Chapter 367: Epilogue 3

“Then we’ll die together. Ah-Hua would respect my choice…”

“Alright, then let’s live and die together!”

Hearing Lu Yibei’s response, Jiang Li immediately raised her long blade, gathered her courage, and charged forward with Lu Yibei into the cold wind and rain.

–

On the desolate plain, the melody of a jaw harp rippled through the air, reminiscent of the songs hummed by horse herders-occasionally off-key but still melodious.

Behind Lu Yibei, the fiery crimson flame, amplified 29.382 times, exploded into a deep trench. Scorching flames rose from the trench, temporarily blocking the stones pushed forward by the “wolf pack.”

With the Alchemical Bombs depleted, the fiery crimson flame was the most destructive spell formation she could think of for the surrounding environment. While the Four Beasts Bright Sky Cannon was effective against hauntings, it wasn’t as useful for blasting rocks or stalling for time.

Leaning against the firelight, she slowly opened her eyes, watching Jiang Li’s figure charge into the fray like a lone warrior facing an army. She watched until Jiang Li disappeared from sight and let out a silent sigh.

“Fell for it once, and still doesn’t learn the second time…”

A slender, pale tendril extended from her fingertip, reaching toward Jiang Li and Ah-Hua’s heads.

Just as Lu Yibei had anticipated, the “wolf pack” was targeting her. They only made symbolic attacks on Jiang Li, barely hindering her escape.

“So foolish. Even if Ah-Hua respects your choice, she might not like this decision! She hates me so much; she definitely wouldn’t want to die with me.”

“Especially not in a state where we’re mashed into indistinguishable pulp!” Lu Yibei muttered to herself.

“Flap-flap-flap-“

Accompanied by the soft fluttering of wings, Hydrangea landed gently on Lu Yibei’s shoulder. Tilting her head, she glanced at Lu Yibei’s profile and murmured, “Didn’t expect you to pull off something like this. Pretty impressive!”

Unlike other types of spell formations, which could be performed with sufficient psychic energy and diligent practice, illusion-casting formations were highly dependent on innate skill and notoriously difficult to learn.

Lu Yibei glanced at Hydrangea, unsurprised by her appearance. She had sensed Hydrangea’s watchful gaze ever since they left the Dream Come True Entertainment City station.

After all, the constant flashes of “She’s secretly observing you” in her mind were like malicious pop-up ads from a shady browser game. It was hard not to notice.

“I don’t know that stuff! It’s just an innate skill, borrowed temporarily from a familiar.”

“……”

Hydrangea fell silent for a moment, recalling Jiang Li’s murmurs and abnormal behavior when she left. Her shallow immersion in the illusion puzzled Hydrangea. “If that’s the case, why didn’t you weave her a more lasting Dream? When she wakes up, she might end up hating you.”

“I wish I could!” Lu Yibei replied helplessly. “But I’ve already said it’s borrowed. I don’t have full control over it. If I could use it proficiently, I would’ve used it on the other guests back at the Entertainment City.”

“Let them immerse themselves in a Dream and obediently hand over their chips. That would’ve been much easier than racking my brain and taking risks to win them over.”

Hydrangea recalled the scenes she had observed when she infiltrated the Entertainment City and watched Lu Yibei several times. Tilting her head, she gave her a disdainful look and remarked, “That’s outright fraud.”

“What’s the difference?” Lu Yibei shrugged indifferently. “Gambling is just fraud anyway. Look, didn’t the Big Boss trick your master pretty badly?”

Hearing Lu Yibei bring up the “embarrassing stories” of her master, Hydrangea shot her a sharp glare and said coldly, “What do you plan to do now?”

“You take her and leave. I’ll cover the rear. It’s that simple,” Lu Yibei replied nonchalantly.

“Aren’t you afraid of dying?”

“I…” Lu Yibei opened her mouth, about to answer Hydrangea, when a sudden rumble came from ahead.

With the rumble, a shadow large enough to blot out the sky appeared above. The terrifying psychic energy fluctuation seemed to solidify, descending from the heavens. Hydrangea’s heart skipped a beat as she spread her wings and swiftly soared into the sky.

Once she ascended high enough, she glanced down at the ground. A Giant had crossed the fiery crimson flame barrier and leaped forward.

It wore a grim and menacing faceplate, its golden armor flickering with violent flames. Dozens of muscular arms swung fiercely as it descended from the heavens, slamming into the ground with tremendous force.

“Boom-!”

The deafening roar erupted, the earth cracked, and waves of soil and rock surged like a tsunami.

Amidst the swirling dust, a petite figure dashed out, briefly airborne before stumbling to the ground. She tumbled a few times, bouncing like a rubber ball, until she collided with a protruding boulder and barely managed to stabilize herself.

“Cough, cough, cough-!”

Covered in dust, Lu Yibei clutched her chest with one hand, coughing violently. She raised her eyes to the Giant bathed in flames ahead and spat fiercely, “Tch! I wasn’t even done talking!”

A world like Love and Magic Girls, where both sides finish their lines and exchange threats before fighting, clearly doesn’t exist here, does it?

Lu Yibei thought bitterly, looking up at the sky where Hydrangea had already become a tiny white speck. She muttered, “Of course I’m afraid of dying. I’m scared to death…”

But what can fear accomplish? I can’t drag Jiang Li down with me, can I?

Tch, no matter how you look at it, gambling really is a damn curse!

When I get back, I’ll quit “gambling.” No more in-game purchases for card draws… uh, after this Lunar New Year Qipao limited edition for Bai Xiaohua, I’ll never draw again! Lu Yibei resolved.

At that moment, a melodious bird’s cry came from the sky, transforming into intelligible words as it reached her ears.

“Hold on a little longer. My master has gone to find the Celestian to join forces against the Big Boss.”

“Let’s hope I can hold out until then…” Lu Yibei murmured. Before she could finish her sentence, a premonition flashed through her mind, and she moved instinctively. In the next moment, a pair of massive fists swept through the spot where she had just been standing like a pendulum.

The Hundred-Armed Giant, in Greek mythology, was one of the three children born to Gaia, the Mother of All, and Uranus, the Sky God. Its strength was so immense that even the Titans could not resist it.

This particular haunting, controlled by the Big Boss, was the strongest among the undead hauntings. Even though it possessed only a fraction of the Hundred-Armed Giant’s power, every strike carried a “shattering” effect, overwhelming and destructive, reducing everything it touched to dust.

Lu Yibei didn’t know much about the legend of the Hundred-Armed Giant, but her instincts screamed at her that those mountain-like fists were incredibly dangerous. She dared not confront them head-on and could only keep dodging, hoping that Hydrangea’s words were true and that Black Peony and the Celestian could put an end to the Big Boss’s final revenge.

Fortunately, due to its massive size, the Giant’s movements were somewhat sluggish. With her predictive abilities and the intricate techniques from The Diagram of the Gentleman Sword of Taihe, she managed to barely evade its attacks.

However, as she darted around like a flea, leaping here and there, using her innate skill and spell formations to repeatedly “blast” the Giant’s lower body to slow its steps, the real danger began to emerge.

With the Giant acting as a siege beast to clear the way, it took less than two minutes for Lu Yibei’s fiery crimson flame barrier, which had consumed nearly half her psychic energy, to be breached.

In an instant, dazzling light appeared on the horizon of the wasteland. Golden rays pierced through the dust, and as the haze gradually dissipated, an army of thousands upon thousands was revealed.

Following in the Giant’s footsteps, a vast and imposing force emerged from the flames. Tens of thousands of golden-armored figures stretched endlessly, their roars echoing like thunder.

The “wolf pack” arrived with overwhelming momentum, but when they launched their attack on Lu Yibei, an eerie silence fell.

As the Giant Haunting pressed aggressively from the front, two swift figures darted out from the flanks, each leading hundreds of golden-armored soldiers. They streaked across the grasslands in arcs from the north and south, their decayed, undead aura quickly forming an enormous encirclement.

Typically, armies shout as they charge, and even dogs bark to intimidate their enemies.

However, the Big Boss’s “wolf pack” charged in near silence. Not a single roar or shout was heard. Every move they made conveyed the most terrifying message in the quietest way possible:

The wolves are here.

During the earlier pursuit of Jiang Li, this “army” had not yet fully assembled. But now, as all the undead stepped onto this wasteland, their true terror was fully unveiled.

Amidst the man-high wild grass, the golden-armored “wolf pack” sprinted like hundreds of high-speed projectiles. The whistling sound of their movement filled the air. Lu Yibei couldn’t see their figures, but she could feel the shadow of death weaving a massive net around her, tightening with each passing moment, suffocating her with tension.

Front the attacks of the Giant ahead grew ever fiercer, as if deliberately driving her into the encirclement.

At that moment, the rustling noises from the south suddenly ceased, plunging everything into dead silence.

[It cast red flame flash], [It cast blood-colored spiral kill spell formation], [It cast inverse star cross]…

Countless predictive thoughts flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind at thirty-two times speed, as if fast-forwarding.

Just as her head was spinning from the barrage of predictions, a piercing, shrill whistle split the air.

A dense barrage of psychic energy fluctuations, spell formation light streaming between standard spell formations and precision spell formations, soared from the southern wasteland-like an army’s volley of ten thousand arrows, weaving a dazzling curtain of light across the sky, shooting straight at Lu Yibei.

At this critical moment, her eyes locked onto the Giant ahead, her mind replaying its anticipated moves over and over, until she could almost see the trajectory of its actions as an illusion before her eyes.

Then.

The instant before the rain of spell formations fell, she moved, pushing her movement technique to the limit, charging headlong toward the Giant. At the same time, the Giant swung its dozens of thick arms, launching the fiercest assault on this “prey” that had walked straight into its trap.

I can do this. I’ve rehearsed its moves in my mind countless times. I can dodge all its attacks…

Lu Yibei comforted herself as she leapt, twisted, sprinted, darted, and flew at low altitude, weaving through the massive, pendulum-like arms swinging at her from all directions. Psychic energy fluctuations burned at a furious rate.

In almost every instant, even the slightest mistake would have her colliding headlong with a Giant’s fist imbued with uncanny power, her body shattered.

As she pressed forward, Lu Yibei suddenly felt a sense of unreality-the screaming wind, the icy rain rushing toward her, the swirling dust in the gale-her vision spun and shifted kaleidoscopically.

It was as if, in this moment, time slowed around her until she finally came to a halt atop the wasteland behind the Giant.

“……”

In the silence, her gaze slowly dropped to her hand gripping the Broken Sword, her willow brows knitting together, and she let out a helpless sigh in her heart.

Just a little, just a tiny bit more… and I could have dodged everything.

Damn, I’m really not cut out for playing the hero, am I?

Damn it, this thing is so strong, even more than I imagined. With this kind of power, tearing down buildings would make a fortune, wouldn’t it?

In just a few seconds, Lu Yibei evaded nearly a hundred of the Giant’s ferocious attacks. The only time she was struck, she managed to block it with the Pure Lotus Sword.

But that single mistake came at a heavy price: the arm holding her sword broke in five places, twisted grotesquely, the wound splitting from wrist to shoulder and collarbone, white bone piercing through flesh and coat, protruding, blood dripping down as bright as red beans.

Her flesh squirmed ceaselessly, emanating waves of psychic energy in an attempt to heal, but the power channeled through the Broken Sword kept destroying her bones and blood, as if intent on pulverizing them.

Between this birth and destruction came immense pain.

The weakness of psychic energy depletion crept in, the brief numbness after injury faded, and the long-brewing agony erupted all at once, shattering Lu Yibei’s last ounce of stubbornness. A muffled groan escaped her lips, her strength failed, and she collapsed limply to the ground.

At that moment, the second volley of spell formations descended.

Lying on the soft grass, gazing at the dark sky, amid wind and rain, Lu Yibei once again heard the roar of something tearing through the air.

In the next instant, thousands of streaks of light shot skyward from the wasteland, dazzling in color, trailing long tails of flame, falling toward the ground-toward her…

“So beautiful… If only someone could watch it with me…” Watching the lights grow larger in her sight, Lu Yibei murmured, then slowly closed her eyes.

Inside the Dream Come True Entertainment City.

The girl didn’t know how long she had been buried under earth and rubble. Only when the battle cries and explosions outside finally ceased did she struggle to push away the thick planks and stones above her, crawling out from her hiding place. She was met by a scene of devastated streets and rotting corpses.

Terrified and desperate, she hugged her head, clutching tightly at the little horns atop it, and ran headlong toward the most ruined cluster of buildings in the city.

She ran faster and faster, passing through the lifeless city, soon arriving in front of the small shack cobbled together with planks and sheet metal.

Driven by curiosity, she glanced toward the city center at the faintly visible Giant Wolf. She saw, atop the Giant Wolf’s massive head, two fingernail-sized figures had appeared at some point-one in a black dress, the other fat and green-skinned.

From afar, the figure in the black dress seemed to sense her gaze and suddenly turned to look in her direction. The girl’s heart leapt; she quickly averted her eyes, pushed open the door, and darted into the shack.

“Dad, little brother, I’m back.”

In the dead silence, the girl waited in fear for a few seconds. Then, a faint rustling came from the corner of the cabin. The hidden trapdoor in the floor was slowly lifted, and a gaunt, pale-faced human man emerged, coughing violently, clutching a boy with a Bull-headed man’s body.

“Cough, cough… It’s Ling’er, you’re finally back. The city’s in chaos like this, scared me to death… Cough, cough, cough! Scared me half to death! Quick, get inside, wait till things calm down before we go out again.”

“Cough, cough… Good thing you bought plenty of food last time, otherwise…”

As the man rambled on, the girl suddenly seemed to remember something. She stepped forward, her face serious, and said, “Dad, do you know what studying is?”

The man, “……”

After a long silence, he finally said slowly, “Although I don’t know if the studying you mean is the same as what I understand, I have a copy of Three Years of Spell Formation, Five Years of Evaluation here. Want to take a look?”

As he said this, he seemed a bit more spirited, for once not coughing.

“Mm!” The girl nodded excitedly.

In the pitch-black darkness, Lu Yibei’s consciousness was sunk in silence.

She thought she was already dead, yet in a daze, she heard people quarreling.

A woman sneered coldly, “Heh, she’s someone I want to protect.  Even if she dies, I’ll bury her myself…”

A man said sulkily, “If that’s the case, then forget it. Anyway, I’ve already got what I wanted. Speaking of which, that guy-what are you going to do with him? If you ask me, keeping him is just asking for trouble. Why not…”

“You think everyone’s like you, content to stay in this damned place, hiding forever like a coward?” The woman’s voice rose. “He’s still useful to me. I’ll just keep having him produce mediums for me.”

“Hmph! Do what you want. But if he dares try anything again, I swear I’ll chop him up for flower fertilizer. If you try to stop me, I’ll chop you up too!”

“No need for you to say it. If he dares try again, I’ll be the first to get rid of him.”

“……”

Listening to the man and woman talk, Lu Yibei struggled to open her eyes for a glimpse, but in the next instant she exhausted all her strength, and her consciousness once again faded into silence.

A day later, deep into the night.

Hua City, Jingyi Apartment complex-a streak of silvery-white light descended from the sky, slipped in through a window that was never tightly shut, and entered Lu Yibei’s home.

As soon as Jiang Li found her footing in Lu Yibei’s living room, she sensed four psychic energy fluctuations at about Class D. Following the direction of the psychic energy fluctuations, she saw four little Hauntings, frozen as if petrified.

“Who is she? What’s she here for? Should we run?” Hairball whispered.

“She’s really strong. We can’t escape. We’re doomed,” Denture replied, ever the pessimist.

“Damn it, she’s obviously a thief. Watch me-three seconds and I’ll take down this pretty little thief and teach her a good lesson!”

Eyeball cursed and was about to lunge at Jiang Li, but the other three hauntings hurriedly pinned him to the table with their hands, mouths, and tentacles in a chaotic mess.

“Don’t get yourself killed!”

“If you’re going to be reckless, don’t drag us with you. Didn’t you see the emblem on her chest? She’s from The Midnight Watchers Society!”

“……”

Ignoring the little Hauntings’ whispers, Jiang Li acted as if she hadn’t noticed their existence at all. She didn’t care that the Death Owl Emblem on her chest was trembling violently, and walked straight past them, headed upstairs, sat down at Lu Yibei’s bedside, hugged his pillow, curled her knees up, took out her phone, and started playing the ‘doomed to be fugitives’ movie she’d prepared in advance.

A long while later, when she saw the movie’s ending, as the two protagonists drove into the canyon, racing toward death, she turned off her phone, lay on the bed, slowly closed her eyes, and muttered softly, “What a crappy movie. The ending really is awful…”

(This volume ends)