Chapter 381: Lucky One

Lu Yibei’s guess was right-Mao Sanyou really was an unreliable guy. The so-called busyness and urgent matters he mentioned probably had very little to do with academic research.

As he pondered, Lu Yibei paced over to Mao Sanyou’s street stall, bent down to pick up a signature board, and asked casually, “Boss, how much for this autograph?”

“Two thousand! Let me tell you, this is from a trending celebrity…” Mao Sanyou was speaking as he looked up, but when he saw it was Lu Yibei, his expression froze and the corner of his mouth twitched. “Why is it you? What are you doing here?”

“Nothing, just wandering around,” Lu Yibei replied lightly.

He couldn’t possibly tell him he was here to report to The Midnight Watchers Society in Tang City, right?

“Then, senior brother, why are you here? Didn’t you say you had urgent business to handle?”

“Yeah, just finished, taking a break here.” Mao Sanyou smiled, his face showing no embarrassment at all for being caught in a lie.

Seeing that Lu Yibei was still staring expressionlessly at the signature boards on the stall, clearly not believing his nonsense, he spoke again, “Hey, junior brother, just pretend you didn’t see anything today, and don’t go around telling people when you get back.”

“To be honest, something happened to my family last year. Now, the three of us depend on me to support us. I’m a bit prideful, so I’m embarrassed to ask teachers and classmates for help. That’s why I have to do these odd jobs in my spare time.”

“Who would’ve thought, we’re so fated that you’d run into me today.”

“….” Lu Yibei continued to look at Mao Sanyou expressionlessly, saying nothing.

“By the way, junior brother, it’s already this late-have you had lunch? I know a restaurant nearby with really great food. Want me to take you there to try it?”

“Thank you for your kindness, senior brother, but I’ve already eaten.” Lu Yibei replied with a blank face.

Trying to buy me off with one meal so I won’t spread the word-what kind of person do you take me for?

At least three meals!

“Is that so? What a pity.” Mao Sanyou shook his head helplessly, giving up on the idea of mooching a meal off Lu Yibei, but then something seemed to occur to him, and his eyes lit up.

“Speaking of which, junior brother, you’re new to Tang City and don’t know your way around. Isn’t it troublesome to wander by yourself? Need me to be your guide?”

If he couldn’t get a meal, he could still take him to a gift shop and earn a commission!

With his rich freeloading experience, Lu Yibei keenly sensed Mao Sanyou’s intent to take advantage of him.

“No need. I’ve already memorized the three types of Tang City maps sold on the market.”

Almost got beaten up by the peddlers at the hotel entrance… Lu Yibei added silently in his heart.

Mao Sanyou’s mouth twitched.

Memorized… the maps?

What kind of freak is this guy!

But then again, who isn’t a freak these days?

“Then, junior brother, want to check out the antique market? If you’re lucky, you might recover some relics and help the teachers out!” Mao Sanyou, embodying the spirit of never giving up, continued.

“I can go by myself. I’ve memorized the features of the relics too,” Lu Yibei said blandly.

“Then, junior brother, do you want to…”

“No, I don’t!”

Mao Sanyou, “….”

Taking advantage of Mao Sanyou’s distraction, Lu Yibei secretly called the city management hotline for Beimen Street to report him. Only amid the ensuing chaos of civilized law enforcement did he finally shake off Mao Sanyou’s entanglement and smoothly arrive at the entrance of Tang City Museum.

However…

He had just reached the museum ticket office and was reaching into his pocket to buy a ticket when he realized his phone was missing.

Recalling the moment when Mao Sanyou bumped into him as he was leaving, Lu Yibei’s expression gradually darkened.

Damn it, it was definitely that guy!

We’re all senior and junior brothers-why hurt each other?

Ten minutes later.

Lu Yibei finally managed, with his handsome face, to borrow a phone from a girl passing by and got in touch with Jiang Li, from whom he received directions.

Following Jiang Li’s instructions, after entering the museum gate, he pinned the Death Owl Emblem to the most prominent spot on his chest.

Thus, from the museum exhibition hall to the third-floor office area, his journey was exceptionally smooth.

Those suspected members of the Tang City special task force, the security guards wandering throughout the museum, didn’t stop him at all, as if he were wearing a Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak.

He continued up the stairs all the way to the top floor of the museum. Before he could even reach out to push open the tightly closed security metal door in front of him, the Death Owl Emblem on his chest suddenly began to tremble.

As the emblem vibrated and buzzed, the metal door in front of him suddenly moved on its own, sliding open to both sides like an elevator door, disappearing into the wall and revealing a small compartment lit by dim yellow light.

Seeing this, Lu Yibei cautiously stepped into the compartment. As the emblem trembled again, the wall on the other side of the compartment instantly vanished as if it had turned to dust, and his view suddenly opened up.

In a roughcast room spanning several hundred square meters, there was a long table dozens of meters in length, three single beds, mountains of instant noodle boxes and beer bottles, and haunting specimen parts scattered and displayed on the walls and floor, so abundant that the vast space somehow felt impossible to find a place to stand.

If not for the corrugated cardboard at the end of the room with the words “The Midnight Watchers Society” written in large characters, Lu Yibei would have thought he’d wandered into a “homeless shelter” or something similar.

He wondered what the museum used this several-hundred-square-meter space for before The Midnight Watchers Society of Tang City moved in.

Lu Yibei recalled Jiang Li’s reply once more, confirmed he hadn’t gone to the wrong place, and frowned.

“….”

Dog Leader was right; the fat of Tang City’s people had truly been scraped clean by that pesky little sister.

This Tang City Midnight Watchers Society, so poor it had to sell off its property and move out of the Folk Culture Administration Bureau, really deserved its reputation as one of the most “down-to-earth” branches in all of Country Z.

Probably only the Everest Branch and the Nansha Islands Branch in those remote places could compete with this one.

Thinking this, he carefully stepped into the interior of Tang City’s Midnight Watchers Society. As soon as he entered the roughcast room, a loud rumble sounded behind him.

Lu Yibei’s heart jumped. He turned to look, only to find the path he’d come from had completely vanished, leaving only a rough cement wall.

Though Tang City’s Midnight Watchers Society was in dire financial straits, its defense and concealment measures seemed pretty solid.

Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly and called out softly, “Anyone here?”

“….”

“Hello? I’m Lu Yibei, a reserve operator from Hua City here to support you. I’m nineteen this year, single, don’t like cilantro, tofu pudding-sweet, salty, spicy, whatever you prefer, Bai Xiaohua is my sole oshi…”

As Lu Yibei called out softly, he carefully skirted the scattered trash on the floor. When he passed the long table, over fifty meters in length, his gaze inadvertently swept across the items atop it, and his words abruptly stopped.

There stood a bronze statue of a bull, symbolizing a financial bull market, about half a person’s height. Its rear was caved in, and in the dent, a twisted “human face” could be vaguely seen, with traces of dried blood on it.

Staring at that face-shaped indentation, it seemed he could faintly hear agonized screams echoing.

“Hiss-! What is this?” Lu Yibei exclaimed in astonishment. “A bronze bull statue murder haunting?”

No sooner had he spoken than a woman’s slightly hoarse voice sounded behind him.

“No, that was found at the scene where an operator was killed.”

He turned toward the voice and saw a girl crawling out of a pile of trash with a clatter, brushing a half-crushed soda can off her head. She stretched lazily and walked over.

The girl looked about sixteen or seventeen, messy bangs framing her delicate oval face, a high, straight nose, and at first glance, she had the sculpted features of a mixed-race beauty. Under her silver-gray eyes hung heavy dark circles. She wore a tattered, oversized white T-shirt, exposing legs so pale they looked almost sickly.

The girl stopped in front of Lu Yibei, tilted her head to size him up, yawned lazily, and said calmly, “Hello, lucky one. I’m Tang City’s Operator 02, Shang Nanxing.”

“Uh, hello…” Lu Yibei replied, then glanced at the bronze bull statue beside him and asked timidly, “You said this thing was found at the scene where an operator was killed?”

Was it a former Tang City operator?

“Mm.” Shang Nanxing nodded, leaned in to examine the bronze bull statue closely, and said, “This one is…”

“Oh right, it was found at the scene where Yue City’s Operator Wang was killed. According to our Operator 01’s analysis of the residual psychic energy fluctuation at the scene, it was a psychic known for strength who pinned him to the statue and beat him to death.”

Lu Yibei was stunned.

Not a relic of a Tang City operator?

And from the sound of it, this wasn’t the only one? Lu Yibei thought, a faint sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

“You mean there are several more?”

“Of course.” Shang Nanxing nodded.

“Hiss-!” Lu Yibei took a deep breath, walked forward a few steps, and pointed at a toilet split in half. “What about this? Surely this wasn’t found at a murder scene, right?”

“It was.” Shang Nanxing nodded calmly, and as she spoke, she fished a box of cheap cigarettes from her collar, pulled one out and lit it. Amid clouds of smoke, she continued, “That one was found at the scene where a Ze City operator was killed. The culprit was most likely a haunting from Ze City known for dismemberment.”

“That haunting was pretty thorough. We searched the whole scene-the restroom at a Ze City rest stop on the way to Tang City-and only found this toilet and some rice-sized bits of flesh on it. The rest was probably flushed away.”

Gulp-!

Lu Yibei swallowed nervously and pointed at a finely crafted, adorable teddy bear plush. Just as he was about to ask, he heard Shang Nanxing’s definite reply.

“That’s right. If you don’t believe me, you can cut it open and see for yourself. The weather’s been cold lately, so the flesh inside probably hasn’t rotted yet.”

“Also, don’t keep asking. Everything on this table was found at haunting attack incident scenes in the past few days. All the victims were operators who came to support.”

“We’ve been busy collecting their bodies from last night until this morning. These belongings will be sent back to their respective branches of The Midnight Watchers Society, as a way to help them rest in peace.”

“All operators who came to support?!” Lu Yibei exclaimed. As he spoke, he counted along the long table-one, two, three, four… a total of twenty belongings, not much different from the number of operators Jiang Li mentioned had come from various places to support.

In other words, nearly all the operators who responded to the Owl’s signal and came to support from all over had been wiped out?

As he pondered, Lu Yibei’s attention landed on a pink “fairy wand.” He cried out in shock, “What the hell! This thing is also a relic from a crime scene?”

A “fairy wand” like this doesn’t do much damage, but it’s extremely humiliating. If someone were beaten to death with this thing, how suffocating would that be!?

Shang Nanxing strolled over unhurriedly, picked up the “fairy wand,” tucked it into the barely visible gap at her collar, and said offhandedly, “Sorry, that’s mine. I forgot to put it away after using it last night.”

Lu Yibei, “…” Damn! Playing with a wand at a memorial altar, seriously?

After putting away the “fairy wand,” Shang Nanxing’s lifeless eyes stared straight into Lu Yibei’s, her voice cold. “So, Operator Lu, do you know why I just called you the lucky one?”

“Because you really are lucky. So far, you’re the only operator who came to support and made it alive to the Tang City branch of The Midnight Watchers Society. All the others were intercepted and killed on the way,” Shang Nanxing said heavily.

Lu Yibei, “…”

That damned Dog Leader-didn’t he say this support mission was a great chance to rack up some easy merit?

How did it suddenly turn from a simple errand into a boss raid mission! Lu Yibei thought.

“But you don’t need to worry. Now that you’re here, you’re safe. The situation is pretty serious this time, so we’re not planning to send reserve operators on dangerous missions. If there’s nothing else, you just…”

Shang Nanxing was still speaking when a loud bang sounded. Her eyes narrowed and she fell silent.

The next moment, as psychic energy fluctuation surged, her figure shot forward, afterimages flickering two or three times before she reached the entrance of the unfinished building. With a flying kick, she knocked down the figure coming out, then stomped hard on the person’s chest, bending their torso into a V-shape and drawing a miserable scream.

“You bastard, why are you back so late? Where’s the food you were supposed to bring me?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I went to the airport to pick someone up…” A voice that sounded strangely familiar to Lu Yibei replied.

Following the voice, Lu Yibei saw Mao Sanyou’s punchable face.

“…”

He’s actually an operator of the Tang City branch?

Could the “family of three” he mentioned be the three members of the Tang City branch?

“Shut up, what kind of lousy excuse is that?” Shang Nanxing cut him off. “You’re useless at everything, always coming up with crap excuses to slack off!”

“I…” Mao Sanyou struggled to his feet, about to argue with Shang Nanxing, when he suddenly spotted Lu Yibei. His eyes lit up and he exclaimed, “Him! That’s him! He’s the one I went to pick up!”

“You think I’d believe your bullshit? Can’t you at least make your excuses believable? He’s a reserve operator from Hua City, okay?” Shang Nanxing said, turning to Lu Yibei with a questioning look.

Lu Yibei glanced at Mao Sanyou, shook his head expressionlessly, and said, “No, I don’t know him. Never seen him before.”

Hearing this, Shang Nanxing turned to Mao Sanyou, flexed her wrist, and pulled out a pair of brass knuckles from who knows where, a cruel smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.