the innate skill imprint attached to it.
The technical difficulty is not high.
However, trying to do two things at once, infiltrating Da Chunyang Palace while controlling the Paper Cicada Immortal to attend school, the difficulty will increase sharply.
At the very least, one must ensure that the Paper Cicada Immortal's every move at school doesn't appear too abnormal, right?
It's like the difference between using an excavator to dig soil and demolish walls, and using an excavator to stir-fry. The former can be moderately bold and unrestrained, while the latter must at least ensure that the pot is not punctured.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Yibei turned to look at Du Sixian and said, "Sixian, if possible, I'll take a few with me later, okay? I want to find a place to practice controlling these things."
"Okay!" Du Sixian nodded, "Do you need me to help you send them over?"
"No need, I can take them myself." Lu Yibei shook her head.
She had already figured it out. Later, she would use the God Kingdom Prototype to transport the Paper Cicada Immortal to Huacheng Institute of Technology, then find a deserted place to start practicing control.
Anyway, she would be controlling the Paper Cicada Immortal to move around the school later, so it's good to be able to conduct field practice and adapt to the environment early.
Moreover, at this time, there are almost no students or teachers active on campus, especially near Four Gate Main Street. Because urban legend incidents frequently occur there, it's almost impossible for students or teachers to appear. She can also have Headless Senior and the others help keep watch.
Simply perfect!
————
So, ten minutes later, a wild Jigglypuff refreshed in the grass near Four Gate Main Street at Huacheng Institute of Technology, staring with its two big eyes at the main road not far away.
On the dilapidated main road, a "creature" was running wildly in a bizarre posture, crashing into obstacles every time it encountered one, then lingering in place for a long time before bumping and stumbling around it.
As it moved forward, it would occasionally let out sharp cries, chilling the spine upon hearing them.
"La~li la~la li li li la~!"
Looking at that Paper Cicada Immortal, whose lower body was running at full speed chasing desire, while its upper body was wildly dancing as if it had its own ideas.
Lu Yibei held her forehead and rubbed her throbbing brow, falling silent. She felt like she was controlling a game character with terrible optimization, both physically and mentally exhausted.
It turned out that controlling the Paper Cicada Immortal to attend class was much more difficult than she imagined. Controlling the hands meant losing control of the feet, controlling the feet meant losing control of the hands. If both hands and feet were controlled, the mouth and torso would start being disobedient.
Damn it, can this even work?!
Getting stuck on walls, running around randomly, and being completely unrestrained is one thing, but why the hell are you shouting randomly?
I'm not even doing two things at once yet. When I really control it while doing two things at once, won't you just disintegrate on the spot and go your separate ways?
Lu Yibei was thinking gloomily when a light sound entered her ears. ƒreewebɳovel.com
Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw that while she was distracted complaining, the wildly running Paper Cicada Immortal had deviated from the main road and rushed into the small woods where the grass and trees grew wildly near Four Gate Main Street.
As it moved through the dense branches of the small woods, it accidentally got its head hooked by a wire from who knows where on a branch. With a "sizzle," its body actually tore open at the neck.
And then...
The body continued to run wildly forward and disappeared.
Lu Yibei, "..."
