Chapter 376: Death Flight?

The cavern was vast and pitch-black, filled with the incessant murmurs of many voices.

“Are you listening to their prayers?”

In the darkness, a cold and childish voice asked-a voice that sounded like it belonged to a little girl, still carrying traces of innocence.

Silence lingered for a long while.

“Yes, I think they are pitiful. I want to help them,” a gentle voice responded, seemingly belonging to a girl.

“Help them? What a laughable notion!”

The girl said nothing, continuing to listen intently to the murmurs, trying hard to discern the meaning hidden within.

“I think you’re beyond saving. We are deities, totems, symbols. We are born to be worshipped, but we do not need to answer every devotee’s prayer.”

“Like blessing a newlywed woman so her cooking doesn’t burn tomorrow-such trivial matters are not our concern. Do you understand?”

The girl ignored the little girl and leaned forward in the chaotic and obscure darkness. She felt she was close to hearing the prayers of those humans, those people who worshipped them.

Suddenly, a sharp and piercing shout exploded in her ears, shattering everything-the prayers that were about to become clear dissolved like bubbles under sunlight, breaking and disappearing.

“Gou Meng! Your duty is to guard the Fusang divine tree, not to pity those ignorant fools!”

Finally, the girl ceased her listening and murmured toward the little girl hidden somewhere deep in the darkness, “Gou Mang’s duty is to guard the Fusang divine tree…”

“Hu-!”

Late at night, Gou Meng awoke abruptly on the bed in the pawnshop on the ancient street, staring at the ceiling as she exhaled a heavy breath.

Lately, she had been recalling memories of the past.

Those unhappy, rebellious “youthful” times, shrouded in chaotic and obscure darkness.

But those memories were so distant, they had long since faded and blurred, no longer clear.

She turned her head to look out the window. The snow that had been falling for days had stopped at some point, and moonlight spilled over the rooftops of the old street covered in white snow, resembling a silver ocean.

Then, she murmured to herself, repeating the words she had spoken in her dream.

“Gou Mang’s duty is to guard the Fusang…”

Finally, she added another sentence.

“I am not Gou Mang, and that is not the Fusang divine tree.”

“Hu-! Finally finished reading everything. Now Professor Ma shouldn’t have so much to nag about!”

The first rays of morning light filtered through the gap in the curtains, falling onto Lu Yibei’s desk. He stretched lazily, his joints cracking slightly.

He stood up and tidied the scattered A4 papers on the desk, lost in thought.

On the A4 papers, clumsily drawn symbols and patterns covered the surface-some resembling the sun, others like birds, some intertwined branches sharing the same root, and still others identical to the mark on the back of his hand: a peach tree with magpies perched upon it.

If all these things are connected to my pesky little sister… doesn’t that mean she carries multiple mythical type hauntings and powers?

I thought my situation was already excessive, but now it seems hers is even more over the top?

After all this time, I thought I was strong, and that everyone else was gradually becoming trash. Turns out, the real trash is still me?

Lu Yibei thought to himself, shaking his head. He casually crumpled the A4 papers on the desk into a ball and tossed them into the trash bin.

Fuwu, Gou Mang, Fusang divine tree… these were all terms Lu Yibei had pieced together from symbols and patterns on artifacts, painstakingly researched from various materials.

At some point, whenever something related to mythology or legend appeared, Lu Yibei’s first reaction was to assume the existence of a related haunting and start devising countermeasures.

After all, setting up a hypothetical enemy for himself wouldn’t hurt-at most, it would cost him some mental energy. But if he were to encounter a haunting born from legend without a plan, that would be a disaster.

Although Gou Meng wasn’t included in this category, as he familiarized himself with the materials provided by Professor Ma, he couldn’t help but feel a strange thrill-a sense of gradually uncovering Gou Meng’s sordid past.

That feeling was akin to secretly reading the diary of a neighbor’s older sister, chronicling her romantic coming-of-age story-exciting and exhilarating.

Yes, this night had been full of excitement for Lu Yibei. He was almost overwhelmed by it.

In fact, Lu Yibei had originally planned to visit the Dream before setting out, to discuss the mysteries of “human explosion engineering” with the Ancestors.

However, after seeing the photos sent by Meow Meow-chan, he found himself completely unable to sleep.

The figure leaning against the bed, supported by a blade; the delicate face tinged with cherry blossom hues; the slender legs slightly drawn together in embarrassment… In short, every time he closed his eyes, her image filled his mind.

This was the first wave of stimulation Lu Yibei endured. To prevent the plot from veering into a vulgar and depraved direction, he decided to get up and study. Little did he know, the study materials provided by Professor Ma were equally stimulating.

These two kinds of stimulation weren’t a matter of who came first; they were unique, layered together to create an overwhelming effect that made Lu Yibei exclaim that he couldn’t handle it.

After tidying up the table and organizing the personal items he needed for this trip, he glanced at the time and silently cursed.

Grabbing his jacket-which might have been sleeping, judging by its steady, rhythmic wriggling-he bolted out the door in a whirlwind.

He had agreed to meet the professor at the school gate at eight o’clock, and it was already 7:55.

I haven’t even had breakfast yet! Lu Yibei thought gloomily.

Being late for the professor was one thing, but skipping breakfast was out of the question. Skipping breakfast was bad for your health.

If you want to survive year after year, taking care of your health isn’t something you can delay. Starting at nineteen, it’s already not too early.

Around eight in the morning in University Town, the sky was still caught between night and day, carrying a sense of “struggling to do sit-ups and forcing itself to get up.”

When Lu Yibei rushed to the gate of Hua City University of Technology, it was already two minutes past eight. He looked around but couldn’t find any trace of Professor Ma.

With the frustration of someone who intended to stand someone up but ended up being stood up himself, he skipped across the street with a light, bouncing step and entered a noodle shop specializing in ginger duck noodles. He took a seat and waved his hand grandly, ordering a large bowl of dry-mixed ginger duck noodles with less chili and extra vegetables.

As soon as he placed his order, a warm and gentle voice came from behind him.

“You must be Lu Yibei?”

“That’s me!” Lu Yibei blurted out, then froze for a moment.

At this hour, the noodle shop had just opened, and there were hardly any customers. He hadn’t paid much attention when he entered, but when the voice came from behind, he noticed a man sitting at a table in the corner diagonally behind him.

The man had a warm and refined demeanor, sharp and spirited eyes, and a handsome, chiseled face with a healthy wheat-colored complexion.

Although the man looked young, there were faint traces of gray at his roots, adding a touch of melancholy to his elegant and striking appearance.

Wait a minute, handsome guy, who are you?

Did you just walk out of some tragic male second lead role in a domineering CEO novel?

As Lu Yibei was trying to figure out how to talk to this stranger, the man picked up his bowl of noodles and sat down across from him uninvited.

Without asking for permission, the man began speaking at length.

“Professor Ma mentioned you to me. He said you’re the most talented student he’s encountered in the past decade.”

“Oh, and I’ve read your paper. It’s insightful. If you could delve a bit deeper, it’d be even better.”

“Oh, you’re just a freshman, right? For a freshman to write a paper of that caliber is quite impressive. I suppose it might have something to do with your family background?”

“…”

Family background? My family background is twenty-four Sichuan dishes and thirty-two kinds of snacks!

Faced with the man’s overly familiar remarks, Lu Yibei silently retorted in his mind while continuing to eat his noodles at lightning speed.

Although he wasn’t the female protagonist of a domineering CEO novel, he found it just as hard to like this man with his male second lead aura.

It wasn’t just because the man had interrupted his meal, but also because when their eyes first met, even though he didn’t sense any psychic energy fluctuation from the man, his eyes had momentarily felt hot.

While it was possible that his “alarm” had malfunctioned, it was equally possible that danger was present.

In simple terms, he detected a faint whiff of ominous energy from this man.

If not for that, he might have engaged in a trash talk battle with this man, turning it into a full-blown stand-up comedy show.

Five minutes later, after finishing the last piece of vegetable, leaving not even a single scallion in the bowl, Lu Yibei wiped his mouth, stood up, and looked at the man, who seemed about to say something. With a blank expression, he said, “Your noodles are soggy…”

With that, he hurried off toward the side gate of Hua City University of Technology.

Although Lu Yibei had agreed to meet Professor Ma at eight o’clock sharp, it wasn’t until 8:30 that he finally got into the professor’s car.

The flight was scheduled for ten o’clock, and it would take about an hour to get to the airport. With the risk of missing the flight looming, Professor Ma floored the gas pedal and sped down the road.

Sitting in the car, Lu Yibei silently tightened his seatbelt and couldn’t help but ask, “Professor, did you ever participate in the Hua City God of Cars competition or the Chunming Mountain downhill races when you were younger?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“I have a friend who’s a taxi driver and claims to be the second god of cars in Hua City. I think your speed is catching up to his,” Lu Yibei replied with a deadpan expression.

Professor Ma: “…”

“By the way, Professor, why were you so late today? You’re usually very punctual,” Lu Yibei asked again.

“It’s all because of your mentor’s wife…” Professor Ma trailed off halfway through his sentence, paused for two seconds, and sighed. “Ah, forget it. The struggles of adulthood aren’t something you’d understand.”

This had been his routine for over thirty years before every business trip. Who could blame an old man for being born with such a handsome face? Professor Ma thought to himself sarcastically.

Lu Yibei glanced sideways at Professor Ma’s face, which was etched with exhaustion, and found himself momentarily at a loss for words.

“……”

Although I “don’t understand,” I think I kind of do.

Fifty minutes later, after a wild ride that felt like a scene from Fast & Furious, the two of them arrived early at Gate A018 of Hua City Airport.

Standing at the gate, Lu Yibei gazed through the glass at the tarmac. There, accompanied by the sound of conch shells, monks were chanting prayers as they circled the airplane. Faint psychic energy fluctuations could be felt in the air, and his expression grew increasingly complicated.

“Professor, what the hell is this? Are they blessing the plane?”

Professor Ma took a sip of hot water, caught his breath, and replied nonchalantly, “Lu Yibei, you haven’t traveled in a while, have you?”

“Yeah, about two years,” Lu Yibei responded.

Ever since that car accident… he thought to himself, a fleeting shadow of gloom crossing his eyes.

“Two years?” Professor Ma nodded. “That sounds about right. This trend only started about a year ago. Just two or three airlines are doing it. They say it’s to prevent haunting incidents mid-flight and ensure passenger safety.”

Hearing this, Lu Yibei tilted his head as if recalling something. “Is this because of that airplane haunting incident that went viral online?”

“Probably because of that,” Professor Ma said, though he didn’t sound entirely sure.

Lu Yibei nodded thoughtfully.

Back then, even though he couldn’t see anything, he could still hear. Using a screen reader on his phone to listen to news headlines was second nature to him, so he had heard about that incident.

Over a year ago, a flight had met with disaster mid-air, resulting in a crash with no survivors. The investigation revealed that the left engine had malfunctioned.

While it was a rare event, it still fell within the realm of mechanical failure-a plausible explanation.

However, after a bizarre audio recording, allegedly from one of the victims’ phones, surfaced online, public opinion began to take a strange turn.

By the end, people were even claiming that the plane had been attacked by some terrifying haunting. It was absurd!

“If you ask me, it’s all those people stirring up trouble online that caused this mess. They’re completely disrespecting the dead. I don’t believe any of that nonsense!”

Just as Lu Yibei was about to remind Professor Ma that it’s better to believe than not, he heard him continue, “I even used a copper coin for divination before leaving the house this morning. This trip of ours is going to be smooth sailing!”

Lu Yibei facepalmed. “Professor, it’s probably better not to put all your faith in the results of a copper coin divination. What if something actually happens to us?”

After his experiences at Dream Come True Entertainment City, where he had been both deceived and enlightened, he no longer trusted copper coin divinations entirely.

That thing could be tampered with.

Hearing this, Professor Ma quickly retorted, “Pah, pah, pah! Don’t jinx it with your words. With you here, how could anything go wrong?”

It’s precisely because I’m here that things are more likely to go wrong! Lu Yibei thought to himself with a touch of self-mockery but outwardly agreed, “Alright, alright, as long as it makes you happy!”

As they spoke, he turned to look toward the waiting area. His gaze swept over the crowd and suddenly landed on a figure. His expression darkened instantly.

Twenty meters ahead, a certain “tragic second male lead” was thirty seconds away from reaching the gate.

At that moment, Professor Ma unexpectedly walked toward the “tragic second male lead” and enthusiastically shook his hand.

Lu Yibei was stunned.

Professor, what are you doing? Let go of him, Professor! That thing is filthy!

“Lu Yibei, come here quickly. Let me introduce you. This is the youngest visiting professor at our university, Hu Yue. He’s also a well-known antique collector from Yue City. He’ll be joining us on this trip to Tang City.”

“…” Lu Yibei opened his mouth, about to say something, when a scream erupted from behind him.

“Security! Where’s security? Help! Someone’s attacking me!”

The familiar cry made Lu Yibei’s heart tighten. He whipped around to see Liu Seer being scratched, clawed, and yanked by three middle-aged women. They chased him all the way into Gate A018.

Lu Yibei: “???”

Well, well, it’s all familiar faces!

A man with an ominous aura, Liu Seer, who’s always getting beaten up, and me… Are we all on the same flight?

What kind of bizarre ensemble is this?

Could this be… a death flight?

At that thought, Lu Yibei pulled out his phone, found a photo of Jiang… uh, Meow Meow-chan, clasped his hands together, and pressed them to his chest.

Meow Meow-chan, bless us. Amen…