Free Web NovelIn Lan Yue Cave, behind Da Chunyang Palace.
Zhang Huainan, dressed in a plain long robe, sat upright by the window, bathed in moonlight. As he breathed in and out, wisps of free-floating Spiritual Energy converged into moon-white threads, like dreamy mist, swirling and lingering around his mouth and nose.
Faint footsteps came from behind him. He opened his tightly closed eyes slightly, and without turning around, spoke, “Old friend? What brings you to my place in the middle of the night?”
Behind him, a solemn-faced girl in a white dress, who appeared to be about twelve or thirteen, said in a flat tone, “I wish to ask Black Emperor to activate Zixiao Platform.”
As she spoke, she walked forward, opened the document bag in her hand, and handed a document to Zhang Huainan.
Mountain City was currently shrouded in a dense fog created by Maitian God, and several high-level urban legend were engaged in battle. Even if Night Watch wanted to send reinforcements, it would be safer with fire support.
Seeing the crimson ‘Grim Reaper Owl’ mark at the top of the document, Zhang Huainan frowned slightly, took the document, and as his gaze swept over its contents, his slightly narrowed eyes gradually widened.
“There are actually three Calamity level urban legend’ auras appearing in Mountain City, and one of them is...”
Mid-sentence, as if he was wary of something, Zhang Huainan suddenly fell silent. freewёbnoνel.com
“That’s right.” Nameless Book nodded, as if deliberately preventing Zhang Huainan from evading, and said, “The Calamity level urban legend with the codename Zero that appeared in the car accident where Unmyouki went missing.”
Although Night Watch had very few details about the specific circumstances of that car accident, according to the reports from Night Watch agents who went to investigate the scene, there were at least two residual Calamity level Spiritual Energy fluctuations present.
One of the slightly weaker ones came from Lu Ming; Night Watch’s archives contained records of his Spiritual Energy fluctuation characteristics. The other, however, came from a urban legend that had never been recorded in Night Watch’s archives, nor could any related legends about the origin of its authority be found.
That urban legend seemed to appear out of thin air in the rainy night, took Lu Ming away, and then disappeared silently.
This was very strange, and terrifying to ponder!
Unknown enemies are often frightening. When they first discovered that Spiritual Energy fluctuation, many Night Watch members were once gripped by panic.
Theoretically, the authority of any urban legend or Psychic can be traced back to a corresponding origin, whether it’s a myth, an urban legend, or a certain phenomenon; there are always clues to follow.
And it is precisely because of these traceable clues that Night Watch is able to make targeted preparations, thereby minimizing casualties when dealing with related urban legend incidents.
There are only two situations for authority with no traceable origin.
The first is that the origin of such authority does not exist within the cognitive range of most people. Its appearance as a Calamity level urban legend is merely a brief moment, like a comet that only visits the night sky once every few decades or centuries.
The second is that the urban legend’s power is too immense to discern the object symbolized by its authority from the residual Spiritual Energy fluctuations.
Through analysis of the residual Spiritual Energy fluctuation samples brought back from the scene, Night Watch’s research personnel leaned more towards the first scenario.
From the analysis results, that Calamity level urban legend’s Spiritual Energy fluctuation was extremely unstable.
From the moment of the car accident until the residual Spiritual Energy fluctuation sample was brought back to Night Watch’s Southwest District Headquarters for analysis, without any artificial catalysis, it completely dissipated in just 68 hours, 32 minutes, and 7 seconds. The remaining night erosion was even lower than that of a C-level urban legend.
This bizarre phenomenon also indirectly proved that the Calamity level urban legend could not exist in this world for a long time; the evil only appeared briefly when certain specific conditions were met.
It was only after confirming that the Calamity level urban legend would not appear frequently that the dark cloud hanging over the hearts of the Night Watch agents involved in the investigation gradually dissipated.
...
Retrieving his thoughts, Zhang Huainan looked at Nameless Book and said with a smile, “I understand. I will set off for Zixiao Platform now. However, before that, there is one thing I do not understand, and I hope you can enlighten me.”
“Please speak,” Nameless Book said.
“You should have been guarding the headquarters archives earlier, right?” Zhang Huainan asked. “Since you were at the headquarters, why didn’t you just use ‘Crimson Bow,’ ‘Myriad Dance,’ or directly contact me to inform me of the situation?”
“Even asking our good ally for help and borrowing the White God’s Staff would be much faster than traveling all this way just to come to me, wouldn’t it?”
It was a matter that could be resolved in five or ten minutes, yet it took an hour. Nameless Book’s action of using distant water to put out a nearby fire was perplexing.
“Because...” A small white worm briefly flashed through Nameless Book’s mind, then she composed herself, and with a slight upward tilt of her eyes, said, “The Disaster is there, and Black Emperor wouldn’t want her to get hurt, would he?”
Zhang Huainan, “...”
I knew it! The reappearance of that sinister urban legend is probably related to that kid!
I shouldn’t have asked that extra question!
Indeed, whether it’s the Crimson Bow, Myriad Dance, or the White God’s Staff of the White God Group, although they possess the ability to strike urban legend from ultra-long range, similar to Zixiao Platform, what differentiates them from Zixiao Platform is that while they lower the usage requirements to facilitate activation by multiple Guardians, their accuracy also significantly decreases.
If Nameless Book operating the Crimson Bow could limit the strike range to within two kilometers of Jiaochangkou Subway Station, then Zixiao Platform, personally operated by Zhang Huainan, could be precise enough to draw a “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” on the road near Jiaochangkou Subway Station with lightning.
This is the difference between general-purpose and specialized!
“I understand.” Zhang Huainan stood up, cupped his hands to Nameless Book, “Thank you for informing me. I will now go to Zixiao Platform.”
With that, he left Nameless Book and hurried out of Lan Yue Cave, heading straight for Zixiao Platform.
————
Deep within Chunfeng Residence in Tang City.
“Turtle Elder, how much longer do you think Lord Ju Meng will need to resolve this crisis?” Tan the Wealthy looked at the items collected from the Taoyuan residents displayed on the warehouse shelves, watching them turn into dust one by one, and worriedly said, “If this continues, we’ll have to initiate a second round of fundraising, but... sigh!”
As Taoyuan residents who had been protected by Ju Meng for generations, they would never have any complaints about contributing their strength when Ju Meng needed it, even if it meant great sacrifice.
But this limit probably only extended to the point of great sacrifice. freewēbnoveℓ.com
During the first round of fundraising, the people of Taoyuan were very active; almost everyone they could contact immediately brought out their valuable possessions. Some residents not only contributed money but even brought out Spiritual Energy items that had accompanied them for many years.
Next, Taoyuan would likely usher in a long period of frugality.
Under such circumstances, if there were another round of fundraising, it would truly be asking for their “lives.”
At that time, it would be inevitable for some people to have negative thoughts, and in severe cases, it might even cause Ju Meng’s authority to be tainted with a trace of degradation and corruption.
After all, among the many Taoyuan residents, only a very small portion were “fanatics” like Turtle Elder and Tan the Wealthy, who would follow Ju Meng to their deaths.
Since ancient times, in Z Country’s myths and legends, gods protected their people, and the people would offer sacrifices within their means. If a god strayed from the path, there were also examples of people rebelling against evil gods.
“...” Turtle Elder puffed on his pipe with a solemn expression, pondered for a long time, then waved his hand, “There’s no need to trouble them. I will bear the burden for now. If what I have isn’t enough, then we’ll inform them for fundraising.”
Saying that, Turtle Elder stood up, walked into the warehouse, and came to a relatively spacious open area. He took out a palm-sized dark gray turtle shell from his bosom and placed it on the ground.
As soon as the turtle shell touched the ground, it grew with the wind, reaching two zhang in a breath.
On the rock-like turtle shell, ravines crisscrossed, subtly outlining natural incantations, and a heavy, earthy scent permeated the air.
This turtle shell was part of Turtle Elder’s original body before he became a urban legend, containing authority of the same origin as him. When he became a urban legend and transformed into human form, he shed the turtle shell, which then became an A+ level Spiritual Energy item and developed a subtle connection with him.
If he were to advance to Calamity one day, this turtle shell might also become a Calamity level Spiritual Energy item in one go.
From a certain perspective, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this turtle shell was his backup urban legend core.
This way, it should be able to help Lord Ju Meng hold on for another hour or so, right? Turtle Elder thought, his gaze falling on the turtle shell that had accompanied him for so many years, and his eyes suddenly reddened.
In truth, if it could help Ju Meng, he would not have any complaints, even if it meant such a cost.
However, the thought that Ju Meng was with the Disaster, and likely in crisis because of the Disaster, suddenly made his heart ache.
That feeling was like raising a child with great difficulty, only to be exploited and drained, and even having to sell the ancestral home to help him buy a house and get married—it was too ♦ painful!
With such feelings, Turtle Elder stared unblinkingly at his “treasure” for fifteen minutes, gradually frowning, and finally, a hint of surprise appeared in his somewhat cloudy eyes.
His treasure had not been “consumed” by Ju Meng; not even a trace of Spiritual Energy had been lost.
It seemed that this “wild spending” that had almost brought crisis to Taoyuan had stopped...
————
At the top of Mountain City 101 Building.
Night Watch’s reinforcements were coming? Void was momentarily stunned by Nameless Book’s reminder echoing in his mind, but quickly came back to his senses.
Then he had to leave quickly.
It wouldn’t be good if he ran into Night Watch’s reinforcements and caused any misunderstandings. Void thought.
Immediately after, he jumped down from the signal tower, walked a few steps, and came to the fiber optic junction box on the rooftop. Just as he was about to slip away into the fiber optic cable, a flash of lightning suddenly streaked across the sky.
The dazzling lightning pierced through the dense fog, instantly coating more than half of Mountain City with a silvery glow. The next second, thunder roared, and a tyrannical yet solemn aura, like a spear thrown by a god, directly penetrated the body and soul, leaving one without a shred of courage to gaze directly at that lightning.
“Could this be... Zixiao Platform?” Void’s eyes lit up. “Good heavens! I thought it was over, but is the easter egg more exciting than the main feature?”
In the course of his intelligence work, he had heard of Zixiao Platform’s renown more than once, but he had never had the opportunity to /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ witness Zixiao Platform’s long-range strike in person. Now that he finally had a chance to see it, how could he resist?
Thus, he made a decision that violated Nameless Book’s warning...
