Free Web NovelAfter hearing Lu Yibei's destination, Uncle Zhang Shan's first reaction was that she wanted to go somewhere in Hua City with "Yumen Pass" in its name.
Immediately after, he searched through the place names in Hua City in his mind. After confirming there was nowhere related to "Yumen Pass," he thought Lu Yibei was joking.
But soon, he looked at the girl in the back seat through the rearview mirror, and his brows gradually furrowed.
Who is this radio drama material Miss?
She's a Strange Tale!
From Hua City to Yumen Pass, a distance of several thousand kilometers, a normal person definitely wouldn't choose to go by taxi, but a Strange Tale might.
What can't a Strange Tale do?
After a brief silence, Uncle Zhang Shan rolled down the window, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and then, using the stimulation from the nicotine and tar, mustered the courage to say, "Sorry, I'm about to finish for the day at this time, so I'm not taking out-of-city trips."
As everyone knows, although taxis are a service industry, drivers also have the right to refuse passengers who make unreasonable requests!
"Is that so?" Lu Yibei tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said, "Then how about you finish for the day first? I'll provide the car, and you drive me there? The price is negotiable. Whatever car you like, I can get it for you."
The thought of immediately being able to use the ability she'd "borrowed" from Zhang Yu and perform her first public display made her eager to try, so excited she wanted to rub her hands together.
"Miss, you shouldn't talk big like that!" Uncle Zhang Shan pouted and said, "Then what if I said I wanted to control nine dragons pulling a coffin to fly you there?"
"..." Lu Yibei's eyelid twitched slightly. She said expressionlessly, "Uncle, you're already old. Can't you read fewer novels?"
"Heh!" Uncle Zhang Shan sneered, "If you can't, just say you can't. What's with all this..."
"If I really find it, can you control it? If you can, I'll find it now."
From a certain perspective, the coffin pulled by the nine dragons could also be considered a vehicle, and it wasn't impossible to try.
To be honest, Lu Yibei also wanted to test the limits of Zhang Yu's Spirit Mark 【Heroic Spirit Seed Spirit Mark · Roland's Horn】.
Zhang Yu could even summon a subway. Her Spiritual Energy fluctuation level was stronger than Zhang Yu's. If she used her full power, who knows what she might summon!
"Huh? What did you say?"
Hearing Lu Yibei's voice from behind, Uncle Zhang Shan froze in the driver's seat, his lips slightly parted, unable to speak for a long time. A thought was stirring in his mind, eager to emerge, but before it could take shape, he decisively extinguished it.
Some things, you really don't dare think about too deeply...
Lu Yibei ultimately didn't make things difficult for Uncle Zhang Shan, whom she hadn't seen in a long time. She just had Uncle Zhang Shan drive her to an old residential area about two kilometers away from Jingyi Apartment Complex.
This was the place where she first opened the entrance to the Liao Zhai Tavern.
After much thought, Lu Yibei still decided to go to Yumen Pass through the Liao Zhai Tavern.
Although, deep down, she still hoped Uncle Zhang Shan could drive her there, otherwise she wouldn't have made that kind of joke with Uncle Zhang Shan.
Besides Uncle Zhang Shan, she couldn't trust any driver she met during the journey.
After all, any driver could be that man!
However, Yumen Pass was so chaotic now. Besides large Spiritual Energy organizations like the Night Watch, the Eclipse Society, and the Miracle Order, there were also several small and medium-sized Spiritual Energy organizations with unknown origins trying to fish in troubled waters. What difference would it make to send Uncle Zhang Shan, an ordinary person, to such a place compared to sending him to his death?
Even if Uncle Zhang Shan agreed to take her to Yumen Pass out of consideration for their "friendship," she would probably find an excuse to have Uncle Zhang Shan return the way he came upon arriving in Dunhuang City, Longxi.
Lu Yibei still "loved" Uncle Zhang Shan very much, hoping he would be healthy, happy, and live a long life, and that every time she returned to Hua City, she could flag down his taxi with a wave.
Thinking this way, as if something difficult to describe had been touched, she felt a strange sense of joy, and her steps became lighter.
"If worst comes to worst... I'll just drive myself."
"Although I don't have a driver's license, in a place like the Gobi Desert, where driving straight in one direction for half an hour doesn't guarantee you'll hit an obstacle, what does it matter if you have a license or not?"
Lu Yibei muttered to herself as she followed the small path she took the first time she went to the Liao Zhai Tavern. Before she knew it, she looked up and saw the Liao Zhai Tavern's sign.
The Liao Zhai Tavern was not open today. The large red lanterns hanging on either side of the sign were not lit. The shop was brightly lit inside, but there were no customers, and the waiters were also absent. Only the shop's righteous rats were climbing up and down in groups, carrying various tools and construction debris.
In the center of the main hall, Boss Hu had shed his usual lazy appearance. He wore a safety helmet, rolled up his sleeves, and straddled a folding ladder like he was riding a horse, a few wooden wedges in his mouth and an iron hammer in his hand, tapping and hammering on the main beam.
It seemed the renovation work on the Liao Zhai Tavern was nearing completion.
"Boss Hu..."
Hearing someone call him, Boss Hu didn't even turn his head and said, "We're not open today. If the guest wants to eat, please come back in three days!"
After speaking, he seemed to remember something and frowned.
That's not right! We're clearly not open today, so where did the guest come from?
Normally speaking, if he, the Master of the Liao Zhai Tavern, had no intention of opening for business, no guest could find the Liao Zhai Tavern in any way.
Boss Hu suddenly turned his head. Upon seeing Lu Yibei's deathly pale face, his body trembled, and he almost fell off the folding ladder in fright.
After steadying himself, his emotions quickly went through three changes.
You scoundrel, you actually dare to appear before me again?
Seeing the culprit who caused the Liao Zhai Tavern, which had stood for a thousand years, to require a major overhaul appear before him, Boss Hu's first impulse was to throw the hammer in his hand at her face.
Strange! How did she get in? Who allowed her in?
The second before throwing the hammer, Boss Hu narrowed his eyes slightly.
Unbelievable.
It felt like a game account with a security key and SMS verification set up was inexplicably logged into from another location.
Isn't this a form of...
Wait!
Could it be that because she cooked Human Fireworks, she has gained a certain level of recognition from the Liao Zhai Tavern, allowing her to ignore certain restrictions?
After figuring this out, Boss Hu looked around the tavern, then looked at "Second Shopkeeper" Lu Yibei, and suddenly felt even more screwed.
Who was the one who collapsed the tavern?
It was her!
After the tavern collapsed, who was the one who spent time and effort to fix it?
It was him!
Now that he had fixed the tavern, he actually couldn't prohibit this annoying person from entering.
Is there anything more infuriating in the world than this?
This kind of thing is like working hard to complete a design, only to have to include some guy who only slacked off and even held things back when it came time for the signature.
"Haven't you learned everything you wanted to learn? What are you doing running back here?" Boss Hu asked coldly.
Although he initially wanted to leave the Liao Zhai Tavern to Lu Yibei and use his remaining limited time to find his benefactor, now that Lu Yibei had cooked Human Fireworks, which gave him a breath of fresh air, he felt capable again and could wait two more years as agreed before setting off.
"Um, about that..." Lu Yibei scratched the back of her head and said weakly, "I've run into something recently and must go to Yumen Pass, so I wanted to ask Boss Hu for a favor and give me a ride."
Hearing this, Boss Hu's face darkened, and he low-key shouted, "Why are you all like this, one after another?! This is a tavern, not a relay station!"
"Actually, relay stations often also function as taverns..." Lu Yibei glanced at Boss Hu stealthily and muttered softly. Before she finished speaking, the sound of wind whistled past her ear.
An iron hammer whistled through the air.
She slightly shifted her body, caught the hammer with one hand, and smoothly put it into her bag.
How could a hammer used to renovate the Liao Zhai Tavern be ordinary?
Would an ordinary hammer have patterns similar to a solidified Spell?
Although she didn't know what it was for, since it was delivered to her doorstep, she shouldn't refuse it!
Boss Hu already didn't like Lu Yibei. Seeing this action of hers, he was immediately so angry his liver hurt. He held his forehead and said in a deep voice, "You want to go to Yumen Pass, right?"
"Uh-huh, that's right!" Lu Yibei nodded.
"Fine, I'll send you there right now. Get lost!" Boss Hu growled through clenched teeth. With a wave of his hand, a fierce wind howled.
As if riding a small boat thrown into the sky by a storm, Lu Yibei, caught in the gale, felt the world spin.
After a long while, just as Lu Yibei felt her intestines starting to knot and her brain was about to be shaken loose, dry and cold air hit her. The next moment, a sharp pain struck her back.
It felt as if thousands of blades were slashing across her back.
In the Gobi Desert, there is a very unique landform called salt crust land.
It is formed by the deposition and solidification of salt and alkali from water after a lake dries up.
Under the scorching sun during the day, high temperatures cause these extremely hard salt crusts to gradually bulge, reaching heights between thirty centimeters and one meter, like sharp long knives. Sometimes, vehicles crossing the Gobi Desert that pass over the salt crust land carelessly will have their chassis scraped and tires punctured.
The Gobi Desert is so vast, yet Boss Hu specifically threw her into this godforsaken place. Lu Yibei had reason to suspect Boss Hu did it on purpose...
What's meant to be will be; if it's misfortune, there's no escaping it.
The mischief she caused with Inspector Xing Yuan ultimately resulted in retribution from Boss Hu.
Or perhaps... she was disliked in both places?
"It's just a hammer, isn't it? Is there a need for this? How stingy! Hiss—!"
Lu Yibei twisted her body and sat up from the ground. She casually took out the hammer she had swiped from Boss Hu and glanced at it. The resentment in her heart immediately dissipated quite a bit.
After all, she had freeloaded a Spiritual Energy item of unknown use. Suffering a little physical pain was harmless.
If suffering this degree of physical pain each time meant she could freeload a Spiritual Energy item, probably many Psychic and urban legend would become masochists.
The night was deep. Under the night sky was the boundless Gobi Desert. Everything seemed silent: yellow sand, gravel, withered trees. It was as if it had undergone a disaster, or perhaps not, merely reaching the end of its lifespan and gradually decaying. freewebnσvel.cѳm
Lu Yibei stood up, looked around, and then... started to space out.
Although, with Boss Hu's "help," she reached her destination in just a few minutes.
It was less like traveling from Hua City to the Gobi Desert and more like going from home to next door.
But what about after arriving?
The Gobi Desert was so vast, where should she go? Should she first look for Nanling Yaohua, or first look for the guy impersonating her?
In silence, she took out the bao sang cang xiao badge, infused it with Spiritual Energy, and sent a message to Inspector Xing Yuan.
"Hello, is this Superintendent Adult?"
"..." Inspector Xing Yuan reacted briefly, then said coldly, "Speak. What is it now?"
"Cough cough!" Lu Yibei cleared her throat and straightened her back, "Special Investigator, Lu Qingyi is in position. I am in Yumen Pass. Please give instructions, Superintendent Adult!"
As her voice fell, Inspector Xing Yuan was taken aback.
She just left an hour ago, and she's already at Yumen Pass?
How is she so fast?
Are you changing your IP address on me?
After being stunned for a while, she realized that Lu Yibei might have used the power of the Liao Zhai Tavern. She collected herself and said calmly, "Wait. I'll send you the potentially useful information later!"
Twenty minutes later.
Her phone rang. Lu Yibei received an email from Jin Jiao sent through the Night Watch's internal network.
I have to say, the Night Watch's efficiency in logistics support is indeed high. Her Hundred Flowers Maiden sand sculpture had just finished a pair of twin ponytails...
Opening the email attachment and quickly browsing through it, she soon found the satellite positioning link for Nanling Yaohua's base.
The location was near a peak called Kulun Ridge, about ninety kilometers from here...
"A mere one hundred and twenty kilometers isn't too far!" Lu Yibei said dismissively, pouting.
In the Gobi Desert, as long as the weather is good, you have a suitable vehicle, and you find the right direction, driving ninety kilometers doesn't take long, let alone flying a jet.
That's right, a jet!
Since she could already summon vehicles, why not summon a faster one?
So, Lu Yibei confidently waved her small hand, activated the Spirit Mark ability borrowed from Zhang Yu, and lightly called out, "Plane, come!"
As her voice fell, she clearly felt a slight consumption of Spiritual Energy.
Then.
Nothing happened.
"Uh, a jet is indeed a bit much. Let's be more normal and just summon an off-road vehicle." Lu Yibei muttered awkwardly, then waved her small hand again, consuming Spiritual Energy.
Then.
Still nothing happened.
Looking at the empty Gobi Desert, Lu Yibei was immediately unhappy. She angrily sent a questioning message to Zhang Yu using the Retainer Mark.
"Seriously, big brother! What's up with this Spirit Mark ability of yours? How come it can't summon anything?"
The Spiritual Energy was clearly consumed, but nothing was summoned. How is this different from spending money on a blind box and getting an empty one?
Soon, Zhang Yu replied, "Adult, you may not know, but the premise for my Spirit Mark ability to summon vehicles is that I must have driven it at least once."
"Huh?" Lu Yibei tilted her head, "You mean you've driven a subway?"
"Yes." Zhang Yu said, "I once drove Line 1 for half a month."
"..." In silence, Lu Yibei's eyes lost their light.
Her mech dream was suddenly shattered.
Anyway, she was definitely not going to be ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) able to summon banshees and unicorns in this lifetime.
Ten minutes later.
A girl who had lost her dream drove an old large truck towards Kulun Ridge.
She drove recklessly all the way, as if someone owed her money...
