Chapter 341: Eldritch Destroyer

As the first wisp of toxic smoke entered Lu Yibei’s body, a blush spread across her face, and her breathing became rapid. The smoke, aimlessly drifting in the air, seemed to find a vent and rushed toward her with ferocity.

With more and more of the smoke being inhaled, its bizarre toxicity and psychic energy began to unleash within Lu Yibei. Buried deep within her, memories of joy surged forth, forming a tangible impact in her mind.

She felt as though she were intoxicated. Yet amidst the deep, drunken haze, she was acutely aware, feeling an indescribable fervor and delight.

“Come on, girls, join in the fun~!”

“Woohoo~!”

Watching Lu Yibei giggle like a fool who found two-hundred-yuan, Hydrangea strolled over to Ah-Hua and whispered, “Let’s go. She’s beyond saving. I’ll do you a favor and get you to a safe place.”

Ah-Hua hesitated, pointing at Lu Yibei. “What about her? Are we just going to leave her? What about that little bottle you had? Hurry and give it to her!”

Despite her dislike for Lu Yibei, she couldn’t just stand by and watch her march toward doom without doing anything.

“It’s too late now,” Hydrangea shook her head helplessly. “My medicine only works before too much smoke is inhaled.”

The “treasure” from Cinnabar Pharmacy, Black Peony had studied deeply. Rather than a drug, it was more like a specialized psychic energy that affected emotions.

Hydrangea’s bottle of “Rouge Dream” was crafted to counteract such sinister substances, working by preemptively covering the emotions before the “treasure” could erode the target’s psychic energy and affect their mood.

But…

“But she’s inhaled too much smoke; the toxicity has merged with her psychic energy. Now, unless she can release all her psychic energy…”

Hydrangea glanced at Lu Yibei again and sighed, “Do you think she can cooperate with us to release her psychic energy in her current state?”

“…” Ah-Hua opened her mouth, hesitating, her expression complex.

Just then, Lu Yibei’s laughter abruptly ceased. Ah-Hua and Hydrangea looked over in surprise, witnessing her body convulsing and collapsing to the ground.

“…”

“What’s happening to her?” Ah-Hua asked weakly.

Hydrangea frowned, pondering, and softly replied, “Maybe… she’s overdosed on euphoria?”

But she’d never heard of such symptoms before, Hydrangea thought.

At that moment, under the influence of the “treasure,” as Lu Yibei’s joy was about to peak, a sharp pain pierced her chest, as if hundreds of steel needles simultaneously stabbed through her heart.

With intense pain, whispers barely audible to human ears emerged from deep within her chest-whispers of pain, anxiety, panic, or depression.

These whispers roared and tempted, sometimes commanding sternly, sometimes persuading gently, immersing one in unspeakable sorrow, making it hard to escape.

The next moment, a terrifying noise, like the screams of countless girls merging together, poured into Lu Yibei’s ears, grazing her eardrums like sharp blades.

Amidst those piercing screams, she heard a gentle murmuring.

“It is mist and also stars, it is her child, and also the lips that extinguish the light in the darkness…”

The voice sounded ethereal and clear, ringing like silver bells, evoking images of a fragile girl.

Immediately after, terrifying illusions appeared before her eyes-scenes of countless girls at the moment of their death.

Some were pushed towards the stake while being insulted, whispering the most venomous curses with voices hoarse from crying, as they burned in the fierce flames.

Others were imprisoned in dungeons with no daylight, their bodies covered in scars from torture, and then perished from the ravages of insects and disease.

Or, in a cold, dark bathroom, lying alone in a bathtub filled with water, gently slicing their wrists, their blood blooming like crimson flowers in the water…

The girls died in various ways, but all their deaths were equally tragic. Their once beautiful eyes, dimming as life faded, remained wide open, emitting endless resentment.

In just an instant, the “treasure” brought Lu Yibei a fleeting sense of joy, which was shattered by overwhelming sadness, spreading uncontrollably in her consciousness.

A strong sourness spread at the tip of her nose, making her want to burst into tears.

It was like when a moody delinquent girl encountered a little girl standing by the roadside, happily smiling, and without saying a word, slapped her twice, completely unreasonably.

I can’t be happy, so why should you be?

Today, no one is allowed to laugh, everyone must cry for me!

If you can’t cry, I’ll beat you until you do!

Thus, Lu Yibei’s pain intensified, as if it were about to kill her.

Then, everything around suddenly seemed to freeze, and silence fell upon her ears…

Nearby, watching Lu Yibei faint and fall, Ah-Hua’s clenched fist slowly relaxed, slightly relieved.

Just as Lu Yibei’s laughter ceased, Ah-Hua’s keen psychic sense detected a frightening change in Lu Yibei’s psychic energy fluctuation.

It was as if watching a blazing flame extinguish right before her eyes, then plunging into darkness, and suddenly a blood-covered demon emerged, startlingly horrific.

Ah-Hua even suspected for a moment whether the smoke had caused some change in Lu Yibei’s body, showing signs of corruption and fall, ready to lash out and harm others at any moment.

Quickly, as Lu Yibei fainted and fell, her worries were alleviated.

Seeing Lu Yibei collapse, Hydrangea observed from a distance for a moment before approaching. She crouched beside her and reached out towards Lu Yibei’s neck.

As her fingers touched near Lu Yibei’s carotid artery, her pupils suddenly contracted violently, as if she had been electrocuted, and quickly withdrew her hand.

The moment her fingertips touched Lu Yibei’s skin, Hydrangea felt a surge of intense, almost tangible negative emotions breaking through Lu Yibei’s body.

Under the influence of these negative emotions, she felt an overwhelming sadness.

It was terrifying. Could it be that even “treasure” couldn’t suppress the negative emotions inside her?

Far from suppressing them, it seemed to activate them…

How had she managed to survive? Whether human or haunting, under such despair, one would have normally suffered a mental breakdown and ended it all. Hydrangea thought anxiously.

Meanwhile, she turned to Ah-Hua and asked curiously, “You seem to know her well. Have you noticed any unusual behaviors in her?”

“Um…” Ah-Hua thought for a moment and responded, “Lazy, talks a lot, timid yet reckless, does that count? Uh, I can’t really say anything else, I’m not that close to her, actually!”

I wonder if my miss knows… Ah-Hua added mentally.

Hydrangea, “…”

What kind of unusual behavior is that?

At most, it could indicate that her thinking was different from ordinary people, but not to an abnormal extent.

Never mind, now was not the time to dwell on this. The Pharmacy had gone this far, and likely wouldn’t stop. The only option left was to take her back to the Madame first.

Thinking this, Hydrangea said to Ah-Hua, “Come on, lend a hand, let’s get out of here first.”

Ah-Hua hesitated for a moment, then nodded, stepped forward to join Hydrangea, and together they lifted Lu Yibei, carrying her along the railroad tracks towards the direction of Lanruo Inn Customs Shop.

Cold raindrops pattered on Lu Yibei’s face, and she suddenly woke up, sitting up with a start from the ground, and saw the crumbling, decrepit rooftop.

The rooftop was the same familiar one, but the city felt alien to her.

In the distance, the sky piled with dark clouds seemed torn open, the rain almost forming columns, pouring down like waterfalls.

The rising water level in the ruined city had reached a terrifying level, submerging everything except for a few very tall buildings whose tops peeked out like isolated islands.

“Yo! Long time no see!”

A familiar voice sounded from behind, and Lu Yibei turned around to see the girl in red, then gasped slightly in surprise.

There was a fist-sized, horrific perforation through her abdomen.

“Damn! Were you involved in some shady power leveling that got you retaliated against?” Lu Yibei exclaimed.

The girl gave a bitter smile, “How could that be? I always play fair, you know?”

“Besides, power leveling is just a side job. I usually have more important things to do.”

“Like?” Lu Yibei cocked her head.

“Like…” The girl raised her eyebrows slightly, “Like battling natural disasters? Anyway, it’s always busy and dangerous.”

As she spoke, she pointed at the terrible wound on her abdomen, “So this kind of injury is common, no big deal.”

Lu Yibei rolled her eyes, “Yeah, right! You sound so convincing, I might believe you about one percent if you weren’t bleeding out while talking.”

The girl shrugged and said helplessly, “I knew you wouldn’t believe me, so why don’t we talk about the real issue?”

“Right!” Lu Yibei said seriously, “Speaking of the real issue, I haven’t called for power leveling, so why did you suddenly show up?”

“Hmm…” The girl pondered for a few seconds before saying earnestly, “Maybe it’s been too long since I last appeared, and the readers have been missing me. I sensed their call, so I had to come out and make an appearance.”

Lu Yibei, “…”

Although I suspect she might be a part of me, I must admit, her trash talk is quite annoying.

Noticing Lu Yibei’s displeased gaze, the girl chuckled awkwardly, “Ahaha, let’s talk about the real issue.”

“I came this time to tell you that you can’t keep switching back and forth between the mythical type and the witch type. You need to choose one path first, or you’ll run into trouble.”

“What?” Lu Yibei said, bewildered. As she was lost in thought, she suddenly saw the PL girl(Girl power leveler) pointing at her chest, a meaningful smile appearing on her lips.

Following her gesture, Lu Yibei looked down, and a thought suddenly popped into her mind: “What has blinded my eyes?”

“Why is this happening?” Lu Yibei exclaimed.

The girl shrugged, indifferent, “Probably influenced by the psychic energy of the Eldritch Destroyer?”

“As soon as I arrived, I smelled a rotten stench on you, tsk tsk…”

Lu Yibei, “…” Eldritch Destroyer? What kind of bizarre thing is that?