Free Web NovelPassing through the weathered, bleached gate, Lu Yibei stopped at the entrance, turned around, and looked up at the faded sign, tilting her head.
Xia Lianqing seemed to have said before that this place was called Daimu Courtyard?
Muttering to herself, Lu Yibei withdrew her gaze and walked down the stone steps in front of the gate to the street. As if sensing something, she paused, then slowly looked up at the sky and murmured, “This senior is really unreliable...”
Although Lord Huaiyuan told her that within Yumen Pass, there was no distinction between day and night, and it was almost always shrouded in darkness, only after seeing it herself did she realize that there was actually a slight difference.
A very subtle difference.
In fact, with careful observation, one can find that even if it's the same night, there are differences; the sky just after dusk is definitely not as oppressive and dark as the early morning.
And the difference in the sky between day and night within Yumen Pass is roughly the difference between seven or eight o'clock at night and midnight.
Perhaps because Yumen Pass, in addition to being a border defense city, is essentially a God Kingdom, the entire city's area is much larger than Lu Yibei had imagined before entering Yumen Pass. Looking around, she couldn't even see the dozens of meters high city walls at the edge of the pass.
It's completely different from the existing city pass ruins; its scale even rivals a medium-sized city in modern society.
Of course, this could also be because, as time has passed, the existing city pass ruins only have the pass itself remaining, while the surrounding residences, farmlands, and so on have long been swallowed by the river of history, and Yumen Pass, through the power of the God Kingdom, has preserved these intact.
“...”
I wonder how I crossed such a long distance and arrived directly at the heart of Yumen Pass when I was sucked into the city gate earlier.
Was it like a meteor, streaking across the sky and falling down?
What a pity, I clearly had a chance to experience the feeling of flying... Lu Yibei thought. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Following the path she remembered walking with Xia Lianqing, she proceeded down the street, and everything in sight was shrouded in shadow.
On both sides of the street, wide enough for five horses abreast, the scattered buildings, tall and short, had been abandoned for a long time. Their doors and windows were broken, and inside, it was pitch black, as if they were ferocious gaping mouths ready to devour people. freewebnovel.cσ๓
In the open space in front of the buildings, some fragmented wooden pieces were scattered on the ground, long indistinguishable from their original form, covered with a layer of black, viscous substance. The outlines of skeletons could vaguely be seen beneath that viscous layer.
But Lu Yibei knew, she had seen it with her own eyes.
There was a small tea stall, and a long, long time ago, a Little Girl stood in front of it, excitedly handing her “fortune” earned from selling flowers to her grandfather.
I wonder what happened to them later?
Before the Shaman King entered the city, did they get news in advance and escape Yumen Pass?
Could the vaguely visible skeletons under the small tea stall ruins be those of the Little Girl and her grandfather? Have the grandfather and granddaughter accompanied each other like this for thousands of years?
And that foot massage shop, its doors and windows were actually smashed. I wonder which bastard did that.
I also wonder if the honest young man from the spice shop next door and that fierce, somewhat tsundere girl, ended up together.
...
The street was empty, desolate, and lifeless, with only the faint sound of heart-wrenching screams carried by the breeze from afar. It was probably some unlucky soul who had encountered the bloodthirsty Shaman King.
But for Lu Yibei, who had personally seen this street in the distant past, the feeling of walking on it was very subtle.
It was very lively.
It had the feeling of when she was a child, going camping with her Old Dad in the suburbs, and on the way back, coincidentally encountering a market day.
Many people have encountered such a strange phenomenon: there are places they have never been to, but when they visit them for the first time, they feel as if they had lived there at some point, leaving their footprints in every place and every corner.
Some say it's a memory from a past life, suddenly awakened under specific conditions.
So, in my case... I guess I didn't drink Meng Po's soup, right? Lu Yibei thought.
————
The small courtyard that a friend entrusted Xia Lianqing to look after was less than three kilometers from Daimu Courtyard. Although Lu Yibei walked at a leisurely pace, stopping now and then, it only took her about ten minutes to arrive at the small courtyard.
Looking up, she was slightly startled.
After seeing the tragic state of Xia Lianqing's urban legend in Daimu Courtyard, she had expected this small courtyard, left unattended, to be as dilapidated as the shops along the street she had passed. Yet, to her surprise, this small courtyard was unexpectedly well-preserved.
It looked as if someone had lived there only one or two hundred years ago.
Although, by common understanding, a building uninhabited for one °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° or two hundred years would also be quite old, it was still much better preserved than those shops that had been vacant for thousands of years.
“...”
Could it be that, like Daimu Courtyard, urban legend once resided here?
Who could it be?
Was it those Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers?
Thinking this, Lu Yibei couldn't help but become more vigilant. Then, with a thought, she allowed the Lingtai Pure Karma armor to cover her entire body.
Immediately after, as she prepared to retrieve the Xuanying Luofu from her God Kingdom Prototype, she suddenly froze.
The channel connecting to the God Kingdom Prototype couldn't be opened; it seemed to be restricted by some force.
Although after a brief thought, Lu Yibei realized that it was natural for a nested operation like opening a God Kingdom within a God Kingdom to be restricted.
This kind of thing is like trying to play Super Mario in a real-time strategy game.
Could it work? No, it couldn't!
But as soon as she thought that she couldn't open the God Kingdom Prototype, her heart immediately sank by half.
Her Xuanying Luofu, Paper Cicada Immortal, and a pile of miscellaneous talismans and Alchemy potions were all in the God Kingdom Prototype. Now, she couldn't take them out. Although it wouldn't make her lose combat effectiveness, suddenly losing several “skills” would be somewhat unaccustomed.
Moreover, she had originally planned to throw out that fake Disaster as a meat shield to help her block attacks if necessary.
Lu Yibei thought, her gaze inadvertently sweeping past the front of the small courtyard's gate, then quickly sweeping back, focusing on the red dot on the ground, frowning, “Hmm? What's that...”
She bent down and touched the red dot on the ground with her fingertip, then brought it to her nose to sniff. A smell of blood immediately rushed into her nostrils.
As expected, it was bloodstains, and fresh ones at that, even a bit damp.
Lu Yibei pondered for two seconds, then gently placed her hand on the wooden door of the small courtyard and pushed it tentatively. The small door opened silently. As her gaze peered behind the door, her breath hitched slightly.
Inside the small courtyard, scattered bloodstains snaked into a trail, extending deep into the courtyard.
“...”
Someone entered the small courtyard before me and was seriously injured...
Probabilistically speaking, that person probably doesn't know what happened in this small courtyard. Entering here might be due to a conflict with a hostile Spiritual Energy organization or an attack by the Shaman King...
And my entry into the small courtyard would be a low-probability event for that person. Coupled with their injury, if I use these two points to ambush them, I can basically subdue them successfully...
After briefly analyzing the situation, Lu Yibei sent a message to her Coat via the Familiar Mark, hiding her Spiritual Energy fluctuations and aura, then exited the main entrance of the small courtyard.
Although she didn't know if the person hiding in the small courtyard was an enemy, she had no intention of “striking while the iron is hot.”
But in a ghostly place like Yumen Pass, encountering such a situation, it's always right to strike first and control that person!
Thinking this, Lu Yibei's figure flickered, silently leaping over the courtyard wall and sneaking into the small courtyard.
As soon as she landed and steadied herself, before she even had time to explore, she saw the scene inside the courtyard and froze.
Behind the courtyard wall, a graceful, curvaceous figure lay in a pool of blood, most of her white dress stained crimson. On her fair ankles peeking out from beneath her skirt, a string of bronze bells was faintly visible...
Lu Yibei, who almost threw a Spell, “???”
What the hell? Is it Xiao Hua? Why is Xiao Hua here?
