Free Web NovelIn the silence, Gu Qianqian, who had expended immense effort to escape from the God Kingdom Prototype, looked down at Lu Yibei's expressionless face and immediately went into a state of mental shutdown.
In her opinion, if the system were still by her side, it might be able to help her come up with ideas to contend with the Disaster, but encountering the Disaster alone meant she could only be bullied. Countless past hellish experiences had already proven this point.
“I should have escaped sooner...” Gu Qianqian thought, feeling wronged.
In fact, she had analyzed the method to leave the God Kingdom Prototype from Wang Yingying's words half a day earlier.
At that time, Wang Yingying had said to the woman who resembled the system, “Xiao Bei’s master wants to go to Banshan Elementary School, to find the hundred and first hand of the big banyan tree. That’s a locked door, the red is very hot. Opening the door will lead to a world full of food...”
The woman clearly didn't understand the meaning, but Gu Qianqian almost immediately grasped what Wang Yingying was trying to convey.
As for why she could understand...
Perhaps it was because her mindset was similar to Wang Yingying's, allowing her to connect with Wang Yingying's brainwaves?
After finding the method to leave the God Kingdom Prototype, Gu Qianqian spent most of another day waiting for Qingji to pick up Wang Yingying from school in the afternoon, and for Xuan Yingluofu to «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» get busy with the restaurant business, before finding an opportunity to escape Peony Street. She then went into hiding at Banshan Elementary School, dodging and weaving all the way.
She only escaped when the aura of the Disaster, detected through the hundred and first reddish branch at the top of the strange big banyan tree in Banshan Elementary School within the God Kingdom Prototype, disappeared.
However, what she didn't expect was that as soon as she left the God Kingdom Prototype, she was immediately “captured” on the spot by the Disaster. Although she was currently holding the Disaster, she had indeed been captured by the Disaster...
Such a coincidence, even for someone as innocent as Gu Qianqian, she detected a hint of conspiracy.
That's right, she just felt that all of this was a conspiracy set up by the Disaster to bully her.
Void watched Gu Qianqian silently from the side, somewhat wanting to laugh.
Just how afraid of the Disaster is this fellow?
Her expression was just like a student who had climbed over the school wall to go online, and upon jumping down from the wall, landed squarely on the shoulders of the dean of students.
After a moment of silence, Void finally suppressed its laughter and said to Gu Qianqian, “Don’t worry! The Disaster won’t do anything to you. She’s currently... well, how should I put it?”
“You can think of it as her being asleep, and very deeply asleep, the kind that wouldn’t wake up even if someone put her in eighteen different poses.”
Hearing the small white insect guarding the Disaster suddenly speak, Gu Qianqian froze for a moment, pointed at her own nose, and widened her eyes, saying, “Eh? You know me?”
“Of course!” A smiling expression appeared on Void’s head. “If online acquaintances with whom I’ve chatted many times can be considered knowing...”
It not only knew Gu Qianqian, but was also very familiar with her.
Gu Qianqian was a major client of the Monster Story Chat Group, second only to special existences like the Disaster and Nameless Book.
In terms of generating revenue for the Monster Story Chat Group alone, Gu Qianqian's importance even surpassed that of the Disaster and Nameless Book.
One must know that in the past year, Gu Qianqian had conducted various transactions through the Monster Story Chat Group, and the two percent intermediary fee collected by the Monster Story Chat Group was almost equivalent to the total transaction amount of a large deal, not to mention that many times, she directly traded with Void’s dependents.
Regularly purchasing large quantities of Alchemy materials, selling high-quality Alchemy potions and low-level Spiritual Energy items, and sometimes even having the Monster Story Chat Group help deal with urban legend and lone Psychic caught from unknown places, engaging in “human trafficking”...
Over time, Gu Qianqian had become like Caishen (God of Wealth) in the hearts of Void’s dependents. As long as she appeared in the chat group and sent that unchanging, goofy emoji, it meant a big deal was coming their way.
How could Void not care about such a group member, who held such a prominent position in the hearts of its dependents?
And any person or urban legend, once cared for by Void, could not escape the fate of being closely monitored and thoroughly investigated by it.
Therefore, Void was basically clear about all the unspeakable little secrets between the Disaster and Gu Qianqian.
The only things it didn't understand were why Gu Qianqian, despite being so afraid of the Disaster, kept looking for trouble with her, and why this Miss Caishen would quickly disconnect from the internet and go offline every time it popped up in the group and tried to communicate with Gu Qianqian.
“By the way, my ID in the Monster Story Chat Group is Void. I’ve @ you many times, but you never replied. Do you remember?”
“Hiccup—hiccup—!”
Gu Qianqian suddenly started hiccupping as if something had choked her, and her face instantly lost its color.
Just the Disaster was terrifying enough; now there was Void too!
What a dreadful predicament!
It was like a split-screen commentary of a bad movie on a certain short video platform—adding more shit on top of shit.
In her impression, Void was an even more terrifying enemy than the Disaster; otherwise, every time Void @ her, the system wouldn't nervously cut off all network connections and tell her to quickly retreat into the Bamboo Scroll Illusion.
Is this... hell?
Gu Qianqian thought, her heart pounding uncontrollably.
Now, she suddenly felt that this might just be the Disaster's conspiracy, and even a conspiracy set up by the Disaster and Void together.
Just then, the room door suddenly opened, and a familiar face immediately entered her vision.
Gu Qianqian stared at Nanling Yaohua, who appeared at the doorway, for two seconds, and immediately recognized that Nanling Yaohua was the very friendly Sister from the Hua City Night Parade of One Hundred Demons earlier. Without thinking, she leaped off Lu Yibei and threw herself into Nanling Yaohua's arms.
Like a drowning person grasping at the last straw.
“Although I've only met you once and we haven't talked much, no matter what, Sister couldn't possibly be more terrifying than the Disaster plus Void, right?” Gu Qianqian thought.
One second later, she realized she was wrong...
Terribly wrong!
As soon as Nanling Yaohua entered the room, she saw Gu Qianqian leap off Lu Yibei in an indescribable posture and rush towards her. Without thinking, she conjured a long sword of authority and placed it against Gu Qianqian's neck.
Gu Qianqian's movements instantly froze.
Seeing her stop, Nanling Yaohua narrowed her eyes slightly, looked at Void, and said coldly, “Didn’t you say there would be absolutely no accidents? Where did this one come from?”
A sweating emoji appeared on Void’s head as it explained, “This isn’t an accident. This one is an acquaintance of the Disaster and won’t harm her.”
“Right?”
“Mhm, mhm!” Gu Qianqian looked at Void, then at the light sword on her neck that made all her hairs stand on end, and nodded very quickly and very reluctantly.
“An acquaintance?” Nanling Yaohua scrutinized Gu Qianqian, her chin slightly raised, “What’s your name?”
An acquaintance of Lu Yibei’s that she didn’t know?
“Gu... Gu Qianqian.” freeweɓnøvel.com
As her voice fell, the light sword vibrated, emitting a “dragon’s roar,” and a trace of a bloodstain immediately appeared on Gu Qianqian's fair neck.
Nanling Yaohua knew the name Gu Qianqian; it was one of the “related links” that Void had inadvertently leaked earlier, and her ranking was far above hers!
“If Gu Qianqian disappears, my ranking will go up, right?” Nanling Yaohua thought, her gaze gradually becoming distorted...
————
On the other side.
Shen Baiwei, who had been captured by the Disaster yet again, secretly observed her surroundings while eavesdropping on the conversation between Lu Yibei and the cross-dressing urban legend.
At first, she thought she had fallen into an illusion created by the Disaster using her charm ability, based on Yumen Pass and the war between Nangling Commander and the Shaman King a thousand years ago. She even disdained it, thinking that the NPCs were shoddily made, using the urban legend that had attacked her in Daimu Courtyard.
After all, during her time at Tethys Laboratory, she had experienced a long period of being affected by charm abilities, believing she had transmigrated to a sword and magic fantasy world, becoming an elven priestess, and fighting alongside a hero to defeat a Demon King, until the hero defeated the Demon King and sold her as a slave to a giant goblin tribe...
However, when she carefully observed the pedestrians, vendors, cats, dogs, camels, and all other living beings she could see on both sides of the street, a hint of doubt arose in her heart.
She realized that everything she saw seemed real; every person and every animal seemed to have their own joys, sorrows, and anger, and there was absolutely no repetition.
A single urban legend like the Disaster could never achieve such a level, as everyone's perception of the world and others is limited, one-sided, and subjective, making it impossible to simulate absolute realism.
Even the super-large illusion she had experienced, created by two individuals with Spirit Mark related to dream tapirs, plus five Spiritual Energy items made from the core bodies of Witch Breed urban legend, had many flaws that could expose it as an illusion.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to directly kill the hero who had just left the Novice Village (newbie village) and violently break the illusion when those bastards at Tethys Laboratory tried their old tricks on her.
To avoid “reloading” and experiencing the feeling of “dying” under the illusion's stimulation, she had truly pushed herself.
But...
Is such a thing really possible?
Perhaps it's just because I haven't looked enough, and haven't found the flaw yet?
Suddenly returning to Yumen Pass over a thousand years ago, even Shen Baiwei, who controlled The Serpent of the Years Spirit Mark and possessed time-reversal abilities, found it incredibly absurd.
Lost in thought, she secretly glanced at Lu Yibei, who was still chattering away, her eyes deepening.
“Can you talk a little less?”
“Still trying to teach others all sorts of messy things?”
“Bastard! You’ve violated the rules, do you know that?” Shen Baiwei thought fiercely.
In her view, history being unchangeable was the rule, and the Disaster, by speaking so much and interacting so much with people from the “past,” had severely broken the rules. This was no longer just a simple matter of her getting hurt.
It might even lead to punishment from the years.
And she, the big scapegoat, would be punished along with them...
