Chapter 382: This Pesky Little Sister Is Dead Meat This Time!

In the unfinished room on the top floor of the Tang City Museum, Lu Yibei truly experienced the local customs and culture.

To sum it up in one word: real!

When it came to fighting, it was just like a father beating his son-every punch landed solidly, no holding back.

With Shang Nanxing’s fists raining down like a storm, Mao Sanyou writhed on the ground, letting out inhuman howls.

“Ow! Junior brother, hurry up and tell her I really wasn’t slacking off, I was… ow, ow! I went to pick you and Professor Ma up, or she’ll beat me to death right here today!”

“Still talking back! Not slacking off, huh? Junior brother, huh? Professor Ma, huh?” Shang Nanxing said harshly.

He really does look a bit pitiful, doesn’t he? Lu Yibei thought to himself, then spoke up, “Miss Shang, he did actually go to pick up me and the professor earlier.”

Mao Sanyou’s eyes lit up, as if he saw hope for survival.

Lu Yibei glanced at Mao Sanyou and frowned.

He left me and the professor freezing at the parking lot for over half an hour-does he really deserve sympathy?

“But when he went to pick us up, he left us hanging and ran off to get a celebrity’s autograph. Wasted a lot of time.”

But if I let Miss Shang keep hitting him, she might actually beat the guy to death, right? Lu Yibei thought, then said, “But after he picked us up, he left right away, said he had something urgent.”

The next moment, Lu Yibei remembered his beloved phone, and his face darkened.

Forget it, might as well let him get beaten to death.

“Maybe he was in a hurry to sell those celebrity autographs? When I came, I saw him setting up a street stall outside the museum.”

Mao Sanyou: “….” Can’t you just say it all at once and let me die quickly?

The flame of hope in his heart was repeatedly lit and extinguished by Lu Yibei, and he was already numb. His eyes gradually lost focus, and he simply lay on the ground like a salted fish that had lost its dreams.

Seeing this, Lu Yibei very considerately reminded, “By the way, Miss Shang, when you hit him later, try not to hit his body. My phone might still be on him.”

“Don’t worry, I usually only hit the face.” Shang Nanxing replied, flexing her wrists as she walked toward Mao Sanyou again.

A dozen minutes later.

Shang Nanxing finally stopped, shook the blood off her knuckle dusters, left Mao Sanyou lying on the ground half-dead, and walked over to the long table to sit down, silently lighting a post-fight cigarette.

Lu Yibei seized the chance, went over, and squatted down to search Mao Sanyou, who had no strength to resist. However, he didn’t find his phone, only six thousand yuan in cash and a pile of miscellaneous junk.

“Senior brother, where’s my phone?”

I need to contact Dog Leader and apply to withdraw from this mission! Lu Yibei added in his heart.

Mao Sanyou struggled to open his swollen eyes, looked at Lu Yibei, and shook his head.

“Gone?” Lu Yibei frowned. “Damn, I just bought that! Forget it, since we’re brothers, I won’t screw you over. I’ll just take 5,999 as compensation.”

As he spoke, he took the six thousand in cash, fished out a coin from his pocket, and placed it on Mao Sanyou’s chest.

Seeing this, Mao Sanyou’s eyes widened, struggling to say something, but then he couldn’t catch his breath and with a “gah!” he fainted.

The next moment, his body shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye. In less than a minute, he turned into a dried corpse with only human skin left.

Lu Yibei was stunned.

What the hell? What’s going on? He’s dead just like that?

He turned to look at Shang Nanxing, about to ask, when he heard her say nonchalantly, “It’s nothing, come over, let’s talk.”

Lu Yibei: “???”

This…

He’s turned into a dried corpse, and it’s nothing?

Seeing the doubt in Lu Yibei’s eyes, Shang Nanxing took a deep drag of her cigarette and patiently explained, “His Spirit Pattern is the Wind Beast, also called the Wind Civet. The Spirit Pattern lnnate skill is resurrection.”

“When he suffers a fatal injury, he turns into a dried corpse. Later, just hang him somewhere and let him catch some wind, and he’ll be back to bouncing around and annoying people.”

“By the way, every time he revives, his psychic energy fluctuation gets a little stronger.”

She didn’t mean to beat him to death on purpose.

I’m just helping him get stronger, you know!

Don’t be scared, come over, let’s talk… Lu Yibei could almost hear Shang Nanxing whispering in his ear.

What a terrifying woman.

The Midnight Watchers Society in Tang City wasn’t as scary as the rumors said-in fact, it was a paradise for slackers.

At least, it was until a week ago.

According to Shang Nanxing, the reason operators who came to work in Tang City always tried to transfer out was mostly because this place was just too poor.

After all, under Gou Meng’s rule, within eight hundred li, you might not see a single haunting attack incident in a whole year.

Even if an outside haunting caused an attack, the speed at which Gou Meng’s familiars hunted them down was, at least half the time, faster than The Midnight Watchers Society.

So, the existence of The Midnight Watchers Society in Tang City was more symbolic than practical.

Their daily work, aside from monitoring Gou Meng, was pretty much just recording the changes in day and night length around Tang City.

Sounds pretty leisurely and pleasant, but…

First, with no haunting incidents to handle, operators at The Midnight Watchers Society had almost no bonus income beyond their basic salary.

Second, Gou Meng was, after all, one of the top names on The Midnight Watchers Society’s Wanted List, and theoretically extremely dangerous.

Only a few people were willing to stay here, earning a middling salary while constantly bearing the risk of Gou Meng’s possible fall and distortion.

Given the choice, most operators with real belief and strength would go where they were more needed, and those who were cowardly or weak wouldn’t risk coming here.

So, over time, The Midnight Watchers Society in Tang City was left with only three operators and ten special task force members.

Fortunately, at least there were still thirteen people here.

Shang Nanxing spoke unhurriedly, and Lu Yibei gradually pieced together the predicament facing The Midnight Watchers Society in Tang City from her words. He asked, puzzled, “Then why are you three still here?”

Shang Nanxing thought for a moment and said seriously, “I’m here for personal reasons. Old Xu is here for his ideals-uh, Old Xu is the one out handling a haunting incident right now and hasn’t come back yet. As for that guy…”

As she spoke, she glanced at Mao Sanyou, who was hanging in the breeze like a piece of cured meat.

“He’s purely here to slack off. He’s afraid that if he goes to another branch of The Midnight Watchers Society, he won’t be able to laze around like he does now.”

Lu Yibei looked at Mao Sanyou and secretly admired him. Good man! You really are my senior brother-truly a kindred spirit!

The first operator to be ambushed and killed was discovered two days ago.

The body was found at a cattle farm on the outskirts of Tang City.

That morning, as usual, the farm workers arrived at the feed processing workshop. As soon as they turned on the mixer, they caught a strong scent of blood. Then, with a few muffled thuds as the mixer blades got stuck on something, a torrent of fresh blood spurted out from inside the machine.

The terrified workers snapped out of their shock and immediately called the police. After investigating the scene and finding a Death Owl Emblem, the police promptly contacted the Tang City branch of The Midnight Watchers Society.

Old Xu, whom Shang Nanxing had mentioned, rushed to the scene upon receiving the notice. After preparing the unfortunate operator’s body for burial according to the Society’s standard procedures, he quickly launched an investigation.

However, before he could find any results, yet another missing Death Owl Emblem appeared before the three members of the Tang City branch.

At first, they thought the attacks on the two operators were just a coincidence, but they never expected it to be an organized, premeditated ambush.

By the time they realized what was happening, the third and fourth Death Owl Emblems had already been delivered to them…

As Shang Nanxing spoke up to this point, Lu Yibei’s expression gradually darkened.

Although he felt deep sympathy and respect for the members of The Midnight Watchers Society who stayed behind, he couldn’t help but complain, “So, when you discovered someone was ambushing the operators coming to help, why didn’t you get the word out as soon as possible?”

Even if it was difficult, you can’t just let others walk into a trap! Lu Yibei thought.

If the situation here had been reported earlier, maybe so many people wouldn’t have died.

With the right information, headquarters would have made the right assessment. They wouldn’t have approved the applications from those looking to freeload on merit, but would have sent more reliable and capable people instead.

Shang Nanxing glanced sidelong at Lu Yibei, took a deep drag on her cigarette, and said calmly, “You think we didn’t report it up the chain?”

“We sent the information out the night before last, but we haven’t received any reply so far. Looks like those behind-the-scenes troublemakers intercepted it somehow.”

Isolated and helpless-these words floated through Lu Yibei’s mind.

“Don’t doubt it. As far as I know, there have already been several hauntings born from the internet. Some of them really could pull this off,” Shang Nanxing explained.

Lu Yibei: “…” Of course I believe it. In fact, I really believe it. Not counting Meow Xiaoqi, I’ve already seen two with my own eyes.

“So there’s no other way?”

“I mean, like activating the city barrier or something?” Lu Yibei asked.

Shang Nanxing shook her head, lit another cigarette, and took a deep drag. “Hoo-! The city barrier in Tang City might not be quite what you think it is.”

“Huh? How is it different?” Lu Yibei pressed.

“…” Shang Nanxing pondered for a few seconds, then pursed her lips. “I can’t tell you exactly how it’s different. You’re just a reserve operator. If you want to know the secrets of the city barrier, you don’t have clearance yet.”

“But what I can tell you is, in your understanding, the city barrier is probably for defending against haunting invasions. But in Tang City, besides basic defense, the barrier is actually more geared toward offense.”

Offense? Lu Yibei was stunned for a moment, then thought of Gou Meng, and suddenly had a flash of insight. He quietly probed, “Is it meant to target Gou Meng?”

“…”

Shang Nanxing hadn’t expected Lu Yibei to connect it to Gou Meng so quickly. She gave him a surprised look, then fell silent for a few seconds and nodded slightly. “Mm…”

After a pause, she added, “Otherwise, why do you think headquarters is so at ease with only three operators in the Tang City branch?”

“Although it sounds a bit like I’m discrediting the Society, the truth is, as long as Gou Meng doesn’t fall, Tang City doesn’t even need a branch. If Gou Meng does fall, they can just activate the city barrier, wipe out all hauntings related to her, and then send people over again. It’s not too late.”

“The real reason the three of us stayed here is simply because we wanted to. Honestly, I’ve received three transfer orders already, but I turned them all down.”

Lu Yibei: “…”

He hadn’t expected that the pesky little sister, as the King of Hauntings, actually managed such a huge area around Taoyuan so well… It made him feel a bit inferior.

She always called herself a deity, and it really wasn’t wrong-she truly lived like a guardian spirit of the land.

But if that’s the case, do the recent events mean something really has happened to her? Lu Yibei thought worriedly.

As he pondered, Shang Nanxing continued on her own, “That’s the situation. We can’t get the word out, so all we can do is help collect the bodies of our colleagues first.”

“Even investigating those sudden haunting incidents is a struggle.”

“What about Gou Meng?” Lu Yibei blurted out, then realized he’d lost his composure and added, “I mean, are these things related to her?”

Shang Nanxing shook her head. “So far, we still can’t confirm whether the ambushes on operators coming from all over, or the recent haunting incidents in Tang City, are related to Gou Meng.”

“Old Xu is already investigating. If we can’t find any results in five days, or can’t prove Gou Meng has nothing to do with the recent changes in Tang City, we’ll evacuate and then activate the city barrier.”

“…” Lu Yibei was silent for two seconds, then said expressionlessly, “Can you really kill Gou Meng?”

Shang Nanxing was taken aback, then patted Lu Yibei’s shoulder and comforted him, “Don’t be afraid. Didn’t I say? You’re safe now that you’re here.”

“The city barrier in Tang City was designed from the start specifically to counter Gou Meng. It contains the life’s work of several catastrophe-class psychics. In theory, it can definitely deal her a heavy blow, and there’s at least an eighty percent chance of killing her.”

Lu Yibei frowned and fell silent.

Shang Nanxing didn’t know about his relationship with Gou Meng. She just saw him as a reserve operator who’d been lucky enough to avoid the ambush and make it to Tang City, completely misunderstanding the reason for his question.

She thought he was just scared.

But…

What he worried about wasn’t whether the city barrier could kill Gou Meng and save his own life.

What he was more worried about was, if the crisis wasn’t resolved in five days, would Gou Meng really have to die…

From Shang Nanxing’s answer, the answer was yes.

It’s over. The pesky little sister is doomed this time!

An eighty percent chance of killing her-how is that any different from certain death? Lu Yibei thought.