Chapter 354: I Bet You!

Lu Yibei stared blankly at Jiang Li, her hands hovering in mid-air, unsure of where to place them.

“…”

She hadn’t recognized me at first, so how did she suddenly become so certain of my identity?

It couldn’t be that I triggered some strange switch while giving her a massage, right?

There must be something fishy going on here…

As Lu Yibei pondered secretly, Jiang Li sat up, holding the towel over her chest with one hand, revealing her swan-like neck and delicate collarbone.

She glanced sideways at Lu Yibei and calmly said, “Have you seen enough? If so, turn around. I’ll change my clothes and then we can talk.”

“Uh… okay…” Lu Yibei stammered, complying with Jiang Li’s instructions, and turned her back. Immediately, the sound of fabric softly rustling followed.

The faint rustling was weak, yet it was like the devil’s whisper, each sound tugging at Lu Yibei’s nerves.

“Don’t peek…” Jiang Li reminded her timely, with a hint of warning in her tone.

“What do you take me for? Why would I peek? If I want to look, I’ll do it openly,” Lu Yibei said proudly.

In a haunting transformation state, saying such things was bold!

“…” Jiang Li slightly parted her lips, shaking her head indifferently.

However…

In psychology, there’s a term called the forbidden fruit effect; the more something is forbidden, the more people want to try it.

Driven by this psychological effect, Lu Yibei secretly turned her head, using her peripheral vision to glance behind her. Then she saw the black solar totem tattoo on Jiang Li’s smooth, white back.

The moment her gaze swept over the tattoo, a sharp pain suddenly surged through her brain.

Her eyes felt as if they were burning, the pain unbearable, yet Lu Yibei couldn’t help but stare at the tattoo.

The tattoo seemed to call out to her, urging her to see its form clearly and imprint its shape in her mind.

The tattoo contained a strange power!

It immersed people in a hidden temptation, unable to extricate themselves.

Then she saw a dilapidated passenger bus, lying quietly in the pouring rain.

The rain connected heaven and earth, the flames on the bus constantly extinguished by the rain, yet continuously rising.

In the night, the mountains looked like silent, black Giants, through the pale mist between them, a twisted, eerie, gigantic figure resembling a mountain approached.

That figure, seemingly out of a nightmare, though not humanoid, twisted and bizarre, appeared so perfect.

Perfect to the point of fear!

Screams.

High-pitched screams erupted, as if many people were suffering.

All survivors of that tragic accident, both humans and hauntings, were subdued by the majestic presence of that massive figure, screaming in terror and fleeing in all directions.

However, amidst it all, there was a figure moving against the crowd, gradually approaching the massive presence.

Intense and dazzling light gathered between his hands, resembling a spell formation, yet more chilling than any spell formation Lu Yibei had ever seen.

The light of the spell formation was too bright, too brutal.

And the figure illuminated by such light seemed like a god descending.

The scene Lu Yibei witnessed abruptly ended there, as if a powerful and eerie force fiercely pulled at her consciousness, extracting that memory.

For a moment, her brain seemed to short-circuit, her ears buzzing.

As her consciousness gradually became hazy, the voice of the PL girl suddenly sounded in her ear.

“If you ever get the chance to see Jiang Li naked, be sure to check her chest, abdomen, and back for any special marks or symbols.”

“…”

“If Jiang Li really does something against you, you must, no… I beg you, don’t kill Jiang Li.”

“…”

“If possible, take Jiang Li away too…”

These were words the PL girl had said to Lu Yibei during their meetings in the Dream.

At that time, Lu Yibei had no idea why the PL girl said such things, merely considering it a joke with a certain dark humor, not taking it too seriously.

After all, she thought she might never have the chance to see Jiang Li naked in her lifetime.

Was this what the PL girl meant?

So the leader has some unspeakable connection with the Eclipse Society?

Though surprising, it’s actually not… that big of a deal…

Lu Yibei thought, her vision darkened, she staggered, and with a “clang!” she collided with the wall, slumping softly against it, sliding to the ground.

Hearing the commotion behind her, Jiang Li turned sharply, and upon seeing Lu Yibei’s state, her mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Lu Yibei leaned against the wall, her eyes wide open, crimson trickling from the corners of her eyes and nose, slowly flowing down.

Indeed, Lu Yibei hadn’t peeked, but it seemed just as she said, she looked openly, and ended up bleeding from her seven orifices?

Was she too excited, or…

Do I have some sort of jinx?

Jiang Li tilted her head in confusion, quickly dressed, approached, and checked Lu Yibei’s breath and carotid pulse. After confirming Lu Yibei’s vital signs were relatively normal, she breathed a sigh of relief, leaned down, and gently placed her on the massage bed.

At that moment, the doorbell of the lounge suddenly rang, followed by the voice of a bunny girl emanating from the little devil statue by the sauna room door.

“Miss Ah-Li, hello, I’m Xianghe. The service you booked is ready. May I come in now?”

“…” Jiang Li glanced at the unconscious, clearly unwell Lu Yibei on the massage bed, rubbed her slightly throbbing temples, and calmly said, “You can come in, I’m over here in the sauna room.”

With her words, the lounge door clicked open, and a tall bunny girl pushed a finely crafted silver cart inside, stopping at the sauna room door.

“Miss Ah-Li, shall we start now?”

The bunny girl, who had received a long dress as a gift from Jiang Li, was exceptionally enthusiastic.

“No need, you can serve her well,” Jiang Li said calmly.

As she spoke, she gestured towards the sauna room. It was only then that the bunny girl noticed a “colleague” lying on the massage bed inside.

“Okay, Miss Ah-Li.”

The bunny girl responded, pushing a cart into the sauna room. She approached the massage bed and saw Lu Yibei, bleeding from all seven orifices, her expression instantly losing control.

What the heck? What’s going on? Is she still alive? How did this happen? What should I do?

The bunny girl’s mind was filled with questions as she turned around trembling, her gaze passing through the main hall of the lounge, looking at Jiang Li, who was resting on the sofa, with a look of panic.

Noticing the bunny girl’s gaze, Jiang Li raised her head and tilted it slightly, “What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“No, no problem at all!” the bunny girl stammered.

“If there’s no problem, then go ahead and serve her,” Jiang Li said, casually picking up a magazine from the coffee table and flipping through it.

The bunny girl withdrew her gaze, turned back to look at Lu Yibei on the massage bed, swallowed hard, and slowly extended her hands.

She had heard that some guests had perverse hobbies and liked to abuse bunny girls. Could it be that Miss Ah-Li…

Forget it, forget it, this kind of thing, I dare not say much, dare not ask much, better finish the work quickly and get out. The bunny girl thought nervously.

She didn’t know how long had passed when Lu Yibei woke up to find herself lying on a soft bed.

She opened her eyes to see a ceiling with an antique style, her mind groggy, the beaded curtain before her eyes swaying with a slight double image, just like when she had recently regained her sight.

“Meow Meow-chan? Leader? Jiang Li?”

Lu Yibei called softly a few times, but there was no response.

“Strange, where did everyone go?”

Muttering to herself, a sudden flash of the illusion she saw when she looked at Jiang Li’s tattoo crossed her mind, causing her head to throb again, and her expression turned serious.

She recognized the burning bus from the illusion; it was the one she had been on when she had the accident.

She also recognized those panicked psychics and hauntings; she had memorized their faces when she reviewed the list provided by the haunting chat group.

And that figure resembling a deity, she recognized it as her father, yet it felt strangely unfamiliar.

After all, in her understanding, her father was just a struggling writer and an excellent cook. Although she later learned he might be a fairly capable psychic, he was far from being that powerful.

That kind of spell formation… without an A+ or even stronger psychic energy fluctuation level, it probably couldn’t be performed, right?

And what was that giant-like massive figure?

According to the information investigated by the haunting chat group, her father was killed by a group of psychics and hauntings. But if the illusion she just saw was, like before, a projection of real events, it was clear her father’s opponent was a more terrifying existence.

Those psychics and hauntings, whom she initially thought were the culprits, were fleeing in terror like frightened sheep in the presence of that existence.

Lu Yibei briefly recalled and pondered the illusion she saw after looking at Jiang Li’s tattoo, and suddenly felt a sense of unreality and powerlessness.

If the targets for revenge were just a few top-tier psychics and hauntings, she felt she could find a way to deal with them in a short time.

But if the target became a terrifying existence akin to a natural disaster, she didn’t know how long it would take to seek revenge, so long it was disheartening.

A target that could be reached by standing on tiptoe or jumping was a target; a lofty, unattainable target would only sap one’s fighting spirit.

This wasn’t her reverting to her old cowardly ways; she really, really wanted to avenge her father. She missed him dearly.

But if she died, this matter would probably just return to dust and ashes.

“Damn… this mess, making my character’s backstory so tragic!”

Lu Yibei complained, forcibly pulling herself out of that low state. She then recalled what the PL girl had said before she fainted, a hint of playfulness appearing between her brows.

The PL girl was probably worried that because the leader had a tattoo, I would mistake her for a member of the Eclipse Society and deal with her as one of the enemies who killed my father, hence saying that, right?

But I’m not her, acting like a fool!

Can’t I just ask directly? Lu Yibei thought.

As she was grumbling to herself, Jiang Li’s voice came from behind her.

“Awake? Then let’s have a chat, shall we?”

Lu Yibei’s body stiffened for a moment, then she turned to Jiang Li, sitting upright, “Uh, sure, let’s chat…”

Jiang Li nodded slightly and sat down opposite Lu Yibei.

“Shall I start?” they both said in unison.

“…”

After a brief silence, they both spoke again, “Then you start…”

“…”

[So, are you going to start, or should I?] Lu Yibei signaled to Jiang Li with her eyes.

[Either is fine, but I have a lot of questions for you, and I suppose you have many for me. Why don’t we have a candid session? A question-and-answer format, no objections?] Jiang Li responded with her eyes.

[No objections, let’s happily decide on that? Then I’ll start!]

[Okay, okay. [heart emoji]]

The two of them silently exchanged glances, communicating with their eyes for a while. After confirming the order of speaking, Lu Yibei shrugged and posed her question.

“That tattoo on your back is…” Lu Yibei said, her gaze drifting to Jiang Li’s back.

Jiang Li glanced at her back out of the corner of her eye, then looked at Lu Yibei with a calm expression, “Did you see it? I was taken by the Eclipse Society as a test subject when I was a child, but later, I was lucky enough to be rescued.”

Lu Yibei nodded, indicating she understood the origin of the black solar totem on Jiang Li’s body.

See, didn’t I just ask?

If one doesn’t ask and the other doesn’t say, with no trust at all, it becomes a vicious cycle, drifting further apart… Isn’t that the kind of plot that only appears in those crappy, melodramatic youth pain literature?!

Of course, Lu Yibei, after analyzing the repeated performances of the PL girl, thought that things might not be that simple. In the future, for other reasons, she might still have conflicts with Jiang Li.

But for now, at least there was a good start. Lu Yibei thought, casually throwing out some trash talk, “You must be really grateful to the person who saved you, right? Didn’t you offer yourself in gratitude or something?”

“I did,” Jiang Li replied calmly.

“…” Lu Yibei felt an inexplicable tension in her heart.

“But later, I couldn’t find the person. I was stood up,” Jiang Li said nonchalantly, as if she were talking about ordering takeaway and the delivery person not arriving on time.

However, for some reason, Lu Yibei felt that while Jiang Li was speaking, she kept staring into her eyes, as if waiting for something.

After a long silence, seeing no reaction from Lu Yibei, Jiang Li sighed silently, “You’ve asked your first question. Now it’s my turn, right?”

Lu Yibei spread her hands, “Feel free.”

“Very well.” Jiang Li nodded slightly, staring straight into Lu Yibei’s eyes, “Then I want to ask, did your father ever mention anything about a childhood engagement to you when you were young?”

“Of course, and more than once!” Lu Yibei said with some pride, “He always told me I had a fiancée, very cute, with a sweet personality…”

Halfway through speaking, she glanced at Jiang Li, suddenly noticing that her gaze had somehow shifted away.

Jiang Li frowned, putting on a distracted look, glancing around.

It seemed she had known for a while. Could she have sensed something shortly after joining The Midnight Watchers Society?

But if that were the case, why hadn’t she acknowledged me yet? What was she waiting for?

As Jiang Li pondered, Lu Yibei, after a brief pause, continued speaking.

“But, you know, I always felt that childhood engagements were unreliable. Who still does that these days?”

“So when I was very young, I decided that when I met my fiancée, I would spend some time with her first. If it felt right, then we could talk about the next steps.”

“If she wasn’t willing, I couldn’t force her, right?”

So that’s why? Jiang Li nodded thoughtfully.

Seeing Jiang Li nod, Lu Yibei felt she had acknowledged her thoughts, “Then it’s my turn? I want to ask… are you about to die?”

“…” Jiang Li hesitated for a moment, then nodded, “Yes, soon, but maybe not, if I can win.”

“I know, I heard from Ah-Hua.” Lu Yibei pouted, “You’ve been gambling with the Big Boss of the Entertainment City, right? Trying to beat him and shut down the place, right?”

“You’ve already met Ah-Hua? No wonder, I was wondering how she got to the upper three floors.” Jiang Li nodded.

“You really are an idiot!”

How could a Class A Psychic possibly defeat an Eldritch Destroyer?

If they play a few tricks, you won’t even know how you died. Lu Yibei thought.

Suddenly hearing Lu Yibei curse, Jiang Li looked up, saw the anger in her eyes, and was momentarily stunned, then turned her head away like a child who had done something wrong.

“It is quite foolish, but this is something I must do alone…”

After all, this is the hatred my father planted. How can I involve Ah-Hua and Lu Yibei?

However, before the final gambling game, finding my betrothed is indeed a happy thing! Jiang Li thought joyfully.

“Not anymore!” Lu Yibei said seriously, “Now it’s something for the two of us!”

Jiang Li said nothing, looking at Lu Yibei’s profile, her heart racing.

“Actually… we haven’t… you don’t have to…”

“Not to that extent yet?” Lu Yibei frowned, displeased, “Saying that is really disheartening.”

I’ve already considered you a good brother, yet you still treat me as an outsider… Lu Yibei added in her heart.

“I’m telling you, Liu Seer is really accurate with these things. He said you’re going to die, and this time you probably won’t return. I can’t just watch you go to your death.” Lu Yibei said, slapping the table.

Hearing this, Jiang Li’s heart felt like it was hit by something, beating more violently. She felt her whole body, no, her entire world, trembling slightly, unsettling her mind.

In times of crisis, hasn’t every girl hoped for a prince on a white horse to descend from the sky and swiftly resolve everything?

Even Jiang Li, who could kill hauntings and lie in their blood calmly playing Mahjong, had fantasized about it.

“Besides, I’m not just doing this for you, but for myself, for all the hauntings and psychics in Hua City. This is a great cause for the benefit of the entire city!” Lu Yibei said passionately.

“You don’t know, those foreign hauntings sneak into Hua City through the Giant Train all the time, causing trouble. I’m so fed up with it!”

Jiang Li, “…”

She thought her prince had arrived today, but instead, a monk who loved to preach had jumped down…

“You have to agree, and if you don’t, I’ll bet with you, win all your chips, and stop you from going to the No Return Place!” Lu Yibei said.

“Fine!” Jiang Li said.

“Ah? Fine what?” Lu Yibei was taken aback, focusing her gaze on Jiang Li, slightly stunned.

At this moment, Jiang Li slightly lifted her chin, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and with a gaze as if sentencing her to death, looked at her sideways and said coldly, “I said, I’ll bet with you!”

Lu Yibei, “…”

What the heck is this? Weren’t we just fine a moment ago?

How did this woman change her face faster than flipping a book?

Which step went wrong?