Free Web NovelLu Yibei knew very well that in a perilous place like Yumen Pass, she should ideally remain vigilant at all times. She wasn't that Guardian girl, possessing neither Calamity-level strength nor a body stranger than urban legend. If she fell asleep, she might never wake up.
Yet, she ultimately fell asleep, while contemplating matters like Fang Ji and the Miracle Order, Bai Kai and Nanling Yaohua, Half-Guitan and the Eclipse Society, and so on.
Unconsciously, her eyelids grew heavy, her head felt muddled, even dizzy and nauseous, somewhat like the uncontrollable urge to fall unconscious from extreme fatigue.
Then, her eyelids suddenly drooped, and her consciousness seemed to disconnect, plunging into darkness.
It was unknown how much time had passed when the dance music played by the huqin and pipa entered her ears, startling Lu Yibei awake from her slumber.
Her consciousness had just emerged from a deathly silence, and before she could even open her eyes, she felt an intense burning pain in them.
It was as if molten lava was churning and boiling within her Eyeballs.
Lu Yibei even felt that if she opened her eyes now, fire might spray from her pupils.
An ominous premonition, like a creeping insect in the darkness, quietly climbed into her heart.
Based on past experience, burning eyes meant seeing dangerous things that ordinary people couldn't, and the higher the degree of burning, the higher the danger.
And the current degree of burning in her eyes indicated that the danger level was off the charts.
Lu Yibei didn't want to open her eyes at first, wanting to continue pretending to be asleep, to avoid the danger that had descended nearby, until the intense burning pain dissipated on its own...
The girl had been living here for such a long time without any accidents, indicating that although there was something extremely dangerous hidden or present in this place, it wouldn't actively attack.
However, reality always turns out contrary to expectations.
The burning sensation in her eyes persisted, not only showing no signs of dissipating but intensifying, continuously stimulating her nerves, making them spin and jump along with the rhythm of the dance music echoing in her ears.
When this state lasted for a long time, the whispers and wails she had heard in the wind when she first approached Yumen Pass seemed to echo in her ears once more.
The suffocating pain and despair within them boiled, stirring up waves.
Lu Yibei, “...” So I have to look, or else you’ll torment me?!
She suddenly felt as if she had encountered a burly man who had stopped her halfway, insisting on showing her something “not suitable for minors.”
At such a time, resistance was useless.
If she tried to resist, she would only be knocked down by the burly man’s punch, then have her eyelids forcibly pried open, and be compelled to watch while enduring torment.
Since resistance was futile, she could only find a way to find pleasure and enjoy it.
If she really did grow to like it, perhaps they could switch roles, making the “burly man” unable to bear it?
Thinking this, Lu Yibei took a deep breath, adjusted her emotions, and abruptly opened her eyes.
In an instant, the chaotic sounds in her ears seemed to be paused, briefly falling into a deathly silence.
Light entered her vision, an orange-yellow color, seemingly candlelight, enveloped in a layer of mist.
The burning sensation in her eyes began to subside.
In her vision, the scenery, blurred and hazy from the tears caused by the burning pain, gradually became clear, as if a gauze curtain had been gently lifted.
After waiting a few seconds, once her vision was completely clear, Lu Yibei composed herself, looked around, and her expression gradually grew serious.
Inside the room, the somewhat empty space was divided by a wooden screen. On one side of the screen were tables and chairs, and landscape paintings hung on the four walls. On the other side were the bed and dressing table. The girl on the bed was sleeping soundly, as if she didn't know, or perhaps didn't care about the changes happening around her.
Brass oil lamps hung around the room, their bright flames flickering in the lamp holders.
Lu Yibei clearly remembered that before she fell asleep, the entire room was pitch black.
Although the candles and oil lamps in the room could still be used, to avoid the light attracting any dangerous entities, she and the girl had tacitly agreed not to light them.
But now, all those oil lamps were lit, illuminating the entire room as if it were daytime.
Who could have lit them? Was it the urban legend she saw next door earlier? Lu Yibei wondered.
Just as she was pondering, a commotion came from outside the door.
“Quick, quick, send the wine to Master Lin San, or he’ll get angry if it’s late...”
“Oh, you’ve finally decided to come see me...”
“The autumn moon is round like a mirror,” “The autumn wind is sharp like a knife.” “Autumn... Autumn...”
“Can’t connect it, can you? Drink!”
“...”
From the sound, it seemed there were many people outside.
There were voices urging servants to serve wine to guests, complaints from long-unseen lovers, several people playing drinking games together, and laughter, dance music, and the clinking of cups, dishes, and bowls...
It was as if all the guests who had left an unknown time ago had returned on this late night.
It was incredibly lively.
Perhaps with some things not suitable for young urban legend.
“...”
The nightlife of people a thousand years ago?
Professor Ma would probably like this place...
However, this was not the time to think about such things; trouble might be coming. Lu Yibei thought.
In her opinion, there would likely be two scenarios if she pushed the door open now.
The first was that everything outside was merely an illusion; she could see scenes from a late night in the distant past, but those people from the past could not perceive her existence.
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The other was more terrifying; it was very likely that as soon as she opened the door, she would see a room full of urban legend, like the bathhouse in “Spirited Away,” but most likely an R18 version.
Perhaps she would even be dragged to bathe the River God, and if she didn’t do a good job, the girl accompanying her would be turned into a big fat pig.
Although the girl was already sleeping like a pig, and she didn't care if the girl turned into a fat pig, that is...
Thinking this, Lu Yibei glanced at the sleeping girl, then looked towards the door. At that moment, the door suddenly opened.
With a soft creak, a middle-aged woman dressed in coarse cloth entered the room, carrying a tray filled with spices. She walked directly to the incense burner in the corner of the room, opened its lid, carefully added various spices, lit them, then picked up the tray and turned to leave.
Lu Yibei watched silently from the side, momentarily forgetting to breathe. Only when the woman had left and the sound of the door closing echoed did she slowly exhale a breath of stale air.
She stood in the center of the room, and the middle-aged woman came and went in a hurry, seemingly completely unaware of her presence.
Thus, it seemed to be the first scenario?
Everything appearing outside now was an illusion?
Lu Yibei pondered for a moment. Upon smelling the rich fragrance emanating from the incense burner, her eyebrows subtly lifted as if she had suddenly thought of something. She quickly walked to an oil lamp and gently blew on it.
“Whoosh...”
Her thin lips parted lightly, a gentle breeze blew, and the flame was stirred, flickering for a moment.
Holy crap! It actually worked? How did she do it? Lu Yibei’s eyes first flashed with surprise, but then her gaze became cunning.
She had once seen a question on a certain forum—if everyone in the world couldn’t see you, what would you do?
Although she hadn’t answered that question at the time, when she saw it, she had already imagined a series of answers that were enough to send one to hell.
Now, the opportunity had come for her to put those answers into action!
Anyway, she was just idling, and it was quite boring. Why not find something to do for herself and for everyone present?
If she was lucky, she might even hear some explosive and useful things from them, Lu Yibei thought secretly.
————
Leaving the room, she leaned against the wall and cautiously went downstairs. The noise in her ears instantly increased by a level.
In the vast main hall, lights blazed. On the stage, several young women in gauze dresses danced gracefully. At circular tables, deep-featured foreign merchants, scholars wearing headscarves, border soldiers in tight-fitting attire... various “people” gathered together.
Drunken singing and wild dancing, cups clinking and flowing.
Joyful music drifted through the air, mixed with the scent of wine and incense.
Everything seemed to tell a story: here, Yumen Pass, once had a rather prosperous time.
Initially, Lu Yibei was worried about being discovered and acted cautiously, quietly watching from a corner, not daring to move.
To better blend in, she even had her Coat transform to resemble the bare-shouldered long dress and large-sleeved gauze robe from “Ladies Wearing Flowers.”
But as time passed, realizing that those “people” truly couldn’t see her, she gradually became more unrestrained.
Sometimes, she would grab a handful of incense ash and sprinkle it into the wine and dishes in the hands of a passing servant.
Other times, she would sit in an empty seat at a scholar’s table and quietly refill the cup of a unlucky fellow who had just lost a drinking game and finished a drink, making his companions question him.
Or, she would follow a courtesan, sneak into an elegant private room on the second floor, and eavesdrop on those “masters” discussing unsavory matters.
She was like a wild dog off its leash, charging into the crowd, frolicking back and forth.
And a wild dog that no one could see.
However, happiness is always fleeting. Soon, the joy these actions brought her dissipated because those “people” wouldn't interact with her.
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Those “people” couldn’t see her. Even when they were tricked, they had some reactions, but it always felt unrelated to her, making it meaningless.
From a certain perspective, this kind of thing is like arguing with someone: it’s only interesting when there’s back-and-forth, like a rapper battle. If one person keeps spewing insults and the other completely gives up, constantly saying “yeah, right,” then the argument can’t happen.
———— ƒrēewebnovel.com
When she was tired of playing, she returned to her room on the third floor. Before she even entered, Lu Yibei heard a chorus of flirtatious laughter that made one's face flush and heart pound.
Lu Yibei, “...”
Right, this was a brothel.
Although there was a saying back then that performers sold their art, not their bodies, and prostitutes couldn’t be forced if they were unwilling, if it was voluntary, the situation was different. That meant something might be happening inside right now...
Holy crap, live broadcast! Is this for real?
Lu Yibei thought excitedly, tiptoeing to push ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) the door open. After just one glance, she backed out.
Although the disheveled man and woman on the bed were indeed as she had imagined, the scene was alluring, but the fact that they seemed oblivious to the girl sleeping soundly on the corpse on the bed, pressing down on her, was another matter entirely.
The art style was too bizarre!
Like a ♦ horror movie...
Lu Yibei rubbed her temples, muttering to herself in the hallway. Just then, a conversation reached her ears.
“General... I heard you... the envoy from Chang’an today... won’t there be a problem?”
“If there is, there is. Anyone who heard his words would kill him!”
“What did he say?”
“He said...” The man was silent for a moment, then sighed, “He said that the fight against the Shaman King should just be for show. Being too serious would only exhaust the people and waste resources...”
Lu Yibei frowned upon hearing this and looked in the direction of the sound, realizing it was coming from the room where she had seen the urban legend...
