Free Web NovelAfter an unknown period of unconsciousness, Fang Ji finally woke up. His head, encased in a pumpkin, felt heavy and muddled, and his limbs ached faintly.
It was as if he had been thrown into a blender and churned around.
His clothes were soaked with some unknown liquid, clinging to his body, giving a sticky, clammy sensation.
Opening his eyes, he saw oil-stained black concrete walls and a small patch of sky captured above.
Thick dark clouds filled the sky, and the scattered light from the city's ground lamps cast a faint crimson glow on the low-hanging leaden clouds.
The air was filled with the smell of blood and the strange odor of decaying food. In the shadows, nocturnal creatures scurried past, making furtive noises.
In a daze, Fang Ji thought he was still in Qianqiu Town, and everything he had experienced before was just a fleeting dream at the brink of death.
However, the reflection in the mirror-like puddles on the ground, showing a neon sign that read "Shizhou Jianghu Cuisine," reminded him that he had long since left that chaotic small town and arrived in a dark corner of Shizhou City.
He leaned against the wall with one hand, trying to stand up, but as soon as he twisted his body, the intense pain from his waist nearly made him faint again.
He subconsciously reached out and touched the painful spot, his heart instantly tightening.
He felt a bulge on his waist.
In that instant, like recalling the information about Paper Cicada Immortal, a term flashed through his mind—spinal vertebral slippage.
Commonly known as, spinal dislocation!
Injured? Why did this happen?
Fang Ji slumped on the ground. The pain of the spinal dislocation cleared his thoughts slightly, and he gradually recalled what he had just experienced.
Waiting for Miss Wang, the lamppost arm above his head falling, a car accident, hitting a road sign, and then... a lot of vegetables?
Scene after scene flashed through Fang Ji's mind, yet he didn't feel the slightest surprise about his predicament.
It was as if in his subconscious, he believed that being unlucky to that extent was just as common as his previous level of luck.
Immediately after, he remembered the scene he saw before losing consciousness. free𝑤ebnovel.com
Right, that big brother just now!
Perhaps he could ask him for help?
Thinking this, Fang Ji struggled to twist his heavy head and looked to the side.
He saw a damaged folding fan. The deformed white paper, soaked and rotten by sewage, had turned into a pale, viscous, strangely active paste.
The moment he looked at the damaged folding fan, Fang Ji suddenly had a strange thought.
The folding fan was looking at him, greedily, maliciously, coveting his flesh and blood.
If that folding fan were some kind of living thing, he had no doubt that it would pounce on him the next moment and bite through his throat.
He was very puzzled as to why he had such a strange thought.
It was just a folding fan. In a sense, it was just an "item," like common bowls, chopsticks, paper, pens, mobile phones, etc., in daily life, and it was a damaged item at that.
The fan surface was broken, and the fan ribs were snapped.
How could an item used by people, not a bloodthirsty beast, hunt humans? Fang Ji thought.
Just like no one would think they would be bitten on the head by their own pillow late at night, it was hard for him to imagine "items" could "kill" people.
The next moment, a soft sound like an animal gnawing on bone suddenly rang out without warning, as if refuting Fang Ji's foolish idea and telling him that sometimes items could also hunt humans.
Like now...
"Crack, crack, crack!"
That bone-chilling sound echoed in the dark alley, repeating monotonously.
Following the sound, Fang Ji's gaze gradually moved upward, and only then did he notice the man holding the folding fan.
The moment he saw the man, Fang Ji was surprised to find that his attention was immediately drawn to the folding fan, completely neglecting the man covered in blood, whose life or death was unknown.
It was as if the folding fan was the main body, and the man was merely a decoration on the fan.
The man was slumped against the wall, half of his body obscured by a trash can, his face unseen. His arms hung limply, only the hand holding the folding fan remained tightly clenched.
The strange noise Fang Ji heard came from inside that hand clenching the folding fan.
That's right, inside the arm!
Through spiritual perception, he could clearly feel that something was currently inside the man's arm.
That thing wasn't moving, yet Fang Ji could feel it gnawing, growing, and letting out a silent scream.
Stillness and movement were intertwined in this extremely bizarre manner, giving a sense of inexplicable horror.
A long dozen seconds passed.
With a muffled sound of flesh tearing, "Pfft!" came through.
The scene that appeared before him was as if an invisible hand reached into Fang Ji's body, fiercely pressed a fatal switch, and ignited his tension.
Something suddenly expanded inside the man's arm, stretching his arm until only a thin layer of skin membrane remained, making his arm look like an opened Peeling Skin folding fan.
The free Spiritual Energy in the air trembled slightly, perhaps due to excitement, or perhaps fear.
"!!!"
Fang Ji's eyes widened as he looked at the man, not even daring to breathe, his throat slowly swallowing.
For the first time, he felt a little unlucky, and at the same time, a hint of fear.
It was the fear of living beings towards cold matter.
Just like many people feel subtly uneasy when they see sharp knives.
However, the painful struggle and tragic wailing he anticipated did not occur.
The man remained slumped there motionless. If not for the muffled groan as faint as a mosquito's buzz, he would have thought it was just a corpse.
After a brief silence, the chilling sound came again.
The difference was that this time the source of the sound shifted from the man's arm to his chest.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
Each sound was like the "tick-tock" of a bomb that could explode at any moment, pounding against Fang Ji's heart.
In a state of high tension, he "remembered" a large amount of information.
For some unknown reason, that man was undergoing urban legend transformation...
Newly born urban legend are mostly mentally chaotic and quickly become hungry...
If he didn't quickly find a way to save himself, he might become the man's first meal after his urban legend transformation!
While thinking, Fang Ji endured the pain and fumbled frantically over his body with his hands.
The moment his fingertips touched the cold casing of his phone, his body trembled slightly.
Witnessing an "item" hunting a human with his own eyes had unknowingly cast a shadow over his heart. He hesitated for a moment before taking out his phone.
Successfully unlocking the screen, a look of joy appeared on his face.
After experiencing a series of tragic accidents, his phone was miraculously intact?
Heaven never seals off all exits!
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Thinking this, Fang Ji fumbled to unlock the screen, opened a certain goose chat app, and quickly sent a distress message to "Disaster."
————
"Moon Smearing, Wind Criticizing."
After Lin Nian left, Lu Yibei stayed here for nearly another hour.
During this time, she contacted about five information brokers. Although she couldn't gather any other clues about Hu Chuan, she learned another important piece of information—the price for the kind of information she was asking for in "Moon Smearing, Wind Criticizing" usually fluctuated between 10 and 15g of gold.
In other words, the discounted price Lin Nian mentioned was actually quite a bit higher than the average price.
After learning this important information, Lu Yibei briefly considered asking the Monster Story Chat Group for help to locate Lin Nian and then let that girl know what "cyberbullying" was.
Using her Charm Ability coupled with Mengmeng's Dream Entering Ability to give her an immersive experience of the "Attack on Gu Qianqian" plot would be no problem at all.
However, on second thought, since only Lin Nian provided her with useful information in the entire "Moon Smearing, Wind Criticizing," she felt relieved.
Exclusive information, selling it a bit more expensively is also reasonable.
Exiting the Monster Story Chat Group and closing the certain goose chat app, Lu Yibei looked around and sighed silently.
It seemed unlikely anyone else would come forward to trade in the short term. Staying here would just be a waste of time.
It would be better to find a safe and secluded place to meet the Ancestor and tell him about the discoveries from exploring Da Chunyang Palace today and the changes in Da Chunyang Palace.
Oh, right, she also needed to ask the old man what exactly he did to the Zhenshan Divine Beast to make such a large divine beast act so dog-like.
Thinking this, Lu Yibei put away her phone, just about to leave, when her phone suddenly vibrated twice with a "buzz." After unlocking the screen and taking a look, it was a message from "A Little Hamster."
A Little Hamster: "Hello, Guide Miss, I need your help right now!"
Lu Yibei pondered for a moment, then typed a reply: "Hello, how can I help you? Could you please describe it in detail?"
If it's a small favor, she'll help her to increase trust. If it's too troublesome or dangerous...
She'll find some words to brush her off!
In this day and age, which customer service doesn't brush people off? Those who don't are online scammers! Lu Yibei thought to herself.
A Little Hamster: "Uh, it's like this, I was just in a car accident, got a bit injured, and can't move. There's an abnormal person beside me right now, and I might die by his hand."
Lu Yibei, "???"
What the ♦ is this stuff?
Simply put, she just accepted the mission not long ago and is already being hunted?
Is it that dangerous?
Good thing I was smart and didn't take that damn bounty mission, otherwise wouldn't I be the one being hunted right now?
Thinking this, Lu Yibei held her phone and fell into a brief period of thought.
Hmm...
How should she reply to keep that guy motivated without actually helping?
Aha, I've got it!
Lu Yibei suddenly thought of something, her eyes lit up slightly, and she buried her head in editing a message.
————
Disaster: "Dear user, hello. Given that the help you require is not part of the necessary procedure for the bounty mission and the difficulty is too high, I cannot provide you with assistance for now."
Fang Ji waited anxiously for a moment. Seeing that the task Guide Miss Calamity Miss finally responded, he quickly typed a message asking: "Eh!? Then what should I do? I'm really in danger right now!"
"Buzz buzz—!"
His phone vibrated, making a soft sound. Fang Ji quickly glanced at it, then his face turned pale.
Disaster: "Dear user, although I cannot provide you with assistance for now, please don't worry. You only need to forward the content I send you next and collect likes from ten friends for support to get a chance to draw a prize. There is a very high probability of obtaining a support coupon from the draw. Would you like to participate?"
Fang Ji secretly glanced at the man, swallowed hard, and replied without hesitation: "Participate, participate!"
I'm really lucky with draws, there's definitely no problem!
Disaster: "Okay, the content you need to forward is 【From the fruit born from the Fusang Divine Tree of yesteryear, the king of myriad «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» magpies, the contender who refutes misfortune with wealth, the monarch of Eight Hundred Li Peach Garden, the master of marriage and descendants, the exalted existence who has rendered meritorious service to the people with the virtue of wood, your subject Jin Yecheng prays for your protection.】"
After reading the reply, Fang Ji immediately copied the text, forwarded a post, and then, bracing himself, greeted each of the "strangers" in his friend list one by one, inviting them to like his post.
Five minutes later.
After being greeted warmly by over ten people's family members, several people asking if his account was hacked, and receiving over thirty friend deletion notifications, he finally managed to gather ten likes with difficulty.
A Little Hamster: "【Image】 Guide Miss, I've got ten likes here!"
Disaster: "Okay, then I will draw the prize for you first!"
Disaster: "Ding dong! Congratulations! You have obtained 99.8 support points. You only need to collect another 0.2 support points, and I can provide you with assistance! Continue forwarding the content to gain support points. Would you like to continue participating?"
A Little Hamster: "Of course!"
My luck with draws is really good after all! I got 99.8 support points on the first try!
One more time should be enough, right? Fang Ji thought excitedly.
Five minutes later.
Disaster: "Dear user, congratulations! You now have 99.99 support points and 9 energy cores! You only need to collect ten more likes to exchange for an energy core and receive assistance!"
Fang Ji, "..."
Even at this moment, he still didn't doubt his luck with draws was the problem, but he suspected his popularity was a huge problem!
He looked at the only three gray avatars remaining in his friend list, then looked at the man beside him whose body was constantly making strange noises, his expression gradually turning to despair.
He felt that no one would help him like his post this time.
After a long while, he silently picked up his phone, took a selfie, and sent a message.
A Little Hamster: "Guide Miss, I might not be able to wait for your support because I don't have friends to help me like the post. If I die, could I trouble you to collect my body?"
A Little Hamster: "I'm here 【Location Share】, and I look like this 【Image】."
————
On the other side, inside the "Moon Smearing, Wind Criticizing" bar.
Lu Yibei looked at the picture on her phone screen, a face with a pumpkin on its head and a look of utter despair in its eyes, and felt a strange sense of familiarity.
"Hiss, this person... I feel like I've seen them somewhere..."
After a brief recollection, Lu Yibei suddenly snapped back to attention, "Wait! Isn't this Fang Ji? How did she..."
So, Fang Ji is "A Little Hamster"?
She took the mission that was supposed to be mine and ran into danger?
This... the location share is in Bu Ye Street? How did she even follow me here?
Looking at the phone screen, she hesitated for a moment, then a ruthless glint flashed in Lu Yibei's eyes, and she clicked on the location share Fang Ji sent.
Damn it, it looks like I have to go!
If it's just going there, finding Fang Ji, and taking her away, there shouldn't be too much danger, right?
