Free Web NovelLeaving the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Administration, riding a small motorbike through Peony Street, the evening glow plated the undulating buildings of Hua City with a layer of crimson.
Noticing the change in the sky, Lu Yibei's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise. She took out her phone to check the time, then looked up at the tired sun in the sky and muttered, "Old thing, you're getting more and more useless."
Six years have passed since the night began to lengthen. The duration of daylight has silently shortened by nearly two hours, and this time is still increasing.
As someone whose body undergoes monstrous changes every time night falls, Lu Yibei feels this change much more clearly than ordinary people.
In fact, to prevent herself from turning into a monster in public, she specifically set an alarm that rings an hour before night falls every day, reminding her to hide herself.
However, just now, when Lu Yibei noticed the setting sun and the approaching night, she took out her phone to check the time.
17:12. Twilight had already appeared in the sky, but her alarm was still 18 minutes and 54 seconds away from ringing.
In other words, the arrival of night is now nearly twenty minutes earlier than when she first set the alarm ten months ago.
Originally, the extra nearly twenty minutes would have been enough for her to ride her small motorbike back to University City, park the bike, and then find a suitable place to complete her monster transformation.
But now, it was clearly a bit too late.
If this continues, will the sun perhaps not rise again after it sets one day in the future?
At that time, wouldn't I have to maintain the monstrous state all the time?
Speaking of which, what is the reason for this phenomenon? Could it be some kind of urban legend at work?
While thinking intermittently, Lu Yibei sped up her small motorbike and headed towards a semi-abandoned shopping mall about three kilometers away from Peony Street.
That place was one of Lu Yibei's usual "old haunts" for transforming into a monster.
Half an hour later.
When Lu Yibei walked out of the semi-abandoned shopping mall, night had already fallen.
She parked her small motorbike near the shopping mall, walked out of the parking shed, and Hua City, shrouded in the night veil, opened its arms, named streets, and embraced her.
It was just beginning to get dark, and there were still a considerable number of pedestrians on the streets of Hua City. They walked on the streets illuminated by streetlights, like swarms of ants rushing to large and small "anthills," dazed and lifeless.
But it's much better than before, isn't it? Before, you could hardly see anyone on the street before night fully fell. Lu Yibei thought.
Since she became the Huacheng Monster King and brought several urban legend in Hua City under control, the number of Hua City residents active at night has gradually increased. In fact, it's unclear when, but even roadside barbecue stalls, which had almost disappeared, have begun to reappear.
Setting up a barbecue stall on the roadside at night would have been absolutely impossible more than half a year ago.
Unless the barbecue stall owner could accept the fact that out of ten customers one night, five are urban legend, three are Spiritual Energy users, and the remaining two are lunatics corrupted by the black night disease, with no normal people!
She didn't take a taxi and walked towards Jingyi Apartment, on her way home.
Lu Yibei soon discovered that in Hua City today, not only have roadside barbecue stalls reappeared, but also some other things that had disappeared for a long time are now appearing on the streets at night.
For example, boys confessing their love by arranging candles in a heart shape in the square under the cover of night.
"Tingting, I've liked you for a long time. I've liked you since junior high. Today, I don't want to stay by your side as a friend anymore. Will you give me a chance?"
Surrounded by candlelight, the boy knelt on one knee and presented a bouquet of vibrant flowers.
The girl covered her mouth with her hands in surprise, then nodded with tears in her eyes and accepted the bouquet.
Witnessing this scene of lovers finally getting together, Lu Yibei curled her lip. "Goodness, it looks like a long-term crush has been formalized, eh? Congratulations!"
"But... that guy probably isn't very reliable!"
"You're confessing, but what's with you keep looking at my legs? Aren't you afraid your girlfriend will get angry?"
While complaining, she sent a message to her Coat through the bone imprint, asking the Coat to make her skirt a bit longer. Lu Yibei continued to walk forward, and then...
The things she saw became increasingly absurd.
On one side of the square, the elderly woman leading the square dance, after finishing a dance, walked towards the old man in a wheelchair next to her, extended her hand, smiled, and said, "Thirty years have passed. Let's give each other a chance, shall we?"
In front of the largest department store in the center of Hua City, an event venue was being busily set up.
On the posters and banners that hadn't been hung yet, words like "Confession Season" were written. One could vaguely see that the poster on the main stage read, "This summer, tell her/him the feelings you've always been afraid to express."
Seeing this, Lu Yibei paused slightly, tilted her head, watched for a while, and then shook her head.
Never mind, Miao Miao Jiang probably wouldn't like to attend this kind of event, right?
Even if she grudgingly participated, she would refuse the confession...
"Bang--!"
Just as Lu Yibei was thinking, fireworks suddenly rose into the sky in the distance, interrupting her thoughts.
Looking up, the dazzling fireworks exploded into words like "I like you" under the night sky. freēwēbnovel.com
Further ahead, under the nearby streetlights, even the moths that occasionally flew under the streetlight were in pairs...
Lu Yibei thought,
How come it seems like the whole city is in love, and I'm the only lone wolf?
Summer truly is the season of love...
I feel like I really want to have a passionate, sweet-to-the-core relationship right away!
Thinking of this, Yu Jianqiu's figure inexplicably flashed through Lu Yibei's mind, causing her body to shiver.
Indeed, if she wanted to have a relationship immediately, Yu Jianqiu could satisfy her right away...
"Pfft, I won't!"
Lu Yibei spat, quickened her pace, changed direction, and darted into a secluded alley, taking a shortcut towards Jingyi Apartment Complex.
There are two great tragedies in life: one is not getting what you want, and the other is getting what you don't want.
If it's just for the sake of being in a relationship, settling for less is worse than continuing to be a lone wolf.
This kind of thing is like being idle at home for a long time, just about to start studying, when your mother suddenly appears next to you, nagging and telling you to study, and the interest in studying that had just arisen instantly vanishes.
It's classic rebellious psychology, no doubt!
Moreover, Lu Yibei always felt that the things she saw on the street were not right, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong at the moment.
What's more, if she were to settle, she wouldn't settle with Yu Jianqiu!
It would be better to settle with Smelly Girl!
Thinking of this, Lu Yibei imagined the scene of herself getting along with Smelly Girl, and suddenly felt that settling with Yu Jianqiu became boring.
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She withdrew her thoughts and continued walking along the winding, narrow alley. As soon as she turned a corner, she saw several pairs of entwined wild cats ahead.
Lu Yibei was silent for a few seconds, and without a change in expression, she activated her Spiritual Energy imprint and summoned Little White Dog.
"Little White Dog, go, go pee next to those cats and see if they can continue showing off! Hey, hey, hey, I didn't tell you to pee now... Damn it!"
Along with a light exclamation, Lu Yibei threw a pure white, spiraling, exploding-liquid-spraying Little White Dog at the group of wild cats.
Thus, a series of mournful cat cries echoed in the alley.
The scattered cats looked back in terror, and for a moment they couldn't quite tell whether Lu Yibei or Little White Dog was the real dog.
The sky darkened.
Hua Xieyu dragged her tired body back to her dormitory at Huacheng Institute of Technology.
She opened the door, walked into the dormitory, and without turning on the light, she went straight to the bed, collapsed onto it, and stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.
I never expected that kid to be from the Night Watch...
That guy really wore me out today!
I originally thought I could take him down quickly, but now it seems I need to be prepared for a protracted battle. Hua Xieyu thought secretly.
Perhaps she was really exhausted today, and sleepiness came over her. Gradually, her eyelids began to feel heavy, and soon her vision was plunged into darkness.
Half-asleep, Hua Xieyu suddenly felt an indescribable force covering her body, invading her, and then pulling something within her whole out of her body.
Something was taken from her body...
Instantly, a soft, itching sensation, similar to the feeling of being at the highest point on a swing ride, stimulated her nerves.
Immediately after, scenes from many years ago appeared before her eyes.
She saw a group of teenagers with playful smiles on their lips surrounding her. Lu Yibei, with a youthful and tender face, passed by indifferently.
She saw Lu Yibei turn away coldly, and the boy named Mo Bai crying profusely in front of her. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
She saw herself glancing diagonally in the examination room, the bright morning sun falling on Lu Yibei's profile.
All of this, Hua Xieyu knew, was fabricated by that man, Yu Jianqiu's experiences.
These experiences, in her memory, should have only remained on paper in written form.
However, at this moment, all of this was presented before her eyes in a first-person perspective.
It was so real, so profound, as if it were something she had truly experienced herself.
And her experience of living a difficult life in Xiang Niangzi Cave, trying her best to look like a normal person, seemed like a dream that was fading away.
This feeling was quite strange and chilling.
A chill silently crept up Hua Xieyu's spine. She suddenly realized that if she ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ didn't wake up soon, the situation might become...
Very bad.
She began to try to stimulate her body's senses, attempting to break free from that half-asleep state.
For a brief few seconds, she felt as if she had woken up, but when she tried to get up, she realized that her body was completely unable to move.
She had experienced this feeling of her consciousness being awake while her body was still asleep, commonly known as "sleep paralysis."
More than once! She was quite experienced.
And to break free from the state of "sleep paralysis," just like climbing out of a pond onto the shore, one often needs a point of "leverage," a reason to wake up.
So, in an instant, Hua Xieyu's mind raced, and she quickly found a reason she had to wake up - she hadn't removed her makeup yet, and she couldn't just fall asleep like this!
Women like Hua Xieyu sometimes care about their faces more than anyone can imagine.
Thus, supported by this thought, a surprising force erupted within her, and she suddenly sat up from the bed.
As if she had come back to life.
"Huff... huff...!"
She sat on the bed, breathing heavily, cold sweat beading on her forehead, staring blankly at a corner of the room, her eyes vacant.
As if she had an illusion, the moment she got up, she seemed to have forgotten something important, and an inexplicable feeling of emptiness arose in her heart...
"..." Hua Xieyu was lost in thought for a long time, then curled her lip. "Forget it, should I remove my makeup first?"
In the alley, Lu Yibei walked on.
To avoid the sour smell of love that permeated the streets, she deliberately chose this shortcut, which was usually not taken after the night became long.
However, whether it was an illusion or not, she always felt that this alley was much longer than she remembered. She had been walking for a long time and still hadn't seen the end.
Logically, when walking at night, if she encountered this situation, she would definitely feel scared and immediately turn back the way she came.
But now,
As the Huacheng Monster King, she didn't think she could possibly encounter a "ghost wall."
Moreover, the urban legend that can create "ghost walls" usually distort the leyline energy of a small area to some extent.
And 99.9% of the leyline energy in Hua City is within the God Kingdom Prototype...
Simply put, without Lu Yibei's permission, it is almost impossible for a urban legend to create a "ghost wall" in Hua City... so
There's nothing to be afraid of at all!
Lu Yibei thought, shrugging her shoulders, and continued walking in the direction she remembered. Before she had gone far, a wisp of food aroma drifted over and entered her nostrils.
Following the direction of the scent, she could see the silhouette of a man in the window of a nearby residential building on the third floor, close to the alley.
That seemed to be the kitchen of that family, and the man was cooking dishes. She could vaguely hear him say with a smile, "Stinky kid, stop arguing, wait a moment, I'll be done right away!"
Lu Yibei looked at the man, Stunned for a moment, and her nose felt a little sore.
Seeing this scene brought back memories, and she missed her Old Dad a little, and also missed the dishes her Old Dad made.
If I could eat the dishes my Old Dad made, I would never play "love and magical girls" again!
Thinking of the interview records of the Night Watch agents about Liao Zhai Tavern that she had read in the afternoon, Lu Yibei half-jokingly and half-seriously had this thought, then looked up at the empty alley ahead and shook her head helplessly.
I knew it!
Even if I found a pattern, it wouldn't be that easy to make Liao Zhai Tavern appear.
There are so many people in this world who are willing to give up their hobbies in exchange for the delicious food of their memories, but not everyone has been to Liao Zhai Tavern, right?
Lu Yibei thought as she continued walking along the alley.
Then.
The moment she turned a corner, she suddenly smelled the aroma of wine, heard the noise of a tavern, and saw the lights ahead...
