Chapter 393: Companion Mythical Type Haunting

Tang City, in the area adjacent to Lotus Seed Lake, boasts a high-end lakeside residential district.

After the nights grew longer, many people chose to settle here despite hefty mortgages, all for the sake of peace of mind. Zhao Rui was one of them.

He was just past thirty, but looked a bit old for his age, with puffy eye bags and pronounced crow’s feet, an air of otherworldliness about him, and always carried the scent of tobacco.

10:27 PM.

In the lakeside room of Lakeview Community, Building 7, Unit 20-1, this fashion designer and amateur game streamer sat in his cozy study, turned on his computer, and prepared to start tonight’s stream.

Zhao Rui only started streaming games early last year, prompted by the release of the haunting hunting mode in a certain shooting adventure game.

As a moderately successful fashion designer, his job was easy and he wasn’t short on money. The reason he played games and streamed was simple: fear.

Living alone in a two-hundred-square-meter lakeside apartment, accompanied by eerie music, fighting twisted and bizarre hauntings in the game, he always felt the whole house was full of “people.”

Streaming while gaming, occasionally glancing at the stray goofball comments floating by, his fear would instantly lessen.

Though it still felt like the house was full of “goofballs,” everyone knows that people and goofballs are fundamentally different.

“Hello to all my esteemed viewers, that’s right, it’s me again. Enough chit-chat, let’s jump into the game and start tonight’s hunt!”

After adjusting all the streaming software, Zhao Rui recited his opening line, which he’d been saying for nearly a year, then clicked into the game to begin today’s stream.

He clicked [Start Matchmaking], and while waiting for the systems to match teammates, he glanced at the split-screen comments, furrowing his brow and muttering to himself.

“Weird, why is it today…”

Although Zhao Rui streamed out of interest and whim, over the past year he’d accumulated a small group of loyal fans. Usually, even just after starting, there’d be a few stray comments.

But tonight, even with higher stream activity than usual, not a single comment appeared.

The whole stream felt dead and silent, staring at the screen. Suddenly, a strange and eerie scene flashed through Zhao Rui’s mind, and he felt a deep, bone-chilling cold of midwinter.

….

[In the game world, night falls, and an ominous aura awakens from the dead city.

Hauntings hidden in dark corners open their strange eyes, all looking in the same direction, where a rift leads to another world.

Then.

Countless shadowy figures run through the streets and alleys, peering through that rift, gazing at you sitting behind the screen…]

This was a promo text from when the game’s haunting hunting mode launched. Zhao Rui didn’t know why he suddenly thought of it, and the scene formed vividly in his mind.

“Damn it!”

He cursed under his breath, shook his head hard to fling away the images, then moved his mouse to exit the game.

When the cursor moved to the [×] in the upper right corner, the computer screen flickered. After waiting ages for teammates, the game suddenly showed a successful match.

Glancing at the match time, Zhao Rui’s hands left the keyboard, sweat beading densely on his forehead.

He felt he’d waited four or five minutes, but the match time was stuck at 0:00.

“Shit!”

Snapping back, he cursed again, frantically moved the mouse to cancel, and quickly exited the game.

Yet just as he closed the game, the study lights flickered twice and went out.

Like a power outage, darkness swallowed the whole room, with only faint light spilling in from outside the window.

Zhao Rui froze, then came to his senses, about to pull out his phone to turn on the flashlight, when his gaze suddenly locked.

He didn’t know when, but the study door had silently opened, and a figure stood quietly at the doorway.

The figure wore pure white clothes, back to the study, with unusually long arms hanging to the floor, the entire upper body hidden in shadow.

As if sensing Zhao Rui’s gaze, the figure slowly turned, looking this way, then bit by bit, crept closer, moving as if dancing but making no sound.

Something extremely terrifying was about to happen… A voice in Zhao Rui’s mind kept warning him.

Just then, a pair of hands suddenly reached from behind, silently stretching toward Zhao Rui’s nape.

They were slender, childlike hands, skin cold and pale, seemingly a child’s.

Just hands, nothing else, origin unknown, as if reaching out from the void.

In the darkness, Zhao Rui suddenly felt a heavy blow to the back of his neck, numbness spreading down his spine and through his body, and then his vision went black as he lost consciousness.

“Taihe Gentleman Sword – Wind Chasing Order!”

“It’s decided, Paper Cicada Immortal No. 0002!”

“Desolate wilderness, withered grass, bone remains… eighteenfold red flame flash!”

Three soft calls rang out almost simultaneously in the darkness, as if premeditated.

In the next moment, blue, gold, and red light enveloped Zhao Rui’s study…

Under the night sky, Lotus Seed Lake looked like a solemn old man, quietly sleeping in the embrace of the night.

On the rooftop of Lakeview Community.

Lu Yibei withdrew his gaze from the spot by the lakeside where he had blown up the insider last night, and continued to wipe the Pure Lotus Sword in his hand. A layer of green, snot-like, highly acidic slime covered its surface.

The used tissue was tossed to the ground, and in the blink of an eye, a wisp of blue smoke rose from it, turning into pitch-black, flocculent matter.

That haunting had been sealed by Gou Meng in the artifact for far too long, its state had become extremely weak. With Lu Yibei’s careful planning and the haunting’s lack of vigilance, he easily succeeded in a sneak attack and obtained a haunting core entity.

Of course, as a haunting that once wreaked havoc in the area, even in an extremely weakened state, it was still very dangerous. Ordinary people simply had no way to resist its attacks.

Beside him, Gou Meng sat cross-legged on the ground, digesting the haunting core entity she had just devoured. Her big eyes would occasionally open a slit to sneak a peek at Lu Yibei, then quickly shut again as if she’d done something wrong and was afraid of being caught.

That adorable look reminded Lu Yibei of when he was a child, watching the spell duel in the Kingdom of Chechi in Journey to the West1. He would imitate Tang Sanzang and the Deer Power Immortal, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, trying to compete with them, all the while sneaking glances at the TV screen.

So that day, he foolishly sat there for more than five hours. It wasn’t until much later that he learned, that afternoon, while he was “meditating with his eyes closed,” his dad had quietly pressed pause…

After a long while, Gou Meng finished digesting the haunting core entity and slowly opened her eyes to look at Lu Yibei, her expression gradually turning provocative.

“What did I say? My pickles weren’t being watched at all, okay? Lu Yibei, can you stop being so paranoid all the time?”

“I think you’ve got some talent. Want to learn from me how to be a true brute?”

Lu Yibei glanced sideways at Gou Meng, replying expressionlessly, “Thanks, but no thanks. I’d like to live a few more years.”

If I weren’t this cautious, I probably would’ve died at the Floral Sunshine Resort Hotel… Lu Yibei silently added in his heart.

“Besides, have you considered that just because this haunting wasn’t being watched doesn’t mean the others aren’t? There’s also the possibility that the one watching this haunting had to leave for a bit, and we just happened to take advantage of it. Or maybe…”

“Ugh! Enough with the maybes!” Gou Meng pouted, interrupting, “If someone really was watching those pickle jars, what do you think they just went off to do? Got caught in the bathroom without toilet paper?”

“…”

As expected of you, tree monster. You never stray far from toilet humor-your love for farm fertilizer runs deep.

Lu Yibei complained inwardly, resting his chin on one hand and thinking for a few seconds before replying seriously, “It’s very possible! After all, hauntings aren’t idol girls-they definitely need to use the bathroom.”

Gou Meng rolled her eyes at Lu Yibei, about to say something, when her gaze suddenly landed on the Pure Lotus Sword in his hand. The words at the tip of her tongue were swallowed back.

The scene of Lu Yibei instantly slaying the haunting with the Pure Lotus Sword was still vivid in her mind, reminding her of the time she was wounded by the ancestral kitchen knife. Now, several kitchen knives had merged into a Broken Sword, and its power seemed even greater.

After a long silence, Gou Meng asked, “By the way, let me ask you something. Your family’s ancestral kitchen knife-were there only those three before? Are there any others?”

In Gou Meng’s understanding, the only psychic artifact that could harm her, besides Lu Yibei’s ancestral kitchen knife, wasn’t without other options.

It’s just that the other psychic artifacts capable of hurting her all had flashy “special effects” when activated, like equipment from browser games-nothing like Lu Yibei’s ancestral kitchen knife, which was plain yet deadly.

Hearing Gou Meng suddenly ask about the ancestral kitchen knife, Lu Yibei was taken aback. “Others? Of course there are. There are five in total, but I’m not sure if they’re all kitchen knives-maybe some are something else. But the other two have been lost. Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

The Ancestors only said they reforged the Pure Lotus Sword into five kitchen utensils, but never specified what kind.

Although it was likely they were all knives, it was also possible they were ladles, spatulas, scissors, or even graters. Lu Yibei thought.

“Actually…” Gou Meng parted her lips slightly, glancing again at the Broken Sword in Lu Yibei’s hand. “Actually, Fuyang’s familiar stabbed me with a fruit knife…”

“Pfft!”

Before Gou Meng could finish, a snicker was heard.

“…”

The dignified King of Hauntings in Taoyuan, wounded by kitchen utensils? And twice, at that?

Of all the Kings of Hauntings, only his pesky little sister could suffer such an embarrassing fate.

How unlucky! Though understandable, it just made him want to laugh for no reason. Lu Yibei thought.

Gou Meng glanced at Lu Yibei, fell silent for a long while, then continued, “I suspect that fruit knife…”

“Pfft!”

Hearing laughter again, Gou Meng narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Lu Yibei. Seeing his face as calm as stone, but his eyes full of mischievous glee, veins bulged on her forehead. She put her hands on her hips and let out a low growl, “Damn! Are you done yet? Is it really that funny?”

“I wasn’t laughing! You know, I have facial paralysis, how could I possibly laugh?” Lu Yibei said expressionlessly.

“…” Gou Meng gave him a deep look, let out a silent sigh, and continued, “That fruit knife is really weird. I suspect that fruit knife and your ancestral kitchen knife are…”

“Pfft!”

“Boom-!”

Gou Meng glanced sideways at Lu Yibei and pounded her small fist on the stone stool in front of her. Immediately, the middle of the stone stool began to bulge at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lu Yibei, “???”

What the hell is this??

Looking at the stone stool that suddenly seemed to be pregnant, Lu Yibei couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of his eye. He hurriedly changed the subject, “By the way, you said you wanted the person you saved to remember you. Did you leave your name just now?”

“Of course!” Gou Meng lifted her chin slightly, proudly saying, “I guarantee he’ll never forget it for the rest of his life.”

1 a.m.

When Zhao Rui woke up on the floor of his study, the back of his head was still throbbing with pain.

He cautiously opened his eyes a sliver, saw the study illuminated by a lamp, and immediately closed them again.

He lay on the ground like a corpse, motionless, waiting for a long time. Only after confirming there were no other sounds in the room did he tiptoe up, then dashed out and turned on all the lights in the house.

Just as Zhao Rui thought the haunting that attacked him had left, and he sat back down in the study, his peripheral vision inadvertently swept over his computer desktop. He saw that the names of several fashion design draft files he had recently burned the midnight oil to finish had turned into garbled text, and he couldn’t help but frown.

After hesitating for a moment, he licked his dry lips, mustered up his courage, moved the mouse to open the file, and then something terrifying happened.

All the drafts he had painstakingly worked on for over a month had been completely deleted, leaving only a few large, crooked words inside-Your savior, the great Gou Meng!

Deep in Taoyuan, fields crisscrossed among the surrounding mountains and irregularly shaped, vast orchards. Looking from the fields and orchards up to the mountainside, clusters of quaint and unique courtyards encircled a jade sculpture like stars around the moon.

It was a tree-shaped white jade statue, with branches from the same root, the tips hung with red ribbons tied to peach wood wishing plaques and wind chimes. Under the tree stood a girl dressed in splendid clothes, dignified and ethereal, with a lifelike magpie perched on her shoulder.

A huge stone offering table in front of the statue had accumulated some snow. The incense candles in the bronze censer on the table had long since burned out, and the offerings showed signs of rot and mold, devoid of any vitality, just like the village behind-dead silent, without a single light.

Beneath the statue, a tall woman dressed in black gazed up at the sculpture, lost in thought, her eyes shifting as if pondering something.

After a while, a strong wind swept by, and a man wrapped in a thick cotton coat, his face haggard, landed beside her.

Turning around, Ms. Rabbit saw it was Shu E. A trace of eagerness flashed in her eyes, but quickly faded to indifference. She raised her eyebrows slightly and said coolly, “Is it done?”

“Yeah.” Shu E nodded, looking at the statue, puzzled. “Why do you always stay here looking at this statue when you have nothing to do lately? Is there something special about it?”

“…” Ms. Rabbit was silent for a few seconds, then shook her head. “No, I just think her experience is similar to mine. Looking at this statue, I can’t help but recall the past.”

In ancient times, the primitive ancestors of Taoyuan, eating raw meat and drinking blood, wandered the desolate land after disasters, constantly praying to deities, constantly migrating, until they finally found the twin-rooted peach trees. Their restless souls finally found solace-that was the divine tree Fusang.

Legend has it that in the sun lives a black three-legged crow, which takes flight from the divine tree Fusang every morning, spreading sunlight over the earth. The deity who governs the place where the sun rises and the divine tree Fusang is Gou Mang, like a gardener, tending the divine tree and helping it grow.

From a certain perspective, Fuyang should be the mythical type haunting born from the divine tree Fusang worshipped by the ancestors of Taoyuan, while Gou Meng is merely its companion mythical type haunting.

This companion relationship is no less than a familiars contract; some even say that the familiars contract evolved from this kind of companion relationship.

Since coming to Taoyuan, every time Ms. Rabbit saw Gou Meng’s statue, she would recall the days she was enslaved by the Dusk Maiden. Then, thinking of how both she and Gou Meng ultimately succeeded in “overthrowing their masters” and found what they wanted, she couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional.

She might be very lonely, right?

When she realized that what she fought so hard to pursue wasn’t truly what she wanted, it was just like me, Ms. Rabbit thought.

Just like her-finally breaking the shackles placed on her by the Dusk Maiden, only to be bound again by the Eclipse Society.

When Gou Meng discovered that what the people of Taoyuan had always pursued was the divine tree Fusang and not her, she probably felt a similar emptiness.

If she weren’t standing on the opposite side of Gou Meng, Ms. Rabbit would actually like to help her.

But now…

She must awaken Fuyang from its slumber, release it from Gou Meng’s suppression, so the city barrier of Tang City must be activated. This is also the goal of all the psychics and hauntings gathered here.

As for what kind of existence could possibly gather members of the Eclipse Society, remnants of the Miracle Order, and notorious solitary psychics all at once, Ms. Rabbit had no idea. She was just a worker, after all, and it definitely couldn’t be the Crow Slave.

He was merely a familiar of a mythical type haunting-how could he possibly be that capable?

Before leaving, Shu E had also gone to the Grey Forest Cabin to sound out the Council of Elders of the Eclipse Society, but all the elders kept their mouths shut about the matter.

Pulling her thoughts back, Ms. Rabbit glanced sidelong at Shu E, who was wrapped in a thick coat behind her, and whispered, “It’s so cold tonight…”

“Can you give me a hug?”

“…” Shu E was silent for a few seconds, checked the time, and said seriously, “Just hang in there a bit longer. It’ll be dawn soon, and once the sun comes out, it’ll be warm.”

Ms. Rabbit, “…”

Damn, I’m so stupid! Shouldn’t I have given up on those unrealistic hopes long ago?

Deep within the cave in Taoyuan.

A figure draped in a black robe of crow feathers stood before the massive, withered “Fusang” divine tree, gazing devoutly up at the humanoid silhouette formed by the intertwining branches, chanting over and over in an obscure language, describing Fuyang.

Because Gou Meng had survived two assassination attempts in a row, her power was much weaker than before. The frequency of the tree knot pulsing like a heart on the chest of the humanoid silhouette was even more rapid and intense than before, as if it might awaken at any moment.

On the back of the giant tree, cocoons woven from vines, resembling cicada pupae, hung suspended. The vines connecting them to the giant tree squirmed ceaselessly, greedily sucking the psychic energy from Gou Meng’s familiars.

Only this psychic energy, so closely tied to Gou Meng, could nourish and strengthen the divine tree, and through secret arts, transfer power to Fuyang.

“Crash-crash-!”

With the crisp sound of vines and branches being torn apart, a turtle head with prominent horns struggled out from behind the tree. Upon seeing the Crow Slave, it immediately began to curse loudly.

“You bastards, even if you kill the Patron and sacrifice all of us, there’s no way Fuyang will be resurrected!”

“…” The Crow Slave stared deeply at Grandpa Turtle for a few seconds, as if he hadn’t heard the angry tirade, and continued chanting in a low voice.

Of course, he knew that relying on the power of these small fry alone could never awaken his master.

Centuries of secretly observing Gou Meng had also taught him that the city barrier of Tang City was not enough to kill Gou Meng.

He also knew that the Eclipse Society, the Miracle Order, and those unruly solitary psychics could not be gathered by a few words from him; there must be other unknown forces plotting behind the scenes.

Even so, he had his own secrets. In the end, everyone and every haunting except for him and his master would be utterly defeated.

Seeing the Crow Slave ignore his curses, Grandpa Turtle continued sarcastically, “Hmph, just keep wasting your time here! When the time comes, you might not even get to resurrect your master before you go into labor.”

“I don’t know if you exiles get maternity leave! But if you wait until after you give birth to come back, I’m afraid…”

Halfway through, Grandpa Turtle saw the Crow Slave’s expression turn cold. Suddenly, he drew a rusty fruit knife from beneath his crow-feathered robe and stabbed it into his own abdomen with a “squelch!” Blood spurted out, and a crazed smile appeared on his bloodstained lips.

Grandpa Turtle, “…” Fine, you win. Let me gather my thoughts and I’ll continue arguing with you!

On the top floor of the Tang City Museum, in that messy, unfinished room.

Shang Nanxing and Mao Sanyou lay slumped side by side on the long table like two dead dogs, motionless, tongues lolling out in unison as they panted heavily.

All day long, they had been dealing with the chain reaction caused by last night’s mysterious force attempting to assassinate Gou Meng.

Of those who participated in the assassination, the lowest psychic energy fluctuation level was Class B. The lingering psychic energy left behind by the various high-tier spell formations and innate skills they unleashed was as dangerous as nuclear waste to ordinary people. If left unchecked, many would develop Nocturnal Syndrome and eventually die.

What’s more, yesterday Gou Meng had spilled a massive amount of blood on the ring highway. As a high-tier mythical type haunting, who knew what kind of mutation her blood might trigger.

Although Shang Nanxing and Mao Sanyou had Class A and B+ psychic energy fluctuations, it was still no easy task to clear away those residues. After being drained of psychic energy two or three times over the course of the day, they barely managed to clean up the most crowded areas.

“Boom-!”

Just as the two were quietly recovering, planning to rest for an hour or so before throwing themselves back into the work to serve the people, the door banged open.

With the bang, a burly, dark-skinned man appeared before them and said in a deep voice, “I’ve found out-the recent anomalies are all closely connected to Gou Meng!”

Hearing the results of Old Xu’s days of investigation, Mao Sanyou and Shang Nanxing exchanged a glance, their expressions instantly turning grave.

Footnote:

1. Journey to the West(西游记): A classic Chinese novel chronicling the journey of the Tang Sanzang and his three demonic disciples as they travel to India to obtain sacred Buddhist scriptures. Together, they face eighty-one trials, overcoming supernatural threats and their own flaws in a quest that blends adventure, spirituality, and redemption.